Daily Reading 88. Swamiji shares touching anecdotes about life with his Guru, and comments on Navaratri.

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

Gurudev, [Swami Nischalananda Puri, Swamiji’s Guru], was a very hard taskmaster. With him, what you were yearning for, you got. But he was misunderstood by many so-called ‘educated’ people. Houseflies always want filthy places. Saints are not to be blamed, man is to be blamed. If God’s grace is there, you will be understood, if not, not! My guru showered his grace on me – with love and jnana [knowledge].

One day Gurudev gave me a slap. I asked, ‘What’s that for, Maharaj?’ [a term of respect used with sadhus, literally meaning: great king] He said, ‘Look at that stamp [postage stamp, for a letter or parcel]. Why did you put it on crooked?’ One day I made Gurudev’s bed. He opened it and said, ‘Look at that sheet. It has got a fold in it!’ That taught me to do everything perfectly – or as perfectly as I could do it.

I had a special relationship with my guru. We used to roll on the ground together – over and over. He would hold me by the hair – I had short hair in those days – and I would hold him by the beard. There is a photo of me pulling his hair. It was taken in this room.

I only want God to give you bhakti [love], jnana [knowledge], visvas [belief], shraddha [faith] – so you become worthy children of Sri Ramakrishna.

It is a great thing to uplift the name of your parents. If you do this you will win the grace of God. Life is a tool to take us to the highest goal: God. Be proud of being children of Sri Ramakrishna, of Holy Mother [Sri Sarada Devi].

Children must never talk back to their mother and father. If they do, they are Ravanas [like demons] or a Judas [the disciple who ‘betrayed’ Jesus Christ] in the making.

Question: What is the difference between Swami Sivananda [Saraswati] [*see footnote 1] and Sri Ramakrishna?
Swamiji: Swami Sivananda is the bliss of Shiva. But Sri Ramakrishna is that from which bliss came.

Always be happy as long as I am in the body. And when I die? I never die. The guru never dies. And if he does, then he is no good as a guru. Throw him out!

When we worship Master [Sri Ramakrishna] we are really worshipping [Mother] Kali. She is the one inside him.

Spoken during Mother Worship – Navaratri: [*see footnote 2] God is like a fruit, waiting there to be eaten by us to give us strength and wisdom. When you understand the Divine Mother fully, you will become Her. Today you are blessed. You must say, ‘O Mother Divine, we will not leave your feet until all our adharmic  [unrighteous] thoughts, words and deeds are removed.’ If you pray for anything, ask Her [The Divine Mother] for Herself. Singular worship has more power than many.

May you be more and more loving towards the great avatar of this age: Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.

*Footnote 1: The question was in reference to Swami Sivananda, the founding head of the Divine Life Society in India. The devotee was an initiate in the Swami Vishwananda Saraswati [Swami Sivananda’s guru] guru parampara. So Swamiji was drawing the important distinction between a holy, even God-realised saint, and an acknowledged full Incarnation of God, like Sri Ramakrishna.

*Footnote 2: Navaratri – is nine days – in which the first three are dedicated to the worship of the Mother Kali aspect of the Divine Mother. The second set of three nights are devoted to Mother Lakshmi and the final three to Mother Saraswati.

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.