Devotee: What is the goal of life ? Work or God realisation ?
Shri Ramakrishna :- Work is only the first step. It can never be the goal of life. Devote yourself to spiritual practice and go forward. Through practice you will advance more and more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, and that the goal of life is the attainment of God. (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)
Devotee: What is the aim of life?
Sri Sarada Devi: To realize God and to be absorbed un-interruptedly in His consciousness is the aim. (Source: Spiritual Talks by the First Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna)
Disciple: What is the aim of life?
Sri Sarada Devi: To realize God and to remain immersed in his contemplation. You are sannyasins. You are his own. He takes care of your spiritual welfare both here and hereafter. What then is there for you to worry about? Is it possible to contemplate on God always? Sometimes work; at other times think of God. (Source: Sri Sarada Devi, The Holy Mother: Her Teachings and Conversations by Swami Nikhilananda)
First God and then worldly duties
A DEVOTEE: “The English people always exhort us to be active. Isn’t action the aim of life then?”
MASTER: “The aim of life is the attainment of God. Work is only a preliminary step; it can never be the end. Even unselfish work is only a means; it is not the end.
“Sambhu Mallick once said to me, ‘Please bless me, sir, that I may spend all my money for good purposes, such as building hospitals and dispensaries, making roads, and digging wells.’ I said to him: ‘It will be good if you can do these things in a spirit of detachment. But that is very difficult. Whatever you may do, you must always remember that the aim of this life of yours is the attainment of God and not the building of hospitals and dispensaries. Suppose God appeared before you and said to you, “Accept a boon from Me.” Would you then ask Him, “O God, build me some hospitals and dispensaries”? Or would you not rather pray to Him: “O God, may I have pure love at Your Lotus Feet! May I have Your uninterrupted vision!”? Hospitals, dispensaries, and all such things are unreal. God alone is real and all else unreal. Furthermore, after realizing God one feels that He alone is the Doer and we are but His instruments. Then why should we forget Him and destroy ourselves by being involved in too many activities? After realizing Him, one may, through His grace, become His instrument in building many hospitals and dispensaries.’
“Therefore I say again that work is only the first step. It can never be the goal of life. Devote yourself to spiritual practice and go forward. Through practice you will advance more and more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, and that the goal of life is the attainment of God.
The story of the wood-cutter
“Once upon a time a wood-cutter went into a forest to chop wood. There suddenly he met a brahmachari. The holy man said to him, ‘My good man, go forward.’ On returning home the wood-cutter asked himself, ‘Why did the brahmachari tell me to go forward?’ Some time passed. One day he remembered the brahmachari’s words. He said to himself, ‘Today I shall go deeper into the forest.’ Going deep into the forest, he discovered innumerable sandal-wood trees. He was very happy and returned with cart-loads of sandal-wood. He sold them in the market and became very rich.
“A few days later he again remembered the words of the holy man to go forward. He went deeper into the forest and discovered a silver-mine near a river. This was even beyond his dreams. He dug out silver from the mine and sold it in the market. He got so much money that he didn’t even know how much he had.
“A few more days passed. One day he thought: The brahmachari didn’t ask me to stop at the silver-mine; he told me to go forward.’ This time he went to the other side of the river and found a gold-mine. Then he exclaimed: ‘Ah, just see! This is why he asked me to go forward.’
“Again, a few days afterwards, he went still deeper into the forest and found heaps of diamonds and other precious gems. He took these also and became as rich as the god of wealth himself.
Go forward
“Therefore I say that, whatever you may do, you will find better and better things if only you go forward. You may feel a little ecstasy as the result of japa, but don’t conclude from this that you have achieved everything in spiritual life. Work is by no means the goal of life. Go forward, and then you will be able to perform unselfish work. But again I say that it is most difficult to perform unselfish work. Therefore with love and longing in your heart pray to God: ‘O God, grant me devotion at Thy Lotus Feet and reduce my worldly duties. Please grant me the boon that the few duties I must do may be done in a detached spirit.’ If you go still farther you will realise God. You will see Him. In time you will converse with Him.” (Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna)