Swami Shivapadananda on spiritual experiences
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.
Day 466
[Swamiji's talk on the Bhagavad Gita continues]
We know that when we wake up, the dream world and deep sleep state vanish. When we are in the dream state, the waking state and deep sleep state vanish. But it is not like that in the Vishvaroopa [cosmic or universal state]. In the Vishvaroopa everything is included – Sri Krishna and Arjuna were there too. But then when Sri Krishna became Lord Vishnu other things became minus [minimised], and Arjuna could only see Lord Vishnu, the world and himself. Then the form of Lord Vishnu with four hands was removed and Sri Krishna with two hands stood there. The Lord went from finite to more finite, until he became Sri Krishna, the friend.
In the Bhagavad Gita, chapter twelve (on Bhakti Yoga) Sri Krishna explains how to worship him. He that appears with two arms, he that appears with four arms, is still finite – Arjuna could see it. Though we cannot see the whole mountain at one time we know that the mountain is there, with different trees, different valleys, different holes, different snakes, different creatures. But an ordinary man's mind, [like Arjuna's] is too small even to conceive of that. Beyond that the devotee and God become one. That which one cannot see passes all understanding.
You must remember that if a guru says, "I can give you God-realisation," then the "give you" part is a lie. He cannot give you God-realisation. He can only show you the method to attain God-realisation. You have to follow it yourself. But people force the guru to give them some experiences. Christ's disciples asked him, "Lord, give us a sign." Here, when Sri Krishna gave the sign to Arjuna what happened? Arjuna had not reached a state of purity and so instead of seeing God and becoming blissful he became fearful. This is what will happen to us if the experience comes before we are pure. We will find that instead of becoming peaceful we will become pieces-full, we will be torn to pieces. That is why our gurus do not want to give us this experience. It is not that it is not in their power – it is because it would confuse our minds further. Just like Arjuna's mind which, instead of being enlightened, became confused.
There are currently available, over 100 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order.
Reference websites: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Sri Ramakrishna Dham