Swami Shivapadananda on the benefit of a home shrine
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
Day 555
[Pictured: Devotees waiting for darshan of the Holy Mother's Sri Sarada Devi's picture in Udbodhan House, where the Holy Mother lived following the mahasamadhi of Sri Ramakrishna. Note the grille in front of the deity is still closed.]
Have even a small shrine in your homes. Without it you will be like a person without a heart, without life-blood; you will have built your life on materialism. God gives all. (If you cannot think that He is the boss, think that He is a shareholder.) Have a small place which you keep clean and pure. When you are angry do not enter there. First calm yourself, have only pure and holy thoughts, then you may go in there.
Keep a vase of flowers near the shrine as a symbol of light, as a symbol of AUM. Have a photo of the deity you love; but do not make an art gallery of your shrine because then you will not know which deity to worship and the mind will jump from one to the other.
You must have a Chosen Ideal [Ishta Deva]. Therefore have your Ideal's picture, a light and some agarbatti [incense] on the shrine. The place must be beautiful, it must be clean, so that the mind becomes naturally calm and makes holy thoughts manifest. You can worship according to the scriptures or as you like, out of love.
Why do you give prasad [sacramental food offering]? To purify the mind, to raise it to higher Consciousness.
The guidance of the guru is absolutely necessary to learn the technique to realise Brahman. 'I am full, may you also be full' – like that.
It is not enough to read and talk of the spiritual teacher, you must directly perceive the light within. It is not enough to get instructions from the guru, you must struggle incessantly. Some gurus give initiation through words, but it is beyond words. Others sit, talk, touch, look. Though they feel nothing at the time, the power is given by the illuminated teacher.
Always remember: God is your protector and guide. Who will touch you? He is Almighty. Repeat His name and all fear goes.
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
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