Ego
[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
768
Anything that builds your ego [ahamkara], pride, position, is not spiritual. Anything. Even if God came and built it, it is not spiritual.
[Pravrajika] Atmaprana [the first sannyasini (Hindu nun) of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]: What should one do then?
Swamiji: You don't have to make a show of it. Inside you know it, mark it. In your own way try to be out of it. That's the secret of sadhana [spiritual practice]: in your own way. There is no show of it.
Devotee: Complete surrender?
Swamiji: What do you know about complete surrender? What do you know about complete? Complete is like 'absolute'. [Swamiji chuckles]
You won't think; you'll do. That's natural. That's it. When people talk about complete surrender I get baffled sometimes. Don't take it as rude when I say, 'What do you know?' Somehow I am very frank saying things like that; trying to wake up something in you. All these days you must have thought, 'I have surrendered.' You have surrendered nothing.
You go to your guru [spiritual preceptor] and you think "Hey, I give my guru all the things, I give him the highest." But it's nonsense. We have all thought like that. I also thought I was doing my guru's work. I'd think, "Hey, I am the highest."
You know the story of when the chela [disciple] went to the guru, the guru said, 'Go and get me the lowest of the lowest thing.' So the chela goes out looking. He looked at the dog he thought, 'This can't be the lowest thing, though it is in the dirt. He looks after his master. There's faithfulness in the dog. A pig can't be the lowest – people eat it – how can that be the lowest?' He went on and on and then he stopped and wondered. He went to the three worlds and he couldn't find the lowest of the lowest. So he came to a road and he found this mess on it – excreta. He was just about to pick it up when that thing shouted, 'Hey, don't touch me, don't touch me.' He got a shock. He said, 'What do you mean don't touch me?' It said, 'I am scared. Don't touch me.' The chela wondered what was happening here. He asked the excreta, 'Why?' The excreta said, 'Yesterday I was prasad [sacramental food]. I was offered to the Lord, I was so blessed.' (Prasad means the highest Grace you can come to.) The thing went on: 'I was offered to your king, a lovely ladu [round sweetmeat] I was, then he touched me and look at my condition now. So if you are going to touch me what will be my position? Don't touch me.' Then the truth dawned on the chela. So he goes back to his guru crying he says, 'Lord, lord, I thought there were lower things in this world, but I am the lowest.'
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.
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