Swami Shivapadananda on discrimination
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
Taken from Mother Radha's notes, written at Swamiji's feet.
Day 402
'I am' equals God – is the same as God – and His nature is sadhana [spiritual practice]. You may say, 'But I still feel the pain.' Yes, but that is not the real I.
Or, 'I feel sad. Yes, but that is not the real 'I'. Do what is the real 'I' – neti neti [Sanskrit for 'not this, not this'].
The mantra [sacred sound syllable or God's names] comes alive with [the Divine] Mother's grace only. Aym, hreem, kleem [particular bija or seed mantras] is only for those who are not satisfied with this world illusion, who are seeking 'That'.
Renunciation [of the world] is not physical restlessness, it is mental and spiritual.
Go inside [into contemplation], It will never let you down. It is always there and It always tells you when something is not good and so on. But we do not want to listen.
As Sri Krishna says: Lust, anger and greed – these are the three gateways to hell.
We always want something – this is greed. Lust is something we are born with. But anger is the real problem. There are two ways to handle it. Either shout, 'Don't do that.' Or say: 'Yes, what you say is right. But perhaps it is better to do it this way. So let us try this way and if it does not work, we will try it your way.' He is a hero who holds anger back.
It was through Swami Vivekananda's ['chief' disciple of Sri Ramakrishna] doubts that Sri Ramakrishna came to reveal himself to us.
Faith leads to trust and doubt leads to enquiry. But all these are of little value until we have the experience. For example, Naren (Narendranath Gupta) Swami Vivekananda's pre-monastic name] had doubts about Sri Ramakrishna, even when the Master was dying. Then he had the experience. Sri Ramakrishna gave all to Swami Vivekananda at the end and said: "Now I am a beggar." This did not mean that he had nothing but that Naren had everything.
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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.
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Reference websites: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Sri Ramakrishna Dham