Swami Shivapadananda on God-consciousness

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

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

Day 263

Devotee: Why is the urgency for God there sometimes and not other times?
Swamiji: This is the world. It pulls you down. It means the mind is engrossed
in worldly thoughts.

But you must struggle and struggle to get up there again.
Your mind goes up and down, up and down, and so on and on. Inside there is
bliss Absolute, and nothing outside affects it, and nothing inside affects it.

Make work worship [Karma Yoga]. If you love the guru offer all to him
but make sure it is good. In the world do what has to be done and do it
perfectly. Then forget it. As you do the work, keep going inside. There is no
division, all is God’s. If you receive something, it is for Him. If you give,
it is for Him. And even if you are forced to give, give it to Him. When the
world pulls, go back inside.

I hope these words will ring in your head when I am gone, and that you
do not forget them. Remember the story of the porridge [see earlier posting
here for this analogy].

The sage tells you something and you know it is Truth. You add to it bit
by bit. You know it is Truth and, as you go inside more and more, so the Truth
will be revealed to you, as well as many other things, and you will begin to
open up.

You cannot know the Truth now, but you can see glimpses of it. This is
encouragement. We call this ‘the light before the dawn.’ You know day is
coming, the sun is coming. But not yet.

Your purity is for the good of the guru. If you have spiritual
experiences, do not speak of them, otherwise they are dissipated. Do not enjoy
visions and so on. Rather have none. With the spoken word every word is ego.
The only thing to do is to send out thoughts of peace, love.