Swami Shivapadananda on relationship with the Guru

 

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

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

Day 301

 

Take the guru mantra. Use it. It is part of the guru himself. He left it
in you. It is part of his breath. You may forget the whole world but you will
not forget this. This is the key, this is the grace. Repeat it and you will
see.

At one time Sri Ramakrishna visualised himself as Radha. He tried out
everything himself; it was not an intellectual experience. He did not wait for
a teacher. He would put the question and would get an answer spontaneously from
inside. He had the vision of [the Divine] Mother with him all the time, but he
had to go beyond that. Walk into the fire, then see God’s grace come
unannounced, like spring.

You are a reflection of your guru. You are never a nuisance to your
guru. He is you, and you are he. The guru teaches us to work all the time. Does
he relax? We can never repay our guru, or our mother, and so we serve them. The
guru may pretend to reject you, but he does this to teach others. Some are not
strong enough to be rejected.

If you want to ask a question, be childlike, be like a leaf blown in the
wind, seeking sun and air.

Face up to fear. Use convention but do not be its slave. Fear wrong,
love right. If you fear the guru you are wrong.

Light and dark never go together. Similarly, where love dwells, no hate
is, no selfishness is, no jealousy is. Love means ‘Give, give, give.’ This
giving never hurts and if it does hurt, it hurts for the good. You can become
another Christ, another Love. Only when you know how to suffer, then you know
how to love. Love is a two-way stream.

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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.