From the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna:
On his second visit to the Master he asked, “How can the mind turn to God.”
Thakur answered, “One has to repeat the glories of God’s name always. And holy company. One has to visit now and then the devotees of God or holy men. The mind does not turn to God if one is immersed day and night in the world and practical affairs. It is very necessary now and then to retire into solitude and think of Him. In the beginning it is very difficult to keep the mind on God without retiring into solitude. When a plant is young it is necessary to put a fence round it. Without a fence it is eaten up by goats and cows. To meditate you should withdraw yourself within or retire to a secluded spot or into the forest. And always discriminate between and the unreal. God alone is truth; namely, the reality, and all the rest is unreal and transitory. Discriminating in this manner renounce the transient things from the mind.”
