Swamiji puts God’s power, His Maya and our egos into context.
[Please click on picture to fully open – depending on your device.] 'You have sung the glories of that eternal, infinite being under the name of Shiva.' Swamiji appears to be commenting on a book or letter in which a devotee has asked for an explanation of the mantra to Lord Shiva, Om Namah Shivaya. They had been told that each letter or syllable stands for one of the elements ⬅️[expanded on, in this link], which is no other than God himself, or God's power.
Swamiji talks about Sri Ramakrishna saying that God and God's power are inseparable. Like milk and its whiteness. Like fire and its burning power. Similarly, God and his great power, manifested as this universe, can never be separated.
But he has lent himself to us, and we can only realise this, not by our own effort, not because of our own strength, but by his own grace. And as his grace dawns on us, it reveals itself. Who covers it? He himself covers it. Because he covers it, we have no power to uncover it. Why? Because he is the almighty.
Almighty means all the 'mights' you know of. The ants' might, the saints' might, the sinners' might, his might. How can you ever exert your might, when it is his might? So it is only when he uses his might to reveal himself, that we see him.
In this way, we must be humble. If we have the slightest bit of ego, that, 'I will do sadhana, and God will reveal himself!' it won't work. You can't even do sadhana, because sadhana 'might' is his. Swamiji says, kriya shakti, vidya shakti, yoga shakti, all shaktis [powers/energies] are his. How can you ever boast about having the shakti?
Gurudev, Swami Nischalanandaji Maharaj [pictured], used to tell us, 'Man is a slave, but he prides himself on being a master. Don't you see? At night-time they'll say 'I'm going to sit up [the whole night] for Shivaratri – and you find half of them snoring.' They're a slave to sleep. Then you see people saying, 'I shall fast.' But inside them, the rat is running around Ganesha. The rat is hunger, Gurudev used to tell us.
In this way, you must humble yourself. Humility is one of the pre-requisites of a sadhaka. My beloved guru, Nischalanandaji used to say: Ha, Inder [Swamiji's pre-monastic name], stand like a mountain, exalting, when it's raining. Where does the water collect? Not on the mountain, but in the valley.
He rebuked me many times. 'Ego, ego, ego.' And then I used to think, 'What kind of swami is this? Swamiji says that this is a typical reaction of a child towards parents trying to discipline them. 'As if the guru is telling me without ego.' 😉 The mind reacts like that. Only later you realise, 'Ooh. That's not ego. Like Sri Ramakrishna said, the ego [of a holy person] is like a long burnt-out rope. The smallest puff of wind will blow its ashes away. Or it's like writing on the water. (Swamiji chuckles). It can not be read – but it's written.
Please listen to Swamiji describing ego and its opposite – humility. Swamiji says, I also sat like this in front of my guru. Swamiji talks about their relationship with Swami Nischalananda and how only at the right time will we be rescued from Maya – when the egg (using that analogy) is fully matured and ready to hatch.
Swamiji wraps up the homily by explaining that the 'creator, preserver and destroyer' aspect of God, is attributed to different aspects of the divine by different Hindu religious clusters. Swamiji says if this is really the case, they'd all end up destroying themselves. So, as he so frequently did, Swamiji reminds the devotees that there is only ONE. As the wise ones have said, 'Truth is One – sages call it by various names.' God creates his own lila. His divine play.
Please click on the link below to listen. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration: 08:31
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-onwards tapes, has been lovingly engineered, over many years, by her son and our dear gurubhai, Brother Tim. May Sri Ramakrishna and Swamiji bless them both.
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Links to our Guruparampara (spiritual lineage) organisations, which will broaden your knowledge base: Ramakrishna Math and Mission and our alma maters, the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa and the Sri Sarada Devi Ashram in Durban.
Today's post picture is borrowed from VedicFeed.com