Friday, March 21, 2008

· The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.

· You are babies, and babies must submit to be taught. You have not yet drunk of that fountain which makes "reason unreason, mortal immortal, this world a zero, and of human being a God." Come out if you can of this network of foolishness they call this world. Then I will call you indeed brave and free. If you cannot, cheer those that dare dash this false God, society, onto the earth and trample on its unmitigated hypocrisy; if you cannot cheer them, pray, be silent, but do not try to drag them down again into the mire with such false nonsense as compromise and becoming nice and sweet.

Letter to Miss Mary Hale. From New York: February 1, 1895.
Complete Works, 5:72-73.

· The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified, and God will be in them.

· None but men of great renunciation, none but mighty giants among men, have a right to that Love Divine.

· Above all, beware of compromises. Hold on to your own principles in weal or woe and never adjust them to others’ “fads” through the greed of getting supporters. Your Atman is the support of the universe—whose support do you stand in need of?

· Our goal is freedom, our goal is unselfishness.

· All is the Self or Brahman. The saint, the sinner, the lamb, the tiger, even the murderer, as far as they have any reality, can be nothing else, because there is nothing else.

· Everything in this world, whether good or bad, belongs to God.

· Upon ages of struggle a character is built.

· He who has conquered the internal nature controls the whole universe; it becomes his slave.

· Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are all the world. Who can help you?

· All power is within you. You can do anything and everything. Believe in that. Do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays. Stand up and express the divinity within you.

· There is Only One Real Desire

Give up the world---------------this nonsense of the senses. There is only one real desire: to know what is true, to be spiritual.

· Let the heart be opened first, and all else will follow of itself.

· The great secret is --------------------absence of jealousy.

· It is only by doing good to others that one attains to one’s own good, and it is by leading others to Bhakti and Mukti that one attains them oneself.

· All that is real in me is God; all that is real in God is I. The gulf between God and human beings is thus bridged. Thus we find how, by knowing God, we find the kingdom of heaven within us.

· Take the hands away and there is light; the light exists always for us, the self-effulgent nature of the human soul.

· A man who does the lower work is not, for that reason only, a lower man than he who does the higher works; a man should not be judged by the nature of his duties, but by the manner in which he does them.

· Always discriminate--your body, your house, the people and the world are all absolutely unreal like a dream. Always think that the body is only an inert instrument. And the Atman within is your real nature.

· Whatever is weak and corrupt is liable to die------------------what are we to do with it?

· What we call powers, secrets of nature, and force, are all within.

· How freedom is to be attained

The goal of all nature is freedom, and freedom is to be attained only by perfect unselfishness.

· Anything that brings spiritual, mental, or physical weakness, touch it not with the toes of your feet.

· Stand up for God; let the world go.

· Whether we know it or not, whether we are conscious or unconscious of it, we are all working to get out of the dream of the world.

· Wealth goes, beauty vanishes, life flies, powers fly---------------but the Lord abideth for ever, love abideth for ever.

· The Way to Perfection

This is the way to perfection, to strive to be perfect, and to strive to make perfect a few men and women.

· None can help you; help yourself; work out your own salvation.

· Anything that is secret and mysterious in these systems of yoga should be at once rejected. The best guide in life is strength. In religion, as in all other matters, discard everything that weakens you, have nothing to do with it.

· The enjoyment that you are seeking is only in peace; and peace, in the renunciation of physical pleasure.

· One has to be free, and as broad as sky. One has to have a mind that is crystal clear; only then can truth shine in it.

· Wisdom (Jnana) is the goal of all life.

· Ours is to do good works in our lives and hold an example before others.

· There must not be the slightest divergence between one’s words and actions.

· This race after gold and power is all vanity of vanities.

· This idea of the body and of the mind must go, must be driven off.

· Never lose heart. In eating, dressing, or lying, in singing or playing, in enjoyment or disease, always manifest the highest moral courage.

· Be brave! Be strong! Be fearless! Once you have taken up the spiritual life, fight as long as there is any life in you. Even though you know you are going to be killed, fight till you “are killed.” Don’t die of fright. Die fighting. Don’t go down till you are knocked down.

· Only know the truth and realise it.

· Everywhere is the same God, the All-Love.

· This is the central idea of the Gita---------------to be calm and steadfast in all circumstances, with one’s body, mind, and soul centered at His hallowed feet!

· Hatred is a thing which greatly impedes the course of Bhakti; and the man who hates none reaches God.

· May you be ever possessed of valour!

· This is the message of Shri Ramakrishna to the modern world: Do not care for doctrines, do not care for dogmas, or sects, or churches, or temples; they count for little compared with the essence of existence in each man, which is spirituality; and the more this is developed in a man, the more powerful is he for good. Earn that first, acquire that, and criticise no one, for all doctrines and creeds have some good in them. Show by your lives that religion does not mean words, or names, or sects, but that it means spiritual realization. Only those can understand who have felt. Only those who have attained to spirituality can communicate it to others, can be great teachers of Mankind. They alone are the powers of light.

· The most insidious is the love of fame.

· Not a work will be lost, no struggle vain, though hopes be blighted, powers gone.

· It is the greatest manifestation of power to be calm.

· We are here for freedom, for knowledge.

· The happiest moments we ever know are when we entirely forget ourselves.

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