Work, apart from devotion or love of God, is helpless and cannot stand alone. Ramakrishna More Quotes by Ramakrishna More Quotes From Ramakrishna 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. Ramakrishna scratches way world The world is not impermanent if one lives there after knowing God. Ramakrishna knowing motivational world 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. Ramakrishna meditation real mind Knowledge leads to unity, but ignorance to diversity. Ramakrishna diversity ignorance knowledge The waves belong to the Ganges, not the Ganges to the waves. A man cannot realize God unless he gets rid of all such egotistic ideas as "I am such an important man" or "I am so and so". Level the mound of "I" to the ground by dissolving it with tears of devotion. Ramakrishna important men ideas What Brahman is cannot be described. All things in the world — the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, the six systems of philosophy — have been defiled, like food that has been touched by the tongue, for they have been read or uttered by the tongue. Only one thing has not been defiled in this way, and that is Brahman. No one has ever been able to say what Brahman is. Ramakrishna vedas philosophy world The vanities of all others may gradually die out, but the vanity of a saint regarding his sainthood is hard indeed to wear away. Ramakrishna vanity saint may I have no disciple. I am the servant of the servant of Rama . Ramakrishna rama disciple servant Respect is heaven, respect is liberation. Ramakrishna liberation heaven 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. Ramakrishna elephants real animal Man needs a guru. But a man must have faith in the guru's words. He succeeds in spiritual life by looking on his guru as God Himself. Ramakrishna spiritual men needs The waves belong to the water. Does the water belong to the waves? Ramakrishna ego doe water God has created the world in play, as it were. Ramakrishna play world As for myself, I look upon all women as my Mother. This is a very pure attitude of mind. There is no risk or danger in it. To look upon a woman as one's sister is also not bad. But the other attitudes are very difficult and dangerous. It is almost impossible to keep to the purity of the ideal. Ramakrishna mother attitude inspirational As for me, I consider myself as a speck of the dust of the devotee's feet. Ramakrishna specks dust feet The physicians of one class feel the patients and go away, merely prescribing medicine. As they leave the room they simply ask the patient to take the medicine. They are the poorest class of physicians. Ramakrishna medicine going-away class 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. Ramakrishna bamboo easy heart 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. Ramakrishna kind two firsts By the mind one is bound; by the mind one is freed. ... He who asserts with strong conviction: "I am not bound, I am free," becomes free. Ramakrishna conviction strong mind If you feel proud, let it be in the thought that you are the servant 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. Ramakrishna pride children son
