Daily Reading 21. Swamiji speaks about us becoming more Christ-like.
Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.
A reading from Meditation and Spiritual Life, by Swami Yatiswarananda:
In front of the guru you must be a gentleman or woman. Only then can you become a spiritual
man or woman.
Swamiji: Not by barking [speaking loudly], grumbling, grousing and always finding fault. Then you are not a gentleman or [gentle] woman at all and you can never realise God, do whatever you like. I tell people again and again, before becoming a devotee, before you think of taking up spiritual life, see that you become gentlemen and women.
Reading: Most of our problems have nothing to do with spiritual life. They are caused by our own wrong attitude and conduct. Most of us have attitude problems, and some you are not prepared to acknowledge it – and that is worse than anything else, because you lie to yourself.
Swamiji: I always admire Sri Sarada Devi Ashram [the ‘convent’ inaugurated in 1984, by Swamiji in Asherville, Durban, South Africa]. It is a very nice and disciplined place. Some of you ladies should go and live there for a week or so, and find out what I am talking about. I cannot see any spiritual person going there and not loving it. I cannot see any spiritual person not liking Gargi [now Pravrajika Ishta Prana].
All things happen through the grace of Master [Sri Ramakrishna]. So we have to be very grateful to Master.
When you are serving the Spiritual Ideal then you must expect kicks and blows, grumbles and grouses, insults and injuries. You must. It must come because these are all like test papers set by Master Himself.
Look at the insults that came on Christ. They spat on him, they dragged him and they made him carry the cross and called it his cross, and they nailed him on that cross. But he was carrying our cross. Yet look at his purity of heart. Look at the words he could have used on people who assaulted him, who were killing him just like an ordinary being. But what did he say? Look at his love. The more the suffering came on him – the more trouble came on him – the more death came into him – out of him poured love. He was put to death only to show us something immortal. The mortal frame must go, to give place to the Immortal. Try to live like this.
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.