Swamiji on how to know who your Deity is.
Swamiji says that one way to find out or know who your Chosen Ideal or Deity [Ishta Devata] is, is to notice who comes up most in your mind.
According to the Bhagavad Gita, what you last think of in one birth is what you will become in the next – including the personal deity. [Swamiji explained to us that it's not literally your exact last wish that will determine what you are in the next birth. It's the prevailing and most dominant pattern in your mind, leading up to and at the time of death of the body.]
If you pray and ask, God must and will, says Swamiji, reveal himself to you in the appropriate form as your Deity.
If you're blessed with a Guru, then with the Guru's grace, you cannot and will not go wrong. Swamiji uses the analogy of a girl-child not being able to produce milk. But when a baby is due, the mother will have milk at the ready. In the same way, the Guru will manifest the milk of wisdom, in response to need from the aspirant or chela.
Swamiji explains his own journey of having different gods appearing when, as a sadhaka, he tried to meditate. In his words, 'I'd get so fed up!' He relates how he took the problem to Gurudev, his Spiritual Preceptor – Swami Nischalananda.
Swamiji gives simple, practical advice on what to do when the mind won't settle on one deity with any degree of consistency. Advice born out of his own journey and experience. And this includes an instruction on the use of mantra.
How nice if fifty deities come, says Swamiji, because when you do settle on yours, you'll have the joy of knowing that Truth is ONE. That ONE which takes many forms and therefore has many names. [Ekam Sat Bahudha Vadanti – Truth is ONE – sages call it by various names.]
Swamiji shares the richness of his own experimentation and experience with multiple deities appearing and disappearing. Culminating in him settling on Sri Ramakrishna. [Swamiji told us that it was Swami Vivekananda who 'activated' the mantra of 'Om Eym, sarva deva devi swaroopaya, Sri Ramakrishnaya namah.' – meaning: I salute Sri Ramakrishna, who is the Consciousness of all the gods and goddesses.']
Swamiji concludes the homily by reassuring the devotees that their problems, if taken to God, will always be solved. His words are: 'Man is never lost. God is always carrying him.'
If you've grappled with getting your mind to settle on one Deity – this audio clip is for you. To listen to it, please click on the link below. Jai Sri Ramakrishna!
Duration: 07:36
The original audio recordings of these posts were made by close Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa and Swami Shivapadananda devotee, Mother Radha. The audio editing and noise reduction of the original 1970s-onwards tapes, has been lovingly engineered, over many years, by her son and our dear gurubhai, Brother Tim. May Sri Ramakrishna and Swamiji bless them both.
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Context: As always, care should be taken to remember that what Swamiji was saying, may have been very specific to the needs of people with him at the time. Please bear this in mind.
Links to our Guruparampara (spiritual lineage) organisations, which will broaden your knowledge base: Ramakrishna Math and Mission and our alma maters, the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa and the Sri Sarada Devi Ashram in Durban.
The image on today's post was created using Microsoft Co-Pilot AI.