Swami Shivapadananda draws lessons from the simplicity and humility of the incarnations of God.
Swamiji starts the discussion by talking about the Lord Jesus Christ as an example of the maha avatars or great incarnations of God.
Swamiji refers to the Lord Jesus and Sri Ramakrishna as simple (unpretentious, accessible, uncontrived) but not simpletons (as had been rudely said of Sri Ramakrishna, by the undiscerning). Swamiji refers to these great ones, as 'wisdom personified'. [Admin: The fact that the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, as recorded by 'M' – Mahendranath Gupta, starts with Master scolding M for referring to his wife as 'uneducated', shows the importance of this misconception that people have about what constitutes 'education'.]
Swamiji tells the attendees about a conversation held between devotees and Swami Vivekananda (pictured and *see more below) at Thousand Island Park in New York State, USA, to illustrate the point. When devotees tried to equate Swami Vivekananda with the Lord Jesus, he pushed back forcefully and said, 'No! Don't say that. I am trying to be the dust of the feet of Jesus the Christ.'
It's an exquisite lesson in the humility of those who truly are at the pinnacle of spiritual realisation.
[Admin: Swami Vivekananda is said by Hindu saints and sages, to be one of the Sapta Rishis.]
As Swamiji has said so many times, the Incarnations don't write books. But they have much written about them. In some cases, thousands (if not millions) of books.
Swamiji shares an astonishing 'diagnostic secret' in just two sentences, which explains the difference between an incarnation and other holy people. He also describes what it took to get a photograph of Sri Ramakrishna. Here, Swami Vivekananda played a role as well. Swamiji told us all that those photographs of Sri Ramakrishna in samadhi (where the 'I' is not present) are of huge significance and power. Master himself predicted that these pictures would be worshipped on shrines around the world – as they indeed are.
[* Swami Vivekananda spent seven weeks at Thousand Island Park which is on the Saint Lawrence River which separates a part of the northern USA from Canada, in 1895. He stayed in a 'cottage' (of three stories, so more than we would expect of the term – but it's what the Americans called it) on the sprawling site and completed a good deal of his writing. The cottage, refurbished by Swami Nikhilananda of the Ramakrishna Vivekananda Centre of New York, and is known as 'Vivekananda cottage' (pictured)- and is a sacred and actively used Hindu spiritual site.]
Please click on the link below to enjoy this inspirational lesson, listening to Swamiji. Jai Ramakrishna!
Duration 09:34
The original audio recordings of these posts were made by close Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa and Swami Shivapadananda devotee, Mother Radha. The audio editing and noise reduction of the original 1970s tapes has been lovingly crafted, over many years, by her son and our dear gurubhai, Brother Tim. May Sri Ramakrishna and Swamiji bless them both.
Admin tip: If the picture accompanying each posting doesn't automatically open on your device, please click on the little link indicating the presence of the picture. Different devices will respond differently when opening the blog. Also, underlined words or words in colour, are links. If you click on them, they'll take you to an explanation of the particular word or term.
Dear reader, if you spot typos or or other errors, please feel free to email the site admin on info@imbizo.com with your suggested correction/s.
Links to broaden your knowledge: Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, Sri Sarada Devi ashram, Durban
Picture of Swami Vivekananda, taken at Thousand Island Park, from the Ramakrishna Advaita Ashram website.