Talk Excerpts 728 to 731 inclusive. Swamiji gives devotees parting advice at a yoga camp.
From Mother Radha’s recordings of Swamiji.
Excerpt 728: I ask you to learn and read the scriptures. In this way our minds will always be higher and higher.
The word ‘repent’ has to be taken with another word: ‘depend’. When you completely depend on God then you can repent; because you will not repeat your mistakes.
The question we must ask is: If I am attracted to Sri Ramakrishna then how is that incarnation of God helping me? If we follow Master’s [Sri Ramakrishna’s] teachings, it will help us to transform our minds and go Godwards; otherwise we get entangled in powers, money and position.
In the Ramayana, Sri Rama was met by Guha and others. Guha asked for bhakti and Sri Ram blessed him with that. They all received what they wanted. If you ask for worldly prosperity, you will get that. Religion is subjective not objective.
Why do we offer water to God? Water stands for purification and life. God has given us life; God has given us purity and God has given us love. We cannot live without water so we offer that which we love and need, to God.
I am sure that your experiences here at the camp will help you in your daily lives at home. On the first day I said that this was a camp to test yourselves, and to see how strong you are to keep away from the temptations of weaknesses, like lust and anger. You must have assessed your own strength by now. This camp entailed discipline. It was not a camp of fun, frolic and laughter, nor a camp where you let loose your senses and let your mind do whatever it likes. Just as a river has two banks guiding it to the ocean, similarly you had your guiding factors through the program [that was] arranged.
I ask you, the sadhakas, to re-double your efforts to become better people. First you must become good people with good values; then you can become God-people.
Excerpt 729: Sometimes, we think that we are good. But in the quiet hours of your lives you will be surprised at what you are capable of thinking – thoughts that do not attract God to you. Your greatest friend, the mind, tells you in the quiet hours what you really are. And when there are many people around you, they attract your attention, and therefore you forget who you are. So re-double your efforts in your daily life.
If there was any discomfort suffered by you during the time of the camp I must say, ‘Thank you God for having given them the difficulties, and give them a little bit more suffering!’ [laughter] I say this because you will think of the millions of people who have suffered the discomfort, that has become part of their lives. You will be able to appreciate their suffering in different ways. Sometimes we have a mattress that may be very hard or a blanket which is either prickly or not warm enough. Remember that hundreds of people are living like that out in the fields.
Another discomfort is a salt-less diet. A patient has to have a salt-less diet when he gets high blood pressure, but we should try it out now. Gurudev [Swamiji’s beloved Guru, Swami Nischalananda Puri] used to [occasionally] give us sugarless tea. I think we should make these camps just a little more austere.
To the youths: You should have known that for three days this was no place for smoking or for the speaking of ungodly topics. I say to our youth that one day you are going to become adults, so why not start living a meaningful life by joining good company. Start learning good manners and the dharmic way of life. They say, ‘As your company is, so you are.’ We do not want you to become childish, we want you to become responsible men and women.
Excerpt 730: To the youth, you may have freedom of speech in schools, colleges and universities. I pity the lecturers and teachers who have no say in the bad behaviour of some youths. I can just imagine what they go through with the authorities, and what they go through with those who do not want to study. Freedom of speech does not mean that you must say things that will hurt others. It means that you must express constructive ideas rather than destructive ones. If you say hurtful things that cause pain, then I say to you, ‘Sir, you are on the wrong path. Start retracing your steps.’
Nevertheless you are still my children and I will always guide you. Do not be cowards. If you cannot discipline yourself even for three days, what kind of a human being are you?
To the parents I say: Teach your children and train them in a way that befits good parents. You have to ensure that the children have both secular and spiritual education.
Youth must know that even though you may not like to go to school, your parents will force you to go to school. You should try your best to learn as much as possible so that you do well, because it will benefit you the most at this stage of your life.
Parents must not say: ‘You can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink’. There is a way to lovingly and diplomatically discipline a child. Coax them into doing good. Tell them the advantages of doing what is productive, and the disadvantages of being lazy or being ill disciplined. Sooner or later they will learn.
Excerpt 731: To the adults I say: Be enthusiastic to learn at these camps, as it will benefit you. This enthusiasm will also inspire people who will admire your way of life and your institution.
To the sannyasis I say: Christ said to his disciples, ‘Come, I will make you fishers of men.’ Lead the life of renunciation and be an example to others.
The Lord makes us recognise those who want to march the path bravely and selflessly, who will be prepared, like Jesus the Christ, to give up their lives for their Father in Heaven. Beauty is good, but if it makes you get attached, then that’s not good. Be free in God. Love God without any motives.
I am very happy to be here on the last day of this Camp. The Divine Mother has kept me so well. The important message to you is: Take what I say seriously. I may be playful, but in that playfulness I am giving you something to think about in spiritual life.
I am so happy that we can sit together, laugh together and worship together. Thank you. Even if you do not reach the Ideal, you are still a better person than one who has no Ideal whatsoever. Human birth is the highest creation of God. By cultivating love for God, we improve. We get together here at these Camps just to awaken that love in us.
May we be inspired to travel this spiritual path, and never stop until the goal is reached.
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 booklet, ‘Memories of my ashram days‘ at the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, Avoca Ashram, please click HERE.
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.