Swami Shivapadananda with more thoughts for the new year

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

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

Day 204

New Year guidelines
continued:

God comes in the forms of
blessing and blame, hurt and comfort [i.e. there is no situation or form that does not
include God]. Silence is another form of God. When you know the Truth, there is
silence.

Gurudev [Swamiji’s Guru,
Swami Nischalananda Puri] gave me the ochre robe [Hindu Swamis and monks wear gerrua or an orange-tinted garb, also known as Shiva Rupam – the garb of Shiva, being the colour of the sun] and said, “Because you are my
child, take the ochre robe. Your relatives will bring you down.” I thought
Gurudev was talking out of his hat but I found that unwittingly, I was slowly
getting caught up in the petty squabbles of the relatives.

This book [that Swamiji was
holding, entitled], “Holy Mother [Sri Sarada Devi] as I saw
Her,” is a very good book, you should read it.

Meditate on your Ishta Devata
[chosen Ideal or Deity], full of compassion, light and smiles. Worship the
Ishta Devata especially in the poor, the downtrodden, the sick, the illiterate,
the blind, the deaf and the tortured in mind and body, those with thoughts of anger,
depression and hatred [i.e. see and worship your Deity in those people]. Pray
that He [God] puts positive qualities there – love, compassion, mercy,
truthfulness – that He makes us humbler than a blade of grass.

Read the book The Life of
Swami Vivekananda by Eastern & Western Disciples. To be with Sri
Ramakrishna was a kind of austerity, of spiritual discipline. It needed
concentration of the highest order to follow his highest thoughts.

Realisation [of God] is the
only goal. When realisation dawns, all arguments cease. Sri Ramakrishna spoke
only in the language of realisation. Realisation is the true religion. The
silence of insight was Sri Ramakrishna’s greatest teaching.

Sri Ramakrishna went into
samadhi [superconsciousness] to avoid the devotee’s argumentations. He was
utterly human. He would do what no one else would do. He would find God through
conquering lust and gold.

With sincerity all is
possible.