Parables from The Gospel Of Sri Ramakrishna

How Can God Be Realized?

This is a story of the man who asked his guru how God could be realized. The guru said to him: ‘Come with me. I shall show you how one can realize God.’ Saying this, he took the disciple to a lake and held his head under the water. After a short time he released the disciple and asked him, ‘How did you feel?’ ‘I was dying for a breath of air!’ said the disciple. When the soul longs and yearns for God like that, then you will know that you do not have long to wait for His vision. The rosy colour on the eastern horizon shows that the sun will soon rise."

The Watchman and the Lantern

“In olden days, the Indian village hired a night-watchman to keep down crime and accidents. He would go around the streets and lanes with a square metal lantern open only at the front. The watchman could see, wherever the lantern cast its light. No rays of light fell on him, who carried the lantern. If you wanted to see who the watchman was, you had to ask him to turn the lamp back on his own face.

We are like that! Our eyes (ears, tongue, etc.) are all facing outward, looking at and feeling the things of the world. God says, "If you want to see me, turn the lamp around; look within and find the Source of all the light.""