Swamiji speaks about Lord Rama, Sri Hanumanji and Householder Brahmacharya.
Swamiji starts the discussion by talking, reading about and explaining the different perceptions of Lord Rama, in answer to the question, 'Who is Lord Rama?'
There's a fun moment where future King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya are granted a boon by Lord Vishnu and ask him, 'Lord, we want a son just like you.'
Swamiji explains the subtlety of this tactic. God is one without a second. So it's not possible for someone 'like' God, to be born to them. It had to be God himself in the form of Lord Rama.
To illustrate the different relationships with God, Swamiji quotes the question put by Lord Rama to Sri Hanumanji. 'Hanuman, what do you think of me, in relation to you?' And the glorious response: 'When I am body conscious O Lord, I think I am your servant [dasa]. O Lord, when I think I am the Jivatman [individual soul] I am a minute portion of yourself. O Lord, when I know I am the Atman, I am yourself.' You and I are not separate, adds Swamiji. [This is a beautifully accessible explanation of the states of awareness from 1) Dualism or Dvaita – where we think we are distinctly one thing, and God is another. 2) Vishisht Advaita – qualified non-dualism, in which we are that small portion of God and 3) Advaita when we are indeed That One Indivisible Consciousness Itself.]
And the door to God-realisation is Hanumanji Himself. Without Him giving you the secret you can't pass through the door. You can not go into the kingdom of God-realisation called Rama. And to win the grace of Sri Hanumanji, we have to do what?, asks Swamiji. Tapasya – alignment of thought, word and deed. There's no back door to God, teases Swamiji. There's only one door to God – and the Keeper is Hanumanji.
Swamiji then goes on to a very important discussion about brahmacharya [sense control]. And how it differs for the householder, from the version of brahmacharya required for a renunciate. [This section is essential listening for those in relationships or with families.]
Drawing the threads of the homily together, Swamiji once again emphasises that these guidelines from the Rishis are not theory. They are from their own profound experience and realisation. The sadhaka [spiritual aspirant] says, 'I think.' The Guru says, 'I know.'
To benefit from these wonderful insights, please click on the link below. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration: 09:55
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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 visual in today's post was crafted using prompts to Microsoft Copilot Artificial Intelligence (AI).