Hari Om
Let us recall the simple and profound Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa
to unite and integrate all the children of Divine Mother.
Sri Ramakrishna’s specialty was that he made it possible for ordinary folks to understand difficult concepts. He is the main Deity of all Ramakrishna Maths because he is considered as an Avatara and also because he was Swami Vivekananda’s Guru.
Here are some of His profound messages:
“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.
You may say that there are many errors and superstitions in another religion. I should reply: Suppose there are. Every religion has errors. Every one thinks that his watch alone gives the correct time. It is enough to have yearning for God. It is enough to love Him and feel attracted to Him. Don’t you know that God is the Inner Guide? He sees the longing of our heart and the yearning of our soul. Suppose a man has several sons. The older boys address him distinctly as ‘Baba’ or ‘Papa’, but the babies can at best call him ‘Ba’ or ‘Pa’. Now will the father be angry with those who address him in this indistinct way? The father knows that they too are calling him, only they cannot pronounce his name well. All children are same to the father. Likewise, the devotees call on God alone, though by different names. They call on One Person only. God is one, but His names are many.” [August 13, 1882]
“It is not good to feel that one’s own religion alone is true and all others are false. God is one only and not two. Different people call on Him by different names, some as Allah, some as God, and others as Krishna, Siva, and Brahman. It is like 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 call it ‘water’, and the Mussalmans ‘pani’. But it is one and the same thing. Opinions are but paths. Each religion is only a path leading to God, as rivers come from different directions and ultimately become one in the one ocean.”
“I see people who talk about religions constantly quarrelling with one another. Hindus, Mussalmans, Brahmos, Saktas, Vaishnavas, Saivas, all quarrel with one another. They haven’t the intelligence to understand that He who is called Krishna is also Shiva and the Primal Shakti, and that is He again, who is called Jesus and Allah. There is only one Rama and He has a thousand names.”
“With sincerity and earnestness one can realize God through all religions. The Vaishnavas will realize God, and so will the Saktas, the Vedantists, and the Brahmos. The Musalmans and Christians will realize Him too. All will certainly realize God if they are earnest and sincere.
Some people indulge in quarrels, saying, ‘One cannot attain anything unless one worships our Krishna’, or, ‘Nothing can be gained without the worshipof Kali, our Divine Mother’, or, ‘One cannot be saved without accepting the Christian religion.’ This is pure dogmatism. The dogmatist says, ‘My religion alone is true, and the religion of others are false.’ This is a bad attitude. God can be reached by different paths.”
March 11, 1883
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Two are the occasions when the Lord smiles. First, when brothers remove the chains which partition off the family property, saying, This is mine and that is thine;’ and secondly, when the patient is on the point of death, and the physician says, ‘I will cure him.’
– Sri Ramakrishna
GF’ Blessings.
