How are we to know God? Ramakrishna teaches that by constantly trying to remember Him, we go nearer to God. How is this possible, when we have so many things to do in the world ?

Ramakrishna gave this example: ‘Well, haven’t you seen village girls carrying so many pots of water on their heads and returning home? They chat and giggle all their way. They talk about their family affairs, gossip about their neighbours, but their attention is all the time on the jars. They see that these do not fall off their heads. Similarly, one who wants God should always keep his mind on Him.’

Many are the tales and parables which Ramakrishna used, to make his teachings interesting and clear. You will surely enjoy reading them.

source: http://belurmath.org/kids_section/?p=822

It was 1882. The number of devotees coming to Ramakrishna had increased. There were young and old, men and women.

One of those who came to the Master at this time was the headmaster Mahendranath Gupta. He is known as ‘M’, the author of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. It is mainly due to him that we have the wonderful record of Ramakrishna’s teachings.

After his first visit, Mahendranath made it a regular practice to visit Dakshineswar, mostly on Sundays. He was of a quiet nature. He would sit and hear the Master talk to the assembled devotees, taking mental note of everything. Sometimes he would keep memory slips. And when he went home, he would write down all that he had heard and seen. This is how the great book called the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna came to be written.

Much of Ramakrishna’s teaching was given through beautiful stories and homely illustrations. We shall mention one or two here.

He taught that God can be seen and talked to. All religions are true. They are like so many paths leading to the same goal. The goal is to see God. But people quarrel, because they are ignorant about the true nature of God. At most, they see only one aspect of God and assert that alone as true. And how they quarrel about it!

Ramakrishna told this story: Once some blind men were moving along the street. They learnt there was a big animal standing there. ‘What’s that ?’ one of them asked a passer-by. ‘The temple elephant’ replied the man, and went away.

One of the blind men said to his companions, ‘Come, let’s see what the elephant is like.’ One touched its leg and remarked, ‘Oh, I see, an elephant is like a pillar.’ Another touched the elephant’s ear. ‘No, no,’ he shouted, ‘it is like a winnowing fan.’ ‘What idiots you people are,’ exclaimed a third; ‘it’s like a big python.’ He had touched its trunk. ‘You people have got it all wrong’ cried the fourth blind man; ‘it’s like a big drum.’ He had touched the elephant’s belly.

Ramakrishna explained that he who has seen only one aspect of God talks like these blind men. They say that only that part which they have known is true. But, really speaking, God is infinite. No one can describe Him fully.

source: http://belurmath.org/kids_section/?p=822