Daily Reading 56. Swamiji on the Satya Yuga, Sanatana Dharma and living a genuine spiritual life.

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

The birth of Sri Ramakrishna has ushered in a new age. The satya yuga [golden age or age of truth] began with Master’s advent. In this yuga [epoch, era] people must practise the sattvic quality of truthfulness. From the day that Sri Ramakrishna was born the people of the world began becoming conscious of God.

Truth is a sattvic quality, so man will make Sri Ramakrishna a model and will practise spiritual sadhana. Then their life becomes a blessing.

Vedic religion is eternal. Not just the books but the knowledge, the principles in the books. That is the eternal religion. It is God’s knowledge. God is eternal and His knowledge is eternal. Sanatana Dharma – the Eternal Religion – encompasses the teachings which are desire-fulfilling; how to realise God and sustain devotion to God; daily prayers etc. What is the highest desire? To realise God. Give up objects and live only for God.

Swami Vivekananda [Sri Ramakrishna’s lead disciple] took science and showed us how the ‘demon’, science, can lead to God. Logical religion is preached. To go beyond logic, to go above secular religion, is knowledge. Swami Vivekananda asked Master [Sri Ramakrishna] ‘Have you seen
God?’ This is not a dull question. But Swami Vivekananda was desperate to find the Truth, and so was Sri Ramakrishna.

Everyone thought Sri Ramakrishna was a madman. But when Swami Vivekananda asked the question, ‘Have you seen God?’ Sri Ramakrishna answered, ‘Yes. And I see God more intensely than I see you.’ Later, Swami Vivekananda’s heart opened and he realised God. He was a first-class student and he had a first-class teacher in Master. A Master who had found that all religions had Truth in them.

On meditation: At meditation time your mind will say: Do something else, you are doing the same thing all the time. But you are not doing the same thing all the time.

Comments by Swamiji at the end of a Yoga Retreat:
You are the custodians of Sri Ramakrishna’s treasure. If even two of you can see God in everything, in everyone, this yoga retreat has been worth it. The Bhagavad Gita [Chapter 7, Verse 3] says that ‘one perchance may reach God’. But we don’t have the grace of the mind yet. We still desire the things of this world. If we do not make use of this camp we are the losers. Time is short. Do your duty for Master, with faith, love and devotion. Gurudev [Swamiji’s beloved and revered Guru, Swami Nischalananda Puri] said, ‘We do not know what hunger is. When you look in dirt bins and scratch for food – that is starvation.’ He did this himself in India.

[There was a life-altering demonstration of this awareness and frugality at the Avoca ashram of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa in the 1960s. Some of the ashram boys were in the kitchen and getting ready to eat breakfast. Brother Peter, a disciple of Swami Nischalananda, was carrying some sliced cheese to the breakfast table. A piece fell to the floor. Peter picked it up and dropped it into the garbage bin. Just seconds later, Gurudev walked into the room, went straight to the bin, lifted out the piece of cheese and without saying a word, ate it. The boys never forgot the lesson.]

When Master [Sri Ramakrishna] was on pilgrimage, he saw the suffering crowds in a particular village and said to Mathur Babu [the son in law of the Rani Rashmoni – she who was the driving force behind the construction of the Kali Temple at Dakshineswar], ‘Mathur, feed them and give them each two rupees.’ Mathur was a bit of a miser and said, ‘Where will I get so much money?’ ‘Then just give as
much as you can,’ said Master.

When Mathur made no move to do it, Master put his shawl down and said, ‘Mathur, I will not move from here until you do this.’ So Mathur was forced to call his people from Calcutta, to fetch clothing, food and so on. Only then did Master continue with the pilgrimage.

What is the use of calling on God when there is starvation among the poor? If our hearts are not melted then we are far from Truth. Our hearts are paralysed that we cannot feel for another.

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.