On how the divinity is concealed in us
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
623
[Swamiji continues speaking on the Bhagavad Gita]
[Lord Krishna speaks] And in all beings I am the desire unopposed to dharma, O Arjuna.
He is talking about His higher nature here. Higher than adharma [unrighteousness] is dharma [righteousness]. He says, 'I am the freeing agent because dharma frees you, adharma binds you and I am not that binding factor in you.'
Whatever beings and objects that appear active and inert, know that they proceed from Me, they are in Me yet I am not in them.
The bad and the good, the high and the low, proceed from God Himself but he says, 'Know that these proceed from Me and I am not in them.'
To explain this let us say that you are in the dark and you see something strange, you shout, 'Ghost, ghost, ghost.' But when you put on a torch what happens? You see the stump of a tree. Therefore the tree is not in the delusion called ghost.
"They are in Me." In other words they are superimposed on Me; but I am not in that superimposition; I am not the ghost; I am a tree.
I know that sometimes I found this very difficult to understand until guru's grace came.
Question: Swamiji, if all things become illusion what in me is not an illusion?
Swamiji: That which is inside it. Whatever is its real nature is not an illusion: the Self: God. When you are in deep sleep, when you have no dreams, when you do not know anything, that which makes the food digest, that which makes the heart beat, that which keeps you breathing, is the real Self. (Do not worry about voluntary and involuntary muscles; that too He made.) Do you understand what I am saying?
Devotee: Partly.
Swamiji: Very good. Even that is progress.
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 Puri, Swami Shivapadananda
Click Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna to read online…
Reference websites (please mouse-over
the name to connect): Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of SA, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa,
Ramakrishna Dham, Swami Shivapadananda 2