How to gain bhakti?

One must chant without ceasing the name of the Lord and His glories. 

And keep company of the holy one must frequently go to God's bhaktas, or sadhus. 

One's mind does not fix itself on the Lord while living night and day in the midst of worldly activities and family life. Hence, one must go into solitude now and then to meditate on God. In the first stage it is very hard to fix the mind on the Lord unless one frequently goes into solitude.

When the plant is young, it needs a hedge around it. Without the hedge goats and cows eat it up.

The mind, the solitary corner and the forest are the places where you will meditate. And you will always have good thoughts in your mind. The Lord alone is real, i.e. the eternal substance, and all else is unreal, i.e. transitory. Discriminating thus, you will shake off attachment to the perishable things of the world.

-Sri Ramakrishna

The Right time to seek the GOD

[Messages] - Sri RamaKrishna about Compassion and attachment

Whatever work Vidyasagara has done for others has been very good and helpful. To be kind and compassionate is also good; but there is a difference between compassion and attachment.Compassion is good, but attachment is not. Attachment is love for wife, children, brother, sister, father, mother and other relatives, while true compassion is equal love for all living creatures.

Mahendra: Is compassion also a bondage?

Ramakrishna: This question is not for ordinary mortals.Compassion is the result of the Sattwa quality. The Sattwa quality is protective, the Rajas quality is creative, and Tamas is destructive: but Brahman the Absolute is beyond these three qualities, Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas. It is also beyond Prakriti or nature. Where there is absolute Reality, no quality of nature can reach. As a thief cannot go to the exact spot where the treasure is, because he is afraid of being caught, so Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas, like thieves, cannot go to the realm where, is the treasure of the Absolute. [p. 253]

Source: THE GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA Revised by SWAMI ABHEDANANDA

* Thanks to Holy Trio Google Groups

[Special] - THAKUR TITHI PUJA 2010

THAKUR TITHI PUJA 2010

Hridayasarvaswa mama prabho Jagatornatha swamine,
Sthitha pragya sarvato sriman,Ramakrishna namadharine !!1!!

Sukla dwitiya tithi Abhirbhutestu falgune,
Kamarpuskhkar iti peetha, vishnave shivaswaroopine !!2!!

Rakachandrasama anana vichitrasamadhi drishyate,
Vedantamurta vigrahau twam karuna-mukti pradayine !!3!!

Aho Natha Sarvadharma sara sarvagunorddha nirgundarshane,
Namaste tava pranaballabha,Ramakrishna mama swamine !!4!!

With prayers and pranams on 175th birth anniversary of The Supreme Lord.
Jay Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishnadev ki Jay!

[Messages] - Sri RamaKrishna says Mere book-learned Pandits do good neither to themselves nor to others

Bhagavan: Whatever work is done for the good of others is absolutely free from fault.

He who performs good works through love, without seeking results, attains to God. But he who works for name, fame or any other selfish purpose remains bound. Further, I may say that you have already become Siddha (perfected).

Vidyasagar: Sir, how is that?

Bhagavan: You know that Siddha, or well-boiled potato, becomes soft and tender. Have you not become tender-hearted by your compassion for all?

Vidyasagar: But the paste of Kalai (a kind of pulse) when boiled (Siddha) becomes harder. Is it not so? [Book-learned Pandits like vultures.]

Bhagavan, laughing: Yes, but you are not like that.Mere book-learned Pandits (scholars) are hard-hearted. They do good neither to themselves nor to others. They are like vultures who soar high in the sky, but always search after carrion-pits. They may talk about Divine truths, but their minds are attached to woman and wealth.

Their attachment is to worldly things (Avidya). Compassion, Devotion (Bhakti), Dispassion (Vairagya)--these are the manifestations of Vidya.

Vidyasagar was listening to the words of wisdom with whole attention, while the eyes of other gentlemen present were fixed upon the blissful face of Ramakrishna radiant with Divine glory. [p. 104]

The Bhagavan continued: The Absolute Brahman is beyond the reach of Vidya (knowledge) as well as of Avidya (ignorance), which keeps one away from the realization of the Absolute. The absolute Brahman is beyond the reach of Maya, while Maya is either Vidya or Avidya. Vidya-Maya and Avidya-Maya both exist in this world.

As there are knowledge (Jnana) and Devotion (Bhakti), so also there are lust and greed for wealth. Good and evil, virtue and vice, are to be found in this world of relativity; but Brahman is unaffected by them. They exist in relation to Jiva (individual ego), but cannot touch the Absolute Brahman. [p. 105]

Source: THE GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA Revised by SWAMI ABHEDANANDA

* Thanks to Holy Trio of Google Groups

[Messages] - Sri Ramakrishna says wealth, their fame and social position are Transitory

Some people are proud of their wealth, their fame and social position, but these things are transitory. None can take them away after death. It is not good to be proud of wealth. You may say, "I am wealthy," but then there are millionaires, multimillionaires, and so on. In the evening fireflies think that they are lighting the world; but when the stars begin to shine, their pride is subdued.

The stars in turn think that they are lighting the world, but when the moon shines, the stars are put to shame. The moon, too, believes that her light illumines everything; but lo! the dawn appears and the rising sun effaces the light of the moon. If wealthy people thought of these things, they would no longer be proud of their wealth.

A householder! Revered Sir, we are householders; please give us some further instructions. Sri Ramakrishna: First know God, then perform the duties of a householder.[p. 75 & 76]

Source: THE GOSPEL OF RAMAKRISHNA Revised by SWAMI ABHEDANANDA

* Thanks to Holy Trio Google Groups

[Messages] - Sri RamaKrishna replies why he did not lead the life of a householder with his wife

SriRamaKrishna replies why he did not lead the life of a householder with his wife

WHEN asked why he did not lead the life of a householder with his wife, the Master replied:

'Kartikeya (Son of Siva) one day happened to scratch a cat with his nail. On going home, he saw that there was the mark of a scratch on the cheek of his Divine Mother, Parvati. Seeing this he asked her, 'Mother, low did you get this ugly scratch on your cheek?' The mother of the universe replied,'This is the work of your own hand; it is the scratch of your nail.' Kartikeya asked in wonder: 'How is it, Mother? I do not remember to have scratched you at any time. The Mother replied, 'Darling, have you forgotten the fact of your laving scratched a cat this morning?' Kartikeya said, Yes, I did scratch a cat, but how did your cheek get the scar?'

The Mother replied, 'Dear child, nothing exists in this world but Myself. The whole creation is Myself; whomsoever you may hurt, you only hurt me.'

Kartikeya was greatly surprised to hear this; and then he determined never to marry. For, whom could he marry? Every woman was mother to him.

Realizing thus the motherhood of woman, he gave up marriage. I am like Kartikeya. I consider every woman as my Divine Mother."

Source: Tales and Parables of Sri Ramakrishna

* Thanks to Holy Trio Google Groups

[Sayings] - Sir Ramakrishna

Two men went into a garden. The worldly-wise man no sooner entered the gate than he began to count the number of the mango-trees, how many mangoes each tree bore, and what might be the approximate price of the whole orchard. The other went to the owner, made his acquaintance, and quietly going under a mango-tree began to pluck the fruit and eat it with the owner's consent. Now who is the wiser of the two? Eat mangoes, it will satisfy your hunger. What is the good of counting the leaves and making vain calculations? The vain man of intellect is uselessly busy in finding out the 'why and wherefore' of creation, while the humble man of wisdom makes acquaintance with the Creator and enjoys Supreme Bliss in this world.

(One of the Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna)

* Thanks to Holy Trinity Google Groups

[Info] - Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa

Sri Ramakrishna was born on 18 February 1836 in the village of Kamarpukur about sixty miles northwest of Kolkata.  His parents,Kshudiram Chattopadhyaya andChandramani Devi, were poor but very pious and virtuous.  As a child, Ramakrishna (his childhood name was Gadadhar) was dearly loved by the villagers.  From early days, he was disinclined towards formal education and worldly affairs.  He was, however, a talented boy, and could sing and paint well.  He was fond of serving holy men and listening to their discourses.  He was also very often found to be absorbed in spiritual moods.  At the age of six, he experienced the first ecstasy while watching a flight of white cranes moving against the background of black clouds. This tendency to enter into ecstasy intensified with age.  His father’s death when he was seven years old served only to deepen his introspection and increase his detachment from the world.

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Sri Ramakrishna's

Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna

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.
It is easy to talk on religion, but difficult to practice it.

Many good sayings are to be found in holy books, but merely reading them will not make one religious. One must practice the virtues taught in such books in order to acquire love of God.

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.

As a wet-nurse in a wealthy family brings up her master’s child, loving it as if it were her own, yet knowing well that she has no claim upon it, so you also think that you are but trustee and guardians of your children whose real father is the Lord himself.

If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.

Because of the screen of Maya (illusion) that shuts off God from human view, one cannot see Him playing in one’s heart.

Many are the names of God and infinite the forms through which He may be approached.

Unless one always speaks the truth, one cannot find God Who is the soul of truth.

One must be very particular about telling the truth. Through truth one can realize God.

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.

Work, apart from devotion or love of God, is helpless and cannot stand alone.

After installing the Deity on the lotus of your heart, you must keep the lamp of remembering God ever burning. While engaged in the affairs of the world, you should constantly turn your gaze inwards and see whether the lamp is burning or not.

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.

As long as you are a person with an ego of your own, cannot conceive, think of or perceive God other than as a person.

God is in all men, but all men are not in God; that is why we suffer.

When the divine vision is attained, all appear equal; and there remains no distinction of good and bad, or of high and low.

Good and evil cannot bind him who has realized the oneness of Nature and his own self with Brahman.