Daily Reading 125. Swamiji says notice the holy personality, but focus primarily on the principle.
Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.
Sannyas [renunciation, monasticism] is absolute self-dedication to humanity. Sannyas goes from the personality to the principle. In a temple it is first the murti [image, statue, representation of God], and this leads to the Ideal. In the murti of Master [Sri Ramakrishna] see the personality first – remember his holiness. But his principle is what we worship. A few people see the principle first and then try and find a personality that embodies that principle.
Swami Vivekananda says, ‘Understand the life of Rama who is the embodiment of principle, and understand the principles of Shiva. Act like Rama – the soul, Brahman, Satchidananda, the transcendental Reality, the Self.’ Sita [wife of Lord Rama] is the mind constantly thinking of Rama, constantly attuned to the Atman [soul], the Divine. This is the Indian or the Hindu mind, the self-controlled, developed mind.
Serve them with the body, sing to them with the body, with the hands serve God, with the eyes see the Divine form, with the ears hear the Divine. We read how Sita was attracted to a deer – that means for a while Sita was distracted from the divine, and attracted to worldly things.
Never seek to possess the wealth of others – or even your own body. You are only a trustee.
Rama went away and in the absence of God-realisation, of Self-illumination, she [Mother Sita] was caught – that means the mind is caught by the three gunas [Tamas, Sattva and Rajas]. Swami Vivekananda walks in the footsteps of Sri Rama, to bring back [Indian] national pride. Sometimes we think we will be robbing our Ishta Devata [personal Deity] and so we fight shy of different saints and sages. [Swamiji used to urge us to look for similarity, and not difference. A wonderful phrase of His was: ‘The ant will find the grain of sugar, if there is sugar to be found.’]
Are we worthy of our Deity, Bhavatarini, who saved the whole universe? Sri Ramakrishna said, ‘As long I live, so long do I learn. I consider myself to be an eternal student.’ In the Vivekachudamani it says: ‘The Guru is a smouldering fire that burns without fuel – there is no action, it is actionless.’
Sri Ramakrishna saw a public woman [prostitute and his mind immediately went to the Divine Mother] and he went into samadhi – but a sensual man sees that and desires her. Think: What gives a worldly man a push to enjoy worldly pleasure – what gives a holy man a push to enjoy spirituality?
When you go to the Guru, what should you do? Worship him with devotion, be humble, besiege him with questions pertaining to spirituality. Do not ask him about worldly matters. Bhakti [devotion] is a mental quality. Touch His feet and do his behest [will]. Wait till the appropriate time comes to talk, be pure in body and mind. Say to him, ‘You are the ocean of compassion, I have fallen into the ocean of samsara [cycle of birth and death], please rescue me.’
How to purify the mind? 1. Only say what you can do. If you can’t do something, don’t say. 2. Keep good company. If a person or a group of people makes your mind go towards God, it is good. 3. Read holy books. How to get dispassion? By not having a passion for the things of the world – by only having a passion for God. 4. Pray for love of His lotus feet. He will do everything for you – but you must want God, not the world.
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For our gurubhai Atmaprakash Kramer’s beautiful pictorial ‘memoir’ booklet of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, Avoca Ashram, please click HERE.
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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.