Swami Shivapadananda on Japa power
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
Taken from Mother Radha's notes, written at Swamiji's feet.
Day 412
Don't compare yourself with anybody else. If you are doing one mala [rosary or prayer beads] with patience and perseverance, now try to do five malas in the morning and in the evening. You will find a difference in your own self. By now you should know that your japa [repetition of a mantra or God's names] is very little. Others who are doing ten malas, keep it to ten – but do it sincerely. Do not run like a racehorse. After all, your telling [moving the beads on] a mala does not make you a holy man. But it can purify you, to capture the holiness of God Himself.
Brahman [the indivisible universal conscousness] cannot be experienced in thought, word and deed.
As you do sadhana [spiritual practice], think only of God and one's [higher] Self.
You must love a particular aspect of God intensely – not [in a] lukewarm [manner]. Then see the Cosmic Being behind that, and then see the Absolute behind that. Go step by step.
From a jnana [yoga of knowledge] point of view there is no man, no object or subject – but know that God manifests through all names and forms. I must manipulate my own mind – but most people want to manipulate the mind of others.
During an Upanishad [Hindu philosophical treatises] class: Once you identify yourself with the deity, you become the deity itself.
Upanishad commentary: The devotee's mind will be stuck on the Lord.
Swamiji: That is a very good thing. You prostrate to the guru's feet, not the head. Ishwara becomes the Ishta Devata [personal deity]: Ramakrishna.
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