Talks Excerpt 525. Swamiji says children must be deeply committed to their own faith but not hate other religions.
From Mother Radha’s recordings of Swamiji.
At home, if you do not do your morning, midday and evening prayers, if you do not practise charity and truthfulness, then you are a first-class hypocrite. You must try to practise these things and try to have a character like the saints and sages of yore. At least then you are fit for something.
You must try to give up all things that bring harm to others and to yourself – like taking flesh, consuming alcohol and other substance abuse. I am not going to tell you forcefully to leave them, but you should try to bring your mind and senses under control. If your senses still want these things, if you are still taking them, then you are weak. You have to get yourself under control first of all.
Morning and evening sadhana must be performed; and the children must be made fanatics of your religion. But they must be fanatical without bringing hatred for other religions. Your ideals at home should not be forgotten; and the ideals of Sri Ramakrishna should be seen in those ideals.
Just as Hanumanji spread the name of Lord Rama, may you spread the name of Sri Ramakrishna. If you do not talk about the Master to three or four people, or at least one person each day, then that day you have wasted. Our Master never condemned anybody, so why should you be afraid to talk about him? He is the simplest of the simple and therefore I cannot see people not accepting him.
In your behaviour, try to project this Master, this ideal, so that people will know that the Master’s hand has touched you and you have changed.
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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.