One realizes God even if one believes Him to be formless. One also realizes God if one believes that God has form. Two things are necessary for the realization Of God: faith and self-surrender. Man is ignorant by nature. Errors are natural to Him. Can a one-seer pot hold four seers of milk? Whatever path you may follow, you must pray to God with a restless heart. He is the Ruler of the soul within. He will surely listen to your prayer if it is sincere. Whether you follow the ideal of the Personal God or that of the Impersonal Truth, you will realize God alone, provided you are restless for Him. A cake with icing tastes sweet whether you eat it straight or sidewise.
(p, 867, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Thakur’s words to Dr. Mahendralal Sarkar on 22 Oct,1885 at Shyampukur.)
That freedom was your nature, and this Maya never bound you. Nature never has power over you. Like a frightened child you were dreaming that it was throttling you, and the release from this fear is the goal: not only to see it intellectually, but to perceive it, actualize it, much more definitely than we perceive this world. Then we shall know that we are free. Then, and then alone, will all difficulties vanish, then will all the perplexities of heart be smoothed away, all crookedness made straight, then will vanish the delusion of manifoldness and nature; and Maya, instead of being a horrible, hopeless dream, as it is now, will become beautiful, and this earth, instead of being a prison-house, will become our playground; and even dangers and difficulties, even all sufferings, will become deified and show us their real nature, will show us that behind everything, as the substance of everything, he is standing, and that He is the one real Self.
(p.129, Vol.2, Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Swamiji in his lecture ‘Maya and Freedom’ delivered in London 22 Oct, 1896.)
Strike the iron while it is hot. Idleness won’t do. Throw overboard all idea of jealousy and egotism, once for all. Come on to the practical field with tremendous energy; to work, in the fullness of strength! As to the rest, the Lord will point out the way. The whole world will be deluged by a tidal wave. Work, work, work – let this be your motto….Our object is to do good to the world, and not the trumpeting of our names…Those that have come under his protection, have virtue, wealth, desires, and freedom lying at their feet. Courage! Everything will come about by degrees. From all of you I want this that you must discard forever self–aggrandizement, faction-mongering, and jealousy. You must be all-forbearing, like Mother Earth. If you can achieve this, the world will be at your feet.
(p.278, Vol.6, Swamiji’s letter to Swami Ramakrishnananda from Baltimore, U.S.A dt.22 Oct, 1894.)