Eating Love

The more you possess, the less you can love. And love is the door. Or, the less you can love, the more you start possessing things. Things become a substitute.

Let us try to understand it. A child is born. If the mother loves him…psychoanalysts have been studying, much research has been done — if the mother loves him, the child never drinks too much milk; never, because he knows, it is a tacit understanding, that the mother is always available and she’s always ready to share. So what is the fear? If the mother loves the child, the child will drink only as much milk as is needed. If the child is loved, you will never see a big belly in the child.

The child will be proportionate. In fact the mother will be constantly worried that the child is not eating or drinking or taking as much food as needed. But the child has understood that whenever the need arises, the mother is there. He can rely on love.

Ramakrishna Quotes on Truth

1. Live in the world like an ant. The world contains a mixture of truth and untruth, sugar and sand. Be an ant and take the sugar.
    
2. If a man holds to truth he will certainly realize God.
    
3. If a man leads a householder's life he must have unflagging devotion to truth. God can be realized through truth alone.
    
4. The world is indeed a mixture of truth and make-believe. Discard the makebelieve and take the truth.
    
5. Even those engaged in worldly activities, such as office work or business, should hold to the truth. Truthfulness alone is the spiritual discipline in the Kaliyuga.
    
6. 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.

Ramakrishna Quotes on Life

1. The aim of life is the attainment of God.
    
2. 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.
    
3. 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.'
    
4. 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?"
    
5. 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.
    
6. If a man leads a householder's life he must have unflagging devotion to truth. God can be realized through truth alone.

Ramakrishna Quotes on Mind

1. First is the purification of the mind. Afterwards, if you direct the mind to the contemplation of God, it will be coloured by God-Consciousness. Again, if you direct the mind to worldly duties, such as the acting of a play, it will be coloured by worldliness.
    
2. It is all a question of the mind. Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone. The mind will take the colour you dye it with. It is like white clothes just returned from the laundry. If you dip them in red dye, they will be red. If you dip them in blue or green, they will be blue or green. They will take only the colour you dip them in, whatever it may be.
    
3. A man cannot see God unless he gives his whole mind to Him. The mind is wasted on 'woman and gold'.
    
4. Live in the world but keep the pitcher steady on your head; that is to say, keep the mind firmly on God.
    
5. One finds peace of mind in the company of holy men.
    
6. God cannot be known by the sense-organs or by this mind; but He can be known by the pure mind, the mind that is free from worldiy desires.

Ramakrishna Quotes on Lust

1. 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.
    
2. Lust is like the root of the tree, and desires are branches and twigs. Passions should be directed to God.
    
3. He who has realized God does not look upon a woman with the eye of lust; so he is not afraid of her. He perceives clearly that women are but so many aspects of the Divine Mother. He worships them all as the Mother Herself.
    
4. God cannot be realized without purity of heart. One receives the grace of God by subduing the passions—lust, anger, and greed.
    
5. Woman exists for a man as long as he has lust. Free from lust, one sees no difference between man and woman.
    
6. I am speaking of the danger of the alligators of lust and the like. Because of them one should smear one's body with turmeric before diving in—the turmeric of discrimination and dispassion.

Ramakrishna Quotes on Guru - Master

1. Many need 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.
    
2. One attains God by following the guru's instructions step by step. It is like reaching an object by following the trail of a thread.
    
3. Better than reading is hearing, and better than hearing is seeing. One understands the scriptures better by hearing them from the lips of the guru or of a holy man. Then one doesn't have to think about their non-essential part.
    
4. How much of the scriptures can you read? What will you gain by mere reasoning? Try to realize God before anything else. Have faith in the guru's words, and work. If you have no guru, then pray to God with a longing heart. He will let you know what He is like.
    
5. One must have faith in the guru's words. The guru is none other than Satchidananda. God Himself is the Guru. If you only believe his words like a child, you will realize God. What faith a child has! When a child's mother says to him about a certain man, 'He is your brother', the child believes he really is his brother. The child believes it one hundred and twenty-five percent, though he may be the son of a brahmin, and the man the son of a blacksmith.
    
6. Faith in the guru's words. You should depend on his instruction. Do your duties in the world, holding fast to his words, like a person whirling round and holding fast to a pillar.

Ramakrishna Quotes on Ego

1. A man cannot easily get rid of the ego and the consciousness that the body is the soul. It becomes possible only when, through the grace of God, he attains samadhi—nirvikalpa samadhi, jada samadhi.
    
2. The feeling of ego has covered the Truth. Narendra once said, 'As the "I" of man recedes, the "I" of God approaches.' Kedar says, 'The more clay there is in the jar, the less water it holds.'.
    
3. A man is able to see God as soon as he gets rid of ego and other limitations. He sees God as soon as he is free from such feelings as 'I am a scholar', 'I am the son of such and such a person', 'I am wealthy', 'I am honourable', and so forth.
    
4. If this ego cannot be got rid of, then let the rascal remain as the servant of God.
    
5. 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.
    
6. A man achieves neither Knowledge nor liberation as long as he has egotism. He comes back again and again to the world.

Ramakrishna Quotes on Money

1. One must not be proud of one’s money. If you say that you are rich, then one can remind you that there are richer men than you, and others richer still, and so on. At dusk the glow-worm comes out and thinks that it lights the world. But its pride is crushed when the stars appear in the sky. The stars feel that they give light to the earth. But when the moon rises the stars fade in shame. The moon feels that the world smiles at its light and that it lights the earth. Then the eastern horizon becomes red, and the sun rises. The moon fades and after a while is no longer seen.
    
2. Can one ever bring God under control through wealth? He can be tamed only through love. What does He want? Certainly not wealth! He wants from His devotees love, devotion, feeling, discrimination, and renunciation.
    
3. Money enables a man to get food and drink, build a house, worship the Deity, serve devotees and holy men, and help the poor when he happens to meet them. These are the good uses of money. Money is not meant for luxuries or creature comforts or for buying a position in society.
    
4. Some people pride themselves on their riches and power—their wealth, honour, and social position. But these are only transitory. Nothing will remain with you in death.
    
5. 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?"
    
6. 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.

Ramakrishna Quotes on Bliss

1. Dive deep in the sweetness of God's Bliss.
    
2. If the mind is free from 'woman and gold', then what else can obstruct a man? He enjoys then only the Bliss of Brahman.
    
3. If a man enjoys the Bliss of God, he doesn't enjoy the world. Having tasted divine bliss, he finds the world insipid. If a man gets a shawl, he doesn't care for broadcloth.
    
4. The feeling of 'I and mine' has covered the Reality. Because of this we do not see Truth. Attainment of Chaitanya, Divine Consciousness, is not possible without the knowledge of Advaita, Non-duality. After realizing Chaitanya one enjoys Nityananda, Eternal Bliss. One enjoys this Bliss after attaining the state of a paramahamsa.
    
5. People talk about leading a religious life in the world. But if they once taste the bliss of God they will not enjoy anything else. Their attachment to worldly duties declines. As their spiritual joy becomes deeper, they simply cannot perform their worldy duties. More and more they seek that joy. Can worldly pleasures and sex pleasures be compared to the bliss of God? If a man once tastes that bliss he runs after it ever afterwards. It matters very little to him then whether the world remains or disappears.
    
6. The feeling of 'I and mine' has covered the Reality. Because of this we do not see Truth. Attainment of Chaitanya, Divine Consciousness, is not possible without the knowledge of Advaita, Non-duality. After realizing Chaitanya one enjoys Nityananda, Eternal Bliss. One enjoys this Bliss after attaining the state of a paramahamsa.

Ramakrishna Quotes on Attachment

1. Mere reading of the scriptures is not enough. A person cannot understand the true significance of the scriptures if he is attached to the world.
    
2. What is the significance of the Gita? It is what you find by repeating the word ten times. It is then reversed into 'tagi', which means a person who has renounced everything for God. And the lesson of. the Gita is: 'O man, renounce everything and seek God alone.' Whether a man is a monk or a householder, he has to shake off all attachment from his mind.
    
3. Worldly people ask why one does not get rid of attachment to 'woman and gold'. That attachment disappears after the realization of God. If a man once tastes the Bliss of Brahman, then his mind no longer runs after the enjoyment of sense pleasures or wealth or name and fame. If the moth once sees the light, it no longer goes into the darkness.
    
4. How can one attain yoga? By completely renouncing attachment to worldly things. The mind must be pure and without blemish, like the telegraph wire that has no defect.
    
5. One cannot see God without purity of heart. Through attachment to 'woman and gold' the mind has become stained—covered with dirt, as it were. A magnet cannot attract a needle if the needle is covered with mud. Wash away the mud and the magnet will draw it. Likewise, the dirt
    
6. What need is there of renouncing the world altogether? It is enough if you can rid yourself of attachment. But you must have sadhana (spiritual practice) you have to fight the sense-organs.

Lao Tzu Quotes

The wise student on hearing the Tao
diligently puts it into practice.
The average student on hearing the Tao
keeps it one minute and loses it the next.
 

A truly good person functions without ulterior motive.
A moralist acts out of private desires.
 

My words are easy to understand and easy to put into practice.
Yet no one under heaven understands them or puts them into practice.
 

Few things under heaven bring more benefit than
the lessons learned from silence and
the actions taken without striving.
 

A great country is like the low lands
where all the streams unite.
 

The True Person does not wish to be great
and therefore becomes truly great.

Lao Tzu Sayings

If you are content
You will always have enough.
 

Greatness has its source in the little.
The low is the foundation of the high.
 

Trying to fill life to the brim invites a curse.
For the mind to make demands upon the breath of life brings strain.
 

If you would assist leaders of people by way of the Tao,
you will oppose the use of armed force to overpower the world.
 

The True Person benefits yet expects no reward,
does the work and moves on.
There is no desire to be considered better than others.
 

Good words are appreciated.
Good deeds are accepted as gifts.

Lao Tzu Sayings and Quotes

There is no disaster greater than attacking and finding no enemy.
 

Develop the strength of a man, but live as gently as a woman.
 

Everyone knows that the yielding overcomes the stiff,
and the soft overcomes the hard.
Yet no one applies this knowledge.
 

That which goes against the Tao will quickly pass away.
 

Giving life without claiming authority,
benefiting without demanding gratitude,
guiding without control.
This is called hidden Virtue.
 

In the pursuit of learning, every day something is added.
In the pursuit of the Tao, every day something is dropped.

Lao Tzu Quotations

Those who delight in the slaughter of people will
never thrive among all that dwell under heaven.
 

Give up shrewdness, discard gain,
and thieves and robbers will disappear.
 

Handle the difficult while it is still easy.
Cultivate the great while it is still small.
 

All under heaven will return to the Tao
as brooks and streams flow home to the sea.
 

The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named is not the eternal name.
 

Many words lead to exhaustion.
Better to hold fast to your centre.

Lao Tzu Quotes and Sayings

If the people are simple and free from desire, then the clever ones never dare to interfere.
 

The True Person does not have an individual heart
but uses the heart of the people.
 

Those who know do not speak.
Those who speak do not know.
 

When desires are restrained there will be peace,
and then all under heaven will be at rest.
 

A person of high virtue is not conscious of virtue
and therefore possesses Virtue.
A person of little virtue tries to be virtuous
and therefore lacks Virtue.
 

True Persons do not hoard.
Using all they have for others, they still have more.
Giving all they have to others, they are richer than before.

Uddhava Gita Quotes

• 
  When a person worships Me by his prescribed duties with the hope of gaining material benefit, his nature should be understood to be in passion, and one who worships Me with the desire to commit violence against others is in ignorance.
   
• Work performed as an offering to Me, without consideration of the fruit, is considered to be in the mode of goodness. Work performed with a desire to enjoy the results is in the mode of passion. And work impelled by violence and envy is in the mode of ignorance.
   
• Because of absorption in sense gratification, one cannot recognize himself or others. Living uselessly in ignorance like a tree, one is merely breathing just like a bellows.

Uddhava Gita Quotes

• 
  One who has transcended material good and evil automatically acts in accordance with religious injunctions and avoids forbidden activities. The self-realized person does this spontaneously, like an innocent child, and not because he is thinking in terms of material good and evil.
   
• When a person living in a temporary material body tries to construct a happy home, the result is fruitless and miserable.
   
• Whoever indulges in praising or criticizing the qualities and behavior of others will quickly become deviated from his own best interest by his entanglement in illusory dualities.
   
• Those ignorant of their real self-interest are wandering on the path of material existence, gradually heading toward darkness.

Uddhava Gita Quotes

• 
  Actual heaven is the predominance of the mode of goodness, whereas hell is the predominance of ignorance
   
• The yogi who has taken shelter of Me remains free from hankering because he experiences the happiness of the soul within. Thus while executing this process of yoga, he is never defeated by obstacles.
   
• The material universe that you perceive through your mind, speech, eyes, ears and other senses is an illusory creation that one imagines to be real due to the influence of maya (illusion). In fact, you should know that all of the objects of the material senses are temporary.

Ribhu Gita Quotes and Sayings

• Abide as That in which there is neither desire nor anger, neither greed nor delusion, neither ill-will nor pride, no impurities of mind and no false notions of bondage and liberation - and be always happy, free from all traces of thought.
   
• Abide as That in which there are no concepts or anything else whatsoever, the ego ceases to exist, all desires disappear, the mind becomes extinct and all confusions come to an end - and with the firm conviction that you are That, be always happy.
   
• Abide as That in which there are no Holy Scriptures or sacred books, no one who thinks, no objection or answer to it, no theory to be established, no theory to be rejected, nothing other than one Self - and be always happy, free from the least trace of thought.

Upanishads Quotes and Sayings

• Knowing that great and all-pervading Self by which one sees (the objects) both in the sleep and the waking states, the intelligent man grieves no more. - Katha Upanishad
   
• In order to realize the Self, renounce everything. Having cast off all (objects), assimilate yourself to that which remains. - Annapurna Upanishad
   
• Dissolve the self in the supreme Self as the pot-space is dissolved in infinite space; then, as the Infinite be silent for ever, O sage! – Adhyatma Upanishad
   
• Liberated from the grip of egoism, like the moon (after the eclipse), full, ever blissful, self-luminous, one attains one’s essence. – Adhyatma Upanishad