Ramdas > Quotes

“What is Self-realization? It is giving up the pretension that you are not the Self, that you are a mere body. People say to me, 'You are God Himself.' I reply, 'You are also He.' 'We are not He'-they rejoin. What else is this, but that they simulate and, for some lila of their own, hide behind a mask their real and divine nature?”
― Swami Ramdas, The Essential Swami Ramdas

“Forget not the central truth that God is seated in your own heart. Don’t be disheartened by failures at initial stages. Cultivate the spirit of surrender to the workings of His will in you and outside you until you have completely surrendered up your ego-sense, and have known He is in all and He is all, and you and He are one.”
― Swami Ramdas, In the Vision of God

“He listened to her with a cool indifference and said: 'Why do you worry over the matter? God’s will is supreme. All things happen as He wills and at the time determined by Him.'

'How can you say so? Do you mean to say then that human effort has no value?' she retorted.

'Human effort,' he replied, 'is necessary only to learn that human effort as such is useless, and God’s will alone is the real power that controls and brings about all events. When you realise this truth, human effort ceases and divine will starts its work in you, and then you do all things in the freedom of the soul, liberated from care, fear and sorrow. This is the real life to be attained. So leave all things to the Lord by complete surrender to Him.”
― Swami Ramdas, In the Vision of God

“The whole universe is permeated through and through with God,” said Ramdas. “The visible and invisible worlds are all He— as manifest and unmanifest. There is nothing and none but He. All, all is He. Such is the truth. Where then is the idea of ‘I’ and ‘you’–‘mine’ and ‘yours’. All are He and His.”
― Swami Ramdas, In the Vision of God

“Worry comes in when any work, political or otherwise, is done with a selfish motive. The secret of liberation in action lies in doing all works without the ego-sense. Here what is demanded of us is perfect self-surrender through dedication of all our actions to the Master power that controls the universe.”
― Swami Ramdas, In the Vision of God

“God is an artist par excellence. He has painted the picturesque universe on the screen of His own immutable and glowing Spirit. So He is at once the painter and the painted. In the ultimate analysis, God and His lover, God and His devotee and servant, are He. The unmanifest--which is beyond all duality has become both. This secret few know.”
― Swami Ramdas, The Essential Swami Ramdas

“Out of the travails through which the world is passing, a new order is bound to emerge based on a knowledge of the universal Spirit. But this cannot be achieved by the efforts of politicians, diplomats, and administrators whose vision is warped by narrow considerations of personal, national, and racial self-interest. The transformation can be brought about only by divinely inspired saints and sages who have experienced the universal vision of Truth or God, who are perfectly selfless and whose hearts are ever filled with love for all.

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International conflicts, religious wrangles, social injustices, economic exploitations, and political tyrannies are all found, in the ultimate analysis, to spring from selfishness born of the failure to realize the unity and universality of the Spirit.”
― Swami Ramdas, The Essential Swami Ramdas

“God is ever busy in freeing you from the tangle of worldly friendship and attachments which are in their very nature unstable and unreliable, and, therefore, bring you nothing but sorrows and anxieties. Let this experience teach you that if there is one whom you can entirely trust and for whom you should offer the love of an undivided heart, it should be the supreme Lord Himself who has His eternal seat in your heart.

God is all merciful. Pray to Him. '0 God, lead me from the unreal to the Real; from darkness to Light; from death to Immortality.' When He makes you pass through many a painful ordeal of life, it is only to awaken you to the ultimate Reality.”
― Swami Ramdas, The Essential Swami Ramdas

“Student: How does Self-realization of an individual help society?

Ramdas: By Self-realization you become happy inwardly and therefore seek nothing from outside. So, your activities flow out only for the uplift and good of others. A man who is discontented within seeks for external things in order to get happiness, and so doing, harms society. He thinks he will get happiness from external objects.

When you have found true happiness by realizing the Self, that is, by realizing that your true nature is absolute peace and bliss, you are not in conflict with anybody, your vision is equal and your activities turn to the service of everyone. Then it is that you become the true instrument of God.”
― Swami Ramdas, The Essential Swami Ramdas

“True service is possible only when the self-conscious individual loses his egoistic sense of 'actorship' by merging his self-interest in the common weal and welfare of the world. Now his life-interest is identical with the interest of all. This exalted humility can be achieved by realizing the eternal fact that an omnipotent power, which is inherent in all creatures and beings, is actuating the individual life and all its actions.

Humility leads to self-surrender, i.e., an attitude of submission to the will and purpose of God, who is the source of infinite power that controls all the movements in the universe.”
― Swami Ramdas, The Essential Swami Ramdas

“Do advise me,' he urged, 'as to how I can remove the illusions of the mind and free it from the turmoil to which it is always subjected, and realise God. I am simply caught up in the attachment to wife, house, money and property.'

'You have diagnosed,' Ramdas replied, 'the disease aright and also have a clear understanding of the remedy for it. Know in the first place that the God you seek is within yourself. He is the life and soul of the universe and to attain Him is the supreme purpose of life. Evil and sorrow are due to your belief that you are separate from this universal Truth. The ego has set up this wall of separation. Have a strong and intense longing to realise Him, that is, to know that your life is one with the life of the universe. Then surrender up the ego by constant identification with Him through prayer, meditation and performance of all action without desiring their fruit. As you progress on this path, which is the path of devotion, knowledge and self-surrender, your attachment to the unrealities of life will slacken, and the illusions of the mind will be dispelled. Now your heart will be filled with divine love, and your vision purified and equalised, and your actions will become the spontaneous outflow of your immortal being, yielding you the experience of true joy and peace. This is the culmination of human endeavour and fulfilment of the purpose of life.”
― Swami Ramdas, In the Vision of God

“He listened to her with a cool indifference and said: 'Why do you worry over the matter? God’s will is supreme. All things happen as He wills and at the time determined by Him.'

'How can you say so? Do you mean to say then that human effort has no value?' she retorted. 'Human effort,' he replied, 'is necessary only to learn that human effort as such is useless, and God’s will alone is the real power that controls and brings about all events. When you realise this truth, human effort ceases and divine will starts its work in you, and then you do all things in the freedom of the soul, liberated from care, fear and sorrow. This is the real life to be attained. So leave all things to the Lord by complete surrender to Him.”
― Swami Ramdas, In the Vision of God

“God-vision is nothing but to realise and feel His presence within yourself and everywhere about you; because God is an all prevailing spirit, permeating the entire universe. The manifested worlds are not different from Him, since they are but His own expression in terms of name and form.”
― Swami Ramdas, In the Vision of God

“Self-surrender means that we throw the whole burden of life, our anxieties and sorrows on the Supreme Lord who is the Master of all and keep our mind filled with calmness and peace that comes from His constant remembrance.

Cling to the Lord in all situations. Do not worry about anything. thing. Have complete trust in God. Give up all superstitious notions. Do not mind the opinions of the world about you. Court the society of pure and noble souls. Whenever changes come in your life, take them that they come by God's will alone. Take to the changes naturally and cheerfully.
We are ever under God's care and protection. We are never forsaken. God is all love. We have doubts about this because we are not conscious of His love. Let us know once and for all that He is our sole refuge.”
― Swami Ramdas, The Essential Swami Ramdas

“The substance of his discourse on the Goal of Life was: The highest gift, this human life, is granted to us by God in order to realise Him—the supreme Reality—who is eternal bliss and peace. God-realisation means universal vision; i.e., to become ever conscious of our union with an impersonal, calm, pure, changeless and all-pervading existence and look upon all form and change as the expression of that Truth. This exalted state is attained by constant attunement of the mind to the single thought of the Truth through ceaseless stream of remembrance and meditation on it. The condition of our progress towards the Truth depends upon our ardour and intensity for its attainment. When we understand the Truth as the goal of life, our approach to it becomes easy and rapid. The aim of life should not be anything short of this highest consummation of human life.”
― Swami Ramdas, In the Vision of God

“An active life is perfectly in keeping with Self-realization and divine service. What is needed is a total dedication of your entire life to Him. In all situations maintain a steady consciousness of Divinity within and about you. Do not harass your mind with thoughts of weakness. Infinite strength is within you. Drawing inspiration and power from this source, be cheerful and contented at all times. Let the Name of the Lord dwell ever in your mind!”
― Swami Ramdas, The Essential Swami Ramdas