Ramakrishnananda (13 July 1863 – 21 August 1911) was one of the direct disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Known for his “Gurubhakti” [Service to the Guru], he served the Baranagore Math for 12 years without missing a single day.
He on whom faith descends…needs nothing else.He is saved,and the only prophylactic he needs is discrimination.Discrimination, as the messenger of God,moves with us always.Its forgetfulness sets at naught all our spiritual endeavours.
If you wish to be happy,if you wish to be wise,if you wish to be strong,never let the world take you.The boat may be in the water,but the water must not be in the boat;so we may be in the world,but the world must not be in us.
This desire to be desireless will take its firm root in us in proportion to the intensity of feeling with which we realize that in us[the]Self alone is real and all else evanescent. True religious life commences only after this.
Immortality can be reached by renunciation alone,and never by works, progeny, or wealth. So any search after worldly treasure or heavenly pleasure is not the right way to secure eternal life, knowledge,and bliss.We have to renounce everything that is ephemeral and think of God only all the twenty-four hours of the day.
Renunciation means giving up a lesser thing for a greater.Those who give up the world for a spiritual life are giving up the uncertain for the certain,the passing for the permanent.
