Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sharada Devi and Vivekananda

May 5, 2006

SAYINGS OF SRI RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA

[1836-1886]

You see many stars in the sky at night, but nor when the sun rises. Can you therefore say that there are no stars in the heavens during the day? O man, because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not there is no God.

He is born in vein, who having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realize God in this very life. Seekest thou God? Then seek Him in man! His Divinity is manifest more in man than in any other object. Man is the greatest manifestation of God.

Jiva is Shiva (all living beings are God). Who then dare talk of showing mercy to them? Not mercy, but service, service. For man must be regarded as God.

There is one whom you may call your own, and that is God.

I tell you the truth: there is nothing wrong in your being in the world. But you must direct your mind towards God.

If you say, 'I am a sinner', eternally, you will remain a sinner to all eternity. You ought rather to repeat, 'I am not bound, I am not bound. Who can bind me? I am the Son of God, the king of kings.'

It is said that truthfulness alone constitutes the spiritual discipline of the Kaliyuga (i.e. modern age). If a man clings tenaciously to truth he ultimately realizes God.

All religions are true. God can be reached by different religions. Many rivers flow by many ways but they fall into the sea. There all are one.

A truly religious man should think that other religions also are paths leading to truth. We should always maintain an attitude of respect towards other religions.

Women whether naturally good or not, whether chaste or unchaste, should always be regarded as images of the Blissful Divine Mother.

Money can fetch you bread alone. Do not consider it as your sole end and aim.

He is truly a man to whom money is only a servant; but, on the other hand, those who do not know how to make a proper use of it hardly deserve to be called men.

To become great one must be humble. The tree laden with fruit always bends low. So if you wish to be great, be lowly and meek.

Rainwater never stands on high ground, but runs down to the lowest level. So also the mercy of God remains in the hearts of the lowly, but drains off from those of the vain and the proud.

The ego that asserts, 'I am the servant of God' is the characteristic of the true devotee. It is the ego of Vidya (Knowledge), and is called the 'ripe' ego.

Wherein is the strength of a devotee? He is a child of God, and his devotional tears are his mightiest weapons.

Look at the anvil of a blacksmith-how it is hammered and beaten; yet it moves not from its place. Let men learn patience and endurance from it.

Visit not miracle-mongers and those who exhibit occult powers. These men are stragglers from the path of Truth.

Don't find fault with anyone, not even with an insect. As you pray to God for devotion, so also pray that you may not find fault with anyone.

Purify the spectacles of your mind and you will see that the world is God.

As the dawn heralds the rising sun, so sincerity, unselfishness, purity, and righteousness precede the advent of the Lord.

Every man should follow his own religion. A Christian should follow Christianity, and Mohammedan Mohammedanism. For the Hindu, the ancient path, the path of the Aryan Rishis, is the best.

Dispute not. As you rest firmly in your own faith and opinion, allow others also equal liberty to stand by their own faith and opinion.

Let me be condemned to be born over and over again, even in the form of a dog, if so I can be of help to a single soul.

I will give up twenty thousand such bodies to help one man. It is glorious to help even one man.

SAYINGS OF HOLY MOTHER SHARADA DEVI

[1853-1920]

Sri Ramakrishna left me behind to manifest the Motherhood of God to the world.

I shan't be able to turn away anybody if he addresses me as Mother.

I can't contain myself when one draws near me and calls me Mother.

If my son wallows in the dust or mud, it is I who have to wipe all the dirt off his body and take him to my lap.

The aim of life is to realize God and remain immersed in contemplation of Him.

God alone is real and everything else is false.

As one gets the fragrance of a flower by handling it, or as one gets the smell of sandalwood by rubbing it against a stone, in the same way one gets spiritual awakening by constantly thinking of God. But you can realize Him right now, if you become desireless.

Many think of God only after receiving blows from the world. But blessed indeed is he who can offer his mind, like a fresh flower, at the feet of the Lord from his very childhood. One should practice renunciation in youth.

Through Japa and austerity the bondage of karma is cut asunder, but God cannot be realized except through love and devotion.

How can the devotees really have any caste? Children are all equal.

One should desire of God desirelessness. For desire alone is at the root of all suffering.

But one may pray for devotion and detachment. These cannot be classed as desires.

As wind removes the cloud, so the name of God destroys the cloud of worldliness.

Only through work can one remove the bondage of work. Total detachment comes later. One should not be without work even for a moment. Work helps one to fend off idle thoughts.

Everyone has to be accommodating. Forbear everything. God is there to judge.

One should not hurt others even by words. One must not speak even an unpleasant truth unnecessarily. By indulging in rude words one's nature becomes rude. One's sensibility is lost if one has no control over one's speech.

One should not trifle with a thing, though it may be very insignificant. If you respect a thing, the thing also respects you. Even a broomstick should be treated with respect. One should perform even an insignificant work with respect.

We should give everyone his due. What is not edible for a man, give to a cow ; What is not edible for a cow, give to a dog ; what is not edible for a dog, throw into a lake for fishes to eat. But never waste.

To err is human; but how few know to lead an erring man?

It is idle to expect that dangers and difficulties will not come. They are bound to come. But, for a devotee they will pass away from under the feet like water.

Misery is truly a gift of God. I believe it is a symbol of His compassion.

Love is our forte. It is through love that the Master's family has taken shape.

The mind is everything. It is in the mind alone that one feels pure and impure. A man, first of all must make his own mind guilty and then alone can he see another man's guilt.

If you want peace, do not see the faults of others. Rather see your own faults. Learn to make the whole world your own. No one is a stranger, my child. The whole world is your own.

My son, if a thorn pricks your foot; it hurts me like a spear entering my heart. I am the mother of the wicked, as I am the mother of the virtuous. Whenever you are in distress, just say to yourself, 'I have a mother’.

SAYINGS SWAMI VIVEKANANDA [1863-1902]

My ideal, indeed, can be put into a few words, and that is to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.

Religion is the manifestation of the divinity already in man.

Religion is the idea, which is raising the brute unto man, and man unto God.

The secret of religion lies not in theories but in practice. To be good and do good - that is the whole of religion.

Man is higher than all animals, than all angels; none is greater than man.

One may gain political and social independence, but if one is a slave to his passions and desires, one cannot feel the pure joy of real freedom.

Look at the wall. Did the wall ever tell a lie? It is always the wall. Man tells a lie and becomes a god, too.

After so much austerity, I have understood this as the real truth - God is present in every Jiva; there is no other God besides that. 'Who serves Jiva, serves God indeed.'

Cut out the word help from your mind. You cannot help; it is blasphemy! You worship. When you give a morsel of food to a dog, you worship the dog as God. He is all, and is in all.

Unselfishness is God. One may live on a throne, in a palace, and be perfectly unselfish; and then he is in God. Another may live in a hut and wear rags, and have nothing in the world; yet if he is selfish, he is intensely merged in the world.

All nations have attained greatness by paying proper respect to women. That country and that nation which do not respect women have never become great, nor will ever be in future.

With five hundred men, ... the conquest of India might take fifty years: with as many women, not more than a few weeks.

Religion and religion alone is the life of India, and when that goes, India will die, in spite of politics, in spite of social reforms, in spite of Kubera's wealth poured upon the head of every one of her children.

Before flooding India with socialistic or political ideas, first deluge the land with spiritual ideas.

We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonizing the Vedas, the Bible, and the Koran.

Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied expressions of THE RELIGION, which is Oneness, so that each may choose the path that suits him best.

Who will give the world light? Sacrifice in the past has been the Law; it will be, alas, for ages to come. The earth's bravest and best will have to sacrifice themselves for the good of many, for the welfare of all.

Truth, purity, and unselfishness - whenever these are present, there is no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition.

Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.

The highest ideal is eternal and entire self-abnegation, where there is no 'I', but is Thou'.

All expansion is life, all contraction is death.

All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore love for love's sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live.

The national ideals of India are Renunciation and Service. Intensity her in those channels, and the rest will take care of itself.

Good motives, sincerity, and infinite love can conquer the world. One single soul possessed of these virtues can destroy the dark designs of millions of hypocrites and brutes.

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, and every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

With Sai love from Sai brothers - ''

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