Daily reading 36. Swamiji advises on Meditation.

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

Reading from Meditation and Spiritual Life by Swami Yatiswarananda: Contemplation is a special type of concentration. All concentration is not meditation. Meditation is a fully conscious process. It is an exercise of will on the Spiritual Ideal. It presupposes you can rise above worldliness.

Meditate at a particular centre of consciousness. This is attained after long practice, and long discipline. Human beings must discipline themselves, otherwise the mind is like a wild horse. Worldly matters turn the mind from God. Keep the mind in contemplation; on the same thought. When the outgoing tendency of the mind ceases, it is on God.

Swamiji: It is, or becomes like, oil being poured from one container into another [in an unbroken stream]. First meditate on God with form, then on God without form, without limitations. Then all relativity is transcended. When we reach the ‘unrelative’, we are there.

To see God you do not need new eyes. You just have to purify your mind to see Him. In Hindi there is a saying: ‘The mind is a rogue, it catches you by the hand and leads you to the sea; it drowns you and then stands and laughs.’

Reading: The mind revolts when you try to concentrate. The more you try to control it, the stronger it becomes. In the beginning it is boring because you are fighting your inner tendencies. You must have definite, systematic discipline to break the mind. Do not get depressed if you cannot do it. Just say, I will carry on till I break in the horse. Sex and money dominate the mind. You cannot just break it. You must have discipline.

Swamiji: Does it make sense? Yes. So take the sense and practise it. 

Reading: Prayer and good work…

Swamiji:  What work? Good work. Idle mind is the ego’s cradle. [And Swamiji used to add: ‘The devil’s playground’. With ‘the devil’ being the impure mind]. A novice must not follow the path of exclusive meditation. It is not good for you until you are the master of your own thought. True mental purity is very difficult.

Asanas [yoga postures] and rhythmic breathing [pranayama only as advised by an adept] are very helpful for some. The in-breath, hold, out-breath ratio of 4:16:8 is best. [So breathe in to a count of 4, hold for a count of 16 and exhale for a count of 8]. Do rhythmic breathing and think of purity. As I think I am pure, so I become more and more pure. Before meditating give this suggestion to the mind: I am pure. Then I become more and more pure. Try: inhale calm – exhale peace.

One time Gurudev [Swami Nischalananda Puri, Swamiji’s beloved Guru and our paramguru] told us: ‘I am telling you boys that if you are really in a hurry, just go to the Master [Sri Ramakrishna‘s picture] in the shrine, prostrate and go.’ So everyone started doing this. Then Gurudev asked, ‘Why are you all doing this?’ ‘Because we are in a hurry, Swamiji!’

Reading: Real meditation is when only the Deity is there and nothing else. As beginners we must keep thinking of the Deity.

Swamiji: Spiritual growth is a graduated course. Go step by step. If you feel too lazy, watch the Deity. If you sleep too much, watch the Deity. And watch what you think the whole day! You want rest? All right. So long as you know what you are, where you are.

Do not argue for nothing. Do not waste the power, the siddhi. Someone says you are a fool. Are you? Do not fight. Always take it up to a spiritual level.

Underlined words are hypertext 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.