Swamiji says we’re trapped in seeing only the external.
You will be liberated if you have understanding, faith and love.
Swamiji explains how we'll know when the mind is becoming purified. There are 'symptoms' or indicators of the positive kind.
An internal [non-worldly] restlessness is one of them.
Swamiji quotes the behaviour of Lord Rama as recorded in the Yogavasistha to illustrate the point. He highlights the obstacles that occur on the way.
The theme of this discussion is that the ONE Being or Consciousness has 'apparently' [key word that] divided Itself into many names and forms.
Swamiji uses clay as the common element in producing multiple shapes, forms and applications, to demonstrate how we focus exclusively on the physical manifestation and appearance.
[This entire discussion is a clear, accessible and powerful clarification of how we're 'mis-identifying' what we think we love. We allow ourselves to become attached to the manifestations and forms of the clay and not the common element that underlies them.]
Swamiji quotes from the Christian Bible about the Word Being God and becoming flesh. [The phrase 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God', is the opening line in the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It introduces Jesus Christ as the 'Word' (Logos) who existed with God from the beginning and is himself divine. The phrase '..and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us', from John 1:14 further explains that this divine Word became incarnate, as Jesus Christ.]
Swamiji says this whole world is Brahman [the one Universal Consciousness] but we don't see it because we're attached to a particular name and a particular form, and not what the essence of it is.
Swamiji wraps up the homily by using the Advaita Vedanta analogy of a rope being misperceived as a snake. But, illuminate the 'snake', look at it with knowledge, and we see it's just a rope, after all. There's no snake. He says, in reality there is no world, it's always been and will always be, only one thing, 'Gee-Oh-Dee', GOD.
Swamiji concludes with a classic philosophical cliff-hanger. 'And it's always been that.' Don't ask me how you forgot!' 😉
To contemplate on this wonderful knowledge, please click on the link below. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration: 13:48
NEW! Click here for the Flipbook version of: → Swamiji's biography
It's a free-to-read, draft 396 page, expanded version of 'A Life Lived For Others'. No need to install a PDF reader. It'll work in your present browser.
However, if you'd prefer a straight-up PDF version, please click HERE.
Dear Devotee, if we use the term 'He or he', when referring to Swamiji, it's not impolite or disrespectful. It's to minimise the repetitiveness of saying or writing 'Swamiji' too many times.
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 image in this post was generated through prompts to Microsoft Copilot AI (Artificial Intelligence).