Mind Quotes - Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa - Importance Of Mind Control

A few quotes on the playful nature of mind and the importance of mind control from Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

The darkness of the mind disappears when God is realized. In the Purana it is said that it was as if a hundred suns were shining when Rama entered the court. Why, then, weren’t the courtiers burnt up? It was because the brilliance of Rama was not like that of a material object. As the lotus blooms when the sun rises, so the lotus of the heart of the people assembled in the court burst into blossom.

The human mind is like a package of mustard seeds. As it is very difficult to gather the seeds that have escaped out of a torn package and are scattered in all directions, so too when the human mind runs in diverse directions and is occupied with worldly things, it is not a very easy task to collect and concentrate it.

The huge jar kept under water is completely filled and gets immersed on all sides. It does not gurgle anymore and remains completely silent. Similarly, the soul immersed in God perceives nothing but the all-pervading Spirit within and without and knows only the deep peace of inner communion.

Just as an object cannot be reflected by water if it be agitated by the wind, so God cannot be reflected in the mental lake if it be agitated by the wind of worldliness and desires.

The mind’s true home is the natural purity and simplicity of Reality.

The passion for external renunciation is like a bolt of lightning. It may strike at any time. It is not a reasoned choice.

Before breaking open a jackfruit, you carefully rub your hands and forearms with clear oil so that the sticky milk of the fruit cannot adhere. Apply the oil of limitless awareness, and nothing will stick.

Conventional enjoyments are the mere surface of true enjoyment – a rough surface, which consists of egocentric gratification and personal aggrandizement. We must unequivocally see through this deceptive surface in order to enter the depth of ecstatic Divine Enjoyment. To come to the end of worldly enjoyment is to experience Divine Bliss flowing through every action, every perception.