Discerning with heart vs. mind
[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
DAILY READINGS
Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.
Day 808
Please don't ever try, with your 'stethoscopes' [medical instrument used to listen to the heartbeat], to study the behaviour of a Paramahamsa or a man with steady intellect – you can't. What the eye [brain or mind] beholds is not always the truth – but what the heart beholds must be the truth.
A verse in the Bhagavad Gita [a major Hindu scripture] says: A man's intellect [buddhi] that is steady will be like an oil lamp which is in a cave. It is not disturbed – it does not waver with any wind whatsoever. Can you imagine a straight, lovely, burning flame – undisturbed by any wind whatsoever? The winds are desires, the cave is the heart – in the heart there won't be any disturbance whatsoever.
The holy man will be sitting in God, he'll be walking in God and he'll be talking in God.
Mother Sarada [Devi] [pictured above] was so fond of offering food to Sri Ramakrishna. When you are going on a pilgrimage you don't carry a lot of food, do you? Especially if you are living on a diet, you carry only a little diet food. Sri Ramakrishna at that time used to have his own specialities, one of which was jalebi. Another was called rasgulla One day, when Mother was taking the food out to offer to Sri Ramakrishna, the food fell down on the floor. Now, on a pilgrimage, where are you going to get more food? So what did she do? She slowly [carefully] picked up the food that had been knocked on to the sand. One of the lady disciples asked the Holy Mother, "But what are you doing, Ma?" She said, "I want to feed the Master [Sri Ramakrishna]." The disciple said, "But you dropped this food down on the dirt." Mother replied, "Who says that? He dropped it, then he has to eat it." [Laughter] So they got the food, the little bit that was clean, and put a Tulsi [Basil] leaf and a light [dia] with it, and Master [Sri Ramakrishna] was too happy.
It shows us that Sri Ramakrishna to her, was a living Deity and that though we have to follow rules and regulations, above all there must be purity and hygienic ideas. The food fell down but she didn't give Sri Ramakrishna the sand, She only took the top. It had been on "Mother Ground [earth]" and what is "Mother Ground"? Nothing else but Himself [God].
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