Why doesn’t God free us from the world? Ah, He will free us when the disease is cured. He will liberate us from the world when we are through with the enjoyment of ‘woman and gold’. Once a man registers his name in the hospital, he cannot run away. The doctor will not let him go away unless his illness is completely cured.
(p.185, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Thakur’s words to the devotees in his room in Dakshineswar on 9 March, 1883)
Devote yourself to the service of others. Nothing is dearer to the Master than this.
(p.61, Letters for Spiritual Seekers, Swami Shivananda’s letter from Belur Math on 9 March, 1912.)