One consciousness, many deities
[Pictured: Sri Ramana Maharshi]
[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 863
This post also has reference to Day 862 on the topic
Someone asked the holy man, Ramana Maharishi [pictured above], 'Where is God?' He said, 'First tell me where there is no God.'
So which is your Deity [Ishta Deva or chosen ideal]? The answer is, 'Which is not my Deity?' All are the names and forms of the One Reality: God. That is the secret behind bhakti yoga [the yoga of devotion]. Name and form do not matter. But your Deity matters. And others can call your Deity by any name [that fits with their concept of God].
Master [Sri Ramakrishna] gives it wonderfully. 'If I meditate on water, I call it water. But another will say, 'Pani, pani', or another will say, 'Jal, jal'. But it is the same thing. Just different sounds and names.' And names imply attributes.
A man at the North Pole seeing mountains of ice will say, 'That is water.' The one who sees it as flowing in a river will say, 'Now that is water.' If the two meet, one will say, 'Water is a big mountain.' The other will say, 'No, it is a flowing thing.' Now both are referring to the same thing: H₂O.
Similarly with the different forms of God one is talking of God in a condensed, concretised [dualistic or dvaita] form and the other is talking of God the Absolute [monistic or advaita]. So when singing think of your Deity only.
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