Sri Ramakrishna Quotes

“It implies that a Hindu, or a Christian, or a Muslim must each follow his own religion most devotedly, but also at the same time accept the validity of all religions other than his own. It is not a question of a mere patronising toleration of others, but acceptance of the correctness of the others' path as much as one's own. It is not toleration but mutual acceptance that the Master's teachings demand.”
― Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Life and Teachings

“The Master's practice of different religions and his realisation that there are ‘as many ways as there are religions’ are of great importance to humanity, as they give a solution to the problem posed by religious plurality. Because of the lack of insight into, and appreciation of, the essential teachings of different religions among their followers, conflicts between them and attempts at mutual destruction, either by force or by fraudulent conversions, have bedevilled the history of religions in the past. It is true that many of those conflicts really arose from man's cupidity and spirit of aggrandisement. The religious shibboleths they used were only smokescreens for cunning political and military leaders to hide their real intentions. Still, there was a tendency for one religion to stigmatise another as the work of the devil, and consider its followers as reserved for hell. That helped aggressors to find in religion a means for winning mass support and a sanction for their nefarious activities. The Master's realisation of all religions as leading to the same goal would force all honest religious leaders to eliminate from their theological vocabulary words such as heathen, kaffir, mlechcha, etc., indicative of contempt and disrespect. As a consequence, it would encourage their followers to consider the followers of all other religions as fellow pilgrims to the same destination, even though along different roads from different directions.”
― Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Life and Teachings

“In Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master, this alternation between the devotee-mood and the saviour-mood was often noted, because his life was recent and was subjected to study by men who closely observed and recorded it, unlike in the case of the past Incarnations, whose lives have been clothed, long after their passing away, in thundering miracles by poets and mythologists. This process of distortion was partly due to a studied effort on the part of their followers to hide their human side. For, they felt it detrimental to their glory as divinities if any human qualities were allowed to percolate through their divinities. But an Incarnation is man and God in one, and the concept loses all its significance when the Incarnate is made into a Deity.”
― Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Life and Teachings

“The state of mind of the vijnani is what is called bhavamukha. The mind of the ignorant man is circumscribed by his individuality and he sees everything else as discrete objects outside himself, having their fixed contours. But the vijnani is aware of a Cosmic Whole, a Cosmic Mind, from whom the ideation known as the universe radiates and in whom all beings and objects are like bubbles in a layer of water, or waves on the ocean's surface—a part and parcel of the Whole, but with individualities that are of the stuff of ideas or fluid contents of Its own stuff or substance. He is not only aware of It but feels as one with It, either as a part of It or as Itself. So, when it is said that bhavamukha is the state of mind of the vijnani, it means that the vijnani is aware of his identity with the Cosmic Whole. As a consequence, a person in the state of bhavamukha shares the knowledge and outlook of the Cosmic Whole.”
― Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Life and Teachings

“Now, it has been pointed out that the vijnani gains back an ego when he emerges from the nirvikalpa state. But this ego or individuality is entirely different in quality from that of the unenlightened man. To put it briefly, the ordinary man's ego is body-centred, while the vijnani's is God-centred. The body-centred ego is based on a sense of absolute reality of difference, and expresses itself in terms of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ with regard to all objects and individuals. It evaluates everything and everyone in terms of their contribution to its pleasure and survival. An egocentred man may love others, but it is in terms of his narrow self and the preservation of that narrow self and its interests is his primary concern in life. In contrast to this, the vijnani's ego is entirely based on a sense of intimate relationship with God as His son, servant, comrade, sweetheart, etc. He looks upon all beings and objects, irrespective of their attitude towards him as a friend, foe or neutral as manifestations of the Lord to be loved and served, and not as objects for his enjoyment and aggrandisement”
― Tapasyananda, Sri Ramakrishna Life and Teachings