Revision as of 01:38, 26 January 2026

Messages from Swami Dayatmananda

01/01/2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Musings on the Kalpataru Day Swami Budhananda

(Swami Budhanandaji has written a beautiful article on Kalpataru event. Dear Readers, Please note—in this article he especially highlights the experiences of Sri Ramachandra Dutta, an intimate devotee of Sri Ramakrishna.)

January 1st is a red letter day in the calendar of the devotees of Sri Ramakrishna everywhere in the world. This day is so important not because it happens to be the first day of the New Year, but because symbolically it came to be the first day of the new life.

On this day in 1886 Sri Ramakrishna showered his unbounded grace on lay devotees who had assembled at the Cossipore garden house, where the Master had been lying seriously ill with cancer in his throat. In the afternoon the Master came downstairs unexpectedly. And within a few minutes he touched each one of them with the flame of his transmuting power. Stopping near him in the garden Sri Ramakrishna had asked, "Well, Girish, what have you found in me that you proclaim me before all as an incarnation?"

At once on his knees, with folded palms raised in adoration, and his voice charged with emotion, Girish replied, "What can an insignificant creature like me say about one whose glory even sages like Vyasa and Valmiki could not measure?"

The intensity of faith with which Girish had uttered these words brought about a volcanic explosion from within the ocean of grace that was Sri Ramakrishna. And he went all out in divine abandon to confer on the devotees greatest blessings of life spiritual irrespective of the consideration of competency.

He spoke in these three simple sentences the greatest blessings of the most high: "what more shall I say! I bless you all. Be illumined!"

These simple words of power set afire the souls of devotees. Forgetting their self-taken promise not to touch his feet while he was ill, they all touched his (saviour) feet in salutation. Deeply moved at this manifestation of their devotion Sri Ramakrishna touched every one of them, as a result of which all of them had some instantaneous spiritual experiences.

Sri Ramakrishna himself had said that the wind of God's grace was always blowing. One had only to unfurl the sail. Here there was no need of even unfurling the sail. The wind itself became the unfurled sail too and lapped up the soul in the empyrean heights of spiritual experiences. This was a violation of spiritual law, which God incarnate alone could indulge in!

Sri Ramakrishna himself had also said that the mother bird does not break the shell of the egg before the chick was mature enough to be born in the inclemency of the world-weather. But here we find the mother bird becoming aggressive with her compassion and breaking eggs before chicks were ready. If this is not God's soul hunger, what is this?

Now, this violation of law, this aggression of compassion, if it happened only for a day, it would be a dead day of bygone history. But the actions of God incarnate on earth, though they may be actions in history, are indeed accents of the Timeless in the heart of time. Even as actions temporal, they are but the manners of the Eternal.

In the "Acts of the Apostles" in the New Testament there is a significant passage which says: "To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs..." (Acts, I. 3.)

The God incarnate on earth even after casting off his corporeal body, stays alive in the "next room" "after his passion," i.e. to say in the singular acts which he had performed while alive on earth. If the wound of Christ's body was not even today bleeding in the mystic world-process, how could the mystics receive stigmata even to this day?

Sri Krishna says in the Gita (IV. 9): Whosoever knows in true light My Divine birth and action will not be born again when he leaves his body; he will attain Me, O Arjuna.

To know the Lord's divine birth and actions in true light would mean understanding the Lord's real nature as absolute spirit and also his embodiment in Maya. Here Sri Krishna gave away a great secret of self-apprehension, which the theistic religions were quick to grasp and profit by. In such religions, therefore, "leela-smarana" or remembrance of divine acts of God incarnate on earth is considered to be one of the most potent spiritual practices.

Srimad Bhagavatam (XII. 4. 40) puts it categorically: The Jiva or the embodied soul, who is scared by the miseries of the world, if he wants to get across the terrific ocean of transmigratory existence, then the only way open to him is to take recourse to the remembrance of the Lord's divine actions; there is no other raft for crossing this ocean.

The embodied soul can apprehend the Nitya or the Eternal, only in his Leela or divine sports as an incarnation. Hence Bhagavatam's emphasis on "leela-smarana" or remembrance of the divine deeds. The Song Celestial of the Timeless has been recorded in the disc of time during the avatarana or descent of the Lord on earth. If the aspirant can bring his power of concentration to the pointedness of a gramophone pin, and set it on the disc of "leela" the eternal music can be heard again. If one can have the Gopi-heart Krishna-flute can be heard on the banks of Yamuna even today. On the banks of Kala-kalindi, or time that flows as Yamuna, the eternal one roams about flute in hand.

The only way of apprehending him is the devout observance of the religious calendar for "leela-smarana," remembrance of divine deeds. Even a religion like Buddhism which leans on atheism finds it necessary to observe a thrice-blessed day.

In the calendar of the Ramakrishna tradition January 1 is one of the most significant days, being the day of the law-breaking aggressive compassion of the Lord. If the devotees of the Lord want this aggression to continue, they must rouse in his heart on this day, the divine "passion" which devotees did on January 1, 1886. If the calf strikes the udder of the mother-cow with its tender lips, how can milk help flowing again?

For the remembrance of the divine deeds of the Lord we must know as many details of those deeds as possible from all available sources.

Our greatest authority in regard to the life of Sri Ramakrishna is Swami Saradananda. His magnum opus Sri Sri Ramakrishna-leelaprasanga (translated as Sri Ramakrishna, the Great Master), is a work unexcelled in hagiography in its details, authenticity, rational expositions, interpretative deliberations and illuminating insights.

Such an authority on Sri Ramakrishna's life, Swami Saradananda, did not actually approve of the saying that Sri Ramakrishna had become "Kalpataru" on January 1, 1886. He convincingly argued: "Some devotees like Ramachandra have described the happening of that day as the Master's turning into wish-fulfilling tree (Kalpataru). But, it is more reasonable, it seems to us, to call it 'the self-revelation of the Master,' or the 'bestowal of freedom from fear on all devotees by revealing himself'. The Kalpataru, it is said, gives to all whatever good or bad they ask for. But the Master did not do so; he made clear through that event the fact of his being a God-man and his bestowal of protection against and freedom from fear on all without the slightest discrimination."

Notwithstanding Swami Saradananda's disapproval, this great day has quietly come to prevail in the Ramakrishna world with the word "Kalpataru" indelibly inscribed on its forehead—and this has happened without any theological fight—and neither the sannyasins nor the lay devotees appear to be sorry for that. In all humility we can only take this fact, as the will of the Lord. And this will of the Lord may perhaps be understood this way: as it happened, this day was marked out specially for showering grace only on the lay devotees—as Swami Saradananda has written, "....it is a matter of wonder that none of the Sannyasin disciples of the Master was present there that day—as distinguished from those who were going to become monks." And therefore it would appear that the lay disciple's nomenclature of the great deed has been providentially accepted in preference to the monastic disciple's nomenclature.

"M" the writer of the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna has not written any account of the day, proving perhaps the fact that he was absent from the scene.

Swami Saradananda has quoted in Sri Ramakrishna the Great Master the fragmentary personal accounts or personal reactions of the day as given by such eye witnesses as Ramlal Chattopadhyaya and Vaikunthanath Sannyal. There is also the description of the occasion as given by another eye witness, Akshaykumar Sen, in his famous work Ramakrishna Punthi. Akshaykumar also used the word "Kalpataru." These narrations of the day are more or less familiar to the readers of the Ramakrishna literature.

"Kalpataru"— as Rama Chandra Dutta saw and understood it

What have become obscure and not so easily available is the narration of the day as Rama Chandra Dutta saw and understood it. As he was largely responsible in introducing the word "Kalpataru" his following narration of this day will be found interesting:

"Sri Ramakrishna was brought to the Kasipur garden house for treatment. Here he stayed for eight months. It will take one an aeon to narrate all the sports he performed in Kasipur..."

"When his ailments showed no signs of abatement, some devotees would observe fasts in the name of Taraknath while others supplicated to the Master himself for his own recovery. When nothing proved to be of any avail, one day a few devotees submitted with folded hands, 'Lord, why are you feigning this illness? We have tried our very best but with no effect on the illness. We have now realized that unless you yourself deign to find the remedy, there is no other way.'

"In reply he made various funs. But when the devotees persisted in their request he said, 'You have not yet been able to understand the cause of the disease. Every action bears its fruit. Good act bears good fruit and bad, bad; one has to reap the fruit according to the act. If you have had to reap the fruits of all your evil deeds and sins, your future will be terrible. But it is God's way to suffer the fruits of action; therefore all the multitude of your sins I have accepted in my hand.

"'On the day you have given me your power of attorney, on that very day you have been freed from your accumulated sins. Unless sins are eradicated and the body is made pure, relationship with God cannot be established. In human body one has to suffer the consequences of sin. And so the disease, in my body. Through this disease in my body you have become freed of sins and whosoever will self-surrender unto me they too will be released. So it is that I am getting through the suffering for their sins too.'

"Though we all heard these words, we did not quite realise their significance. It was his another fun, we thought. This wise Ramakrishnadeva passed his days feigning illness. Physicians of various sorts, sadhus of different types and a multifarious assortment of common people used to visit him.

"On some days he would saunter about in the garden like one who had no disease at all. On other days from his sore in the throat blood would come out. And the intriguing part of all this was that when the physician gave a medicine for counteracting a certain symptom, on that day that very symptom would get aggravated.

"His body could not stand even the Homeopathy medicine, the taking of one grain of which would throw his entire body into convulsion. Hence the physicians would not easily venture to give him medicine."

"As mentioned above, various sorts of people used to come to him and almost everyone would return satisfied with a feeling of blessedness. And it so came about on January 1, 1886 that he became the Kalpataru. On that day at five in the afternoon when seated on one end of the garden we were all engaged in discussing various topics we found him coming towards us. With transfixed gaze we all kept looking at his face. His entire body being covered with cloth no other part of the body was visible but his face. That lustre and unprecedented beauty of his that we witnessed on that day are just beyond delineation. Gradually he drew near us and raising his right hand said, 'What more shall I tell you. May spiritual consciousness be awakened in all of you.'

"So saying he began to place his palm one by one on the chests of devotees, as a result of which everyone became mad as it were. Whomsoever we saw before us that day we caught him and brought before the Lord and he showered his grace on all. We were all stirred to our depths with joy finding that the Lord had become the Kalpataru.

"Knowing fully well that such a day, so rare to the jivas, will not come again, we began to run hither and thither to seek out persons until none was left. Shouts of victory to Sri Ramakrishna continued to resound in the firmament. Incessant raining of flowers by devotees on the Lord went on and the ocean of Ananda was in deluge.

"All this time he was standing in ecstasy. Then coming back to the normal consciousness he returned to his room.

"Afterwards one day he quietly called this servant and asked, 'Look here, you all say so many things about me. If all that should be true, why then is this miserable state of mine. This sore in the throat, this diseased body—what all these are due to? Gauranga had such beauty, learning, miraculous powers—why do I not have all those powers? Why do I not have such beauty as his and such learning? And can you tell me what the reason is for my leaving Dakshineswar?'

"Hearing such questions of the Master I held his feet and said with folded palms: 'Lord, you are here again with your waggery! Can this ever be within the capacity of the meanest of your servants to discern the cause of your actions? But if such is your behest, then remembering your feet I say, if you give me strength I must be able to tell the reason. You have made me understand that in gross body the manifestation of leela can never be of the same type. Things happen according to the necessity of times.

"'Gaurangadeva acted in the past according to the felt necessities of his times. In this incarnation things cannot proceed in that fashion. Lord, truth to be told, if beauty and miraculous powers were the only means for the salvation of the jivas, we would have long before turned into saints. Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Gauranga, Christ—their unlimited powers, beauty and splendour have all been extolled in the scriptures.

"'And we have been hearing all those tales since our childhood. But why has not that borne any fruit? We came to you hearing that you were a sadhu. But you alone can say how you have entered within our hearts. The place where we would fain have seated God, you have come and occupied that place. How hard we have striven to drive you out from that place so that Parameshwara might be seated there—we have discussed ever so much, presented your case to the pundits saying that you were God incarnate and argued with them with the intention of having our weakness destroyed by them but uphill now nobody has been able to displace you. No body's learning, intelligence and dialectics have been able to disprove that. Helplessly, therefore, we have been forced to call you God.'

"'You have said that like the wealthy ladies who conduct their affairs from behind the screen, you too have been performing your leelas. Seeing your disease, your outer covering, outsiders will fly away. But the fortunate one who will receive a grain of your grace shall understand the mystery of your leela. Lord, you alone know whether by speaking about these few outer things you are wheedling us or settling the issue.

"'But the question arises in my mind: is it possible for one to discern the beingness (or Bhava) of God through such tales of separation-pangs told in regard to the leelas of Radha-krishna, Rama-Sita or Gauranga? Laughing and weeping is the leela of man. When through such leelas they could be considered as God, then is not this disease of yours also the measure of your Leelas, especially when you yourself have divulged the reason for this?'

"'And, Lord, as to the other question; from the day you came out of Dakshineswar the fate of ordinary people has brightened up. Because of this pretext of disease thousands of men and women have had the darshan of your feet.'

"Ramakrishnadeva then said, 'You are telling all these because of your faith.'

"On hearing this from his lips I said, 'Thakur, enough of lengthening the talk! You are acknowledging my faith, for this I am compelled to call you God. I was a heretic, a barbarian and an arch atheist—I to call a man God! God Himself was seeking out a little place in my heart, and forsooth now it appears that by having faith today I have installed you in the position of God! Lord, be that so, give me that strength, that power so that I can really do so. If through my faith being a man you become God, that is not your ordinary leela, again. O, Thakur, God Himself has to stand before man by furnishing so many introductions and testimonials, and do you mean to say that if a man declares another man as God people will just accept that? You may say whatever you are pleased to say and everything behoves you.'

"Even then Ramakrishnadeva continued to say, 'Do I not so much wish to stay at ease?'

"I replied, 'It is all a disappointment for us to try to answer your points. Yet I shall remind you of only one thing and then close my lips. Thakur, one day in the evening standing on the western veranda of your room you said, "Whoever will come with the hankering for realization of God, for attainment of knowledge and seeking to know how he could see Him, his aspirations will be fulfilled."

"'Then laying stress on your words you again said, "O my men, verily his longings will be fulfilled."

"'Thakur, will you tell me who is the man who can tell this? Who is that siddha-Purusha who has the boldness to say so? With our ocular perception we are noticing how heretics without any spiritual practices are getting miraculously transformed. Even after seeing all these are we to have a mistaken opinion about you? If you say so, we are helpless.

"'And when you refer again and again to your disease, may I ask you, one thing: Sri Radha in Brindavan, what was her terrific suffering in the tenth state of viraha caused by separation from Krishna. Can a single day's suffering of Radha be borne by any jiva? Because Radha performed this nara-leela was she ever without Krishna? You yourself have said, "Brahma and shakti are identical."'

"As I said this his face flushed. As soon as the symptoms of ecstasy were discernible I ended the talk."

(May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda shower their Divine Blessings on all of us on this Auspicious Kalpataru Day.)

05/01/2019

Jai Ramakrishna

5 January 2019

(From M. the Apostle and The Evangelist)

It is 8.30 p.m. now.

M. is seated on a mat in the assembly room along with the bhaktas on the second level of the Morton School. They have just returned from the Navavidhan Brahmo Samaj. The devotees comment on what they have heard there.

M. (to the bhaktas)—So many people praise him now. But how great they must be who loved him in his lifetime! When the divinity gets established, everybody begins to adore one.

He was living in Dakshineswar on seven rupees a month. Besides, he was often as if mad. Who are those, brother, who were able to recognize him then? They are not ordinary men.

Sri Krishna said, "Uddhava, go and bring me quickly the news of the gopis. When I was unknown, I was just a village cowherd boy, the gopis gave me their love with their heart and soul. Please go and bring me the news of these very gopis. For so long I have remained absorbed in my state duties. I shall never be able to repay their debt. Only if they kindly release me themselves from it, will it be possible. Otherwise it can never be paid back."

Can an Avatara be recognized? No, not by man. It was by his will that a few were able to recognize him (Sri Ramakrishna). The Avatara comes exactly like any other man, bringing with him all of man's appendages—grief, pain, good and evil—all. And he hides himself with this veil. But within this he dazzles a very few by revealing his real identity. Seeing the splendour of the sattva behind the veil the devotees are speechless with wonder. They begin to wonder whether he is a man or God. That's why Thakur would sometimes enjoy himself with his devotees by referring to his real self.

He would say, "Why, what have you to say about what Girish says (that Thakur was Avatara)?"

Sometimes he would say, achina gach (an unknown tree). Well, it's there though it can't be recognized. And at he would sing a particular song. None of you has recognized him, who in the garb of a lowly mendicant roams about from home to home.

He who recognizes an Avatara has nothing more to do—that's all he had to. He will achieve everything just by it. But how to recognize him? On one hand you have a man, educated in the western way, so learned, on the other hand there is an illiterate priest, poor to the extreme. But it is the latter who wins at the end—all education, learning, pride of family and character lie at the feet of the indigent Brahmin. By a fraction of the Brahmin-priest's grace, Narendra is today a world-conqueror; and that poor priest is the adored of the world. The rajasic westerners bow their heads at his feet. Is it given to anybody to go to the bottom of the divine sport of the Avatara? It is amazing indeed!

06/01/2019

6 January 6, 2019

(From M. The Apostle and the Evangelist)

It is Tuesday tomorrow. M. had gone to Panchanan Ghosh Lane to listen to the kathakata (narration of ancient stories accompanied with music etc.).

M. (to the devotees)—They was talk of the Vrindaban Lila (of Lord Krishna), about the conversation with Uddhava. Uddhava had gone to Mathura to find all about the gopis—he had been sent there by Sri Krishna. Uddhava saw a gopi milking a cow and singing a song of pangs of separation from Sri Krishna. She was not singing a song composed by any other. Whatever emotions gushed out of her heart, lost as she was in them, came out of her throat in a song. Her mind was not in milking. Her child was crying for milk but she was deaf to it. The husband was shouting at her again and again saying, "The child is crying. Come back quickly with milk," but she would not hear him. At last he came and gave her a push. Then she woke as if from sleep. In a choked voice she asked, "Yes, what's the matter?"

Uddhava saw that the milkmaid had almost lost her external consciousness, her mind having completely merged in Krishna's thought, and losing its identity got absorbed in Him and became one with Krishna. Her hands were working mechanically, milking the cow. After a time even this stopped—"O my mind! plunge into the sea of Krishna's beauty,"—bhava samadhi.

The jnana of the jnani-bhakta Uddhava received a big blow. Uddhava, as soon as he came, said to the gopis: "Your beloved Krishna is an Avatara. He is enacting his Lila as a human being. He is the controller of every mind; it's he who presides as the creator, the preserver and the destroyer of the world." Seeing how the Gopis loved Sri Krishna, Uddhava felt ashamed. Said he to himself, "In vain are my jnana and reason. Blessed indeed is the gopi." This is one scene.

Here is another: A gopi is at the spinning wheel spinning yarn, and singing. Her baby boy is calling out, "Mum, give me something to eat. give me to eat." But she is not aware of it. He gives a push; still no external consciousness. She drops the cotton from her hand—her hand lies in her lap. She does not wink, her eyes are like those of the bird hatching its eggs—merged in the Self. One does not know if she is breathing or not. The baby begins to cry lying on the breast of the mother, thinking perhaps that she is dead. Somebody else, hearing the child cry, comes and tugs firmly at her arm. She regains her senses then.

Uddhava, seeing this sight, is speechless. This is a second blow to his jnana and reason. The gopi is almost dead with the pangs of separation from Sri Krishna—"The mind of the gopi has sunk into the sea of Krishna's love." Another scene on the bank of Yamuna. The gopi is carrying three brass-pots of water on her head, and singing as she moves along. She is late today for her bath and storing water. Her companions have left much earlier—she is alone. She places the water-pot at the edge of the water, sits down and rubs both arms with water. She has the song of Krishna's love on her lips. The woods, the land, the bank of the river—the whole world—are drenched in the rays of the full-moon of (the month of) Kartik. The song she sings is the song of Krishna's love, of the joy of love of Rasa (dance of Krishna with gopis).

Uddhava stands on the bank of the Yamuna and sees this Lila. As she sings, the gopi is oblivious of her surroundings as on the night of the Rasa-leela—her soul having sunk in the sea of Krishna's joy. Uddhava notes that the strains of the song have ceased. He comes nearer and lo! The gopi's face is sweetly aglow; her vital-breath, as if, has ceased in her body. The cloth she is wearing has slipped as it is no longer in her grip—she is insensible to her modesty. After a long time, the members of her family reach there searching for her. Because there is no water they are thirsty, so are the cows and the calves. They pull her out of her swoon. Even then she is inebriated with bhava, and she shouts: "O my life-breath, Krishna, my very life!"

This third blow, as with a heavy mace crushes Uddhava's pride of his love to Krishna. He realizes that the gopis' love for Krishna gushing forth from the depth of their hearts and soul, and making them oblivious of their bodies, has the same relation with his own love of Krishna just as a chunk of butter bears to a piece of stone.

Oh, what a force these reciters have! They narrate the Lila as if it is being enacted before their eyes. The audience sat motionless spell bound—having sublimated the emotions, as it were.

This was followed by a song. I remember a couple of lines and present them to you. Please sing these as you go home. The song is by Uddhava:

Blessed the gopis, blessed you are, blessed Vrindaban! Where the love of Krishna has embodied itself!

07/01/2019

7 December 2019

(From the Imitation of Christ)

Have a Humble Opinion of yourself

It is natural for all of us to desire knowledge, but what is the value of knowledge without respect for God? The most ordinary person who serves God is better than a proud philosopher who neglects himself while studying the stars. If you really know yourself, you will see that nothing about yourself is worthy of praise. "I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets... but if I have no love, I am nothing" (1 Cor. 13:2). When I stand in God's presence, I am judged by the things I do.

Great learning can be a distraction; it can make you try to appear wise in order to win praise. There are many things you can know which will be of little value to your soul, and it is not wise to waste your time on them. Words do not nourish the soul, but a life well-lived brings comfort to the mind. A clear conscience will give you confidence before God.

If you think you know a lot about something, remind yourself that there are many more things you do not know. "Do not be proud, but accept humble duties. Do not think of yourselves as wise" (Rom. 12:16). If you want to learn something worthwhile, learn how to be a nobody.

The most profound and valuable lesson of all is to truly know yourself and to have a humble opinion of yourself.

Think well of others. If you see someone else engaging in a sinful act or a crime, do not let that make you think more highly of yourself. "You do not know how long it may be before you also stumble. All of us are frail; consider yourself no stronger than anybody else!

08/01/2019

8 December 2019

(From For Seekers of God)

Place: Belur Monastery. Time: Friday, August 2, 1929.

A brahmacharin saluted Mahapurushji, whereupon he remarked:

"Early in the morning, at dusk and at night you should meditate intensively. This place has a tangible spiritual atmosphere. Swamiji brought the relics of the Master on his head and installed him, here. Here there is a special manifestation of Sri Ramakrishna.

"Besides, Swamiji, Maharaj (Swami Brahmananda), Baburam Maharaj (Swami Premananda) and others performed so much spiritual practice here. Swamiji even laid down his body right here. How holy this place is! Nowhere will you find another place more favourable for spiritual practice. This place is steeped in spirituality. How much meditation, study and singing of the names of the Lord has been done here and is still being done! How many devotees visit this place! How many times homa (fire ritual) has been performed here, and what other ceremonials have also been performed!

"The few days you live here be sure to enjoy the bliss of meditation and japa. The more you meditate, the more you will appreciate the holiness of this place. You are devotees of the Master. Call upon him; you will certainly get a response and your heart will be filled with joy."

Brahmacharin: "Often questions arise in my mind which I intend to refer to you."

Mahapurushji (affectionately): "Why don't you tell me the doubts that arise in your mind? But you know all your doubts will be solved from within. The Lord is within us. He is the inner Self of us all. He solves all doubts from within. Of course, you will have to let Him know your problems."

Saying this, he began singing this song:

Stay by yourself, O mind! Why wander here and there? Look within in the inner chamber of your heart, And you will find, right there, whatever you desire... You have everything within you, only you have to seek, my child.

"You are devotees of the Mother. She is protecting you under all conditions and will always do so. If one takes the name of the Lord and starts on a journey, one will not come to grief. By the strength of His name even distress is transformed into a blessing."

Saying this he sang:

Whoever starts upon a journey taking the name of Mother Durga, Shiva, with His almighty trident, surely will protect him.

"In a couplet composed by Tulasidas there is the same idea:

Every phase of the moon is auspicious; Every day an auspicious day. An inauspicious day affects him only who has forgotten the Lord. The day one takes the name of the Lord whole-heartedly is a good day!"

09/01/2019

9 January 2019

Absorption Swami Brahmananda

The subtle mind leads the aspirant nearer to God, but it cannot reach God, the supreme Atman. Having reached this stage, the world no longer holds any charm for the aspirant; he becomes absorbed in the consciousness of God. This absorption leads to Samadhi, an experience which cannot be described. It is beyond is and is not. There, there is neither happiness nor misery, neither light nor darkness. All is infinite Being—inexpressible.

Higher still is meditation. When a man practices this form of worship, he keeps up a constant flow of thought toward God and becomes absorbed in the living presence of his Chosen Ideal. He goes beyond prayer and japam, but the sense of duality remains.

Practice japam, whether you like it or not. As you persist, the mind is certain to become absorbed in contemplation.

Hold fast to the truth. Be pure-hearted. The purer you become the more will your mind be absorbed in God: You will be able to see the subtle deceptions of the mind, and you will be able to root them out.

When your mind becomes absorbed in meditation, a fountain of joy will spring up within you. Learn to be absorbed in him. Activity is not the goal. Work without attachment is only a means to absorption in God.

At dead of night the mind becomes absorbed in God with very little effort. The moment you become absorbed in the contemplation of God, you will experience unbounded joy. Days and nights will pass away in the blissful consciousness of God.

By steadfastness alone the mind becomes absorbed in God. Unless absorption is achieved, freedom from the temptations of the world is not possible. Lust, anger, delusion—these are strong foes. Be strong in the strength of God and escape from this net of Maya.

The mind is like a spoiled child always restless. Try repeatedly to steady it by fixing it on the Chosen Ideal, and at last you will become absorbed in him. Meditation means a continuous flow of thought toward God. when meditation ripens, there comes absorption, and Samadhi is experienced.

[To the question, "How can one get the mind absorbed in God?"] Practice meditation regularly.

Can anyone in the primary stage live absorbed day and night in meditation? Therefore you must work, but work without attachment for the good of mankind.

When the mind becomes absorbed, a shining light is first experienced in the mystic vision. With this vision, there comes a kind of higher and nobler joy, and the mind is reluctant to give up this joy and move onward. But if the aspirant goes further, the vision of the light will be concentrated into the form of tile Chosen Ideal and the mind becomes merged in his consciousness.

The more the mind is absorbed within, the greater will be the joy of meditation; and when once you taste joy in your spiritual practices, the desire to continue in them will grow. Then you will no longer have to ask how long you should meditate. Your own mind will tell you.

When you are able to free yourself from these deep-seated subtle desires, when the mind becomes tranquil, then only can you become deeply absorbed in real meditation. The practice of japam and meditation brings the aspirant to this stage.

10/01/2019

10 January 2019

Place: Belur Monastery Sunday, August 18, 1929

(Swami Shivananda)

The conversation was about pilgrimages. A monk had just returned from Badrinarayan and such other holy places and some of the monks of the monastery were talking about this pilgrimage.

Mahapurushji: "Visiting holy places is an easy thing. It requires just a little hardship. But to have devotion and faith in God is a rare achievement. You will come across many sadhus who have made pilgrimage on foot to the four dhamas (holy places located at the four corners of India) or have done similar things, but how many of them are genuine sadhus with devotion and discrimination? Of course, it is not that there are no such sadhus, but their number is very limited.

"It is very difficult to make progress in the realm of the Spirit. In the first place, it is practically an impossibility with those who do not have any living ideal. Fortunately, if they come in touch with an ideal personality it becomes somewhat easy to make progress; otherwise they can hardly make any progress. Once the ideal of life is determined one can advance slowly towards that ideal through the grace of God. Of course, everything depends upon God's grace.

"We were very fortunate that we came in touch with such a great personality. We have seen in our life what one should do in order to realize God and what happens to a man after God-realization. He was born as a divine Incarnation (Sri Ramakrishna) and he graciously brought us with him. Is this a small matter? We came in direct touch with God Himself. We saw him and shaped our lives in accordance with his ideal. The path to realize God was made very easy for us. Blessed are we!

"On the other hand, those who have not seen Sri Ramakrishna and have not had the blessed privilege of his holy association are seeing us and are trying to reach the Master and understand him through us. They are more fortunate than thousands of men and women in this world.

"What would you say to this? God Himself came down as man: it happened only the other day. The whole drama was enacted right in front of our eyes! What a fire of intense spiritual discipline did he ignite! Even now people can feel the warmth of that fire. Is this age to be slighted? It is indeed a holy age! In this age, whoever will take the name of Sri Ramakrishna and try to advance spiritually, modelling his life after that of the Master, will find it easier to make progress. If one patterns one's life after the Master's life, casting his life in the mould of the Master, it will be easy for him to realize God. But where are the people who can do that?"

(For Seekers of God)

11 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

From M. The Apostle and the Evangelist

The fifth part of the Kathamrita is under print. As M. is indisposed he is helped by Swami Raghavananda. He is with M. these days.

Swami Raghavananda wants to read out the fifth part to the sadhus.

The topic is: Shyam Bazar of Thakur's native place, followed by the description of the Hari Sabha of Jorasanko.

Thakur is telling about his state in the Hari Sabha—he was in such a state of bhava that it looked as if his body would not last.

'M.: When the account of Gaya was being read out in Thakur's presence, we saw him sobbing and weeping. You see, his past had come back to his mind. He knew who he was—svayameva atmana atmanam vetha tvam purushottama' (Gita 10:15)—Verily You alone know Yourself by Yourself, O Purushottama.

Antevasi: Is it what happened to Chaitanya Deva in Gaya?

M.: Yes. When Chaitanya Deva went to Gaya to perform the rites for his dead father, he went into a deep bhava—he had the vision of God. When Thakur heard it, he began to sob and weep.

Antevasi: Where, in Dakshineswar?

M.: Yes, in Dakshineswar.

Antevasi: The readers of the Kathamrita think that Thakur would not go to Gaya for the reason that he had been born as an avatara there. When the incident of Chaitanya born as an avatara would come to his mind, he would give up his body—this nobody remembers.

'M.: That's why he would not go to Puri also. Chaitanya Deva was there for twenty years. Towards the last twelve years, he was in the mahabhava. Remembering all those things the body would not last, that's why he wouldn't go there. Chaitanya Deva is now Sri Ramakrishna. He himself said: Christ, Chaitanya and I are one.'

'M. (to all present): Thakur said to Swami Vivekananda on the first day, Have you heard of Gaur of Nadia (Chaitanya)? I am he.'

He replied, 'Yes, I hear people saying Gaur, Gaur.' "Our house had not been partitioned till then. It was in that room in front, that Swamiji told me this.

And he also said, 'Mahashaya, has this person gone mad? He says, that he is the same as that Gaur of Nadia.'" (All laugh).

Antevasi: Well, how did Swamiji take it—in what bhava?

M.: What bhava? He was just a boy then. On the top of it he was an English-educated boy.

M. and Swami Raghavananda (in one voice): He did not believe in reincarnation.

Antevasi: I have been corrected. I thought that because Thakur claimed that he was an avatara of Chaitanya Deva that Swamiji had called him mad.

M.: Swamiji took it the same way as any young man would do. He knew English, so he had become all the more sceptical. He did not believe in reincarnation. You see, the Englishmen do not believe in it.

"That's why Thakur swore by it and said it so emphatically to all. You see, all those who had been educated in English used to visit him. Thakur would say, 'Verily I say, the Mother has come—She who stands in front and talks to me.' Only this could make the sceptics believe. Thakur made ordinary men see God as much is possible in these days of disbelief."

M. (laughing): Narendra said: How much he pulls me with great affection here, while I sleep comfortably in my Simla home!

Just see, he who called Thakur a mad man later wrote a hymn with this—'tasmat tvameva sharanam mama dinbandho'—that is to say, O friend of the lowly, You alone are my refuge.

12 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Teachings of Swami Premananda

Let the mouth be closed, and action speak.

Is a person worthy to be called a human being if he cannot give up selfishness, if he cannot give up his pleasures of the senses?

To take the name of Sri Ramakrishna, and at the same time to be selfish! Is there any progress for such a hypocrite? Think wisely and firmly; and act accordingly.

Be completely desireless, but act. Do not be swayed by words of praise or blame, or let your actions be influenced by the opinions of others.

I see no evil in you. Who knows but that you may be a saint tomorrow? God plays with us by putting on various masks. We act under the control of our samskaras [tendencies]. We are all toys in the hands of the good Lord, and he is our refuge.

Trust in the Lord and act. You will then succeed. If you depend on men, you will meet with failure.

But we have lost this truthfulness, and that is why we have come to such a pass groaning under the crushing weight of misery and degradation. Now all our efforts must be directed first to retrieve it; not by mere empty speech, but by sincere action, pledging all our heart and soul to it.

Be active also. Free yourself from all sense of ego, and work selflessly. Be very careful that no sense of leadership or any trace of selfishness enter into you. Whatever you do, do as the servant of the Lord.

"Do or die!" Make this your motto. Rome was not built in a day, neither can the ideal character be formed in one day. It is the sum-total of your every thought and action that makes up your character. Remember this and every moment guard well your thoughts and actions. This is an age when we need workers who seek no results for their actions—and are completely devoted to God. No talk, but action; show by the example of your life.

It is not a lazy man's job. Be up and doing!

13 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

On Adversity

It is no easy thing to dedicate oneself heart and soul to the Lord. Many people boast: 'I have surrendered myself and my all to God. I do only what he tells me to do.' But if we observe their lives we see differently. For the good they do they claim the credit and they boast of their achievements, but when adversity or trouble overtakes them they cry out against the Lord and blame him for their misfortunes. (Swami Brahmananda)

At the time of happiness everybody can remain calm, can discriminate, but one is established in it only if one can remain so even in adversity. At that time man has to summon up great strength. If he yields to weakness then, grief will overwhelm him—will altogether ruin him. (Swami Turiyananda)

Nothing can bar the progress of what God intends to make successful. Unless one passes through the school of adversity, one cannot properly be called a man. We learn much from our troubles.

You should not lose heart in adversity. Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, prayed to Sri Krishna to beset her with adversities, since in adversity alone is He more frequently remembered! (Swami Ramakrishnananda)

14 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Do not sit like that [with chin resting on palm of hand], it is a pensive attitude. You should always cultivate a cheerful attitude.

If you can place yourself at the feet of a true Teacher, your egotism will gradually wear away by that very attitude of yours of a servant.

Divine Mother does not like us to call ourselves Her servants... We are her children to Her, not servants. Always think of yourself as Her child.

[Describing the true attitude of a Jnani:] The story is told that Maya, the personified creative force, came one day to a Jnani or sage and said:

'Am I not very great? See, I have created so many worlds, suns and moons and stars. I am the ruler of such a vast universe.'

'You are the Queen of Zero,' said the sage.

Angry at the lack of regard for her greatness she touched him and he became a camel. He was put in the desert, made to carry heavy burdens over the hot sands and subjected to such cruel treatment that Maya herself at last had pity upon him and released him. Then she asked him if he would not now fall down and worship her.

He only laughed saying, 'I have neither camel's body nor mind. You are not hurting me. You are only slapping your own cheek.' Maya exclaimed angrily, 'You are still incorrigible!' Again she touched him and this time made him an ass. As an ass he was beaten, forced to carry evil-smelling burdens, and to live a miserable existence.

Then once more Maya came to him and asked him to bow down to her. 'Why should I? I am not suffering. The ass's body belongs to you, not to me,' he replied.

At last Maya seeing she could not disturb the serenity of his mind fell prostrate before him saying, 'It is you who are greater.'

15 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Where Many Live Together Friction May Occur—Patience and Forgiveness Necessary

Place: Belur Monastery

Time: Friday, July 26, 1929

It was afternoon. Mahapurushji had just finished his shave. Seeing a monastic worker of the orphanage at Baranagore, he called him to his side.

In the course of conversation the Swami said:

If the mind has a natural leaning towards God, one can make time and opportunity for spiritual practice. What is essential is earnestness. If you cannot carry on your spiritual practice here, you won't be able to do so anywhere. The Master used to say, "He who has it here, has it there too."

That is a statement full of truth, my child. Call upon God and pray to Him with great sincerity. He will give you an abundance of devotion and faith. Why should you go? You are doing the Lord's work. Is it a small matter?

Monk: 'In season and out of season, K. says whatever comes to his mind.' Saying this, he started crying.

Mahapurushji: I had a feeling there was a misunderstanding between you two. Why does he use abusive language? I know very well that you do not deserve that treatment. You are a gentle, good-natured person. Why don't you ask K. to come and see me some time? I will explain matters to him.

Do not take it to heart, my child. You know, when pots that are together are moved, friction is inevitable. Do not take it seriously. Misunderstandings are bound to occur sometimes and they are straightened out eventually. It takes two hands to clap. Let him say whatever he wishes. Just endure it all quietly. You will have to be a little humble. You will have to sacrifice a little.

You have dedicated your body, mind and soul to the Master's work. You have renounced everything for his sake. You will have to do this much also for his work. You should practise forbearance, you should sacrifice for his work. The Lord will bless you abundantly.

Monk: Please bless me so that I can do it.

Mahapurushji: Certainly you will be able to. You have my hearty blessings, my child. But you must pray to the Master sincerely, too. He will give you greater strength. You have come here renouncing everything for his sake. There is nothing that he will withhold from you. How will his work go on if you all do not live at peace in one place?

Be patient for his sake, paying no attention to what people say, good or bad. You are all sadhus and have come here with the idea of improving yourselves. You do not have any other desire or wish in your life. You want Him alone. Temporary misunderstandings are inevitable when several work together. They aren't something to be blamed for; it is quite natural. Such misunderstandings come and go; they cannot touch your inner Self, because the main objective of your life is the realization of God. Such petty matters as attachment and aversion cannot deeply affect you. This is what we feel.

Whenever you can, practise japa, meditate upon God and pray to Him sincerely. The moment you have a feeling of weakness or of lacking in anything, tell the Master about it. If you pray very sincerely, you are bound to get a response. Repeat his name often. The repetition of his name will purify your body and mind, washing away all impurities. You have renounced everything in order to be sadhus. The realization of God is the aim of your life, my child.

Your ideal is "to remain unaffected by praise or blame, to be silent and contented with a little". Balance in praise or blame, silence and being satisfied with whatever comes—this is the state you should aim at. You should be absorbed in God. What does it matter to you what people say about you?

16 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Anguish / Anxiety / Anxious

Sorrow, bereavement, pain and anguish—this is what the world consists of. Real joy or peace is very rare in this world, and this round of birth and death that is ours, no one can check.

Hari Maharaj used to say: 'The body knows its pain; O my mind, be at peace!' What a beautiful statement! Pain and anguish belong to the body. He who dwells within the body is not affected by them: He is Bliss itself.

There is no need to be anxious about it. Whatever be the Lord's pleasure is definitely for the good of all. (Swami Shivananda)

Throw away all fear and anxiety. Think, 'We are the children of God', then weakness will find no loophole to creep in.

Away with all quarrels and factions. We have come here for only a very short time; why such anxiety for tidying things up? Let others do as they like.

Fear, worries, and anxieties dwell where there are hypocrisy, evil motives, and selfishness. (Swami Premananda)

Just see! Our God is only a verbal affair! A little meditation, a little Japa—this is a poor sort of spiritual life. The heart must burst hungering for Him. An intense anguish must fill it and life should seem to go out without Him—only then it will be right.

A sea is no more than a mud-puddle when you have crossed it. All anxiety and trouble are at the initial stage. (Swami Turiyananda)

Actually very few of us believe in God all the time. How do we know this? Because we allow anxieties and fears to arise in our minds.

All your anxieties and worries come from egotism and selfishness. Let go your little self and they will disappear.

When worries and perplexities rise in our mind it shows we have ceased to believe in God and in that He is caring for us. If we have real faith in God, we can never grow anxious.

Blessed is the man who has faith. He is the happiest of all men because he is free from all anxiety.

You should not be anxious of the future. Whatever takes place here, on this earth, is for our good, for all things are disposed by God. In the meantime, it should be our duty to be dutiful.

It is through sheer ignorance that we bring on ourselves all sorts of groundless anxieties. To work you have the right, but not the fruits thereof. The leader should be a man having not the least egoism. Not "I" but "Thou"—this should be his motto. Remember this and go on working and you are sure to come out victorious... Do not try to have everything done all at once.

It is the greatest relief when we get rid of egotism. It is as if a heavy burden rolled off. At once all our doubts and fears, anxieties and troubles disappear.

Whenever anxiety rises in you, you become an atheist; you do not believe in God and that He cares for you.

If you have real faith you can never grow anxious. Do your duty never grow anxious and do not think of the future. (Swami Ramakrishnananda)

(From What The Disciples Said)

17 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Argumentation

It is excellent to see only the good. From a pile of mixed sand and sugar, the ant extracts only the sugar. What do we have to do with quarrels and disputes? (Swami Premananda)

Don't argue unnecessarily just to prove your point. It ruins the spiritual atmosphere. Let people do whatever they like; you should live according to your own ideal. (Swami Adbhutananda)

Once, while I was at Belur, a gentleman came and expressed his regret that we had not married and had renounced the world. By all sorts of arguments, he demonstrated that our supreme Guru Shiva was also married. Owing to ignorance, man tries to support his views with numerous intellectual arguments, and the result is philosophizing. But he gets over all these, once he is blessed with true insight.

The Master used to say, 'The world is an evil place, and you should renounce it.' There was no argument behind it, because he knew that no one can get over his unhappiness without renouncing the world. Once it is realized that a thing is bad, the best thing is to discard it, there is no question of arguing about it.

You better leave these debates and arguments alone. We have got a brain of very limited capacity; and for realizing God, all this hair-splitting is of no use. What you require is burning faith in Him. In order to be firmly established in that faith, you may raise one or two valid points, but nothing more. Our arguments are just like armchair discussions; they lead us nowhere. We argue about God and then go home and lie down in bed. That is not religion, and it does not contribute to peace of mind.

Faith is the foundation of spiritual life. Too much of argumentation is of no avail... In order to be firmly established in that faith, you may raise one or two valid points, but nothing more. Unless you have faith, arguments and discussions will only cloud the issue and create confusion. (Swami Vijnanananda)

18 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Teachings of the Direct Disciples

On Astrology

(Swami Saradananda)

An enlightened soul does not use occult powers nor does he take recourse to astrology. For astrological calculations are in many cases unreliable.

A true guru has super-sensuous powers. He visualizes the inner body of the disciple and instructs him in accordance with his past and future impressions. This is what seeing the past and the future means. Telling the past and the future by divination with numbers or by the use of astrology is not infallible in most cases.

By consulting the readings of the horoscope people always lose faith in their own capacity and become weak-minded. Readings of the horoscope are made from the movements of the planets and stars, but from those movements nobody can say how far a man's capacity will be manifested. For that reason, self-effort can change the readings of the horoscope this way or that way.

Atheism

(Swami Ramakrishnananda)

The theists are in the core of their hearts true theists as they are always searching for God, though indirectly. Those whose minds are busily engaged in the search for God directly or indirectly cannot be atheists.

Attachment

(Swami Brahmananda)

Do your duties conscientiously, and without attachment. Always remember that you are an instrument in the hands of God and that God himself is the only doer.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say that a man will surely attain God if he possesses in an intense degree three kinds of love—the love a chaste wife feels toward her husband, the attraction of the worldly man for the world, and the attachment the miser feels toward his hoarded wealth. This means that the mind must be one-pointed and completely free of all desires but the desire to know God.

If you can perform every action as worship of the Lord, then only will you like to work and feel no attachment to the fruits of your actions.

Without divine attachment and divine love the mind becomes dry and restless.

19 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Teachings of the Direct Disciples

Swami Shivananda

[To the question: "Holy sir, we are worldly people. We have so many attachments and are confronted by so many obstacles. What are we to do?"]

Pray to the Lord! Talk to him!

If anyone feels the same intense longing as would result if these three attachments were united [that of a devoted wife for her husband, of a Mother for her child, and for a miser for his wealth], only then does he have God-vision.

What counts is not the mere renunciation of external attachments; inner attachments must also be given up.

Do not be attached, my child. Lust and gold destroy the manhood of man.

You have to do His work without any attachment. Know it for certain that, if one goes on performing one's duties under the sincere belief that one is doing God's work, one can never suffer spiritually. God protects such a one for ever.

As a result of association with the holy one reaches the state of being freed from all worldly attachments. All wants and desires are then destroyed root and branch, and one feels the nearness of God.

This process of evolution and involution is only another form of the twin forces of attraction or attachment and repulsion or dispassion. It is because of attraction or attachment that souls are drawn to this world, coming back and forth and playing their different embodied roles.

On account of holy association one attains the most covetable state of desirelessness. It destroys attachments at their very roots and brings one very close to God.

Look here. Nothing will accrue to you if you do not have right and proper attachment, affection and love for the Master.

Swami Premananda

To love the devotees of the Lord brings no attachment, it creates no bondage.

Attachment is bondage; yet again, attachment opens the door to liberation to one who becomes attached to God or the guru or to illumined souls.

One must have true Nishta—steadfast, whole-hearted devotion and attachment to that aspect of God which one has chosen to realize. But let that not produce repulsion for the other aspects.

Swami Turiyananda

[To the question: "How to know whether one is progressing towards Him or not?"]

One can know it oneself. Others also can know it. All his passions, lust, anger and greed will wane, his attachment for the objects of the senses will diminish, and he will have peace at heart.

If there be a hole of attachment in the mind, the result of Japa will run out through it.

Nag Mahashaya once said to me, 'Bless my father that he may have true devotion to God.'

'He has already got it,' I replied, 'He is constantly repeating the name of God. What more do you want?'

Nag Mahashaya rejoined, 'What is the use of rowing a boat which is at anchor? My father is much attached to me. What good will his Japa do?'

'If he is not to love a son like you, whom else should he love?' said I. 'Don't say so, don't say so' he cried out, 'only bless that he may lose all attachment for me.'

Death is no more terrible when there is no attachment. One must throw out all attachments. All the trouble is due to love being centred on specific objects. When you dive into the Ganges you don't feel any weight, although there are tons of water overhead. But one feels so burdened when one places a pot of water on one's head! Even the spine may give way!

Attachment to the body is the last and strongest bondage. The parental affection of monkeys is very great. The mother carries the dead body of her young one even after the flesh has dropped off and the skeleton alone is left. But even they, as all other animals, forget everything about their young ones when their own life is at stake.

Even the least attachment for anything gives the mind a loop-hole to direct you as it pleases. You become a slave to it, which is not the case if you are unattached. Lust, attachment, and the like are one and the same thing, varying only in intensity. One must turn the mind away before it gets attached to any object. Otherwise it becomes an impossible task afterwards.

Never think of transient things. That way you can escape attachment.

The common man takes to those activities which tend to perpetuate the bond of attachment. And this is true of the whole world. The only exceptions are the monks, who have found out the evanescence of the world and renounced it.

Attachment and aversion are at the root of all evil. Hence the injunction to relinquish them. For, free of them, one can do with impunity whatever one likes.

Attachment is made up of the ideas of 'me' and 'mine'.

They are fearless because they are unattached. When Mother is known, attachment goes. The world then becomes so small, so insignificant—a little mud puddle.

20 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Teachings of the Direct Disciples

Attachment

Swami Trigunatitananda

That mind which is attached to more than one thing can never reach the goal. Learn to see God in everything about you. Smear God over everything, and your mind will think of Him alone.

Swami Adbhutananda

Attachments are troublemakers; they fasten the mind with a noose, as it were, and drag it in all directions.

Be attached to no one but God. Only if you hold onto God will your life be meaningful.

Swami Abhedananda

What one seeks, that one gets. You have got what you wanted. When you really hanker after God, He will raise your mind from things of the world and grant you His vision. But as long as you are attached to the world and are strongly inclined to the things of the world can you yearn for the Lord with all your heart?

Swami Ramakrishnananda

If you have the power to go inside yourself, then you have conquered the whole Universe. To go inside oneself means to go away from earthly attachments that hold you down like a captive balloon.

Swami Saradananda

If there is a strong attachment for God and a burning desire to realize Him, all other attractions will drop off.

First, you have to attain knowledge. After attaining knowledge when one returns to this world of diversity, one will see everything as before but will no longer be attached to anything in it. Before realizing the illusion one hopes for water in a mirage, but when one realizes its nature, though one may be seeing the mirage, one no longer expects any water in it. So also, though the world of diversity would still have to be experienced after knowledge, yet one no longer takes it to be real and so has no longer any attachment for it.

Swami Vijnanananda

When, therefore, our entire existence depends on Him, why should we form an attachment for worldly things? Worldly attachments draw people away from God and scorch them in the wildfire of the world.

21 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Attitude

Swami Brahmananda

Know that you are worshipping the Lord through your work. If you can work with this attitude, work will not bind you; on the contrary, it will improve you in every way, physically, mentally, intellectually, morally, and spiritually.

It is a lazy attitude to think that all one need do is to associate with the holy.

Swami Shivananda

After attending to your regular work, you will have plenty of time for spiritual practice. It is simply a matter of mental attitude. If the mind has a natural leaning towards God, one can make time and opportunity for spiritual practice.

The Lord looks at your mental attitude—your heart's longing. If one has devotion for Him, nothing else is necessary.

So long as you have this idea clear in your mind that you are doing God's work, you cannot have pride or anything like that. If you have the correct attitude, you need have no fear.

One wavers and moves from one attitude to another, only when one's own conviction is not firm.

It is no good frequenting all sorts of places and mixing with all sorts of people without having become firm in one's own attitude. That shatters one's own conviction. One must get firmly established in one's own spiritual attitude, one must get that attitude fully matured.

One has to get deeply absorbed in spiritual exercises; one must strengthen one's spiritual attitude in one's own mind.

There is no such hard and fast rule that all should have some mantra for mental repetition. For all do not have the same kind of spiritual attitude, nor are all equally qualified.

Swami Premananda

'Let the world be selfish, but that should be no excuse for my becoming selfish'—that should be one's attitude.

Every aspirant must take up a definite attitude towards God and stick to it. He must maintain it under all conditions. There are many (Bhavas) attitudes possible. The Master practiced all Bhavas—as a friend, a lady-friend, and a sweetheart of the Lord, and also in the attitude of Balaram, the brother of Sri Krishna. One can also practice the Bhavas of Shiva.

Swami Turiyananda

Yes, one is bound to admit that 'when one feels oneself as body, one must consider oneself as the servant of the Lord; when one thinks of oneself as the Jiva, the individualized soul, one must consider oneself as a part of Him; and when one feels oneself as the Atman, the Self, one is the same as the Lord Himself.'

There is another attitude, according to which God keeps some in bondage and releases others. But who can assume this attitude? Only he who has realized everything as one and who feels His mercy even amidst great sorrow.

There is a third attitude: Whatever is good is His, and whatever is bad is the result of our own karma. If we continue this attitude, we eventually get rid of the ego.

The new psychology of the West has brought a reaction. Your attitude is to scorn failure, and push onward to success. That is laudable. I like your cheerful, hopeful outlook on life. You use failure as a stepping stone to success. Down today, up tomorrow.

What I call good, you perhaps call bad, and the reverse. Where is the standard? The standard is in our own attitude towards life. Each one has his own standard. And with increased experience and insight, the standard changes.

'I must realize God in this very life!'—that should be your attitude.

22 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

From M. The Apostle and the Evangelist

M. (to the devotees): Who are great in the eyes of worldly people? Those who have so much of wealth and money—houses and buildings, people, coaches, name and honour. And who is great in the eyes of Thakur? He who knows nothing else but God—like Narada and Sukadeva.

Thakur renounced money and fame for which the tongue of the worldly begins to water. He would say forcefully, 'I sweep name and fame with the broom.' On hearing the Marwari's proposal to give him ten thousand rupees, he became absolutely unconscious and fell down. Has anyone heard such a thing like absolute unconsciousness anywhere! He had such a deep-seated aversion!

People become unconscious for want of money, and he became unconscious on the matter of receiving money. What an amazing character!

"When he regained consciousness, he said, 'Mother, do You want to enchant me during my last days with money? Mother, do that which shall fix my mind on Your holy feet.'"

He said, 'I received as if a blow of axe on my head. This made me fall unconscious.'

Here is an episode:

Lord, please be gracious enough and grant your darshan to the king (King Pratap Rudra) for once—the king's minister and a great devotee Rai Ramananda, and Vasudeva Saurvbhaum made this request to Chaitanya Deva.

Hearing this, Chaitanya Deva said with a surprise, 'What do you people say? The king is the greatest of worldly man. Meeting him and enjoying sensory enjoyments are one and the same. Have I come to do all this forsaking everything behind?'

The devotees requested him another day also. At this, he replied, 'If that be so, I leave for Alalnath.' Saying so, he immediately left. Then they all went, humbly prayed to him and brought him back. Such is the affair. Is it a small matter?

What is M. thinking about? He again showers the nectarine words.

M. (to the devotees): How much Thakur loved Keshab Sen! What a great man he was! Thakur said (about Keshab), 'He is a divine man.' Even to such a person he said on his face, 'I cannot accept your words. You live with money, fame and honour.'

Keshab Babu had said to Thakur, 'You have attained sixteen annas (full complement) jnana.'

M. (to a new devotee): Is there a way for us other than holy company?

I am reminded of something. A Nanakpanthi sadhu said it. He used to frequent Thakur at that time. It is forty-two years back. I remembered one out of the two things and forgot the other. That too came to my mind just few days back.

It is this: Somebody was performing an yajna of birds at Mansarovar. He hoped that this would bring all kinds of birds to him. So, the hamsa (swan) would also come. The hamsa would definitely be accompanied by the Paramahamsa. Paramahamsa, in other words Narayana.

It means this: By keeping company of sadhus, one can have darshan (Vision) of God.

The guru does not reveal all the things to the disciple immediately. Reason? The disciple shall get frightened. So, he leads him slowly.

M.: That is why, Thakur would say: One cannot ask the people of Calcutta to renounce everything. If I tell that, they will stop coming at all. So I say, 'You people do this and that too. Hold on to God with one hand and with the other live in the world.'

I tell them, 'You people renounce mentally.' Then by coming here frequently, when one oneself understands, realizes that all these—wife, son and relations—are nothing, one shall renounce of one's own accord.

23 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

For Seekers of God

Place: Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Bombay

Time: January 28, 1927

At night after supper Swami Shivananda was seated in his room in the Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama at Bombay. Most of the monks and novices of the ashrama were present. One monk said: 'Maharaj, we have heard that the Master used to say, "This is the last birth of those who would come here." Did you yourself ever hear him say it?'

Mahapurushji remained silent for a while and then replied: 'Why, it has been mentioned in the books that have been written about him.'

Monk: 'What is the meaning of this saying of the Master? Does it refer only to those who had seen the Master and had attained devotion and faith through his grace? Or does it mean that this is the last birth of whoever has reverence for him?'

Swami: 'His words meant both. Whoever has deep regard for him, is sincerely devoted to him, and has surrendered himself fully to him, whether he has seen him in the flesh or not, will attain liberation and not be reborn. But self-surrender there must be.'

Monk: 'Maharaj, will those also be free who have taken refuge in him and have joined his Order?'

Swami: Yes, of course, but true liberation calls for complete self-dedication. Even to belong to his fold—is it a mean fortune?'

Monk: 'Why, we don't seem to be making much headway or progress?'

Swami: 'My child, what you have done so far and are doing now, is not negligible. Without his grace even that would have been impossible. How gracious is the Master to you! Not for nothing has he snatched you away from your parents and made you renounce hearth and home. It is because he has been unusually gracious that he has brought you to his fold and given you the opportunity to attain the summum bonum of life.'

Monk: 'But, Maharaj, we do not feel that the works we are engaged in have been very conducive to the development of the spirit of renunciation and dispassion.'

Swami: 'Whatever you are doing here is certainly his work, and you are doing it all for his pleasure. You are not actuated by any selfish worldly desire. These activities of yours will undoubtedly foster a spirit of renunciation and dispassion. Don't think that a life of mendicancy in Rishikesh alone will give you dispassion. For shame! You are certainly on the right track. At present you may not have this consciousness, but in the fullness of time it will grow and you will be established in it. You will realize that everything is his and that you have nothing to regard as your own.'

24 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Teachings of the Disciples

Swami Adbhutananda

In doing good to others, we try to forget the apparent distinctions between ourselves and other men. The welfare of others is my welfare—that should be our attitude.

Ah, the folly! Can one force the non-dualist's attitude on one's mind? It is a slow growth.

The garden and its produce belong to the master. The gardener does not own anything. Everything is the master's. But he offers the master's things to him with great devotion and humility. Everything of the world belongs to the Lord, we are His gardeners. 'Thou art my Lord, and I am Thy servant'—actuated by this attitude, and with faith and devotion, we offer the Lord's things to Him. This is Dasya-Bhakti.

'I am and my chosen Deity is—there is nought else besides'—when this attitude comes, the mind becomes purified. This is meditation.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Do not sit like that [with chin resting on palm of hand], it is a pensive attitude. You should always cultivate a cheerful attitude.

If you can place yourself at the feet of a true Teacher, your egotism will gradually wear away by that very attitude of a servant.

The Divine Mother does not like us to call ourselves Her servants. We are her children to Her, not servants. Always think of yourself as Her child.

[Describing the true attitude of a Jnani:] The story is told that Maya, the personified creative force, came one day to a Jnani or sage and said, 'Am I not very great? See, I have created so many worlds, suns and moons and stars. I am the ruler of such a vast universe.'

'You are the Queen of Zero,' said the sage.

Angry at the lack of regard for her greatness she touched him and he became a camel. He was put in the desert, made to carry heavy burdens over the hot sands and subjected to such cruel treatment that Maya herself at last had pity upon him and released him.

Then she asked him if he would not now fall down and worship her. He only laughed saying, 'I have neither camel's body nor mind. You are not hurting me. You are only slapping your own cheek.'

Maya exclaimed angrily, 'You are still incorrigible!' Again she touched him and this time made him an ass. As an ass he was beaten, forced to carry evil-smelling burdens, and to live a miserable existence. Then once more Maya came to him and asked him to bow down to her.

'Why should I? I am not suffering. The ass's body belongs to you, not to me,' he replied.

At last Maya seeing she could not disturb the serenity of his mind fell prostrate before him saying, 'It is you who are greater.'

Swami Saradananda

Whatever is happening is happening at His command and, if He wills, the situation will change. With this attitude resign yourself to the Lord and be happy and free from cares.

The work that you do is to be performed with a right attitude. You must feel that the duties that you are discharging have been entrusted to you by the Lord. You are doing them only to satisfy Him and not to satisfy your selfish will. No work is menial. Even scrubbing the floor may be turned into worship if there is the remembrance of the Lord within.

Swami Akhandananda

At night you have to take a little less food and try to maintain always an attitude of prayer—a current of higher thoughts. And another idea must occupy your mind—that in this very life I must see God, I must finish my task of calling upon Him.

25 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

M. The Apostle and the Evangelist

M. is seated on a chair facing north. All meditate for some time. Thereafter, M. converses on spiritual matters.

M.: What is in one's nature must come about. Sri Krishna said the same thing to Arjuna. Said he—'I shall not fight!'

Vain is this, your saying! Your very nature has war within! Your nature shall compel you to fight—'prakriti stvam niyokshyati' (Gita 18:59).

There is no way out except following one's nature. So, one must connect God with oneself and do it. This is the way. If He is with you, you always remember that one's nature makes one act.

That being so, one keeps oneself separate thinking thus—I am His child, His servant. Then work can't bind him.

M. (to Jagabandhu): Where is the complete program of yesterday's theatre?

Jagabandhu reads all the scenes.

M.: We have also been able to see everything. These people have witnessed it; we must get its benefit. One gains even by hearing. Those who have power of imagination, they attain up to fourteen annas by hearing. Two annas remain the rest.

So, Thakur would say, 'Hearing is better than reading and seeing is better than hearing. Higher than reading is hearing and higher than hearing is seeing.' These people have witnessed it and we have heard it. This has enabled us to see, hear and read. Hearing is next best. We too have been able to do this.

M. (to Antevasi): Let us do some reading of the Kathamrita.

M. asks to read out the first, second and third chapters of the tenth section of the Kathamrita, part III.

Thakur describes his state during the course of conversation and says, "One attains ultimate jnana when one does not remember the amavasya (darkest lunar night) and the purnima (full moon night)."

M.: Thakur says—One does gain ultimate jnana. But Haladhari said, 'Man becomes capricious.' Haladhari's point of view is that of a worldly man having attachment for sensory objects. Those who have their aim as God-realization, who want to gain the state of Shiva (divinity) from that of Jiva, should take Thakur's opinion alone.

When the mind enters samadhi, just as a salt-doll gets dissolved into the sea, one's awareness of the sea vanishes. It is this that the Vedas call the highest aim of man's life. Thakur also said the same from his life's experience.

When the mind that entered samadhi comes down, it sees as if God Himself has become all—the world, its creatures and the twenty four principles. When it descends a little lower, it is in the state he told—amavasya and purnima become the same. In other words, the mind is held back.

The outside affairs proceed of their own accord. Hanuman also had the same state—he could not remember the day, the date, the lunar date, the position of stars; he would only think upon Rama.

"But Thakur's mind was kept in that very state by the Mother. All his states are there to serve as an example. The whole world is covered with a thick fog of materialism. Thakur had such a state of mind to show to the world the ideal of the eternal truth. At this point of time Thakur had such a state—that God-realization is the highest ideal of man. The divine character of Thakur is like a life boat for the devotees in this sea of the world.

People don't put faith in all these states. To understand it, faith in the words of the Guru is essential. Guru means God, avatara—like Thakur.

26 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Teachings of the Direct Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna

Attraction

Swami Brahmananda

Sri Ramakrishna used to say that a man will surely attain God if he possesses in an intense degree three kinds of love—the love a chaste wife feels toward her husband, the attraction of the worldly man for the world, and the attachment the miser feels toward his hoarded wealth.

Austerity

It is easy to practice austerity by not allowing the mind to come into contact with sense-objects, but it is hard to get rid of the mental craving itself.

In this age there is no way other than that of taking shelter at His feet. In the Iron Age, man's span of life is short. And within this short span of life one has to attain Him. There is no time for severe austerities as in olden days.

What is austerity? It is to direct the mind toward God in order to taste divine bliss. In this age it is not necessary to practice physical austerities, such as standing on your head. The path in this age is to create the desire to chant the Lord's name, to be compassionate toward all beings, and to serve holy men.

A little physical austerity also is good some times. For instance, on the day of the new moon, or on the eleventh day after the new or the full moon, eat only one meal.

You must practice severe austerities, but by this I do not mean physical austerities, or the torture of the body. Real austerity consists in the control of the passions. Passion must never be allowed to raise its head. But remember, religion is not for the eunuch, nor for the one who maims his body.

[Body austerities] are not real austerities. Anyone can practice them. The body is easily controlled, but it is another matter to control the mind. It is very difficult to renounce lust and greed, to give up the desire for name and fame.

Real austerity is based upon these three principles: First, take refuge in the truth. Truth is the pillar to which you must always hold while performing any action. Second, conquer lust. Third, renounce all cravings. Observe these three principles. That is real austerity, and the greatest of these is to conquer lust.

Do you think that there is any fixed catalogued price of so much austerity, so much japam, so much charity, etc., for God-realization? None can force realization of Him! But, if you don't keep up a regular spiritual struggle, you will not be able to hold It, when It comes.

27 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Today is Swami Vivekananda's Janma Utsava

The Conversations and Dialogues

Renunciation of Kama-Kanchana—God's Mercy Falls on Those Who Struggle for Realisation—Unconditional Mercy and Brahman Are One

Disciple: Shri Ramakrishna used to say, Swamiji, that a man cannot progress far towards religious realisation unless he first relinquishes lust and greed. If so, what will become of the householders? For their whole minds are set on these two things.

Swamiji: It is true that the mind can never turn to God until the desire for lust and wealth has gone from it, be the man a householder or a Sannyasin. Know this for a fact, that as long as the mind is caught in these, so long true devotion, firmness, and Shraddha (faith) can never come.

Disciple: Where will the householders be, then? What way are they to follow?

Swamiji: To satisfy our smaller desires and have done with them for ever, and to relinquish the greater ones by discrimination—that is the way. Without renunciation God can never be realised—even if Brahma himself enjoined otherwise!

Disciple: But does renunciation of everything come as soon as one becomes a monk?

Swamiji: Sannyasins are at least struggling to make themselves ready for renunciation, whereas householders are in this matter like boatmen who work at their oars while the boat lies at anchor. Is the desire for enjoyment ever appeased?—"It increases ever and ever." (Bhagavata, IX. xix. 14).

Disciple: Why? May not world-weariness come, after enjoying the objects of the senses over and over for a long time?

Swamiji: To how many does that come? The mind becomes tarnished by constant contact with the objects of the senses and receives a permanent moulding and impress from them. Renunciation, and renunciation alone, is the real secret, the Mulamantra, of all Realisation.

Disciple: But there are such injunctions of the seers in the scriptures as these:

"To restrain the five senses while living with one's wife and children is Tapas."

"For him whose desires are under control, living in the midst of his family is the same as retiring into a forest for Tapasya."

Swamiji: Blessed indeed are those who can renounce Kama-Kanchana, living in their homes with their family! But how many can do that?

Disciple: But then, what about the Sannyasins? Are they all able to relinquish lust and love for riches fully?

Swamiji: As I said just now, Sannyasins are on the path of renunciation, they have taken the field, at least, to fight for the goal; but householders, on the other hand, having no knowledge as yet of the danger that comes through lust and greed, do not even attempt to realise the Self; that they must struggle to get rid of these is an idea that has not yet entered their minds.

Disciple: But many of them are struggling for it.

Swamiji: Oh, yes, and those who are doing so will surely renounce by degrees; their inordinate attachment for Kama-Kanchana will diminish gradually. But for those who procrastinate, saying, "Oh, not so soon! I shall do it when the time comes," Self-realisation is very far off. "Let me realise the Truth this moment! In this very life!"—these are the words of a hero. Such heroes are ever ready to renounce the very next moment, and to such the scripture (Jabala Upanishad, 3.) says, "The moment you feel disgust for the vanities of the world, leave it all and take to the life of a monk."

Disciple: But was not Shri Ramakrishna wont to say, "All these attachments vanish through the grace of God when one prays to Him?"

Swamiji: Yes, it is so, no doubt, through His mercy. But one needs to be pure first before one can receive this mercy—pure in thought, word, and deed; then it is that His grace descends on one.

28 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

The Conversations and Dialogues

Disciple: But many of them are struggling (to overcome lust and gold) for it.

Swamiji: Oh, yes, and those who are doing so will surely renounce by degrees; their inordinate attachment for Kama-Kanchana will diminish gradually. But for those who procrastinate, saying, "Oh, not so soon! I shall do it when the time comes," Self-realisation is very far off. "Let me realise the Truth this moment! In this very life"—these are the words of a hero. Such heroes are ever ready to renounce the very next moment, and to such the scripture says—"The moment you feel disgust for the vanities of the world, leave it all and take to the life of a monk."

Disciple: But was not Sri Ramakrishna wont to say, "All these attachments vanish through the grace of God when one prays to Him?"

Swamiji: Yes, it is so, no doubt, through His mercy, but one needs to be pure first before one can receive this mercy—pure in thought, word and deed; then it is that His grace descends on one.

Disciple: But of what necessity is grace to him who can control himself in thought, word and deed? For then he would be able to develop himself in the path of spirituality by means of his own exertions!

Swamiji: The Lord is very merciful to him whom He sees struggling heart and soul for Realisation. But remain idle, without any struggle, and you will see that His grace will never come.

Disciple: Everyone longs to be good, and yet the mind, for some inscrutable reasons, turns to evil! Does not everyone wish to be good—to be perfect—to realise God?

Swamiji: Know them to be already struggling who desire this. God bestows His mercy when this struggle is maintained.

Disciple: In the history of the Incarnations, we find many persons who, we should say, had led very dissipated lives and yet were able to realise God without much trouble and without performing any Sadhana or devotion. How is this accounted for?

Swamiji: Yes, but a great restlessness must already have come upon them; long enjoyment of the objects of the senses must already have created in these deep disgust. Want of peace must have been consuming their very hearts. So deeply they had already felt this void in their hearts that life even for a moment had seemed unbearable to them unless they could gain that peace which follows in the train of the Lord's mercy. So God was kind to them. This development took place in them direct from Tamas to Sattva.

29 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Talks with Swami Vivekananda

Disciple: It appears to me that those who seek to realise God by restraining their senses and renouncing lust and wealth hold to the (free-will) theory of self-exertion and self-help; and that those who take the name of the Lord and depend on Him are made free by the Lord Himself of all worldly attachments, and led by Him to the supreme stage of Realisation.

Swamiji: True, those are the two different standpoints, the former held by the Jnanis, and the latter by the Bhaktas. But the ideal of renunciation is the keynote of both.

Disciple: No doubt about that! But Sri Girish Chandra Ghosh once said to me that there could be no condition in God's mercy; there could be no law for it! If there were, then it could no longer be termed mercy. The realm of grace or mercy must transcend all law.

Swamiji: But there must be some higher law at work in the sphere alluded to by G. C. of which we are ignorant. Those are words, indeed, for the last stage of development, which alone is beyond time, space and causation. But, when we get there, who will be merciful, and to whom, where there is no law of causation? There the worshipper and the worshipped, the meditator and the object of meditation, the knower and the known, all become one—call that Grace, or Brahman, if you will. It is all one uniform homogenous entity!

Disciple: Hearing these words from you, Swamiji, I have come to understand the essence of all philosophy and religion (Vedas and Vedanta); it seems as if I had hitherto been living in the midst of high-sounding words without any meaning.

30 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

[Place: Baghbazar, Calcutta. Year: 1897]

Meanwhile Swamiji returned and asked the disciple, "Do the people in your part of the country know much of Sri Ramakrishna?"

Disciple: Only one man, Nag Mahashaya, came to Sri Ramakrishna from our part of Bengal; it is from him that many came to hear of him and had their curiosity excited to know more. But that Sri Ramakrishna was the Incarnation of God, the people there have not yet come to know, and some would not believe it even if told so.

Swamiji: Do you think it is an easy matter to believe so? We who had actual dealings with him in every respect, we who heard of that fact again and again from his own lips, we who lived and stayed with him for twenty-four hours of the day—even we have doubts about it coming on us off and on! So what to speak of others!

Disciple: Did Sri Ramakrishna out of his own lips ever say that he was God, the all-perfect Brahman?

Swamiji: Yes, he did so many times. And he said this to all of us. One day while he was staying at the Cossipore garden, his body in imminent danger of falling off for ever, by the side of his bed I was saying in my mind, "Well, now if you can declare that you are God, then only will I believe you are really God Himself."

It was only two days before he passed away. Immediately, he looked up towards me all on a sudden and said, "He who was Rama, He who was Krishna, verily is He now Ramakrishna in this body. And that not merely from the standpoint of your Vedanta!"

At this I was struck dumb. Even we haven't had yet the perfect faith, after hearing it again and again from the holy lips of our Lord himself—our minds still get disturbed now and then with doubt and despair—and so, what shall we speak of others being slow to believe? It is indeed a very difficult matter to be able to declare and believe a man with a body like ours to be God Himself. We may just go to the length of declaring him to be a "perfected one," or a "knower of Brahman." Well, it matters nothing, whatever you may call him or think of him, a saint or a knower of Brahman, or anything. But take it from me, never did come to this earth such an all-perfect man as Sri Ramakrishna!

In the utter darkness of the world this great man is like the shining pillar of illumination in this age! And by his light alone will man now cross the ocean of Samsara!

31 January 2019

Jai Ramakrishna

Talks with Swami Vivekananda

Disciple: To me it seems, sir, that true faith comes only after actually seeing or hearing something. Mathur Babu, I have heard, actually saw so many things about Sri Ramakrishna, and thus had that wonderful faith in him.

Swamiji: He who believes not, believes not even after seeing, and thinks that it is all hallucination, or dream and so on. The great transfiguration of Krishna, the Vishwarupa (form universal), was seen alike by Duryodhana and by Arjuna. But only Arjuna believed, while Duryodhana took it to be magic!

Unless He makes us understand, nothing can be stated or understood. Somebody comes to the fullest faith even without seeing or hearing, while somebody else remains plunged in doubt even after witnessing various extraordinary powers for twelve years, with his own eyes!

The secret of it all is His grace! But then one must persevere, so that the grace may be received.

Disciple: Is there, sir, any law of grace?

Swamiji: Yes and no.

Disciple: How is that?

Swamiji: Those who are pure always in body, mind and speech, who have strong devotion, who discriminate between the real and the unreal, who persevere in meditation and contemplation—upon them alone the grace of the Lord descends.

The Lord, however, is beyond all natural laws, is not under any rules and regulations, or just as Sri Ramakrishna used to say, He has the child's nature—and that's why we find some failing to get any response even after calling on Him for millions of births, while someone else whom we regard as a sinful or penitent man, or a disbeliever, would have Illumination in a flash! On the latter the Lord, perhaps, lavishes His grace quite unsolicited! You may argue that this man had good merits stored up from previous life, but the mystery is really difficult to understand.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say sometimes, "Do rely on Him; be like the dry leaf at the mercy of the wind" and again he would say, "The wind of His grace is always blowing; what you need to do is to unfurl your sail."

Disciple: But, sir, this is a most tremendous statement. No reasoning, I see, can stand here.

Swamiji: Ah, the limit of all reasoning and arguing is in the realm of Maya; it lies within the categories of space, time and causation. But He is beyond these categories. We speak of His law, still He is beyond all law. He creates, or becomes, all that we speak of as laws of nature and yet He is outside of them all. He, on whom His grace descends, in a moment goes beyond all law. For this reason there is no condition in grace. It is as His play or sport.

All this creation of the universe is like His play—"It is the pure delight of sport, as in the case of men." Is it not possible for Him who creates, and destroys the universe as if in play to grant salvation by grace to the greatest sinner? But then it is just His pleasure, His play, to get somebody through the practice of spiritual discipline and somebody else without it.

Daily Messages - 2019: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:38, 26 January 2026

Messages from Swami Dayatmananda

01/01/2019

Musings on the Kalpataru Day Swami Budhananda

"Kalpataru"— as Rama Chandra Dutta saw and understood it

05/01/2019

(From M. the Apostle and The Evangelist)

06/01/2019

(From M. The Apostle and the Evangelist)

07/01/2019

(From the Imitation of Christ)

Have a Humble Opinion of yourself

08/01/2019

(From For Seekers of God)

09/01/2019

Absorption Swami Brahmananda

10/01/2019

(Swami Shivananda)

11 January 2019

From M. The Apostle and the Evangelist

12 January 2019

Teachings of Swami Premananda

13 January 2019

On Adversity

14 January 2019

Swami Ramakrishnananda

15 January 2019

Where Many Live Together Friction May Occur—Patience and Forgiveness Necessary

16 January 2019

Anguish / Anxiety / Anxious

17 January 2019

Argumentation

18 January 2019

Teachings of the Direct Disciples

On Astrology

Atheism

Attachment

19 January 2019

Teachings of the Direct Disciples

Swami Shivananda

Swami Premananda

Swami Turiyananda

20 January 2019

Teachings of the Direct Disciples

Attachment

Swami Trigunatitananda

Swami Adbhutananda

Swami Abhedananda

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Swami Saradananda

Swami Vijnanananda

21 January 2019

Attitude

Swami Brahmananda

Swami Shivananda

Swami Premananda

Swami Turiyananda

22 January 2019

From M. The Apostle and the Evangelist

23 January 2019

For Seekers of God

24 January 2019

Teachings of the Disciples

Swami Adbhutananda

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Swami Saradananda

Swami Akhandananda

25 January 2019

M. The Apostle and the Evangelist

26 January 2019

Teachings of the Direct Disciples of Sri Ramakrishna

Attraction

Swami Brahmananda

Austerity

27 January 2019

The Conversations and Dialogues

Renunciation of Kama-Kanchana—God's Mercy Falls on Those Who Struggle for Realisation—Unconditional Mercy and Brahman Are One

28 January 2019

The Conversations and Dialogues