Daily Reading 53. Swamiji speaks on renunciation of ignorance and desire, and answers devotee questions.
Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.
Discussing the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18:
This deals with the similarities between sannyasa [renunciation lead to attainment of moksha [liberation from the cycle of birth and re-birth]. A sannyasi [monk] gives up all actions impelled by desires – that is the path of knowledge. Relinquishment is the abandonment of all forms of action, all desires already performed. It is the path of action.
Without knowledge there is ignorance, which leads to desire, to action. If there is no ignorance, there is no desire, and no action. In verse 66 it says: In sannyasa all desire orientated action must be given up. This later leads to selfless action.
Do for God. That is real renunciation. And follow a dharmic [righteous] path. Give up the idea that: ‘I must do for my sake.’ Do is because it is there, and not because you have likes and dislikes. Strength is from food, from nature, from God. So God is doing it. Never think ‘it is mine’. It is God’s.
If you want God-realisation, go and preach God’s word sincerely. We do not listen to the scripture with faith, so we do not believe it is true.
A sannyasi is not just a very good man. His very nature forces him to be a sannyasi. So take refuge in God’s feet and you will change. Recite all the mantras in the prayer book – and do good: morally, physically and spiritually. Recite the shanti [peace] mantras and plead to the Deity to enlighten the Spirit and the intellect. Know the general meaning of all the Gayatri mantras: ‘I meditate on the splendour of the splendid One, He who created the heaven and the earth and the intermediary. May He compel me to do so.’ Put the onus on God. It is good to do the Gayatri mantras at the beginning of sadhana, after the dhyan [invocation to the Guru] mantra.
Latu Maharaj [the illiterate orphan boy and Sri Ramakrishna disciple who became Swami Adbhutananda] said: Practise japa [repetition of one of the many names attributed to God or a mantra], meditate and pray.
It is a well known saying: A genuine sadhu [holy person] has no pockets
in his shirt. [Swamiji told us about a devotee sincerely asking Swami Shivanananda Mahapurush what a monk has in their pockets. Maharaj’s answer was so touching. He said, ‘We have nothing but love in our pockets.’]
After meditation, pray like this: ‘O Lord, give me the strength to worship you, to repeat your name.’
Whatever you think of – the Deity is there first. When you meditate in the head the Deity is always inside you. You think it is in the head, but really it is in the [spiritual] heart.
If you are not making spiritual progress there is something wrong with your sadhana [spiritual practise] or with you. As you get older you should get calmer. Other people will feel it even if they do not know why. If you are crabby and grumbling, there is something wrong with you. Either you are doing sadhana wrongly, or you are doing sadhana because somebody has said you must.
Question: How can I think of the attributes of the Deity and repeat the name at the same time? Swamiji: Just think of the Deity to begin with. You must have an image and then it will become living. Repeat all the prayers during the day, all the Gayatris etc. Sadhana will improve each time. Install the Deity there first. And as Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi said: Do not find fault with others, only find fault with yourself.
Sri Ramakrishna said: ‘Leave the world. Turn to japa and the wonder of it.’ Wherever the mind goes, put Him [God] there first. Think of His name and glories.
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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.