Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 423
Context: Truth is one; only It is called by different names. All people are seeking the same Truth; the variance is due to climate, temperament, and name. A lake has many ghats. From one ghat the Hindus take water in jars and call it "jal". From another ghat the Mussalmāns take water in leather bags and call it "pāni". From a third the Christians take the same thing and call it "water". Suppose someone says that the thing is not "jal" but "pāni", or that it is not "pāni" but "water", or that it is not "water" but "jal", It would indeed be ridiculous. But this very thing is at the root of the friction among sects, their misunderstandings and quarrels. This is why people injure and kill one another, and shed blood, in the name of religion. But this is not good. Everyone is going toward God. They will all realize Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart.
“All will certainly realize God if they are earnest and sincere.”
Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 124
Context: 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 the Christians will realize him too. All will certainly realize God if they are earnest and sincere.
As quoted in "Leading Atheist: Pope Francis “Is The Kind Of World Leader We Need”" http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/pope-smiles-on-godless by Joe Keohane, at Esquire (12 September 2013)]
2010s, 2013
Context: You ask me if the God of the Christians forgives those who don’t believe and who don’t seek the faith. I start by saying — and this is the fundamental thing — that God’s mercy has no limits if you go to him with a sincere and contrite heart. The issue for those who do not believe in God is to obey their conscience.
“With sincerity and earnestness one can realize God through all religions.”
Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 124
Context: 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 the Christians will realize him too. All will certainly realize God if they are earnest and sincere.
“God cannot be realized without love. Yes, sincere love.”
[A Short Life of the Holy Mother, 88]
On Martin Luther King, Jr.
America The Beautiful (2010)
[Swami Tapasyananda, Swami Nikhilananda, Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother; Life and Conversations, 302]
The Saints' Everlasting Rest (1650), "The Nature of the Saints' Rest"
“I realized that there is only one God toward whom all are travelling; but the paths are different.”
Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942), p. 129
Context: I had to practise each religion for a time — Hinduism, Islām, Christianity. Furthermore, I followed the paths of the Śāktas, Vaishnavas, and Vedāntists. I realized that there is only one God toward whom all are travelling; but the paths are different.
The Way of God's Will Chapter 3-3 Witnessing http://www.unification.org/ucbooks/WofGW/wogw3-03.htm Translated 1980.
