Swamiji speaks about us wanting to doze off when trying to meditate.
A devotee asks Swamiji why sleepiness sets in, when trying to meditate. The response is: Many things can cause that, but if the tummy is full, the blood rushes there to aid digestion, and the brain is robbed of that energy.
And if breathing is not right [shallow or erratic], one will want to doze off. You may also not have a keen interest in the process.
Swamiji says that if a man sees something interesting on the TV, he's not going to fall asleep. But where there's low interest, you'll fall asleep.
Swamiji quotes the 'father' of Yoga – Patanjali – and shares several tips and techniques for overcoming the urge to sleep. One's mind and body will adjust to the new routine, as with anything else. Key is, to keep at it, and overcome it by persistence and sheer will.
Another question is asked: Does this wanting to nod off only happen to old people, or to young people as well? Swamiji teasingly answers that the young people doze off even more quickly, because they don't have any creaking joints. Much hilarity ensues, and the satsangis really enjoy this.😂 They're quite relaxed – they just go, says Swamiji, who then gently prods our beloved Mother Henny Schimmel about tilting to one side during meditation.
[An interesting aside here. Swamiji Vimokshananda (pictured), the 4th President of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, wrote in his blog that when he – and this is decades later – saw Henny Ma still doing that, he assumed she'd fallen asleep. But to his pleasant surprise – her physically very old body leaning to one side or not – she'd open her eyes at the end of his talk or class and ask a really pertinent question!]
Swamiji is now in full swing teasing different devotees about their meditating habits. Our dear, much loved, but scatter-brained at the time brother, brahmachari Ramesh, is the next example. 😉 In the most wicked, loving and witty way, Swamiji spills the beans on him. You have to listen to it! A German former brahmachari is also 'outed'. All of these are wonderful lessons for us. None of them meant maliciously, but being told by Swamiji, so we can be aware of 'the tricks of the mind', as he describes them.
I recognise the voice of our beloved Oncology Professor, Vinodh Jogessar, asking Swamiji about the Cosmic Consciousness [Ishwara] aspect vs. the Ishta Deva [personal Ideal or chosen Deity]. We can all benefit from Swamiji's explanation about the differences – giving us a beautiful visual analogy, that will help us remember the important 3-stage distinction. This was also touched on in post 118-track 1.
Swamiji wraps up the homily in response to a question [from our beloved late sister Di Stott by the sound of it?] about conscious japa [repetition of a mantra] vs. automated [ajapa] japa.
To participate in this fun and highly educational satsang, please click on the link below. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration: 09:52
For the free-to-read, draft 394 page expanded version of 'A Life Lived For Others'.
Click here for: → Swamiji's biography
You may need to install a PDF reader on your phone if that's where you'll be reading the book.
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.
Admin tip: Underlined words are links. If you click on them, they'll take you to an explanation of the particular word or term. [In these overviews, Admin comments are typically in a smaller green font, and square bracketed, like this statement.]
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.
Context: As always, care should be taken to remember that what Swamiji was saying, was often very specific to the needs of people with him at the time. Please bear this in mind.
Links to our Guru Parampara (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. The Ramakrishna Centre of Johannesburg is also active in Gauteng province in South Africa.
There are various publications [The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna etc.] which you can download at no charge, from the Ramakrishna Centre of SA website page, HERE.
The picture in this post was created using prompts to Microsoft Copilot Artificial Intelligence – AI.