Mind manifested
[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
765
Explanation continued from post 764
Swami S: What is it when Swami B talks about mind?
Swamiji: I gave you an answer before. At a certain level of vibration the same material has the power of reflecting. That is why you call it mind if it is doing certain things.
Let's put it another way. I said at a certain level the eye starts seeing, the ear starts hearing. At what period did the sound enter? When the conditions were right. Take milk. Can we say there is no butter there, no ghee [clarified butter] there? At what period of the milk does the ghee come in? When it's churned.
So there is a churning power in this Nature, and at that time that which was previous minds, comes to the forefront. So, when that is reflected, that is 'soul'.
The Light is never affected by the impressions on the mind. Sri Ramakrishna says very clearly, 'The sunshine is not deformed in any way if my optic nerves are somehow deformed.' That Thing is always perfect. So Atman is omnipresent always. But it is the reflection of it that is caught in the mind. Because that mind itself is imperfect it thinks Atman is imperfect.
A child walking with red glass in front of his eyes will say, 'Hey, the sunshine is red.' The sunshine is red? No. When the particular condition comes about in the mind it is a dog or a man (and in man there are extra manifestations, as it were, of different faculties – intellect and so on) and if It reaches a sharp point It will know It is not this any more, it is That. It is the sun reflected in a pool called 'dog'; the sun reflected in a pool called 'cat'; the sun reflected in a pool called 'man'.
You as a man will say, 'Ah, dog.' What do you think it does? Barks and smells doesn't it? You see a cat and what does a cat do? Catches rats doesn't it? And when you look at a man, you superimpose all the intelligence you have on that man. Whereas in reality all are the same, captured in different upadis, limitations, agents.
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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