Daily Readings 42. Swamiji speaks about faith, and how Master’s disciples tested him with a cheeky menu request.

From Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

After Master’s [Sri Ramakrishna’s] passing Swami Vivekananda and Swami Turiyananda [a brother monk] went to the forest. They decided to test Sri Ramakrishna. This would give them love and knowledge of God. They had not eaten for some time, so they decided specifically what they wanted to eat and said, ‘Master, you must bring us these foods to eat early tomorrow morning – then we will know you are living.’ In other words: then we will believe Sri Ramakrishna is true in the secular world.

So early next morning a bhakta [devotee] came to them. He said he had some food for them. But they were still not happy. They decided it was a coincidence. So Swami Vivekananda asked him, ‘How did you come here?’ The man responded: My Deity is Raghunath [Lord Rama]. In a dream I saw him and heard his voice saying, ‘Go to the sadhus [holy men] and give them some food.’ And then I saw your face in the dream. I turned over, thinking it was only a dream. But something pushed me out of bed and I fell on the floor. And the voice said, ‘Make laddu [a round, dessert sweetmeat] and kicheri [a mixture usually of dhal (lentils) and rice] quickly, with pickle and achaar [chutney].

So Swami Vivekananda’s and Swami Turiyananda’s faith was built on this. My faith is built on the sixpence Divine Mother gave me. [When Swamiji was young he desperately wanted to see a particular movie. He prayed to the Divine Mother, asking Her to somehow provide the money for him to see the movie. Outside the movie house he moved an old newspaper lying on the sidewalk, and underneath, there was the required sixpenny coin (part of the South African Sterling currency system in those days), which was the exact amount required for entry!]

If Master [Sri Ramakrishna] gives you food, gives you shelter and so on, he also gives love and knowledge of God. Sri Ramakrishna said: He who was Rama, He who was Krishna, is Ramakrishna in this body. [And Master added to Swami Vivekananda, ‘And not in your Vedantic (i.e. all is one Consciousness) sense.’] He is what he is. Give your all for it and see if your faith is multiplied. As long as we live in Sri Ramakrishna, we never die. Help each other and always be happy.

Before Swami Vivekananda came to Sri Ramakrishna, he had asked many saints and sages, ‘Have you seen God? Because if you have, then you can show me.’ Only one person gave a positive
answer and that was Sri Ramakrishna himself.

Swamiji talking on Sri Ramakrishna’s Birthday Celebration: Cakes are made out of many things but the cake of Sri Ramakrishna is made out of satsang [prayer service].

The Great Ones come to point out the road to spirituality. Where does this spirituality go away to, that we must look for a method to find it? It gets lost in the way we live. In olden times in India people lived a spiritual life.

Swami Vivekananda said, ‘Practical Vedanta provides an answer to the problems of multiplicity and gives you love for that which is in everyone; that One which is found in your hearts; but which, in your madness, you seek in the wrong place.’  

[Sri Ramakrishna used the example of a deer seeking a beautiful fragrance that he doesn’t realise comes from himself. This is a zoological fact. The Siberian Musk Deer has a scent gland, that secretes musk (used in perfume manufacture). He spends his life searching for the source of the beautiful fragrance. All the time, failing to realise it comes from within his own self.]

Spiritual life strengthens you. We do not want a religion made of miracles and superstitions. Rather we want that religion which will make us strong: Satchidananda – [meaning] Existence, Knowledge, Bliss, Absolute.

Be independent in [relying on] God and you will be a saint. What is so special about Sri Ramakrishna who was born like you and me? The difference is he relied on God. God is not far away. He is your own Nature. He is Bliss, Peace, Existence, Absolute.

Why is material man dying today? Because he has left his Real Nature. He is relying on something outside and not on something within. Give up everything. Recognise that it is God’s. The way Sri Ramakrishna lived mattered. His attitude to life mattered. He did not live in a cave [but among us].

Think that you are Infinite and fearless – and thinking that will make you that. But we spread fear and become fearful.

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.