Talks Excerpt 500. Swamiji says: Do not worry what the neighbours have. Santosha is necessary.

From Mother Radha’s recordings of Swamiji.

Niyama Observances:

One: Purity. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.’ [Matthew 5:8]

Two: Contentment [santosha]. You must have this virtue. It does not mean that there can be no improvement. If you follow dharma it will not make you greedy, it will not make you a miser. You can improve.

Do not worry what the neighbours have. You must just be content with your lot and work from there. Every Hindu scripture encourages you to work first, and then, when you go above work, you become sattvic.

In the Bhagavad Gita Sri Krishna encourages Arjuna to take the bow and arrow and fight. First there must be effort. Then, when you can do everything you are above work; and laziness will not get you. You will not be caught in the clutches of duality – i.e. do this and do not do that. You can do everything and yet do nothing.

Contentment means contentment here in your daily life. Improve yourself according to dharma, do not compare yourself with others and become competitive.

Remember that Sri Ramakrishna said you should be discontented with your spiritual life if you are not making progress. Become restless to know God – that is the only time you must become restless.

Even if you say, ‘Oh, I saw Sri Krishna last night, I am the blessed one,’ you cannot go forward. You haven’t even seen the Universal Form yet. Arjuna saw Sri Krishna, he lived with Sri Krishna and yet he still had doubts. Even after Sri Krishna showed him the Universal Form he still had doubts. Only after being shown his Ishta Devata’s form did he say, ‘O Lord, now I understand.’

Be discontented with your spiritual advancement. Do not think, ‘I am the chairman now, there is nobody like me.’

Sri Ramakrishna did not say, ‘I have realised all the different paths of Hinduism so I am all right.’ No. He went beyond the boundaries of Hinduism and that is what makes him unique. People practise this religion or that religion but he practised THE Religion.

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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.