Disc 135 Track 1. Swamiji gives intensely practical tips for growing on the spiritual path.

To listen to Swamiji speaking, please open the post and then click HERE.

Swamiji is talking about God and repeating ‘the name’ [of God in Japa]. Stressing that God and [the many names we use for Him/Her/That] are not different. They are one and the same thing. And that people who mock or denigrate the use of japa, without personally testing and experimenting with it are simply unscientific and foolish.

Swamiji’s challenge to those who don’t believe in the power of ‘the Name’ [no matter which one is used by the devotee] to stop being cowards and put it to the test. If you’ve really repeated God’s name, sincerely, repeatedly and with love and then find it hasn’t transformed you, come back and tell me, says Swamiji. That it’s ‘useless’ – Swamiji’s exact words. That’s his challenge and he invites us to do that. Otherwise, your claim that it doesn’t work, is unscientific and foolish. 

‘We haven’t even tried but want to draw conclusions and pass judgment about japa or the repetition of one of the holy names’, Swamiji says. ‘Who are you to condemn the use of God’s name? You are Mr. Nobody! Saints and Sages sacrificed their whole life – everything – and called on His name again and again, and they bear testimony that it manifested.‘

Swamiji says that for those who accuse God of some kind of ‘partiality’ [favouring certain people] – it’s nonsense. He says that repeating God’s name is like approaching a fire. You’ll feel the warmth as you approach the fire. Can you honestly say the fire is partial or impartial?

Swamiji says that whoever approaches God with sincerity, receives in abundance. Swamiji describes the different kinds of God’s ‘children’, referencing Sri Ramakrishna’s direct disciples. Where ‘the father’ [Master] had given them so much [spiritual wealth] that they were able to generously share that abundance with others. So God is totally impartial. If you approach Him, you get it. If you don’t approach, it means you don’t want it.

Swamiji quotes Sri Ramakrishna as saying that whatever name of God you repeat, let your mind and heart yearn for it. The mind and the heart must go together. When you say ‘apple’ your mind must yearn for it. And how do you know that you’re yearning for the apple? When your mouth waters. This [divine] love [bhakti] is so great that it can make the infinite, finite. It makes Him appear as the bhakta wants him to appear. It’s kind of a ‘hand of God’ that moulds him according to the shape [desire] of the bhakta. One will worship him as Krishna, one as Kali, another as Durga. This kind of a love, if you are yearning for it, it is yours. And if you’re not yearning for it, don’t blame God.

Swamiji uses secular marital relationships as an example. If the wife says she loves the husband because he maintains her lifestyle – that’s not love. If you ‘love’ the child because you hope it will grow up and look after you one day, that’s not loving the child.

Swamiji talks directly to the young people in particular, saying, ‘You know how weak we are? We’re afraid even to try it. Try it! If you fail, who cares? You’re a hero. You tried it. But without trying you’re saying it doesn’t work. You’re dying in bondage. You’re dying as a slave. Wake up – and try it!’

Says Swamiji: That was the idea in the olden days. When the disciple [sishya or chela] used to go and live at the Guru’s house for twelve years. He tries it for the twelve years, whether they chose to become a householder or whether, as Swamiji puts it, become a ‘renouncer’ [sannyasin or sannyasini]. And the renouncer follows the example of the great renunciates.

Swamiji leads the congregation in chanting the mantra to Swami Vivekananda.

In Sanskrit: 

ॐ नमः श्री यति राजाय विवेकानन्द सूरये । सत्चित् सुख स्वरूपाय स्वामिने तापहारिने ॥

• Transliteration: 

Om Namah Sri yathiraajaaya Vivekananda suraye. Satchit sukha swarupaaya swamine taapahaariney.

• Meaning:  Salutations to the king of ascetics (yatis), the hero Vivekananda. Salutations to the one who is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss (Satchidananda) itself, the spiritual preceptor [Guru], and the remover of suffering.

Swamiji elaborates on the mantra, saying:  He wants nothing. Whatever he wants, God gives him and whatever goes through him, God gives. He’s only a channel. Therefore he’s [at heart] nameless and ‘fameless’. And you can become like that. But try it and then tell me.

Swamiji concludes with a quote: ‘We do not accept God because we really want him. But because we have need of him, for selfish purposes.’

The free-to-read or download, 396 page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography is available by clicking HERE. If you’d prefer the PDF version, please click HERE.

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 an individual or a group of people with him, at the time.