Swami Shivapadananda on the Divine Omnipresence

SWAMI
SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY
READINGS

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

Day 374

‘That’ [the
divine omnipresence] is present in every tree, every leaf, every stone, every
person, and in the photo [of the deity or spiritual personality] too. Use your
imagination and see That everywhere.

Devotee:
Is it not the sense of separation that makes us feel this? Swamiji: Yes. But
the bliss is everywhere. Take on a little of this ‘body bliss’ and do your
sadhana [spiritual practice], that is all. Then open your eyes and serve all
around you. Kill the ego, serve others, give yourself away. Smile, laugh, it
costs nothing.

This
[meaning himself] is always laughing because, when thinking of [the Divine] Mother all the
time, She too is always laughing [i.e. bliss Itself]. This is not only an all-sattvic
[harmonious, in equilibrium] quality, when necessary it can reflect rajas [excessive
activity or excitement] too. People do not see it and so they do not understand
it.

Jealousy
and ego stand in your way. Jealousy, you can see it coming. How does a fire
begin? With heat in a small bit of wood. Yet it grows and burns down your whole
house. So too with jealousy. Do not suppress it because then it is hard to get
it out. Take it out, do not dwell on it.

When
God touches anything, what does it become? Divine.

Enjoy
all, even the senses, with purity and dignity.

Worship
God with your whole heart, body, mind, soul and spirit, then there is no
divider. What is the divider?

Grace
is there all the time. It is up to the chela [disciple, devotee] what use he
makes of it.

Do
not show the mala [prayer beads, rosary], it is the breath of the guru, of him
who has given it to you. Why spoil it? What came first, the guru or the mantra
[sacred syllable, word or God’s representative names]? The guru came first,
because the mantra comes after the guru. The guru is all-powerful.

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.

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Reference websites: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Sri Ramakrishna Dham