"Guru, father, and doer – these three words prick my body like thorns....Mother, You are the mechanic, I am Your instrument. I work as You make me work; I speak as You make me speak"

(from "Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita" ):

Sri Ramakrishna: “As long as you have egotism, you cannot gain Knowledge. You also can’t attain Liberation. You will have to come again and again to this world. …

Guru, father, and doer – these three words prick my body like thorns. I am His son, His eternal child. How can I be a father? God is the doer; I do nothing. He is the operator; I am the machine.

If anyone calls me guru, I say to him: “What guru? Away with you, rascal!” There is no guru other than Sat-chit-ananda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute). Except for Him, there is no shelter. He alone is the pilot that takes one across the sea of the world.

(To Vijoy Krishna Goswami): It is very difficult to be a spiritual teacher. It is harmful for him to see a dozen men accept him as guru. Crossing one leg over the other and saying: “Listen to what I say” - is a very bad attitude. Such a person gets that way with the respect of only a dozen people. People will at most say: “Ah, how well Vijay Babu speaks! He is a great man of knowledge!” 

I say: “Don’t think this way”. As for me, I say to the Divine Mother: “Mother, You are the mechanic, I am Your instrument. I work as You make me work; I speak as You make me speak””.