Talks Excerpt 399. Swamiji consoles a chela about to be evicted from his home.

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

Devotee: We’ve got such big problems, being evicted from the flat etc. I feel like throwing [the Divine] Mother out. Swamiji: You? Throw my Mother out? How? Where to, when She is everywhere?

Devotee: But what is the meaning of experiences like these, Swamiji?

Swamiji: Well, the guru tells you [the chela, disciple] to do something because he sees which way you must go. He says, ‘Child, child, this way.’ But we do not listen, and so nature steps in and gives us a good push. And that is what these experiences are. Devotee: Are they tests of faith, Swamiji? Swamiji: No, rather say they are steps on the path of evolution.

Devotee: What would it have been like if you had not been there to help me. Swamiji: That I was there is Guru’s grace. Devotee: But how will we ever learn about the Mother?

Swamiji: Just call Her name. Call Her. Call Her like a child, not like an adult. You get lots of cuts and pricks, but you do not ask then. Why do you wait till you get a chop?

Devotee: I get so frustrated with set-backs . . .

Swamiji: Why do you let your mind run like that? What happened to your japa? Control the mind. Devotee: Can’t. Swamiji: You can. Say: ‘Oh, come on. Not that. This. Not the world, say the mantra. Say it again and again and again. Master it.

We must do sadhana [spiritual practise]. Must. We must meditate. Must. People staying here at the ashram don’t know how lucky they are. If you cannot do meditation, then you must read the scriptures, the religious books. Keep your mind there. It is all Her lila [divine play]. It is as though she likes to see Herself in a million mirrors, doing all different things.

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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.