Through these spiritual disciplines the ties of the past karma are cut asunder. But realization of the God cannot be achieved without ecstatic love (Prema Bhakti) for Him. Do you know the significance of japa and other spiritual practices? By these, the dominance of the sense organs is subdued.
(p.87, The Gospel of the Holy Mother, Holy Mother’s advice on 19 December 1909)
M: “Sir, is there no spiritual discipline leading to realization of the Impersonal God?”
MASTER: “Yes, there is. But the path is extremely difficult. After intense austerities the rishis of olden times realized God as their innermost consciousness and experienced the real nature of Brahman. But how hard they had to work! They went out of their dwellings in the early morning and all day practised austerities and meditation. Returning home at nightfall, they took a light supper of fruit and roots.
“But an aspirant cannot succeed in this form of spiritual discipline if his mind is stained with worldliness even in the slightest degree. The mind must withdraw totally from all objects of form, taste, smell, touch, and sound. Only thus does it become pure. The Pure Mind is the same as the Pure Atman. But such a mind must be altogether free from ‘woman and gold’. When it becomes pure, one has another experience. One realizes: ‘God alone is the Doer, and I am His instrument.’ One does not feel oneself to be absolutely necessary to others either in their misery or in their happiness.
(p.350, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, The Master’s advice to M on 19 December 1883)