Omnipresence of God
[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 865
When [King] Dasaratha and Kausalya did difficult tapasya [austerity, self-denial], Lord Vishnu appeared and asked, 'What do you want?' Dasaratha said, 'Lord, I want a son just like you.' Then a son just like Him was born to them. But 'like Him' cannot be anyone else but Him. There is no relative [i.e. non-absolute], no second to Him. He has to come Himself.
That is one of the secrets in the scriptures. When your mind thinks, 'Just like this bag', then you think of another bag and bring one just like that. But here, who is 'like' God? Therefore He must come down [incarnate as an avatar] personally. Only God is His own likeness. Nobody else can be in His likeness. There is no 'two'.
So when you think of your Deity [Ishta Deva or Chosen Ideal], there is no second. 'O Lord, when I close my eyes I see Thee, One without a second, One and only One.'
If you believe in God with [dualistic, dvaita] or without form [monistic, advaita] He is still 'One without a second'. There is no one to compare to that.
'When I open my eyes Lord, I see Thou art manifest as all these friends that are seated here – even as music. When I close my eyes again, Lord, I see Thee, One without a second,'
The secret is in these words.
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