Sri Ramakrishna Quotes (164) Spiritual Sayings
About the Author: Sri Ramakrishna (Bengali: Born - 18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886), born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay, was a famous mystic of 19th-century India. His religious school of thought led to the formation of the Ramakrishna Mission by his chief disciple Swami Vivekananda – both were influential figures in the Bengali Renaissance as well as the Hindu renaissance during the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of his disciples and devotees believe he was an Avatar or incarnation of God. He is also referred to as "Paramahamsa" by his devotees, as such he is popularly known as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
Ramakrishna was born in a poor Brahmin Vaishnava family in rural Bengal. He became a priest of the Dakshineswar Kali Temple, dedicated to the goddess Kali, which had the influence of the main strands of Bengali bhakti tradition. The most widely known amongst his first spiritual teachers was an ascetic woman, called Bhairavi Brahmani skilled in Tantra and Vaishnava bhakti. Later an Advaita Vedantin ascetic taught him non-dual meditation, and according to Ramakrishna, he experienced nirvikalpa samadhi under his guidance. Ramakrishna also practiced other religions, notably Islam and Christianity, and said that they all lead to the same God. See website for more info - https://ramakrishna.org/ramakrishna.html
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“Only two kinds of people can attain self-knowledge: those who are not encumbered at all with learning, that is to say, whose minds are not over-crowded with thoughts borrowed from others; and those who, after studying all the scriptures and sciences, have come to realise that they know nothing.”
― Ramakrishna, Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna
“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? Because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.”
― Ramakrishna
“As long as I live, so long do I learn.”
― Ramakrishna
“One man may read the Bhagavata by the light of a lamp, and another may commit a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtuous.”
― Ramakrishna, Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna
“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, Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna
“Different creeds are but different paths to reach the same God.”
― Ramakrishna
“You speak of doing good to the world. Is the world such a small thing? And who are you, pray, to do good to the world? First realise God, see Him by means of spiritual discipline. If He imparts power you can do good to others; otherwise not.”
― Ramakrishna, Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna
“The Man who works for others, without any selfish motive, really does good to himself.”
― Ramakrishna
“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.”
― Ramakrishna
“Finish the few duties you have at hand, and then you will have peace.”
― Ramakrishna
“Bondage and Liberation are of the mind alone.”
― Ramakrishna
“God has revealed to me that only the Paramatman, whom the Vedas describe as the Pure Soul, is as immutable as Mount Sumeru, unattached, and beyond pain and pleasure. There is much confusion in this world of His maya. One can by no means say that 'this' will come after 'that' or 'this' will produce 'that'.”
― Ramakrishna, Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna
“Do not seek illumination unless you seek it as a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond.”
― Ramakrishna
“God is in all men, but all men are not in God; that is why we suffer.”
― Ramakrishna
“The winds of God's grace are always blowing, it is for us to raise our sails.”
― Ramakrishna
“The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God.p.114 ”
― Ramakrishna
“Through selfless work, love of God grows in heart.”
― Ramakrishna
“Do all your duties, but keep your mind on God. Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna,p.81”
― Ramakrishna
“It is necessary to pray to Him, with a longing Heart.”
― Ramakrishna
“If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.”
― Ramakrishna
“Why should you renounce everything? You are all right as you are, following the middle...”
― Ramakrishna
“As Long As I Live, So Long Do I Learn”
― Ramakrishna
“When divine vision is attained, all appear equal; and there remains no distinction of good and bad, or of high and low.”
― Ramakrishna
“Can he rectify false weight whose own scales are uncertain? Can you enlighten your neighbor while you yourself have no light?”
― Ramakrishna
“Bondage is of the mind; freedom too is of the mind. If you say 'I am a free soul. I am a son of God who can bind me' free you shall be.”
― 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
“God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.”
― Ramakrishna
“God is everywhere but He is most manifest in man. So serve man as God. That is as good as worshipping God.”
― Ramakrishna
“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
“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
God laughs on two occasions. He laughs when the physician says to the patient's mother, 'Don't be afraid, mother; I shall certainly cure your boy.' God laughs, saying to Himself, 'I am going to take his life, and this man says he will save it!' The physician thinks he is the master, forgetting that God is the Master. God laughs again when two brothers divide their land with a string, saying to each other, 'This side is mine and that side is yours.' He laughs and says to Himself, 'The whole universe belongs to Me, but they say they own this portion or that portion.'
― 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
The supreme purpose and goal for human life... is to cultivate love.
― Ramakrishna
Different people call on [God] by different names: some as Allah, some as God, and others as Krishna, Siva, and Brahman. It is like the water in a lake. Some drink it at one place and call it 'jal', others at another place and call it 'pani', and still others at a third place and call it 'water'. The Hindus call it 'jal', the Christians 'water', and the Moslems 'pani'. But it is one and the same thing.
― Ramakrishna
There are three kinds of love;
unselfish, mutual, and selfish.
The unselfish love is of the highest kind;
The lover only minds the welfare of the beloved and does not care for his own sufferings.
In mutual love the lover not only wants the happiness of his beloved;
but has an eye towards his own happiness also. It is middling.
The selfish love is the lowest. It only looks towards its own happiness,
no matter whether the beloved suffers weal or woe.
― Ramakrishna
Do not be small minded. Do not pray for gourds and pumpkins from God, when you should be asking for pure love and pure knowledge to dawn within every heart.
― Ramakrishna
All religions are true. God can be reached by different religions. Many rivers flow by many ways but they fall into the sea. They all are one.
― Ramakrishna
God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.
― Ramakrishna
All troubles come to an end when the ego dies
― Ramakrishna
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.
― Ramakrishna
To work without attachment is to work without the expectation of reward...
― Ramakrishna
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.
Ramakrishna
So long as the bee is outside the petals of the lily, and has not tasted the sweetness of its honey, it hovers around the flower emitting the buzzing sound; but when it is inside the flower, it noiselessly drinks the nectar. So long as a man quarrels and disputes about doctrines and dogmas, he has not tasted the nectar of true faith; when he has tasted it, he becomes quiet and full of peace.
― Ramakrishna
As long as I live, so long do I learn.
Ramakrishna
The truth is that you cannot attain God if you have even a trace of desire. Subtle is the way of dharma. If you are trying to thread a needle, you will not succeed if the thread has even a slight fiber sticking out.
― Ramakrishna
The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail.
― Ramakrishna
One should not think, 'My religion alone is the right path and other religions are false.' God can be realized by means of all paths. It is enough to have sincere yearning for God. Infinite are the paths and infinite are the opinions.
― Ramakrishna
Wisdom leads to unity, but ignorance to separation.
So long as God seems to be outside and far away, there is ignorance.
But when God is realised within, that is true knowledge.
― Ramakrishna
God is in all men, but all men are not in God; that is why we suffer.
― Ramakrishna
One cannot be spiritual as long as one has shame, hatred, or fear.
― Ramakrishna
Great men have the nature of a child.
― Ramakrishna
It is true that God is even in the tiger, but we must not go and face the animal. So it is true that God dwells even in the most wicked, but it is not meet that we should associate with the wicked.
― Ramakrishna
Why does God allow evil in the world? To thicken the plot.
― Ramakrishna
An ocean of bliss may rain down from the heavens, but if you hold up only a thimble, that is all you receive
― Ramakrishna
Try to cultivate love of God. You are born as a human being only to attain divine love.
― Ramakrishna
One day, it was suddenly revealed to me that everything is pure spirit.
― Ramakrishna
The breeze of grace is always blowing on you. You have to open the sails and your boat will move forward.
― Ramakrishna
Bondage is of the mind; freedom too is of the mind. If you say 'I am a free soul. I am a son of God who can bind me' free you shall be.
― Ramakrishna
If you spent one-tenth of the time you devoted to distractions like chasing women or making money to spiritual practice, you would be enlightened in a few years.
― Ramakrishna
The world is impermanent. [All things change. Knowing this helps you see the end of any difficulty and thereby have hope.]
― Ramakrishna
Too much study of the scriptures does more harm than good. The important thing is to know the essence of the scriptures. After that, what is the need of books? One should learn the essence and then dive deep in order to realize God.
― Ramakrishna
The magnetic needle always points to the north, and hence it is that sailing vessel does not lose her direction. So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness.
― 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's enough to have faith in one aspect of God. You have faith in God without form. That is very good. But never get into your head that your faith alone is true and every other is false. Know for certain that God without form is real and that God with form is also real. Then hold fast to whichever faith appeals to you.
― Ramakrishna
The Man who works for others, without any selfish motive, really does good to himself.
― Ramakrishna
So long as one does not become simple like a child, one does not get divine illumination. Forget all the worldly knowledge that thou hast acquired and become as a child, and then will thou get the divine wisdom.
― Ramakrishna
I have now come to a stage of realization in which I see that God is walking in every human form and manifesting Himself alike through the sage and the sinner, the virtuous and the vicious. Therefore when I meet different people I say to myself, “God in the form of the saint, God in the form of the sinner, God in the form of the righteous, God in the form of the unrighteous.
― Ramakrishna
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
The winds of God's grace are always blowing, it is for us to raise our sails.
― Ramakrishna
The world is impermanent. One should constantly remember death.
― Ramakrishna
If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.
― Ramakrishna
Pray to God that your attachment to such transitory things as wealth, name, and creature comforts may become less and less every day.
― 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
Have love for everyone, no one is other than you.
― Ramakrishna
Spirituality automatically leads to humility. When a flower develops into a fruit, the petals drop off on its own. When one becomes spiritual, the ego vanishes gradually on its own. A tree laden with fruits always bends low. Humility is a sign of greatness.
― Ramakrishna
Through selfless work, love of God grows in heart.
― Ramakrishna
The tree laden with fruits always bends low. If you wish to be great, be lowly and meek.
― Ramakrishna
Do yourself what you wish others to do.
― 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
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.
― Ramakrishna
Sugar and sand may be mixed together, but the ant rejects the sand and goes off with the sugar grain; so pious men lift the good from the bad.
― Ramakrishna
If diving once does not bring you pearls, you need not therefore conclude that the sea is without them.
― Ramakrishna
If you meditate on your ideal, you will acquire its nature. If you think of God day and night, you will acquire the nature of God.
― Ramakrishna
Make your meditation a continuous state of mind. A great worship is going on all the time, so nothing should be neglected or excluded from your constant meditative awareness.
― Ramakrishna
You should love everyone because God dwells in all beings.
― Ramakrishna
Many good sayings are to be found in holy books, but merely reading them will not make one religious.
― Ramakrishna
Pray to Him anyway you like, He can even hear the footfall of an ant.
― Ramakrishna
The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth. But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow the path of love.
― Ramakrishna
More are the names of God and infinite are the forms through which He may be approached. In whatever name and form you worship Him, through them you will realise Him.
― Ramakrishna
If you keep your heart immersed always in the ocean of divine love, your heart is sure to remain ever full to overflowing with the waters of divine love.
― Ramakrishna
Travel in all the four quarters of the earth, yet you will find nothing anywhere. Whatever there is, is only here.
― Ramakrishna
Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal , and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God .
― 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
God has revealed to me that only the Paramatman, whom the Vedas describe as the Pure Soul, is as immutable as Mount Sumeru, unattached, and beyond pain and pleasure. There is much confusion in this world of His maya. One can by no means say that 'this' will come after 'that' or 'this' will produce 'that'.
― Ramakrishna
The fabled musk deer searches the world over for the source of the scent which comes from itself.
― Ramakrishna
Once a person has faith, he has achieved everything.
― Ramakrishna
Man suffers through lack of faith in God.
― Ramakrishna
When the flower blooms, the bees come uninvited.
― Ramakrishna
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? Because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.
― Ramakrishna
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
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
Those whose spiritual awareness has been awakened never make a false move. They don't have to avoid evil. They are so replete with love that whatever they do is a good action. They are fully conscious that they are not the doer of their actions, but only servants of God.
― Ramakrishna
When the divine vision is attained, all appear equal; and there remains no distinction of good and bad, or of high and low.
― Ramakrishna
It is the mind that makes one wise or ignorant, bound or emancipated.
― Ramakrishna
Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then through his grace one realize him in course of time. God can be seen. One can talk to him as I am talking to you.
― Ramakrishna
Unless one always speaks the truth, one cannot find God Who is the soul of truth.
― Ramakrishna
God is everywhere but He is most manifest in man. So serve man as God. That is as good as worshipping God.
― Ramakrishna
If there are errors in other religions, that is none of our business. God, to whom the world belongs, takes care of that.
― Ramakrishna
So many religions, so many paths to reach the one and the same goal.
― Ramakrishna
Many people think they cannot have knowledge or understanding of God without reading books. But hearing is better than reading, and seeing is better than hearing. Hearing about Benares is different from reading about it; but seeing Benares is different from either hearing or reading.
― Ramakrishna
The fool who repeats again and again: "I am bound, I am bound," remains in bondage. He who repeats day and night: "I am a sinner, I am a sinner," becomes a sinner indeed.
― Ramakrishna
Live like a mud-fish: its skin is bright and shiny even though it lives in mud.
― Ramakrishna
Who is whose Guru? God alone is the guide and Guru of the universe.
― Ramakrishna
Bhakti is the one essential thing.
To be sure, God exists in all beings.
Who, then is a devotee? He whose mind dwells on God.
But this is not possible as long as one has egotism and vanity.
The water of God's grace cannot collect
on the high mound of egotism. It runs down.
― Ramakrishna
What is the use of merely listening to lectures? The real thing is practice.
― Ramakrishna
To work without attachment is to work without the expectation of reward or fear of any punishment in this world or the next. Work so done is a means to the end, and God is the end.
― Ramakrishna
He who is called Krishna is also Siva and the Primal Sakti...He again, who is called Jesus and Allah. Truth is one.
― Ramakrishna
God in the form of the saint, God in the form of the sinner, God in the form of the righteous, God in the form of the unrighteous.
― Ramakrishna
Imagine a limitless expanse of water: above and below, before and behind, right and left, everywhere there is water. In that water is placed a jar filled with water. There is water inside the jar and water outside, but the jar is still there. The 'I' is the jar.
― Ramakrishna
One must be very particular about telling the truth. Through truth one can realize God.
― Ramakrishna
God cannot be realizxd if there is the slightest trace of pride.
― Ramakrishna
The winds of grace blow all the time. All we need to do is set our sails.
― Ramakrishna
Different creeds are but different paths to reach the same God.
― Ramakrishna
The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God.p.114
― Ramakrishna
It is easy to talk on religion, but difficult to practice it.
― Ramakrishna
When you meditate, go into the solitude of a forest, or a quiet corner, and enter into the chamber of your heart. And always keep your power of discrimination awake.
― Ramakrishna
The breeze of grace is always blowing; set your sail to catch that breeze.
― Ramakrishna
When one has love for God, one doesn't feel any physical attraction to wife, children, relatives and friends. One retains only compassion for them.
― Ramakrishna
The grace of God is a wind which is always blowing.
― Ramakrishna
Unalloyed love of God is the essential thing. All else is unreal.
― Ramakrishna
It is not lust alone that one should be afraid of in the life of the world. There is also anger. Anger arises when obstacles are placed in the way of desire.
― Ramakrishna
One cannot attain divine knowledge till one gets rid of pride. Water does not stay on the top of a mound; but into low land it flows in torrents from all sides.
― Ramakrishna
As the snake is separate from its slough, even so is the Spirit separate from the body.
― Ramakrishna
Bondage and Liberation are of the mind alone.
― Ramakrishna
Whoever wants God intensely, finds Him. Go and verify it in your own life.
― Ramakrishna
Honour both spirit and form, the sentiment within as well as the symbol without.
― Ramakrishna
It is on account of the ego that one is not able to see God. In front of the door of God's mansion lies the stump of ego. One cannot enter the mansion without jumping over the stump.
― Ramakrishna
Take the case of the infinite ocean. There is no limit to its water. Suppose a pot is immersed in it: there is water both inside and outside the pot. The jnani sees that both inside and outside there is nothing but Paramatman. Then what is this pot? It is 'I-consciousness'. Because of the pot the water appears to be divided into two parts; because of the pot you seem to perceive an inside and an outside. One feels that way as long as this pot of 'I' exists. When the 'I' disappears, what is remains. That cannot be described in words.
― Ramakrishna
Who may be called a paramahamsa? He who, like a swan, can take the milk from a mixture of milk and water, leaving aside the water. He who, like an ant, can take the sugar from a mixture of sugar and sand, leaving aside the sand.
― Ramakrishna
A bath in Ganges undoubtedly absolves one of all sins; but what does that avail? They say that the sins perch on trees along the banks of the Ganges. No sooner does the man come back from the holy waters that the old sins jump on his shoulders from the trees. The same old sins take possession of him again. He is hardly out of the waters before they fall upon him.
― Ramakrishna
Finish the few duties you have at hand, and then you will have peace.
― Ramakrishna
He is born in vain, who having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realize God in this very life.
― Ramakrishna
Dwell, O mind, within yourself; Enter no other's home. If you but seek there, you will find All you are searching for. God, the true Philosopher's Stone, Who answers every prayer, Lies hidden deep within your heart, The richest gem of all. How many pearls and precious stones Are scattered all about The outer court that lies before The chamber of your heart!
― Ramakrishna
Longing is like the rosy dawn. After the dawn out comes the sun. Longing is followed by the vision of God.
― Ramakrishna
Men bound hand and foot in the endless chain of cause & effect cannot free each other.
― 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
We laugh at the efforts of the musk deer to find the source of the scent which comes from itself and despair at our efforts to find the peace which is our essence.
― Ramakrishna
With sincerity and earnestness one can realize God through all religions. The Vaishnavas will realize God, and so will the Saktas, the Vedantists, and the Brahmos. The Mussalmans and Christians will realize Him too. All will certainly realize God if they are earnest and sincere.
― Ramakrishna
Work, apart from devotion or love of God, is helpless and cannot stand alone.
― Ramakrishna
You speak of doing good to the world. Is the world such a small thing? And who are you, pray, to do good to the world? First realise God, see Him by means of spiritual discipline. If He imparts power you can do good to others; otherwise not.
― Ramakrishna
Live in the world like a waterfowl. The water clings to the bird, but the bird shakes it off. Live in the world like a mudfish. The fish lives in the mud, but its skin is always bright and shiny.
― Ramakrishna
All will surely realize God. All will be liberated. It may be that some get their meal in the morning, some at noon, and some in the evening; but none will go without food. All, without any exception, will certainly know their real Self.
― Ramakrishna
If you want to go east, don't go west.
― Ramakrishna
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
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