Swamiji stresses the need for self-effort to win God’s grace. Talks excerpt 172.

From Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

[Spoken at the end of a Yoga Retreat]

The Yoga Camp (Spiritual Retreat) itself is the embodiment of your Deity [Ishta Devata]. Let that Deity now go out and serve the poor, the miserable, the illiterate.

As you go on serving Master’s [Sri Ramakrishna’s] children the Truth will be revealed to you.

Do not be a fanatic. If you must be a fanatic, be a fanatic of Universality [In line with Sri Ramakrishna’s teaching that ‘Religions are like rivers. They all end in that ONE ocean called God.’]

Do not listen to anyone speak ill of parents, guru or Deity.

You must safeguard the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna, by practicing them.

[To a man living far away who often dreamed of Swamiji]: Even if there is no physical contact, inside there is spiritual contact.

Ordinary man bows, but God knows.

You must concentrate on pure things and you will become pure. You must concentrate on immortal things and you will become immortal.

Sit at the feet of the Guru. That means: serve the Guru.

If the Guru walks, you run. If the Guru sits, you sit.

As long as you think ‘I am this or that,’ you will suffer. When you think it is God’s grace, you will be above suffering.

You cannot obtain the Self through sadhana [spiritual practise] etc. Only through Grace. That means: when God chooses. Yet, you must practice sadhana [display self effort] to win God’s grace.

The free-to-read, 396 page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography is available by clicking HERE.

These recordings were made from the 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 an individual or a group of people with him, at the time.