Your deity embodies everything
SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
627
[Swamiji continues reading from the Bhagavad Gita]
Of them the wise, ever steadfast and devoted to the One, excels; for I am exceedingly dear to the wise and the wise are dear to Me.
Why? Because the wise man realises that the Self is God. So he loves the Self and the Self loves him. In the Upanishads it is said: 'You cannot get the Self by learning, you will not get the Self by sons, daughters, or wealth, but the Self is got by whosoever the Self chooses.' You do not choose the Self, the Self chooses you. He is so dear to God that God has chosen him and he has realised the Self. He is dear to God and he, knowing the Self, loves the Self more and more.
Whatsoever form any devotee desires to worship with faith, that same faith of his I make firm and unflinching.
God is very wonderful here. Whichever form of God you want to worship, He makes your faith in that form [Deity or Ishta Deva] grow and grow. (As He says in another verse, He is the eternal seed of all beings.) So you worship that particular form thinking that Saraswati is giving you vidya [wisdom/knowledge]; thinking that Saraswati is separate from Lakshmi. Thinking that Lakshmi is giving you wealth, you think Lakshmi is separate from Kali because Kali is giving you strength. So you pray to each of the deities. But God is Almighty and God is only One. Anything you seek from Him He will give you. Through ignorance you do not know that each manifestation, each deity, has everything in it. The same God, no matter which deity you worship, can give you everything you want. It can give you vidya. It can give you whatever you like.
Some of you modern people make me laugh. Your great grandfathers worshipped the deities but suddenly you are finding a new deity. You throw out all the old deities and put a new one there – as if the new one is going to give you everything. You are a fool. Your father and mother prayed to those deities and that is why you have grown so big; you have all the knowledge and so on. So why are you suddenly throwing out the old deity? If you see the old one merged in the new one that would be all right, but now what you are saying is, 'The old one is no good, the new one is the right one . . . ' You are only falling for mass psychology.
The deity that you worship is the same eternal expression of which we all are, the Self.
1) Care should be taken by the reader to
understand and take Swamiji's words in these postings, in context. Every
teaching or instruction that he gave was specific to the people who were with
Swamiji at the time. 2) Mouse-over the words highlighted in red in the
posting for further explanation or links.
There are currently available, over 100 different CDs
or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email
timhoare@webmail.co.za to order. Click HERE for the second website on Swamiji's life and
teachings.
Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Nischalananda Puri, Swami Shivapadananda
Click Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna to read online…
Reference websites (please mouse-over
the name to connect): Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of SA, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa,
Ramakrishna Dham, Swami Shivapadananda 2