Swami Shivapadananda on self-assessment

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

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

Day 286

How often have you heard me and other swamis speak? Be on your own and
think about what you have heard. Are you the same as before? Have you changed in
five years? In one year? Since yesterday? What have you learned? Are you right?
The more you criticise yourself the better.

You can have all the intellect you want, but you must love. Only love
can win. You are my hands and feet.

You put a fire under a pot of beans and the beans jump and think: “I am
jumping.” But take the fire away and there is no jumping. God is the fire.

God’s grace is in all. If you ask for it, you get it. It is not positive
and negative. So if you ask for grace, make sure you use it for good. Serve the
guru with all your strength.

If I see the guru as limited, I belittle him. God is your only guru,
therefore expand the mind. See Him everywhere, in everything.

The body needs food and exercise to keep well. Similarly the mind needs
knowledge; and it has to use that knowledge. The soul has spiritual as well as
other experiences. As you use the body and the mind, so the soul develops love.

If I look through red glass, all is red; hate leads to more hate; love
leads to more love, and all is love.

Serve others and forget yourself. Give love to all. That is what all
need.

The touch of the guru is like sunshine, it makes you feel warm. When the
sun goes in [down], you feel cold.

Listen to the stories again and again and seek their meanings. Go deeper
and deeper each time, thus you attain more and more understanding.