Daily Reading 122. Swamiji speaks about non-negotiable sincerity in spirituality.

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

Remember that if you try to cling to pleasant things, you will [also] get unpleasant things. What is the temptation of the sadhaka [spiritual aspirant]? To leave sadhana [spiritual practice] today and do it tomorrow. As an excuse we may say, ‘Oh, visitors came,’ and so on. But that One [God] which is with you all the time, you are giving IT a rest. If you act like this, it shows you have no principle. And a sadhaka who has no principle, has no right to call himself a human being, or a disciplined being, or a disciple. When yearning is absent in us, relaxation takes place, then we live in the comfort called relaxation.

We can be speeding on the path of sadhana by becoming humble. Kill the ego [sense of self-importance, ‘separateness’ from others] do not play with it. One blow you must give it – there must be no compromise.

The key to spirituality is that even if you read a prayer out of a book, you should do it sincerely. Once, Swami Purushottamananda [Swamiji’s param guru] was called to Rishikesh to speak. Guruji [the name lovingly used by devotees of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa] sat on the stage and humbly said three words, ‘Sincerity, sincerity, sincerity.’ Then he prostrated and left.

When we pray we should mean it. We say, peace, peace, peace – and there should be no other thought in us but peace. Then there is a feeling of peace.

Swami Purushottamananda lived in a cave [Vashistha Guha] for thirty years, with wild animals all around, even tigers. And it is a person like that, who said these words. Even the wild animals became calm. When he told them to leave, they left – like pet dogs. We are the pet dogs of the scriptures. What the scriptures say, we must obey. We must leave out passions and attachments – and above all – insincerity.

It is important to think of ourselves as spiritual beings – drive this deep into your consciousness, then it will manifest in body and mind. You can awaken these thoughts by repeating the mantra [sacred sound syllable or word, or one of the many names attributed to God] day and night. If you get the mantra from someone who has repeated it billions of times, you will take to it quicker – but you can lose it by forgetting it. Swami Vivekananda said, ‘Teach yourself and others their real nature. Awaken the sleeping soul to self-conscious activity.’

Swami Yatiswarananda says: ‘Each idea is like a brick, it is a thought. And you have to base your life on thought. So brick by brick you will end up to be a saint.’ When the mind becomes still, it is Brahman [the ONE, indivisible Consciousness]. The highest thing to hear is the mantra – it is Saraswati, knowledge. You cannot make the mind out [understand it] without knowledge.

Ahimsa, non-violence/non-injury: You must start from where you are – do your household duty perfectly. In married [grihastha] life try to please each other in dharmic [righteous] ways. Then you will be nearer AUM [the Pranava].

If anybody does something wrong you must punish yourself – because we are One. Only in animals is it the survival of the fittest. In ahimsa, it is sacrifice and love. If you see all in the Self and the Self in all, who is there to hate?

Something disturbs your mind? It is God testing you. Have you got the strength to stand against it? If not, you must build up the strength to stand against it.

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.