Conversations with Sri Ramakrishna - Knowing God

Can anyone ever know God?"

Sri Ramakrishna: "Who can ever know God? I don't even try. I only call on Him as Mother. Let Mother do whatever She likes. I shall know Her if it is Her will; but I shall be happy to remain ignorant if She wills otherwise. My nature is that of a kitten. It only cries, 'Mew, mew!' The rest it leaves to its mother. The mother cat puts the kitten sometimes in the kitchen and sometimes on the Master's bed. The young child wants only his mother. He doesn't know how wealthy his mother is, and he doesn't even want to know. He knows only, 'I have a mother; why should I worry?' Even the child of the maidservant knows that he has a mother. If he quarrels with the son of the Master, he says: 'I shall tell my mother. I have a mother.' My attitude, too, is that of a child." P. 299 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Teachings of Holy Mother

Sri Sarada Devi, the holy mother, says: Don't be afraid my child, these earthly ties are transitory. Today they seem to be the be-all and end-all of life, and tomorrow they vanish. Your real tie is with God. God is one's very own. It is the eternal relationship. He is ever looking after you. Call on the Lord who pervades the entire universe. He will shower His blessings upon you.

Teachings of Ramakrishna

A man becomes liberated even in this life when he knows that God is the Doer of all things. -  P. 159 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna

"What is this maya?"

Sri Ramakrishna: "Whatever you see, think, or hear is maya. In a word, 'woman and gold' is the covering of maya. There is no harm in chewing betel-leaf, eating fish, smoking, or rubbing the body with oil. What will one achieve by renouncing only these things? The one thing needful is the renunciation of 'woman and gold'. That renunciation is the real and supreme renunciation. Householders should go into solitude now and then, to practice spiritual discipline in order to cultivate devotion to God; they should renounce mentally. But the sannyasi should renounce both mentally and physically." P. 291 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna

By repeating a hundred times, 'I am a sinner', one verily becomes a sinner.
P. 159 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

Teachings of Holy Mother

The body means the existence of desire, otherwise it would not have existed. It all ends when one no longer has any desires. C84 In the Company of the Holy Mother.  By Her Direct Disciples.   Calcutta : Advaita Ashrama, 1980