I am the machine and She is the operator. I am the house and she is the Indweller. I am the chariot and She is the Charioteer. I move as She moves me; I speak as She speaks through me. In the Kaliyuga one does not hear the voice of God, it is said, except through the mouth of a child or a madman or some such person.

 But without awakening ones inner consciousness one cannot realize the All-pervading Consciousness. How long does a man reason? So long as he has not realized God. But mere words will not do. As for myself, I clearly see that He Himself has become everything. The inner consciousness must be awakened through the grace of God. Through this awakening one goes into samadhi. He often forgets that he has a body. He gets rid of his attachment to lust and greed and does not enjoy any talk unless it is about God. Worldly talk gives him pain. Through this awakening of the inner consciousness one realizes the All-pervading Consciousness.

 Kali is none other than Brahman. That which is called Brahman is really Kali. She is the Primal Energy. When that energy remains inactive, I call It Brahman, and when It creates, preserves, or destroys, I call it Sakti or Kali. What you call Brahman I call Kali.

Brahman and Kali are not different. They are like fire and its power to burn:  if one thinks of fire one must think of its power to burn. If one recognizes Kali one must also recognize Brahman; again, if one recognizes Brahman one must recognize Kali. Brahman and Its Power are identical.

~The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna~

Sri Ramakrishna
on Surrender

It is no doubt necessary to practice spiritual discipline; but there are two kinds of aspirants. The nature of the one kind is like that of the young monkey, and the nature of the other kind is like that of the kitten. The young monkey, with great exertion, somehow clings to its mother. Likewise, there are some aspirants who think that in order to realize God they must repeat His name a certain number of times, meditate on Him for a certain period, and practice a certain amount of austerity. An aspirant of this kind makes his own efforts to catch hold of God. But the kitten, of itself, cannot cling to its mother. It lies on the ground and cries, “Mew, mew!” It leaves everything to its mother. The mother cat sometimes puts it on a bed, sometimes on the roof behind a pile of wood. She carries the kitten in her mouth hither and thither. The kitten doesn’t know how to cling to the mother. Likewise, there are some aspirants who cannot practice spiritual discipline by calculating about japa or the period of meditation. All that they do is cry to God with yearning hearts. God hears their cry and cannot keep Himself away. He reveals Himself to them.