Swami Har­shananda com­posed eight sutras embody­ing the essence of Sri Ramakrishna’s teach­ings. They are pre­sented here­with. (From the Vedanta Kesari, Decem­ber 2011)

īśvaro’styevaḥ sa eva satyam||1||
taṁ draṣṭuṁ jñātuṁ tena saha ālāpaṁ kartuṁ ca sādhyam||2||
īśvaradarśanaṁ sākṣātkāraśca jīvanasya lakṣyam||3||
tad­darśa­nena sākṣātkāreṇa ca sarvaṁ kṛtaṁ sarvaṁ prāptam||4||
tadarthaṁ guruṇā bhavitavyam||5||
kāmakāñ­canatyāgaḥ prad­hānaṁ sādhanam||6||
satyaṁ ca||7||
vyākulatayaivā’pi īśvarasākṣātkāraḥ sādhyaḥ||8||

1. God ver­ily exists. He alone is the Truth.
2. It is pos­si­ble to see him, to know him, nay, even to talk with him.
3. To see him, to realise him, is the goal of life.
4. By see­ing him, by real­iz­ing him, every­thing is achieved, every­thing is gained.
5. For this, a guru is necessary.
6. Renun­ci­a­tion of lust and greed is the main discipline.
7. And also truth.
8. God can be realised through intense long­ing also.