Swamiji gives tips on focussing the mind.
Swamiji is talking about the natural calm times of the day and night. Each lasting for about 45 minutes. Recognised for millennia as ideal times for spiritual practise.
He refers to carefully observing those transitions at the Richmond, KwaZulu-Natal farm [Ramakrishna Blessings] where Swamiji spent several years [giving the young monks and nuns of the Ramakrishna Centre, the opportunity to learn the ropes of running their respective ashrams].
Swamiji says that at about 6pm, everything in the valley at the farm [the dwelling was next to a river] was 'blanketed in calmness, serenity and peace.' Swamiji speaks about the need to be aware of these naturally occurring rhythms – because our own minds will automatically become calm at those times. At other times they will be agitated. And Swamiji says that agitation doesn't necessarily mean in a bad way – but just full of activity.
He says that if you're a clever person, you'll take advantage of those periods, which are four times: 12 noon daytime, 6pm in the evening, at midnight, and from 4am in the morning. You have to make up your mind whether you want to take advantage of it, or not. And if you want to bring calmness and peace in your mind, you'll let your mind flow in these natural cycles.
Everything is a habit, says Swamiji, I went to India and a funny thing happened to me. Swamiji describes how because his body had adjusted to the South African time zone for eating food, he was getting hungry at the 'wrong' times in India, which has a five hour ahead of South Africa time difference. And when he returned to South Africa, the exact opposite happened again. So, he says, everything is a habit.
Sometimes, if you find that these times are not suited to you, by force of habit you must create your own vibration [state] conducive to meditation or spiritual practise. You'll see over time, how you gain power over your own mind.
Swamiji describes his own experience of how during his sadhana [spiritual practise] he would be fully internally focussed, even when people were asking questions. He says that this state can be acquired by anyone, if they make it a habit.
He goes on to describe how the place in which one meditates must be beautiful. He suggests creating a serene visual environment, even in a busy urban apartment. By adopting these routines, says Swamiji, in just three months time, one should acquire a lot of power over the mind.
He says that fancy approaches are not needed in the western world. That Patanjali gave a simple but effective technique. Draw a circle and put a dot in the centre of it. Look at the dot, close your eyes. Open your eyes and look at the dot again [the Zen monks often use this approach]. Keep doing that until you can internalise the dot and hold the mind in focus on it.
In worldly or spiritual life, first and foremost, is the need to gather the mind to one point. Swamiji clearly pointing to the place between the eyebrows – or as he used to tell us – 'the root of the nose'. He says 'Don't force it. Just keep the attention there, as if you're naturally looking at somebody. As time goes, what will happen? As your mind becomes gathered and when it's focussed, it will self-strengthen the inner attitude.'
You will begin to love to meditate. At the present moment we must try to get the taste of meditation. You'll actually love to meditate. And the internal joy will come. Swamiji speaks of external distractions and disturbances, but says that there will come a time, when we will be able to transcend them.
Swamiji encourages the young boys in the satsang, in particular, to 'become scientists' and experiment to see if they can implement these techniques.
First thing is to get the mind gathered. Then there must be something to focus on. A dot or flower or god or goddess – whatever you like. And when it's focused on that for a certain amount of time, you'll find the joy itself. Then it will start gravitating [towards meditation]. Before that, it doesn't gravitate. It's like a tug of war. The outside pulling you, and you are pulling the mind inside.
Use psychology on your own mind. He is the greatest psychologist, who can use psychology on his own mind. Swamiji says: My Guru [Swami Nischalananda Puri] used to say, 'He is a hero who conquers his own mind.'
Swamiji wraps up the homily by saying that if you can conquer your mind, then you are a hero. Others think they're heroes, but they're not. Learning is nothing. Money is nothing. Name is nothing. Fame is nothing. All of these come to scatter your mind. Yogis, in simple terms, are people who have gathered their minds. Other things cause scattering. Only one thing gives bliss.
Swamiji concludes by mentioning various popular yoga schools using bija mantras and other mechanisms to attract people. All they're doing says Swamiji, is helping to focus the mind.
This track had a good deal of noise interference, so to hear the Artificially Intelligence isolated [cleaned-up version], please click on the link below. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration: 10:23
Click here for the Flipbook version of: → Swamiji's biography
It's a free-to-read, draft 396 page, extended version of 'A Life Lived For Others.
However, if you'd prefer a straight-up PDF version, please click HERE. (Depending on the age of your device or the browser you use, you may need to download a a PDF reader.)
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 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.