Danger to the soul
[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
[now a Centre of the international Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission]
DAILY READINGS
Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.
Day 952
When the guru [spiritual preceptor] tells you to do one round of japa [meditative repetition of a mantra – sacred sound syllable, phrase or one of the many names attributed to God on a mala – Hindu prayer beads or rosary, pictured above] you want to do ten times that and more to show him how good you are. He tells you to do one round of japa. He [the guru] laughs. He knows you're going to get fed-up [irritated] in just one month's time. Because you won't have the time to do ten malas. So he's telling you nicely, do 108 times [one round on the Hindu japa mala comprising 108 beads] but you want to show how good a disciple you are and you tell him, 'Oh Swamiji, I do ten malas.' He's laughing in his heart – he knows – because he's got experience. He also possibly started like that. He knows that today you may have time to do ten malas, tomorrow your mind is good and you'll do ten malas but the third day your mind will revolt. What are you going to do now? Where are your ten malas now?
Then the other thing you suffer from is high ego [ahamkara, sense of separation and self-importance]. You think, 'the guru is not competent enough – what's he trying to tell me?' [Swamiji chuckles] That's why when you go to a doctor you are playing with your body. If you have no faith in the doctor will you give the doctor charge of your body? Swamiji asks one of the medical practitioner devotees in the congregation: 'Will they doc? They won't.'
Supposing I say, 'Come now Effie [a devotee] I'll teach you how to swim.' You go just a little way into the sea and then you ask me, 'Swamiji, can you swim?' I answer, 'Only a little bit.' What will your heart [beat] do then? [devotees laughing and enjoying the example]. You see – you're playing with life. So when you give [care of] yourself to the doctor, you're playing with your life. But physical life is [comparatively] nothing if you lose it, because you'll get another life [i.e. you'll reincarnate in another birth]. But when you go to a guru, you are playing with your soul. [Swamiji chuckling again]. You are playing with your soul – that can go into blinding darkness, the Isha Upanishad [one of the Hindu philosophical treatises] says. Blinding darkness. Here there is darkness but you can see it. You know, when you close your eyes and there's no external light, you can see darkness. But that darkness is blinding. You can't even see the darkness but neither can you see anything else because the inner [ability to perceive] is destroyed. That thing [faculty] inside that sees, is destroyed.
1) Care should be taken by the reader to understand and take Swamiji's words in these postings, in context. Every teaching or instruction that he gave was specific to the people who were with Swamiji at the time.
2) Mouse-over the words highlighted in red in the posting for further explanation or links.
There are currently available, over 100 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order.
Click HERE for the second website on Swamiji's life and teachings.
For more about the Holy Trinity, and also the founding Swamis of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, please mouse over their names below:
Sri Ramakrishna Sri Sarada Devi Swami Vivekananda
Swami Nischalananda Swami Shivapadananda
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - read online
Reference websites – please mouse over the name and click to connect:
Ramakrishna Math and Mission Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa Ramakrishna Dham