The highest truth according to Swami Vivekananda

After so much austerity I have known that the highest truth is this: He is present in every being! These are all in manifold forms of him. There is no other God to seek for! He alone is worshipping God, who serves all beings!
Vivekananda : The Yogas and Other Works (1953)

Sri Ramakrishna: The four classes of men

Men may be divided into four classes: those bound by the fetters of the world, the seekers after liberation, the liberated, and the ever-free.

Suppose a net has been cast into a lake to catch fish. Some fish are so clever that they are never caught. They are like the ever-free. But most of the fish are entangled in the net. Some of them try to free themselves from it; they are like those who seek liberation. But not all the fish that struggle succeed. A very few do jump out of the net, making a big splash in the water. Then the fishermen shout, ‘Look! There goes a big one!’ But most of the fish caught in the net cannot escape, nor do they make any effort to get out. On the contrary, they burrow into the mud net and all, and lie there quietly, thinking, ‘We need not fear anymore; we are quite safe here.’But the poor things do not know that the fishermen will drag them out with the net. These are like the men bound to the world. “The bound souls are tied to the world by the fetters of lust and greed. They are bound hand and foot. They think that ‘woman’and ‘gold’will make them happy and give them security, they do not realize that it will lead them to annihilation.
- Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

MOTHER'S ADVICE TO THE HOUSEHOLDERS

"Those who belong to a very high plane of existence alone can take to the monastic life and free themselves from all bondages. Again there are some who are born to have a little taste of this worldly life. I say that one should see through worldly enjoyments. …Let X — marry and finish all enjoyments in this life; otherwise there is no knowing when he may fall a victim to some unfulfilled desire. But you may be sure of this, that so long as he remains under the Master's protection he can never slip."

Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi, Chapter VII

A parable:The Root of All Sufferings

Here's another parable told by Sri Ramakrishna to illustrate the negative role played by worldly desires in the path of spiritual progress:

"It is narrated in the Bhagavata that the Avadhuta had twenty-four gurus, one of whom was a kite. In a certain place the fishermen were catching fish. A kite swooped down and snatched a fish. At the sight of the fish, about a thousand crows chased the kite and made a great noise with their cawing. Whichever way the kite flew with the fish, the crows followed it. The kite flew to the south and the crows followed it there. The kite flew to the north and still the crows followed after it. The kite went east and west, but with the same result. As the kite began to fly about in confusion, lo, the fish dropped from its mouth. The crows at once let the kite alone and flew after the fish. Thus relieved of its worries, the kite sat on the branch of a tree and thought: 'That wretched fish was at the root of all my troubles. I have now got rid of it and therefore I am at peace.'

"The Avadhuta learnt this lesson from the kite, that as long as a man has the fish, that is, worldly desires, he must perform actions and consequently suffer from worry, anxiety, and restlessness. No sooner does he renounce these desires than his activities fall away and he enjoys peace of soul."  Courtesy: RKM Nagpur

Grief, Poverty and Revelation

An incident form Swamiji's life which shows how he overcame  a personal crisis and gloom to take a plunge into the path of God realization.

In 1884, Vishwanath Datta (Narendranath's father) suddenly passed away, plunging the whole family into grief and poverty. He was the only earning member of the family, and being of a prodigal nature, he spent lavishly and left the family in debt.

Everywhere the door was slammed in his (Vivekananda's) face. Friends turned into enemies in an instant. Creditors began knocking at the door. Temptations came. Two rich women made proposals to him to end his poverty, and he turned them down with scorn. Often he went without food so that others at home might have a better share. He was face to face with realities and the world appeared to him to be the creation of a devil. 

Nevertheless, the protégé of Sri Ramakrishna did not lose his faith in God and divine mercy. Every morning, taking His name he got up and went in search of a job. One day his devout mother overheard him and said bitterly: "Hush, you fool, you have been crying yourself hoarse for God from your childhood. What has He done for you?" Narendranath was stung to the quick, and began doubting the existence of God.

One evening, after a whole day's fast and exposure to rain, Narendranath was returning home with tired limbs and a jaded mind. Overpowered with exhaustion, he sat down on the outer plinth of a roadside house in a dazed condition. Various thoughts crowded into his mind. He was too weak to drive them off and concentrate on any particular thing. 

Suddenly he felt that, by some divine power, the coverings of his soul were being removed one after another. His doubts regarding the coexistence of divine justice and mercy and the presence of misery in the creation of a benign providence were automatically sloved. He felt completely refreshed and full of mental peace. He decided to become a monk, renouncing the world. 

He even fixed a date for it. Sri Ramakrishna came to Calcutta that day. Narendranath went to have his blessings, and accompanied the Master to Dakshineswar. There, in a state of spiritual trance, Sri Ramakrishna began to sing a touching song which brought tears to the eyes of both. The meaning of the song was very clear, for it revealed that the Master had known the disciple's decision even without being told of it. But Sri Ramakrishna persuaded Narendranath to stay in the world as long as he himself lived.

Thus, with infinite patience, Sri Ramakrishna calmed the rebellious spirit of Narendranath and led him from doubt to certainty and from anguish of mind to spiritual bliss. More than Sri Ramakrishna's spiritual guidance and support, it was his love for him that bound Narendranath to him for ever. Narendranath, too, in turn reciprocated in full measure the love and trust of the Master. (Life of Swami Vivekananda, http://rkmathnagpur.org/)

The necessity of work for a seeker: Holy Mother

How many are there who can meditate and practice japa all the time? At first they earnestly practice these disciplines, but their brains become heated in the long run by sitting constantly on their prayer rugs. They become very vain. They also suffer from mental worries by reflecting on different things. It is much better to work than to allow the mind to roam at large. For when the mind gets a free scope to wander, it creates much confusion. My Naren (Swami Vivekananda) thought of these things and wisely founded institutions where people would do disinterested work. - Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother – Part 2, Vedanta Society of Southern California

A parable by the Master: Nature of the world

"Once Hriday brought a bull-calf here (in Dakshineshwar). I saw, one day, that he had tied it with a rope in the garden, so that it might graze there. I asked him, 'Hriday, why do you tie the calf there every day?' 'Uncle,' he said, 'I am going to send this calf to our village (Kamarpukur). When it grows strong I shall yoke it to the plough.' As soon as I heard these words I was stunned to think: 'How inscrutable is the play of the divine maya!

Kamarpukur and Sihore are so far away from Calcutta! This poor calf must go all that way. Then it will grow, and at length it will be yoked to the plough. This is indeed the world! This is indeed maya!' I fell down unconscious. Only after a long time did I regain consciousness."

-Tales and parables of Sri Ramakrishna

Holy Mother: Love God Alone

Always do your duty to others, but love you must give to God alone. Worldly love always brings in its wake untold misery.

If you love any human being you will have to suffer for it. That person is blessed, indeed, who can love God alone. There is no suffering in loving God.
-Sri Sarada Devi

Sri Ramakrishna: God's name destroys sin

NEIGHBOUR: "Sir, we are sinners. What will happen to us?"

MASTER: "All the sins of the body flyaway if one chants the name of God and sings His glories. The birds of sin dwell in the tree of the body. Singing the name of God is like clapping your hands. As, at a clap of the hands, the birds in the tree flyaway, so do our sins disappear at the chanting of God's name and glories.

"Again, you find that the water of a reservoir dug in a meadow is evaporated by the heat of the sun. Likewise, the water of the reservoir of sin is dried up by the singing of the name and glories of God.

"You must practise it every day. The other day, at the circus, I saw a horse running at top speed, with an Englishwoman standing on one foot on its back. How much she must have practised to acquire that skill!

"Weep at least once to see God."

(Excerpt from the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)