111 Transformative God Quotes by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa that Will Deepen Your Connection with the Divine
Last updated on December 12th, 2023 at 10:34 am
Born into a simple rural Bengali family in 1836, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa emerged as a 19th-century Indian mystic and yogi. His life’s work was dedicated to simplifying complex spiritual concepts, transcending religious boundaries by believing in the divine presence in every individual.
His legacy thrives through Swami Vivekananda and the Ramakrishna Mission. He preached unity among religions, emphasizing their diverse paths leading to the same destination—God.
In his spiritual journey, Ramakrishna’s intense devotion to goddess Kali and his exploration of various religious traditions established him as a timeless figure in spiritual history.
Now, let’s embark on a transformative journey through Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa’s enlightening quotes on religion, spirituality, God, life, and love.
Great men have the nature of a child. They are always a child before Him; so they are free from pride. All their strength is of God and not their own. It belongs to Him and comes from Him. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The world is impermanent. One should constantly remember death. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Who is whose Guru? God alone is the guide and Guru of the universe. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The goal of life is not the earning of money, but the service of God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Whoever wants God intensely, finds Him. Go and verify it in your own life. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
What is the use of merely listening to lectures? The real thing is practice. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Work, apart from devotion or love of God, is helpless and cannot stand alone. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
If there are errors in other religions, that is none of our business. God, to whom the world belongs, takes care of that. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Man needs a guru. But a man must have faith in the guru’s words. He succeeds in spiritual life by looking on his guru as God Himself. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
All religions are true. God can be reached by different religions. Many rivers flow in many ways but they fall into the sea. They all are one. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
If you spent one-tenth of the time you devoted to distractions like chasing women or making money to spiritual practice, you would be enlightened in a few years. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Make your meditation a continuous state of mind. A great worship is going on all the time, so nothing should be neglected or excluded from your constant meditative awareness. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Man suffers through lack of faith in God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
You should love everyone because God dwells in all beings. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Different creeds are but different paths to reach the same God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The world is not impermanent if one lives there after knowing God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
God is in all men, but all men are not in God; that is why we suffer. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The fabled musk deer searches the world over for the source of the scent which comes from itself. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
With sincerity and earnestness one can realize God through all religions. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The winds of God’s grace are always blowing, it is for us to raise our sails. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Unless one always speaks the truth, one cannot find God Who is the soul of truth. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Try to cultivate love of God. You are born as a human being only to attain divine love. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
One must be very particular about telling the truth. Through truth one can realize God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
When the fruit appears the blossom drops off. Love of God is the fruit, and rituals are the blossom. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Longing is like the rosy dawn. After the dawn out comes the sun. Longing is followed by the vision of God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The compassion that you see in the kindhearted is God’s compassion. He has given it to them to protect the helpless. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
He is born in vain, who having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realize God in this very life. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
At a certain stage in the path of devotion, the devotee finds satisfaction in God with form, and at another stage, in God without it. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Pray to God that your attachment to such transitory things as wealth, name, and creature comforts may become less and less every day. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Bondage is of the mind; freedom too is of the mind. If you say ‘I am a free soul. I am a son of God who can bind me’ free you shall be. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
A man is truly free, even here in this embodied state, if he knows that God is the true agent and he by himself is powerless to do anything. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
A human being is truly independent, even in this incarnation, if he knows that God is a real representative and is powerless to do anything by himself. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Do not be small minded. Do not pray for gourds and pumpkins from God, when you should be asking for pure love and pure knowledge to dawn within every heart. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
More are the names of God and infinite are the forms through which He may be approached. In whatever name and form you worship Him, through them, you will realize Him. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then through his grace one realize him in course of time. God can be seen. One can talk to him as I am talking to you. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
As a toy fruit or a toy elephant reminds one of the real fruit and the living animal, so do the images that are worshipped remind one of the God who is formless and eternal. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The sun can give heat and light to the whole world, but he cannot do so when the clouds shut out his rays. Similarly as long as egotism veils the heart, God cannot shine upon it. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
If diving once does not bring you pearls, you need not therefore conclude that the sea is without them. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
To work without attachment is to work without the expectation of reward or fear of any punishment in this world or the next. Work so done is a means to the end, and God is the end. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
It is on account of the ego that one is not able to see God. In front of the door of God’s mansion lies the stump of ego. One cannot enter the mansion without jumping over the stump. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
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. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
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. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
It is true that God is even in the tiger, but we must not go and face the animal. So it is true that God dwells even in the most wicked, but it is not meet that we should associate with the wicked. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
As a boy holding to a post or a pillar whirls about it with headlong speed without any fear or falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your hold firmly upon God, and you will be free from danger. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
One cannot completely get rid of the six passions: lust, anger, greed, and the like. Therefore one should direct them to God. If you must have desire and greed, then you should desire love of God and be greedy to attain Him. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The magnetic needle always points to the north, and hence it is that sailing vessel does not lose her direction. So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The truth is that you cannot attain God if you have even a trace of desire. Subtle is the way of dharma. If you are trying to thread a needle, you will not succeed if the thread has even a slight fiber sticking out. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The young bamboo can be easily bent, but the full grown bamboo breaks when it is bent with force. It is easy to bend the young heart towards God, but the untrained heart of the old escapes the hold whenever it is so drawn. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Too much study of the scriptures does more harm than good. The important thing is to know the essence of the scriptures. After that, what is the need of books? One should learn the essence and then dive deep in order to realize God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
You see many stars in the sky at night, but not when the sun rises. Can you, therefore, say that there are no stars in the heavens during the day? Because you cannot find God in the days of your ignorance, say not that there is no God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
All will surely realize God. All will be liberated. It may be that some get their meal in the morning, some at noon, and some in the evening; but none will go without food. All, without any exception, will certainly know their real Self. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
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 . ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
You speak of doing good to the world. Is the world such a small thing? And who are you, pray, to do good to the world? First realise God, see Him by means of spiritual discipline. If He imparts power you can do good to others; otherwise not. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The waves belong to the Ganges, not the Ganges to the waves. A man cannot realize God unless he gets rid of all such egotistic ideas as ‘I am such an important man’ or ‘I am so and so’. Level the mound of ‘I’ to the ground by dissolving it with tears of devotion. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
These people are like… a frog living in a well, who has never seen the outside world. He knows only his well, so he will not believe that there is such a thing as the world. Likewise, people talk so much about the world because they have not known the joy of God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Those whose spiritual awareness has been awakened never make a false move. They don’t have to avoid evil. They are so replete with love that whatever they do is a good action. They are fully conscious that they are not the doer of their actions, but only servants of God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Many people think they cannot have knowledge or understanding of God without reading books. But hearing is better than reading, and seeing is better than hearing. Hearing about Benares is different from reading about it, but seeing Benares is different from either hearing or reading. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
One can easily realize God if one is free from guile. Spiritual instruction produces quick results in a guileless heart. Such a heart is like well-cultivated land from which all the stones have been removed. No sooner is the seed sown than it germinates. The fruit also appears quickly. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
One should not think, ‘My religion alone is the right path and other religions are false.’ God can be realized by means of all paths. It is enough to have sincere yearning for God. Infinite are the paths and infinite are the opinions. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
A man develops a subtle power as a result of the strict observance of celibacy for twelve years. Then he can understand and grasp very subtle things which otherwise elude his intellect. Through that understanding the aspirant can have direct vision of God. That pure understanding alone enables him to realize Truth. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
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. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Different people call on [God] by different names: some as Allah, some as God, and others as Krishna, Siva, and Brahman. It is like the water in a lake. Some drink it at one place and call it ‘jal’, others at another place and call it ‘pani’, and still others at a third place and call it ‘water’. The Hindus call it ‘jal’, the Christians ‘water’, and the Moslems ‘pani’. But it is one and the same thing. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Forgiveness is the true nature of the ascetic. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
When the flower blooms, the bees come uninvited. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Have love for everyone, no one is other than you. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
One cannot be spiritual as long as one has shame, hatred, or fear. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The supreme purpose and goal for human life… is to cultivate love. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Pray to Him anyway you like, He can even hear the footfall of an ant. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
One day, it was suddenly revealed to me that everything is pure spirit. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
As for me, I consider myself as a speck of the dust of the devotee’s feet. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Honour both spirit and form, the sentiment within as well as the symbol without. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Men bound hand and foot in the endless chain of cause & effect cannot free each other. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The Man who works for others, without any selfish motive, really does good to himself. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
As the snake is separate from its slough, even so is the Spirit separate from the body. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The tree laden with fruits always bends low. If you wish to be great, be lowly and meek. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Many good sayings are to be found in holy books, but merely reading them will not make one religious. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The world is indeed a mixture of truth and make-believe. Discard the make-believe and take the truth. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Dislodging a green nut from it’s shell is almost impossible, but let it dry and the lightest tap will do it. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the body, as the tenant pays house-rent for the use of the house. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
An ocean of bliss may rain down from the heavens, but if you hold up only a thimble, that is all you receive. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
That knowledge which purifies the mind and heart alone is true Knowledge, all else is only a negation of Knowledge. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
He who is called Krishna is also Siva and the Primal Sakti… He again, who is called Jesus and Allah. Truth is one. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
When the divine vision is attained, all appear equal; and there remains no distinction of good and bad, or of high and low. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The vanities of all others may gradually die out, but the vanity of a saint regarding his sainthood is hard indeed to wear away. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
By the mind one is bound; by the mind one is freed. … He who asserts with strong conviction: I am not bound, I am free, becomes free. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
If you meditate on your ideal, you will acquire its nature. If you think of God day and night, you will acquire the nature of God. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The ego is like the root of a banyan tree, you think you have removed it all, then one fine morning you see a sprout flourishing again. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
As a piece of rope, when burnt, retains its form, but cannot serve to bind, so is the ego which is burnt by the fire of supreme Knowledge. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
It is not lust alone that one should be afraid of in the life of the world. There is also anger. Anger arises when obstacles are placed in the way of desire. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Travel in all the four quarters of the earth, you will find nothing (no true religion) anywhere. Whatever there is, is only here (i .e . in one ‘s own heart.) ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
One cannot attain divine knowledge till one gets rid of pride. Water does not stay on the top of a mound; but into low land it flows in torrents from all sides. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
If you keep your heart immersed always in the depth of that holy love, your heart is sure to remain ever full to overflowing with the Divine fervour of sacred love. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
When you meditate, go into the solitude of a forest, or a quiet corner, and enter into the chamber of your heart. And always keep your power of discrimination awake. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The fool who repeats again and again: I am bound, I am bound, remains in bondage. He who repeats day and night: I am a sinner, I am a sinner, becomes a sinner indeed. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
If you first fortify yourself with the true knowledge of the Universal Self, and then live in the midst of wealth and worldliness, surely they will in no way affect you. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Ordinary men talk to religious leaders, but they do not even practice a single grain of it. A sage does not speak much, though his entire life is a religion that appears in action. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Live in the world like a waterfowl. The water clings to the bird, but the bird shakes it off. Live in the world like a mudfish. The fish lives in the mud, but its skin is always bright and shiny. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
One man may read the Bhagavata by the light of a lamp, and another may commit a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtuous. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
As the shell, the pith and the kernel of the fruit are all produced form one parent seed of the tree, so from the one Lord is produced the whole of creation, animate and inanimate, spiritual and material. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Brahman is beyond mind and speech, beyond concentration and meditation, beyond the knower, the known and knowledge, beyond even the conception of the real and unreal. In short, It is beyond all relativity. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
One should always maintain an attitude of respect towards other religions. Dispute not, as you rest firmly on your own faith and opinion, allow others also equal liberty to stand by their own faith and opinion. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
If you desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional practices without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Who may be called a paramahamsa? He who, like a swan, can take the milk from a mixture of milk and water, leaving aside the water. He who, like an ant, can take the sugar from a mixture of sugar and sand, leaving aside the sand. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
As a boy begins to learn writing by drawing big scrawls before he can master the small-hand, so we must learn concentration of the mind by fixing it first on forms; and when we have attained success therein, we can easily fix it upon the formless. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Spirituality automatically leads to humility. When a flower develops into a fruit, the petals drop off on its own. When one becomes spiritual, the ego vanishes gradually on its own. A tree laden with fruits always bends low. Humility is a sign of greatness. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Sunlight is one and the same wherever it falls; but only a bright surface like that of water, or of a mirror reflects it fully. So is the light Divine. It falls equally and impartially on all hearts, but the pure and pious hearts of holy men receive and reflect that light well. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
As for myself, I look upon all women as my Mother. This is a very pure attitude of mind. There is no risk or danger in it. To look upon a woman as one’s sister is also not bad. But the other attitudes are very difficult and dangerous. It is almost impossible to keep to the purity of the ideal. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Only two kinds of people can attain self-knowledge: those who are not encumbered at all with learning, that is to say, whose minds are not over-crowded with thoughts borrowed from others; and those who, after studying all the scriptures and sciences, have come to realize that they know nothing. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
It is not possible to describe what a Brahmin is. All the things of the world – the Vedas, the Puranas, the Tantras, the six systems of philosophy – are as impure as the food touched by the tongue, because they are read or sown by the tongue. Thus only one thing is not impure, and that is Brahman. Till now no one could say what a Brahmin is. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa
A bath in Ganges undoubtedly absolves one of all sins; but what does that avail? They say that the sins perch on trees along the banks of the Ganges. No sooner does the man come back from the holy waters that the old sins jump on his shoulders from the trees. The same old sins take possession of him again. He is hardly out of the waters before they fall upon him. ~Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa