Swami Shivapadananda with detail on meditation
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
Taken from Mother Radha's notes, written at Swamiji's feet.
Day 409
[Swami Yatiswarananda says in his book] You must hold on to that centre of Consciousness always. You can find it only by seeking the source of your I-Consciousness – or keeping contact with the Divine always. Never choose a [chakra, psychic] centre [positioned] lower than the heart [chakra]. Why? Because that will awaken the animal qualities in you. Never over-load the stomach with food.
Swamiji: These things are very, very important if you are to live a spiritual life. You must not only remember it, but practise it.
Fix the type and quantity of food to suit your needs. Fasting one or two days a week is good – but it is better to exercise moderation always. Instead of thinking of God always, we waste a lot of time on these needless struggles – things like dieting etc.
Have two different postures when meditating so you can change position when you feel strained. The central theme of a sadhaka [spiritual aspirant] is meditation. Everything else is but a preparation for the mind to have the right mood. Then meditation becomes very easy.
All the asanas [hatha yoga postures] are not necessary for spiritual life, though they may be necessary for something else. The most important thing is to feel stable, relaxed and comfortable with body and head erect [and aligned]. Stable, relaxed and comfortable.
Sit up straight, with spine, head, neck and back in a straight line. Some people stick their chins out, but that is not a straight line, look at your neck. Sri Ramakrishna gives us a slight hint, 'bend your head a little low' [chin slightly down and tucked in] at meditation time. If you bend it, it becomes straight here. [Swamiji points to the back (nape) of his neck.] It is very, very important what I am saying – it is not to play.
When you meditate, the mind is telling you exactly what you are. But in public you are telling all how good you are. The mind is telling you, but you are telling it, 'Never mind'.
The 100 CDs of Swamiji speaking have been converted to mp3
format. This means they can be played on your computer, an iPod,
certain mobile phones or any other mp3 player. Price is just R100 for
both DVDs inclusive of postage in the RSA.
Contact Tim Hoare on timhoare@webmail.co.za
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.
Reference websites: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Sri Ramakrishna Dham