Sri Ramakrishna Quotes on Truth

Live in the world like an ant. The world contains a mixture of truth and untruth, sugar and sand. Be an ant and take the sugar.

Even those engaged in worldly activities, such as office work or business, should hold to the truth. Truthfulness alone is the spiritual discipline in the Kaliyuga.

If a man holds to truth he will certainly realize God.

The world is indeed a mixture of truth and make-believe. Discard the makebelieve and take the truth.

The feeling of ego has covered the Truth. Narendra once said, 'As the "I" of man recedes, the "I" of God approaches.' Kedar says, 'The more clay there is in the jar, the less water it holds.'.

The path of knowledge leads to Truth, as does the path that combines knowledge and love. The path of love, too, leads to this goal. The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth.But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow the path of love.

The Truth established in the Vedas, the Puranas, and the Tantras is but one Satchidananda. In the Vedas It is called Brahman, in the Puranas It is called Krishna, Rama, and so on, and in the Tantras It is called Siva. The one Satchidananda is called Brahman, Krishna, and Siva.

If a man leads a householder's life he must have unflagging devotion to truth. God can be realized through truth alone.

The feeling of 'I and mine' has covered the Reality. Because of this we do not see Truth. Attainment of Chaitanya, Divine Consciousness, is not possible without the knowledge of Advaita, Non-duality. After realizing Chaitanya one enjoys Nityananda, Eternal Bliss. One enjoys this Bliss after attaining the state of a paramahamsa.

It is said that truthfulness alone constitutes the spiritual discipline of the Kaliyuga. If a man clings tenaciously to truth he ultimately realizes God. Without this regard for truth, one gradually loses everything. If by chance I say that I will go to the pine-grove, I must go there even if there is no further need of it, lest I lose my attachment to truth.

Truthfulness in speech is the tapasya of the Kaliyuga. It is difficult to practise other austerities in this cycle. By adhering to truth one attains God.

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 Mussalmans take water in leather bags and call it 'pani'. From a third the Christians take the same thing and call it 'water'.

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Its really Strange and mysterious world

It is no wonder sri ramakrishna says inscrutable are the ways of god.

We really cannot know him with our small intellect.

Few Examples

1)
Noble Winner C.V Raman believes in God while Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar who had a Nobel laureate in physics and who was the nephew of Indian Nobel Laureate Sir C. V. Raman does not believe in god

2)
P.Chindambaram who graduated from harvard and who is our home minister does not believe in god while Abdul Kalam believes in god!!!!!!!

There is a also book written on those athiests :-)

Tamil Atheists: Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, M. Karunanidhi, P. Chidambaram, P. Jeevanandham, E. V. K. Sampath

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tamil-Atheists-Subrahmanyan-Chandrasekhar-Jeevanandham/dp/1155287177

3)
Great Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan believes in god and He often said, "An equation for me has no meaning, unless it represents a thought of God."

Ramanujan credited his acumen to his family Goddess, Namagiri of Namakkal, and looked to her for inspiration in his work.

While Bhagat Singh, one of the most well-known figures in the Indian independence movement, was an atheist.

4)
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy (1879–1973), the leader of self-respect movement was a vocal critic of rituals, supersition and the concept of God.

His words

“ There is no god, there is no god, there is no god at all. He who invented god is a fool. He who propagates god is a scoundrel. He who worships god is a barbarian ”

are written on his statues in various parts of Tamil Nadu.

But Saint Annamayya sings 32,000 songs in praise of Lord Venkateswara when periyar is busy scolding people who believe in god :-)

5)
While Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India is an atheist and Kamal Haasan, filmmaker and actor is known for making films having themes of both Atheism and Brahminical Hinduism but mahatma gandhiji believes in god and he follows our dharma very well.


Conclusion: Inscrutable are the ways of god!! inscrutable are the ways of god.!!!!!! What can we understand with our little intellects.Wonder of wonder is how are the subtle body(sukshma sarira) so different for every gross body.

Just unimaginable and wonder!!!!!!

My Friend Subramanian Garu wants to add few more points

Both proclamations of theism and atheism are the products of the ego.

Bhagavan Ramana used to say that even atheist should have a guru if not a god. Because he acts as per someone who has told him about atheism.So he is the Guru for atheist.

Brahmasri Nochur Venkataraman says:One theist and another atheist [in the olden days] were arguing their points to the point of fist fight.But,after food and rest, they slept together keeping one man's hand on another.The sleep or absence of ego, keep them together!

My Friend Viswanathan Garu wants to add few more points

If an atheist says that there is no god, it is absurd because unless there is a power within him which makes him to say that statement , he will not be able to say anything and that power is called by various names such as consciousness,atma, allah, rama, krishna etc..If the same athesist is dead , can he still say that there is no god?Where is that power which made him to say while he was alive now(after death)?

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Sri Ramakrishna Quotes on Divine Love

The one goal of life is to cultivate love for God, the love that the milkmaids, the milkmen, and the cowherd boys of Vrindavan felt for Krishna.

Faith and devotion. One realizes God easily through devotion. He is grasped through ecstasy of love.

The means of realizing God are ecstasy of love and devotion – that is, one must love God.

The point is, to love God even as the mother loves her child, the chaste wife her husband, and the worldly man his wealth. Add together these three forces of love, these three powers of attraction, and give it all to God. Then you will certainly see Him.

The bliss of worship and communion with God is the true wine, the wine of ecstatic love. The goal of human life is to love God, Bhakti is the one essential thing. To know God through jnana and reasoning is extremely difficult.

If you enter the world without first cultivating love for God, you will be entangled more and more. You will be overwhelmed with its danger, its grief, its sorrows. And the more you think of worldly things, the more you will be attached to them.

Repeat God's name and sing His glories, and keep holy company; and now and then visit God's devotees and holy men. The mind cannot dwell on God if it is immersed day and night in worldliness, in worldly duties and responsibilities; it is most necessary to go into solitude now and then and think of God. To fix the mind on God is very difficult, in the beginning, unless one practises meditation in solitude. When a tree is young it should be fenced all around; otherwise it may be destroyed by cattle.

The path of knowledge leads to Truth, as does the path that combines knowledge and love. The path of love, too, leads to this goal. The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth. But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow the path of love.
God cannot be realized through mere scholarly reasoning.

One is able to realize God just through love. Ecstasy of feeling, devotion, love, and faith – these are the means.

What is needed is absorption in God – loving Him intensely. The 'Nectar Lake' is the Lake of Immortality. A man sinking in It does not die, but becomes immortal. Some people believe that by thinking of God too much the mind becomes deranged; but that is not true. God is the Lake of Nectar, the Ocean of Immortality. He is called the 'Immortal' in the Vedas. Sinking in It, one does not die, but verily transcends death.

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Ramakrishna Paramhansa and Swami Vivekananda First Meeting

When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna his name was still Narendranath -- later on Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he was extremely argumentative, an atheist, a rationalist. He wanted proof for everything.

There are some things that have no proof -- it cannot be helped. There is no proof for godliness: it is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for love. It is, and yet there is no proof. There is no proof for beauty. It is, and yet there is no proof.

If I say, "Look how beautiful these ironwood trees are," and you say, "I don't see any beauty -- Trees are just trees. Prove it!," it will be difficult. How can one prove they are beautiful? To be beautiful you need a sense of beauty -- there is no other way. You need eyes -- there is no other way. It is reported that Majnu said, "To know Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." It is true; to see Laila there is no other way. The king of his area called Majnu and said. "You are mad! I know your Laila -- an ordinary girl, jet black -- nothing special.

I feel sorry for you, so here are twelve girls from my palace -- they are the most beautiful women of the country. You can chose any one you like. Seeing you cry, my heart also cries. " Majnu looked at them and said, "There is no Laila among them. They cannot even be compared to Laila, they are not even worth the dust of her feet." The king said, "Majnu, you are mad...!" Majnu said, "That may be so, but I must tell you one thing: to see Laila you will need the eyes of Majnu." Majnu is right. To see the beauty of trees you need an eye for art -- there is no other proof.

If one wants to know love, one will need the heart of a lover -- there is no other proof. And godliness is the collective name of all the beauty, all the love and all the truth of this universe. For it an unwavering consciousness is needed, a witnessing is needed... where no word remains, no thought remains, no wave arises... where no mental dust remains and the mirror of consciousness is perfectly pure. What proof? Vivekananda told Ramakrishna, "I want proof. If God exists then prove it!"

Ramakrishna looked at Vivekananda. This youth had great promise, great potential; much was ready to happen within him. There was a great treasure with which Vivekananda was unacquainted. Ramakrishna looked into, peered into, the past lives of this youth. Vivekananda had come carrying a great treasure, a great treasure of integrity, but it was suppressed under his logic.

Seeing this, a cry of anguish and compassion must have risen from Ramakrishna's heart. He said, "Forget all this. We'll talk about proof and such things later on. I have become a little old, I have difficulty reading; you are young, you eyes are still strong -- read from the book lying there."

It was the Ashtavakra Gita. "Read a little out loud to me." It is said that Vivekananda saw nothing wrong in this, this fellow was not requesting anything special. He read three or four sutras and every cell began trembling. He started to panic and he said, "I cannot read on." Ramakrishna insisted, " Go ahead and read. What harm can there be in it? How can this book hurt you? You are young, your eyes are still fresh, and I am old, it is hard for me to read. I must hear this book -- read it out to me."

It is said that Vivekananda kept on reading aloud from the book -- and disappeared in meditation. Ramakrishna had seen great potential in this youth, a very promising potential, like that of a bodhisattva who one day or other is destined to become a buddha. Sooner or later, no matter how much he wanders, he is approaching buddhahood. When Vivekananda came to Ramakrishna his name was still Narendranath -- later on Ramakrishna named him Vivekananda. When he came to Ramakrishna he was extremely argumentative, an atheist, a rationalist.

Swami Vivekananda Searching Job

There is a small memoir in the life of Vivekananda. When Vivekananda’s father died, there was so much poverty in his home that often there was not enough food for both mother and son. So, Vivekananda would tell his mother, ”Today I am invited to a friend’s house, I will go there.” In fact there was no invitation, no nothing, he would just roam around on the roads and later return home. Otherwise the food was so little that his mother would feed him and would remain hungry herself.

So, he would return home with an empty stomach but happy and laughing saying loudly, ”It was a wonderful meal! Such delicious food dishes were cooked!” He would enter the house talking of those food stuffs that were nowhere cooked for him, that he had not eaten anywhere.

When Ramakrishna came to know of this, he said, ”How mad you are! Why don’t you ask God and all will be taken care of.” Vivekananda said that it will be too ordinary a thing to talk about eating and drinking with God. Still Ramakrishna asked him to ask at least once and see. He sent Vivekananda inside the temple. One hour passed, one and a half hours passed, Vivekananda came out from the temple and was very blissful and estatic. He came out dancing. Ramakrishna asked, ”Did you get it? Did you ask for it?” Vivekananda said, ”Get what?” Ramakrishna said, ”I had told you to put forward your demand. What makes you return so blissful?”

Vivekananda said, ”I forgot that completely ” This happened several times. Ramakrishna would send him in and when Vivekananda came out of the temple, he would inquire about it. Then Vivekananda would remember what he had been sent in for. Ramakrishna said, ”Are you mad or something? Because while going inside, you promised me that you will ask.”

Vivekananda would say, ”When I go in, there remains not even a faint memory that I have to ask God for something. On the contrary, a feeling of giving arises in me, that I should give myself to Him. And when I give myself, there is such bliss, so much of it that there is neither hunger, nor thirst, nor the need to ask”

Vivekananda could not ask. It was not possible for him. Until now no truly religious person has asked for anything from God. And those who have asked, it ought to be understood well that they have nothing to do with religion. The religious man has only given.

Source: "Ramakrishna Paramhansa & Swami Vivekananda First Meeting" from book "the mahageeta vol1" By Osho

http://formlesspath-sunthosh.blogspot.com/2010/05/ramakrishna-paramhansa-and-swami.html

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Ramana Maharshi Views About Sri Ramakrishna Seeing Life In The Image Of Kali

14th December, 1938

D.: It is said that Sri Ramakrishna saw life in the image of Kali which
he worshipped. Can it be true?

M.: The life was perceptible(Capable of being perceived by the mind or senses) to Sri Ramakrishna and not to all. The vital force was due to himself. It was his own vital force which manifested as if it were outside and drew him in. Were the image full of life it must have been found so by all. But everything is full of life. That is the fact. Many devotees have had experiences similar to those of Sri Ramakrishna.

D.: How can there be life in stone? It is unconscious.

M.: The whole universe is full of life. You say the stone is unconscious.It is your self-consciousness which now speaks of unconsciousness.When a person wants to see if there is an article in a dark room he takes a lamp to look for it. The light is useful for detecting the presence and the absence of the thing. Consciousness is necessary for discovering if a thing is conscious or not. If a man remains in a dark room one need not take a lamp to find him. If called, he answers. He does not require a lamp to announce his presence.Consciousness is thus self-shining.

Now you say you were unconscious in sleep and self-conscious in the wakeful state. Which is the Reality? The Reality must be continuous and eternal. Neither the unconsciousness nor the self-consciousness of the present is the Reality. But you admit your existence all through. The pure Being is the reality. The others are mere associations. The pure Being cannot be otherwise than consciousness. Otherwise you cannot say that you exist. Therefore consciousness is the reality. When that consciousness is associated with upadhis you speak of self-consciousness,unconsciousness, sub-consciousness, super-consciousness, humanconsciousness,dog-consciousness, tree-consciousness and so on. The unaltering common factor in all of them is consciousness.Therefore the stone is as much unconscious as you are in sleep.Is that totally devoid of consciousness?

D.: But a dog-consciousness is different from my consciousness.I cannot read the Bible to the dog. The tree again does not move whereas I move and act.

M.: Call the tree a standing man; and call the man a moving tree.

An American gentleman who also took part in the conversation would not allow Sri Bhagavan to explain and so it stopped here.

Source: TALKS WITH SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI

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