Daily Reading 101. Swamiji shares a life-altering faith boost.

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

When you meditate on God with form, first think of the whole form, then of parts of that form, then on one part of the form, and then on the eyes. The most living [alive] thing to think of, is the eyes. Just concentrate on the eyes. You do not have to do anything else. See the eyes blink.

Someone may try to harm you, but you must not harm them. If you do want to harm the other person you have the nature of an animal. [Ahimsa in thought, word and deed comes into play here.]

If you have no spiritual questions, either you are not reading holy books or scriptures, or your mind is running the whole time on worldly things. Write down questions as you read.

Do everything and offer it to God. In times of trouble, just watch the thoughts go past – like birds flying past a window. Do not try and catch them. Just watch them.

Every Ekadashi only pray for one thing: Love for Thy Lotus Feet.

A devotee of Master [Sri Ramakrishna] had an accident. She was alright. She stood up and saw Sri Ramakrishna standing there. Thus after five years her desire to see Master was fulfilled. People think Sri Ramakrishna is not there, but he is there, all the time.

Devotee: Sri Ramakrishna says that it is not enough to see God, one must hear and touch…
Swamiji: ‘To see’ means to discriminate between right and wrong, between God and the world. Then use the other senses.

Question: So if we do not choose God, is it wrong, Swamiji?
Swamiji: No, it is not wrong. It just leads you to ‘so-called happiness’, worldly happiness, the illusion of happiness. That is why Master says, ‘Live in solitude for three days.’

Question: Who is ‘good company?’
Swamiji: If a person takes your mind towards God, it is good. You can only tell if a person is good or not by being with them for some time. The guru told Duryodhana, ‘Go and find one good man.’ He looked everywhere, but could not find one good man. The Guru told Dharmaputra, ‘Go and find one bad man.’ He looked but could not find one bad man. Duryodhana did the greatest sin to his guru. He should have said, ‘You are the greatest good,’ and prostrated. But this is the way the mind works, isn’t it? It goes out – it evolves. No. It involves.

Question: How do you get dispassion, Swamiji?
Swamiji: By not having passion for the things of the world, by having passion for God. Just pray for love for His Lotus Feet – and God will do everything for you.

Question: How to get faith like that?
Swamiji: Mine was built on a sixpence [see footnote]. Faith is always there. But we do not know it till we have experiences that build our faith. Sri Ramakrishna said we must get intense yearning. But I would rather use the word ‘want.’ We do not want God, we want the world.

Question: How to discourage people without being judgmental?
Swamiji: Just say you are busy. Do not let them know directly. Or say that so and so gave you something to do. It is a waste of energy being with those people whose company you do not want.

[Footnote: When Swamiji, then the little boy named Inder Lutchman, desperately wanted to see a movie, he didn’t have the required sixpence (six pennies, the then-prevailing Sterling currency in South Africa) for entry. He prayed desperately to the Divine Mother, saying , ‘O Ma! Please give me the money to get into the movie house.’
Nearby lay a crumpled newspaper on the ground. Something said, ‘Lift the newspaper.’ Still he prayed. Then the impulse took over, he lifted the newspaper and there was a sixpenny coin. Mother had answered his prayer.]

Underlined words are hypertext links to clarification, explanation or other sources. Just tap on them.

The free-to-read or download, 396-page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography, ‘A Life Lived For Others‘, is available by clicking HERE. If you’d prefer the PDF version, please click HERE.

For our gurubhai Atmaprakash Kramer’s beautiful pictorial ‘memoir’ booklet of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, Avoca Ashram, please click HERE.

There’s also a Facebook site for Swamiji’s posts now. They feature newer readings published more recently. Click HERE to view.

These recordings or the excerpts from them, were made from the early 1970s onward, by Mother Radha, a close devotee of Swamiji’s and edited for uploading here by our gurubhai and her son, Brother Tim. Please be mindful that what Swamiji was saying may have been specific to those with him at the time.