God is Within, Yet We Search For Him Here and There

Teachings of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Ramakrishna Mission
“As long as a man feels that God is ‘outside’, he is ignorant. But he attains Knowledge when he feels that God is ‘within’.
– Sri Ramakrishna

The following notable teaching has been taken from the book: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

SRI RAMAKRISHNA: A man wanted a smoke. He went to a neighbour’s house to light his charcoal. It was the dead of night and the household was asleep. After he had knocked a great deal, someone came down to open the door.

At sight of the man he asked, ‘Hello! What’s the matter?’

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The man replied: ‘Can’t you guess? You know how fond I am of smoking. I have come here to light my charcoal.’

The neighbour said: ‘Ha! Ha! You are a fine man indeed! You took the trouble to come and do all this knocking at the door! Why, you have a lighted lantern in your hand!’

What a man seeks is very near him. Still he wanders about from place to place. Similarly God is within us, he resides in our very soul, yet we wander from one holy spot (tirtha) to another looking for Him.

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