Talks Excerpt 402. Swamiji says that through the lila of Swami Vivekananda’s doubts, Sri Ramakrishna revealed himself to us.

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

‘I am’ [Aham Brahmasmi] equals God – is the same as God – and His nature is sadhana. You realise Him through sadhana.

You may say, ‘But I still feel the pain.’ Yes, but that is not the real ‘I‘. Or you may say, ‘I feel sad.’ Yes, but that is not the real ‘I’.

Know what is the real ‘I’. When we negate the world through neti neti, not this, not this – then what remains is only God.

The mantra comes alive by Mother’s grace only. Aim hreem kleem is only for those who are not satisfied with this world illusion [Maya – which Swamiji always reminded us is ‘partial truth’], who are seeking That [Satchidananda].

Renunciation is not physical restlessness; it is mental and spiritual.

Go inside [pratyahara], meditate on It (God). It will never let you down. It is always there and It always tells you when something is not good and so on. But we do not want to listen.

As Sri Krishna says: Lust, anger and greed – these are the three gateways to hell.

We always want something – this is greed. Lust is something we are born with. But anger is the real problem. There are two ways to handle it. Either shout, ‘Don’t do that.’ Or say: ‘Yes, what you say is right. But perhaps it is better to do it this way. So let us try this way, and if it doesn’t work, we will try it your way.’ He is a hero who controls his anger.

It was through Swami Vivekananda’s doubts that Sri Ramakrishna came to reveal himself to us.

Faith leads to trust; and doubt leads to enquiry. But all these are of little value until we have the experience. For example, Naren [later, Swami Vivekananda] had doubts about Sri Ramakrishna, even when the Master was dying. Then he had the experience. Sri Ramakrishna gave all to Swami Vivekananda at the end and said: ‘Now I am a beggar.’ This did not mean that he had nothing, but that Naren had everything.

The free-to-read or download, 396-page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography is available by clicking HERE. If you’d prefer the PDF version, 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.