From the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: M.: "Sir, how ought one to live in the world as a householder?" Master: "Do all your duties with your mind always fixed on God. As for your parents and wife and children, serve them as if they were your own, but know in the inmost recesses of your heart that they are not really yours, unless they too love the Lord. The Lord alone is really your own, and also those who love the Lord." “A rich man's maid-servant will do all her duties, but her thoughts are...

Sri Ramakrishna’s message was universal. Following Vedic tradition, he was not in conflict with the innumerable spiritual paths. M. said: “I should like Sir, to meditate upon God as the Formless rather than as a Being ‘with form.’” Sri Ramakrishna: “That is good. There is no harm in looking at Him from this or that point of view. Yes, yes, to think of Him as the Formless Being is quite right. But take care you do not run away with the idea that your view alone is true and all others...

-"The mind is everything. If the mind loses its liberty, you lose your liberty. If the mind is free, you too are free. The mind may get dipped in any color like a white cloth fresh from the wash-house." – The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna -“Tat Tvam Asi” – Chandogya Upanishad -“How can I go back home, the place I belong to?” – The parable of the three robbers From the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: "Once upon a time a wood-cutter went into a forest to chop wood. There suddenly he met a...

From the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna: -"At one time there was a drought in a certain part of the country. The farmers began to cut long channels to bring water to their fields. One farmer was stubbornly determined. He took a vow that he would not stop digging until the channel connected his field with the river. He set to work. The time came for his bath, and his wife sent their daughter to him with oil. 'Father,' said the girl, 'it is already late. Rub your body with oil and take your bath.'...

How does a worldly person spend his life? -“The bound souls never think of God. If they get any leisure they indulge in idle gossip and foolish talk, or they engage in fruitless work. If you ask one of them the reason, he answers, ‘Oh, I cannot keep still; so I am making a hedge.’ When time hangs heavy on their hands they perhaps start playing cards.” There was deep silence in the room. – Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna What is the meaning of complete renunciation? -A husband and wife...

From the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna -“The Ever-Free, like Narada, the Holy Sage, are those who abide in the world for the sake of others – in order to teach the Truth to others.” -“The Worldly are they who are attached to the little things of this world – money, honours, titles, sense pleasures and power. They forget God and never give a thought to Him.” -“The Seekers After Liberation do their best to avoid the world, made up as it is of ‘Lust and Gold.’ But it is given to only a few amongst...

You don’t say you have faith in something when you know it to be a fact because you experience it and rely on it every day. Similarly, all the doubts about God can only be resolved when you have direct experience of God - when you have realized God. “Another devotee wrote the name of Rama on a leaf and handed it to a man who wanted to cross the sea, saying, 'Fear not, my friend; have faith and walk across the deep. But mind you do not show any want of faith: for then you will be drowned.' ...

The sign of a devotee is transcendental joy. He cannot be judged by the ordinary standards of the secular world. “The first sign of knowledge is a peaceful nature, and the second is absence of egotism. You have both. There are other indications of a jnani. He shows intense dispassion in the presence of a sadhu, is a lion when at work, for instance when he lectures, and is full of wit before his wife.” (All laugh) “But the nature of the vijnani is quite different, as was the case with...

“Suppose at the Name of the Lord your hair stands on end or tears of joy start from your eyes; verily I say unto you the term is over for your ‘work for the Lord.’” – Sri Ramakrishna (1836 – 1886). These are the first words of the great Hindu saint Sri Ramakrishna chronicled by his future disciple, Mahendranath Gupta (M.) in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. It is an extraordinary document of spirituality, which makes spirituality simple to practice for a person in any situation in life. ...