Swami Shivapadananda on getting to remember the Self

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

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

Day 344

 

First fill the mind with thoughts of God, then these drop and there is
bliss.

 

In the waking state the body, mind and intellect all share in consciousness.
In dream, only mind and intellect share in consciousness. In deep sleep, there
is no body, mind nor intellect – we have gone beyond. But we have to do this
consciously. So come. Go inside, all the time.

 

Anger is a hissing snake, kill it.

 

The spiritual river has two banks, faith and devotion. The river is the
ever-flowing stream of life going into the sea. It must get there.

 

Say to yourself: ‘I will allow myself to be hanged if it will serve the
guru, because nothing must stand in his way.’

 

What does the guru want? He wants you to do your sadhana [spiritual
practice] and to be pure in thought, word and deed. The guru teaches you what
is for your good, though at the time it may seem cruel. The guru ignores you
for two or three weeks, till you learn that the guru is inside. Go inside and
find him, see him in all.

 

Be That. In deep sleep I am That. In samadhi [superconsciousness] I am
That. When I am awake I know that I am That. But words cannot say it, the mind
cannot think it. The eye sees, but not itself. The spectacles say, ‘I see through,’
but they do not see.

 

Japa and Murthi [image, statue, sculpture, picture, representation] take
our thoughts towards God. This is their function, nothing else.

 

Question: What is the definition of a yogi?

Swamiji: One who has equal vision, who sees friend and foe as one, who
sees God in all.

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