Daily Reading 16. Swamiji gives tailored advice to two different sets of devotees about their best meditation approach, and touches on chakras.
Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.
Submit to Him [God] and be carefree. Humble yourself before Him. Say, ‘I am nothing, Thou art all. I am nothing, Thou art all. I am nothing, Thou art all.’ The blessed are those who seek Him, not outside but inside. Then the inside and the outside become one. Prayer must come from the heart; and the mind must become one with it. Then prayer has immense strength, power.
Meditation comes when we become aloof from the world and material things. This only comes though vichara. Keep the eyes wide open, looking at the world and understanding the emptiness of it. This is real sadhana.
Total surrender is stillness of the mind and attainment of Supreme Peace. Silence is the best
meditation.
In Sanatana Dharma you must go further and further until the objective becomes the subjective. The goal is spiritual awakening.
Meditation Advice for specific devotees sitting with Swamiji: Have the Deity with form, in your heart. Then take him down to other chakras – to the Muladhara chakra – this makes you fearless. Then bring him up through the chakras to the crown of the head. Then down to the heart and to the form again.
Meditation Advice for other devotees also with Swamiji at the time: First you must have the attitude of, ‘not this, not this [neti, neti]. Then with closed eyes see Him inside. Later comes the stage when you see Him with open eyes.’
[The explanation below, of the Chakras and the Kundalini, is excerpted from the Glossary in the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, published by the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Centre in New York. An important reminder is that these psychic centres are said to be in the subtle body – not literally in the physical form.]
“Kundalini (Literally: the Serpent Power). It is the spiritual energy lying dormant in all individuals. According to the Tantra there are seven centres in the body, designated as Muladhara, Svadisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddha, Ajna and Sahasrara.
These are the dynamic centres where the spiritual energy becomes vitalised and finds special expression with appropriate spiritual perception and mystic vision. These centres, placed in the Sushumna form the ascending steps by which the Kundalini or spiritual energy, passes from the base of the spine to the cerebrum. When an easy pathway is formed along the Sushumna through these centres, and the Kundalini encounters no resistance in its movements upward and downward, then there is the Shatchakrabheda, which means literally, the penetrating of the six chakras, or mystic centres.
“The Muladhara chakra, situated between the base of the sexual organ and the anus [i.e. in the
perineum] is regarded as the seat of the Kundalini. The centres are metaphorically described as lotuses. The Svadisthana chakra is situated at the base of the sexual organ. The Manipura chakra is located in the region of the navel. The Anahata chakra is next and is placed in the region of the heart. The Vishuddha chakra is at the lower end of the throat. Ajna chakra is situated in the space between the eyebrows. In the cerebrum there is the Sahasrara chakra, the thousand-petalled lotus, the abode of Shiva. This is the highest goal and here the awakened spiritual energy manifests itself in its full glory and splendour.”
Underlined words are links to clarification, explanation or other sources. Just tap on them.
The free-to-read or download, 396-page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography, ‘A Life Lived For Others‘, is available by clicking HERE. If you’d prefer the PDF version, please click HERE.
For our gurubhai Atmaprakash Kramer’s beautiful pictorial ‘memoir’ booklet of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, Avoca Ashram, please click HERE.
There’s also a Facebook site for Swamiji’s posts now. They feature newer readings published more recently. Click HERE to view.
These recordings or the excerpts from them, were made from the early 1970s onward, by Mother Radha, a close devotee of Swamiji’s and edited for uploading here by our gurubhai and her son, Brother Tim. Please be mindful that what Swamiji was saying may have been specific to those with him at the time.