Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

Suppose a net has been cast into a lake to catch fish. Some fish are so clever that they are never caught in the net. They are like the ever-free.

But most of the fish are entangled in the net. Some of them try to free themselves from it, and they are like those who seek liberation. But not all the fish that struggle succeed. A very few do jump out of the net, making a big splash in the water. Then the fishermen shout, ‘Look! There goes a big one!’

But most of the fish caught in the net cannot escape, nor do they make any effort to get out. On the contrary, they burrow into the mud with the net in the mouths and lie there quietly, thinking, ‘We need not fear any more we are quite safe here.’ But the poor things do not know that the fishermen will drag them out with the net. These are like the men bound to the world. 

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa