Ramakrishna Quotes on Life
- The aim of life is the attainment of God.
- You may try to increase your income, but in
an honest way. The goal of life is not the
earning of
money, but the service of God. Money is not
harmful if it is devoted to the service of God.
- To realize God is the one goal of life.
While aiming his arrow at the mark, Arjuna said,
'I see only the eye of the bird and nothing
else—not the kings, not the trees, not even the
bird itself.'
- You must practise discrimination. 'Woman and
gold' is impermanent. God is the only Eternal
Substance. What does a man get with money? Food,
clothes, and a dwelling-place – nothing more.
You cannot realize God with its help. Therefore
money can never be the goal of life. That is the
process of discrimination. Do you understand?"
- Pleasure and pain are inevitable in the life
of the world. One suffers now and then from a
little worry and trouble. A man living in a room
full of soot cannot avoid being a little
stained.
- If a man leads a householder's life he must
have unflagging devotion to truth. God can be
realized through truth alone.
- I said to Keshab: 'It is extremely difficult
to realize God while leading a worldly life. How
can a typhoid patient be cured if he is kept in
a room where tamarind, pickle, and jars of water
are kept? Therefore one should go into solitude
now and then to practise spiritual discipline.
When the trunk of a tree becomes thick and
strong, an elephant can be tied to it; but a
young sapling is eaten by cattle.' That is why
Keshab would say in his lectures, 'Live in the
world after being strengthened in spiritual
life.'
- Do your worldly duties with a part of your
mind and direct most of it to God. A sadhu
should think of God with three quarters of his
mind and with one quarter should do his other
duties. He should be very alert about spiritual
things. The snake is very sensitive in its tail.
Its whole body reacts when it is hurt there.
Similarly, the whole life of a sadhu is affected
when his spirituality is touched.
- Sambhu Mallick once said to me, 'Please
bless me, sir, that I may spend all my money for
good purposes, such as building hospitals and
dispensaries; making roads, and digging wells.'
I said to him: 'It will be good if you can do
these things in a spirit of detachment. But that
is very difficult. Whatever you may do, you must
always remember that the aim of this life of
yours is the attainment of God and not the
building of hospitals and dispensaries. Suppose
God appeared before you and said to you, "Accept
a boon from Me." Would you then ask Him, "O God,
build me some hospitals and dispensaries"? Or
would you not rather pray to Him: "O God, may I
have pure love at Your Lotus Feet! May I have
Your uninterrupted vision!"? Hospitals,
dispensaries, and all such things are unreal.
God alone is real and all else unreal.
Furthermore, after realizing God one feels that
He alone is the Doer and we are but His
instruments. Then why should we forget Him and
destroy ourselves by being involved in too many
activities? After realizing Him, one may,
through His grace, become His instrument in
building many hospitals and dispensaries.'
- I say again that work is only the first
step. It can never be the goal of life. Devote
yourself to spiritual practice and go forward.
Through practice you will advance more and more
in the path of God. At last you will come to
know that God alone is real and all else is
illusory, and that the goal of life is the
attainment of God.
- No, I don't want to obstruct the current of
your life. It is not good to renounce anything
before the proper time arrives. When the fruit
ripens, the flower drops off of itself. One
shouldn't forcibly tear off the green branch of
a coconut tree. That injures the tree.
- While thinking of God the aspirant may feel
a craving for material enjoyment. It is this
craving that makes him slip from the path. In
his next life he will be born with the spiritual
tendencies that he failed to translate into
action in his present life.
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