Mind and prarabdha karma
[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 924
Swamiji Continues talking on prarabdha karma [the karma needing to be worked out in this birth] – see Day 922 posting also.
If I create a healthy cell, naturally the cells that are unhealthy will try to push through [contaminate, affect, infect or negatively impact on] that healthy cell. What happens if I keep trying to make [produce more of] those healthy cells? Sooner or later the unhealthy cell is going to lose its power. It has to have a natural death. But the main thing is: I don't give it a chance to come up.
So if your mind says, 'Do the wrong thing,' you must try to have the strength to always push something good into the mind instead. [This is called sublimation – converting an unwanted thought or impulse to a higher value] Don't worry about it. It has to have a natural death. It has to work itself out.
[Pravrajika] Atmaprana [the first nun, sannyasini of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]: So can you just leave [or keep] prarabdha [the karma needing to be worked out in this birth] at mind level [thoughts]? Can it work out [be eliminated] at that level? Do you mean it doesn't have to come into [physical] action level?
Swamiji: Yes. But you allow it to come [to physical action level]. You become more and more weak. No sooner it comes into action level it creates many more things [problems]. So just pile it up [overwhelm it] with love of God – by this I mean sadhana [spiritual practice]. Do good. That's all.
Sometimes, if a yogi [spiritual practitioner in this case – sadhaka] doesn't want to sit down quietly, perhaps he wants to go to town and look at the bazaar [shops], he'll be clever. He'll say, 'All right mind. You want to go. Lovely. I shall go. Why should I deny that?' He gets up and leaves. From one place he'll be seeing the bazaar but his ideal will be Kasi the holy city of Benares or Varanasi in India]. When he goes to Kasi, and if still his mind wants to wander, his mind will be on Vrindavan [the boyhood place of Sri Krishna]. He tires himself out acting [physically] but he achieves something good [mentally]. Plus he didn't go and sit in a bar or in a bad place.
Use psychology [introspection, mindfulness, self-awareness and impulse management]. This means you must guide that thing which we call prarabdha karma. Give it a direction.
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