Ramakrishna Quotes

104 Sourced Quotes

If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.

Ramakrishna
God is in all men, but all men are not in God; that is why we suffer.

Ramakrishna
If you first fortify yourself with the true knowledge of the Universal Self, and then live in the midst of wealth and worldliness, surely they will in no way affect you.

Ramakrishna
A man is truly free, even here in this embodied state, if he knows that God is the true agent and he by himself is powerless to do anything.

Ramakrishna
Many are the names of God, and infinite the forms that lead us to know Him. In whatsoever name or form you desire to call Him, in that very form and name you will see Him.

Ramakrishna
Direct the six passions to God. The impulse of lust should be turned into the desire to have intercourse with Atman. Feel angry at those who stand in your way to God. Feel greedy for Him. If you must have the feeling of I and mine, then associate it with God. Say, for instance, "My Rama, my Krishna." If you must have pride, then feel like Bibhishana, who said, "I have touched the feet of Rama with my head; I will not bow this head before anyone else."

Ramakrishna
When the fruit appears the blossom drops off. Love of God is the fruit, and rituals are the blossom.

Ramakrishna
The Pure Mind and the Pure Ātman are one and the same thing. Whatever comes up in the Pure Mind is the voice of God.

Ramakrishna
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.

Ramakrishna
It is easy to talk on religion, but difficult to practice it.

Ramakrishna
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

Ramakrishna
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.

Ramakrishna
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.

Ramakrishna
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.

Ramakrishna
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.

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
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

Ramakrishna
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
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.

Ramakrishna
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
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
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.

Ramakrishna
Many good sayings are to be found in holy books, but merely reading them will not make one religious.

Ramakrishna
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.

Ramakrishna
Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the body, as the tenant pays house-rent for the use of the house.

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

Ramakrishna
As for me, I consider myself as a speck of the dust of the devotee's feet.

Ramakrishna
Honour both spirit and form, the sentiment within as well as the symbol without.

Ramakrishna
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.

Ramakrishna
A truly religious man should think that other religions also have many paths leading to the truth.
One should always maintain an attitude of respect towards other religions. Dispute not, as you rest firmly on your own faith and opinion, allow others also equal liberty to stand by their own faith and opinion.

Ramakrishna