Swami Shivapadananda on living for somebody else
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
567
You get great benefit in spiritual life when you live for somebody else. To the extent that you live and serve selflessly, to that extent you forget yourself and therefore you forget your ego.
Gradual advancement begins when you are married. There you learn to live for your wife, to work for your children and to look for security. You do not live for yourself but for your family. Then slowly, as you become selfless in this stage of life, you start living for the community. When you serve the community you become selfless to a larger extent. When you live for your country you are a 'nationalised man'; then slowly you become an 'international man'. You do not care about 'my country' or 'your country'; as long as there is humanity you serve it.
Thus you grow from an individualistic man to a universal man. If you are standing in a long queue to buy a ticket and five or six people come and cut into the line, then there is the greatest test for you. If you can stand aside and say, 'Brother, I am not in a hurry, please go ahead,' you will gain an inner strength and patience. If somebody is talking ill about your enemy you should not encourage that gossip. You should rather come to his aid and protect him.
All vices have to be given up before your mind turns inwards. Even in day-to-day meditation you get a little bit of calmness, a little bit of peace. Even a drunken man gets that; but the next day he gets up with a hangover. Similarly, if you practise vices and do meditation, there will be a hangover in your life. You will have to be sincere and stand by that which is virtuous and righteous because that is your duty. And God loves the person who does his duty. He Himself comes to Earth to teach man how to do that duty.
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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.
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