Talks Excerpt 580. Swamiji speaks about Latu Maharaj’s faith in Master’s words.

From Mother Radha’s recordings of Swamiji.

Swamiji continues reading from a book about Latu Maharaj – Swami Adbhutananda Puri].

In 1893 Latu Maharaj came to know of Swami Vivekananda’s departure for America. He said about it later, ‘I heard it from the lips of Holy Mother [Sri Sarada Devi] that brother Loren [Latu Maharaj pronounced ‘Naren’ this way] had left for America. I felt a great longing to hear about him. After the Master [Sri Ramakrishna] passed away [in 1886] some were saying, ‘What nonsense is this about Narendra [Swami Vivekananda] having such a bright future?‘ But I never believed in their words. I would tell them to their faces, ‘What the Master has said will come true to the last syllable. Loren will one day surpass us all. You will live to see it. How little faith you have in the words of the Master. Can his words be anything but true?‘

Do you see how much faith Latu had in Master’s words? You must remember, when you read The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, that whatever is said there, it is his word. You should have the same faith that Latu Maharaj had in the Master.

‘Then at long last when Swami Vivekananda’s activities in America were published in the newspapers, oh, how can I describe my joy?’

One day Surendra Babu felt piqued at the Master and said to him, ‘Why should you go to beg money of others in order to meet the expenses of this place? I should have been informed.’ The Master consoled him saying, ‘Are you not giving enough already? You are our reserve stock.’ Surendra went downstairs. The Master sent Kedar after him to be sure that he was all right and to pacify him.

Here was a disciple of the Master, who was actually forcing him to take things from him, and who became angry when the Master did not accept those gifts. Usually one of two things happen: A disciple hides a gift and does not give it to the guru out of miserliness, or on the other hand if the guru refuses to take the gift, he will get worried. The disciple may say, ‘The guru did not accept it. Don’t you think sin will come on me? Did I do anything wrong?’ But neither of these two attitudes touched the disciple in question. He got angry.

Question: Should a person work for money? Swamiji: Because money is part of artha [righteous wealth] you must work for it. But do not work as if it is ‘my money’. It is God’s prasad given to you. But you must make good use of it. Use it to uplift others, not to plunder others.

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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.