Uniqueness of Sri Ramakrishna’s teachings and message

The sayings of Sri Ramakrishna stand on a unique pedestal. Sri Ramakrishna possessed not only a great intellect and an artistic mind, but had the additional qualification that he had ‘seen God face to face; talked with Him’ and shared the Divine life. Hence Sri Ramakrishna’s words on these transcendental themes come with a weight of authority derived from the Supreme Being Himself.

There are more than 1100 sayings and parables of Sri Ramakrishna. The manner and method of his teaching, as well as his relationship with his disciples, were in many respects unique. He never undertook the work of teaching in an egoistic sense. He was the humblest of men, without any sense of ego in him, and he attributed all that he achieved to the Divine Mother of the universe. And it was because of this very fact of his having surrendered his ego completely to the Divine that the Guru Shakti (the redeeming power of the Lord) manifested itself through his body and mind in so remarkable a degree, sanctifying and enlightening all that came within their influence.

Sri Ramakrishna had the strange capacity to make himself interesting and intelligible to people of diverse temperaments and stages of intellectual developments. He could astound learned Pandits like Sasadhar and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar by the profundity of his wisdom, and he could also bring himself to the intellectual level of the ignorant village woman, to have her simple doubts cleared.

Sri Ramakrishna preached no particular dogma, creed or philosophy. What he did was convey to people a spirit that transformed their outlook on life and gave them an insight into the ultimate nature of the world and of human personality. In doing this, he relied not on formal sermons and discourses, but on loving contacts, illustrations drawn from Nature, a life of purity and self-control, and above all the practice of silent Japa and meditation. His instructions, whether on philosophy, devotion or conduct would take the form of witty sayings, striking analogies and illuminating parables.