Sri Ramakrishna Quotes on God
Sri Ramakrishna (1836–1886) — the priest of the Dakshineswar temple whose ecstatic devotional experiences and conversations with disciples were recorded in the multi-volume Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna — is the principal nineteenth-century figure of Bengali devotional Hinduism. The central teaching is the harmony of religions: Ramakrishna's reported experiences of practicing successively the spiritual disciplines of Vaishnava devotion, Shakta tantric worship, Advaita Vedanta, Christianity, and Islam led him to teach that the various religions are different paths to the same divine reality, each adequate to the spiritual capacities of its practitioners. The framework, transmitted to a wider audience through the lectures of his disciple Vivekananda, shaped the modern reception of Hinduism in the West and the broader interreligious dialogue movements of the twentieth century.
Quotes
-
Attributed to Sri Ramakrishna:
“All religions lead to the same goal.”
-
Attributed to Sri Ramakrishna:
“The wind of God's grace is always blowing; we have only to raise our sails.”
-
Attributed to Sri Ramakrishna:
“God is realized through love, not through knowledge alone.”
-
Attributed to Sri Ramakrishna:
“The same water is called by different names in different languages, but the substance is the same.”
-
“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.”
As quoted in Hindu Psychology : Its Meaning for the West (1946) by Swami Akhilananda, p. 204 -
“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 .”
As quoted in Hindu Psychology : Its Meaning for the West (1946) by Swami Akhilananda, p. 204 | Variant translation: Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you also will have bliss. Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is to the senses, the more will be your love to God. Saying 806, in Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna (1948) edited -
“Variant translation: Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you also will have bliss. Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is to the senses, the more will be your love to God. Saying 806, in Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna (1948) edited by Swami Vireswarananda”
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 . -
“Those who wish to attain God and progress in religious devotion, should particularly guard themselves against the snares of lust and wealth. Otherwise they can never attain perfection.”
As quoted in Hindu Psychology : Its Meaning for the West (1946) by Swami Akhilananda, p. 204 -
“Iron, after it is converted into gold by the touch of philosopher's stone , may be kept under the ground or thrown into a rubbish heap; it will always remain gold and will not return to its former condition. Similar is the state of the man whose soul has touched, even once, the feet of the Almighty Lord. Whether he dwells in the bustle of the world , or in the solitude of the forest, nothing ever contaminates him.”
As quoted in Hindu Psychology : Its Meaning for the West (1946) by Swami Akhilananda, p. 204 -
“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.”
As quoted in Ramakrishna and His Disciples (1965) by Christopher Isherwood , p. 263