One God only
[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
716
In the scriptures it is said that God has many names and yet He is nameless. From one point of view the Atman is that God. Atman can have many names. A realised soul becomes Brahman itself or he realises that he is Brahman. It is written in the [Bhagavad] Gita: 'The knower of Brahman becomes Brahman,'
Lord Shiva had realised who he was. In the Ramayana it speaks about faith and guru. Lord Shiva knew that Sri Rama was a realised Being – one who had realised himself – so Lord Shiva preferred to worship that Atman in the form of Sri Rama. And Sri Rama preferred to worship that same Atman in the form of Lord Shiva. In this way they both worshipped the same Atman but in different names and forms.
Some go further saying that they were trying to bring about unity between Saivism [Shiva-worship] and Vaishnavism [Vishnu-worship]. This is also correct. It shows that there are not two Gods but one God, which one worships through different paths – Saivism and Vaishnavism. They are worshipping the Atman, the Self.
Sri Rama stands more for bhakti, devotion through duty. And Lord Shiva stands more for devotion through renunciation. He was a yogi who had not excluded bhoga [literally: enjoyment]. (Bhoga means the householder's life.) Sri Ramakrishna did not exclude bhoga. He was married. But even having the object of temptation near him he was not tempted. So he was the king of the renunciates. That is how far one can go.
One can be in Saktaism [worship of the demale aspect of God] or, to coin a new word, Christianism [or Christianity] provided one knows that that name stands for the highest consciousness or Absolute Consciousness [Brahman].
When Sri Ramakrishna was asked, 'When you say Kali what do you mean?' The Master said, 'I mean the Atman.'
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 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