Swami Shivapadananda: Control mind, then help others
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY
Taken from Mother Radha’s
notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.
Day 298
The Sun is a round ball of hydrogen atoms and so on. Its nature is to
give off heat and light. A tree is a plant with a trunk and branches. What is
its nature? To give shelter and food.
The body is a body of clay. What is its nature? To house the jiva [soul],
the doer, the enjoyer. The Self is the ‘I’, the Witness-Consciousness. What is
its nature? Bliss, love, peace. Why do I not leave the jiva to act through this
body and carry on manifesting my true nature? This is Reality.
Do not let others affect you.
The intellect speaks through the mouth, the heart speaks through the
silence. Thought binds and thought liberates. It ends in work (much work) or meditation
(being indrawn).
Sri Ramakrishna wanted one boon from [the Divine] Mother: ‘Pure love for Thy Lotus
Feet.’
When bad thoughts arise know that you have experienced these things, or
someone near you has. It is good to watch them arise and let them float off, or
think, ‘I am only the Witness-Consciousness.’ Let all thought come and go.
Remind yourself: “I am not thought.”
You must manifest AUM every second. Yesterday’s anger and gossip should
be left behind, then only is there satsang [holy company, spiritual or religious service or
communion], and this satsang bears fruit.
The self is your friend and your enemy. The self leads to destruction or
liberation. The self leads to bondage or to God. Control your own mind first.
Make this your whole life. Only then can you help others.
Click on 'Continue reading' below to find out about CDs of Swamiji speaking live
1) Care should be taken by the reader to understand and take Swamiji’s
words in these postings, in context. Every teaching or instruction that he gave
was specific to the people who were with Swamiji at the time.
2) Mouse-over the words highlighted in
red in the posting for further explanation
or links.
Besides these daily readings Mother Radha recorded many hours of our beloved Swamiji speaking.
There are currently 50 different CDs available in sets of 10 for R200 per set. This price includes postage. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order.
Reference websites: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Sri Ramakrishna Dham