Daily Reading 37. Swamiji on service to others and taking sadhana seriously.

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

When people come to the ashram [the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa], enquire about their health. You must greet them first, and ask them if they need anything. Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda were very loving. And this love must be passed through you to the world. Branches of the Ramakrishna Centre must serve the poor and wipe the tears of the widows.

In olden times they wanted moksha [liberation from the cycle of birth and re-birth] for themselves but we do not want that. We want to be a Christ, who will wash the feet of the devotees and care for the sick.

Sri Ramakrishna asked Swami Vivekananda, ‘What do you want?’ He replied: ‘Samadhi, and now and then come down [from that state] and eat a bit.’ Master responded, ‘Shame on you! I thought you were like a vast Banyan tree. Thousands of people would have rested in your shade. But now you seek only your own liberation.’

Sri Ramakrishna said: ‘Religion is not for empty stomachs.’ On realising that jiva [individual soul] is Shiva [universal soul] and Shiva is jiva, Swami Vivekananda said, ‘I have read many scriptures but I have not read this before.’

We adapt and adopt the road of service while we try to realise God. If the heart is clean [pure] God’s grace will descend on us sooner or later. Most of us belong to the second group. [‘later’] 

We worship God in the living, the moving, and the suffering. Otherwise you are not children of the Master [Sri Ramakrishna]. He washed the latrines [toilets] of the poor and wiped them with his own [at that time long] hair. You do not have to go to that extreme but you do have to go as far as your hands and legs can reach.

Remember: Without God you are nothing – but with God you are everything. Be imperturbable.

During a class: Prapathaka [Chapter] 7 of the Chandogya Upanishad: ‘The devotee is never satisfied. At every stage he wants to know if there is anything greater.’

Swamiji: All is worshipped as Brahman [the ONE indivisible Consciousness]. The fault is yours. So do not blame others. Your faith must never shake and must never be shaken. The Highest can never be shaken through the mind, what to say of the senses.

Do not imitate the wrong things people do. Imitate the things from the scriptures. Know the spirit of the scriptures.

Speak with a sattvic [gentle] voice. Be like a calf in front of the mother cow. She sees the calf and the udder fills with milk. If the ‘voice’ is rajasic, or tamasic, the milk is re-absorbed [scientific fact]. So watch.

Worship food as Brahman. We say the [food prayer] verse, ‘Brahmaar’panam . . .’ but we do not reflect on what we are saying. We concentrate on the food, but we should concentrate on Brahman. We are not looking at food, but at beauty. Now look at Brahman, the abstract, behind that food.

Reading from Meditation and Spiritual Life by Swami Yatiswarananda: A beginner should
not try to meditate on the void. Meditation must have a positive, spiritual content. Meditate on a holy form. This takes you away from the ego.

Swamiji: But we all think we are too, too, too clever! A young child is not [yet] at school but sees his father is a teacher, and wants to be a teacher himself – but this is not practical at the child’s age.

The most important thing about sadhana is that you will improve with every sadhana. If not, then you are not taking it seriously, or you are doing it mechanically, or you are not doing it for spiritual upliftment. It is of great concern when the sadhana does not improve. How do you take medicine? Routinely. So you must do your sadhana like this. This forces your spiritual aspect to act on your own body. So much so, that others around you feel this calmness, and you yourself will be calm.

When you walk and talk, put the Deity in front of you. You will find the Deity is living – only you did not know it all this while.

Some use the guru mantra for the meanest purposes. Rather ask God for love, devotion, faith and knowledge. Ask God to reveal Himself to you with love, devotion, faith and knowledge, convinced that God exists.

Some go to the best of gurus and yet become brutes, some go to worldly gurus and become saints. When you go deeper in meditation you will not hate the world and you will not bring pain to others. When you get older you must not get crabby and grumble. If you are close to God you must become vibrant and loving.

The wife and husband should be more attracted to each other as they get older and admire the spiritual aspects in each other. It is very painful if they do not. You’ll feel: Nothing can save me, I want to die. But even death will not come to me.

When a child does sadhana, it is natural purity. And God’s love makes others feel comfortable in the presence of that child. If it is not so, then the parents must correct the child.

Underlined words are hypertext links to clarification, explanation or other sources. Just tap on them.

The free-to-read or download, 396-page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography, ‘A Life Lived For Others‘, is available by clicking HERE. If you’d prefer the PDF version, please click HERE.

For our gurubhai Atmaprakash Kramer’s beautiful pictorial ‘memoir’ booklet of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, Avoca Ashram, please click HERE.

There’s also a Facebook site for Swamiji’s posts now. They feature newer readings published more recently. Click HERE to view.

These recordings or the excerpts from them, were made from the early 1970s onward, by Mother Radha, a close devotee of Swamiji’s and edited for uploading here by our gurubhai and her son, Brother Tim. Please be mindful that what Swamiji was saying may have been specific to those with him at the time.