Swami Shivapadananda on obstacles to spiritual progress
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
Taken from Mother Radha’s
notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.
Day 315
The guru tests you to show you your ego. He can do nothing else. Leave
your attachment. ‘Mine’ causes pain because I think I will lose it. You cannot run
from the world. When you want it, it is all taken from you, friends, money and
so on. When you do not want it any more, it is all yours. Be strong in the
world first, then with faith turn to God. His grace gives you strength to get
close to Him.
Through faith all food becomes Prasad [see footnote], all acts become
prasad. If your faith is great enough nothing can harm you. Offer all to God.
It is only you that keeps you from God. He wants you to come to Him. Do
not accept or reject. When you call him sincerely He will reveal Himself to you
in the form He wants. Open the heart and mind. See Him as any deity [representation of God], any time.
We pray: ‘Come Lord, reveal Thyself,’ because we do not know who He is.
Only God knows who God is. If you give all to God, there is no love or hate
left.
There are three veils [obstructions of clear vision] on the path of a pilgrim [devotee, seeker]: One is covetousness [jealousy, desire, wanting].
Thus do not rejoice at all the gifts [talent, wealth, pleasures] of the two
worlds. Second is wrath [anger]. Thus there must be no sorrow at the poverty of the two
worlds. Third is meanness of spirit. Thus do not be beguiled [deluded, taken in] by praise or
favour. Be high-minded. Seek only God. Realise the Truth. Open up.
The Lord in me listens to the Lord in the other person. This is
worship. You cannot be better than others. You cannot understand ‘till
enlightenment, then you will see His radiance.
Make the guru’s load light. Expect nothing, sacrifice all for him, now.
[Footnote: Prasad or prasadum is fruit, sweets or other food offered to
God. Believing that God accepts it and blesses it, we then eat it in small
portions as sacramental food.]
Click on 'Continue reading' below to find out about CDs of Swamiji speaking.
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 100 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