Talks Excerpt 712. Swamiji says: ‘Get tired of the world and rest in God awareness NOW.’
From Mother Radha’s recordings of Swamiji.
We seek for the ultimate truth in the world but find it not. We seek for it in different religions and find it not. But when we seek Him in the religion of our hearts, then we find Him everywhere.
Our Master, Sri Ramakrishna, said to the sadhakas who were restless and who had not taken life very seriously: ‘This is your time to become tired.’ He told a story as an example: ‘There was a bird, and the bird was sitting on the mast of a ship. Unknown to it, the ship set sail into the ocean. Soon the bird saw the glorious sun and found water, water everywhere. It found itself in mid-ocean and thought to itself, I am hungry. It flew to the east and did not find land. It came back and rested on the mast of the boat. Then it flew to the north, and finding no land, returned to the ship. It flew to the south and the west but found no land. Then giving up – as if in self-surrender – giving up everything in sheer desperation, the bird sat on the mast and rested. One morning when it opened its eyes, it saw land, for the ship had sailed to a harbour and there it anchored.’
This is the ‘tiring period’. Fly to the east my friends. Fly to the west. Fly to the south and fly to the north. Seek pleasure in everything which is perishable; but ultimately you will find that you will not get peace anywhere. The answer is in self-surrender, surrender to God. And you do not have to move an inch. You only have to unfurl your sails and the wind of grace will do its work.
Who knows the future? Whilst we have the opportunity, let us glorify God in thought, word and deed.
God bless. God speed. May you be inspired to do your sadhana regularly and progress Godward.
The free-to-read or download, 396-page Flipbook version of Swamiji’s biography, ‘A Life Lived For Others‘, is available by clicking HERE. If you’d prefer the PDF version, please click HERE.
For our gurubhai Atmaprakash Kramer’s beautiful pictorial booklet, ‘Memories of my ashram days‘ at the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, Avoca Ashram, 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 those with him at the time.