Swami Shivapadananda on the power of devotion

 

SWAMI
SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

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

Day 373

 

Practise mouna [mind and speech silence]. Just sit
there but do not let evil thoughts come in. Keep repeating God’s name.

 

Devotion is all you need. When Rama was in the forest,
the Rishis prepared a great feast for him. But he went to the home of an
outcaste woman, who tasted each fruit before she gave it to him. The priests
complained and said her love was motivated. But Rama said that she was thinking
only of him.

 

After Durga [symbolic form pictured above], the Divine Mother had killed Chand and
Mund [two demons] everyone went to worship her. But one outcaste man was not
allowed to go near her. So he sang a song:

Yes, yes, go to her, prostrate to her, all you people,
go.

But if I were a Brahmin, I would offer sacrifice for
you Ma.

Go all you people, go. If I were a gardener, I would
offer her a garland. Go all you people, go . . . .

He went on like this and in the end she could not
stand to hear her child crying like that. So she got off her tiger and came
running to him and embraced him. The heart is captured this way too. It cannot
get away. Where Krishna is, Radha is not always there. But where Radha is,
Krishna is always there.

 

You mistake the body for That, so you only see That
when you see this (i.e. Swamiji’s body). But That is present in every tree,
every leaf, every stone, every person, and in the photo too. Use your
imagination and see That everywhere.

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 over 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