Daily Reading 77. Swamiji speaks about the fruits of sadhana and spiritual states.

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

At one time Sri Ramakrishna wanted to give [then Naren – later Swami] Vivekananda all his powers. Vivekananda said, ‘Will these powers help me to get God-realisation?’ Master replied, ‘No.’ Swami Vivekananda replied, ‘Then I don’t want them.’

Sadhana [spiritual practice] is to get rid of the ego, to destroy it or make it humble, so that it will bring you fruits. Any desire is desire. The highest desire is to know God. Sri Ramakrishna said, ‘The fruit you accumulate through sadhana, give it to the world.’ He also said, ‘Jiva [individual soul] is Shiva [God],’ meaning, worship God in man. The body is the temple of God – God must be living in it. So worship God in man. We must make out [see] God in everything. Renounce [give up attachments]. Give Him the fruits. Renounce. Give Him the fruits. Renounce. Give Him the fruits. [Swamiji repeated this several times to stress the importance]. True sadhakas [spiritual aspirants, seekers] desire that spirituality which is like fruits offered to God as Prasad [sacramental, blessed]. An ordinary man’s sadhana is a locking key. A renunciate’s sadhana frees.

When you sit for meditation you must be comfortable and relaxed. Do not touch anybody. Feet, tummy, face muscles, brain, all must be relaxed.

Early morning satsang: This is an opportunity to judge one’s own mind. If the mind is willing to come to satsang it is wonderful. If not, it shows that practice is lacking practice of divine principles. In meditation when the mind runs elsewhere, call the mind back with sweets [gently], to the Lord’s feet. Each time it will stay longer, until, if you want to do something else, the mind will call you back.

You are all lights of God, may you all shine brighter each day. Repeat God’s name [japa]. Your deeds are controlled by His name. Sri Ramakrishna combined all the philosophies together. Each preached to different grades of students. The philosophies of Madhvacharya, Ramanuja and Shankaracharya are well known. Sri Ramakrishna covers all three, ‘plus’.  Master said, ‘God is with form, without form and attributes, and He is beyond this. He Himself knows what He is.’

Bhavamukha [see footnote] is the threshold between form and formless. The avatars [Incarnations] come to teach us. They come to put things aright. They are with form. Many avatars did not write any books. Examples of this are Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Sri Ramakrishna etc. They do not glorify the intellect – rather, they glorify the spiritual Consciousness in everything. Thus they did not write.

If you do not want to generate [fresh/additional] karmas you must surrender to God. But who can do that? The ‘I’, the ego, is the mischief maker. I am that I am. I am not this I, that you see, but That ‘I’. This is the shadow of That. If there is caste and colour, God is all caste, all colour.

[Footnote: Swami Nikhilananda described Bhavamukha in the glossary of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna as: ‘An exalted state of spiritual experience, in which the aspirant keeps his mind on the borderline between the Absolute and the Relative. From this position, he can contemplate the ineffable and attributeless Brahman and also participate in the activities of the relative world, seeing it as the manifestation of God alone.’]

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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.

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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.