Daily Reading 164. Swamiji says: Stay in the divine mother’s lap.

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

Gurudev [Swamiji’s Guru, Swami Nischalananda Puri] taught us to serve the guru with all our might, all our strength. Think of God and serve me. First comes discrimination and then. It will come of itself. If the guru tells you to do something, for example if he says, ‘Go home now,’ can you do this unquestioningly? If so, then you will not even think, ‘I wonder why he said that? Does he want me out of the way?’, and so on. That is surrender in thought, word and deed.

Somewhere, intelligence has to stop in silence. When logic, reason, intellect and intuition cease, what is there? Supreme silence. And what is, is He. But do not mistake the silence for Him. Find ‘It’, and then all is gone; there is nothing left; all is perfection.

Mother Kali took Her place in my heart, She never comes and never goes, I am never lonely or alone.

The nectar in the Ocean of Immortality is the same in one drop, as it is in the ocean, so why must I learn it all? Why must I drink it all, when one drop is enough? Mankind is like a turbulent ocean, full of waves. But a few sattvic [more gentle] waves come occasionally, [in the form of] the sages.

I am a tap. I do not want chelas [disciples]. If you are thirsty, come and drink. Practise surrender for three months and see what happens, see how your life changes.

Near the mother the child feels security, happiness, contentment. So must we feel near the Divine Mother. Always imagine you are in her lap. All the time you must be aware. If I lose this awareness for one second, I cry out, ‘Ma, Ma, Ma.’ Be in Her lap every second, but watch the game she plays. She [as Maha Maya] never tires of all these worldly games. Only when she is tired of the game will she let you sleep. I like to play games too, whatever game you choose. If you want to go towards God, OK, we will go together.

Do you want to be happy or do you want to make others happy? If you want to make others happy, then you must feel the pain yourself. Say to [the Divine] Mother, ‘Give me the pain.’ Then the heart may be full of suffering; but you must still show the world a happy face. The love of God is joy.

‘Let me only cling to Thy feet Ma, let me worship Thee with songs, stories, glories, worship, rituals, scriptures.’ Then only, comes meditation – especially for householders [grihasthas – for whom Swamiji so regularly expressed admiration and appreciation for their role].

In wanting this only, there is peace. With the pairs of opposites, for example likes and dislikes, if you are high enough [in spiritual development terms] it is easy to see both and to leave both. If you are not high, one or the other will get you. See [the Divine] Mother in the good and the bad, in every form.

If God is sitting in front of you, how can you sing? Only by forgetting Him outside and remembering Him internally.

If you do not unite in life you will not unite in death.

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. 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.