Swamiji having fun with spiritual theory vs. actuality.
Some points on this delightful discussion between Swamiji and devotees about Advaita Vedanta:
Swamiji chuckles as he reads from a source, describing a man who is an 'adherent to the Maya theory'. [Often misinterpreted as 'lies', 'untrue', 'illusion', 'delusion', etc. But remember that Swamiji said: 'Maya is not lies – its just 'partial truth'.]
Swamiji is having fun here by emphasising what is said about the man. He supposedly adheres to the idea that all is illusion, but the written observation made about him, is that 'He seemed overly concerned with food and raiment [clothing].' 😂 [Swamiji often joked about self-declared Advaitins among us, who gasp in pain if pricked by a thorn – and that's the end of their 'unreal'.]
Stressing that's he's not speaking ill of sannyasis [All who wear gerua aren't necessarily sannyasis. The same situation is today found on the streets of Europe], Swamiji shares a personal anecdote from India, in which, although supposedly jnanis, 'sadhus' asked for fruit, in preference to the offered flowers. Swamiji gives further guidelines. One line from the reading is, 'Our knowledge of the truth does not necessarily influence our conduct.'
Swamiji explains what should and will happen if someone is in a state of union with Brahman. i.e. God- or Self-realised.
This audio recording has Swamiji emphasising the vast difference between intellectual 'understanding' of spiritual topics and the lived experience of them.
To listen to these delightful approximately 8 minutes, click on the link below. Jay Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration 07:48
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.