Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna

[Nagaraj]

The whole world is a dream; even this (the waking state) is a dream ...
What you dreamt last night does not exist now.

~Mother Sarada Devi

[Ravi.N]

After receiving instruction from His teacher, Rama said that He would renounce the world. Dasaratha sent the sage Vasishtha to Rama to dissuade Him. Vasishtha found Him filled with intense renunciation. He said to Rama: 'First of all, reason with me, Rama; then You may leave the world. May I ask You if this world is outside God? If that is so, then You may give it up.' Rama found that it is God alone who has become the universe and all its living beings. Everything in the world appears real on account of God's reality behind it.Thereupon Rama became silent.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Nagaraj]

"Once a Vedantic monk came here.  He used to dance at the sight of a cloud.  He would go into an ecstasy of joy over a rain-storm.  He would get very angry if, anyone went near him when he meditated.  One day I came to him while he was meditating, and that made him very cross.  He discriminated constantly, 'Brahman alone is real and the world is illusory.' Since the appearance of diversity is due to maya, he walked about with a prism from a chandelier in his hand.  One sees different colours through the prism; in reality there is no such thing as colour.  Likewise, nothing exists, in reality, except Brahman.  But there is an appearance of the manifold because of maya, egoism.  He would not look at an object more than once, lest he should be deluded by maya and attachment.  He would discriminate, while taking his bath, at the sight of birds flying in the.  sky.  He knew grammar.  He stayed here for three days.  One day he heard the sound of a flute near the embankment and said that a man who had realized Brahman would go into samādhi at such a sound."

[Ravi.N]

Once an impersonator dressed himself as a world-renouncing monk. Pleased with the correctness of his disguise, some rich people offered him a rupee. He did not accept the money but went away shaking his head. Afterwards he removed his disguise and appeared in his usual dress. Then he said to the rich people, 'Please give me the rupee.' They replied:'Why, you went away refusing our present. Why do you ask for it now?' The man said: 'But then I was in the role of a holy man. I could not accept money.' Likewise, when God becomes man He behaves exactly like a man.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Nagaraj]

MASTER (to Hazra): "Yes, all one's confusion comes to an end if one only realizes that it is God who manifests Himself as the atheist and the believer, the good and the bad, the real and the unreal; that it is He who is present in waking and in sleep; and that He is beyond all these.

"There was a farmer to whom an only son was born when he was rather advanced in age.  As the child grew up, his parents became very fond of him.  One day the farmer was out working in the fields, when a neighbour told him that his son was dangerously ill-indeed, at the point of death.  Returning home he found the boy dead.  His wife wept bitterly, but his own eyes remained dry.  Sadly the wife said to her ncighbours, 'Such a son has passed away, and he hasn't even one tear to shed!' After a long while the farmer said to his wife: 'Do you know why I am not crying? Last night I dreamt I had become a king, and the father of seven princes.  These princes were beautiful as well as virtuous.  They grew in stature and acquired wisdom and knowledge in the various arts.  Suddenly I woke up.  Now I have been wondering whether I should weep for those seven children or this one boy.' To the jnanis the waking state is no more real than the dream state.

[Ravi.N]

Truthfulness in speech is the tapasya of the Kaliyuga. It is difficult to practise other austerities in this cycle. By adhering to truth one attains God.Tulsidas said:'Truthfulness, obedience to God, and the regarding of others' wives as one's mother, are the greatest virtues. If one does not realize God by practising them, then Tulsi is a liar.'
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Ravi.N]

Once some blind men chanced to come near an animal that someone told them was an elephant. They were asked what the elephant was like. The blind men began to feel its body. One of them said the elephant was like a pillar; he had touched only its leg. Another said it was like a winnowing-fan; he had touched only its ear. In this way the others, having touched its tail or belly, gave their different versions of the elephant. Just so, a man who has seen only one aspect of God limits God to that alone. It is his conviction that God cannot be anything else.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Ravi.N]

The less people know about your thoughts of God, the better for You.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Ravi.N]

It is not that God can be realized by this work and not by that. The vision of God depends on His grace. Still a man must work a little with longing for God in his heart. If he has longing he will receive the grace of God.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Ravi.N]

Who can comprehend everything about God? It is not given to man to know any aspect of God, great or small. And what need is there to know everything about God? It is enough if we only realize Him. And we see God Himself if we but see His Incarnation. Suppose a person goes to the Ganges and touches its water. He will then say, 'Yes, I have seen and touched the Ganges.' To say this it is not necessary for him to touch the whole length of the river from Hardwar to Gangasagar. (Laughter.)
If I touch your feet, surely that is the same as touching you. (Laughter.) If a person goes to the ocean and touches but a little of its water, he has surely touched the ocean itself. Fire, as an element, exists in all things, but in wood it is present to a greater degree.
GIRISH (smiling): "I am looking for fire. Naturally I want to go to a place where I can get it."
MASTER (smiling): "Yes, fire, as an element, is present more in wood than in any other object. If you seek God, then seek Him in man; He manifests Himself more in man than in any other thing. If you see a man endowed with ecstatic love, overflowing with prema, mad after God, intoxicated with His love, then know for certain that God has incarnated Himself through that man.
(To M.) "There is no doubt that God exists in all things; but the manifestations of His Power are different in different beings. The greatest manifestation of His Power is through an Incarnation. Again, in some Incarnation there is a complete manifestation of God's Power. It is the Sakti, the Power of God, that is born as an Incarnation."
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Ravi.N]

Everyone can attain Knowledge. There are two entities: Jivatma, the individual soul, and Paramatma, the Supreme Soul. Through prayer all individual souls can be united to the Supreme Soul. Every house has a connection for gas, and gas can be obtained from the main storage-tank of the Gas Company. Apply to the Company, and it will arrange for your supply of gas. Then your house will be lighted.
The Gospel Of Sri Ramakrishna

[Ravi.N]

The Reality is one and the same. The difference is only in name. He who is Brahman is verily Atman, and again, He is the Bhagavan. He is Brahman to the followers of the path of knowledge, Paramatman to the yogis, and Bhagavan to the lovers of God.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Ravi.N]

There are certain signs of God-realization. The man in whom longing for God manifests its glories is not far from attaining Him. What are the glories of that longing? They are discrimination, dispassion, compassion for living beings, serving holy men, loving their company, chanting the name and glories of God, telling the truth, and the like. When you see those signs of longing in an aspirant, you can rightly say that for him the vision of God is not far to seek.
The state of a servant's house will tell you unmistakably whether his master has decided to visit it. First, the rubbish and jungle around the house are cleared up. Second, the soot and dirt are removed from the rooms. Third, the courtyard, floors, and other places are swept clean. Finally the master himself sends various things to the house such as a carpet, a hubble-bubble for smoking, and the like. When you see these things arriving, you conclude that the master will very soon come.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Ravi.N]

Three words-'master', 'teacher', and 'father'-prick me like thorns. I am the son of God, His eternal child. How can I be a 'father'? God alone is the Master and I am His instrument. He is the Operator and I am the machine.
If somebody addresses me as guru, I say to him: 'Go away, you fool! How can I be a teacher?' There is no teacher except Satchidananda. There is no refuge except Him. He alone is the Ferryman to take one across the ocean of the world.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

[Ravi.N]

The universe and its created beings, and the twenty-four cosmic principles, all exist because God exists. Nothing remains if God is eliminated. The number increases if you put many zeros after the figure one; but the zeros don't have any value if the one is not there.
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna