Talk Excerpt 212 Swamiji talks on the power of the householder.
From Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.
[In praise of the householder’s strength, continued]
The householder [Grihastha stage – a married person] is so wonderfully great that part of his strength, in the form of money is given to charity. His strength in the form of work is put into the garden and surroundings. He visits his friends and relatives to bring about good feelings. How great must that householder be? I prostrate to a householder like that again and again.
On the other hand, a brahmachari, if he is a real brahmachari, should not get tired any more than the householder. He should have three times the strength of the householder. He must have the strength to give, and give, and give and never feel tired. But he has to live absolutely sense controlled, especially containing the vital fluid. Not even in dream does he lose it. This turns, as Swami Vivekananda, Patanjali and other yogis said, into spiritual energy called ojas, which gives you concentration par excellence. Why must we control it? Because it can reveal God to you. It can take you towards God. It makes you control your mind, and the minds of those who are doing the wrong things, and it takes them on the right path.
For me the householders are great because I get inspiration from them and I feel that if I cannot reach the height of a pure brahmachari, or the pure, complete life of a Hanumanji, then at least let me be like Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatrughana. Blessed is the householder who can live with this ideal.
Can you tell me what time Christ got up? Or what time he went to bed? No. He was ever awake in the name of God, in the consciousness of God. And anything that touches God never gets tired. Christ did not sleep.
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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 an individual or a group of people with him, at the time.