Ramakrishna: Quotes about God

Ramakrishna was Indian mystic and religious preacher. Explore interesting quotes on god.
Ramakrishna: 284 quotes7 likes

“If there are errors in other religions, that is none of our business. God, to whom the world belongs, takes care of that.”

Ramakrishna

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 559

“Whether you accept Rādhā and Krishna, or not, please do accept their attraction for each other. Try to create that same yearning in your heart for God. Yearning is all you need in order to realize Him.”

Ramakrishna

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 140

“Can you weep for Him with intense longing of heart? Men shed a jugful of tears for the sake of their children, for their wives, or for money. But who weeps for God? So long as the child remains engrossed with its toys, the mother looks after her cooking and other household duties. But when the child no longer relishes the toys, it throws them aside and yells for its mother. Then the mother takes the rice-pot down from the hearth, runs in haste, and takes the child in her arms.”

Ramakrishna

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 149

“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? O man, because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God.”

Ramakrishna

Source: Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (1960), p. 1

“God made me pass through the disciplines of various paths. First according to the Puranas, then according to the Tantra. I also followed the disciplines of the Vedas…I practised all sorts of Sadhana …. During my Sadhana period I had all kinds of amazing visions.”

Ramakrishna

As quoted in Ram Swarup: (1986). Ramakrishna Mission: In search of a new identity.

“You have been born in this world as a human being to worship God; therefore try to acquire love for His Lotus Feet. Why do you trouble yourself to know a hundred other things? What will you gain by discussing philosophy? Look here, one ounce of liquor is enough to intoxicate you. What is the use of your trying to find out how many gallons of liquor there are in the tavern?”

Ramakrishna

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 901

“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

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 863

“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

Saying 5; variant translation: 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 realize Him.
Râmakrishna : His Life and Sayings (1898)

“The goal can never be reached unless a man makes his mind strong, and firmly resolves that he must realise God in this very birth, nay, this very moment.”

Ramakrishna

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (1960)

“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

Source: Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (1960), p. 233

“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

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 220

“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

Source: Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (1960), p. 99

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

Ramakrishna

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 465

“Suppose a thorn has pierced a man's foot. He picks another thorn to pull out the first one. After extracting the first thorn with the help of the second, he throws both away. One should use the thorn of knowledge to pull out the thorn of ignorance. Then one throws away both the thorns, knowledge and ignorance, and attains vijnāna. What is vijnāna? It is to know God distinctly by realizing His existence through an intuitive experience and to speak to Him intimately. That is why Sri Krishna said to Arjuna, "Go beyond the three gunas."”

Ramakrishna

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 780

“As one can ascend to the top of a house by means of a ladder or a bamboo or a staircase or a rope, so diverse also are the ways and means to approach God, and every religion in the world shows one of these ways.”

Ramakrishna

Saying 269
Râmakrishna : His Life and Sayings (1898)

“Knowledge leads to unity, but Ignorance to diversity.
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

As quoted in Hindu Psychology : Its Meaning for the West (1946) by Swami Akhilananda, p. 204

“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

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 844

“By constantly repeating, "I am free, I am free", a man verily becomes free. On the other hand, by constantly repeating, "I am bound, I am bound", he certainly becomes bound to worldliness. The fool who says only, "I am a sinner, I am a sinner", verily drowns himself in worldliness. One should rather say: "I have chanted the name of God. How can I be a sinner? How can I be bound?"”

Ramakrishna

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 274

“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

458
Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (1960)

“If you feel proud, let it be in the thought that you are the servant of God, the son of God. Great men have the nature of a child. They are always a child before Him; so they are free from pride. All their strength is of God and not their own. It belongs to Him and comes from Him.”

Ramakrishna

124
Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (1960)