Prepare to die
[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
DAILY READINGS
Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.
Day 811
Theme continued from posting 810
Thus the King sat there for seven days and they heard that great sacred book called the Paramahamsa Samhita – the Srimad Bhagavatam
Paramahamsas [literal meaning: 'great swan', said to be able to separate the milk from a mixture of water and milk – i.e. they have the highest discrimination between the real and unreal] are people who do not care to follow any rules, regulations or rituals. This does not mean that they go about disturbing or destroying other people's faith. They seem not to follow the ordinary norms because they have reached the goal that they were supposed to have reached. So what would be the use of them following that particular rule? They live in the Bliss of That which the scriptures promise us we will reach.
After seven days a snake came. Instead of striking the King and filling his body with poison, it came with humility and touched him (to fulfil the curse of Shringi Rishi – a Sage-Seer-Saint-'Wise One'). No sooner did it touch the King's feet than it made him think of Vasudeva, the Omnipresent Being, and he left the body. Thus he was God-realised.
At least the King knew that in seven days he would pass away, but we should be a little bit more careful because we don't know if the next second we will be here. I may just walk out and never walk in again. Therefore how much more careful must we, as human beings, be? We must seek the company of satsangis [those who attend and follow spiritual services and practices] especially those who will teach us, not how to save our worldly material – or wealth – but how to save our spiritual material, the Self, the soul. These satsangis are very few and very rare.
Thus we should take advantage of holy company amongst ourselves and remind ourselves of the highest. Having known what the goal is, at least in theory, we should so plan our lives, that our actions and our way of life will take us nearer to our goal: God.
Here the best and the most important thing is satsang [spiritual service, prayer meetings, company of the holy and spiritual seekers] and the scriptures. After all, what you think, you become; and what you hear, you always cultivate the desire for that particular thing. Knowing this we should try our level best to enquire into the truth, the Self.
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