Swami Shivapadananda on the transforming power of an Incarnation

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

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

Day 200

Christmas talk continued:

Sri Ramakrishna, the Incarnation, said, “The ordinary guru gives you
information – but a guru like Jesus Christ transforms your life.” The
transformation takes place within and you will manifest the highest quality.
Sri Ramakrishna would just touch somebody and say, “Ma, Ma [his name for the Divine Mother], wake up,” and they
would be transformed. They would have a vision of God.

Girish [Chandra Ghosh, pictured, a householder devotee of Sri Ramakrishna’s – click on ‘continue reading’ below this posting for more information] loved
woman and gold [lust and money] but his whole life was transformed just by Sri
Ramakrishna saying, “Wake up Ma.”

Bande, Sithala, Kali [gods and goddesses] and others are still there in the astral.
Question from devotee:
In the astral body? Swamiji: Yes. Where is your mind? [i.e. where do you think it’s located?] Answer from devotee: I do not know.
Swamiji: [touches his body in different places and says] Here, here, here. So
they are in the astral – what is called hiranyagarbha, cosmic mind.

If you worship Sri Ramakrishna now, you have worshipped him and Rama and Krishna before, in different incarnations. It
is the same Incarnation that is in Sri Ramakrishna now.

The secret of sadhana
[spiritual practice] is the sincerity and purity and love with which you do it.
You must do sadhana and also read the words of Master [Sri Ramakrishna, contained largely in ‘The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna]. Chew his words over.
There is no fruit without a tree – for example it is no good reading Swami
Vivekananda etc. without reading their source. If you chew it over, this is
your real sadhana. This will revolutionise you.

 

      Girish Chandra Ghosh
      
Born of pious parents on February 28, 1844, Girish grew up as a lively, carefree soul. He inherited from his father a sharp intellect and a pragmatic approach to life, and from his mother a love for literature and devotion to God. His grandmother introduced him to the rich heritage of India’s epics and mythology.
      
Unfortunately, at the threshold of youth, Girish started drifting into drunkenness and debauchery. Yet side by side with his perverse behaviour, he would raise money to help the poor.
      
Because of his wayward nature, he could not complete his school education. But he was a genius and a voracious reader. He studied several subjects and gained vast knowledge in English literature, Western philosophy and science. His prodigious creativity found expression through writing and
     acting. He wrote many well-known plays, and acted in most of them. The songs which he wrote are popular even today.
      
In his case, it was not he who first sought Sri Ramakrishna, but it was the Master who sought him first. On seeing Sri Ramakrishna for the first time, he thought that the latter was a fraud. Only in his fourth meeting did he feel the wonderful attraction of Sri Ramakrishna. Through the latter’s influence, he slowly gave up his haughtiness, rudeness and arrogance. The Master asked him to have faith in order to get rid of crookedness of heart. Under the Master’s loving care, Girish started realising that the Master would not condemn him for his shortcomings. One great virtue that Girish had was his steadfastness to Truth and total lack of hypocrisy. Finally, one day Girish surrendered completely to the Master. Girish’s faith and love were so intense that his life was quickly transformed.
      
On 1 January 1886, during the Master’s last illness, Girish openly started preaching the Master’s divinity. Many were blessed by the Master after the event. After the Master’s death, he purposely did not see the latter’s dead body to preserve in his mind the conviction that the Master was immortal.
    

He breathed his last on 8 February 1912. His last words were: “Master, you have come. Please destroy my worldly intoxication. Victory to Sri Ramakrishna. Let us go”.