Swamiji speaks on divine grace – and receiving moksha when dying in Kashi.
Swamiji tells the story about a man, who's very proud of the fact that he's owner of a factory that employs 1500 people. And he's taking full credit for it. Swamiji says the Guru makes subtle use of psychology. Not to hurt or damage but to raise the Chela [disciple] to a higher level.
So the Guru takes the disciple for a walk outside, and uses Nature to teach him a loving but powerful lesson.
Swamiji quotes Swami Vivekananda, who said that whatever good may have come out of his mouth or from his actions, was purely by the grace of his beloved Guru, Sri Ramakrishna. Swamiji emphasises that we are merely hosepipes, through which sometimes clean water and sometimes dirty water flows. When the ego is involved, the water is dirty. So we are merely vessels or conduits through which divine grace works.
Swamiji says that what's needed in spiritual life is 1) understanding, 2) faith and 3) love. Swamiji expands in detail on what he means by this, and uses the lyrics from a song to illustrate the point. Until vairagya – dispassion or distaste – for this world sets in, how can the Lord come? asks Swamiji.
Dying in Kashi means moksha [liberation from the cycle of birth and rebirth] – confirmed by Sri Ramakrishna himself and later, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi, too. 👇
The discussion moves to Sri Ramakrishna being on pilgrimage in Varanasi/Benares/Kashi. Where, in a high state of consciousness, he actually saw Lord Shiva whispering a mantra of liberation [moksha] into the ears of the dying. And Mother Kali then untying the knots of karma, confirming and validating the Hindu/Sanatani belief that anyone dying in Kashi gets liberation [moksha] from the cycle of birth and rebirth.
Some devotees queried this with Master [Sri Ramakrishna] saying, 'How is this possible?' Listen to Swamiji explaining how. This is an exquisite description of the process, and the blessing of leaving the body in Kashi. Confirmed in every way by the direct experience of Sri Ramakrishna himself.
Swamiji wraps up the homily by sharing how Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi confirmed that anyone who has taken refuge at the feet of Sri Ramakrishna, will have His vision at their moment of leaving the body. That is a promise made by Master and confirmed by Holy Mother on numerous occasions. What a glorious event to look forward to!
To be reassured and inspired by these teachings, please click on the link below. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration: 14:17
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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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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 [Including The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna etc.] which you can download at no charge, from the Ramakrishna Centre of SA website page, HERE.
The image in this post was generated through prompts to Microsoft Copilot AI (Artificial Intelligence).