Swami Shivapadananda on the discipline to holiness

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s
notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 282

Judging is God’s business, not yours. I get what I am worthy of.

As a man’s faith is, so he is.

Sacrifice without desire for reward is sattvic [balanced between the
pairs of opposites].

Shiva is a mountain we have to climb. And the guru, God, sits on top,
but descends to help us. That is why
Ganga [river Ganges] rises on Shiva’s head – indicating purity.

Crucify yourself by denying thoughts of sense pleasure. Give it all up.

If a man insults you, say, ‘O God, this hurts my ego [sense of distinctiveness, importance]. Cut it [the ego]
out of me.’ Then prostrate to Him and drive another nail in the ego. If you do
not do this, you feed the ego. Deny yourself, cry, weep, learn. Become nothing,
and everything. If you want to be something, become nothing first.

If you think: “The guru must touch me, praise me, he must do this and
that,” this is all attachment. So be attached to something greater than his
body. This is selflessness.

Prostration makes you surrender to the guru. Sri Ramakrishna says,
“Faith and devotion are of no avail in one who sees the guru as a man.” God and
guru are one. Seek and the light is sent to you.

Prostration is hopeless nonsense without the proper mental attitude of
the aspirant. So prostrate with the attitude of a spiritual aspirant. That is,
you recognise the deity in him [the Guru] and know that it is the same in you,
but in him it is brighter. Surrender to the guru. If you cannot, purify your
mind some more.

Service of the guru is to take his teachings and practise them. The
greatest service is to become an embodiment of his teachings. Then you become
nectar in a world of poison. You become the guru. That is, you do not speak of
him, you are him.