Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

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You see many stars in the sky at night, but not 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 that

there is no God. (1)

 

He is born in vain, who having attained the human birth, so difficult to

get, does not attempt to realise God in this very life. (2)

 

Little children play with dolls in the outer room just as they like, without

any care of fear or restraint; but as soon as their mother comes in, they

throw aside their dolls and run to her crying, " Mamma, mamma. " You too, are

now playing in this material world, infatuated with the dolls of wealth,

honour, fame, etc., If however, you once see your Divine Mother, you will

not afterwards find pleasure in all these. Throwing them all aside, you will

run to her. (12)

 

 

Water and a bubble on it are one and the same. The bubble has its birth in

the water, floats on it, and is ultimately resolved into it. So also the

Jivatman (individual soul) and the Paramatman (supreme soul) are one and the

same, the difference between them being only one of degree. For, one is

finite and limited while the other is infinite; one is dependent while the

other is independent. (22)

 

As the snake is separate from its slough, even so is the Spirit separate

from the

body. (30)

 

Men are like pillow-cases. The colour of one may be red, that of another

blue, and that of the third black; but all contain the same cotton within.

So it is with man; one is beautiful, another is ugly, a third holy , and a

fourth wicked; but the Divine Being dwells in them all. (37)

 

When an unbaked pot is broken, the potter can use the mud to make a new one;

but when a baked one is broken, he cannot do the same any longer. So when a

person dies in a state of ignorance, he is born again; but when he becomes

well baked in the fire of true knowledge and dies a perfect man, he is not

born again. (46)

 

The sun can give heat and light to the whole world, but he cannot do so when

the clouds shut out his rays. Similarly as long as egotism veils the heart,

God cannot shine upon it. (99)

 

 

The vanities of all others may gradually die out, but the vanity of a saint

regarding his sainthood is hard indeed to wear away. (110)

 

If you feel proud, let it be in the thought that you are the servent of God,

the son of God. Great men have the nature of a child. They are always a

child before Him; so they are free from pride. All their strength is of God

and not their own. It belongs to Him and comes from Him. (124)

 

As a piece of rope, when burnt, retains its form, but cannot serve to bind,

so is the ego which is burnt by the fire of supreme Knowledge. (132)

 

That knowledge which purifies the mind and heart alone is true Knowledge,

all else is only a negation of Knowledge. (138)

 

Common men talk bagfuls of religion but do not practise even a grain of it.

The wise man speaks a little, even though his whole life is religion

expressed in action.(152)

 

The nearer you come to God, the less you are disposed to questioning and

reasoning. When you actually attain Him, when you behold Him as the reality,

then all noise, all disputations, come to an end. (153)

 

Two friends went into an orchard. One of them possessing much worldly

wisdom, immediately began to count the mango trees there and the number of

mangoes each tree bore, and to estimate what might be the approximate value

of the whole orchard. His companion went to the owner, made friends whith

him, and then, quietly going into a tree, began at his host's desire to

pluck the fruits and eat them. Whom do you consider to be the wiser of the

two? Eat mangoes. It will satisfy your hunger. What is the good of counting

the trees and leaves and making calculations? The vain man of intellect

busies himself with finding out the 'why' and 'wherefore' of creation, while

the humble man of wisdom makes friends with the Creator and enjoys His gift

of supreme bliss. (164)

 

The young bamboo can be easily bent, but the full grown bamboo breaks when

it is bent with force. It is easy to bend the young heart towards God, but

the untrained heart of the old escapes the hold whenever it is so drawn.

(233)

 

A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in boat. A spiritual

aspirant may

live in the world, but the world should not live within him. (266)

 

 

As a boy holding to a post or a pillar whirls about it with headlong speed

without any fear or falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your

hold firmly upon God, and you will be free from danger. (283)

 

If a white cloth is stained even with a small spot, the stain appears very

ugly indeed. So the smallest fault of a holy man becomes painfully

prominent. (299)

Forgiveness is the true nature of the ascetic. (307)

 

Honour both spirit and form, the sentiment within as well as the symbol

without.(308)

 

As a toy fruit or a toy elephant reminds one of the real fruit and the

living animal, so do the images that are worshipped remind one of the God

who is formless and eternal. (325)

 

Visit not miracle-mongers and those who exhibit occult powers. These men are

stragglers from the path of Truth. Their minds have become entangled in

psychic powers, which are like veritable meshes in the way of the pilgrim to

Brahman. Beware of these powers, and desire them not. (372)

 

A young plant should always be protected against goats and cows and the

mischief of little urchins, by means of a fence. But when it becomes a big

tree, a flock of goats or a herd of cows can freely find shelter under its

spreading boughs and fill their stomachs with their leaves. So when your

faith is yet in its infancy, you should protect it from the evil influences

of bad company. But when you grow strong in faith, no worldliness or evil

inclination will dare approach your holy presence; and many who are wicked

will become godly through their holy contact with you. (387)

 

One does not care for the cage when the bird has flown away from it. and

when the bird of life flies away, no one cares for the body left behind.

(396)

 

In a potter's shop there are vessels of different shapes and forms — pots,

jars, dishes, plates, etc., — but all are made of the same clay. So God is

one, but He is worshipped in different ages and climes under different names

and aspects. (458)

 

Unless one always speaks the truth, one cannot find God Who is the soul of

truth.(531)

 

It is very pleasant to scratch an itching ring-worm, but the sensation one

gets afterwards is very painful and intolerable. In the same way the

pleasures of this world are very attractive in the beginning, but their

consequences are terrible to contemplate and hard to endure. (548)

 

To drink pure water from a shallow pond one should gently take the water

from the surface without disturbing the pond in the least. If it is

disturbed, the sediments rise up and make the whole water muddy. If you

desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional

practices, without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and

arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled. (580)

 

Sunlight is one and the same wherever it falls; but only a bright surface

like that of water, or of a mirror reflects it fully. So is the light

Divine. It falls equally and impartially on all hearts, but the pure and

pious hearts of holy men receive and reflect that light well. (649)

 

Who is whose Guru? God alone is the guide and Guru of the universe. (687)

 

A thief enters a dark room and feels the various articles therein. He lays

his hands upon a table perhaps, and saying " Not this " passes on. Next he

come upon some other article — a chair, perhaps — and again saying " Not

this " continues his search, till, leaving article after article, he finally

lays his hands on the box containing the treasure. Then he exclaims " It is

here! " and there his search ends. Such, indeed is the search for Brahman.

(733)

 

 

Brahman is beyond mind and speech, beyond concentration and meditation,

beyond the knower, the known and knowledge, beyond even the conception of

the real and unreal. In short, It is beyond all relativity. 840

 

Right discrimination is of two kinds — analytical and synthetical. The first

leads one from the phenomena to the Absolute Brahman, while by the second

one knows how the Absolute Brahman appears as the universe. (862)

 

As the shell, the pith and the kernel of the fruit are all produced form one

parent seed of the tree, so from the one Lord is produced the whole of

creation, animate and inanimate, spiritual and material. (867)

 

When the head of a goat is severed from its body, the trunk struggles for

some time, still showing signs of life. Similarly, though ahamkara (egotism)

is slain in the perfect man, yet enough of its vitality is left to make him

carry on the functions of physical life; but it is not sufficient to bind

him again into the world. (949)

When the tail of the tadpole drops off, it can live both in water and on

land. When the tail of delusive ignorance drops off from man, he becomes

free. He can then live in God and the world equally well. (955)

 

With the divine Knowledge of Advaita (non-duality) in you, do whatever you

wish; for then no evil can ever come out of you. (966)

 

Do yourself what you wish others to do. (1021)

 

As long as I live, so long do I learn. (1036)

 

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Om namo Bhagavate Sri Ramanaya

Prashant Jalasutram