SRI RAMAKRISHNA’S 16th August Mahasamadhi commemoration. Talks Excerpt 701. Swamiji says Sri Ramakrishna was the first great saint in history to proclaim the universality of all religions.
From Mother Radha’s recordings of Swamiji.
Sri Ramakrishna was the first great saint in history to say that all religions are true, whether they flow crooked or straight, all take you to that one ocean called Satchidananda. Knowing his teachings, believe in him. Hate nobody, criticise nobody, rather help everybody to march the same path.
Do not think that if you get converted to another religion you will be saved. You will be worse off, because once you get converted, you will have to start understanding religion from the beginning. If you cannot understand the religion in which you are born, how can you understand something new? If you can love God here, you will love God there too.
We believe that all religions are true. God is in every religion; so practise your own religion. If you are a Christian, become a better Christian. If you are a Hindu, become a better Hindu. If you do this, your life will be a blessing.
A Yoga Camp is a spiritual platform, a platform to kill the ego and become selfless. You cannot teach anybody; you can only practise what God teaches you through the great Rishis, through the great saints and sages.
Come to a yoga camp [spiritual retreat] with the idea: ‘I have come here to become nobody, because God is everybody.’ When you become nought [zero] the ‘One’ will be added to you and you will gain in value. If you have five zeros without the one before it, the zeros have no value. But if you add one before it, you get one hundred thousand.
Do not criticise saints or sages. Always do what is right. Have mind and sense control and love for God’s lotus feet.
The free-to-read or download, 396-page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography, ‘A Life Lived For Others‘, is available by clicking HERE. If you’d prefer the PDF version, please click HERE.
For our gurubhai Atmaprakash Kramer’s beautiful pictorial booklet, ‘Memories of my ashram days‘ at the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, Avoca Ashram, please click HERE.
These recordings or the excerpts from them, were made from the early 1970s onward, by Mother Radha, a close devotee of Swamiji’s and edited for uploading here by our gurubhai and her son, Brother Tim. Please be mindful that what Swamiji was saying may have been specific to an individual or a group who may have been with him at that time.