Frasi di Ramakrishna

pagina 5

“Il jíva è Shiva (ogni essere vivente è divino in essenza). Chi oserà allora parlare di misericordia verso l'uomo? Non misericordia ma servizio, solo servizio, poiché l'uomo dev'essere considerato divino.”

“Dio risiede in tutti gli uomini, ma essi non sono tutti in Lui e da ciò provengono le loro sofferenze.”

“Evita le discussioni. Rimani fermo nella tua fede e nelle tue opinioni ma concedi agli altri la stessa libertà.”

“Ogni religione è vera. Dio può essere raggiunto da ogni religione. I fiumi scorrono in direzioni diverse ma si riversano tutti nel mare. Nel mare essi sono un'unità.”

“Se un uomo non passa attraverso un risveglio spirituale, non può conoscere Dio.”

“La donna – che sia naturalmente buona o no, che sia casta o corrotta – dovrebbe essere sempre considerata un'immagine della Beatissima Madre Divina.”

“If a white cloth is stained even with a small spot, the stain appears very ugly indeed. So the smallest fault of a holy man becomes painfully prominent.”

“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.”

“O Mother, I throw myself on Thy mercy; I take shelter at Thy Hallowed Feet. I do not want bodily comforts; I do not crave name and fame; I do not seek the eight occult powers. Be gracious and grant that I may have pure love for Thee, a love unsmitten by desire, untainted by any selfish ends — a love craved by the devotee for the sake of love alone. And grant me the favour, O Mother, that I may not be deluded by Thy world-bewitching māyā, that I may never be attached to the world, to "woman and gold", conjured up by Thy inscrutable māyā! O Mother, there is no one but Thee whom I mav call my own. Mother, I do not know how to worship; I am without austerity; I have neither devotion nor knowledge. Be gracious, Mother, and out of Thy infinite mercy grant me love for Thy Lotus Feet.”

“When the fruit appears the blossom drops off. Love of God is the fruit, and rituals are the blossom.”

“Suppose a thorn has pierced a man's foot. He picks another thorn to pull out the first one. After extracting the first thorn with the help of the second, he throws both away. One should use the thorn of knowledge to pull out the thorn of ignorance. Then one throws away both the thorns, knowledge and ignorance, and attains vijnāna. What is vijnāna? It is to know God distinctly by realizing His existence through an intuitive experience and to speak to Him intimately. That is why Sri Krishna said to Arjuna, "Go beyond the three gunas."”

“Forgiveness is the true nature of the ascetic.”

“As one can ascend to the top of a house by means of a ladder or a bamboo or a staircase or a rope, so diverse also are the ways and means to approach God, and every religion in the world shows one of these ways.”

“Common men talk bagfuls of religion but do not practise even a grain of it. The wise man speaks little, even though his whole life is religion expressed in action.”

“Knowledge leads to unity, but Ignorance to diversity.
So long as God seems to be outside and far away, there is ignorance. But when God is realised within, that is true knowledge.”

“The Pure Mind and the Pure Ātman are one and the same thing. Whatever comes up in the Pure Mind is the voice of God.”

“By constantly repeating, "I am free, I am free", a man verily becomes free. On the other hand, by constantly repeating, "I am bound, I am bound", he certainly becomes bound to worldliness. The fool who says only, "I am a sinner, I am a sinner", verily drowns himself in worldliness. One should rather say: "I have chanted the name of God. How can I be a sinner? How can I be bound?"”

“It is not good for ordinary people to say, "I am He."”

“If you want to go east, don't go west.”

“Heaven sometimes speaks through the mouths of lunatics, drunkards and children.”

“Men are quick to praise and quick to blame; so pay no heed to what others speak of you.”

“In a potter's shop there are vessels of different shapes and forms — pots, jars, dishes, plates, etc., — but all are made of the same clay. So God is one, but He is worshipped in different ages and climes under different names and aspects.”

“Visit not miracle-mongers and those who exhibit occult powers. These men are stragglers from the path of Truth. Their minds have become entangled in psychic powers, which are like veritable meshes in the way of the pilgrim to Brahman. Beware of these powers, and desire them not.”

“As a little boy or girl can have no idea of conjugal pleasure, even so a worldly man cannot at all comprehend the ecstasy of Divine communion.”

“If you feel proud, let it be in the thought that you are the servant of God, the son of God. 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.”

“As 'persons living in a house infested with venomous snakes are always alert, so should men diving in the world be always vigilant against the allurement of lust and greed.”

“If you can find out the nature of Maya, the universal illusion, it will leave you just as a thief runs away when detected.”