Latest revision as of 01:55, 31 August 2026

Messages from Swami Dayatmananda

1 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

HEARTY KALPATARU GREETINGS

Dear Devotees,

ON THIS AUSPICIOUS OCCASION PLEASE ACCEPT MY HEARTY PRAYERS AND GREETINGS.

MAY SRI RAMAKRISHNA AND HOLY MOTHER GRANT US BHAKTI, JNANA, SHRADDHA, STRENGTH AND STEADFASTNESS.

Today we are going to have a beautiful day of Kalpataru Puja today with Puja, Homa and Bhajans.

With prayers and best wishes and namaskarams.

Yours affectionately,

(Swami Dayatmananda )

Kalpataru : Sri Ramakrishna reveals himself

(Editorial Prabuddha Bharata December 1987)

Sri Ramakrishna finally revealed Himself. It was a time when his intense physical suffering due to cancer, threatened the faith of some of the devotees in the divinity of their teacher. Yet he always remained the same child of Divine Mother and lived in a state of bliss. Despite the dreaded disease, his serenity, God-consciousness, and above all, his passion to lead mankind to God,never ceased even for a moment.

A devotee who came to see the ailing man, saw him shedding tears, and lamenting, ‘Ah me! Nityananda went from door to door, walking on foot and gave divine love. Alas! I cannot move out except in a carriage’.

Another day he said, ‘Well, I shall go on doing good to others even when I am on barley water.’

To the devotees who were feeling pain at his own terrible suffering, he spoke in consoling words:

My Divine Mother has brought this illness upon this body to convince the sceptics of the present age that Atman is divine, that God-consciousness is as true and practical as it was in the Vedic period, that when one reaches perfection, freedom from bondage is attained. All my religious practices, yoga practices, devotional exercises have been for the good of others and not for my own good. My Mother has set through this form a living example in this age.

Yet despair crept into the hearts of many. The devotees brought their teacher a little towards Calcutta in a spacious garden of Cossipore, for better treatment and quicker recovery. Best doctors were brought. An unspoken gloom lurked in their minds.

Only a few like Naren and Girish dared to see the presence of the incarnation of God of this age in the decaying body of Sri Ramakrishna. Their burning faith and devotion kept the drooping spirit of others high. Amid this gloom, Ramakrishna brought the blessed moment of theophany—the revelation of the power of the incarnation of God. Transcending far above the physical sufferings of the apparent man, he stood before his devotees, like a Divine Being capable of giving them everything, and even lifting them up to sunlit heights of unexpected illuminations.

It was on 1st January 1886. Only two weeks ago Sri Ramakrishna had been brought to the Cossipore garden. So long bed-ridden, the Master felt, for the first time, a desire to take a walk below in the garden. It was 3 p.m. Dressed in a red- bordered cloth, a shirt, a wrapper also with a red border, a cap covering the ears, and a pair of slippers, Ramakrishna came down from upstairs along with Latu. Naren and others were sleeping as they kept vigil previous night. The lay devotees who could not come very often to the Master, due to their domestic pre-occupations, were present in a large number, as it was a holiday on account of New Year’s Day.

As the Master came down unexpectedly into the garden, the lay devotees came forward in joy to greet and accompany him. Latu returned to clean and rearrange the bedding of the Master. There was a freshness and joy in the minds of all, at this recovery of the Master.

It was Girish, the symbol of faith, who precipitated the historic moment. Girish was talking with other devotees like Ram, under a mango tree. For the last few months, despite Sri Ramakrishna’s illness, Girish was openly declaring to others that the Master was the latest incarnation of God on earth.

Sri Ramakrishna came along the way to where Girish and others sat, and asked Girish, ‘Girish, what have you seen (in me) which makes you say so many things publicly in glorification of me before one and all?’

With all his devotion and faith, Girish at once stood up, came near the Master, and fell at his feet. Then with folded hands and a voice choked with emotion, he said, ‘What more can I say about Him, even a fraction of whose Vyasa and Valmiki miserably failed to express in their immortal epics and puranas !’2 *

With these words of fervent faith, a visible change came in Sri Ramakrishna, In front of the devotees he now stood radiant and, through Girish, addressed the gathering of these lay devotees, ‘What more shall I say to you? Be illumined.’ Hardly had he spoken these words, when he went into samadhi.

The words uttered out of a deep compassion immediately brought a divine awakening in all present. At once all of them fell at the Master’s feet, took the holy dust of his feet, and rent the skies shouting, ‘Victory to Ramakrishna’.

Out of a mood of divine grace Sri Ramakrishna now began to bless the devotees, one after the other, with his divine touch. This brought an instant transfiguration in them. Some of them looked at him spell-bound, some of them saw a light or effulgence, some felt the onrush of a spiritual power in them, some of them unable to bear the overflowing joy began to move restlessly, and call loudly to all within the house to come and get the divine touch. Still some others collected flowers and worshipped the Master with them, uttering various mantras. Sarat and Latu heard the calls and saw the whole scene from above. But they continued their task of love, thus renouncing their

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share of joy. The moment of theophany overwhelmed them, too. Sarat wrote later of those blessed moments.

They forgot time and space, forgot the disease of the Master, forgot their previous determination not to touch him till he recovered, and were aware only that an extraordinary Divine Being, out of sympathy for them in their plight, feeling excruciating pain at their misery and overflowing with compassion for them, had come down from heaven and called them affectionately to Him for giving protection, like a mother sheltering her children against all ills by covering them lovingly with the upper part of her sari.3

The much-awaited moment of theophany arrived. God once again revealed Himself through the human body of Sri Ramakrishna. The divine feast was suddenly thrown open to the hungry seekers of divinity, and now they came running. Vaikunthanath Sanyal, who was so long pressing Sri Ramakrishna for the divine grace, was blessed with this divine touch. ‘ But as a result of it’, he wrote, ‘a great revolution took place in my mind. I saw the figure of the master light up with a gracious smile in sky, in the houses, trees, plants, men and in whatever else I looked at.’ Beside himself with an unspeakable joy he cried to Sarat and Latu, on the roof, ‘O you all! Wherever you be, come without delay!’

The vision of his beloved Master in everything continued for some days even throughout his waking state, until Sanyal found it unbearable and maddening. Frightened, he returned after some days to the Master with the prayer, ‘O Lord I am not able to contain this mental state; please ordain that it may come to an end.’ The uninterrupted continuity of visions came to an end, although he ‘felt blessed and amazed at the sudden appearance of this vision a few times daily.’ Later Sanyal used to regret, ‘Woe be to human weakness and stupidity! Why did I pray so? Why did I not keep my faith firm in him?’

Ramachandra Dutta, blessed with the divine touch on that day wrote:-

We saw that our Master had turned into the Kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling tree. We became intoxicated with joy.... Whomever we found in front of us, we brought to the Master, and he blessed them.... We realized that such a rare moment may not come in our life. Frantically we ran hither and thither in search of anyone and everyone to be blessed ; until there was none left out. With the loud chantings in the name of Ramakrishna, the sky began to resonate. The devotees. began to make a shower of flowers. A sea of divine bliss welled up.

Ramachandra went out running and told Navagopal Ghosh, ‘Well, what are you doing, Sir? The Master has turned 'into Kalpataru today. Go there, hurry up please! If you have desire for something, ask for it right now.’—Excited.. Ghosh—ran—towards the Master, fell at his feet and said, ‘What will happen to me, Sir?’ The Master asked him if he could do a little spiritual practice or even a little of japam on the beads a number of times daily. Ghosh surrendered and said that he could do neither because of the heavy load of his worldly duties.

The Master then asked, ‘Well, can you take my name a little?’ ‘That I can do no doubt’, he replied. Pleased, the Master blessed him with the words, ‘That will be enough—you will not have to do anything further.’

Ramlal, Sri Ramakrishna’s nephew, was struggling to have the full vision of his chosen deity in meditation but so long he could not succeed. He, too, now came running. The Master removed the wrapper from his body and slowly passed his hands on his chest saying, ‘Now, have a good look’. At once an illumination overwhelmed him. He said, ‘Ah! What a beauty ! What a splendour of light! How can I tell them?’ Later on he confided, ‘But no sooner had the Master touched me that day, than the form of my chosen ideal appeared suddenly from head to foot in the lotus of my heart and moved and looked benign and effulgent.’

Girish virtually dragged the cook Ganguly from the kitchen and placed him at the feet of the Master, who bestowed his grace on him. Harmohan Mitra, another devotee, was similarly brought before him, and the Master touched him saying, 'Today let

but never forgot the Master, the giver of his prosperity.

Sri Ramakrishna’s prediction that ‘I will cast my whole secret to the winds’, came finally true. Some of the devotees while returning home after this theophany wondered, ‘How is it possible that the Master’s frail frame, his ailing body, could contain the Self of a God-man with such wonderous powers?’ But there were others who realized that this is how God descends through human form, out of sheer compassion for men suffering in worldly bondages, and then gives them just out of love, the blessings of divine grace and freedom from fear.

M. wrote later, ‘The Master stood like One of the most blessed was Haranchandra Das. For as soon as he bowed down at the Master’s feet, the Master placed his lotus feet on Haran’s head. It is only on a few occasions that the Master used to bestow his grace in this way. Haran used to celebrate an annual festival in memory of the grace the Master bestowed on him on this occasion.

As Sri Ramakrishna was now returning to his room, Akshoy Kumar Sen came running. The Master placed his right hand on his chest saying, ‘Be awakened and muttered a holy mantra into Akshoy’s ear. A powerful, divine force welled up within him. He felt blessed but could hardly stand the great upsurge of the spiritual emotion, which violently began to convulse his body and turned him virtually into a heap of twisted limbs. He experienced a profound bliss, and shed profuse tears of joy.

Atul Krishna Ghosh, and Kishori Roy came. The Master blessed them. Bhai Bhupati came and prayed for samadhi. The Master was all grace that day, and said, ‘You will have samadhi’. Upendranath

Mukhopadhyaya came and prayed for material prosperity. The Master said, ‘You will have wealth’. He did have wealth,

one of those fruit-sellers who bring their fruits to the market-place, bargain at first about the prices, but then toward the sunset, when the market is about to close, give away the fruits indiscriminately.7

Sometime after this incident, the Master one day asked Ram, ‘Tell me why, although you speak all these of me (as an incarnation of God etc.) there is this cancer in the throat? Why is there this emaciated body? Ah! how much of beauty, knowledge and miraculous power Sri Gauranga had! And I have none. And why had I to leave Dakshineswar?’ Deeply moved at these words of the Master, Ram answered,

Yes, Lord, from my childhood I have heard about , the physical beauty and the divine powers of Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Gauranga and Christ.... I also heard you were just a saint... But today I realize that you have occupied the seat in my heart which was meant for the Almighty. How much have I tried to remove you from that blessed seat and install God there!.... But.... All the worldly intelligence, knowledge and decisions of men, have failed to dislodge you from that blessed spot. Therefore what else can I do? I am compelled to call you as God.

On another occasion Ram spoke to the Master with the same devotion :

Lord, do we not see openly how men without devotion, prayers, austerities, even the downright scoundrels, are changing into divine beings? Shall we mistake you even after seeing these incidents?.... From the day you have come out of Dakshineswar common people have been blessed. In the form of a diseased man, thou hast blessed thousands by allowing them to have your darshans.

Sri Ramakrishna asked none of the fortunate souls to worship this God, read that book, or visit this place of pilgrimage or that. He brought to them at once what one achieves through births of austerities—the final awakening of the divine consciousness. The blessed day of the 1st January has since then been immortalized in the minds of these devotees, It was, as his monastic disciple Saradananda said, ‘the day of self- revelation of the Master, or the bestowal of freedom from fear on all devotees by revealing himself.’9 The incarnation power in Sri Ramakrishna could not be hidden any more. The pot of nectar was broken in the market-place of life. The King of the Divine world who, according to the Master’s own simile, was so long moving incognito in the guise of a beggar, was finally discovered at the very middle of the road. And the poor beggars of grace came rushing to fill their bowls. Now the King was all compassion. He gave out of God’s plenty, overbrimming their little vessels, and inundating them with the divine flood. ‘He was the power, he was the slope, he was the current, and other streams and

currents ran towards this river. He was the Ganga itself’, wrote Rolland.

Like the all-purifying Ganga, Sri Ramakrishna on this day of theophany, made no distinction between the fit and the unfit, between the saint and the sinner. Even the lost sheep of the fold, the so-called ‘worthless’ got the Master’s encouragement and love which was destined to ‘change the very course of their lives thereby.’

As Vivekananda said, Sri Ramakrishna ‘used to handle human minds, like the lumps of clay, breaking, moulding and remoulding them at ease and filling them with new ideas by mere touch.’ For these blessed souls, the centre of life was shifted for ever from the mire of the world, to the divinity within. When man’s divine awareness or hush is awakened then only he can be called maan-hush or man, Sri Ramakrishna used to say.

Some of the devotees like Ramachandra preferred to call this day as the Kalpataru day—the day on which their Master Sri Ramakrishna turned into a Kalpataru—the mythical wish-fulfilling tree granting all boons to the devotees. Once Sri Ramakrishna said to Pundit Sasadhar, ‘Pray to God. He is full of compassion. Will He not listen to the words of the devotee? He is the Kalpataru. You will get whatever you desire from Him.’

The doubting Pundit asked again, ‘Does God listen to our prayers?’ The Master replied, ‘God is the Kalpataru, the wish-fulfilling tree. You will certainly get whatever you ask of Him. But you must pray standing near Him. Only then will your prayer be fulfilled.’

Ramakrishna often used to sing in the lines of Ramprasad, ‘Oh mind, let us go for a walk to Mother Kali, the wish-fulfilling tree, and you can gather easily the four fruits thereof—Dharma (fulfilment of worldly duties), Artha (wealth and prosperity), Kama (fulfilment of desires) and Moksha (divine awakening),’ One is reminded of Sri Krishna’s assurance to his beloved devotee Arjuna that God fulfils all the

needs of him who has totally surrendered himself to the Lord. In the Cossipore garden, on this blessed day, the desires of the devotees were fulfilled as they felt that they stood in the presence of God. Did they not wait long for this moment? Did not they surrender and develop total faith in their Master as an incarnation of God on earth?

- * * *

Once the water of immortality was tasted, could anyone remain satisfied anymore with the water of the ditch or the marshy pond? Does anyone wish to pray for a pice when suddenly confronted with the king with his outstretched arms full of gold and diamonds? As the minds of the devotees were lifted up to a higher level of consciousness at the vibrant presence of divinity, most of them begged for the higher, eternal wealth of a divine life, which neither moths can eat, nor theives can steal. With his usual, striking simile, Sri Ramakrishna used to say, ‘What need have I to know how many houses and how many government securities Jadu Mallik possess? All that I need is somehow to converse with Jadu Mallik.... Once I get a chance to talk to him, then he himself will tell me all about his possessions if I ask him. If one becomes acquainted with the Master, then one is respected by officers too.’ ‘He (who has realized the Atman) verily becomes the

king among men. Effortlessly he moves

around in all the worlds (all the spheres of

life)’, says the Chandogya Upanishad.

‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and

everything else shall be added unto it’,

said Christ.

On this thrice-blessed day.

the Master gave these beggars of grace, the

key to the kingdom of God. Could they

remain poor or starved, in any way,

And this grace Sri Ramakrishna brought to the weak children of the Divine Mother, children who are bogged down in the terrible bondage of the worldly life, and are incapable of spiritual strivings. Out of sheer compassion, the Master lifted them, by superhuman power, up to the sunny heights of divine bliss and everlasting fulfilment. Ramakrishna proved what Jesus had told long before, ‘With man it is impossible, but with God nothing is impossible.’ The unheard cry of these pining souls, their total surrender and unshakable faith in the Master as the veritable manifestation of God on earth, who was also their father, mother, friend, well-wisher, teacher, guide and the dearest one in life, brought them this priceless gift of divine awakening. And this Sri Ramakrishna did, as his disciples believed, by taking their accumulated sufferings, both physical and spiritual on his own self, On that day Ramakrishna returned to his room and said. ‘Accepting the sins of the rogues (this is the word with which he used to address affectionately his beloved devotees) my limbs are burning. Bring some Ganga water.’ He sprayed himself with the holy water over his burning body. We remember words of prophet Isiah : ‘He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.... He was wounded for our transgression....

The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.’

Saints can show us the way to perfection. They can even inspire us on that path. It is only an incarnation of God who can bring sainthood even in the sinner by a single touch, word, or even a look. ‘A single glance of his could change a whole life.’ Vivekananda wrote about his Master. The great disciple himself realized what his Master once said to him : ‘Living faith may be given in a tangible fashion and more truly than anything else in the world.’ Sri Ramakrishna used to say, ‘It is in the degree of power only that an incarnation of God on the one hand, and a perfected man or Jiva on the other, differ.’

Many years later, on another 1st January, Ramachandra Dutta remembered this act of divine grace by their Master :

Today is that blessed day. It is on. this day that the God of the poor, overwhelmed with compassion for—the poor,—extended—His loving hands for His beloved children and showered on them the bliss of compassion!... Where are you, our Master, cur Ramakrishna? Today is that blessed day.... We have come again for your divine grace. Kindly appear before us in that blessed mood, in that world-bewitching human form. Kindly stand before us as the same wish-fulfilling tree. Let us have your radiant vision once again and fill our heart by listening to your words of nectar. O Master! graciously appear today before us once again, and make us hear

your words of eternal protection and fearlessness bestowed to your blessed children.

Is it always on this day only that Sri Ramakrishna’s grace is available? God’s grace is available wherever and whenever His children pray sincerely to the Lord. Prayer brings the grace of God. The unconditional grace becomes conditional by the intensity of devotion and prayer.

Sri Ramakrishna, the God of this age, is a ‘living presence’ today. He is, as a western disciple wrote, ‘a pulsing presence, a living personality ... who is able to walk on the earth, whether in the flesh or in the spirit, a living presence among men.’ And there are blessed ones who even today receive the grace of the Master, a grace that transfigures them into saintly beings.

Only a few years ago, a young monk returned to the Belur Math after spending hours in the Cossipore garden on this blessed day of 1st January where thousands thronged to celebrate the Kalpataru festival and pray in Sri Ramakrishna’s room.

After returning to the Math he asked Revered Bharat Maharaj, why there was no celebration at the Math on that day. The old swami answered, ‘Do you know why we do not observe the Kalpataru festival at the Belur Math? We, too, like you boys, asked the same question to Revered Baburam Maharaj (Swami Premananda). And he replied, “Do you not know that in this Math the Master is Nitya-Kalpataru, always the wish-fulfilling tree, granting boons of all kinds to his devotees?’’

01/01/2021, 16:44 - +41 76 643 31 84 added ~ Archana

2 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Shivananda)

When an initiated boy-disciple of his came in and saluted him, he affectionately told him to sit in front of him.

After enquiring about his health, he asked: ‘Do you practise japa regularly? You must do so with all earnestness. Never forget to make your japa, do you understand? The Master is the Incarnation for this age. When you go on repeating his name, your mind will be filled with untold joy.

Pray to him with all your heart; “Master, I am a boy; I know nothing. Be kind to me; fill my heart with faith and devotion, and reveal to me your own reality.” That will bring you full success. Call on him unceasingly and with sincere imploring.

When you meditate, you should think that your guru is looking at you with affection and you are looking at him with love. Success doesn’t come in a day. Go on practising like this with a simple heart, and everything will come all right.

A certain devotee saluted him and told him of his difficulty thus: ‘Sir, I have been practising japa and meditation; but I fail to derive any joy from these. I am also not able to concentrate my mind. Kindly bless me, and instruct me so that I may derive joy.

‘Is it so easy, my son, to derive such joy from japa and- meditation?’ intervened Mahapurushji. ‘It comes from long practice. You have to practise hard. The mind must be pure. The more intimate the relation you can have with God, and the more you can love Him, the more joy you will get from His name. God’s name and God Himself are non-different. He is full of love, full of bliss; the more you can think of Him, the more blissful you will be.

But nothing can be had with a restless mind. Go on practising japa, meditation, and prayer intensively; and you will find that you have acquired a fresh energy in body and mind. Gradually you will have a greater liking for His name.

The mind generally remains scattered over many objects. That scattered mind has to be gathered together and concentrated on the object of meditation. Pray earnestly; prayer is very helpful. When you feel that you cannot engage yourself in japa and meditation, you should then pray earnestly and sincerely.

3 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Finding Peace

Our main problem, our only problem, is that we are caught in a spider’s web of passions and lusts, and have no desire for a higher way. When even a minor problem comes up, we are immediately discouraged and turn to earthly kinds of comforts. But if we try to be brave and stand firm in the battle, God certainly will help us. He presents us with the challenge and stands ready to assist us. All we need to do is trust his free gift of grace and we will win.

We would be well on the way to perfection if we could weed out one vice from ourselves each year. But we often find that we were better persons just after our conversion than we are after many years of being a Christian. Every day that passes should make us more like Christ, but we tend to grow cooler rather than warmer. If we would make big demands on ourselves at the beginning, we would find it easier going later on.

It is a hard job to quit old habits, and it is even more difficult to resist our own desires. But if you can’t handle small things, how will you deal with big ones?

Put up a fight right at the beginning. Break a bad habit. Otherwise, it may draw you by small steps you never notice into greater difficulty. If you had any idea how much inward peace you would gain for yourself, and how much joy you would bring to others, by devoting yourself singleheartedly to God, you would certainly pay more attention to your spiritual progress.

4 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

The Value of Adversity

Sometimes it is good for us to have trouble and crosses to bear. Adversity can return us to our senses. It can remind us that we are here as refugees, and that we must not place our trust in anything belonging to the world. It is good that people sometimes misunderstand us, that they have a poor opinion of us even when our intentions are good. Such experiences lead us toward humility and protect us from conceit. Under trying circumstances we seek God all the more. Our inner life grows stronger when we are outwardly condemned. If you will fully establish yourself in God, you will not need the consolation of others. When we are troubled with temptation and evil thoughts, then we see dearly the great need we have of God, since without him we can do nothing good. Then with weariness and sorrow we may “want very much to leave this life and be with Christ”, for we understand that absolute security and peace do not exist in this world.

How to Resist Temptation

As long as we live in this world, we will endure trials and temptation. As it is written in Job, “Human life is like forced army service, like a life of hard manual labour, like a slave longing for cool shade; like a worker waiting for his pay”. Be careful therefore, about your own temptations. Pray about them. Be alert, be on the watch! For your enemy the Devil roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. No one is so good that he is immune to temptation; we will never be entirely free of it. Still temptation can be a service to us. It may be a burden, but it can bring us humility and teach us good lessons. All the saints experienced more than their share of trials and temptations, and they grew as a result.

5 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

THE WORSHIP OF SHODASI

A wonderful vision the Holy Mother had during her illness

What a terrible anguish the Holy Mother felt in her heart on account of the illness on the way cannot be described. But she had a wonderful vision which consoled her. She sometimes used to describe this vision in the following way to her women devotees:

“I lost all consciousness on account of high temperature and was lying, unable even to look to the propriety of my dress, when I saw a girl come and sit beside me. The girl was black in complexion, but I never had seen such beauty before. She sat by me and began to pass her hand over my head and body. Her hand was so soft and cool that the heat and the burning sensation of my body began to subside. I asked her affectionately, ‘May I know where you come from?’ The girl said, ‘I come from Dakshineswar.’ Astonished to hear it, I said, ‘From Dakshineswar! I thought of going there to see him and serve him (the Master); but as I have got this fever on my way, I shall not have the good fortune of, fulfilling that desire.’ ‘Why not?’ said the girl, ‘You will surely go to Dakshineswar. Getting well you will go there and see him. It is for you that I have detained him there.’ I said, ‘Is that so? Pray, tell me, are you related to us?’ ‘I am your sister,’ said she. I said, ‘Indeed? That is why you have come!’ I had this conversation with her, when I fell asleep.” 8. The Holy Mother reached Dakshineswar at night with fever on.

The Master’s behaviour

Ramchandra rose in the morning to see that his daughter’s fever had subsided. He thought it better to continue the journey slowly with her instead of helplessly waiting on the way. Encouraged by the vision of the previous night, the Holy Mother approved his idea eagerly. Scarcely had they walked a little distance when a palanquin became available. She had fever again. But, as it was not severe as on the previous night, she did not lose control over herself. Neither did she mention it to anybody. They gradually reached the journey’s end and the Holy Mother came to the Master at Dakshineswar at 9 p.m.

The Master was somewhat worried to see her thus suffering from fever. He arranged for her a separate bed in his own room, lest fever should increase on account of cold, and said with a sigh, “You have come at long last. Alas! my Mathur is no more. Who will take care of you?” On account of the good arrangements made for medicine, diet, etc., the Holy Mother came round in three or four days. The Master kept her in his own room for three or four days and personally supervised everything. He then made arrangements for her to live with his mother in the Nahavatkhana, the music room.

(Today is the birthday puja of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. May she bless us all with Bhakti.)

6 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)*

How to Resist Temptation

First a mere thought comes to mind; then a strong imagination works on it. Pleasure may come, followed by a tendency to evil, and suddenly, we are hooked. Little by little the enemy takes over because we let him get his foot in the door. The longer we put off resisting, the weaker we become. Some people are tempted most strongly at the beginning of their spiritual life, others near the end. Some are troubled all their lives. Still others receive only light temptation. Such things are decided by God and we can trust his wisdom. Therefore, we must not despair when we are tempted. Instead, we must pray to God all the more sincerely, asking him to help. Saint Paul has assured us, “Every test that you have experienced is the kind that normally comes to people. But God keeps his promise, and he will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, he will give you the strength to endure it, and so provide you with a way out”. “Humble yourselves, then, under God’s mighty hand” in all temptation and difficulty, for he will save and honour those who are humble in spirit. It is no great accomplishment to be devout and fervent when your life is running smoothly, but patient endurance in troubled times is strong confirmation of your growth in grace. Some are spared great temptations, only to be trapped by little ones each day. Being weak in small things, they never receive the big assignments.

7 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

How to Resist Temptation

There is no group so holy, no place so far away that it can shield us from all distractions and difficulties. No one living on earth is entirely free from temptation. The reason is that we are born with the source of temptation within us; we are trapped by our own evil desire.

We are fallen men living east of Eden. Therefore tribulation will never leave us and one temptation will always follow on the heels of another.

Many people try to run away from temptations only to fall even harder. Trying to escape is not the solution. What makes us stronger than any of our enemies is patience and humility. If you only try to avoid temptations outwardly you will not get very far. Like weeds in a poorly cultivated garden, they will soon return worse than before.

Gradually, by patience and persistence, with God’s help, you will win a victory that could never be yours through the violence of your own fretful efforts.

Seek counsel when you are tempted, and don’t be hard on someone else who is tempted. Give him the same loving support you would want for yourself.

Two things increase temptation’s hold on you- an indecisive mind and little confidence in God.

As a ship without a rudder is driven this way and that by the tossing waves, so the careless and irresolute person is battered by temptations on every side.

Fire tests iron; temptation tests an honest person.

Sometimes we don’t know what we can do until temptation shows us what we are.

But don’t play with fire! It is far easier to deal successfully with temptation in the beginning, when the flames are still controllable. The time to deal with the enemy is while he remains outside the door of your heart. Take him on as soon as you hear the first knock. As David said, “Prevent the illness; medicine comes too late.’

8 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)*

Passing Judgment

Take a good look at yourself; don’t judge what others do. Your evaluation of someone else will often be mistaken, but you can be fruitfully honest with yourself.

Living with imperfections in others

Try to be patient with the defects and blemishes in others, because you also have many things about you that they must endure. If you can’t make yourself what you want to be, how can you expect to remake somebody else? We would like to see another person perfect, and yet we ignore our own faults. We would be pleased if others were severely corrected, but we are reluctant to accept similar treatment for ourselves. We want the law to apply to everybody but ourselves. It is clear that we don’t measure our neighbours and ourselves by the same standard. If everyone were perfect, there would be nothing in others for us to bear with for God’s sake. But God has seen to it that we must “help to carry one another’s burdens”. For no one is without fault, no one is without burden, no one is self-sufficient. No one is wise enough on his own. Therefore, we must support one another, comfort one another, help, teach, and caution one another.

Peace does not come from others

Friend, if you expect to find peace in the friendship of any person, you are likely to be disappointed. But if you are intimate with God, the disloyalty or death of a friend will not crush you. Base your love for your friend on God, for without him, friendship is weak and won’t last. Love that is bonded together by God is pure and true.

9 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the birth-day celebration of Revered Swami Shivanandaji Maharaj. May he bless us all with Bhakti.)

Place : Monastery at Belur Head quarters, Ramakrishna Math and Mission, India.

Time : Thursday, October 28, 1920.

In the morning, according to their custom, the monks of the monastery at Belur gathered upstairs in Swami Shivananda's room, where he was seated, looking very serious and indrawn.

Presently a monk, who had come from a branch centre a few days previously, unburdened his mind, saying:

`Maharaj, though I have been practising meditation to the best of my ability, I find hardly any joy in it. Most often I find I go through my practice as through a routine. That does not satisfy my heart nor does it give me any peace.'

Swami Shivananda said very quietly : 'Look here, my boy, peace is not such an easy thing to attain. The way to peace is very difficult, full of thorns. "Sharp as the blade of a razor and hard to cross is the way to Self-knowledge? so the sages have described it."

These are the actual words of the illumined seers. The path is indeed extremely difficult, however easy it may seem to those who have not entered it. Great effort is required to make progress in the realm of the Spirit. But if one sincerely wants to realize God, it is certainly true that he will receive His grace. You must have read in the life of Sri Ramakrishna that even he had to go through tremendous spiritual discipline before gaining the vision of the Mother.

`Spiritual efforts without sincere love for God are fruitless. Sincere love is what counts. The Master used to say that when the three attachments? that of a devoted wife for her husband, of a mother for her child, and of a miser for his wealth become one, then one realizes God. If anyone feels the same intense longing as would result if these three attachments were united, only then does he have God-vision. Sincere love brings God-realization and in that alone is genuine peace and joy.

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10 January 2021

If you are sometimes disturbed by the expression on an angry person’s face, how will you feel before God, who knows everything about your foolish and sinful life?

The time to do your weeping and pleading is now, while it can still accomplish good for you and in you.

Here is the picture of a patient and purifying life:

Though you receive injuries, you are more troubled by the other’s malice than by any wrong done to you.

You willingly pray for your enemies, and sincerely forgive them. If you have offended or hurt someone else, you are quick to ask for pardon.

Compassion is stronger in you than anger.

You passionately overcome your own will in order to subdue your body to your spirit.

It is better to eliminate sinful behaviour here than to deal with it hereafter. What fuel shall the fires have but your sins?

There is no future in anything, then, except loving and serving God. If you love God with all your heart, you will not be afraid of death, or punishment, or judgment, or hell. Perfect love brings divine security.

But if that love is not yet strong enough in you to keep you from sinning, then maybe the fear of hell will restrain you.

15 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Good Advice for Good Living

Trust in the Lord and do good; live in the land and be safe. Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desire. Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him, and he will help you. Carefully avoid in yourself those things which disturb you in others. Pick some profitable fruit wherever you are. If you see or hear a good example, burn the imitation of it into your soul. But if you observe behaviour that is harmful, avoid it like a snake. And if you already have committed the same sin yourself, get busy and make amends. Just as you observe others’ actions, they observe yours. You will always be glad at night if you have lived the day fruitfully. Cautiously watch yourself. Whatever happens to others, don’t neglect your own spiritual life.

The Inner Life

The kingdom of God is within you,’ says the Lord. Turn wholeheartedly to God, give up this miserable world, and you will discover rest for your soul. Learn to scorn outward things; concentrate on what goes on inside yourself. If you do, you will see the Kingdom of God come to you. For God’s kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives. And that is not given to vicious people. Christ will come to you, bringing his special consolation with him, if you prepare a worthy place for him within yourself. The glory and beauty of Christ is an inner thing. He enjoys frequent visits quietly inside you. His conversation is deliriously pleasant—his comfort and peace are tremendous. It is marvellous to be his familiar friend. Prepare yourself, faithful soul, to welcome your lover that he may come to you and live with you as your spouse. This is what he says, “Whoever accepts my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. My father will love whoever loves me; I too will love him and reveal myself to him”. When you have Christ, you are rich. He is enough. He will provide everything you need so you won’t have to count on others without him. People change and fail. You cannot depend upon them. Those that are for you today may be against you tomorrow. They are as variable as the wind. But Christ is eternally faithful.

16 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Put all of your trust in God. Reverently love him. He will look out for you. ‘For there is no permanent city for us here on earth; we are looking for the city which is to come’.

Wherever you may be, you are a stranger and a pilgrim. You will never really rest until you are united inwardly with Christ. Why are you looking around for a resting place here? This is not your home; heaven is. Everything here is transitory and you are no exception.

If you need help in learning how to meditate on high and heavenly things, think about Christ’s willingness to die on the cross, live for a while in his sacred wounds. This will bring you great comfort in tribulation, and will take the sting out of any trouble the world sends your way.

Christ was in the world just as you are. He was despised and rejected, and his best friends deserted him when he was in deep trouble.

Christ was willing to suffer; do you dare to complain? Christ had enemies and detractors; so you want everyone to be your friend and benefactor?

There is no way your patience can receive a heavenly crown if you face no earthly problems. If you will not accept any opposition, how will you be Christ’s friend? If even once you have truly discovered the secrets of the Lord Jesus, and tasted a sample of his great love, then you will not care two cents for your own convenience or inconvenience.

A lover of Jesus and of the Truth, a genuinely sincere Christian who is free from encumbering desires, can spontaneously turn to God, lift himself above himself spiritually and fruitfully linger there.

If you can evaluate things as they really are, and not as people report them to be, then you are wise, and God is your teacher.

17 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Parables and Stories of Lord Buddha)

The Giddy Fish

There was a bhikkhu who had great difficulty in keeping his senses and passions under control; so, resolving to leave the Order, he came to the Blessed One to ask him for a release from the vows. And the Blessed One said to the bhikkhu:

“Take heed, my son, lest you fall a prey to the passions of your misguided heart. For I see that in former existences, you have suffered much from the evil consequences of lust, and unless you learn to conquer your sensual desire, you will in this life also be ruined through your folly. Listen to a story of another existence of yours, as a fish.

The fish could be seen swimming lustily in the river, playing with his mate. She, moving in front, suddenly perceived the meshes of a net, and slipping around escaped the danger; but he, blinded by love, shot eagerly after her and fell straight into the mouth of the net. The fisherman pulled the net up, and the fish, who complained bitterly of his sad fate, saying, ‘This indeed is the bitter fruit of my folly.’ I would surely have died if the Bodhisattva had not chanced to come by. And, understanding the language of the fish, he took pity on him. He bought the poor creature and said to him: ‘My good fish, had I not caught sight of you today, you would have lost your life. I shall save you, but from now on avoid the evil of lust.’ With these words he threw the fish into the water.

Make the best of the time of grace that is offered to you in your present existence, and fear the dart of passion which, if you do not guard your senses, will lead you to destruction.”

18 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Thinking About Death

You won’t last long here. Think about what will become of you in another world. You are here today and gone tomorrow. How sad is the dullness and hardness of our hearts! We only think about the present and have little concern for what is to come. Instead, we should plan every word and action as though we were going to die today. If you had a clean conscience you would not be afraid to die. It is better to run away from sin than from death. If you are not ready for death today, do you think you will be any more prepared tomorrow? Tomorrow is not guaranteed. How can you be sure you’ll even live until tomorrow?

Living a long time doesn’t make us better persons automatically. Sometimes the years increase only our burden of guilt not the quality of our behaviour. It would be wonderful if we could live even one day well. Many can tell you the date of their conversion, but their lives have little to show for it. The person who thinks about his own death and daily prepares to die will be blessed. If you ever watch another person die, remember that you must also pass the same way. When morning comes, think that you will not live until sunset. At night don’t promise yourself a morning. Always be ready, live in such a way that death will never catch you unprepared. You must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him. When your last hour comes, you will have a new perspective on your entire life, and you will be deeply troubled if you have been careless and negligent.

19 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the Janma-Tithi of Revered Saradanandaji Maharaj. May he bless all of us with Bhakti)

(Spiritual Talks By Swami Saradananda)

Disciple : ‘X— instructs his disciples not to practise Japa without taking bath etc. Are such observances compulsory’?

Swami: “The Master came to make religion easy. People were being crushed under the weight of rules and regulations. To repeat the Lord’s name and to worship Him-- no special time and place are necessary. In whatever condition one may be, one can take His name. The Master never used to give too much importance to these external observances.

As to means, adopt whichever suits you best. If you like God with form, that will also lead you to the goal. If you like God without form, well and good; stick to it and you will progress. If you doubt His very existence, then better pray to Him thus :

“I do not know whether Thou existeth or not, whether Thou art formless or with form. Do Thou make known to me Thy real nature.

As to changing of clothes, taking bath, and other external observances, if you can observe them, well and good; if not, go on calling on Him without paying much attention to all these.

The Master once sang a song to me and told me,

‘Assimilate any one of these ideas and you will reach the goal.’

The song runs as follows :

‘O Lord, Thou art my everything, the sole support of my life, the quintessence of reality. There is none else besides Thee in the three worlds whom I can call as my own.

‘Thou art happiness, peace, help, wealth, knowledge, intellect, and strength; Thou art the dwelling house and the pleasure garden; Thou art the friend and relative.

‘Thou art this present life, the sole refuge; Thou art the life hereafter and the heaven; Thou art the injunction of the scriptures, the Guru full of blessings, and the store of infinite bliss.

‘Thou art the way and the goal; Thou art the creator and preserver and the worshipped;

Thou art the father that punishest Thy child, the loving mother and the storehouse of infinite bliss art Thou.’

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20 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)*

Thinking About Death

Listen! This is the hour to receive God’s favour; today is the day to be saved! The time will come when you will beg for one day or one hour to make amends, and you may not be granted it. Try to live now so that when your time comes to die, you will be glad rather than afraid. Discover how to die to the world so you can start living with Christ.

It is foolish to think that you will have a long life. You can’t even be sure you will get through today! Many have been snatched suddenly out of this world. Think of the times you have heard of someone drowning, or choking to death, or dying while playing a sport. Fire, weapons, sickness, violent thieves—these unexpected threats are constantly present with us. “We grow and wither as quickly as flowers; we disappear like shadows.”

Do it now. Do whatever you can do right now. You never know when your opportunity will be ended by death. While you have the time, start collecting heavenly treasures. Think about nothing but your spiritual health. Care about nothing but the things of God. Live as a stranger and a refugee in this world—as one who has nothing to do with earthly things. Keep your heart free and lifted up to God, “for there is no permanent city for us here on earth; we are looking for the city which is to come.” That is where to send your prayers, sighs, and tears. Then, when you die, your spirit will be joyfully at home with Christ.

21 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Divine Judgment

Always consider the end-how you will stand before God, your judge, from whom nothing can be kept secret. He cannot be bribed, and will not be deceived by flimsy excuses, but will certainly judge you honestly. If you are sometimes disturbed by the expression on an angry person’s face, how will you feel before God, who knows everything about your foolish and sinful life? The time to do your weeping and pleading is now, while it can still accomplish good for you and in you.

Here is the picture of a patient and purifying life:

Though you receive injuries, you are more troubled by the other’s malice than by any wrong done to you.

You willingly pray for your enemies, and sincerely forgive them. If you have offended or hurt someone else, you are quick to ask for pardon.

Compassion is stronger in you than anger.

You passionately overcome your own will in order to subdue your body to your spirit.

It is better to eliminate sinful behaviour here than to deal with it hereafter. What fuel shall the fires have but your sins?

There is no future in anything, then, except loving and serving God. If you love God with all your heart, you will not be afraid of death, or punishment, or judgment, or hell. Perfect love brings divine security.

But if that love is not yet strong enough in you to keep you from sinning, then maybe the fear of hell will restrain you.

22 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Good Advice for Good living

Trust in the Lord and do good; live in the land and be safe. Seek your happiness in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desire. Give yourself to the Lord; trust in him, and he will help you. Carefully avoid in yourself those things which disturb you in others. Pick some profitable fruit wherever you are. If you see or hear a good example, burn the imitation of it into your soul. But if you observe behaviour that is harmful, avoid it like a snake. And if you already have committed the same sin yourself, get busy and make amends. Just as you observe others’ actions, they observe yours. You will always be glad at night if you have lived the day fruitfully. Cautiously watch yourself. Whatever happens to others, don’t neglect your own spiritual life. The kingdom of God is within you,’ says the Lord. Turn wholeheartedly to God, give up this miserable world, and you will discover rest for your soul. Learn to scorn outward things; concentrate on what goes on inside yourself. If you do, you will see the Kingdom of God come to you. For God’s kingdom is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of the righteousness, peace, and joy which the Holy Spirit gives. And that is not given to vicious people. Christ will come to you, bringing his special consolation with him, if you prepare a worthy place for him within yourself. The glory and beauty of Christ is an inner thing. He enjoys frequent visits quietly inside you. His conversation is deliriously pleasant—his comfort and peace are tremendous. It is marvellous to be his familiar friend.

23 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

ADVICE CONCERNING INWARD THINGS

Prepare yourself, faithful soul, to welcome your lover that he may come to you and live with you as your spouse.

This is what the Lord says, “Whoever accepts my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves me. My father will love whoever loves me; I too will love him and reveal myself to him”.

When you have Christ you are rich. He is enough. He will provide everything you need. so you won’t have to count on others without him. People change and fail. You cannot depend upon them. Those that are for you today may be against you tomorrow. They are as variable as the wind. But Christ is eternally faithful.

Put all of your trust in God. Reverently love him. He will look out for you. ‘For there is no permanent city for us here on earth; we are looking for the city which is to come’.

Wherever you may be, you are a stranger and a pilgrim. You will never really rest until you are united inwardly with Christ. Why are you looking around for a resting place here? This is not your home; only heaven is. Everything here is transitory and you are no exception.

If you need help in learning how to meditate on high and heavenly things, think about Christ’s willingness to die on the cross, live for a while in his sacred wounds. This will bring you great comfort in tribulation, and will take the sting out of any trouble the world sends your way.

Christ was in the world just as you are. He was despised and rejected, and his best friends deserted him when he was in deep trouble.

Christ was willing to suffer; do you dare to complain? Christ had enemies and detractors; so you want everyone to be your friend and benefactor?

There is no way your patience can receive a heavenly crown if you face no earthly problems. If you will not accept any opposition, how will you be Christ’s friend?

If even once you have truly discovered the secrets of the Lord Jesus, and tasted a sample of his great love, then you will not care two cents for your own convenience or inconvenience.

A lover of Jesus and of the Truth, a genuinely sincere Christian who is free from encumbering desires, can spontaneously turn to God, lift himself above himself spiritually and fruitfully linger there.

If you can evaluate things as they really are, and not as people report them to be, then you are wise, and God is your teacher.

24 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Humility

Don’t pay much attention to who is for you and who is against you. This is your major concern: that God be with you in everything you do. If you have a good conscience, God will be your defender and no man can hurt you. If you can suffer silently, you will see how the Lord can help. God knows when and how to rescue you. Trust him. It can be helpful for others to know our faults and blame us for them. Such experiences keep us humble, and humility goes a long way toward reconciling us to others. God protects and helps the humble; he loves and comforts them. He notices their humility; he pours out his grace on them. When a humble one has been cast down, God raises him to glory. He tells his secrets to the humble. He draws them by invitation to himself. If you are humble, you will be at peace even while experiencing shame, because your foundation is God and not the world. Don’t think that you have made any progress at all, until you see less virtue in yourself than in anybody else.

25 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

It is Good to Be Peaceable

If you are at peace yourself, then you will be able to help others become peaceable. An excitable person distorts things, and readily believes the worst, but a calm person can turn even bad circumstances into good ones.

If you are at peace, you will not be suspicious of others. But if you are discontented and troubled, you will be agitated with all kinds of suspicions. You will be unable to remain quiet yourself, and you will not let anyone else rest either.

Accuse yourself and excuse another. See how far you are from genuine love and humility, which do not know how to be angry or indignant toward anyone else.

It is no accomplishment to live with good and gentle people. Everybody enjoys compatible company! But to be able to get along with obstinate, disorderly and contrary people is a unique gift, a highly commendable feat.

The person who knows best how to suffer will enjoy the most peace. Such a person has conquered himself and has become a lord of the world, a friend of Christ and an inheritor of heaven.

26 January 2021

Everybody enjoys compatible company! But to be able to get along with obstinate, disorderly and contrary people is a unique gift, a highly commendable feat. The person who knows best how to suffer will enjoy the most peace. Such a person has conquered himself and has become a lord of the world, a friend of Christ and an inheritor of heaven.

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

How to Be Christ’s Close Friend

When Jesus is with us, all is well and nothing seems insurmountable. But when Jesus is absent, everything is difficult. If Jesus does not speak to us inwardly, all other comfort is meaningless. But the slightest communication from him brings consolation. Recall how Mary Magdalene immediately stopped crying when Martha said to her, The Teacher is here, and is asking for you. It is a delightful moment when Jesus calls us from tears to spiritual joy!

life without Jesus is like a dry garden baking in the sun.

It is foolish to want anything that conflicts with Jesus. What can the world give you without Jesus? His absence is hell; his presence, paradise. If Jesus is with you, no enemy can injure you. Whoever finds Jesus has discovered a great treasure, the best of all possible good. The loss of him is a tremendous misfortune, more than the loss of the entire world. Poverty is life without Jesus, but close friendship with him is incalculable wealth.

We must develop our skill as carefully as an artist does if we want to live intimately with Jesus.

Be humble and peaceable, and Jesus will be with you. Be devout and quiet, and Jesus will reside with you.

You may drive him out of your life if you return to outward things. And if you should repel him, and lose him, where will you run to find a friend? life is nothing without a friend, and if Jesus isn’t your best friend you will be sad and lonely. It would be better to have the entire world against us rather than to offend Jesus.

Make many friends; love them dearly. But love Jesus in a special way. Love others because of Jesus, but love Jesus for himself. For him, and in him, love both your friends and your enemies. Pray for them all, asking God to lead them to know and love Jesus also. Never seek this kind of devoted love for yourself. Such devotion belongs to God alone.

If discouraging and unpleasant days come your way don’t be despondent or defeated. Stand strong in God and bear whatever you must to the glory of Jesus Christ. For after winter summer comes; after night the day returns; and after a storm, calm is restored.

30 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

When We Can Find No Comfort

It is not difficult to be independent of human comfort when we have God’s comfort. It is a great thing, an extremely great thing, to be able to live without both human and divine comfort, to be willing to endure cheerfully an exile of the heart for the honour of God, to ask nothing for yourself, and to claim no special favours because of your good works.

Why should anyone be impressed if you are happy and faithful when everything is going your way? God’s grace gives a smooth ride. It isn’t surprising that you don’t feel your burden if the Almighty is carrying it for you!

You must go through a long and tremendous conflict within yourself before you can begin to master yourself and give your heart to God.

Therefore, when God comforts you spiritually, receive it with gratitude. You can be sure it is his gift to you, you did not deserve it. Don’t let that gift swell you with pride. Instead, accept it in all humility. And watch your step! That moment of comfort will also pass, and new temptations await you around the next corner.

If you should temporarily lose your sense of well-being, don’t be too quick to despair. With humility and patience, wait for God who is able to give you back even more profound comfort.

There is nothing novel about this to those who are familiar with God’s ways. The great saints and ancient prophets frequently experienced the alternation of up and down, joy and sorrow. One of them, while he was enjoying a mountain-top experience said:

I felt secure and said to myself, I will never be defeated,

You were good to me, Lord; you protected me like a mountain fortress.

But then you hid yourself from me, and I was afraid’. And yet even while he was going through this, he did not feel crushed. With renewed passion he prayed:

“Hear me, Lord, and be merciful! Help me, Lord!. In time, his prayer was answered. This is his report:

“You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance; You have taken away my sorrow and surrounded me with joy”.

If great saints are exposed to such variations, we, who are poor and weak should not be discouraged if our spiritual life fails to be uniformly ecstatic. The Holy Spirit gives and takes according to his own divine purpose.

Where shall I place my hope and confidence except in God’s great mercy? For whether I am in good company, or have with me faithful friends, or religious books, or beautiful writings, or sweet music, all of these are little help when God seems far from me and I am left alone in the poverty of my being.

I have never met anyone so religious and devout that he has not felt occasionally some withdrawing of grace, some decrease in his spiritual consciousness. No saint was ever so enraptured and inspired that he escaped temptation before and after the great moment. Anyone who has never suffered a little for God’s sake is not worthy of deep spiritual contemplation.

Remember the promise of heavenly comfort: To those who win the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit of the tree of life that grows in the Garden of God’.

The Devil never sleeps, and your flesh is very much alive. Therefore, constantly prepare yourself for battle. Surrounding you are enemies that never rest.

31 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Be Thankful for God’s Grace

You were born to work; why are you looking for rest? Adjust yourself to patience rather than to comfort, and to bearing the Cross rather than to mirth. It is good of God to comfort us with his love. But we do evil when we fail to return it all to God again with thanksgiving. Ingratitude can stop the flow of God’s love in us. I will refuse any sort of consolation that destroys my repentance, and I will shrink from anything that leads to pride. Not all that is high is holy; neither are all enjoyable things good. Not every desire is pure; neither is everything that we cherish pleasing to God.

If you are taught by the gift of grace, and instructed by the terrible loss of it, you will not dare to claim any goodness in yourself; rather, you will admit that you are poor and naked. Give God what is God’s and take credit for what is your own. In other words, thank God for his kindness and blame yourself for your own sin and the punishment it brings. Always take the lowest place, and the highest will be given to you, for high structures require a solid foundation. The greatest, in the judgment of God, are the least in their own opinion; the more worthy they are, the more humility will be seen in them.

People who are filled with honesty and heavenly glory don’t look for empty praise. Those who are grounded in God simply cannot be conceited. If they recognize God as the giver of every good thing they have ever received, they don’t seek applause from each other. They desire more than anything else that God may be praised in them. Be thankful, therefore, for the smallest gift; then you will be worthy to receive greater things. Accept the most insignificant present as though it were something of special value. If you consider the worth of the Giver, no gift will seem trivial or worthless. Nothing given by almighty God can be of small value. Yes, even if he sends pain or sorrow, we should thank him for it, because he is always thinking of our eternal good.

1 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Only a Few Love the Cross

Jesus has many who love his heavenly kingdom, but few who bear his Cross. Many want consolation, but few desire adversity. Many are eager to share Jesus’ table, but few will join him in fasting. Everyone would be glad to rejoice with him, but not many are willing to suffer for him. Many will follow Jesus as far as the breaking of bread, but few will stay to drink the cup of his passionate self-sacrifice. Many are inspired by his miracles, but few accept the shame of his Cross. Many love Jesus as long as they have no troubles. Many praise and bless him as long as they receive some comfort from him. But if Jesus hides himself, leaving them even briefly, they start complaining and become dejected.

But those who love Jesus for Jesus’ sake, and not for any special privileges, bless him in all difficulties and anguish, as well as in times of great comfort. Even if he should never comfort them again, they would continue to praise and thank him. What astonishing power rests in the pure love of Jesus which is not corrupted with self-interest or self-love!

One term describes those who are always looking for comfort: mercenary. Don’t they show themselves to be lovers of self rather than Christ? All they care about is their own advantage and profit. Where can we find anyone who is willing to serve God for nothing? It is rare to discover someone so spiritual! Do you know anyone who is truly poor in spirit and free from dependence on any created thing? Such a person is worth far more than jewels!

If anyone tried to buy love with his wealth, contempt is all he would get. And if someone tries hard to make amends for all of his sins, he still hasn’t done very much. And if he receives the best education, he still has a long way to go. And if he is exceedingly virtuous and glowing with devotion, an essential ingredient is still lacking. What must he do? He must give up everything, especially himself, retaining no trace of selfishness. And when he has done everything required of him, he must consider it as nothing. He must not agree with others when they applaud him, but rather admit that he is actually an ordinary servant. As the Gospel says, “When you have done all you have been told to do, say, ‘We are ordinary servants; we have only done our duty’”.

After admitting this he may be honestly poor in spirit, and may say with the psalmist, “Turn to me, Lord, and be merciful to me, because I am lonely and weak”. And yet, no one will be richer, no one more powerful, no one more free, because he is able to leave himself and all material things behind, and set himself in the lowest place.

2 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation of Christ)

The Royal Highway of the Holy Cross

Many have difficulty with these words: “If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget himself, carry his cross, and follow me.” But they will find it even harder to hear that last statement: “Away from me, you that are under God’s curse! Away to the eternal fire.” Those who gladly hear and follow Christ shall have no reason to fear such a condemnation. Every servant of the Cross who has lived like me crucified Christ will face the heavenly Judge with confidence. Why, then, are you afraid to carry your cross when it leads you to such a kingdom?

In the Cross is salvation,

In the Cross is life,

In the Cross is protection from our enemies,

In the Cross is good mental health,

In the Cross is spiritual joy,

In the Cross is virtue at its best,

In the Cross is the full perfection of holiness.

There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, except in the Cross. Carry your cross and follow Jesus. He went first, carrying his cross, and then dying on it for you. If you are dead with him, you will also live with him. And if you share his punishment, you will also share his glory. Look far and wide and still you will not find a better way above, or a safer way below, than the highway of the holy Cross. Even if you use the best judgment and make the best plans, you will still find it necessary to suffer, willingly or unwillingly.

3 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation of Christ)

Christ Speaks Inwardly to the Faithful Soul

I will listen to what the Lord God says in me. That soul is blessed who hears the Lord speaking and inwardly receives his words of comfort. Blessed are the ears that hear the divine whisper and ignore the murmuring of the world. Truly blessed are the ears which listen to no external voice, but to the truth that is taught within. Blessed are the eyes that are closed, focusing inwardly on eternal things. Blessed are the ones who can enter deeply within themselves; who prepare themselves more and more, by daily exercises, to receive heavenly secrets. Blessed are those who take time for God, who shake off all encumbering cares of the world. Think about these things, O my soul, and close the door on your physical senses, that you may hear what God says within you.

Thus says your Beloved: I am your salvation, your peace, your life. Stay with me, and you shall find peace. Release everything that is transitory. Let it pass away. Look for lasting things. Short-term pleasures are seductive, but they will disappoint you. What good is everything in all creation to you if you are not in close fellowship with the Creator? Therefore, get rid of all earthly things. Try to please your Maker. Be faithful to me. That way you will discover true happiness.

The Truth Speaks Within us without Noisy Words

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. I am your servant; help me to know and understand what you are saying. Let your teaching distil like dew. Long ago, the Hebrews said to Moses, “If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die.” But Lord, that is not what I pray. Instead, in all humility I earnestly say with Samuel, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

I am not listening now to Moses or any other prophet. I am listening to you, O God, the one who inspired and enlightened all the prophets; thou alone can instruct me perfectly, and they can teach me nothing without you. The prophets may speak words, but they cannot give the Spirit. Their language is beautiful, but if you are silent, it will not set my heart on fire. 04/02/2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

(Today is the auspicious Janma-Tithi of Swami Vivekananda. On this sacred day, may he inspire and guide us all with Bhakti.)

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

We find yet another incident narrated by the Swami. This is how it is related in *The Life of Swami Vivekananda*, by His Eastern and Western Disciples:

Speaking to Girish Babu of the experience of his Parivrajaka days, the Swami told of an event of a more pleasant character, which took place in Khetri. To use the Swami’s own words:

“In the course of my wanderings, I was in a certain place where people came to me in crowds and asked for instructions. Though it seems almost unbelievable, people came and made me talk for three days and nights without giving me a moment’s rest. They did not even ask me whether I had eaten. On the third night, when all the visitors had left, a low caste poor man came up to me and said,

‘Swamiji—I am much pained to see that you have not had any food these three days. You must be very tired and hungry. Indeed, I have noticed that you have not even taken a glass of water.’

I thought that the Lord Himself had come in the form of this low caste man to test me. I asked, ‘Can you give me something to eat?’

The man said, ‘Swamiji, my heart is yearning to give you food, but how can you eat chapatis baked by my hands! If you allow me—I shall be most glad to bring flour, utensils and other things, and you may cook them yourself.’

At that time, according to the monastic rules, I did not touch fire. So I said to him, ‘You had better give me chapatis cooked by you. I will gladly take them.’

Hearing this, the man shrank in fear; he was a subject of the Maharaja of Khetri and was afraid that if the latter came to hear that he, a cobbler, had given chapatis to a Sanyasin, he would be severely dealt with and possibly banished from the State. I told him, however, that he need not fear and that the Maharaja would not punish him. He did not believe me, but out of the kindness of his heart, even though he feared the consequence, he brought me the cooked food. I doubted at that time whether it would have been more palatable if Indra, the king of the Devas, should have held a cup of nectar in a golden basin before me. I shed tears of love and gratitude and thought, ‘Thousands of such large-hearted men live in lowly huts, and we despise them as low caste and untouchables!’

When I became acquainted with the Maharaja, I told him the noble act of this man. Accordingly, within a few days, the latter was called to the presence of the Prince. Frightened beyond words, the man came shaking all over, thinking that some dire punishment was to be inflicted on him. But the Maharaja praised him and put him beyond all want.”

4 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious Janma-Tithi of Swami Vivekananda. On this sacred day may he inspire and guide us all with Bhakti)

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

We find yet another incident narrated by the Swami. This is how it is related in The Life of Swami Vivekananda, by His Eastern and Western Disciples :

Speaking to Girish Babu of the experience of his Parivrajaka days, the Swami told of an event of a more pleasant character, which took place in Khetri.

To use the Swami’s own words:-

In the course of my wanderings I was in a certain place where people came to me in crowds and asked for instructions. Though it seems almost unbelievable, people came and made me talk for three days and nights without giving me a moment’s rest. They did not even ask me whether I had eaten.

On the third night when all the visitors had left, a low caste poor man came up to me and said,

‘Swamiji—I am much pained to see that you have not had any food these three days. You must be very tired and hungry. Indeed, 1 have noticed that you have not even taken a glass of water’.

I thought that the Lord Himself had come in the form of this low caste man to test me.

I asked, ‘Can you give me something to eat’.

The man said, ‘Swamiji, my heart is yearning to give you food, but how can you eat chapatis baked by my hands ! If you allow me— I shall be most glad to bring flour, utensils and other things and you may cook them yourself.’

At that time, according to the monastic rules, I did not touch fire. So I said to him ‘You had better given me chapatis cooked by you. I will gladly take them.’

Hearing this the man shrank in fear; he was a subject of the Maharaja of Khetri and was afraid that if the latter came to hear that he, a cobbler had given Chapatis to a Sanyasin, he would be severely dealt with and possibly banished from the State.

I told him, however, that he need not fear and that the Maharaja would not punish him. He did not believe me but out of the kindness of his heart, even though he feared the consequence, he brought me the cooked food.

I doubted at that time whether it would have been more palatable if Indra, the king of the Devas, should have held a cup of nectar in a golden basin before me. I shed tears of love and gratitude and thought ‘thousands of such largehearted men live in lowly huts and we despise them as low caste and untouchables!

When I became acquainted with the Maharaja I told him the noble act of this man.

Accordingly, within a few days the latter was called to the presence of the Prince.

Frightened beyond words, the man came shaking all over, thinking that some dire punishment was to be inflicted on him.

But the Maharaja praised him and put him beyond all want.

The grateful Maharaja was so gracious to this cobbler for the small mercy he showed to his friend, philosopher and guide, which he considered so great as to reward him by giving him a suitable Jagir which could alone ‘put him beyond all want.’

5 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

This is how the Swami describes what has been called the most difficult period of his life:

“Even before the period of mourning was over, I had to knock about in search of a job. Starving and barefooted, I wandered from office to office under the scorching noon-day sun with an application in hand; one or two intimate friends who sympathized with me in my misfortunes accompanying me sometimes. But everywhere the door was slammed in my face. This first contact with the reality of life convinced me that unselfish sympathy was a rarity in the world—there was no place in it for the weak, the poor and the destitute. I noticed that those who only a few days ago would have been proud to help me in any way, now turned their face against me, though they had enough and to spare. Seeing all this, the world sometimes seemed to me to be the handiwork of the devil. One day, weary and footsore, I sat down in the shade of the Ochterlony Monument in the Maidan. Some friends of mine happened to be there. One of them sang a song about the overflowing grace of God, perhaps to comfort me. It was like a terrible blow on my head. I remembered the helpless condition of my mother and brothers, and exclaimed in bitter anguish and despondency, ‘Will you please stop that song? Such fancies may be pleasing to those who are born with a silver spoon in their mouth and have no starving relatives at home. Yes, there was a time when I too thought like that. But today, before the hard facts of life, it sounds like grim mockery.’ My friend must have been wounded. How could he fathom the dire misery that had forced these words out of my mouth?”

6 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

Sometimes, when I found that there were not enough provisions for the family and my purse was empty, I would pretend to my mother that I had an invitation to dine out and remain practically without food. Out of self-respect, I could not disclose the facts to others. My rich friends sometimes requested me to come to their homes or gardens and sing. I had to comply when I could not avoid it. I did not feel inclined to express my woes before them, nor did they try, themselves, to find out my difficulties. A few among them sometimes used to ask me, “Why do you look so pale and weak today?”

Only one of them came to know about my poverty without my knowledge and, now and then, sent anonymous help to my mother; by which act of kindness he has put me under a deep debt of gratitude.

Some of my old friends, who earned their livelihood by unfair means, asked me to join them. A few among them, who had been compelled to follow this dubious way of life by sudden turns of fortune—as in my case—really felt sympathy for me. There were other troubles also. Various temptations came in my way. A rich woman sent me an ugly proposal to end my days of penury, which I sternly rejected with scorn. Another woman also made similar overtures to me. I said to her, “You have wasted your life seeking the pleasures of the flesh. The dark shadows of death are before you.” 06/02/2021

Have you done anything to face that? Give up all these filthy desires and remember God! In spite of all these troubles, however, I never lost faith in the existence of God nor in His divine mercy. Every morning, taking His name, I got up and went out in search of a job. One day my mother overheard me and said bitterly, “Hush, you fool! You have been crying yourself hoarse for God from your childhood, and what has He done for you?”

I was stung to the quick. Doubt crossed my mind. “Does God really exist?” I thought. “And if so, does He really hear the fervent prayer of man? Then why is there no response to my passionate appeals? Why is there so much woe in His benign kingdom? Why does Satan rule in the realm of the Merciful God?”

Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar’s words—“If God is good and gracious, why then do millions of people die for want of a few morsels of food at times of famine?”—rang in my ears with bitter irony. I was exceedingly cross with God. It was also the most opportune moment for doubt to creep into my heart.

It was ever against my nature to do anything secretly. On the contrary, it was a habit with me from my boyhood not to hide even my thoughts from others through fear or anything else. So it was quite natural for me now to proceed to prove before the world that God was a myth, or that, even if He existed, to call upon Him was fruitless.

Soon the report gained currency that I was an atheist and did not scruple to drink or even frequent houses of ill fame. This unmerited calumny hardened my heart still more. I openly declared that in this miserable world there was nothing reprehensible in a man who, seeking for a brief respite, would resort to anything. Not only that, but if I was once convinced of the efficacy of such a course, I would not, through fear of anybody, shrink from following it.

A garbled report of the matter soon reached the ears of the Master and his devotees in Calcutta. Some of them came to me to have a first-hand knowledge of the situation and hinted to me that they believed in some of the rumours at least. A sense of wounded pride filled my heart on finding that they could think me so low. In an exasperated mood, I gave them to understand plainly that it was cowardice to believe in God through fear of hell and argued with them as to His existence or non-existence, quoting several Western philosophers in support.

The result was that they took leave of me with the conviction that I was hopelessly lost—and I was glad. I thought that perhaps Shri Ramakrishna also would believe that, and this thought filled me with uncontrollable pique. “Never mind,” I said to myself. “If the good or bad opinion of a man rests upon such flimsy foundations, I don’t care.”

But I was amazed to hear later that the Master had, at first, received the report coldly, without expressing an opinion one way or the other. And when one of his favourite disciples, Bhavanath, said to him with tears in his eyes, “Sir, I could not even dream that Narendra could stoop so low,” he was furious and said, “Hush, you fool! My Mother told me that it can never be so. I shan’t be able to look at you if you speak to me again like that.”

Today's online classes:

Topic: Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram

Time: 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm Indian Standard Time

Topic: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13

Time: 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm Indian Standard Time

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Mundaka Upanishad:* https://srisaradadevi.com/mundaka-upanishad/

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13:* https://srisaradadevi.

Jai Ramakrishna

7 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

“But notwithstanding these forced atheistic views, the vivid memory of the divine visions I had experienced since my boyhood, and especially after my contact with Shri Ramakrishna, would lead me to think that God must exist and that there must be some way to realize Him. Otherwise, life would be meaningless. In the midst of all troubles and tribulations, I must find that way. Days passed, and the mind continued to waver between doubt and certainty. My pecuniary wants also remained just the same.

“The summer was over, and the rains set in. The search for a job still went on. One evening, after a whole day’s fast and exposure to rain, I was returning home with tired limbs and a jaded mind; overpowered with exhaustion and unable to move a step forward, I sank down on the outer plinth of a house on the roadside. I can’t say whether I was insensible for a time or not. Various thoughts crowded in on my mind, and I was too weak to drive them off and fix my attention on a particular thing. Suddenly, I felt as if by some divine power the coverings of my soul were removed one after another. All my former doubts regarding the co-existence of divine justice and mercy, and the presence of misery in the creation of a Blissful Providence, were automatically solved. By a deep introspection, I found the meaning of it all and was satisfied. As I proceeded homewards, I found there was no trace of fatigue in the body, and the mind was refreshed with wonderful strength and peace. The night was well-nigh over.

“Henceforth, I became deaf to the praise and blame of worldly people. I was convinced that I was not born like humdrum people to earn money and maintain my family, much less to strive for sense-pleasure. I began secretly to prepare myself to renounce the world like my grandfather. I fixed a day for the purpose and was glad to hear that the Master was to come to Calcutta that very day. ‘It is lucky,’ I thought, ‘I shall leave the world with the blessing of my Guru.’ As soon as I met the Master, he pressed me hard to spend that night with him at Dakshineswar. I made various excuses, but to no purpose. I had to accompany him. There was not much talk in the carriage. Reaching Dakshineswar, I was seated for some time in his room along with others, when he went into a trance. Presently, he drew near me and, touching me with great tenderness, began to sing a song with tears in his eyes. I had repressed my feelings so long, but now they overflowed in tears. The meaning of the song was too apparent—he knew of my intentions. The audience marvelled at this exchange of feeling between us. When the Master regained his normal mood, some of them asked him the reason of it, and he replied with a smile, ‘Oh, it is something between him and me.’ Then at night, he dismissed the others and, calling me to his side, said, ‘I know you have come for the Mother’s work, and won’t be able to remain in the world. But for my sake, stay as long as I live.’ Saying this, he burst into tears again. The next day, with his permission, I returned home. A thousand thoughts about the maintenance of the family assailed me. I began to look about again for a living. By working in an attorney’s office and translating a few books, I got just enough means to live from hand to mouth, but it was not permanent, and there was no fixed income to maintain my mother and brothers.” 08/02/2021 – Swami Dayatmananda:

8 February 2021.

Jai Ramakrishna.

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

“One day the idea struck me that God listened to Shri Ramakrishna’s prayers; so why should I not ask him to pray for me for the removal of my pecuniary wants—a favour the Master would never deny me? I hurried to Dakshineswar and insisted on his making the appeal on behalf of my starving family. He said, ‘My boy, I can’t make such demands. But why don’t you go and ask the Mother yourself? All your sufferings are due to your disregard of Her.’

I said, ‘I do not know the Mother; you please speak to Her on my behalf. You must.’

He replied tenderly, ‘My dear boy, I have done so again and again. But you do not accept Her, so She does not grant my prayer. All right, today is Tuesday—go to the Kali Temple tonight, prostrate yourself before the Mother, and ask Her any boon you like. It shall be granted. She is Knowledge Absolute, the Inscrutable Power of Brahman, and by Her mere will has given birth to this world. Everything is in Her Power to give.’

I believed every word and eagerly waited for the night. About 9 o’clock the Master commanded me to go to the temple. As I went I was filled with a divine intoxication. My feet were unsteady. My heart was leaping in anticipation of the joy of beholding the living Goddess and hearing Her words. I was full of the idea. Reaching the temple, as I cast my eyes upon the image, I actually found that the Divine Mother was living and conscious, the Perennial Fountain of Divine Love and Beauty. I was caught in a surging wave of devotion and love. In an ecstasy of joy I prostrated myself again and again before the Mother and prayed, ‘Mother, give me discrimination! Give me renunciation! Give unto me knowledge and devotion! Grant that I may have an uninterrupted vision of Thee!’

A serene peace reigned in my soul. The world was forgotten. Only the Divine Mother shone within my heart.

As soon as I returned, the Master asked me if I had prayed to the Mother for the removal of my worldly wants. I was startled at this question and said, ‘No, Sir, I forgot all about it. But is there any remedy now?’

‘Go again,’ said he, ‘and tell Her about your wants.’ I again set out for the temple, but at the sight of the Mother again forgot my mission, bowed to Her repeatedly, and prayed only for love and devotion. The Master asked me if I had done it the second time. I told him what had happened.

He said, ‘How thoughtless! Couldn’t you restrain yourself enough to say those few words? Well, try once more and make that prayer to Her. Quick!’

I went for the third time, but on entering the temple a terrible shame overpowered me. I thought, ‘What a trifle I have come to pray to the Mother about! It is like asking a gracious king for a few vegetables! What a fool I am.’ In shame and remorse I bowed to Her respectfully and said, ‘Mother, I want nothing but knowledge and devotion.’

Coming out of the temple I understood that all this was due to the Master’s will. Otherwise, how could I fail in my object no less than thrice?

I came to him and said, ‘Sir, it is you who have cast a charm over my mind and made me forgetful. Now please grant me the boon that my people at home may no longer suffer the pinch of poverty.’

He said, ‘Such a prayer never comes from my lips. I asked you to pray for yourself. But you couldn’t do it. It appears that you are not destined to enjoy worldly happiness. Well, I can’t help it.’

But I wouldn’t let him go. I insisted on his granting that prayer. At last he said, ‘All right, your people at home will never be in want of plain food and clothing.’”

8 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of SwamiVivekananda.)

‘One day the idea struck me that God listened to Shri Ramakrishna’s prayers; so why should I not ask him to pray for me for the removal of my pecuniary wants—a favour the Master would never deny me? I hurried to Dakshineswar and insisted on his making the appeal on ’ behalf of my starving family.

He said “My boy, I can’t make such demands. But why don’t you go and ask the Mother yourself? All your sufferings are due to your disregard of Her”.

‘I said, “I do not know the Mother, you please speak to Her on my behalf. You must.”

‘He replied tenderly, “My dear boy, I have done so again and again. But you do not accept Her, so She does not grant my prayer. All right, today is Tuesday—go to the Kali Temple tonight, prostrate yourself before the Mother, and ask Her any boon you like. It shall be granted. She is Knowledge Absolute, the Inscrutable Power of Brahman, and by Her mere will has given birth to this world. Everything is in Her Power to give”.

‘I believed every word and eagerly waited for the night. About 9 o’clock the Master commanded me to go to the temple. As I went I was filled with a divine intoxication. My feet were unsteady. My heart was leaping in anticipation of the joy of beholding the living Goddess and hearing Her words. I was full of the idea.

Reaching the temple as I cast my eyes upon the image, I actually found that the Divine Mother was living and conscious, the Perennial Fountain of Divine Love and Beauty. I was caught in a surging wave of devotion and love. In an ecstasy of joy I prostrated myself again and again before the Mother and prayed, “Mother give me discrimination, Give me renunciation! Give unto me knowledge and devotion! Grant that I may have an uninterrupted vision of Thee!”

A serene peace reigned in my soul. The world was forgotten. Only the Divine Mother shone within my heart.

‘As soon as I returned the Master asked me if I had prayed to the Mother for the removal of my worldly wants. I was startled at this question and said, “No Sir, I forgot all about it. But is there any remedy now?”

“Go again”, said he, “and tell Her about your wants”.

I again set out for the temple, but at the sight of the mother again forgot my mission, bowed to Her repeatedly and prayed only for love and devotion. The Master asked me if I had done it pthe second time. I told him what had happened.

‘He said, “How thoughtless! Couldn’t you restrain yourself enough to say those few words? Well, try once more and make that prayer to Her. Quick! ”

I went for the third time, but on entering the temple a terrible shame overpowered me. I thought “What a trifle I have come to pray to the Mother about ! It is like asking a gracious king for a few vegetables ! What a fool I am”.

In shame and remorse I bowed to Her respectfully and said, “Mother, I want nothing but knowledge and devotion”.

‘Coming out of the temple I understood that all this was due to the Master’s will. Otherwise how could I fail in my object no less than thrice?

I came to him and said, “Sir, it is you who have cast a charm over my mind and made me forgetful. Now please grant me the boon that my people at home may no longer suffer the pinch of poverty”.

‘He said, “Such a prayer never comes from my lips. I asked you to pray for yourself. But you couldn’t do it. It appears that you are not destined to enjoy worldly happiness. Well, I can’t help it.”

But I wouldn’t let him go. I insisted on his granting that prayer. At last he said, “All right, your people at home will never be in want of plain food and clothing”.

9 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

Mrs. Allan arrived at the Turk Street flat at the appointed time (nine o’clock, according to one account) on what must have been the morning of March 10. When the door was opened by its upstairs lever and she asked to see the Swami, she was told from the top of the stairs (by either Mrs. Hansbrough or Mrs. Aspinall) that he was on his way out and could see no one. A person less in need would have perhaps turned away, but Edith Allan stood her ground. “I know he will see me,” she said, “because he told me to come.”

The logic of this being unassailable, she was asked to come upstairs, was shown into the front parlour, given a chair by the bay window, and told to wait. And to be sure, Swamiji soon entered. He was dressed for the street in his long overcoat and round black turban, and he was chanting softly. He sat on a chair on the opposite side of the room (or, as another account has it, on the other side of the bay window). “He continued chanting softly,” Mrs. Allan recalled, “in his incomparable way.”

Presently he said, “Well, madam!”

“I could not speak,” she related, “but began to weep and kept on weeping as though the floodgates had been opened.” He let her weep on and on—“for about half an hour,” she once recalled; and when the purging flood of tears had subsided a little, he said, “Come tomorrow about the same time.”

That was all. “As I went from his presence,” she recalled years later in her reminiscences, “my problems were solved and my questions were answered, though he had not asked me anything. [“When I went out onto the street, each cobblestone looked like an opal,” she told a friend. “Somehow, I got home.”]

It is now over twenty-four years since that interview with the Swami, yet it stands out in memory as the greatest blessing of my life.”

10 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

In one of the rough drafts one comes upon snatches of Swamiji’s talk during these happy times. “In the kitchen at Turk Street while cooking,” a lady devotee wrote, “he talked Philosophy, chanted verse 61, Chapter 18, of the Gita, ‘The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, by His illusive power causing all beings to revolve as though mounted on a potter’s wheel.’

‘This has all happened before,’ he said. ‘Like the throw of dice, so it is in life; the wheel goes on and the same combination comes up; that pitcher and glass have stood there before, so, too, that onion and potato. What can we do, Madam, He has us on the wheel of Life.’

She continues: “He longed to be free of the body. ‘I have to come back once more,’ he said. ‘The Master said I am to come back once more with him.’

‘You have to come back because Sri Ramakrishna says so?’ I asked.

‘Souls like that have great power, Madam,’ he replied.”

(In Pasadena, Swamiji had made a similar statement. “It was probably during an after-lunch conversation when he was walking up and down the living room,” Mrs. Hansbrough recalled, “that Swamiji told us, ‘The Master said he would come again in about two hundred years? and I will come with him. When the Master comes, he brings his own people’.”) 11/02/2021

Jai Ramakrishna. (Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.) To how many thousands of people Swamiji gave apparently casual initiation, we have no way of knowing. His “maybe more than [three thousand]” puts no ceiling on the number. And then, this kind of initiation was, one thinks, generally so lacking in any kind of ceremony or deliberation that often the recipient had not the faintest idea that he had received from Swamiji a blessing that was sufficient forever and that would eventually bear fruit as tangible as the amalaka in one’s hand. It would seem that in giving informal initiation Swamiji seldom said anything about discipleship, its prerequisites and responsibilities. He gave his blessings, gave, perhaps, some spiritual instructions, took upon himself the burdens of those who had come to him, and went on his way, demanding nothing, neither obedience, acceptance of his teachings, nor loyalty. Not even an interview was necessary. With one penetrating look he could know all that was essential to know about any individual. Perhaps he did not even prescribe a mantra. Could he not, with a glance or a touch, transmit the spiritual impetus that would thenceforth work its miracle in the life of the recipient, carrying him quickly to liberation?

“The human teacher,” Sri Ramakrishna once said, “whispers the mantra in the ear of the disciple; the World Teacher puts it in his heart.” In speaking of initiation with a mantra, Swamiji himself once said, “With great teachers the use of words is not necessary, as with Jesus. But the ‘small fry’ transmit this current through words.” Needless to say, Swamiji was a world teacher, a jagadguru; his was the power to transmit spiritual energy directly; this was, indeed, a vital part of his mission. “The touch of the guru, the transmittal of spiritual energy, will quicken your heart,” he said during his lecture “Discipleship” in San Francisco. “Then will begin the growth. That is the real baptism by fire. No more stopping. You go on and go on.” From Swamiji, the baptism by fire was sometimes as silent, as imperceptible, but as irreversible, as the first touch of spring. Swamiji explained to his disciple Mr. Sinha that true Brahmanahood was not a matter of birth but of a sattvika, or spiritual, quality of mind. “My disciples are all Brahmanas!” he declared once.

Jai Ramakrishna. (Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.) Sometimes Swami Vivekananda spoke of Sri Ramakrishna. “He always spoke of his Master as ‘Atmaram,' ” she said. “Whenever there were difficulties he would say, ‘Well, if things do not go well, we will wake up Atmaram.' ” “The Mother dropped me in a strange world,” he said, “among a strange people who do not understand me and whom I do not understand. But the longer I stay here I have come to feel that some of the people in the West whom I have met belong to me, and they also are here to serve with me in the work assigned to me. There is none with whom I can speak of the Beloved, not one. You do not know, you cannot imagine the loneliness of it. This is how I felt in Chicago. I am here to serve the Mother and to give the message which I came into the world to give.” In a somewhat disconnected and enigmatic passage of her “Reminiscences,” Mrs. Hansbrough recalled that Swamiji “said many seemingly contradictory things.

11 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

To how many thousands of people Swamiji gave apparently casual initiation, we have no way of knowing. His “maybe more than [three thousand]” puts no ceiling on the number.

And then, this kind of initiation was, one thinks, generally so lacking in any kind of ceremony or deliberation that often the recipient had not the faintest idea that he had received from Swamiji a blessing that was sufficient forever and that would eventually bear fruit as tangible as the amalaka in one’s hand.

It would seem that in giving informal initiation Swamiji seldom said anything about discipleship, its prerequisites and responsibilities. He gave his blessings, gave, perhaps, some spiritual instructions, took upon himself the burdens of those who had come to him, and went on his way, demanding nothing, neither obedience, acceptance of his teachings, nor loyalty.

Not even an interview was necessary. With one penetrating look he could know all that was essential to know about any individual. Perhaps he did not even prescribe a mantra. Could he not, with a glance or a touch, transmit the spiritual impetus that would thenceforth work its miracle in the life of the recipient, carrying him quickly to liberation?

“The human teacher,” Sri Ramakrishna once said, “whispers the mantra in the ear of the disciple; the World Teacher puts it in his heart"

In speaking of initiation with a mantra, Swamiji himself once said, “With great teachers the use of words is not necessary, as with Jesus. But the ‘small fry’ transmit this current through words."

Needless to say, Swamiji was a world teacher, a jagadguru; his was the power to transmit spiritual energy directly; this was, indeed, a vital part of his mission.

“The touch of the guru, the transmittal of spiritual energy, will quicken your heart,” he said during his lecture “Discipleship” in San Francisco. “Then will begin the growth. That is the real baptism by fire. No more stopping. You go on and go on."

From Swamiji, the baptism by fire was sometimes as silent, as imperceptible, but as irreversible, as the first touch of spring.

Swamiji explained to his disciple Mr. Sinha that true Brahmanahood was not a matter of birth but of a sattvika, or spiritual, quality of mind.

“My disciples are all Brahmanas!” he declared once.

12 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

Sometimes Swami Vivekananda spoke of Sri Ramakrishna. “He always spoke of his Master as ‘Atmaram,' ” she said.

“Whenever there were difficulties he would say, ‘Well, if things do not go well, we will wake up Atmaram."

The Mother dropped me in a strange world,” he said, “among a strange people who do not understand me and whom I do not understand”.

But the longer I stay here I have come to feel that some of the people in the West whom I have met belong to me, and they also are here to serve with me in the work assigned to me.

"There is none with whom I can speak of the Beloved, not one. You do not know, you cannot imagine the loneliness of it. This is how I felt in Chicago.

"I am here to serve the Mother and to give the message which I came into the world to give."

In a somewhat disconnected and enigmatic passage of her “Reminiscences,” Mrs. Hansbrough recalled that Swamiji “said many seemingly contradictory things.”

“For example, he said of his lectures and work, ‘I have been saying these things before, over and over again.'

In the Turk Street flat one day he said, ‘There is no Vivekananda,' and again, ‘Do not ask these questions while you have this Maya mixed up with your understanding.' “

“Once after we had moved to the Turk Street flat,” Mrs. Hansbrough related, “a woman said something to Swamiji about his teaching religion.

He looked at her and replied, ‘Madam, I am not teaching religion. I am selling my brain for money to help my people. If you get some benefit from it, that is good; but I am not teaching religion!"

Another time at the flat, Mrs. Hansbrough recalled, Mrs. Aspinall told him that he really should not charge admission to his lectures. “God will provide,” she said.

“Madam,” Swamiji answered, “God has made a mess of everything. I am trying to straighten it out.

13 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the Blessed Tithi-Puja of Revered Brahmanandaji Maharaj. May he bless us all, on this Holy Day, with Bhakti.)

Rakhal Chandra Ghosh—to be known in later life as Swami Brahmananda, Sri Ramakrishna’s great disciple—was born on January 21, 1863, at Sikra Kulingram, a village near Calcutta. Some time before Rakhal’s first visit to Dakshineswar, Ramakrishna had prayed to the Divine Mother Kali: “Mother, I want someone like myself to be my constant companion. Bring me a boy who is pure-hearted and intensely devoted to you.”

A few days later he saw in a vision a boy standing under a banyan tree in the temple grounds. Later, in a second vision, the Divine Mother placed a boy, recognizably the same but much younger, on his lap and told him, “This is your son.”

Ramakrishna was dismayed at first, supposing that he would have to beget a son, but the Mother reassured him that this would be his spiritual, not his physical child. Then, on the day that Rakhal and his brother-in-law were coming to Dakshineswar, Ramakrishna had a third vision. He saw a lotus blooming on the surface of the Ganges and two boys dancing upon it. One of them was Krishna, the other was this same boy. When Ramakrishna first set his eyes on Rakhal, he recognized him as the boy of his visions. He therefore began to regard Rakhal as his spiritual son, and Rakhal entered into the spirit of this relationship so completely that he could not bear to be separated from Ramakrishna. His visits became more and more frequent, and then extended themselves into long periods of living at the Dakshineswar Temple as Ramakrishna’s personal attendant.

Brahmananda was more interested in the spiritual growth of the disciples than in their practical efficiency. He once reprimanded a senior disciple who had been put in charge of a younger brother, saying, “Did I send this young boy to you to make a good clerk out of him?”

Again and again, he pointed out that the success of a religious order depends on the inner life of each of its members, and not on its achievements in social service, its size, its buildings or its funds. Brahmananda had the power to make the atmosphere of a place vibrate with his spirituality. By a glance or a touch or his mere presence he could raise the minds of others to a high level and change their very lives. He spent most of his later life in a state of high spiritual consciousness, coming down from it only in order to teach and help others. On April 10, 1922, he passed into the final Samadhi and life left the body. His last words to his disciples were, “Do not grieve, I shall be with you always.”

14 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Below are some of the most inspiring incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda.)

Once a Mr. Charles P. Neilson, a locally well-known artist who lived in Alameda, invited Swamiji and Mrs. Hansbrough (and perhaps the Aspinalls), to have dinner with him at one of the excellent restaurants in Chinatown. He had ordered the dinner in advance, and after his guests had been seated, the cook himself came from the kitchen to greet them. But no sooner did Swamiji see this cook than he knew he could not partake of any of the specially prepared delicacies. There was no help for it. “Of course we went home,” Mrs. Hansbrough related. Mr. Neilson was very disappointed because he knew the Chinese who owned the restaurant; but Swamiji later explained that it was because of the character of the cook that he was unable to eat the food. "One other such occurrence took place when we had fried shrimps in a French restaurant,” Mrs. Hansbrough continued. “When we got home Swamiji vomited his dinner. I said fried shrimps were always hard to digest and probably these were not good, but he insisted that it was the bad character of the cook that was responsible. ‘I'm getting like the Old Man,’ he said. ‘I shall have to live in a glass cage.’”

By “the Old Man” Swamiji meant, of course, Sri Ramakrishna, who, as is well known, could not eat or drink anything that had come in contact with an impure person. His body would simply reject it.

15 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious birth-day of Swami Trigunatitanandaji Maharaj. May he bless us all with Bhakti.)

Swami Trigunatita was born into an aristocratic family of Calcutta in 1865. His pre-monastic name was Sarada Prasanna Mitra. His parents believed that Sarada was born to them through the grace of the Divine Mother, so they named their child after Her. He was brilliant at school, and the family looked forward to raising a scholarly and successful son.

A simple gold watch, however, was to indirectly change his life. Sarada lost the watch, which he greatly treasured, during the second day of his entrance examinations at Calcutta University. The loss so upset him that he performed poorly and passed in the second division only. He grieved for weeks over his low marks.

Like a number of other disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada was a student at the Metropolitan Institution, whose headmaster was Mahendranath Gupta, (“M”), the author of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.

“M” felt a deep affection for Sarada. Although he knew that the boy had been spoiled by his parents and was acting childishly, his keen intuitive sense alerted him to Sarada’s deeper and greater potential. So instead of scolding him, he took the boy to Sri Ramakrishna.

Sarada immediately felt drawn to the Master. Thereafter, he visited Dakshineswar regularly.

Also like the other disciples of Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada was strongly religious as a child. His father, who was a great devotee, encouraged him in his yearnings. Sarada read the scriptures regularly, and when only a young boy memorized more than a hundred Sanskrit hymns.

His meeting with Sri Ramakrishna quickened even more this spiritual precociousness.

Sarada’s birth into a proud family had caused him to regard all physical work as menial.

One hot day, Ramakrishna requested Sarada to fetch some water and wash his feet. The boy flushed with embarrassment, for several of his friends were present and they were looking at him intently. Ramakrishna repeated the request and Sarada had no other choice but to obey.

He said later that this incident broke his pride and began his education in the spirit of service.

16 February 2021

It seems to have been toward the end of March in San Francisco that Swamiji definitely stepped, as it were, across a line into the last phase of his life. "I am the infinite blue sky; the clouds may gather over me, but I am the same infinite blue,” he wrote on March 25 to Sister Christine. “I am trying to get a taste of that peace which I know is my nature and everyone's nature. These tin-pots of bodies and foolish dreams of happiness and misery—what are they? My dreams are breaking. Om Tat Sat!"

And to Mary Hale three days later, “I am attaining peace that passeth understanding, which is neither joy nor sorrow, but something above them both. Tell Mother [Mrs. Hale] that. My passing through the valley of death—physical, mental, last two years, has helped me in this. Now I am nearing that Peace, the eternal silence. Now I mean to see things as they are, everything in that peace, perfect in its way. ‘He whose joy is only in himself, whose desires are only in himself, he has learned his lessons.’ ‘Alone through eternity, because I was free, am free, and will remain free for ever.’ This is Vedantism. I preached the theory so long, but oh, joy! Mary, my dear sister, I am realising it now every day. Yes, I am. ‘I am free.’ ‘Alone, alone, I am the one without a second.’”

The postscript to this last letter is even more indicative of his high state of consciousness. “Now I am going to be truly Vivekananda,” he declared!

“Did you ever enjoy evil! Ha! Ha! you silly girl? Awl is goood! Nonsense. Some good, some evil. I enjoy the good and I enjoy the evil. I was Jesus and I was Judas Iscariot; both my play, my fun. … Ostrich method? Hide your heads in the sand and think there is nobody seeing you! Awl is goood! Be brave and face everything, come good, come evil, both welcome, both of you my play. I have no good to attain, no ideal to clinch up to, no ambition to fulfil; I, the diamond mine, am playing with pebbles, good and evil; good for you, evil, come; good for you, good, you come too. If the universe tumbles round my ears, what is that to me? I am Peace that passeth understanding; understanding only gives us good or evil. I am beyond, I am peace."

And again to Sister Nivedita: “…the seed must die underground to come up as the tree. The last two years were the underground rotting. I never had a struggle in the jaws of death, but it meant a tremendous upheaval of the whole life. One such brought me to Ramakrishna, another sent me to the U.S., this has been the greatest of all. It is gone. I am so calm that it astonishes me sometimes!!"

Jai Ramakrishna

17 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

There are many indications that after he had begun his mission Swamiji was aware of his divine status. Mrs. Allan once related, for instance, that during his stay in northern California one of his women students was complaining, “Oh, if I had only lived earlier, I could have seen Sri Ramakrishna!”

Swamiji turned quietly to her and said, “You say that, and you have seen me.” As Mrs. Allan remembered, one of the party asked Swamiji to talk on renunciation. “He smiled,” the rough draft of her memoirs reads, “and said, ‘Babies, what do you know of renunciation!’

Someone said, ‘Are we too young to hear of it?’

He was silent for a time. Then he talked on renunciation and discipleship in a way that was most inspiring and illuminating. He spoke of discipleship and of entire resignation to the guru, which was quite a new teaching to the Western world. ‘If you want to be my disciple,’ he said, ‘and I tell you to go to the mouth of the cannon, you must do it without question.’

‘You have been bitten by the cobra,’ Swamiji said one morning [to Miss Gould and others as well], ‘the poison will have its effect, you will never be your old selves again, the Master has accepted you.’

And it is known that when Fannie Gould died, when she was still a young woman, she died with the name of Sri Ramakrishna on her lips.

“You know,” she continued, “in India they are more frank than we are in the West and Swami was very open with us, almost childlike in some of the things he said, and one day he said this startling thing to us:

‘In my first speech in this country, in Chicago, I addressed that audience as “Sisters and Brothers of America,” and you know that they all rose to their feet. You may wonder what made them do this, you may wonder if I had some strange power. Let me tell you that I did have a power and this is it—never once in my life did I allow myself to have even one sexual thought.’

18 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

One indication of the special luminosity of Swamiji's mood during his days at the camp is contained in an answer he gave to a question or, rather, a statement of Miss Bell's.

The incident is told by both Miss Ansell and Mrs. Hansbrough in almost identical language, and I give here the latter's version, simply because it has not been heretofore published:

"One day after the meditation in Miss Bell's tent, Miss Bell remarked, ‘This world is an old schoolhouse where we come to learn our lessons.' ”

‘Who told you that?' Swamiji demanded. She could not remember.

”‘Well, I don't think so,' he declared. ‘I think this world is a circus ring in which we are the clowns tumbling.'”

”‘Why do we tumble, Swami?' Miss Bell asked.”

”‘Because we like to tumble,' was his answer. ‘When we get tired, we will quit.'“

Throughout his San Francisco lectures Swamiji had reiterated the theme that “the whole universe is a vast play.” “Play! God Almighty plays. That is all,” he had cried in “The Goal.” “...

You are having fun, playing with worlds and all that.… It is all fun. There is no other purpose.… I am the man that is going to be hanged. I am all the wicked.

I am getting punished in hells. That also is fun."

All this and more was contained in Swamiji's brief reply to Miss Bell: “We are clowns tumbling.”

Only from a high Advaitic viewpoint could such words be meaningful, and it seems clear that in California and perhaps particularly during the last two months of his stay, he was seeing men and women not as captives in Maya, inching painfully toward freedom, but, literally, as God Himself playing at joy and at misery for the sheer, wonderful fun of it.

Swamiji was himself consciously playing. “I have no aims, no want, no purpose,” he had said in “The Goal.” I come to your country, and lecture just for fun. No other meaning."

And one is reminded of his description of the activity of an illumined soul:

“After realization,” he had said to an Indian disciple, “what is ordinarily called work does not persist. It changes its character. The work which the Jnani does only conduces to the of the world.… About the motive of the actions of such personages only this can be said-

`Everything they do like men, simply by way of sport.'

19 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

At the Math, Swamiji insisted upon the study of the scriptures, among them the Gita. “Sir,” his disciple Chakravarty once said, “talking with you and listening to your realisations, I feel no necessity for the study of scriptures.”

“No!” Swamiji exploded. “Scriptures have to be studied also. For the attainment of Jnana, study of scriptures is essential. I shall soon open classes in the Math for them. The Vedas, Upanishads, the Gita and Bhagavata should be studied in the classes, and I shall teach the Panini Ashtadhyayi [Sanskrit grammar].”

“Now,” said Swamiji at Alambazar, having discussed the historicity of the Gita and its place among Hindu scriptures, “let us see some of the main points discussed in the Gita. Wherein lies the originality of the Gita which distinguishes it from all preceding scriptures?

It is this: Though before its advent, Yoga, Jnana, Bhakti, etc., had each its strong adherents, they all quarrelled among themselves, each claiming superiority for his own chosen path; no one ever tried to seek for reconciliation among these different paths. It was the author of the Gita who for the first time tried to harmonise these. He took the best from what all the sects then existing had to offer and threaded them in the Gita.”

“The essence of the Srutis, or of the Upanishads, is hard to be understood, seeing that there are so many commentators, each one trying to interpret in his own way,” he said in “The Sages of India.”

“Then the Lord Himself comes, He who is the inspirer of the Srutis, to show us the meaning of them, as the preacher of the Gita, and today India wants nothing better, the world wants nothing better than that method of interpretation.”

In this particular passage, Swamiji went on to say that the modern commentator twists and tortures Upanishadic texts “to bring them all to a meaning of his own”, be it monistic, qualified monistic, or dualistic. “But you find in the Gita there is no attempt at torturing any one of them. They are all right, says the Lord: for slowly and gradually the human soul rises up and up, step after step, from the gross to the fine, from the fine to the finer, until it reaches the Absolute, the goal. That is what is in the Gita. Even the Karma Kanda [the ritualistic portion of the Vedas] is taken up, and it is shown that although it cannot give salvation direct, but only indirectly, yet that is also valid; images are valid indirectly; ceremonies, forms, everything is valid only with one condition – purity of the heart.…”

20 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

In the Gita,” Swamiji wrote to his orthodox Madrasi disciple “Kidi,” “the way is laid open to all men and women, to all caste and colour, but Vyasa tries to put meanings upon the Vedas to cheat the poor Shudras. 20/02/2021

Is God a nervous fool like you,” he continued, “that the flow of His river of mercy would be dammed up by a piece of meat? If such be He, His value is not a pie!

“As a character Buddha was the greatest the world has ever seen; next to him Christ,” he said at Thousand Island Park. “But the teachings of Krishna as taught by the Gita are the grandest the world has ever known. He who wrote that wonderful poem was one of those rare souls whose lives send a wave of regeneration through the world. The human race will never again see such a brain as his who wrote the Gita.”

It is not strange, he said in “The Sages of India,” that Sri Krishna was called in the Bhagavatam not only an Incarnation of the Lord, but the Lord Himself. “He was the most wonderful Sannyasin, and the most wonderful householder in one; he had the most wonderful amount of Rajas, power, and was at the same time living in the midst of the most wonderful renunciation.… Krishna, the preacher of the Gita, was all his life the embodiment of that Song Celestial.”

Yet the Western world was not so greatly hampered by the teaching of a path too idealistic and otherworldly for the generality of people as was India, for as Swamiji pointed out in “The East and the West,” “the Europeans never took the words of Jesus Christ seriously.” “Always of active habits,” he wrote, “being possessed of a tremendous Rajasika nature, they are gathering with great enterprise and youthful ardour the comforts and luxuries of the different countries of the world, and enjoying them to their hearts' content.” Conversely the Hindus, to their long misery, had never taken the words of Sri Krishna seriously: “We are sitting in a corner, with our bag and baggage, pondering on death day and night, and singing, ‘Very tremulous and unsteady is the water on the lotus-leaf; so is the life of man frail and transient.’ Who are following the teachings of the Gita? The Europeans! And who are acting according to the will of Jesus Christ? The descendants of Sri Krishna!

"Where Sri Krishna failed to show a complete reconciliation (Samanvaya) among these warring sects,” Swamiji said at the Alambazar Math, “it was fully accomplished by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in this nineteenth century.” “The time was ripe,” he declared in “The Sages of India,” “for one to be born who in one body would have the brilliant intellect of Shankara and the wonderfully expansive, infinite heart of Chaitanya; one who would see in every sect the same spirit working, the same God; one who would see God in every being, one whose heart would weep for the poor, for the weak, for the outcast, for the downtrodden, for everyone in this world, inside India or outside India; and at the same time whose grand brilliant intellect would conceive of such noble thoughts as would harmonise all conflicting sects, not only in India but outside of India, and bring a marvellous harmony, the universal religion of head and heart into existence. Such a man was born,” Swamiji continued, “and I had the good fortune to sit at his feet for years.”

It was given for Swamiji not only to spread Sri Ramakrishna's message of harmony to the world at large but to give it philosophical form.

Today's online classes:

Topic: Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram

Time: 5:05 pm to 6:00 pm Indian Standard Time

Topic: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13

Time: 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm Indian Standard Time

Please use below link to join the classes:

https://hslu.zoom.us/j/2462708251?pwd=N0F5eldzTWJqNWlDdkhzbjRtYTQ3dz09

Meeting ID: 246 270 8251

Password: 12221853

24 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda by Mrs. Lillian Montgomery)

There was a Mrs. Lillian Montgomery, who had come one Sunday morning in June of 1900 to the Vedanta House to hear the “new” Swami and who had left “treading on air.” Thereafter, she attended every lecture and class that Swamiji gave during that brief period—a period of her life that changed her world. The words with which she sought to describe Swamiji’s indescribably immense and powerful personality are to be found in a letter she wrote more than half a century later. She said in part:

Swami Vivekananda was so entirely different from anything that we had known in America. I had heard all my life, it seemed to me, of power and repose, and the first time I had seen it was in the presence of Swami Vivekananda. And it all came as such a surprise, because I wasn’t prepared for it, really. Just a short time before that I was really searching for something, and someone said they had heard of a swami, and that was Swami Abhedananda. I heard him several times and was very impressed because he was so different from us; he was very calm and poised and all that, and I was surprised that he knew so much about our literature and our sciences. I think I heard him only twice, when someone said another swami was coming. Abhedananda had been speaking in a hall, and they told us that this new swami would speak in a Vedanta House. I wasn’t at all prepared, you see, for Swami’s personality. But at that time I wanted to hear everybody and see everybody, and so I went to the Vedanta House, and I sat [in the front row] so that I wouldn’t miss anything. [After an interval, a door at the left opened—Swami entered quietly—his air was unassuming, but immediately I knew that there was something extraordinary about him. He took his place in high-back chair on the rostrum just in front of me]; and there was something about his presence that fascinated you; you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. [His eyes closed. He sat in meditation.… He had the most perfect head I had ever seen. Perfectly poised.]

Power seemed to emanate from him. I was fascinated; he looked like a living Buddha; he looked entirely different from any personality I had ever seen.

25 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda by Mrs. Lillian Montgomery)

[Then came the voice in the chant of a Sanskrit invocation—but a voice of what exceptional quality! It was mellow, but full-resonant-in tone, bell-like—but, above all, it rang so true.]

And then he rose to speak; [phrases flowed forth without effort, but every word was moulded round a light that brought new significance to its meaning—he was living the very thoughts he was expressing.]

And as he spoke, veils just seemed to fall from your eyes; impression of personality, an entirely different impression of the relationship of the individual to the Divinity.

In some way there was no limit to his personality.… As we see people we see them limited because their awareness is entirely connected to the body.

It seemed to me that there was an ocean of consciousness back of Swami Vivekananda, and in some way it focused and flowed through his words.

I heard him say “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” I had heard those words all my life, but as Vivekananda was speaking, the purity of that personality was so great, it just seemed to me that Divinity was reflected in him, and [I had a new conception of the quotation]. It was as though his mind was a limpid lake that was reflecting divine light, and every word he spoke was a revelation.

Other people that I have heard from the pulpit—and I had heard about the best—speak from a standpoint of faith. But I began to realize that this man was speaking from something that he was living—that every word he uttered came from a state of realization, such a realization that the ordinary person cannot imagine.

At one time, as I listened, I thought that he was so established in the realization that the soul was eternal that he could stand before a cannon without fear, and I seemed to sense that if his form vanished, the light that was shining through it would stay there forever, that it would never disappear. It was a strange sensation at the time. But there was a purity, and an intense power, such a power as I think we have never seen—that I had never seen, and I don't expect I will ever see it again. It seemed to pour from an infinite source, and it was perfectly calm, perfectly reposed.

26 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda by Mrs. Lillian Montgomery)

One thing he said that fascinated me was “face it.” He told the story of how he was walking along a broad wall, and an elderly monk was back of him, when suddenly a vicious ape appeared, and was about to attack him.

Vivekananda was about to turn and run, when the monk said, “Face it!” And he turned immediately and faced it and he felt the power that conquers the beast.

The idea that he gave us was that there was that within man which could face any situation that came to him, and those words have always stayed with me; I have never forgotten them.

One thing that impressed me very much was that there was an absence of the sense of ego.

And I saw eventually what that was, because his whole awareness was turned to that inner vision.

Where the ordinary person has the sense of a little ego, Swami Vivekananda's sense of ‘I' had expanded to something that was vast and deep and very very pure and very very powerful. It just penetrated within you and aroused something that was never there before.

Some place he has said that you never see anything outside that isn't within.

And I think perhaps his great power was that he perceived the divinity in all forms, and he perceived it with such a degree that he awakened it in his listeners as he was speaking.

He was the only person I have ever seen in whom there seemed to be no limit to his personality. It was just as if this outer form was tuned to a realization that was all power and purity and beauty.

There was a beauty that just flowed through every word that he spoke—every phrase, and as I say, every word that he spoke took on a different meaning, you had a different conception of the words, and as he spoke, just veil after veil fell from your eyes, because you sensed the vastness of his realization; it was a sort of tremendous joy. I don't think he could possibly have made an awkward movement, or have struck a false tone because he was tuned to something that was all harmony, all beauty.

There is no one that has appeared at the Metropolitan or on any stage that has that wonderful voice, or that has that wonderful magnetism. He just seemed to be a center of spiritual thought, and that emanated from him, and still he was always calm. But every line of his body followed his thought; it was just as if his outer form were floating on a great light. It was something that was very very perceptible and very very tangible that he brought into the whole room. It was just as if his form was [carved? ] out of an ocean of light as it were, and somehow that light concentrated and just poured through the words he was speaking.

I find him in his poems; I find him in his poems much more than in his lectures, because as you read his lectures with your own conception I don't think that you can possibly get the tremendous beauty that flowed through Vivekananda. But in his poems, the more and more you sink into them, the more you get the intensity of his feeling, and you know that he was really living every word that he spoke.

27 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the Janma-Tithi of Revered Swami Adbhutanandaji Maharaj. May he bless us all with Bhakti.)

The Divine Name by Swami Adbhutananda

A Devotee : ‘Maharaj, sadhus teach renunciation of lust and gold, but how is it possible for householders like us to give up such desires? How can we fight them? You ask us to repeat the Divine Name, but we find that we do not feel inclined to do so thanks to the pull of desires. You ask us to discriminate; even here we find that the cravings surge up in all their restless fury by paralyzing our discrimination.

Now please tell us how could we create the urge for Divine Name and discrimination in the mind in the midst of these cravings?

Swami Adbhutananda : ‘Know that the Divine Name plants itself in the mind through repetition. The mind is running restlessly intoxicated by desires. The cravings are leading it by a rope through its nose. What can be more mischievous than they?

This is what Arjuna told Sri Krishna. Sri Krishna admitted that the mind is wicked, but added, “O Arjuna! Cultivate detachment towards the cravings and be always practising. By constant practice the mind will gradually quiet down”.

The more the mind runs after worldly objects, the more should you reason that the objects are fleeting, existing today and disappearing tomorrow. Be content with just what you have need of these fleeting things. Why should you have more? There will be no room for the Eternal if you overburden yourself with fleeting objects.

The Eternal is One; It is the Brahman. Know everything else except Brahman to be unreal. Teach your mind in this way. You will find that discrimination has awakened after repeated efforts like this.

‘Do you know the story of the pearl necklace which Sri Ramachandra presented to Hanuman in his court? Hanuman turned over the beads scrutinizingly and even cut open one with his teeth. As soon as he saw that the name of Rama was not found in it he threw it away at once.

Lakshmana became angry at this and said, “He is a monkey after all; what does he know about the worth of pearls? He has spoiled such a beautiful pearl necklace by cutting it with his teeth”.

Noticing Lakshmana’s regret Ramachandra told him, “Why not ask him why he has done so?”

On being queried Hanuman replied, “I was seeing whether or not it contained the name of Rama!”

This is the way one should discriminate between things. To keep alive the spirit of discrimination is the hardest tapasya (austerity). One who knows how to discriminate is ever battling with impulses. Wake up the spirit of renunciation and discrimination; then alone will you be able to fight your desires. How will you check them unless the discrimination between what is true and what is false develops?

You doubtless know that the seed of desire is in the mind. That seed is being watered by the sense-organs within and the objects outside. This watering is producing a luxuriant crop. All that crop must be cut down and the seeds destroyed.

After that you have to sow the seed of God’s name there. Then alone the Divine Name will bear a crop. Now there is the crop of desires.

Hence the Master used to say, “Where there is lust, there is no Rama, and where Rama is, there is no lust.”

28 February 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda by Mrs. Lillian Montgomery)

[There was a brilliance of mind, clothed in the warmth of the heart, and an impressive calmness as he spoke words of wisdom that were leading you into a realm of higher truth unknown.] It was the intensity of the emotion of his heart that brought into manifestation the brilliance of his mind. But they weren't separated.

We think of the intellect as something rather cold, but in Swami Vivekananda—you felt that all the energy of his body, all of his emotions had been concentrated and turned towards this one vision. That’s why there was a complete whole, there was a complete fulfilment.

I couldn't imagine that Swami Vivekananda had cast out anything; I don't think that any part of his body he thought was unholy or anything like that, but it seemed to me that he had transmuted all the elements of his body into a much finer element. It was almost transparent—but still it was full of power and force; there was no weakness there.

And all the time he was speaking it was that warmth of heart that was clothing the brilliance of the mind; so that with his whole personality you felt that all his energy, all his emotions were directed by this vision of his mind; nothing could have gone astray.

He was filled with such ease, and all you saw was this tremendous beauty, and it was spoken with such childlike simplicity that it just seemed that that was the natural state—that’s what we all ought to be doing, just the same as Swami Vivekananda.

I had the feeling that there was something that penetrated right through the very depth of my being. As I say, the whole world changed as Swami was speaking, because every word he spoke he spoke with his great realization. He lived every word that he spoke.

I'll tell you, you just sat there and your whole vision changed, and you saw such a wonderful world; you saw a world just palpitating with light, and you were part of it, and it was all harmony and beauty, and no false notes or anything like that.

And as you left you just trod on air; you lived in the presence even after you left him. It stays with you, that’s it, you see. You feel that that power is always there, that you can never lose it.

1 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

Another memory shows us Swamiji at the breakfast table one July morning designing the emblem that was later to become the seal of the Ramakrishna Order and that is today so familiar to readers of the Order’s literature.

It was Sister Devamata who wrote of the incident in her ‘Memories of India and Indians’, first published serially in Prabuddha Bharata of 1932.

(In 1896 Sister Devamata—then Laura Glenn-had regularly attended Swamiji’s New York lectures and classes. She received her monastic name years later from Swami Paramananda.)

The design which has become the symbol of the Ramakrishna Mission everywhere [she wrote in her Memories] came into being in the same casual way as did the “Song of the Sannyasin.”

It took shape in 1900 during Swami Vivekananda’s later visit to America.

At that time the Vedanta Society of New York was definitely established and occupied a modest house in Fifty-eighth Street. Mrs. Crane, the housekeeper, told me that the Swami was sitting at the breakfast table one morning when the printer arrived. He said he was making a circular for the Society and wished to have an emblem to go on it, could the Swami suggest something?

Swamiji took the envelope from a letter he had just received, tore it open and on the clean inner surface drew the waves, the swan, the lotus, and the sun circled by a serpent—the four Yogas wrapped about by eternity, it seemed. He threw the bit of paper with the design on it across the table and said, “Draw it to scale.”

Henry van Haagen, the printer, was an able draughtsman as well as printer. He converted the rough sketch into a finished drawing.

(Mr. Van Haagen, incidentally, was among those who had become Swamiji’s brahmacharin disciples in an earlier year.)

It was to him that Swamiji had once said in response to an expression of regret that the Swami’s sublime teachings had no larger following:

“I could have thousands more at my lectures if I wanted them. It is the sincere student who will help to make this work a success and not merely the large audiences. If I succeed in my whole life to help one man to reach freedom, I shall feel that my labours have not been in vain, but quite successful."

Sister Devamata’s interpretation of Swamiji’s design was not quite correct. “The sun = Knowledge,” Swamiji explained to Miss MacLeod, shortly after creating the design. “The stormy water = Work. The lotus = Love. The serpent = Yoga. The swan = the Self. The Motto = May the Swan (the Supreme Self) send us that. It is the mind-lake."

Later on in India Swamiji again explained the significance of the design, this time to the artist Ranadaprasad Das Gupta.

“The wavy waters in the picture are symbolic of Karma,” he said; “the lotus, of Bhakti; and the rising-sun, of Jnana. The encircling serpent is indicative of Yoga and the awakened Kundalini Shakti, while the swan in the picture stands for the Paramatman (Supreme Self).

Therefore, the idea of the picture is that by the union of Karma, Jnana, Bhakti, and Yoga, the vision of the Paramatman is obtained."

2 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

Or one sees Swamiji in New York through the memoirs of Sister Christine.

In New York [she wrote], once there was a pitiful little group that clung to him with pathetic tenacity. In the course of a walk he had gathered up first one and then another.

This ragged retinue returned with him to the house of the Street which was the home of the Vedanta Society. Walking up the flight of steps leading to the front door the one beside him thought, “Why does he attract such queer abnormal people?”

Quick as a flash he turned and answered the unspoken thought “You see, they are Shiva’s demons."

And from Sister Christine comes still another glimpse during this same summer of that endless compassion:

Walking along Fifth Avenue one day, with two elderly forlorn devoted creatures walking in front, he said, “Don't you see, life has conquered them!”

The pity, the compassion for the defeated in his tone!

Yes, and something else -for then and there, the one who heard, prayed and vowed that never should life conquer her, not even when age, illness, and poverty should come. And so it has been. His silent blessing was fraught with power.

Sir Hiram Maxim (he was knighted by Queen Victoria in ) wrote at some length of Swamiji's appearance at the Parliament of Religions. He wrote:

A few years ago there was a Congress of Religions at Chicago. Many said that such a thing would be impossible. How could any understanding be arrived at where each particular party was absolutely right and all the others were completely in the wrong?

And this was all brought about by one brave and honest man. When it was announced in Calcutta that there was to be a Congress of religions at Chicago, some of the rich merchants took the Americans at their word, and sent them a Brahmin monk, Viva Kananda, from the oldest monastery in the world.

This monk was of commanding presence and vast learning, speaking English like a Webster. The American Protestants, who vastly outnumbered all others, imagined that they would have an easy task, and commenced proceedings with the greatest confidence, and with the air of “Just see me wipe you out.”

However, what they had to say was the old commonplace twaddle that had been mouthed over and over again in every little hamlet from Nova Scotia to California. It interested no one, and no one noticed it.

When, however, Vive Kananda spoke, they saw that they had a Napoleon to deal with. His first speech was no less than a revelation.

Every word was eagerly taken down by the reporters, and telegraphed all over the country, where it appeared in thousands of papers. Viva Kananda became the lion of the day.

He soon had an immense following. No hall could hold the people who flocked to hear him lecture. They had been sending silly girls and half educated simpletons of men, and millions of dollars, to Asia for years to convert the poor benighted heathen and save his alleged soul; and here was a specimen of the unsaved who knew more of philosophy and religion than all the parsons and missionaries in the whole country.

Religion was presented in an agreeable light for the first time to them.

There was more in it than they had ever dreamed; argument was impossible. He played with the parsons as a cat plays with a mouse.

They were in a state of consternation. What could they do? What did they do? What they always do—they denounced him as an agent of the devil.

But the deed was done; he had sown the seed, and the Americans commenced to think.

3 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

The “celestial panorama on earth” could hold no temptations for Swamiji; his eyes, the perfect servants of his renunciation, saw through beauty to the bone. And all the while, in the hubbub that swirled around him, he drifted still in “the will current of the Mother,” awaiting Her command, not certain of his next move. “[Mother] knows best what She wants to have done,” he wrote to Swami Turiyananda on September 1, 1900. “She never speaks out, ‘only keeps mum.’ But this much I notice that for a month or so I have been having intense meditation and repetition of the Lord’s name.”

Who can say what heights of experience Swamiji meant by the word *intense*! Yet he did not remain aloof from the activity surrounding him. In *Prabuddha Bharata* of March one finds a brief but vivid glimpse of Swamiji during a sight-seeing excursion in Paris. “I see him now,” the friend who had been with him wrote years later to the editor of the magazine, “leaning over and looking down upon Napoleon's tomb and saying, ‘A great man, a great force! Siva! Siva!’ ”

(This same correspondent recalled another sight-seeing incident that had taken place in Saint Peter's in Rome. But it could as well, one thinks, have occurred in Notre Dame, which almost unquestionably Swamiji visited. “At St. Peter's,” his friend related, “he said, ‘This is splendid!’ And when I said, amazed, ‘You, Swamiji, like all this ceremony?’ he replied, ‘If you love a personal God, then give Him all your best—incense, flowers, jewels and silk. There is nothing good enough.’ A great wonder it was, knowing Swamiji.”)

4 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

One day we lost our way in Cairo. I suppose we had been talking too intently. At any rate, we found ourselves in a squalid, ill-smelling street, where half clad women lolled from windows and sprawled on doorsteps.

The swami noticed nothing until a particularly noisy group of women on a bench in the shadow of a dilapidated building began laughing and calling to him.

One of the ladies of our party tried to hurry us along, but the swami detached himself gently from our group and approached the women on the bench.

"Poor children!” he said. “Poor creatures! They have put their divinity in their beauty. Look at them now!”

[According to Mme Calves’ account of this incident to her friend Mme Paul Verdier, Swamiji's words were: “Poor child, she has forgotten who she is. He began to weep, as Jesus might have done before the woman taken in adultery.

The women were silenced and abashed. One of them leaned forward and kissed the hem of his robe, murmuring brokenly in Spanish, “Hombre de Dios, hombre de Dios!” (Man of God!)

Another, with a sudden gesture of modesty and fear, threw her arm in front of her face as though she would screen her shrinking soul from those pure eyes.

This marvellous journey proved to be almost the last occasion on which I was to see the swami. Shortly afterward he announced that he was to return to his own country. He felt that his end was approaching and he wished to go back to the community of which he was director and where he had spent his youth.

It should be mentioned that Emma Calve and Josephine MacLeod each told Mme Paul Verdier, who knew them both well, more details in regard to Swamiji’s departure for his motherland than are to be found in their respective memoirs.

I quote directly from the late Mme Verdier’s notes, which she generously supplied: According to what both Josephine MacLeod and Calve told me, Calve met the party in Egypt where she had an engagement to sing. It is possible that she had left the party somewhere en route [probably in Greece], and joined it again in Egypt.

When she arrived, Miss MacLeod told her that she would find Swamiji in a sad, depressed mood. Calve asked what the matter was, and Tantine said, “He wants to go back to India.”

So Calve saw Swamiji and found him sad. Calve was very outspoken and free. She asked him why he felt sad, and he answered that he wanted to go back to India to be with his brother monks.

At these words, Calve answered, “Why, Swamiji, if it is only that, I'll pay your fare; it is nothing! But why do you want to leave us? "

Then his eyes filled with tears, he was so moved by her spontaneous generosity. (She was very generous, like the great artist that she was.)

And he told her then-these are her words to me- ‘I want to go back to India to die and want to be with my brothers.’ ”

She was aghast and said something like—"But Swamiji you cannot die, we need you"—I forget her exact words.

Then he said he would die the 4th of July.

Later Calve accepted a singing engagement which took her over the world, She told me that she particularly wanted to go to India, as she wanted to check herself on the date of Swamiji’s death.

She found that just as he had told her (so she said) he died on the 4th of July.

5 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

Whatever reason Swamiji may have had for returning to India—and there appears to have been more than one reason - his decision had been an unexpected one.

At Luxor and Karnak, up the Nile, lay the ruins of ancient Thebes, which Miss MacLeod wanted to visit.

But Swamiji was not tempted. He longed suddenly for his motherland, and Joe, as she later told her niece Frances Leggett, who wrote of the incident in "Late and Soon", made no effort to detain him.

Coming to Joe one morning in Cairo, Swamiji said to her, “I must leave immediately. I must go back to India.”

And, as she later told it, she had answered with a full, though regretful heart, “Yes, go.”

It was after this, of course, that Mme Calve, also with a full heart, made his return possible.

There was perhaps another, more compelling reason for his longing to return to India-a reason to which he had given words months earlier when he had written to Joe from Alameda:

“Now I again hear his voice; the same old voice thrilling my soul. Bonds are breaking, love dying, work becoming tasteless—the glamour is off life. Now only the voice of the Master calling – I come, Lord, I come. ‘Let the dead bury the dead, follow thou Me.'— I come, my beloved Lord, I come.’ Yes, I come.

Nirvana is before me. I feel it at times, the same infinite ocean of peace, without a ripple, a breath."

6 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda)

Swami's departure astonished everyone. But the ripple of news spread over the world as slowly as a ship’s passage; it would not reach India before Swamiji himself. For Swamiji the voyage of eleven or twelve days to India was uneventful, but for at least one of his fellow passengers, a nonplussed American missionary by the name of Reeves Calkins, it was a voyage not soon to be forgotten. Mr. Calkins’s memories of his talks with Swamiji and of Swamiji’s easy squelching of an ill-advised conspiracy of passengers to get the better of him in debate can be found in 'Reminiscences of Swami Vivekananda', here reprinted from the March 1923 issue of Prabuddha Bharata, which magazine had taken the article from a Bombay journal. It is a valuable account, for Swamiji’s gigantic personality bursts all the bounds of Mr. Calkins’s prejudice. Despite himself, the missionary portrayed the great soul and vast heart of the Hindu monk. One sees brilliance flashing from him in debate; his answers to those who attempted to “draw” him “sparkled with epigram and apt quotation"; at the table “his conversation was like Ganga at high flood.”

But at other times walking on the deck at night in friendship with the missionary—Swamiji seems to have been barely able to keep his mind on a level where talk of any kind was possible. “The mysticism of Vivekananda was a fascination and wonder,” Mr. Calkins wrote. “For it was not affected. When our conversation touched, as it was bound to, on the hidden things of the spirit, his heavy eyelids would droop slowly and he wandered, even in my presence, into some mystic realm where I was not invited."

7 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

God Is to Be Heard with Humility

And I teach two lessons as the days go by. 1. Get rid of your vices. 2. Increase your virtues. ‘Whoever rejects me and does not accept my message has one who will judge him. The words I have spoken will be his judge on the last day!’.

A Prayer for the Grace of Devotion

O Lord, my God! You are everything that is good. Who am I, that I should dare to speak to you? I am your poorest, least deserving servant- lowlier than I would like to admit. Yet remember me, O Lord, because I am nothing, and I can do nothing. Only you are good, just, and holy. You can do all things, can supply all things, fill all things, leaving empty only the person who lives apart from you. In your mercy, fill my heart with grace. 07/03/2021

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Jai Ramakrishna.

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Our Honest Humility Before God

My child, live honestly before me, and always look for me with a simple heart. This will defend you from evil and set you free from deceivers and unjust slanderers. If the truth sets you free, then you will be really free, and you will pay no attention to the empty comments of others. That’s true, Lord. Let it be for me as you say. I want your Truth to teach me, guard me, and preserve me until the end of my days. Let it free me from every evil, and I will walk with you in liberty.

The Truth speaks: I will teach you what is pleasing to me. Think about your sins with great displeasure and sadness. Never think highly of yourself because you have done some good things. The fact is, you are a sinner. Many passions entangle and enslave you. By yourself you will always be quickly defeated, quickly overcome, quickly disturbed, quickly unnerved. You have nothing to be proud of, and much that should shame you. You are far weaker than you can comprehend.

Therefore, do not let anything you do seem very important to you. Let nothing seem great, nothing precious or admirable, nothing sophisticated, nothing high, nothing really worth having, except that which is eternal. Take pleasure, above all else, in the eternal Truth. Always be displeased with your own unworthiness. The thing to fear, the thing to blame and run away from, is your sin, which ought to bother you more than the loss of any material thing.

Some are not sincere. Curiosity and pride make them wish to know my secrets and understand God’s profundity. All the while they neglect themselves and their own salvation. Some have their devotion only in books, some in paintings, some in statues and carvings. Some have me often enough on their lips, but they have little of me in their hearts. Others, with insight and self-denial seek the eternal at all times. They are reluctant to hear about earthly things and are upset by the demands of nature. These understand what the Spirit of Truth says to me and disregard the world, and long for heaven.

8 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Our Honest Humility Before God

My child, live honestly before me, and always look for me with a simple heart. This will defend you from evil and set you free from deceivers and unjust slanderers. If the truth sets you free, then you will be really free, and you will pay no attention to the empty comments of others.

That’s true, Lord. Let it be for me as you say. I want your Truth to teach me, guard me, and preserve me until the end of my days. Let it free me from every evil, and I will walk with you in liberty.

The Truth speaks: I will teach you what is pleasing to me. Think about your sins with great displeasure and sadness. Never think highly of yourself because you have done some good things.

The fact is, you are a sinner. Many passions entangle and enslave you. By yourself you will always be quickly defeated, quickly overcome, quickly disturbed, quickly unnerved.

You have nothing to be proud of, and much that should shame you. ‘You are far weaker than you can comprehend.

Therefore, do not let anything you do seem very important to you. Let nothing seem great, nothing precious or admirable, nothing sophisticated, nothing high, nothing really worth having, except that which is eternal.

Take pleasure, above all else, in the eternal Truth. Always be displeased with your own unworthiness. The thing to fear, the thing to blame and run away from, is your sin, which ought to bother you more than the loss of any material thing.

Some are not sincere. Curiosity and pride make them wish to know my secrets and understand God’s profundity. All the while they neglect themselves and their own salvation.

Some have their devotion only in books, some in paintings, some in statues and carvings.

Some have me often enough on their lips, but they have little of me in their hearts.

Others, with insight and self-denial seek the eternal at all times. They are reluctant to hear about earthly things and are upset by the demands of nature. These understand what the Spirit of Truth says to me and disregard the world, and long for heaven.

9 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation of Christ)

The Results of Divine Love

I bless you, heavenly Father, Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, because you take notice of a creature like me. Merciful Father and God of all comfort, I give you thanks. Come then, Lord God, Holy One who loves me! When you come into my heart, everything in me will leap with joy!

“You are my hiding place; I sing aloud of your salvation, because you protect me.” Because I am still imperfect and weak in love, I need your strength and comfort. Visit me frequently and teach me with holy discipline. Free me from evil passions, and heal my heart of excessive desires; that, being inwardly healthy, I may be prepared to love, and filled with courage to endure and persevere.

Love is a great good that makes every heavy thing light. It is not burdened by the load it carries, and it sweetens the bitter. Love wants to live in the heights, and not to be grounded by base things. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger than love, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing more satisfying in heaven or on earth. Because you, my God, give birth to love, you are love’s natural resting place.

The one in love rejoices in his freedom. He gives all for everything, because he is familiar with One who is supreme above all—the Source of all that is good. He concentrates not on the gifts, but on the Giver. Love goes beyond all measurements. Love notices no burdens, thinks nothing of its labours, wittingly does more than it is able, pleads no excuse of impossibility; believes it can accomplish anything. And it can. Love makes up for many shortcomings; it opens the door for many possibilities.

I desire to swim in a sea of your love. I want to be possessed by love so that I can rise above myself. Let me follow you, my Beloved. Let me love you more than myself, and love myself only for you. Love treads lightly. It is sincere, kind, pleasant, and delightful. It is strong, patient, faithful, careful, longsuffering, brave, and never selfish. Toward you, Lord, love must be devout and thankful—trusting and hoping always, even when I do not taste your sweetness.

For no one can live in love without some pain. If I am not ready to suffer all things, and to accept your will, I am not worthy of the title lover. A lover is willing to embrace the difficult and the bitter for the sake of his Beloved.

10 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

How to Recognize a True Lover

Child, you are not yet a true lover.

Why, O Lord?

Because you give up when a little opposition comes your way. You are too eager for consolation. A genuine lover stands his ground when tempted. He does not yield to the Enemy.

A true lover looks less at the gift and more at the love of the giver. He regards the demonstration of affection as more important than the value of the gift, and prizes the one loved more than any present.

Therefore, all is not lost if you sometimes feel less devotion toward me than you would like. Even the affection you sometimes have is one of my gifts to you, something of a foretaste of heaven. Don’t count on it too much, because it comes and goes. But do resist the tendency of your mind toward evil, and reject the suggestions of the Devil.

Be strong! It is not an illusion that sometimes you are ecstatically carried away and then you return to your familiar faults. It seems that you unwillingly tolerate this shift, and as long as it is unpleasant to you, and you resist it, you will be rewarded.

Remember that your old Enemy tries with every trick he has to frustrate your desire for good, and to divert your attention from worship. He suggests many evil thoughts, hoping to fatigue you and frighten you away from prayer and holy reading.

He hates humble confession; if he could manage it, he would even talk you out of Holy Communion. Don’t listen to him! Ignore his deceitful traps. When he recommends anything evil, say to him:

‘Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way because these thoughts of yours don’t come from God’.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; I will fear no one.

The Lord protects me from all danger; I will never be afraid. ‘Even if a whole army surrounds me, I will not be afraid; even if enemies attack me, I will still trust God’.

Fight like a good soldier. And if, because you are weak, you sometimes fall, get up again strengthened by the experience, trusting my abundant grace. Then guard yourself against complacency and pride. Be warned by the fall of the proud who rely upon their own strength.

Always be humble.

11 March 2021

When he recommends anything evil, say to him: “Get away from me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my way because these thoughts of yours don’t come from God.” The Lord is my light and my salvation; I will fear no one. The Lord protects me from all danger; I will never be afraid. “Even if a whole army surrounds me, I will not be afraid; even if enemies attack me, I will still trust God.” Fight like a good soldier. And if, because you are weak, you sometimes fall, get up again strengthened by the experience, trusting my abundant grace. Then guard yourself against complacency and pride. Be warned by the fall of the proud who rely upon their own strength. Always be humble.

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)*

Putting God First

My child, I must be your life’s supreme goal if you want genuine happiness. This will purify your intentions and keep you from perverse interest in yourself and earthly things. For if you put yourself first you will begin to dry up and wither inside. Give me first place, for I have given all. Think about how everything flows from the Greatest Good. I am the source, like a spring that produces a river. From my resources the small and the great, the poor and the rich, fill themselves, as from an inexhaustible fountain, with the water of life. Those who willingly and freely serve me shall receive “one blessing after another.” But those who attempt to delight in anything other than me, or to enjoy some private pleasure, will not have true joy and will get into innumerable difficulties. Therefore, don’t take credit for anything good yourself, and don’t attribute goodness to any other person. Give me the praise; for without me no one amounts to anything. I have given you everything you have and I want you to be grateful. This will check pride. And if you are filled with heavenly grace and genuine love, you will not be envious or narrow minded, and selfishness will be impossible for you. For divine love is stronger than all else and it enlarges the capacity of the soul. If you are thinking clearly, you will rejoice in me alone and place all of your hope in me; for “there is only One who is good.” I am to be praised above all things.

12 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)*

Serving God at Any Cost

Now I will speak again, O Lord. I will express myself in the presence of my Lord and my heavenly King. How wonderful are the good things you keep for those who honour you! Everyone knows how good you are, how securely you protect those who trust you. What difference do you make to those who love you and serve you with enthusiasm? You allow them the indescribable joy of contemplating you. You have given me a special insight into the sweetness of your love: you gave me my life; when I wandered far away, you brought me back again to serve you; you wanted me to love you. You are a waterfall of unceasing love! What shall I say about you? How can I forget you? You thought of me even when I was lost and desperate. You have been merciful beyond my wildest dream; you have been good to me far above anything I deserve. How shall I pay you back? Most of us are not expected to give up everything, to renounce the world and begin a life of monastic solitude. Does it mean very much that I should serve you when all of creation exists for that purpose? I don’t think so. But I see this, and it staggers me: you are willing to accept the service of someone as poor and unworthy as I. You will make me one of your beloved servants. 13/03/2021

I am your servant! Everything I have is yours. But even as I say that, I know you are serving me more than I am serving you. At your command, all of the resources of heaven and earth are at my disposal, and even the angels help me. Yet you serve me in a way that surpasses all of this: you promise to give yourself to me. You are the great Servant of us all. With what gift can I return your favours? I want to serve you all the days of my life. I wish it were possible, just for one day, to do something worthwhile for you. You are my Lord, and I am a poor servant who is obligated to serve you with all my strength. I should never tire of praising you, for this is what I want to do. This is my desire. Compensate for what I lack.

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Examine and Control Your Desires*

My child, there are still many things you need to learn. What are they, Lord? That you desire only what will please me, and that you stop putting yourself first and earnestly seek my will. Sometimes you are driven to distraction by desires which burn inside you. But try to determine whether your underlying motive is to honour me or simply to serve your own best interests. If you seek to honour me, you will find contentment whatever happens, but if selfishness hides within you, it will become your greatest burden. Be careful, therefore, not to give in too easily to any desire without seeking my counsel. Sometimes apparently good things are not desirable, and what is offensive at first sight often turns out to be the better choice. It can be worthwhile to restrain even the best desires and inclinations. Excessive eagerness distracts the mind, a lack of discipline can lead to scandal and, if others resist your wishes, the disappointment may turn you away from me. Your sensual appetite may require extreme measures to control. It is not easy to disregard what your flesh likes and dislikes, and to train an unwilling body to be subject to the Spirit. You must work at this, and, eventually, your body will obey you. You will learn to be content with little, to be pleased with simple things, and not to complain about inconveniences.

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

My child, if you try to escape obedient service, you will miss my gift. A community has benefits which are unknown to the hermit. If you are unable to freely and cheerfully submit to a superior, it is a sign that you do not have yourself under control. Learn how to submit quickly to a leader if you want to rule yourself. It is easier to defeat the outward enemy if the inward man is strong and controlled. The most troublesome enemy you have is yourself, if you are not in harmony with my Spirit. It is an indication that you still love yourself too much if you are afraid to submit to others. 15 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

Kshudiram's desire to make a pilgrimage to Gaya.

Time passed on, and it was now A.D. 1835. Feeling once again a strong urge to go on a pilgrimage, Kshudiram decided to go to Gaya to perform rites for the redemption of the spirits of his forefathers. He was now sixty. Still, he had no hesitation to proceed on foot to the holy abode of Vishnu. Hriday, the son of Kshudiram's niece Hemangini, told us of a strange event which made him undertake this journey to Gaya.

Hriday's strange story regarding the pilgrimage:

Once, on receiving news that his daughter Katyayani was seriously ill, Kshudiram went to Anur to see her. She was then about twenty-five years old. Watching her gestures and manner of talk, he felt convinced that she was possessed by a spirit. Then, concentrating his mind on God, he thus addressed that spirit, “Whatever you be, whether a deity or a demi-god, why do you harass my daughter? Leave her at once and go your way.”

At this, the spirit got frightened and said in a pleading voice through Katyayani, “I shall leave your daughter's body immediately if you promise to offer worship on my behalf at Gaya and thus bring to an end my present miserable condition.” 15/03/2021

Today is the most auspicious *janmatithi* of Bhagwan Shri Ramakrishna. All over the world, celebrations will be going on in the grandest manner. On this holy occasion, may Bhagwan Sri Ramakrishna bless us all with *Bhakti* and *Jnana*.

Jai Ramakrishna.

13 March 2021

We cannot vouch for the truth of Hriday's story; but there is no doubt that it was about this time that Kshudiram went to Gaya.

16 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

Kshudiram's desire to make a pilgrimage to Gaya

Some time during the winter of 1835, Kshudiram visited Varanasi (Banaras) and Gaya. It was the beginning of Chaitra (middle of March) when he reached Gaya after paying obeisance to Visvanatha (the Lord of the Universe) at Varanasi.

He came to Gaya at this time of the year probably because he knew that the spirits of his ancestors would have immense satisfaction if worship was offered at that holy place during spring in the month of Chaitra.

He lived there for about a month, performed all the ceremonies according to the scriptures, and at last offered worship at the lotus feet of Gadadhara (Vishnu). Because of his great faith, Kshudiram experienced unspeakable peace and satisfaction on thus performing the prescribed obsequies rites in honour of his ancestors.

Having fulfilled to the best of his capacity his obligations to his forefathers, he was now free from all anxiety. Then the thought came to him that the divine Lord had made it possible for an unworthy person like himself to accomplish all this, and his grateful heart overflowed with such a feeling of humility and love, as he had never experienced before.

Peace and joy were with him all that day and at night also. Scarcely had he fallen asleep when he had a dream.

He saw himself in the holy temple, in the act of offering worship to his forefathers, at the divine feet of Gadadhara. He even saw his ancestors in luminous celestial bodies, joyfully accepting the Pindas and blessing him. He could not control his emotion at seeing them after what seemed a very long time. With tears in his eyes, and a heart overflowing with devotion, he bowed down to them and touched their feet.

The very next moment he found that the temple was filled with a divine light as was never seen by him before. His forefathers were standing in the temple on both sides in a reverential attitude with their hands folded, worshipping a wonderful Divine Being seated happily on a beautiful throne.

He had a luminous body, green like the colour of new Durva grass. Looking at Kshudiram with benign, affectionate eyes, He beckoned him. Hardly conscious of what he was doing, Kshudiram drew near, and. full of devotion, prostrated himself at His feet in worship, and uttered hymns in praise.

Pleased by his worship, that Divine Being addressed him thus ' in a sweet voice, “ Kshudiram, your extraordinary devotion has made me very happy. I bless you. I shall be born as your son and be the object of your loving care.”

On hearing these words, strange even for a dream, Kshudiram's joy knew no bounds.

But the very next Moment the thought struck him how, being so poor, he could possibly feed and give proper shelter to such an exalted Being.

This made him exceedingly sad and in a voice choked with emotion, he said, “ No, no, Lord, I am not worthy of such a blessing. Is it not enough that Thou hast blessed me by graciously revealing Thyself to me and wishing to be born as my son? If Thou wert really to be born as my son, what service can a poor man like me render?”

Hearing these words full of pathos, that celestial Being seemed to become even more gracious than before, and said, “ Do not fear, Kshudiram, I shall relish whatever you give me to eat. Let my desire be fulfilled.”

Kshudiram had not the heart to say “No.”

Conflicting emotions like joy and sorrow assailed him with so much force that he could hardly contain himself, and he lost consciousness. This broke his dream.

17 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)*

How to Pray for the Things We Want

My child, this is the way to pray: “Lord, if it is pleasing to you, fulfill my request. If this will honour you, let it be done in your name. If it is good for me, grant that I may use it for your honour. But if you know that it will hurt me, take the desire away from me.”

Why pray like that? Because not every desire is inspired by the Holy Spirit, even though it may seem right and good. Sometimes it is hard to tell whether a notion is an inspiration or a temptation. Many have been deceived. Therefore, every request must be made with humility. You must submit the entire matter to me, take yourself entirely out of it, and say: “O Lord, you know what is best. Let this or that be done as you please. Give what you choose, how much you choose, and when you choose. Place me where you think best and treat me as you see fit; I am in your hand. Turn me in one direction and then another; I am your servant, prepared for anything. I have no desire to live for myself, but only for you. How I wish I could do this perfectly!”

18 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

How to Take Slights and Injuries

My child, I gave up the glories of heaven and accepted the miseries of this world because of my love for you, intending that you might learn a little patience. From the moment of my birth until my death on the Cross, I experienced grief. I was deprived of many things. I heard many complaints against me. I calmly endured disgrace and taunting, for kindness I was repaid ingratitude. For miracles I received curses. When I spoke the truth, people argued with me.

My Lord, since you were patient, I also should bear myself patiently. Although life can be bleak, it can become bright again with your help. If you had not lived before us to show the way, how could we follow? Even now we are only half-hearted. What would become of us if we did not have such great light?

Genuine Patience

What are you saying, my child? Stop complaining! Think about my sacrifice and the suffering of other saints. ‘For in your struggle against sin you have not yet had to resist to the point of being killed’.

You have suffered very little in comparison with others. Think about the heavy burdens others carry, and you will easily bear your own small troubles. And if you do not think yours are small, perhaps it is only because you are impatient. Whether they are small or great, try to bear your burdens without complaint.

Do not say, “I can’t take it! I’m not required to take it! This person has hurt me deeply and accused me of things that are not true.” That is foolish. It fails to take the crowning virtue of patience into account; it focuses on the offending person and the injury.

You are not patient if you are willing to accept difficulty only up to a certain point and from a few selected people. Genuine patience cares nothing about the source of the problem, whether it is from a superior an equal, or an inferior; whether it is from a good and holy person or a villain. You must take it all thankfully as though I gave it. Consider it your gain. For it is impossible that anything, however small can be suffered for my sake without some reward.

Be ready for battle if you want to win. Without struggling you cannot gain patience, and if you will not suffer you refuse to be crowned. Rest always follows labour.

Lord, let this become possible for me, even though it seems out of reach. You know I can endure so very little and I am quickly defeated. Please let every difficulty become a desirable thing, for to suffer and to be harassed for you is beneficial to my soul.

19 March 2021

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Admitting Our Weakness

I will confess my weakness to you, O Lord. Sometimes when I intend to be courageous, I succumb even to a little temptation. You know how frail I am, Lord. Have mercy on me. Do not let me get stuck in a quagmire of sin. I fall so easily. My passions are stronger than my will, and, although I am reluctant, they keep on nagging me. It is fatiguing to live every day in that kind of tension. I know I am weak, because temptations come to me far more easily than they depart. What a strange life! Trouble and misery are always in stock. Traps and enemies are abundant. When one problem retreats, another takes its place. And sometimes the second difficulty doesn’t wait for the first to be resolved. How can anyone love a life like that? Isn’t it natural to feel bitterness in the face of so much misery? Is anything so threatened by death and plague even worthy of the name, ‘life’? And yet people love it and try to find happiness in it. Some things make us love the world; other things make us hate it.

Complete Devotion to God

Above all else, and in everything, my soul must rest in God. Let me, O living Jesus, rest in you above every created thing, above health and beauty, above glory and honour, above power and dignity, above wisdom and cunning, above riches and arts, above joy and gladness, above fame and praise, above pleasure and comfort, above hope and promise, above things earned and things desired, above gifts and favours, above mirth and merrymaking. Ultimately let me rest above angels and archangels and the host of heaven, above things seen and unseen, above all that is not you, my God. Because you, O Lord, are above all. You alone are most high, most powerful, most sufficient, most full, most pleasant, most comforting. No matter what gifts you give me, and regardless of your great self-revelation, if I do not know you as my closest friend, I am still hungry for you. I will never be content until my heart is devoted above all else to you.

When will this happen? When will I love you so much, my God, that I forget myself and know you alone? Now, I sigh unhappily, I am hurt and grieved by the evil I see. I am hindered and distracted, allured and entangled, and the way to you is cut off like a draw-bridge pulled up.

20 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Let my sighs be prayers.

How long will you wait, Lord? When will you come to help me? Please come help me. Without you I cannot enjoy a single day or even an hour. You are my joy; apart from you I sit at an empty table. I am wretched, like a prisoner in chains. Let the sun shine on me again. Give me freedom and liberty. Smile at me, Lord.

Others can chase after what they will, but I want only you. I will pray, and keep on praying, until your kind favour returns and I hear you speaking to me inwardly once again.

I am here, my friend. You have called, and I have come. Your tears and the longing of your soul, your humility and repentance, have brought me to you.

Lord, I have called you and desired you. I am willing to make any sacrifice for you. It was you who gave me this thirst for you, you who stirred the ashes and fanned the flame of my desire for you.

What more can I say to you now? I bow in humility, confess my sin, and praise your greatness.

(This is a reference to the famous line near the beginning of St. Augustine’s Confessions: Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee.’)

The Distribution of God’s Favours

You are the giver of all we have and are, O God.

If one has received more, and another less, both are yours, and without you there is no blessing at all.

The one who has received the most cannot say that he deserved it or think that he is any better than others. The greatest and the best, after all, is the one who thinks the least of himself and is humbly grateful.

If someone has received less, he must not be disturbed about it. And certainly he shouldn’t envy anyone else. Instead he should turn to you, Lord, and praise you for your goodness and your gifts.

You know what is suitable for everyone. “You have a reason for giving one less and another more.

This is not for us to figure out.

Those who have received less can take special comfort because, ‘God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful.

He chose what the world looks down on and despises, and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important.

21 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Four Things That Bring Peace

My child, now I will teach you the way of peace and true freedom.

Lord, I am eager to hear. Please teach me.

1. Do what pleases another rather than yourself.

2. Choose to have less rather than more.

3. Seek the lowest place and be the servant of all.

4. Pray that my will may be accomplished in you always.

Do these four things, and you will surely find peace and inward rest.

My Lord, this short lesson is perfect. With a few words you have struck the target with great force. I can repeat the lesson in a moment, but its truth is gigantic. Now, if I could simply follow it, I would not be troubled so easily. For whenever I am upset and burdened, it is because I have not practiced these simple rules. I cannot attain it on my own, but you can do all things. Help me.

A Prayer Against Evil Thoughts

(The Imitation Of Christ)*

Take Necessities in Moderation

Food, drink, clothing, and all things necessary for staying alive are a burden to a fervent spirit. Let me use such things in moderation, and never prize them too much. I must not renounce them entirely, because you want us to support nature. But to ask for more than enough, and for great pleasures, would be wrong. Guide me and teach me so that I will know when I have had enough.

The Greatest Barrier: Self-love

Give everything to everyone; withhold none of your love. Nothing injures you more than self-love. Desire nothing illegal. Own nothing that will enslave you. Why weary yourself with extra cares? Accept my will and you will lose nothing. If you constantly search for the perfect experience or the perfect location to improve your life, you will never be satisfied or free from anxiety. In every situation something will be missing, and in every place someone will cross you. Happiness, then, is not found by increasing your possessions, but by despising them. Renounce your craving not only for wealth, but also for prestige and fame. All of these will pass away with this world. Your place doesn’t matter; your spirit does. You can change jobs and locations without changing yourself for the better, if your heart has no foundation in me. For you will always find again, in the new place, the very thing you were running away from—sometimes more of it!

Accepting Slander

Child, do not be destroyed if some people don’t like you and say unfair things about you. If your soul is well-ordered, you won’t pay much attention to flying words. It is great wisdom to keep silent when damaging words are spoken to you. Turn your attention to me and don’t worry about rumour and slander. Don’t look for support from the mouths of others. You are who you are regardless of what they say. And you shall know much peace if you neither try to please them, nor care if you displease them.

25 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Recovery

My child, I am the Lord who ‘protects his people in times of trouble’. Come to me whenever you have a problem. I could help you much faster if you were not so slow in turning to prayer; but you try everything else first. Remember that I am the one who rescues those who trust in me. You will find no lasting help in any other source.

Now that you have caught your breath and your trouble has passed, recuperate in my mercies. I stand near you to repair all damage and to make things better than before. Is anything too hard for me? Where is your faith? Stand strong in me. Have patience and courage; comfort will come in time. Wait. I will come to you with healing.

Are you anxious about the future? What will that gain you but sorrow? ‘So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings’.

What a waste to be disturbed or joyful about future events which may never materialize! The Enemy will prey on your natural inclination to such anxieties. He doesn’t care whether he deludes you to love the present or to fear the future.

“Do not be worried and upset. do not be afraid”. When you think you are far from me, I am frequently quite near. When you feel that all is lost, sometimes the greatest gain is ready to be yours. Don’t judge everything by the way you feel right now. If, for a while, you feel no comfort from me, I have not rejected you. In fact, I have set you on the road to the kingdom of heaven.

It is better for you to experience a little adversity than to have everything exactly as you choose. Otherwise, you may become mistakenly self-satisfied.

What I have given, I can take away, and I can return it again when I please. When I give something to you, it is on loan; when I take it back, I am not asking for anything that is yours. “Every good gift and every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God”.

I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love’. That is what I said to my beloved disciples, and you will notice that I sent them out into the world,

not to enjoy earthly pleasures, but to do battle;

not to receive honour, but to receive contempt;

not to be idle, but to work;

not to rest, but to reap a harvest patiently.

Remember these words, my child.

26 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Call on God When You Need Him

I am in an inescapable difficulty, Lord, and I turn to you for help. Use this bad moment for some good purpose.

“Now my heart is troubled-and what shall I say? Shall I say ‘Father, do not let this hour come upon me? But that is why I came-so that I might go through this hour of suffering. Father, bring glory to your name!’.

‘Save me, Lord! Help me now!’. For what can I do to help myself? Where can I go without you? Give me patience in this emergency. Help me, my God, and I will not be afraid.

In the middle of this adversity what shall I say? ‘Your will be done’. It is not surprising that I suffer and I ought to bear it. Yes, I want to bear it patiently, until the storm is over and a better time comes. You are able to take even this trouble away from me. You can soften its impact, as you have before, so I will not collapse under it. The more difficult the problem is for me, the easier it is for you to solve.

Forget Created Things and Find the Creator

Lord, I lack the spiritual maturity to live so that nothing in creation, none of life’s pleasures or irritations, can hinder my devotion to you. I know how the psalmist felt when he sang, I wish I had wings, like a dove. I would fly away and find rest. Who is more at rest than the one who cares for no earthly thing? For you, the Creator of all things, have made no creature that compares with you.

And, unless I can be liberated from a love of created things, my mind will not be free to concentrate on you alone. This explains why so few of us are contemplative people. Most of us find the requirements too great. We need your grace.

What is not God is nothing. And that is the label we ought to put on it’: ‘Nothing?’

Self-denial

My child, the only way to possess absolute freedom is to renounce yourself. Those who seek their own interests are trapped. They love themselves. They wander around in circles greedily searching for soft and delicate things instead of the things of Christ. They make plans that are doomed to fail because they are not in harmony with me.

Here is my teaching again in a capsule: Let everything go, and you will find everything; stop wanting so much, and you will have rest.

Lord, this is not going to be easy. You’re asking for perfection!

Don’t be frightened off, my child. Gain an appetite for higher things. I have no greater wish for you than this: that you lose all your selfishness and serve only me. Yes, you have a long way to go. But unless you start the journey, you will never reach the end.

My child, do not be worn out by the work you are doing for me. Let no setback discourage you. I will give you strength.

Remember, you will not be working here forever. If you will wait a little while, things will change. Soon enough all labour and trouble will end.

Keep going, then. Work faithfully in my garden, and I will be your wages. Write, read, sing, mourn, be silent, and pray. Take all blows gladly. The kingdom of heaven is worth all this and much more. When you know the joy of that peace, you will no longer ask, ‘Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death?’, for death will be destroyed and you will remain with me forever.

30 March 2021

I instruct you to despise earthly things and seek the eternal, to run from honours and endure insults, to place all hope in me and to love me above all things. Books may contain identical letters and use the same method of communication, but they do not instruct everyone in the same way. The reason is that I secretly teach within each person as I see fit.

A Word of Divine Encouragement

My child, do not be worn out by the work you are doing for me. Let no setback discourage you. I will give you strength. Remember, you will not be working here forever. If you will wait a little while, things will change. Soon enough all labour and trouble will end. Keep going, then. Work faithfully in my garden, and I will be your wages. Write, read, sing, mourn, be silent, and pray. Take all blows gladly. The kingdom of heaven is worth all this and much more. When you know the joy of that peace, you will no longer ask, “Who will rescue me from this body that is taking me to death?”, for death will be destroyed and you will remain with me forever.

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

A Prayer for Grace

My Lord, grant me the grace to know you; what you have shown me is so important for my spiritual health. Let me overcome my natural inclinations. I can’t resist these passions unless you help me. I know that good does not live in me—that is, in my human nature. For even though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it. I don’t do the good I want to do; instead, I do the evil that I do not want to do. So it is that I start many good things, but then drop out before the job is finished. Therefore, O Lord, let your grace lead me and follow me, through your son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Following Christ

My child, the more you can withdraw from yourself, the more you can enter into me. I want you to learn how to forget yourself completely and be comfortable in my will. Follow me. “I am the way, the truth, and the life. Without the Way, you can go nowhere. Without the Truth, you can know nothing. Without the life, you cannot live. I am the Way you should follow. I am the Truth you should believe. I am the life you can hope for. I am the Way that is protected. I am the Truth that is flawless. I am the life that has no end. I am the straightest Way. I am the perfect Truth. I am the happiest life. If you obey my teaching, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Keep the commandments if you want to enter life. If you want to know the truth, believe me. If you want to be perfect, go and sell all you have. If you want to be my disciple, deny yourself everything. If you want a happy life, despise this present one. If you want to be great in heaven, humble yourself in the world. If you want to reign with me, bear the Cross with me.”

31 March 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Don’t Question God’s Judgment

My child, it will be better for you if you accept my decisions without complaint. Do not ask me to defend my actions, or to explain why one person is favoured and another seems slighted. The answers to these questions go far beyond your comprehension.

When you are tempted to object say with the psalmist, ‘You are righteous, Lord, and your laws are just'. The judgments of the Lord are just; they are always fair'. My decisions are to be respected; They are not to be debated.

And don't waste your time trying to determine which of the saints is most saintly, or who shall be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. This can cause arguments and dissension, and you may even form parties and admiration societies. The saints would be the first to tell you to stop it!

Some people gather around one godly person, and others gather around another. But this is human love, not divine love. I made all the saints. I gave them grace and glory. I chose them; they did not choose me. I attracted them to myself and led them safely through temptations. I gave them strength and patience.

But I do not reserve my favour for these saints; I love everyone. So, if you look down on the least person, you fail to honour the greatest, because I made both of them and all in my kingdom are one, bound together in my love.

When the disciples asked who would be the greatest, this was Jesus’s answer: ‘Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is the one who humbles himself and becomes like this child’.

The Prayer of One Who Would Follow Christ

I look only to you, merciful Father, for help and comfort. My soul praises you and seeks to become your holy dwelling place. Let nothing in me offend you. Hear the prayer of your weakest servant who is wandering in a distant place. Protect me from the dangers of this corruptible world. Guide me along the way of peace to my home of eternal brightness.

Amen.

1 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the Janma-Tithi of Swami Yogananda. May he bless us all with Bhakti.)

Though Jogin (Swami Yogananda) would trust a man easily and had the simplicity of a child, he was not a simpleton. Rather, he had a keen discriminating mind and was critical in his outlook. What opinion he would give about men and things would often prove true. But his critical attitude once led him into a quandary. One night he slept in the same room with Sri Ramakrishna. In the dead of night he found that Sri Ramakrishna was not in the room and the door was open. At first he felt curious, then became suspicious as to where Sri Ramakrishna could go at such an unearthly hour. He came outside, but Sri Ramakrishna could not be seen. Did Sri Ramakrishna then go to his wife, who was then staying at the concert-house?—he thought. Then Sri Ramakrishna was not what he professed himself to be! He wanted to probe into the mystery, and stood near the concert-house to see if Sri Ramakrishna came out of the room. After some time Sri Ramakrishna came from the Panchavati side and was surprised to see him standing near the concert-house. Jogin was stupefied and felt ashamed of himself for his suspicion. A more sinful act can never be conceived of: to suspect even in thought the purity of a saint like Sri Ramakrishna! He was horror-struck at his own conduct and did not know what to say. Sri Ramakrishna understood the whole situation and consoled his young disciple with the encouraging words: "Yes, one should observe a Sadhu by day as well as at night before one accepts him as a guide."

With these words Sri Ramakrishna came to his room, followed mutely by Jogin. In spite of the sweet words from Sri Ramakrishna, he had no sleep throughout the rest of the night, and later throughout his whole life he did not forgive himself for what he considered to be an extremely sinful act. There are many incidents as to how Jogin, with all his devotion to Sri Ramakrishna, kept his critical faculty alert and did not fail to judge even his Guru.

2 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

A Prayer for Troubled Times

Heavenly Father, the time has come for me to be tested. It is proper that I should now suffer something for your sake. Before time began you knew this hour would come.

Outwardly, I will be tormented; inwardly, I will be with you. For a little while, I will be a failure and an object of scorn. Go down with me Father, so I may rise with you in the dawning of a new light.

Such humbling is good for me, Lord. It helps me throw away haughtiness and pride. It is valuable ‘that I am covered with shame’, because it makes me turn to you for comfort rather than to men.

Thank you for this painful challenge. You know how troubled times can scour away the rust of sin. Do with me as you choose.

O Lord,

let me know what is worth knowing,

love what is worth loving,

praise what pleases you,

honour what is worthy in your sight,

and avoid all that is evil.

As humble Saint Francis said, ‘A man is as much as he is in your sight and no more.’

Enduring the Desert

My child, you cannot always be spiritually high and inflamed with devotion. You are flesh and bones, and naturally inclined to stumble. As long as you live in a mortal body, you will face weariness. Bear patiently your exile and the dryness of your mind. The time will come when I will make you forget these painful moments and you will enjoy inward quietness. I will open the Bible for you and you will be thrilled by your new understanding of my truth.

Then you will say, “I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us”.

3 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Christ the Beloved, Speaks:

“Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever: The bread that I will give him is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live. ‘Take and eat it; this is my body.’ ‘Do this in memory of me.’ ‘Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I live in him. What gives life is God's Spirit; man's power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit.”

The Follower Speaks:

These are your words, Lord Jesus. You did not say them all at one time, and they are not written in one place, but they are your eternal Truth and I gratefully receive them in faith. They are your words; I claim them for myself. From your mouth they travel to my heart. They arouse me, for they are the tender words of love. But I am afraid. My conscience hurts me and I squirm under the guilt of my sin. Your words invite me to come confidently, but who am I, Lord, that I should dare approach you? How shall I even consider it when I know how unworthy I am? Angels and archangels bow in awe before you; holy and righteous people tremble before you, and yet I hear you say to me, “Come.” Only because it is your command, can I believe it. I am stunned. I am about to be the guest not of an angel, but of the Lord of angels! And in your presence I must have nothing in my heart and mind but you. Then why don’t I prepare myself more diligently to receive your sacred gifts? Why am I less eager than the patriarchs and prophets to enter your presence? If the Lord's Supper were served in only one place, by only one ordained person in the world, many would make a sacred pilgrimage to experience it. But Communion celebrations are offered everywhere. You come to me, Lord! You desire to be with me! Open my eyes that I might comprehend this mystery. Strengthen me with undoubting faith. This Communion is health to my soul and body. It cures my vices, subdues my passions, lessens and defeats my temptations, it increases my virtues, confirms my faith, strengthens my hope, and ignites my love. And while I cannot yet be perfect, or as glowing as the cherubim and seraphim, I will prepare my heart to obtain some small flame of divine fire through this living sacrament. 04/04/2021 – Swami Dayatmananda:

4 April 2021. Jai Ramakrishna.

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Christ the Beloved, Speaks:

If you were as pure as an angel and as holy as John the Baptist, you still would not be worthy to touch this bread and wine; it is not because you deserve it that you should take Communion. Therefore, approach it with respect and reverence.

The Follower Speaks:

What shall I do, my God? Teach me the right way. Show me some devotional exercise that will prepare me for the Holy Bible. I want to prepare my heart.

The Beloved Speaks:

Examine your conscience. In humble confession and contrition it will be purified and cleared. You must bring no burden that will make you remorseful. When you have done all you can with such a review, and when you sincerely regret your failures, and turn to me for forgiveness, you shall receive it. "If an evil man stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. Do you think I enjoy seeing an evil man die?" asks the sovereign Lord. "No, I would rather see him repent and live."

The Follower Speaks:

O Lord, I simply offer myself to you today as you have commanded. I will serve you forever in humility. Receive me now. Take, first of all, my sins and consume them with the fire of your love. And then I turn over to you all that is good in me that you may add to it and make it acceptable.

The Beloved Speaks:

Beware of digging too deeply into the mystery of the sacrament and all matters that are beyond your reach. This has caused many to lose their devotion; you need faith and sincerity, not deep understanding of my great mysteries. If you can't comprehend what is within you, how will you grasp what is beyond you? Submit yourself to me and insights will be added to you in whatever measure you require. Trust my Word, and take comfort that unbelievers are not tempted the way the faithful and devout are tempted. I walk with the simple, reveal myself to the humble, give understanding to the poor in spirit, and pour wisdom into pure minds, but I hide from the proudly inquisitive. Human reason is weak and easily led astray, but faith cannot be deceived. For this reason, all scholarship should follow faith, not guide it or intrude upon it. I am, after all, beyond human comprehension, and I do things you cannot understand. 05/04/2021

Jai Ramakrishna

Parables and Stories of Lord Buddha

“Birth is painful, old age is painful, sickness is painful, association with unloved objects is painful, separation from loved objects is painful, the desire which one does not obtain, is painful too.” —Buddha

The Blessed One thought: “I have taught the truth which is excellent in the beginning, excellent in the middle, and excellent in the end; it is glorious in its spirit and glorious in its letter. But simple as it is, the people cannot understand it. I must speak to them in their own language. I must adapt my thoughts to their thoughts. They are like children, and love to hear tales. Therefore, I will tell them stories to explain the glory of the Dharma. If they cannot grasp the truth in the abstract arguments by which I have reached it, they may nevertheless come to understand it, if it is illustrated in parables.”

The Widow’s Mite and the Three Merchants

There was once a lone widow who was very destitute, and having gone to the mountain she beheld hermits holding a religious assembly. Then the woman was filled with joy, and uttering praises, said, “It is well, holy priests! But while others give precious things such as the ocean caves produce, I have nothing to offer.”

Having spoken thus and having searched herself in vain for something to give, she recollected that some time before she had found in a dung-heap two coppers, so taking these she offered them as a gift to the priesthood in charity. The superior of the priests, a saint who could read the hearts of men, disregarding the rich gifts of others and beholding the deep faith dwelling in the heart of this poor widow, and wishing the priesthood to esteem rightly her religious merit, burst forth with full voice in a canto. He raised his right hand and said, “Reverend priests attend!” and then he went on:

“The poor coppers of this widow

To all purpose are more worth

Than all the treasures of the oceans

And the wealth of the broad earth.

As an act of pure devotion

She has done a pious deed;

She has attained salvation,

Being free from selfish greed.”

The woman was mightily strengthened in her mind by this thought, and said, “It is even as the Teacher says: what I have done is as much as if a rich man were to give up all his wealth.”

And the teacher said: “Doing good deeds is like hoarding up treasures,” and he expounded this truth in a parable:

“Three merchants set out on their travels each with his wealth; one of them gained much, the second returned with his wealth, and the third one came home after having lost his wealth. What is true in common life applies also to religion. The wealth is the state a man has reached, the gain is heaven; the loss of his wealth means that a man will be reborn in a lower state, as a denizen of hell or as an animal. These are the courses that are open to the sinner. He who brings back his wealth, is like to one who is born again as a man. Those who through the exercise of various virtues become pious householders will be born again as men, for all beings will reap the fruit of their actions. But he who increases his wealth is like to one who practices eminent virtues. The virtuous, excellent man attains in heaven to the glorious state of the gods.”

Jai Ramakrishna

Parables and Stories of Lord Buddha

The Man Born Blind

There was a man born blind, and he said: “I do not believe in the world of light and appearance. There are no colours, bright or somber. There is no sun, no moon, no stars. No one has witnessed these things.”

His friends remonstrated with him, but he clung to his opinion: “What you say that you see,” he objected, “are illusions. If colours existed I should be able to touch them. They have no substance and are not real.” 07/04/2021

Swami Dayatmananda: 7 April 2021. Jai Ramakrishna.

(Teachings of Swami Adbhutananda)

Advice to a Devotee

Biharilal Sarkar: "Maharaj, why are there so many ups and downs in the mind of a householder?"

Latu Maharaj: "Because the mind of a householder is too involved with worldly objects. Sometimes it goes up as a result of spiritual practices, but it falls back again. The Master used to say: if one ties a rope with a brick at the end of it to the tail of a mongoose, it will be able to climb a wall only as far as the loose rope permits but no farther, because of the weight of the brick. Likewise, the mind of a householder may move toward God, but the weight of worldly objects pulls it back. To keep the mind always in God is a great tapasya: such a mind does not fluctuate between high and low. A thread with stray fibers cannot pass through the eye of a needle; similarly, a mind with desires cannot be absorbed in God. When a man's mind becomes fully concentrated on God, he enjoys the bliss of the Atman. But this is very difficult in the householder's life. Disease, sorrow, enjoyment, desire—all these are constant companions of the householder; also physical lethargy and mental restlessness. In addition to these, if the man doubts the existence of God, there is no hope of his getting liberation. Often you will find that worldly people are busy with their families, their children, and other mundane matters, but they have no inclination to think about God. Such distracted minds cannot make progress in spiritual life."

Bihari Babu: "Then should we give up family life and call on God only?"

Latu Maharaj: "Why should you give up your family? Doesn't one's family belong to God? Therefore, call on him who is the real head of the family. One will have to do one's duty in this world. How can you escape it? Wherever you go, the world will follow you. Does it exist outside us? No, everything is in our own minds." 07/04/2021

Address by Swami Dayatmanandaji in the farewell meeting arranged at Ulsoor Ashrama on Saturday the 3rd April 2021. Swami Dayatmanandaji Maharaj was earlier in charge of the Ramakrishna-Vedanta Centre, London, U.K. He is currently leading a retired life at the Ramakrishna Math, Halasuru, Bangalore. Now he has wished to go to Varanasi (Kashi) center to spend rest of his life there. Swamiji is leaving Bangalore on the morning of 15th April for Varanasi.

Jai Ramakrishna.

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ADVICE TO A DEVOTEE

A devotee: "Maharaj, please tell us about the bliss of Brahman."

Latu Maharaj: "Ah, you see, that bliss cannot be compared with any joy you may find in this world. It is inexpressible. Worldly happiness is the product of maya. Maya operates within the three states—waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep. But beyond those three is another realm, turiya, which is extremely difficult to reach. The bliss of that realm is free from maya. You know how sweet is the joy within maya. Ordinary people are enchanted by it. They do not even think for a moment how immensely sweeter is God whose maya is so sweet!"

A devotee: "Maharaj, why do you say that maya's so-called joy is sweet? It is nothing but scorching flames."

Latu Maharaj: "But you see, most people love that burning sensation."

On another occasion Latu Maharaj said:

"Nothing in this world is valuable except bliss. Do you know why people want money, property, wife, children? Because they think they will get physical and mental happiness from them. So they are ready to work day and night for them. If they would divert that energy toward God, they could get the permanent genuine bliss of Satchidananda instead of the transitory happiness of the world."

ON SURRENDER

Latu Maharaj: "You speak about dependence on God so superficially! If you do not get any response after calling on God for a couple of days, you follow your own way according to your mood, as if you understood the situation better than he. Surrendering oneself to God means that one should move at his command. Do not do anything without his command. Even if it means a great loss for you, do not stray from that. Only when you have attained this state can you say that you have truly surrendered yourself to God. Brother Vivekananda used to say: 'If I cannot get Rama, shall I live with Shyama? If necessary, let this life be spent in vain for Sri Ramakrishna.' See how he surrendered himself to the Master! He was ready at any moment to give up his life for the Lord over the smallest thing. This is the way one should hold onto the Master; only then can he guide you in the right direction."

4 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(The Imitation Of Christ)

Christ the Beloved, Speaks:

If you were as pure as an angel and as holy as John the Baptist, you still would not be worthy to touch this bread and wine, it is not because you deserve it that you should take Communion. Therefore, approach it with respect and reverence.

The Follower Speaks

What shall I do, my God? Teach me the right way. Show me some devotional exercise that will prepare me for the Holy Bible. I want to prepare my heart.

The Beloved Speaks:

Examine your conscience. In humble confession and contrition it will be purified and cleared. You must bring no burden that will make you remorseful.

When you have done all you can with such a review, and when you sincerely regret your failures, and turn to me for forgiveness, you shall receive it.

"If an evil man stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right.

Do you think I enjoy seeing an evil man die?' asks the sovereign Lord. 'No, I would rather see him repent and live.

The Follower Speaks:

O Lord, I simply offer myself to you today as you have commanded. I will serve you forever in humility. Receive me now.

Take, first of all, my sins and consume them with the fire of your love.

And then I turn over to you all that is good in me that you may add to it and make it acceptable.

The Beloved Speaks:

Beware of digging too deeply into the mystery of the sacrament and all matters that are beyond your reach. This has caused many to lose their devotion; you need faith and sincerity, not deep understanding of my great mysteries.

If you can't comprehend what is within you, how will you grasp what is beyond you? Submit yourself to me and insights will be added to you in whatever measure you require.

Trust my Word, and take comfort that unbelievers are not tempted the way the faithful and devout are tempted.

I walk with the simple, reveal myself to the humble, give understanding to the poor in spirit, and pour wisdom into pure minds, but I hide from the proudly inquisitive. Human reason is weak and easily led astray but faith cannot be deceived.

For this reason all scholarship should follow faith, not guide it or intrude upon it. I am, after all, beyond human comprehension and I do things you cannot understand.

5 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

Parables and Stories of Lord Buddha

"Birth is painful, old age is painful, sickness is painful, association with unloved objects is painful, separation from loved objects is painful, the desire which one does not obtain, is painful too." -Buddha

The Blessed One thought: "I have taught the truth which is excellent in the beginning, excellent in the middle, and excellent in the end; it is glorious in its spirit and glorious in its letter.

But simple as it is, the people cannot understand it. I must speak to them in their own language. I must adapt my thoughts to their thoughts. They are like to children, and love to hear tales. Therefore, I will tell them stories to explain the glory of the Dharma. If they cannot grasp the truth in the abstract arguments by which I have reached it, they may nevertheless come to understand it, if it is illustrated in parables.

The Widow's Mite and the Three Merchants

THERE was once a lone widow who was very destitute, and having gone to the mountain she beheld hermits holding a religious assembly. Then the woman was filled with joy, and uttering praises, said, "It is well, holy priests! but while others give precious things such as the ocean caves produce, I have nothing to offer.”

Having spoken thus and having searched herself in vain for something to give, she recollected that some time before she had found in a dung-heap two coppers, so taking these she offered them as a gift to the priesthood in charity.

The superior of the priests, a saint who could read the hearts of men, disregarding the rich gifts of others and beholding the deep faith dwelling in the heart of this poor widow, and wishing the priesthood to esteem rightly her religious merit, burst forth with full voice in a canto.

He raised his right hand and said, "Reverend priests attend!" and then he went on:

"The poor coppers of this widow

To all purpose are more worth

Than all the treasures of the oceans

And the wealth of the broad earth.

As an act of pure devotion She has done a pious deed;

She has attained salvation, Being free from selfish greed.”

The woman was mightily strengthened in her mind by this thought, and said, "It is even as the Teacher says: what I have done is as much as if a rich man were to give up all his wealth.”

And the teacher said: "Doing good deeds is like hoarding up treasures," and he expounded this truth in a parable:

"Three merchants set out on their travels each with his wealth; one of them gained much, the second returned with his wealth, and the third one came home after having lost his wealth. What is true in common life applies also to religion.

"The wealth is the state a man has reached, the gain is heaven; the loss of his wealth means that a man will be reborn in a lower state, as a denizen of hell or as an animal. These are the courses that are open to the sinner.

"He who brings back his wealth, is like to one who is born again as a man. Those who through the exercise of various virtues become pious householders will be born again as men, for all beings will reap the fruit of their actions. But he who increases his wealth is like to one who practices eminent virtues. The virtuous, excellent man attains in heaven to the glorious state of the gods."

6 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

Parables and Stories of Lord Buddha

The Man Born Blind

THERE was a man born blind, and he said: "I do not believe in the world of light and appearance. There are no colours, bright or somber. There is no sun, no moon, no stars. No one has witnessed these things.”

His friends remonstrated with him, but he clung to his opinion: "What you say that you see," he objected, "are illusions. If colours existed I should be able to touch them. They have no substance and are not real. Everything real has weight, but I feel no weight where you see colours.”

A physician was called to see the blind man. He mixed four simples, and when he applied them to the cataract of the blind man the grey film melted, and his eyes could see.

The Tathagatha is the physician, the cataract is the illusion; and the four simples are the four noble truths.

The Lost Son

THERE was a householder's son who went away into a distant country, and while the father accumulated immeasurable riches, the son became miserably poor. And the son, while searching for food and clothing, happened to come to the country in which his father lived.

The father saw him in his wretchedness, for he was ragged and brutalized by poverty, and ordered some of his servants to call him. When the son saw the place to which he was conducted, he thought, "I must have evoked the suspicion of a powerful man, and he will throw me into prison." Full of apprehension he made his escape before he had seen his father.

Then the father sent messengers out after his son, who was caught and brought back in spite of his cries and lamentations. Thereupon the father ordered his servants to deal tenderly with his son, and he appointed a labourer of his son's rank and education to employ the lad as a helpmate on the estate. And the son was pleased with his new situation. From the window of his palace the father watched the boy, and when he saw that he was honest and industrious, he promoted him higher and higher.

After some time, he summoned his son and called together all his servants, and made the secret known to them. Then the poor man was exceedingly glad and he was full of joy at meeting his father.

Just so, little by little, must the minds of men be trained for higher truths.

7 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ADVICE TO A DEVOTEE

Biharilal Sarkar: "Maharaj, why are there so many ups and downs in the mind of a householder?"

Latu Maharaj: "Because the mind of a householder is too involved with worldly objects. Sometimes it goes up as a result of spiritual practices, but it falls back again. The Master used to say: if one ties a rope with a brick at the end of it to the tail of a mongoose, it will be able to climb a wall only as far as the loose rope permits but no farther, because of the weight of the brick.

Likewise, the mind of a householder may move toward God, but the weight of worldly objects pulls it back.'

To keep the mind always in God is a great tapasya: such a mind does not fluctuate between high and low. A thread with stray fibers cannot pass through the eye of a needle; similarly, a mind with desires cannot be absorbed in God.

"When a man's mind becomes fully concentrated on God, he enjoys the bliss of the Atman. But this is very difficult in the householder's life. Disease, sorrow, enjoyment, desire—all these are constant companions of the householder; also physical lethargy and mental restlessness. In addition to these if the man doubts the existence of God, there is no hope of his getting liberation.

Often you will find that worldly people are busy with their families, their children, and other mundane matters, but they have no inclination to think about God. Such distracted minds cannot make progress in spiritual life."

Bihari Babu: "Then should we give up family life and call on God only?"

Latu Maharaj: "Why should you give up your family? Doesn't one's family belong to God? Therefore, call on him who is the real head of the family. One will have to do one's duty in this world. How can you escape it? Wherever you go, the world will follow you. Does it exist outside us? No, everything is in our own minds. If your mind desires enjoyment, you will seek enjoyment even in the forest; and if you don't have that desire for sense objects, you will not want them even if you are surrounded by them.

Whether you live in a household or in the forest, you must call on God; otherwise all is in vain.

"Brother Turiyananda used to say, 'Only a fool thinks that he will take his bath in the ocean after the waves have subsided.' Do you think he will ever take his bath? The waves of the ocean will never stop; he will never get his bath, even if he waits his whole life. So I say, wherever you may be, whatever your mental condition, dive deep in the name of God. He who can do this will attain the highest.

On the other hand, a man who decides to solve all his problems before he calls on God will never reach the goal; for as long as you have a body, you must experience disease, sorrow, fear, pain, and suffering. 'It is troublesome to have a body.'

Anyone who wants to escape from all these troubles will have to hold onto God. God is Satchidananda—Absolute Existence, Knowledge, and Bliss. His bliss removes all suffering."

8 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ADVICE TO A DEVOTEE

A devotee: "Maharaj, please tell us about the bliss of Brahman.

“Latu Maharaj: "Ah, you see, that bliss cannot be compared with any joy you may find in this world. It is inexpressible. Worldly happiness is the product of maya. Maya operates within the three states—waking, dreaming, and dreamless sleep. But beyond those three is another realm, turiya, which is extremely difficult to reach. The bliss of that realm is free from maya.

You know how sweet is the joy within maya. Ordinary people are enchanted by it. They do not even think for a moment how immensely sweeter is God whose maya is so sweet!"

A devotee: "Maharaj. why do you say that maya's so-called joy is sweet? It is nothing but scorching flames."

Latu Maharaj: "But you see. most people love that burning sensation."

On another occasion Latu Maharaj said:

"Nothing in this world is valuable except bliss. Do you know why people want money, property, wife, children? Because they think they will get physical and mental happiness from them. So they are ready to work day and night for them. If they would divert that energy toward God, they could get the permanent genuine bliss of Satchidananda instead of the transitory happiness of the world."

ON SURRENDER

Latu Maharaj: "You speak about dependence on God so superficially! If you do not get any response after calling on God for a couple of days, you follow your own way according to your mood, as if you understood the situation better than he.

Surrendering oneself to God means that one should move at his command. Do not do anything without his command. Even if it means a great loss for you, do not stray from that. Only when you have attained this state can you say that you have truly surrendered yourself to God.

Brother Vivekananda used to say: 'If I cannot get Rama, shall I live with Shyama? If necessary, let this life be spent in vain for Sri Ramakrishna." See how he surrendered himself to the Master! He was ready at any moment to give up his life for the Lord over the smallest thing. This is the way one should hold onto the Master; only then can he guide you in the right direction."

A devotee: "Maharaj, why do we not have that kind of dependence on God!

Latu Maharaj: "It is because you value your intellect and ego more than God. You are not ready to wait for his command, and moreover, you lose patience in a minute."

9 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA

FEELING FOR OTHERS

"Only a poor man can love the poor. A rich man cannot feel the sufferings of the poor, for no one can understand the sufferings of others unless he has undergone the same suffering. Brother Vivekananda told Turiyananda: 'Brother, I do not know exactly what I have gained by leading this monk's life, but one thing is certain: This [Swami Vivekananda pointed to his heart] has expanded enormously.'

"If the desire to do charitable works arises in the mind of a rich man, it shows that his heart has started to feel for the poor. God tests a man by making him wealthy, and that is a hard test to pass. Tests devised by men are easy to pass, but divine tests are very difficult. God may give plenty of riches to one man, but so delude him by maya that he will never in his life desire to be charitable. Again, God may give a generous heart to another person, but not give him much money. Blessed indeed are they who are rich yet feel for the poor.

"Money brings vanity. The more egotistic a man is, the farther he is from God, and thus the poorer he is. Do not measure the poverty of a man by his possessions. The real measure is how far he is from God. The nearer to the Lord, the richer the man: the more forgetful of the Lord, the poorer and unhappier he is."

ON LUST

A devotee: "How can one overcome lust?"

Latu Maharaj: "Keep a picture of Sri Ramakrishna with you. Whenever lustful feelings arise, you should look at the picture intently. You will find that the senses will gradually be gathered in and the mind will be freed from lust."

10 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

DESIRES AND SENSE OBJECTS

Latu Maharaj: "Worldly desires have taken up permanent residence in the mind. Sometimes they float on the surface of the mind, and sometimes they are so hidden that it seems they do not even exist. But the closer you are to God, the more you will see the knots of desire hidden in the mind. The more your body and mind are purified, the more the dirt and dross which have accumulated during thousands of lives will be stirred up and will challenge your spirituality. The energy generated by spiritual disciplines forces the impurities to leave the mind, their fort. How can they cope against the power of the Lord's name?

"You see. the desires are very shrewd. They take possession not only of the mind of a person but his sense organs as well. As soon as desire is aroused in the mind, the sense organs are awakened. The eyes want to see, the ears want to hear, the tongue to taste and speak, the nose to smell, and the body to feel. The hands want to work and the feet carry the person to where the object is. The other sense organs are alert, and whenever the opportunity comes they also enjoy.

"Do you know what the mind does? It conjures up enticing pictures with the imagination. The imagination is man's worst enemy, his greatest tempter, for it creates beautiful pictures of sense pleasures and nearly destroys man's conscience. Thus man is drawn to sense objects. Therefore, if you want to control the desire for worldly things, control the imagination and don't be deluded by sense enjoyments."

A devotee: "But how can one control the imagination?"

Latu Maharaj: "The imagination can be controlled by withdrawing the mind from the object, although that will not still the mind. Sri Ramakrishna said that three things are necessary in the process of perception: the object of perception, the sense organ, and the mind. Perception of the object is not possible if one of these three is missing. So if you can eliminate one of them, the mind will not be able to cognize. It is hard to eliminate the objects of perception. They come and go. We have to encounter them always.

How can one live and avoid sense objects? So long as you can avoid the sense objects, your self-control may be intact: but as soon as you come near them again, you will find yourself deluded by their attraction.

So instead, try to withdraw either the sense organ or the mind from the object. Then automatically the object will not be perceived.

"The nature of the mind can be changed by chanting the name of the Lord. Gradually desires and doubts cease and the mind dissolves into its causality. Then there is none to think or imagine.

Waves of desire in the mind show that the mind is active: the mind becomes pure only when it becomes waveless. The power of God descends on the pure mind, and only then does one realize the Self."

11 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ATTITUDE TOWARD WOMEN

Once Latu Maharaj told a group of men devotees: "Some men abuse women, but you should never raise your hand against them. You do not know how much they bear—they are forbearance itself. If you abuse them, where shall they turn? They are aspects of the Divine Mother, and if the Mother is insulted, the Lord is displeased. Thus your well-being lies in making them happy. Their tears will ruin you, as Sita's tears destroyed the whole of Ravana's people."

ON RESTLESSNESS

Latu Maharaj once said to a restless devotee: "Why do you think of all sorts of nonsense when you sit to meditate? Can't you whip your mind? Even if you cannot control your mind and you become disgusted, please don't leave your seat: for if you get up from meditation with that attitude of disgust, you will be in a bad mood all day, and you will feel like beating one person, scolding another, and speaking harshly to a third. The Master told us, 'Do not get up from your seat immediately after meditation.' While you are still sitting on the asana [seat for meditation], sing devotional songs for ten or fifteen minutes, and then you will feel calmness in your mind throughout the day."

ON OVERCOMING DISCOURAGEMENT

A devotee: "Maharaj, is there any hope of liberation for worldly people like us? Please bless us that we can escape this whirlpool of maya."

Latu Maharaj: "Why should you be so depressed? Do you think you understand everything about human life? Know that no life goes in vain in God's realm. Once Brother Shashi gave a very apt illustration to someone like you: A man was out walking and came upon a canal. Seeing that he would have to jump over it in order to continue on his way, he took several strides backward to get a running start for his leap. As he ran forward and jumped over the canal, he covered not only the distance he had moved backward but also the canal itself. Now, can you tell me whether his several steps backward were helpful or harmful? A man might have to take backward steps in this present life, but he will undoubtedly run forward in the next. No life is ever lived in vain. Remember only one thing: Lead a God-centered life. Then the Lord will guide you as he likes. He knows our past, present, and future. The wisest course is to surrender to him completely. Whether you hold onto the Lord's hand or not does not matter, he is always holding onto yours. There is no doubt about that. He will never abandon you. He is all-merciful."

12 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

REMORSE AND GOD’S FORGIVENESS

A devotee did something wrong and was feeling very bad about it. When Latu Maharaj heard this, he called for the devotee to come see him. He told the devotee: “Look here, my son, just because you have made one or two mistakes, you should not give up your spiritual practices and brood over your lapses and feel hopeless. To make mistakes is human. Call on God. He will give you the strength to overcome weakness and destroy your delusion. He is the compassionate one. However great your sins might be, the current of his mercy will not be kept from you. How little is your sin, and yet you are so depressed! Just think of Ajamila and Valmiki: compared to their sins, yours are nothing. Do you know what Brother Vivekananda used to say? ‘Don’t worry about a little spot of ink on the body. It is nothing. If one bathes in God’s infinite ocean of mercy, all the stains of a thousand ink spots will be washed away in a trice.’”

(Ajamila, whose story is told in the Bhagavatam, committed many sins in his life. He had a son whose name was Narayana, a name that is also an epithet of Vishnu, the Supreme God. On his death bed, Ajamila was calling loudly for his son, Narayana, and as a result the messengers of God came and took him to heaven. All his sins were destroyed through the repetition of the Lord’s name.)

So I am telling you: do not grieve. Pray unceasingly. Your bad tendencies will go away in a short time.

Yet the devotee was so ashamed of his conduct that he could not raise his head. Seeing this, Latu Maharaj said: “Before he commits a sin, a man’s conscience fills him with shame, yet he brushes it aside. But divine law is such that after the sin is committed, shame overwhelms him again, and he cannot raise his head in front of others.”

Even these words could not shake the devotee free from his sense of guilt. Latu Maharaj continued: “What are you ashamed of, my son? The Lord has seen everything you have done. You cannot hide anything from him. Since he knows all of it, why should you still be so melancholy? Instead, engage yourself in harder spiritual disciplines, keep the company of holy men, and come here now and then.”

These words helped the devotee regain his mental strength. After this conversation with Latu Maharaj, he began to practice spiritual disciplines more vigorously.

13 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ON MONASTIC LIFE

Latu Maharaj to a monk: "Never forget the goal of monastic life. Don't wear the gerua cloth [the ochre-coloured cloth of a monk] for outward show. The gerua cloth may bring you name and fame, but that will not help you realize God. Go into solitude and practice your spiritual disciplines with all your heart. Only then will you progress quickly. Avoid gossip and politics.

"Is it so easy to be a monk? A real monk longs for God, weeps for God. He does not think about himself and is not disturbed by physical discomfort. A real monk will not see faults in others, and he will have neither attachment nor aversion for anyone. He should be friendly with all.

A real monk must try to ease the sufferings of others, and if he does not have the means, he should encourage them with inspired words so that they can fight against life's odds. He does not hoard for the future and seeks nothing except God. A real monk is free from fear and is straightforward. His behaviour is simple, like a child's. Wherever he goes, he hears the call of God."

CRUELTY AND COMPASSION

A devotee: "Maharaj, where is compassion in this world? There seems to be only an unbroken chain of cruelty. The crow attacks the sparrow, the kite attacks the crow, man hunts the kite, and the tiger and the bear attack man."

"If you see cruelty around you," responded Latu Maharaj. "you will find cruelty in God. If you see compassion everywhere, you will witness his infinite compassion. It all depends on your own mind. Always remember that to the pure mind all things are pure."

ON MIRACLES

A young man: "Maharaj. could you teach me something so that I will no longer suffer from poverty?"

Latu Maharaj: "You won't like what I tell you. You want the sort of trick that one uses to make gold out of a handful of dust, but I don't know that trick. I am a monk. I stay in this place and chant the name of the Lord. I can tell you something about God and spiritual life, but you won't be satisfied. You want miraculous powers.

Are powers so easy to come by? Are you ready to exert yourself? If you can chant the Lord's name a hundred thousand times a day, then come and sit here."

After hearing these words, the young man hurried away.

14 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

SRI RAMAKRISHNA'S TEACHING ON SUFFERING

A devotee: "Maharaj, why should a knower of Brahman like Sri Ramakrishna, who was almost always immersed in samadhi, have suffered from such a terrible disease?"

Latu Maharaj: "What do I know about that? I heard Master Mahashay ['M.'] say, 'It is because of the touch of impure people that he suffered so terribly.'

Girish Babu used to say, 'It is his divine play—a way to relieve the sufferings of mankind.'

Ram Babu said: 'If the Master had not suffered from such a terrible disease, who could have recognized him? When one is in good health, one can easily fix the mind on God; but he is surely an avatar who can be continually in nirvikalpa samadhi, even when he is sick.'

"Brother Loren said at that time: 'He wants to be served by us, so he has contracted this disease. Don't worry. Could we have such a priceless opportunity to serve him if he didn't have this disease? We must not miss this opportunity. Let us serve him in such a way that he will not have the heart to leave us.'

"Brother Rakhal said, 'The Master is testing us.'

Brother Sharat said, 'Although we may or may not understand it, a great mission is beginning through the Master's illness.'

Brother Shashi said: 'Sweet Jesus allowed himself to be crucified for humanity's sake. Our Master, too, is suffering excruciating pain in order to remove man's burden of sin.'

"Balaram Babu once said to the Master: 'Sir, I am tired of hearing people's critical remarks about your illness. They say, "Your Master is suffering from disease!"'

The Master answered, 'Listen, he who forbears, survives and becomes great.'

Many people held different opinions about his illness. I don't remember them all. The Master used to say, 'Let the body and the disease take care of each other. O mind, be happy.' He felt no pain. I saw that he was floating in bliss. If he had really suffered, could he have given us such joy? He told us: 'Brahman is stainless. Though the three gunas [sattva, rajas, and tamas] are in Brahman, he is separate from them, as the air carries odours but still remains different from and untouched by them. Brahman is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute. In Brahman there is no sorrow or pain, no disease or death, no decay or growth. I see everything within this [Sri Ramakrishna pointed to himself]. Brahman and the One who is within the heart are the same.'

Where is the suffering of one who, though sick, can maintain such a high level of spirituality? You people identify yourselves with the body, so when the body suffers you are frightened."

15 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

SRI RAMAKR1SHNA: AN EXEMPLAR

"Sri Ramakrishna embodies an ideal for everyone. He was an ideal householder, an ideal monk, an ideal guru, and an ideal disciple. Moreover, his life can serve as an example for all faiths and all sects. He is an ideal for the worshipers of Shakti. as he practiced and attained perfection in all the important Tantric sadhanas. He is an ideal for the Vaishnavites, for his devotion to Hari is unparalleled. He is also an ideal for the Shaivites. as he attained the vision of Lord Shiva too. He is an ideal for the devotees of Ramachandra, for he saw Rama and Sita. He is an ideal for the Vedantins as well, having experienced nirvikalpa samadhi. the culmination of the Vedantic sadhana, within three days. He is also an ideal for the Christians and Mohammedans, because he had the vision of Christ and also of the Prophet."

ON THE TRUTH OF BRAHMAN

Biharilal Sarkar: "Maharaj. the scriptures say that Brahman is seated in the heart of man. What does that mean?"

Latu Maharaj: "It is just a figure of speech. Words cannot really encompass the truth of Brahman, although the scriptures have tried to describe it in that way. Brahman is everywhere. There is no in or out. high or low, east or west with him. He is one. inherent in everything. He is all-pervading, limitless, eternal. Various attempts have been made to describe Brahman, but what is beyond thought cannot really be expressed in language. He is in everything and, again, is beyond everything. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, 'Everything has been defiled by the lips of man except the truth of Brahman.""

16 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ON THE TRUTH OF BRAHMAN

Bihari Babu: "Maharaj, you monks are inscrutable! Instead of making positive statements, you speak only in vague terms!"

Another devotee: "Maharaj, please tell us what you have understood of this truth."

Latu Maharaj: "You see, this realization cannot be expressed. One uses language to express an idea, but so far no adequate language has been discovered for talking about Brahman. The Master used to say, 'My boys, I would like to tell you many things, but the Divine Mother presses my lips, as it were, and does not allow me to talk.'

"You speak thousands of words every day. Have you ever thought about where these words come from?"

The devotee: "They must come from the mind."

Latu Maharaj: "Can you say, then, from which part of the mind they come and in what form? And then, where is the mind itself?"

The devotee could not reply. Bihari Babu ventured: "There is a neural connection between the brain and the tongue, so the mind must be in the brain."

Latu Maharaj: "In what form?"

Bihari Babu: "As vibration."

Latu Maharaj: "Now tell me whether that vibration is continuous or whether it stops and starts."

Bihari Babu was surprised: "Maharaj, I haven't thought about it."

Latu Maharaj: "Then please think it over."

Bihari Babu: "Perhaps it stops and then starts again, exciting the nerves of the brain and bringing out the response."

Latu Maharaj: "If the vibration does stop, can you tell me what makes it start again, especially in the case where there is no external stimulus?"

Bihari Babu: "No, Maharaj, we really can't say."

Latu Maharaj: "So you see, you can express these things up to a point, but no further."

After some time both Bihari Babu and the other devotee saluted Latu Maharaj and took leave of him. As they were approaching their carriage, Bihari Babu said: "I have never heard such words before. This unlettered monk has thought over even such subtle things as these. It is really amazing! We are proud of our scholarship, but in reality he is more learned than we are."

17 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

MAYA AND FREEDOM

Biharilal Sarkar: "Maharaj. we read in the scriptures that God is man's inner guide. If that is true, then why does man suffer so much? How can one who is guided by the ever-pure Satchidananda get involved in evil actions?"

Latu Maharaj: "You have answered your own question. The essential nature of man, which is ever-pure, cannot be polluted by good and evil."

Bihari Babu: "Then do you mean that man has two natures, one affected by good and evil and the other not; or are you saying that good and evil do not really exist?"

Latu Maharaj: "Let me explain. Sri Ramakrishna said, 'Good and evil exist and they are also non-existent.' As long as God keeps the sense of ego in a man, he will perceive duality - good and evil. When God takes away the sense of ego, the perception of duality, good and evil, disappears. So long as a man is subject to the law of karma, he is aware of good and evil. When, through God's grace, a man is released from the bonds of karma, the man's awareness of good and evil also goes; for good and evil are the fruits of karma. As you sow; so you will reap. It is the Lord who established this law of karma for the benefit of the world and mankind. Divine Providence has given man the sense of free will and the principle of karma. It is left to man to do as he wishes. If he chooses to do actions which bring him less happiness and more misery, he alone is responsible, not God."

Bihari Babu: "But Maharaj, the scriptures say that God is guiding man, so the responsibility is God's, not ours."

Latu Maharaj: "Yes. the scriptures are right. It is the responsibility of the operator, not the instrument. But tell me. who is guiding the individual soul who is bound by maya? Maya herself is acting as the operator. Do you know the nature of maya's game? She loves to play and wants to play always. She enjoys ups and downs, pleasure and pain, creation and destruction. She loves to raise waves of desire in the mind and does not like to still them. But God takes charge of the soul which is not bound by maya. When God guides a man, an uninterrupted current of happiness, peace, and bliss flows in his mind and no other waves of thought can be raised there. He becomes one with that unfathomable, waveless ocean of Satchidananda."

18 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

MAYA AND FREEDOM

Bihari Babu: "Maharaj, I know the scriptures have compared Brahman with the ocean and maya with the waves on its surface.

Now let me ask. what is the difference between the waves and the ocean when both are water? In that case wouldn't being guided by maya and being guided by God be the same?"

Latu Maharaj: "Yes, from one point of view they are the same, but there is another point of view, too. The Master used to say: 'The waves belong to the ocean, but no one can say that the ocean belongs to the waves.' Similarly, maya belongs to God, but maya is not God. So you cannot say that being guided by maya is the same as being guided by God. Nevertheless, the ultimate purpose of maya's guidance is certainly to take the individual soul to God."

Bihari Babu: "But everybody says that maya deludes the individual soul and leads him astray."

Latu Maharaj: "Maya wants to play constantly. Because maya's play goes on and on, man cannot see where he is being taken on his journey, so he thinks maya is taking him in the wrong direction. But look, how can she misdirect us? Isn't God everywhere? Maya has become manifest by God's will and she is working for him."

19 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

MAYA AND FREEDOM

Bihari Babu: "What! Maya is working for God?"

Latu Maharaj: "Yes, what other motive can she have?"

Bihari Babu: "But the scriptures describe maya as illusory and world-bewitching; she makes the unreal appear to be real, and her main concern is the delusion of mankind."

Latu Maharaj: "Do you know why people say so? The scriptures speak harshly against maya because she has qualified the unqualified Brahman. And there is another reason: God alone is real: maya, by comparison, is unreal, illusory. But maya is unreal only in relation to God. From man's standpoint, maya is avidya, ignorance, which is neither real nor unreal. If you watch maya carefully, you will see that she is pushing man toward God step by step. With one hand she is deluding man and with the other she is unveiling consciousness before him. She works in a balanced way, without any motive of her own. She balances both happiness and misery, both goodness and evil. Do you know the intention behind all this? To teach us. If maya's purpose were to lead man astray, she would show us only one aspect, not both. But because maya shows us two aspects, she simultaneously deludes and enlightens. True, she causes man much trouble and her path is very roundabout and time-consuming, but eventually it will lead one to God. After you suffer repeated blows and much torment in this world and come to understand maya's ways, maya won't be able to hold you any more. Then you will be released by her sattvic power. That is why she is called the one who makes the impossible possible."

Bihari Babu: "Does maya have a benign power too?"

Latu Maharaj: "Certainly. Maya is God's power, and can that power be all bad?"

Bihari Babu: "Maharaj, from the way you are talking, maya seems to be something great."

Latu Maharaj: "Yes, that is true. Maya is great and that greatness is God himself. The other day a monk explained it nicely: 'Man has already attained God: to try further for realization is useless.

This universe belongs to God and man is living in it: thus he has attained salokya-mukti, liberation by living in the same region as God.

God made man in his own image: and thus man has attained sarupya-mukti, liberation by having a form similar to God's.

God is everywhere, so man is always near him: and thus he has attained samipya-mukti. liberation by living close to God.

The only thing that he has not yet attained is sayujya-mukti, becoming one with God.'"

20 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

REMOVING THE COVERING OF IGNORANCE

One day Shashadhar Ganguli, a teacher from Malda, asked Latu Maharaj: "Can the Atman be an object of knowledge?"

Latu Maharaj: "An object is something which cannot be known without the help of something else, but the Atman is self-revealing. So you cannot say the Atman is an object of knowledge."

The teacher: "Then why should we want to know the Atman?"

Latu Maharaj: "Because the Atman is our real nature."

The teacher: "If the Atman is our real nature, then why are we not aware of it?"

Latu Maharaj: "Listen, can anyone deviate from his real nature? If he does, it cannot be called his real nature; for it is changeable. Man's real nature is covered by a dense cloud of ignorance, and consequently he appears to be something different, but that does not mean he has deviated from his real nature."

The teacher: "I couldn't follow you. Would you please explain this a little more?"

Latu Maharaj: "All right. Suppose here is a brass pot covered with stains. Looking at it, one may think it is made of something other than brass, but that thought cannot change its nature; the brass pot still remains brass. It is like that."

The teacher: "But Maharaj, that analogy is not suitable here. The brass pot never thinks of itself as not being brass; but man thinks of himself as being something other than the Atman."

Latu Maharaj: "That is not so. Man does not think that he is something else. He may say, 'my body,' 'my mind,' 'my intellect,' but he never says, 'I am the body' or 'I am the mind.' He knows that what he calls 'his' is not the same as 'himself.' Man's 'I'-consciousness is always there; he is not devoid of it, only he cannot express it. You can feel hungry or sleepy, but can you tell me who you really are?"

The teacher: "No, Maharaj. But I do feel hunger or fatigue."

21 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Adbhutananda)

Maya and Freedom

Latu Maharaj: “You are aware of your consciousness, but you are unable to express it.”

The teacher: “Why can’t I express it?”

Latu Maharaj: “Because your mind is so deeply covered with desires, doubts, and ignorance that your real nature is unable to express itself. Haven’t you seen those polishing shops at Mechuabazar in Calcutta where they have glass jars filled with coloured liquids? The metal worker takes a tarnished brass pot and dips it into a jar, and instantly all the tarnish goes away and the pot starts to glitter. Then he dips it into another jar and it turns a golden colour. Similarly, the cloudy stuff which has been covering our I-consciousness must first be washed away: then we shall see the brilliance of the inmost Self.”

The teacher: “How can we wash it away?”

Latu Maharaj: “Dip your mind in the jar of the Lord’s name, and all the unclean stuff will be washed away. Then dip it in the jar of the Lord’s grace. You will see how beautifully your real nature will shine forth. You will have to clean your mind first. There is no other way. If you want happiness in this world, think of yourself as pure gold and not as gold-plated. The idea of ‘mine’ produces misery, while the knowledge of the real ‘I’ [the higher Self] brings bliss. The knowledge of the Self removes ignorance, and this Self is the Atman, the real nature of man.”

The teacher: “But the Atman is all-pervading while the ‘I’ [the lower self] is limited.”

Latu Maharaj: “It does not matter. You have seen the jasmine flower; how small it is! On its tiny petal you may find a dewdrop in the morning, and in that dewdrop you can see the reflection of the infinite blue sky. Likewise, the ‘I’ may be limited, but by the grace of God it can catch the reflection of the infinite Atman.”

ON CULTIVATING SPIRITUAL QUALITIES

A devotee: "Maharaj, what are the duties of a householder?"

Latu Maharaj: "If you want to live a happy, contented life, stop criticizing others. Do not find fault with others. It is better to pass time sleeping than gossiping and criticizing. Keep away from places where you find such talk going on. Try to see the good qualities in others. This is the way to get rid of the habit of fault-finding. Evil qualities pollute the mind of a person who searches for the lapses and shortcomings of others. Feel others' sufferings as you feel your own. Take every opportunity to serve people, and do not injure anybody. Be grateful to all who help you. Be charitable to all, even to a person who abuses you. And do not run into debt, for debts bring worries. Try to be pure and discriminate between good and evil. Do not perform any action which will prick your conscience. Do not forget God. Chant his name in the morning and evening, and, if you can, try to meditate at night."

25 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ON SADHANA

Latu Maharaj: "Without question, whatever I have now has come through the Master's grace. I am an unlettered man. How could I have practised austerities? What do I know about sadhana [spiritual discipline]? At first I simply wanted to be the Master's attendant, but then he taught me how to meditate and practice spiritual disciplines. At that time I did not know the value of sadhana. He also taught me the mystery of Lord Ramachandra."

A devotee: "What is the mystery of Lord Ramachandra?"

Latu Maharaj: "One day I was massaging the Master's feet. He asked: ‘Tell me, what is your Ramachandra doing now?' I was surprised at his question. How could I know what Ramachandra was doing? He noted my silence and said, 'Your Ramji is now passing an elephant through the eye of a needle.’“

A devotee: "What does that mean?"

Latu Maharaj: "Don't you understand? I was such a small receptacle, yet he was pouring sadhana into me."

A devotee: "Maharaj, is it possible to pour sadhana into another person?"

Latu Maharaj: "Yes. But not everyone can do that. He who has seen God and been absorbed in his bliss—he can."

A devotee: "Maharaj, please pour a little sadhana into us."

Latu Maharaj: "The Master could do that. That does not mean I can."

The devotee said with feeling: "Yes you can, Maharaj. Please bless us. Please help us to make spiritual progress in this life."

Latu Maharaj: "You people always say the same thing. When you come here you are sure that you will pass the rest of your days in sadhana, but once you return home you think, 'Why should I care?' In the world all of your energy is spent in earning money. Remember, you will attain perfection in whatever you practice. You don't like to practice sadhana, so you do not attain God."

A devotee: "One needs money to live in the world. You know that nothing can be done without money."

Latu Maharaj: "Yes. I know. Whatever you want you will get. But if you want to be spiritual, you cannot want anything else. The Master used to say: 'Whatever you want from God you will receive. But if you want Him only, then all your other wants will be fulfilled as well.’“

A devotee: "Maharaj, we are unfortunate, for we cannot call on the Lord wholeheartedly. Do our prayers reach him?"

Latu Maharaj: "Yes, they do. But your prayers are mixed with the desire for money, so that is what he is sending. The day when you pray: 'I do not want money, name, or fame. I want thee and thee alone'—on that very day he will come to you. The Master would say, 'The more you have bhoga [enjoyment], the less you will have yoga and the more you will burn in the world.' The Master continually taught us: 'Always be awake in the practice of yoga.'"

26 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ON AUSTERITY

In 1902, Latu Maharaj was staying at the Belur Monastery at the time of Shiva Ratri, an all-night vigil dedicated to Lord Shiva and observed by worship and fasting. That night he went to offer worship to Shiva at the nearby Kalyaneswar temple, accompanied by a number of devotees. He said to one of the devotees: "I think fasting is too difficult for you. You should take a little food."

The devotee responded, "No, I don't want to take anything before performing the worship."

Latu Maharaj said: "Such determination is good; but if fasting takes your mind away from God, what use is it? Rather, be determined to perform the worship with devotion. Don't place a higher value on fasting. That is mere obstinacy, which is of no real benefit. If your mind is dwelling on food instead of God, how can you perform the worship with love and devotion? Devotion is impossible if the mind is disturbed."

ON LOVE

A householder devotee of Sri Ramakrishna once conveyed his love to Latu Maharaj in a letter. Latu Maharaj remarked: "Is it so easy to convey love to a person? A lot of spiritual discipline is needed to be able to really transmit love. What do ordinary people know about love? Only God can truly love, and only illumined souls are really able to transmit love."

On another occasion he said: "Your love springs from worldly attachment. Dogs play together and also fight for food among themselves. Your love is like that. You people embrace each other and exchange sweet words, but the moment someone encroaches upon your self-interest, you become angry and are ready to hit him. Don't express that kind of love."

27 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ON DISCRIMINATION

Look, if one makes a habit of repeating the holy name, the name itself will take hold of the mind. The mind craves the intoxication of worldly enjoyments. Attachments are troublemakers; they fasten the mind with a noose, as it were, and drag it in all directions. Lord Krishna agreed with Arjuna that the mind is restless. He told Arjuna that the restless mind can be stilled by the renunciation of sense enjoyments and by repeated practice. Whenever your mind runs after sense enjoyments, use your discrimination. Look, the sense objects are impermanent. They come and go. Be satisfied with whatever you need for your daily living and don’t desire more. Too many worldly belongings displace the thought of the Reality from the mind. The Reality is one, and that is Brahman. Brahman alone is real and everything else is unreal. Impress these thoughts again and again upon the mind, and gradually true discrimination will arise.

Listen to a story. Once Rama presented a pearl necklace to his devotee Hanuman. Hanuman examined the necklace carefully, broke open one of the pearls with his teeth, and, not finding the name of Rama there, threw the necklace away. This upset Lakshmana, who said: “How can a monkey appreciate the value of a pearl necklace? He destroyed such a valuable thing with his teeth!” Rama then asked Lakshmana to inquire about the reason for Hanuman’s action. Upon being questioned, Hanuman replied: “I opened the pearl to see if the holy name was there. The necklace is worthless if Rama is not in it.”

You will have to discriminate between the real and the unreal. To keep one’s discrimination alert is a great austerity. He who has learned to discriminate can successfully overcome lust and greed. So, cultivate your discrimination and conscience. How can you struggle against evil tendencies if your intellect is not trained to differentiate between good and evil? First clear out the rubbish which has entered the mind through the gates of the sense organs, and then put a ‘NO ADMITTANCE’ sign in front of each gate. Those bad thoughts which ignore the notice and still come in, you will have to hand over to the police, which is your conscience. With the help of the police you must evict the impure tendencies from the mind and then install the Lord there. This is the way to conquer lust and desire.

The seed of lust is in the mind. That seed is nurtured by the sense organs within and the sense objects without, and thus it grows and produces innumerable fruits. These fruits are to be chopped off and the seeds are to be destroyed. Afterward, you must sow the seed of the Lord’s name, and you will reap the harvest accordingly. Now you are reaping the harvest of desire. The Master used to say, “Where desire is, God is not; and where God is, there is no desire.”

On another occasion he said: “Your love springs from worldly attachment. Dogs play together and also fight for food among themselves. Your love is like that. You people embrace each other and exchange sweet words, but the moment someone encroaches upon your self-interest, you become angry and are ready to hit him. Don’t express that kind of love.”

28 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ON PURITY

"Be pure. Be pure. Be pure. You cannot comprehend God without purity. If you are not pure, you won't realize God, who is the embodiment of purity. In order to serve God, the true Master of all, one must purify one's mind."

ON HUMILITY

One day a wealthy devotee saluted Latu Maharaj in the customary manner: that is, folding his hands and raising them to his head. At this Latu Maharaj said: "Look here, sir. One should bow down to gods, to monks, and to holy people with reverence. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, ‘There is no merit in this sort of axe-raising salutation.’"

Another devotee who was present asked: "Maharaj, what is an axe-raising salutation?"

Latu Maharaj: "Touching the forehead with folded hands as you usually do is what the Master called an axe-raising salutation."

The wealthy devotee: "Maharaj, please forgive me. We don't know the real significance of the salutation. We merely follow the custom."

Latu Maharaj: "I don't mind. It is not your fault. But remember what the Master said: Between equals one should exchange salutations as you have just done; but if the person is superior to you in learning, intellect, fame, power or spirituality, you should bow down to him with reverence. You should be humble before him and do what he says. Let your thoughts and your words be united when you are paying respect to others. Salutations that are merely for show have no value."

ON THE NAME

"Sri Ramakrishna used to say that before starting to chant the name of the Lord, one should salute the name. One should take refuge in the name of the Lord. The name and the named, that is, the Lord, are one. If one prays wholeheartedly to the name, one's prayer reaches the Lord. Look here. The name of the Lord itself is *shakti*, God's power, and the named is God himself. Without worshiping Shakti, one cannot realize God."

29 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ASPECTS OF GOD

A devotee: "Maharaj, is it good to have visions of gods and goddesses other than the Chosen Ideal?"

Latu Maharaj: "It is always good to see divine forms. You will find that during meditation your Chosen Ideal will appear to you in many forms. That is his divine play. Since all forms are contained within him, why are you making distinctions between them?"

A devotee: "The scriptures have described the various forms of God differently, and for each deity there is a prescribed meditation, a method of worship, and certain mantras. So how can it be possible to see other forms of God when one is meditating on one's own Chosen Ideal? Are these visions conducive to one's spiritual progress?"

Latu Maharaj: "You people think of the gods and goddesses as distinct from each other, but in reality they are all the same. What is wrong if the forms are many? Look. You are a man. When you are angry, your face takes on one expression; when you laugh it assumes another; and when you cry it looks still different. Your facial expression changes with your emotions, but you, as a man, always remain the same. If someone calls you by name, you respond regardless of your mood. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: 'The chameleon changes its colour. Sometimes it is red, sometimes green, yellow, gray, violet, blue, and so on. One may think that the chameleon is always the same colour as he sees it. But the man who stays under the tree where the chameleon lives knows that the chameleon changes colour at different times. Similarly, the man who meditates deeply on his Chosen Ideal ultimately realizes that the various names and forms are actually but different aspects of the same reality.'"

ON PRAYER

A devotee: "Maharaj, which is the easier method to dispel doubts about God, prayer or reasoning?"

Latu Maharaj: "Sri Ramakrishna used to say: 'Who can know God through reason? His powers and glories are infinite. Too much reasoning can create confusion and, moreover, may lead to an atheistic attitude. So it is better to call on God with a longing heart.'"

The Master said further: "If you can become drunk with one bottle of wine, why should you bother to know how many barrels of wine there are in the grogshop? If your thirst is quenched with one glass of water, why should you rack your brain calculating how much water there is on the earth?"

A devotee: "Whom should we call on, Maharaj, the guru or the Chosen Ideal?"

Latu Maharaj: "You may call on either; it is the same. The guru and the Chosen Ideal are the same. Doubt arises in the mind of an aspirant if he does not practice spiritual disciplines, and doubt is the root of all troubles. Have faith in your guru. Be loyal to him, even like a cow that never leaves its master, whether it is fed or not. Say, 'I am your servant and you are my Master.'"

30 April 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

ON WORSHIP

"Do you know what worship is? Everything belongs to the Lord, so what is there to offer to him? But the Master used to tell us: 'Once a rich man went to visit his orchard. He saw the gardeners busy with their work. The caretaker approached him and presented him with a ripe papaya, saying: "Sir, I picked this ripe fruit for you yesterday. Please accept it." Now the owner knows that the garden, the tree, the fruit all belong to him; but won’t he appreciate the love and thoughtfulness of the caretaker? Worship is like this.'"

On another occasion, a devotee bought a small piece of cheap cloth for the Divine Mother's worship. Latu Maharaj was very upset. He remarked: "Throw away that cloth. It is too short. Why did you buy such a cheap one? Always offer a good cloth to the Mother, and if you cannot afford it, say with tears: 'Mother, I am unable to offer anything to you. Please forgive me.' Some people buy cheap, flimsy cloth, rotten fruit, or stale sweets for the worship of the Lord. Why do you offer the Lord these things which you yourself don’t want to use or eat? It is better not to worship at all than to do worship negligently. He who offers the Lord’s things to the Lord with joy and love is really fortunate. The Lord does not accept anything that is not presented with devotion."

PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION

A devotee: "Maharaj, we have not seen God: how can we depend on him? We do not know how to surrender to him. Is it enough just to say, 'Lord, be kind to us, bestow your grace on us?'"

Latu Maharaj: "Look, he is showering his grace on us unceasingly. It is through his grace that you even exist in this world. You are asking about prayer. Well, you know God’s name: you can begin with his name as your guide. Don’t you send your application for a job to the manager of a company without ever having seen him? Your interview with the manager depends upon sending your application to him. You write the application thus: 'Sir, please appoint me for the job; I shall be extremely happy to serve you; I promise my unswerving obedience to you,' and so on. And you write all this without having seen the manager, don’t you?

"So, similarly, you can send an application to the Lord. However, this application is not to be written on paper, but on the pages of one’s mind. You must be careful about the wording, and the address must be correct; otherwise, the letter will not reach its destination. Write the application like this: 'O Lord, may I never forget your name. I take refuge in you. Please assign me to your service and destroy my ego and my doubts. You are my master, guru, father, mother, and all in all. I am your child. Please guide me to the path of blessedness. Make me your instrument. Do not delude me with your bewitching maya. O my sweet Lord, I have not seen you; I have only heard your name. Please make me your own.' You will have to pray like this daily. Only then will he choose to bestow his grace on you. Once you are chosen by him."

1 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(TEACHINGS OF SWAMI ADBHUTANANDA)

AFTER GOD-REALIZATION

A devotee: "Maharaj, you have realized God. Could you tell us what your understanding of the world is now?"

Latu Maharaj: "I have understood this much: If you keep a bowl filled with water somewhere by itself, the water will eventually evaporate, but this is not so if the bowl is immersed in the river Ganga. Likewise, if we can surrender our minds at the feet of the Lord, the wind of worldliness will not be able to dry our minds and make them dreary. Then the world no longer seems an unhappy place."

A devotee: "Maharaj, do you feel now that the world is a burden?"

Latu Maharaj: "Look, when you dive deep into the Ganga, though there are thousands of pounds of water above you, you don't feel that weight. Similarly, if you plunge into God's creation yet still hold onto him, you will not feel its burden. Then the world becomes a place of merriment. Remember this beautiful saying of Tulasidas: 'He who takes refuge in God is protected by him. A huge elephant may be swept away by the current of the river, but the small fish who lives in the river can even swim against its current.' Remember that if you depend on God, he will take care of you in all circumstances."

2 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Adbhutananda)

BRIEF TEACHINGS

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

"Who is a man of knowledge? Not he who has read a lot of books, studied scriptures and acquired some degrees, but he who knows the path to God and can direct people toward him."

"A man can attain peace if he gives up worldly enjoyment, for such enjoyment is the source of sorrows and sufferings, disease and despair."

"Don't be ungrateful to a person who has helped you. An act of kindness, however small it may be, can never be repaid."

"See your own faults. Never criticize anyone; it is a great sin. It contracts the mind and pollutes the heart. Always look for the good qualities in others. If fault-finding becomes your habit, you will always see faults in them. Everyone has both good and bad in him. Only God is free from faults and full of divine qualities."

"Don't be concerned whether someone agrees with your opinion or not.

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."

"Don't ask for anything from God, for he knows everything. It is sometimes amazing how he fulfils the needs of his devotees."

"Desire begets wants in the mind of man. If he has no desire, he has no wants. Love for God destroys desire."

"He who follows the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna will be saved by the Mother from the trials and tribulations of the world. If you want peace, read 'The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna' as often as possible."

"It is easy to fool human beings but not God. He knows your shortcomings in spite of your best efforts to hide them. Pray to the Lord with a guileless heart. 'O Lord, please remove all my faults and weaknesses.' Man becomes stainless only after God-realization."

"Jealousy is a deadly poison. A jealous person cannot bear others' welfare and happiness. His heart breaks to see others progressing. If one can give up jealousy, one will understand God."

"On a moonless night one man cannot recognize another, however close they may be standing; similarly, a man cannot see his innermost self due to the dark covering of delusion."

"Dissatisfaction and craving for worldly enjoyments are signs of a diseased mind."

"If you always think of a holy person, you will become holy and pure; if you think of a thief, you will become a thief. Pure character is formed by close association with the holy."

"Do you think we salute trees and stones? We salute the Supreme Being, who pervades every atom of the universe. He who sees God in all creatures and all things attains the knowledge of Brahman."

"Although God is formless, he takes form according to our mental conception of him. It is because the formless Sat-chidananda dwells in our hearts that we can meditate on one of God's blissful forms. God appears in whatever form the devotee meditates on him."

"God gives power to those who are pure in heart."

3 May 2021

A man can attain peace if he gives up worldly enjoyment, for such enjoyment is the source of sorrows and sufferings, disease and despair.

Don’t be ungrateful to a person who has helped you. An act of kindness, however small it may be, can never be repaid.

See your own faults. Never criticize anyone; it is a great sin. It contracts the mind and pollutes the heart. Always look for the good qualities in others. If fault-finding becomes your habit, you will always see faults in them. Everyone has both good and bad in him. Only God is free from faults and full of divine qualities.

Don’t be concerned whether someone agrees with your opinion or not. 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.

Don’t ask for anything from God, for he knows everything. It is sometimes amazing how he fulfils the needs of his devotees.

Desire begets wants in the mind of man. If he has no desire, he has no wants. Love for God destroys desire.

He who follows the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna will be saved by the Mother from the trials and tribulations of the world. If you want peace, read *The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna* as often as possible.

It is easy to fool human beings but not God. He knows your shortcomings in spite of your best efforts to hide them. Pray to the Lord with a guileless heart: “O Lord, please remove all my faults and weaknesses.” Man becomes stainless only after God-realization.

Jealousy is a deadly poison. A jealous person cannot bear others’ welfare and happiness. His heart breaks to see others progressing. If one can give up jealousy, one will understand God.

On a moonless night one man cannot recognize another, however close they may be standing; similarly, a man cannot see his innermost self due to the dark covering of delusion.

Dissatisfaction and craving for worldly enjoyments are signs of a diseased mind.

If you always think of a holy person, you will become holy and pure; if you think of a thief, you will become a thief. Pure character is formed by close association with the holy.

Do you think we salute trees and stones? We salute the Supreme Being, who pervades every atom of the universe. He who sees God in all creatures and all things attains the knowledge of Brahman.

Although God is formless, he takes form according to our mental conception of him. It is because the formless Sat-chidananda dwells in our hearts that we can meditate on one of God’s blissful forms. God appears in whatever form the devotee meditates on him.

God gives power to those who are pure in heart.

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Adbhutananda)

4 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Adbhutananda)

First lady: "I do not understand one thing in your argument—how can the multitude become part of me?"

Latu Maharaj: "But you see, this is not an argument, it is a fact. The multitude is a part of the one Satchidananda— that is the truth. The differences are in name and form only, just as the same silver is transformed into cups, saucers, rings, and so on. Similarly, you, I, and others may be different outwardly, but in essence we are all the same Satchidananda. The same God has become many and is playing in different names and forms."

First lady: "Do you have proof of this?"

Latu Maharaj: "Certainly. But this proof is not something that can be demonstrated to others. It is a matter of one's own realization. Can love be demonstrated to others? Only the lover and the beloved feel it. Can outsiders understand it? The case is similar with God. Only God and the one to whom he shows his favour can understand it. Others cannot."

First lady: "It is a nice example."

Second lady: "Still the question remains unsolved. Suppose somebody does not believe in God but still does a lot of good to others. Won't he get merit for that?"

Latu Maharaj: "Yes. every action brings a correspond¬ing result. A man will get social merit through his philan¬thropic activities, but if his ego is involved in those activities, he will not get any spiritual merit. Even the result of a good action turns into a bondage if it is done with ego. None can escape the wheel of karma through self-motivated action. On the other hand, unselfish action destroys the bondages of action and brings liberation to man."

Second lady: "It does not make sense to me. I have never seen a single person who could serve others without any motive."

Latu Maharaj: "We do not say that one can do good to others with no motive at all; we say, let the motive be God-oriented. Although everyone cannot see God, one should have faith in his existence, and that faith is the key to seeing God. First have faith in God and then love his children. For instance, somebody did a job exceptionally well. The news reached the king, and he summoned the man. The meeting with the king came about because that job was well done. Similarly, by lovingly serving the Lord's children, you will get his grace and his vision too. All are the children of God."

Both of the Western ladies were impressed and later wrote a letter of appreciation to Latu Maharaj from Rome.

7 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MEDITATION

[To the question: “The scriptures declare that one should worship the Guru before one meditates. How shall I worship the Guru?”]

First meditate on him within the heart, knowing that Guru and God are one and the same. Then let the form of the Guru be dissolved into the Chosen Ideal, and then proceed with japam and meditation.

No matter how busy you may be in carrying out your duties, you must practice regular japam and meditation.

Can anyone in the primary stage live absorbed day and night in meditation? Therefore you must work, but work without attachment and for the good of mankind. If you do not work, evil thoughts and unnecessary cares will occupy your mind.

In performing japam and meditation, sufficient time and favourable conditions are important, certainly. But those who are inclined to practice spiritual exercises will do so under all circumstances. Those who complain of lack of time or suitable place can never make any progress in this life. Cultivate the habit of constantly remembering God, whether you are idle or engaged in work.

This constant flow of thought toward God is meditation. Neither time, nor place, nor circumstances need be taken into account in this practice. Plunge in! Oh, the joy of it! If you once taste that joy, everything else will lose its savour for you.

Your way of practicing japam and meditation is very superficial. If you practice casually, devoting only one or two hours a day to meditation, you cannot find God. Lose yourself day and night in his contemplation, in singing his praises and glory; only then will you be blessed with his vision.

Dive deep, my children, dive deep. Do not waste your time.

In the primary stage, the aspirant should slowly but steadily increase his hours of meditation. Otherwise, if, because of a momentary enthusiasm, he suddenly tries to increase his hours of meditation, he will find the reaction difficult to bear. He will become depressed, and then he will lose the power to meditate. It is a difficult task to lift a depressed mind and turn it back to spiritual practices.

8 May 2021

Dive deep, my children, dive deep. Do not waste your time. In the primary stage, the aspirant should slowly but steadily increase his hours of meditation. Otherwise, if, because of a momentary enthusiasm, he suddenly tries to increase his hours of meditation, he will find the reaction difficult to bear. He will become depressed, and then he will lose the power to meditate. It is a difficult task to lift a depressed mind and turn it back to spiritual practices.

Jai Ramakrishna

MEDITATION

[To the question: “Some days when I sit to meditate my mind naturally becomes tranquil. Again on other days it becomes so restless that I cannot calm it, no matter how I try.”]

That is the play of the gunas. The mind is subject to all three gunas. When the Sattva becomes established through practice, the mind will always remain tranquil. You see there is an ebb and a flow in the tide of the Ganges. In the same way there are ups and downs in everything. Meditation also has its ebb and flow. This is only in the early stage, however. Do not trouble about it. Stick to your practices.

Whenever you feel a predominance of Sattva, and your mind is tranquil, leave your work and engage yourself in the practice of japam and meditation. The only way to control the mind and find peace is to chant the name of God and meditate on him. Meditate upon God within the shrine of your heart, or visualize him present before you. Worship him mentally. Just as the ritualistic worshipper offers flowers, and waves incense and lights before the deity in the temple, so should you offer all the articles of worship mentally to the living presence enshrined within your heart.

Do not waste any more time. Begin this very day. Practice japam and meditation once in the morning and once in the evening for at least two years. You will find great joy; spiritual emotions will arise; a new vision will open up. You are sure to find some result in two years. Some succeed even in a year. Stick to it! After a while you will find such joy that you will have no inclination to leave your meditation.

Get yourself a new seat and use it only for your meditation. Sit straight, keep the right hand over the left, with the palms up. Hold your hands near the centre of your body in the region of the heart. Read sacred scriptures. When you sit down to meditate, do not begin the practice immediately. For a few minutes, banish all alien thoughts and make the mind blank. Then start your meditation.

For the first few years, the struggle is hard; afterwards it becomes easy. If a day comes when you have a lot of work to do, you may meditate only once, or you may finish in ten or fifteen minutes. If the pressure of work is very great, fix your mind on God for a moment, then bow down to him and close your meditation. You can do this in exceptional cases, but not always.

9 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

Meditation differs according to the individual temperament of the aspirant. As a general rule, the best way is to meditate in the shrine of the heart. Consider the body as the temple and see the Lord installed therein. However, when once the mind becomes steady through meditation, then the aspirant can think of God anywhere; either at his side, or behind him, or in his heart, or anywhere else.

I can tell you from my own experience that it is not possible to meditate properly unless you keep continent. My child, if you wish to make your life blessed, if you desire your own good, then dive deep into meditation. Do not float on the surface but repeat the name of the Lord and dive deep.

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. Spiritual disciplines are practiced to bring purity and tranquillity to the mind.

If you practice japam and meditation and the mind still does not become tranquil, or you do not taste joy in God, then you may know you are not practicing properly. Pray to the Lord. Practice with regularity. Gradually, the mind will become inclined to worship and meditate.

In the beginning the mind will refuse to come under control, but force it, urge it, entreat it in order to fix it on meditation. There is no need of many teachings. Now meditate on the words I have spoken to you. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, “One must ‘ruminate’ after one hears the teachings.”

10 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Brahmananda

The mind is intimately related to the body. If the stomach is upset, you can never have good meditation. Hence it is that there are so many restrictions about food. “The stomach should be filled half with food and a quarter with water, the other quarter being left vacant for passage of air.”

If you meditate in solitude, the mind will easily go inwards; it will be less disturbed by foreign thoughts. Is it easy to meditate? If you happen to eat a little too much, you cannot concentrate your mind. Meditation is possible if you can keep lust, anger, and all other passions under control. If any of them grows strong, you cannot have meditation. And merely seeing a great soul won’t do. One must meditate and assimilate; one must have discrimination and dispassion.

[To the question: “While making Japa, I sometimes forget to do so. Why is this?”]

Patanjali has said that this is an obstruction to Yoga. To meditate is to think and become conscious of Him. When meditation will be intense, when God will actually reveal Himself, you will have Samadhi. If you attain Samadhi, the joy of it will persist for a long time; some say for all times. During meditation, think that desires for worldly things are worthless. This will leave a good impression on the mind. As you drive away the desires from your mind, good thoughts and feelings will come up.

If you see lights or hear supernatural sounds during meditation, know that you are going on rightly. But do not attach any importance to these lights and sounds, though they are good signs. While meditating in a solitary place, you may sometimes hear the sound *Om* or the ringing of bells or natural sounds from afar.

11 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Shivananda

If one practises meditation and Japa regularly along with work, then there will be no trouble. We have to work, that is certain. But then, if one does not practise meditation, Japa, etc. along with work, then one will not be able to work in the right spirit. Meditation and Japa are absolutely necessary—there should be no lapse in them.

When you meditate, think that you and He alone exist, and forget everything else—work, Order, Math, etc. Gradually you have to forget even your own existence. One has to meditate on the different centres in the Sushumna. In the heart, one has to meditate on one’s Chosen Deity as sitting on a red lotus with twelve petals, and in the head on the Guru as seated on a white lotus with a thousand petals. These meditations help Japa and, therefore, should be practised.

If you find it difficult to meditate, be prayerful. It is difficult to meditate on the formless. The Vedas prescribe Akasha as a symbol of the formless God. Other symbols like the ocean, etc., may also be taken, but Akasha is better. Meditation and Japa should be performed regularly with great devotion. They purify the mind. Continued for some time, regular practice of this kind is conducive to the establishment of a constant spiritual mood, giving one a taste of inner joy.

12 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Shivananda

A person should not leave his seat immediately after meditation, but should sit for a while thinking about the object of his meditation. Then he may recite prayers and hymns along similar lines to intensify and stabilize the meditative mood and inner joy. Even after leaving his seat he should not talk with anyone, but should rather be contemplative and remain by himself for some time. Practice like this fosters a continuous undercurrent of meditation, helping to keep the mind on a high level and bringing to the heart great joy.

For some days we enjoy meditation, but other days come when we don’t. In the initial stage all aspirants have to go through this experience, but one should not stop practice for that reason. Did not the Master speak of the hereditary farmer? Even as he sticks to the family profession, so you must stick to your spiritual practice, and in trying periods pray fervently to the Lord.

When you meditate, try to think of what you saw in holy places. This is certainly the object of going on pilgrimage. Get up early, wash yourself, and go the chapel to meditate there. Why, of all places, do you meditate on the bed? It is not a good practice. Of course when sitting elsewhere is inconvenient, it is different. We have learned from experience that the moment you sit on the bed you feel lethargic and sleepy. The bed and its pillows have a tendency to pull you down and make you go to sleep.

Early morning is the ideal time for meditation. It is silent and quiet all around. Nature is peaceful. With little effort the mind becomes absorbed in meditation. Unless work is accompanied by meditation, japa and other spiritual practices, its very spirit is lost. Then one forgets it is the Lord’s work and not his own. Egotism and pride come and instead of being purified by the work, the heart becomes defiled.

13 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Shivananda

Practice like this fosters a continuous undercurrent of meditation, helping to keep the mind on a high level and bringing to the heart great joy. For some days we enjoy meditation, but other days come when we don’t. In the initial stage all aspirants have to go through this experience, but one should not stop practice for that reason. Did not the Master speak of the hereditary farmer? Even as he sticks to the family profession, so you must stick to your spiritual practice, and in trying periods pray fervently to the Lord. When you meditate, try to think of what you saw in holy places. This is certainly the object of going on pilgrimage. Get up early, wash yourself, and go to the chapel to meditate there. Why, of all places, do you meditate on the bed? It is not a good practice. Of course when sitting elsewhere is inconvenient, it is different. We have learned from experience that the moment you sit on the bed you feel lethargic and sleepy. The bed and its pillows have a tendency to pull you down and make you go to sleep. Early morning is the ideal time for meditation. It is silent and quiet all around. Nature is peaceful. With little effort the mind becomes absorbed in meditation. Unless work is accompanied by meditation, japa and other spiritual practices, its very spirit is lost. Then one forgets it is the Lord’s work and not his own. Egotism and pride come and instead of being purified by the work, the heart becomes defiled.

[Devotee: “If I cannot make time for meditation in the morning, I at least salute the Lord before going to school.”]

Salute the Lord, of course; but that is not enough. You should also try to meditate a little. Night is the ideal time for meditation. When you meditate, though for a short time, try to detach yourself completely from your work. Shaking off all worries and withdrawing yourself from everything, seek to be established in your own Self. You should practise this at least once a day, even if only for a short while. When you meditate, try to be one with God, to have the consciousness of unity and identity. At the end of the day, even if for a short while, lay aside everything and commune with God. In the beginning you may have some difficulty in practising meditation in this way, but there is no reason to stop trying. With the practice of meditation peace of mind will grow, and then alone will you be in a position to undertake humanitarian activities in the right spirit. Meditation on God will obliterate the ego, and He will then be all in all. Only when your mind reaches this state, will you be able to do genuine philanthropic work.

[To the devotee’s question: “Formerly I used to do that a great deal, but of late I have not been able to find the time. So I do it for just a little while.”]

That is fine. But however little time you devote to meditation, do it with great earnestness and love. Even if you practise only five or ten minutes, do it with your whole heart and soul. God is the antaryamin, dwelling within. He judges by your heart. He sees how much devotion you have, not the amount of time you spend on meditation.

14 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Shivananda

When meditation is very deep, one loses all sense of past and future. There is simply consciousness of the present, and that vaguely. It is a bit difficult to have concentration in the initial stages. Meditation becomes more natural when one gets real love for God as a result of His grace and one’s constant prayer and japa. Go on repeating His name with full sincerity, and you will find that meditation will follow as a natural development. When one goes on repeating the name of the Chosen Deity with intense love, one becomes gradually filled with an ineffable bliss. When that bliss becomes continuous, it is also a kind of meditation. Meditations are of various kinds. Go on meditating on the blessed, effulgent form of the Lord with the greatest love, and imagine that every recess of your heart shines with the light emanating from His form. As you go on thinking thus, you will feel that your whole being becomes suffused with inexpressible joy. Gradually the form also will get dissolved, and you will have the feeling of a kind of bliss associated with consciousness. This also is a kind of meditation. There are innumerable other kinds of meditation which you will yourself come to know by stages. The Master used to say that the name and the Being named are one and the same. As you repeat the mantra of a Chosen Deity, think of His form as well; thus you can have both japa and meditation simultaneously. It is good to have a fixed seat for one’s meditation and japa, for that creates an atmosphere and helps the mind to become concentrated quickly. It is through constant devotion and meditation that God becomes gracious and reveals Himself in the heart of the devotee. What is needed is meditation — constant remembrance of Him. By constantly thinking of Brahman, the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, which is truth, infinity, love, omnipotence, and consciousness, a man becomes Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Itself. Through constant thought of Him and meditation on Him, the mind and heart become purified; and to that pure mind a divine revelation occurs spontaneously and God’s grace is realized.

15 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

ON MEDITATION

Swami Shivananda

When meditation is very deep one loses all sense of past and future. There is simply consciousness of the present, and that vaguely. It is a bit difficult to have concentration in the initial stages. Meditation becomes more natural when one gets real love for God as a result of His grace and one’s constant prayer and japa. Go on repeating His name with full sincerity, and you will find that meditation will follow as a natural development. When one goes on repeating the name of the Chosen Deity with intense love, one becomes gradually filled with an ineffable bliss. When that bliss becomes continuous, it is also a kind of meditation.

Meditations are of various kinds. Go on meditating on the blessed, effulgent form of the Lord with the greatest love, and imagine that every recess of your heart shines with the light emanating from His form. As you go on thinking thus, you will feel that your whole being becomes suffused with inexpressible joy. Gradually the form also will get dissolved, and you will have the feeling of a kind of bliss associated with consciousness. This also is a kind of meditation. There are innumerable other kinds of meditation which you will yourself come to know by stages.

The Master used to say that the name and the Being named are one and the same. As you repeat the mantra of a Chosen Deity, think of His form as well; thus you can have both japa and meditation simultaneously. It is good to have a fixed seat for one’s meditation and japa, for that creates an atmosphere and helps the mind to become concentrated quickly.

It is through constant devotion and meditation that God becomes gracious and reveals Himself in the heart of the devotee. What is needed is meditation — constant remembrance of Him. By constantly thinking of Brahman, the Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Absolute, which is truth, infinity, love, omnipotence, and consciousness, a man becomes Existence-Knowledge-Bliss Itself. 16 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

On Meditation

Swami Shivananda

You have to spend your time in meditating on Him, repetition of His name, recollection of Him, reading about Him, reflecting on Him, and prayer to Him. Then only will you get real bliss and peace in life, and your taking refuge in Him will be fruitful. If one but takes to meditation and *japa* and prays to Him constantly, one’s mental tendencies get the proper direction, and one’s senses come under control.

Look here, my son, you should make intensive *japa* at dead of night. That is the best time for *japa* and meditation. Do not begin meditating or making *japa* as soon as you sit down on your seat. First, start with a calm prayer to the Master. You should be up and doing; engage yourself in spiritual practices with firm determination. It will not do to give up *japa* and meditation under the simple excuse that your mind does not settle down to these. When you meditate, you should think that your Guru is looking at you with affection and you are looking at him with love.

[To the question: “Sir, I have been practicing *japa* and meditation; but I fail to derive any joy from these. I am also not able to concentrate my mind. Kindly bless me, and instruct me so that I may derive joy.”]

Is it so easy, my son, to derive such joy from *japa* and meditation? It comes from long practice. You have to practice hard. The mind must be pure. The more intimate the relation you can have with God, and the more you can love Him, the more joy you will get from His name. God’s name and God Himself are non-different. He is full of love, full of bliss; the more you can think of Him, the more blissful you will be. But nothing can be had with a restless mind.

Go on practising *japa*, meditation, and prayer intensively; and you will find that you have acquired a fresh energy in body and mind. Gradually you will have a stronger liking for His name. Pray earnestly; prayer is very helpful. When you feel that you cannot engage yourself in *japa* and meditation, you should then pray earnestly and sincerely.

16 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Shivananda

You have to spend your time in meditating on Him, repetition of His name, recollection of Him, reading about Him, reflecting on Him, and prayer to Him. Then only will you get real bliss and peace in life, and your taking refuge in Him will be fruitful. If one but takes to meditation and japa and prays to Him constantly, one’s mental tendencies get the proper direction, and one’s senses come under control. Look here, my son, you should make intensive japa at dead of night. That is the best time for japa and meditation. Do not begin meditating or making japa as soon as you sit down on your seat. First, start with a calm prayer to the Master. You should be up and doing; engage yourself in spiritual practices with firm determination. It will not do to give up japa and meditation under the simple excuse that your mind does not settle down to these. When you meditate, you should think that your Guru is looking at you with affection and you are looking at him with love.

Meditate on His lotus-feet; the senses will withdraw of themselves and the mind will lose itself in Him. A little meditation, a little Japa — this is a poor sort of 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. Absorb yourself in meditation and be lost in Him. It would be excellent if you could spend five years in exclusive meditation of the Master. It is very good to meditate before sleeping and pass into sleep while thus meditating. Meditation begins with the unification of the meditator, the object of meditation, and the act of meditation, when the idea of separation between them is obliterated. The Jnanis meditate in the head, the devotees in the heart. We generally find so. But when as a result of meditation in the heart, spiritual consciousness expands, there is no more any fixed location of meditation.

What is the mind-stuff? It is that which gives rise to thought — where the first impression is received. So it is clear that if the very source of thought is agitated, meditation is out of the question. Meditation can be on divine forms, as well as on Om. As one goes on meditating, the mind gets absorbed in Om. As one goes on repeating Om and reflecting on its meaning, the mind becomes steady, that is to say, it does not give it up.

Then Patanjali says about the obstructions to Yoga. What are those distracting influences? They are as follows: One may get diseased. Either one becomes mad or has some serious illness that prevents any further progress. Lassitude is inaction of the mind or torpidity. Doubt is cogitating whether a thing is of this kind or that — whether a particular course of action will produce the desired results or not. Not doing that which will lead to Samadhi or Yoga is inadvertence. Laziness is the want of proper care or exertion owing to an excess of Tamas or dullness. Attachment is attraction for sense-objects. Delusion is mistaking one thing for another. Not reaching the higher states of Samadhi is what is called non-attaining of heights. There is one more, viz. the inability to stay on a particular state of Samadhi already attained.

23 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

By silent and continued prayer and meditation one should create in the mind a subconscious current, and it will go on working at all times — even in sleep. Not that one will have no dream, but the current thus generated will be supreme, working imperceptibly within. During this spiritual endeavour one should not mix with too many persons or engage in useless talk. One can explain a thing if only one has a clear grasp of it, which is the outcome of concentration. Better still is meditation. At Srinagar I used to meditate on the Upanishads. It was a charming occupation. In this way eight Upanishads were committed to memory. What is meditation but absorption in a subject? By concentrating on a subject, its inner secrets are revealed. Some look upon these works as inferior to meditation. They do not know what they say. What is meditation? Why is it so highly looked upon? Because it is the way to the soul’s union with God. Now let us see what Swamiji who initiated the works meant. Did he ask you to merely attend on the patients or to worship Narayana in and through them? How then is this worship of Narayana different from meditation!

What kind of meditation is this, half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening! Must there not be an uninterrupted flow throughout the day? Closing the eyes for a few minutes and spending the remaining day in gossip!

In the beginning, you will not be able to perform meditation and Japa always — other things are necessary; a little meditation, a little Japa, some reading from the scriptures, singing devotional songs for some time — various methods to remember Him alone. After practicing this way for some time, you will be able to think of Him and concentrate your mind on one point.

24 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Premananda

Meditate, meditate, meditate! What are you doing? You are frittering away your life. Think deeply, pray to Mother, go beneath the semblance of things, see the One Reality in all. The mind must be occupied some way or another. If you don’t do physical work, you must use your mind — read, or study, or meditate, and don’t spend your time in idle gossip. Meditation is the key that opens the door to Truth. Meditate! Meditate! Meditate till light flashes into your mind, and the Atman stands self-revealed. Not by talk, not by study, but by meditation alone the Truth is known. Meditate on any subject that appeals. All lead to the same goal. As soon as a desire to meditate arises, one should go into one’s room, close the door and commence. But again, if it is necessary to do so, one should give up the meditation, come out in a natural way and enter into activities. If a person proposes that he should meditate on the Lord only when his body is well, he will never meditate at all. Serve with all your mind; it will have the effect of a spiritual discipline. Work of such quality is equal to prayer and meditation.

25 May 2021

The mind must be occupied some way or other. If you don’t do physical work you must use your mind — read, or study, or meditate, and don’t spend your time in idle gossip. Meditation is the key that opens the door to Truth. Meditate! Meditate! Meditate till light flashes into your mind, and the Atman stands self-revealed. Not by talk, not by study, but by meditation alone the Truth is known. Meditate on any subject that appeals. All lead to the same goal. As soon as a desire to meditate arises, one should go into one’s room, close the door and commence. But again, if it is necessary to do so, one should give up the meditation, come out in a natural way and enter into activities. If a person proposes that he should meditate on the Lord only when his body is well, he will never meditate at all. Serve with all your mind; it will have the effect of a spiritual discipline. Work of such quality is equal to prayer and meditation.

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Adbhutananda

Why do you think of all sorts of nonsense when you sit to meditate? Can’t you whip your mind? Even if you cannot control your mind and you become disgusted, please don’t leave your seat; for if you get up from meditation with that attitude of disgust, you will be in a bad mood all day, and you will feel like beating one person, scolding another, and speaking harshly to a third. A bhakta meditates on the name and form of the Lord, while a jnani meditates on the identity of the individual soul and Brahman. But whatever the object of meditation may be, eventually both aspirants will reach the same goal. When meditation deepens, both the name and form of the Lord and also the knowledge of the identity of the individual soul and Brahman disappear. That is certain. At that time, only a current of experience which is indescribable remains. You will find that during meditation your Chosen Ideal will appear to you in many forms. That is his divine play. Since all forms are contained within him, why are you making distinctions between them?

Although God is formless, he takes form according to our mental conception of him. It is because the formless Satchidananda dwells in our hearts that we can meditate on one of God’s blissful forms. God appears in whatever form the devotee meditates on him. What is the use of prayer and meditation if you have no dependence on Him? Everything else is useless if you lack in this. ‘I am and my Chosen Deity is — there is nought else besides’ when this attitude comes the mind becomes purified. This is meditation.

26 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Abhedananda

There is no need for you to be impatient for doing Japa or meditation and flying to solitude for that purpose. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, “Meditate in a corner, or in the forest, or in the mind.”

The Sadhaka who lives in a city can sit inside the mosquito curtain and easily do his Japa and meditation in the night without distraction. When the mind becomes steady by continued practice of Japa, meditation is accomplished by itself.

Raise your mind to the Ajna Chakra, and ponder over the truth that lust, anger, and the rest are not the attributes of the Soul. Meditate on this idea. Repeat the great truth: “I am Brahman,” and contemplate on the soul which is the witness, the inspirer, the absolute, the one without any attribute. Practise a little. The secret of success lies in meditation.

When you meditate, remember first the great teachers of the world. They have given us the greatest of all gifts, the highest truth. Remember the greatest of all teachers, the Teacher of the universe. Aspire to be His faithful servant. Send thoughts of love to all living beings; pray that all may be happy and peaceful and blissful.

Then think of your body; remember it is the instrument of the soul. We must keep it strong and healthy and make it a useful instrument; we must master the body so that through it we can express our divine nature. Breathe slowly and rhythmically; imagine that you breathe out all that is evil and weak and undesirable, and that with every breath you draw in, the divine nature is flowing through you.

Then meditate on Him who is the Soul of your soul. Try to feel that you are one with that Infinite, Blissful Existence.

27 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Meditation means complete self-abandonment. Meditation requires complete annihilation of self-consciousness. You know before a great light, lesser lights disappear; so before the effulgent glory of God, the little glory of the ego will completely vanish, as stars vanish when the sun rises. You must therefore practise the Presence of God inside you. You may say, “I cannot see Him with these eyes of mine. I cannot hear Him with these ears. How then, am I to perceive Him?” You can never perceive Him in this way. To go to the Creator you must throw aside these instruments which take you directly to the creation. You must go beyond your mind and senses, then meditation will come of itself. This is the only way to get inner vision. These senses are made for the creation, not for the creator. God is always supposed to be perceived more clearly at the point of meeting between the two opposite poles. He is neither light nor darkness, but He is beyond both. He is to be found just where they meet. Hence the twilight hour, morning and evening — the meeting place of day and night — is considered the best time for meditation. Also at noon-time, just when the sun reaches its highest point and begins to drop down towards night. The voice rises to its highest pitch at that hour and even the cries of the street-vendors grow shriller. As sound and mind are inseparably connected, sound being the primary expression of mind, so the mind also reaches its greatest height at noontime. To see God everywhere is the highest worship; meditation is the next best; prayer and repetition of the Divine Name are lower than that; and external worship is the lowest.

28 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Saradananda

You complain that thoughts of duties sometimes intrude when you sit for meditation. All minds are in the same predicament. You cannot escape this even if you leave work and retire to a forest. You need not meditate long on your Guru, but just remember and salute him and then spend most of the time in the meditation of your Chosen Deity. Meditate on the Deity as you go on repeating His name.

When you sit down for meditation, first think thus: “It is my own Chosen Deity, who like an eternally pure and indivisible ocean of Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, pervades everything and I also exist within Him. It is He who exists everywhere inside and outside myself.” Thinking on this idea for a while start your Japa and meditation as usual. This will remove the unsteadiness of the mind.

Hold on to God even in gloom. Never miss meditation or forget to repeat the name of the Lord. Meditation is the anchorage of the soul. Meditation will purify your mind. Continue japa and meditation without losing heart.

[To an attendant who asked him what need there was for a man like him to meditate so long, impairing his health:]

The call has come. I am preparing for the great journey. Now meditation is the food of my life, and chanting His name the source of my delight.

Meditate on the deity as you go on repeating his name. Since past mental tendencies cannot assert themselves while you are hard at work, you should apply your whole mind to it. What is known as the destruction of the mind in Vedantic literature is not a state of vacuum. It is a state of deep concentration. The mind is to be made absolutely one-pointed through meditation on God.

29 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Saradananda

It is foolishness to expect calmness all of a sudden and an unobstructed vision of the Chosen Ideal during contemplation. It is for this reason that you must set apart a definite time and sit for meditation regularly. However busy you may be, you must not forget to sit twice every day, in the morning and in the evening. You may begin with a period of fifteen minutes each time, but gradually you should increase the period up to an hour, if not more. If you practice japa and meditation regularly, without break for some years, you will see for yourself what result comes to pass. Your mind will become pure and you will be absorbed in the thought of God. Then you will be reluctant to leave off meditation even for a single day. There will come an inner tranquillity which will fill your heart with joy. Fasten your mind to the Lord and always hold your Ishta in front of you. Through japa and meditation you can purify the heart and then the true nature of God will be revealed to you. Then you will experience that blessed state in which all doubts vanish and the heart overflows with pure love and joy of His presence. This has been beautifully put in the Upanishads: “The knots of the heart, which are ignorance, become loosened, all doubts are dissolved, and all evil effects of deeds are destroyed when He who is both personal and impersonal is realized.”

If instead of thinking of the Lord your mind wanders while you chant his name, how can you expect the desired result? It will be just like rowing a boat without pulling up the anchor. So you must repeat the name and meditate on its meaning so that your mind may be withdrawn from sense objects and fastened on God.

30 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Saradananda

This is what Sri Ramakrishna asks us to do in his precept: “Make mind and mouth one. Harmonize your words and thoughts. If they are united, success is bound to come.”

Patanjali says the same thing in his aphorism, “One must repeat Om and reflect on its meaning.” One can meditate on Om as well as on divine forms. But you are to follow the instructions of your teacher and repeat the name given by him. There is no hard and fast rule regarding the number of hours to be spent in study and meditation. Everything is to be done according to one’s convenience and capacity. Gradually you should increase japa, the repetition of the name of the Lord, and the period of your meditation. Regularity is very important in spiritual life. Therefore you must try to keep the same hours as far as possible. At other times, keep a watch over your mind and see that recollectedness continues throughout the day. In the midst of all kinds of work you must allot some time for japa and meditation, for they are the means to self-knowledge.

Jesus Christ said to his disciples: “Ye are the salt of the earth.” It seems to me japa and meditation are, as it were, the salt of work. Follow the instructions of your teacher and meditate regularly. Meditate on the Guru, seated on a white lotus with twelve petals. This centre is situated in the brain above the eyebrows. Before performing japa and meditation, recite the hymn to the Guru mentally:

“I meditate on the Guru, whose nature is that of Absolute Reality, who is beyond good and evil, pleasure and pain, life and death, and all the pairs of opposites, and who is the constant witness of the changing phenomena of the universe. I seek refuge in Him, who is the embodiment of knowledge and liberation, who is pure, stainless, and all-pervading like the ether, and through His grace removes the darkness of my heart. May He awaken my consciousness and grant me freedom and bliss.”

31 May 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Saradananda

Sri Ramakrishna has advised us especially to meditate. He was insistent on it. All his emphasis was laid on prayer and meditation. A weak mind is unfit for meditation. When a man with such a mind tries to meditate, his mind runs away.

You have asked me what you should do under your present circumstances. My advice is: Perform spiritual disciplines. Do japa and meditate to the best of your ability. Repeat His name and meditate in the early hours of the morning, when nature is calm and the stillness can be perceptibly felt. Do the same thing in the evening at the auspicious moment when the day disappears and the night comes to call all aspiring souls to turn within for prayer and contemplation. The rest of the time you must spend in some kind of activity.

The mind is unsteady because it clings to objects of desire. Desire is like a fire which always craves new sensations. If you ignore its demand, it will burn itself out and be extinguished. Therefore, carry on your meditations without paying any notice to the intrusion of distracting thoughts. Try to impress on your mind that you have no one in the world except the Lord as your companion and refuge. Try to deepen this consciousness by struggle and patient endeavour and you will find unbecoming thoughts will gradually disappear.

[To the question: “In which place or chakra does the kundalini rise up when the forms of God are seen in meditation?”]

A. Possibly in the anahata chakra.

[Question: “During the awakening of the kundalini do the lotuses in the chakras bloom for only the yogis and not for the devotees?”]

A. For the devotees also.

[Question: “Does the kundalini rise up as light, and as it rises to each chakra, does the lotus described in that chakra blossom?”]

A. Yes, that is what the scriptures say.

1 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Saradananda

When you meditate on the Guru, you are to think that it is the Lord who has taken the effulgent form of the Guru and who, with a smiling face, is showering His blessings on you. You have written that at the time of meditation you find it difficult to think of the lotus. While meditating on your Chosen Ideal if you are able to visualize the form, it does not matter whether you visualize the lotus or not. Again, if you cannot bring before your vision the luminous form of your Guru, think of him as you have seen him with your eyes. All these devices have been prescribed in the scriptures only as aids to the concentration of the mind.

You seem to think that meditation is not possible unless one is aware of the true nature of God. That is not correct. If you have perfect knowledge of God, you are already illumined. To say that you will practice spiritual disciplines only after you have attained full conviction and knowledge of His Being is tantamount to saying: ‘I will enter the water only after I have learned to swim.’ In that case you will never learn. It is only through japa and meditation that one removes all obstacles, attains purity of heart and finally arrives at the full consciousness of God.

A Sanskrit verse says, ‘He who wishes to meditate on the Lord after all his problems are solved is like the fool who wishes to bathe in the sea after the waves have subsided.’ That moment will never come. The sea will always have waves. Similarly, favourable opportunities are hard to find in this world. Therefore do not wait for propitious moments. Every moment is propitious when you use it properly.

You need not worry about awakening the spiritual power called the kundalini. If you can chant the name of the Lord with a steadfast mind and meditate on His blissful form, you need not bother about anything else. In time meditation will automatically lead you to the blessed experience known in the scriptures as awakening of the kundalini.

This is the picture of Shri Siddheshwar Majumdar. He is the person who took Sri M (Master Mahashay — The composer of Kathammrita) to Dakshineswar Kali Temple for the very first time. He thought it would be a good idea to take Sri M for a small visit to Dakshineswar. He couldn't imagine what impact of that event was going to impose on the Mankind in future. Devotees find his name in the beginning of Kathammrita, but only a few devotees have seen his picture.

2 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Saradananda

[To the question: “The body becomes exhausted after japa and meditation. Is it good to sleep at that time? I have heard that sleeping at that time is injurious to the chest.”]

A: I cannot say whether sleeping at that time is injurious to the chest. Possibly not.

[To the question: “In raja yoga one learns that by practicing pranayama a kind of vibration is generated. I think such vibrations come while making japa with meditation also.”]

A: Some experience that.

[To the question: “Why do a slight fever and other obstacles come while making japa and meditating?”]

A: Prarabdha karma seems to be the reason.

Make japa and meditate as much as you can bear, but don’t go beyond your capacity.

There is no rule that so many hours of study and so many hours of japa and meditation should be done, but try to increase your japa and meditation by degrees.

Peace of mind can be had by spending more time in meditation and other spiritual practices and by depending on the Lord.

L If drowsiness comes while concentrating on the object of meditation but joy persists, then it cannot be called lethargy or sloth. It is not a high state of mind, but still it is good, and by daily practice it will go away.

If by doing japa the mind becomes calm and the desire for meditation comes, then meditate.

There is no necessity of your solving these questions, nor do I have the time. Make japa and meditate daily and remain pure in body, mind, and speech — by that alone you will achieve your life’s goal.

Take Sri Sri Jagannath Deva’s rice prasad every day for a few days; and when sitting for meditation, at the very beginning think: My Chosen Ideal is everywhere, covering everything like the unbroken sea of Satchidananda, and I am always in Him. He is everywhere, within me and outside of me. Concentrate on this thought for some time, meditate, and make japa as usual.

3 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Saradananda

If you get joy from meditating on the *bija* of your mantra, then do that. You wanted to know how to meditate on the name. Try to concentrate on the sound produced by the name. Then the mind will become calm and peaceful. “The name is Brahman,” say the scriptures. Bliss will come only by taking the name. Do japa and meditate as much as possible; do not give that up. By practice, a taste for repeating the Lord’s name will come and you will know peace and bliss.

If the vision of the cremation ground comes during your meditation and dreams, it is good, not bad. Meditate on Sri Guru sitting on the twelve-petalled, white lotus above the eyebrows. The *slokas* of meditation on Sri Guru are to be chanted at that time — Sri Bhagavan takes the effulgent form of him from whom initiation is taken and resides as Sri Guru on the twelve-petalled lotus. You are to visualize the Ishta or Sri Guru face to face, i.e., if you sit eastward think that He is sitting facing you. Of course, the scriptures say that the Guru should be visualized as seated on the white lotus in the head and the Ishta on the red lotus in the heart. I do not know whether you will get joy in doing that. Do what gave you joy before.

So you see, it is not possible to state a general rule of conduct. We must adapt ourselves to each individual case. The best we can do under such complex circumstances is what our Holy Mother used to do herself — meditate and calm your mind; then, after thinking over the various aspects of the problem, pray to the Lord and do what flashes into your mind.

4 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Saradananda

Meditation and prayers, even when they do not bring any material gain, are conducive to immense spiritual good. It is through meditation and prayer that the mind is able to withdraw itself from gross sense objects and lift itself to a higher plane. Is this a small gain?

The more you practice austerities and meditation, the more you will enjoy the blessings of God. Without practice nothing can be achieved.

[To the question: “What if I fail to observe strict punctuality? If I cannot sit to meditate at the proper hour?”]

A: There is no harm if you cannot be punctual for a day or two. But you should remember Him and think of Him while engaged in work. Do it.

Eclipse brings about a great change in the sphere of nature. At such a juncture when nature passes from one condition to another, the mind becomes calm and so the time is favourable for the practice of Japa and meditation.

Those who want to meditate must take healthy and substantial food. Ghee, butter, etc., are good.

The meditation of the Lord in the Sahasrara, which you do at the time of Bhuta-Shuddhi in ceremonial worship, is meditation on the formless. When you do not like any form meditate on the formless. If the meditation on the form of the Guru is more appealing at any time then better meditate on the Guru, for the Lord manifests through the Guru.

[To the question: “What are we to do if any other image than that of the Ishta appears during the meditation?”]

A: Think then that the Ishta has appeared in that form. Thus the form will slowly disappear and the Ishta will reappear.

[“Should we do so whatever be the form that appears?”]

No. Do this only when the form of a saint appears.

5 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Saradananda

[To the question: “What are we to do if any other image than that of the Ishta appears during the meditation?”]

A: Think then that the Ishta has appeared in that form. Thus the form will slowly disappear and the Ishta will reappear.

[“Should we do so whatever be the form that appears?”]

A: No. Do this only when the form of a saint appears.

[To the question: “Maharaj (Swami Brahmanandaji) has said, ‘Meditate in the heart.’ By ‘heart’ what particular spot is meant?”]

A: This is what we usually mean — the pit of the stomach. This is the heart. Here one should meditate on the Ishta, seated on a red lotus of eight petals. The image of the Guru in a white lotus should be meditated upon in the head above the eyebrows. If you can strictly follow what the Guru has prescribed for the realization of God, everything will be smooth at last. Meditation comes afterwards. If one fails to meditate, one should go on repeating the Mantra very earnestly. There is no other way out. Every day at fixed hours, in the morning and evening, you are to practise diligently. Keep a portrait of your Ishta before you and try to meditate.

[To the question: “Maharaj, I like to meditate on the Guru. The thought about the Ishta does not come to my mind usually. So I meditate on the Guru. Will it not do?”]

A: No. Why should you make things so easy? After meditating on the Guru, meditate on the Ishta as well. But if you feel a special yearning for the Guru, you may devote a greater length of time to him. If you cannot meditate on the Ishta just think that He is. That also will give you peace.

[To the question: “Is Japa to be practised with meditation or after meditation?”]

A: It is to be practised with meditation. As you progress you will understand how with the intensity of meditation, Japa stops automatically.

6 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Akhandananda

Without heart, everything else counts for nought. Unless the heart expands, nothing else will avail. Merely to continue sitting with the eyes shut will produce no fruit; it will not bring about God-realization. There is no hard and fast rule as to time and place in practising japa. Meditation is not so easy. We have no other way but to repeat His name and meditate on Him and to purify the mind — do some selfless work of service. Rise early, meditate a little, on the bed itself — for the mind then is naturally calm. Later, roll up your bedding, cleanse the room, sprinkle some water. Do every bit of work with a purpose. Think this: ‘This very work is my Sadhana; this will help me to realize God.’ Dr. Ganguli tends a garden in her spare time and thinks: ‘This is the garden of my Beloved God. I am watering it so that when the plants blossom, I shall decorate my Beloved with those flowers.’ The trend of thought should be like that. This is meditation along with work — this is Sadhana. Karma-yoga is a very difficult path. The path of meditation is a much easier one. 07/06/2021 – Swami Dayatmananda: 7 June 2021. Jai Ramakrishna.

ON MEDITATION

Swami Akhandananda.

[To the question in a devotee’s letter: “Who is to be meditated upon first, the Guru or the Ishta? And how am I to meditate on them?”]

A: The Master is the Guru and he is also the Ishta. There is no first or second. Meditation on Him in the heart is best: it should be as if one were seeing Him. He is sitting in the temple of the heart; I come and see Him. Those who are initiated can think of their own Guru in the beginning if it helps them. There is no special rule. What is needed is constant thought of Him. Not that you will not meditate [during worship]. You must meditate on one or other subject.

For example: meditate on the thought that you are performing Arati to your Chosen Deity — first with a lighted flame, then with incense and camphor, after that with a Chamara. Go on with that, don’t let it end. If after a long time, you are tired of it, begin the offering of Pushpanjali. Think that you are offering handfuls of flowers of different colours; think again that you are garlanding the Deity; that you are offering to Him or Her food of various kinds. This uninterrupted current of thinking is one kind of meditation.

You have to be very prayerful. Pray along with repetition of the name of the Lord. Meditation is a long way off! ‘Those who sit down to meditate just to avoid work, should be yoked to the plough!’ said Swamiji. But I give them a spade and ask them only to dig the earth.

7 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Akhandananda

[To the question in a devotee’s letter: “Who is to be meditated upon first, the Guru or the Ishta? And how am I to meditate on them?”]

A: The Master is the Guru and he is also the Ishta. There is no first or second. Meditation on Him in the heart is best: it should be as if one were seeing Him. He is sitting in the temple of the heart; I come and see Him. Those who are initiated can think of their own Guru in the beginning if it helps them. There is no special rule. What is needed is constant thought of Him. Not that you will not meditate [during worship]. You must meditate on one or other subject. For example: meditate on the thought that you are performing Arati to your Chosen Deity — first with a lighted flame, then with incense and camphor, after that with a Chamara. Go on with that, don’t let it end. If after a long time, you are tired of it, begin the offering of Pushpanjali. Think that you are offering handfuls of flowers of different colours; think again that you are garlanding the Deity; that you are offering to Him or Her food of various kinds. This uninterrupted current of thinking is one kind of meditation. You have to be very prayerful. Pray along with repetition of the name of the Lord. Meditation is a long way off! ‘Those who sit down to meditate just to avoid work, should be yoked to the plough!’ said Swamiji. But I give them a spade and ask them only to dig the earth.

8 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Subodhananda

Listen, unless you practise yourself meditation and Japa, it does not matter how great the Guru from whom you took your initiation might be, you cannot have success.

Swami Vijnanananda

Our scriptures prescribe the meditation of Narayana inside the solar region with His attributes and adornments of the golden crown and ear-rings, of the conch and chakra, and the club and lotus. Meditation is prescribed in the solar region. The conch is the symbol of the primeval voice, the ‘Om’. The wheel represents evolution, the club expresses strength of restraint, and the lotus means the creative power. These, of course, are spiritual explanations. I am describing them as I feel about them. Meditation on God should make you mad for Him and forget everything else. God is the eternal fountainhead of life. Great souls have all immersed themselves in that spring of immortality. No spiritual aspirant can become great without completely identifying himself with Him. You should meditate on Him at night. Worldly distractions make us forget Him, and that is why you should invoke Him at night. And you should do it with so much earnestness, as if you have received summons from the other world, and you are going to meet Him presently. When you are free from worldly distractions at night, you should be alone and do japa and meditate on the Master and the Holy Mother.

9 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Subodhananda

Unless one has acquired the habit of constantly thinking of God by long practice, everything becomes confused on account of the pangs of death, and one cannot think of God even once. So constantly meditate on Him and pray to Him. There are three particular regions of the body which are good for the purpose of meditation: the heart, the spot between the eyebrows, and the nerve centre in the brain. Our Master used to say that the heart is the best place for meditation. The physical heart is somewhat to the left of the chest, but Mahavirji shows the meditation region in the centre. Meditation in the core of the heart is advisable. But, my dear, how deep into the heart can you really enter? Our Master said meditation on his picture would be enough. Go on doing it with all your heart and soul. The mind has to be lifted up beyond the outer environment and the sense-world and then merged in the self. The best time for meditation is midnight. You can then achieve results very soon. Nature is in a quiet mood then and the concentration is easier. The environmental conditions also are favourable at that time.

[To the question: “But, Maharaj, at the time of meditation, all sorts of useless thoughts assail the mind. What to do about it?”]

A: Go on with meditation; don’t give it up. In time everything will be all right. Everybody says the mind is assailed with all sorts of thoughts. Why not put up a ‘No Admittance’ sign mentally and refuse to let those thoughts crowd into the mind?

Make a seat with a piece of woollen blanket, and spreading over it a small Kusha mat, sit erect on it. Japa and meditation also must be practised only as much as they can be done comfortably without too much strain.

Today is the most auspicious phalaharini Kali puja. On this sacred day may the Divine Mother Kali, Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti and Jnana.

10 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Subodhananda

Do you know where one should meditate? Our Master used to say it should be done in the heart, in a secluded corner, or in a forest. What did he mean by ‘forest’?

Monk: “It means a jungle.”

No, my dear, forest is not a jungle. It refers to your mind, where the passions dominate. Such a mind is like a forest. You have to purge your mind of all these passions, make it pure and holy, and then invoke God there.

Monk: “Then what is the idea of mentioning ‘mind’ and ‘forest’ separately?”

It is not without significance. ‘Mind’ here means the ‘heart’. You have to think that your deity whom you adore lives inside the heart. The male deity on the right side and the female deity on the left side of the heart. Every day you should regularly practise meditation. That helps you to concentrate your mind. And you should, as far as possible, keep yourself mentally aloof. [That the mind refuses to fix itself on the object of meditation] need not worry you at all. You should go on telling your beads morning and evening even though the mind wanders. You should never give up. Meditation or no meditation, you should never give up your practice. Japa will consummate in meditation and meditation will lead to ecstasy. In deep meditation, one is blessed with supernatural visions.

11 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MEDITATION

Swami Subodhananda

Why should you say you do not get enough time to devote yourself to meditation and japa? You can always have your time for it. You can practise meditation and japa even as you walk on the road. The point is, you have to repeat His name and think of Him. You have to see that your mind is fixed on Him all the time. In meditation, the mind is to be lifted up beyond the outer senses, inner senses, mental states, intellect and ego, and in this process you are to get it merged in the Self. You should keep up the practice of doing japa and meditation regularly every day. That helps the mind to become steady gradually. Go on doing japa regularly, morning and evening, even though the mind tends to wander. Don’t give up japa and meditation simply because you cannot concentrate your mind properly. There is no reason to despair. In course of time, everything will shape well. True, the mind refuses to remain steady always, but it does become so sometimes, maybe for a minute in fifteen minutes. That will do. Whether you can meditate properly or not, never give up the practice. Japa leads one to a state of meditation and meditation results in samadhi. In deep meditation one is blessed with spiritual visions. Unless you are completely detached from everything, your meditation and prayer, work and learning will be of no avail.

12 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Brahmananda

The mind is like a restless child; it wants to run away. You must bring it back again and again and apply it to the meditation on the Lord. Go on this way for two or three years, and then an inexpressible joy will fill your mind. This apparent universe, which you see, is within the domain of the mind. The mind is the author; the mind has conjured it up. It cannot go beyond its own domain. Behind the mind, of which we are aware, is a subtle spiritual mind, existing in seed form. Through contemplation, prayer, and Japa this mind develops, and with its unfoldment a new vision opens. This subtle mind also cannot reach God, the supreme Atman, but it leads you near Him. At this stage, the world loses all its charm for the aspirant. He remains absorbed in the consciousness of God. Next comes Samadhi.

The mind is susceptible to suggestions. It learns whatever you teach it. If through discrimination you can impress upon it the joy and fullness of life in the spirit and the folly of worldly attachments, then your mind will devote itself more and more to God. The way of steadying and purifying the mind is to retire into solitude, control all cravings, and engage yourself in contemplation and meditation. The more you occupy the mind with holy thoughts, the greater will be your spiritual unfoldment. Another means of steadying the mind is to let it wander, but keep watch over its workings. After some time the mind gets tired and comes back to find peace in God. If you watch your mind, the mind, in turn, will keep watch over you.

13 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Brahmananda

The mind is created out of the three gunas which also make up the outer world. Because of this, the mind finds delight in dwelling on worldly thoughts. This is the very nature and stuff of the mind. It is only through divine grace that a man can withdraw his mind from the external world and keep it fixed on God’s holy feet. Keep at least three-fourths of your mind in God. It is enough if you give one-fourth to service, work, and worship. Keep your mind as high as the mountains. Give your body and mind to worldly enjoyments, and the world will destroy them both. Devote them to God and His service, and you will enjoy bodily health, peace of mind, and spiritual joy.

[To a devotee who was feeling severe dryness and lack of devotion:]

Why worry about it? The waves of the ocean rise high, then go down again, and again they rise. The mind is like that. But please do not be troubled. Your present mood is due to the fact that you are about to rise to a much higher level of spirituality. The wave of the mind is gathering strength. It is good to laugh every day. It relaxes the body and the mind.

14 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

17 June 2021

ON MIND

Swami Brahmananda

Devote your mind to the world and to the pleasures of the world, and great will be your suffering; devote your mind to God, and great will be your joy. The world is full of temptations which arouse passions; every day you will see ninety-nine percent of the people rushing in mad pursuit after sensual pleasures. Your mind is in constant danger of becoming contaminated; therefore, you must engage your mind in thinking good thoughts, studying good books, and discussing uplifting subjects.

First of all, the mind, which is the ruler of the senses, must be controlled. After that the mind and the intellect must be merged in the Atman. A man’s mind tries to deceive him, but he must not allow himself to be swayed by his mind; he must curb and rule it. 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.

Who are your enemies? Your own senses. But if you can control them they will become your friends. Your mind is your only enemy, and your mind is your only friend. The man who analyzes himself thus can wipe out the subtle deceptions of the mind, and by so doing move rapidly along the path of spirituality.

The mind is gross and feeds on gross objects, but as you practice japam and meditation, the mind will become subtle and learn to grasp subtle truths. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: “Never squander the energies of your mind.” This means, remember God constantly. The worldly man is very careful not to squander his money, but he gives little heed to how he squanders his mind.

It must be made pure and subtle and raised to the state of Sattva, then you will find joy in your practices, and will want to devote more and more time to them. Later, when the mind has attained perfect purity, you will have but one desire — to devote yourself to contemplation always. Because the mind is gross it runs after gross things, but as it becomes pure and subtle it will run after God — the pure consciousness. When the mind grows subtle, its power increases and the aspirant is immediately able to grasp the truth of God.

It is excellent training for the mind to take up some form of work at the beginning of the spiritual life. When the mind is trained it can be applied to meditation and other spiritual practices. The mind that is allowed to drift at one time will drift at the time of meditation also. There comes a time when the spiritually advanced man wants to devote himself solely to meditation and prayer. When that time comes, work drops away from him of itself. However, this happens only when the mind is spiritually awakened.

If one who is not thus awakened should attempt to lead a life of exclusive spiritual practice by sheer effort of will, it can last only for a few days; then comes monotony, sometimes followed by madness. Again there are others, who follow the spiritual path in a haphazard way and at the same time keep their minds busy with worldly things. That is not good. If you allow your mind to wander and lead a purposeless life, a bad reaction is bound to follow. Passions will overcome you.

The mind is like a package of mustard seeds. If the seeds are once scattered, it is difficult to gather them up again. Likewise, when the energies of the mind have been scattered, as one grows older it is very difficult to collect them and turn the mind toward God.

18 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Brahmananda

As a general rule, a man’s mind runs downward like a river—toward lust and gold, name and fame. Change the current, and make the mind flow upward toward God. Teach your mind to give up all craving for fleshly enjoyments. When the mind is once freed from craving, it becomes your slave.

I will tell you a secret. You may not fully understand its meaning now, but in time its truth will dawn upon you. And this truth is that every man’s will and mind lead him progressively toward good. Some are led along thorny paths and some are led along smooth paths, but all reach the same goal.

Knowing this, there are some illumined teachers who advocate the following spiritual discipline: Let go the mind and will; let them wander at random. But always keep vigilant watch. Be the witness. Thus, if the aspirant really lets go and still keeps constant watch, even though for a time the mind may run after filth and vanity, in time it is bound to turn progressively toward Good.

Give three parts of your mind to God and apply the rest to your work. If you can do this, your work will indeed be worship and your heart will be filled with joy. Just as the Ganges has its ebb and flow, so is there an ebb and flow in spiritual moods in the beginning. But later, as you continue, there will come an even flow of the mind toward God.

Try diligently to check this mad outward rush of your mind. You can do this successfully if you do not try to meditate as soon as you sit down. First, draw the mind back from its external pursuits by means of discrimination and lock it up inside, at the sacred feet of your Chosen Ideal. Then make japam and meditate. If you try diligently to follow this course for some time, the mind will naturally cease to wander.

19 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Brahmananda

By constantly performing japam, the mind can easily be made calm and steady, and finally it will lose itself in God. Japam and meditation are not possible on a full stomach, because the greater part of your energy will be squandered in digesting the food, and the mind will remain disturbed.

Keep a sharp eye on the mind and see that no undesirable thoughts or distractions enter in. Whenever they try to crowd in, turn the mind toward God and pray earnestly. Through such practice, the mind is brought under control and becomes purified.

The mind moves upward or downward. Jealousy, selfishness, desire for enjoyment, laziness, etc., determine its downward motion; faith, devotion to God, love, sympathy, etc., determine its upward motion.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say: “So long as the needle is covered with mud, it is not attracted to the magnet. But when the mud has been washed away, the needle is naturally drawn toward the magnet.” The mud of the mind is washed away if one thinks of the Lord and meditates on him and prays to him with a yearning heart. At once the magnet of God attracts the needle of man’s mind to him, and the moment the mind becomes pure, the divine grace begins to flow.

Sense-attraction is strong indeed, and if you yield to it, it will create indelible impressions of evil in your mind, and before you are aware of it, the mind will drag you down and down. To nourish the body, mind, and brain, and to secure their fullest development, continence is essential.

Follow your routine. The mind may rebel at first, but do not yield! Then gradually you will find yourselves masters of your own minds. When you have gained control over yourselves, and your minds have become naturally absorbed in God, then you need follow no rule or routine. Keep up a constant communion with God; then all the depravities of the mind will vanish.

21 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Brahmananda

The body and mind are closely related. When the body is disturbed, the mind also becomes disturbed. Therefore, particular care must be given to the diet in order to keep the body healthy. Meditation is not such an easy matter. When you have eaten too much, the mind becomes restless. Also, unless you keep lust, anger, greed, and such other passions under control, the mind will remain unsteady. How can you meditate with an unsteady mind?

ON MIND

Swami Brahmananda

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 the Chosen Ideal and the mind becomes merged in his consciousness.

[To the question: “It often happens that the mind, after making some progress, cannot advance further. Why is this so?”]

A: That is the weakness of the mind. The mind is limited by its capacity. All do not have the same mental power, but it can be developed. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the power of the mind becomes strengthened by the practice of continence. A man so strengthened is not overcome by lust and anger. Passions seem trivial to it. The pure mind receives a clear reflection of God. If the mirror is covered with dirt it does not reflect, for the Lord’s reflection does not fall upon an unclean mind. 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. The mind rebels against effort. It always seeks ease and comfort, but if you wish to attain anything you must force it to struggle. That is the only way to make your mind steady. If you find it difficult to sit for long hours, lie down on your bed and practice japam. If you feel sleepy, walk and make japam. Only thus can you steady your mind and make meditation your second nature. Should you give up meditation because the mind does not like it? If you go on in that way you can never learn to meditate. Regular war must be waged against the mind. To force the mind to obey you is the ideal of spiritual discipline.

24 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Brahmananda

Practise a little meditation and japa every day. Never stop for a single day. The mind is like a restless child; it wants to run away. You must bring it back again and again and apply it to the meditation on the Lord. Go on this way for two or three years, and then an inexpressible joy will fill your mind. It is no use hurrying oneself. Until the right time comes, it is of little avail. The condition of mind before the favourable time arrives is really painful. The mind is swept alternately by hope and despair, smiles and tears. But if you can secure an efficient spiritual guide, he may, by means of certain spiritual processes, push your mind above this level. You may not, however, be able to stand it if you are pushed up untimely and too high. The mind is intimately related to the body. If the stomach is upset, you can never have good meditation. Do not be cast down if bad thoughts occasionally arise in your mind. Brush them aside.

25 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Shivananda

It is only by doing selfless work that the mind gets purified. And when the mind is purified, even the slightest suggestion would fill your heart with devotion for the Lord. If the mind be not purified, you may practise Japa to any extent; nothing will result by way of spiritual progress. What can Japa do if the mind is full of selfishness, jealousy, hatred, etc.?

The Gita lays stress on personal effort: “The self must be raised by the self, so let no one weaken this self. For this self is the friend of oneself and this self is the enemy of oneself.” One has to liberate oneself from bondage; one should never be despondent. Here ‘self’ means mind, intellect, etc. Devote your whole mind to Japa, meditation, worship, and study of the scriptures, whichever appeals to you for the time being. It is not possible to comprehend Him with this mind. He can be comprehended only with the pure mind. The Master used to say, “The pure mind and the Self are one.” That mind in which there are no mentations or desires cannot be called mind. Then there exists only an all-pervading consciousness, power, or Brahman — whatever you may call it. That again takes the form according to the temperament of the devotee. However, sincere efforts will bring self-control. When disciplined, this wicked mind behaves right; it functions as the Guru, repeats His name, guides the aspirant along righteous ways, and gives him inspiration in noble undertakings.

26 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Shivananda

Whether the mind is concentrated or not, do not give up calling upon Her. Be steady and hold to the ideal even as a hereditary farmer. If you do that, you will certainly receive Her grace.

[To the question: “Sometimes I enjoy my meditation; at other times I cannot control the mind at all.”]

A: That is how the mind behaves. It has a wave-like motion. Haven’t you seen waves? Here comes a high wave followed by a deep hollow, and a wave comes again. The fact that sometimes you lose control over your mind signifies that a big wave will come and you will have great peace. Calumny, gossip and things of that nature are very bad. They drag the mind down. As long as one can, one should practice meditation, worship and study; the rest of the time one should keep silent, thinking about God. How can the mind find joy in external beauty once it becomes absorbed in the feet of the Lord, the Beloved, the source of infinite beauty? Having once tasted of the joy of the Infinite, earthly pleasures seem trifling. A mind that is untainted by worldliness will be soon enlightened. To your mind, which is the thread, apply a little oil and water in the form of faith and devotion, and carefully twist in the loose fibres of your passions and desires. Then the mind will easily merge at the blessed lotus feet of the Lord. As you go on calling on Him and weeping for Him, all the dirt in your mind will be washed away, and it will become purified. Then, that pure mind itself will act as Guru to you.

27 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Shivananda

The more the mind becomes indrawn, and the more it approaches the innermost core, the more free it becomes from doubts. Then pure bliss reigns supreme, and the mind becomes suffused with divine love.

You may be in the world, but your mind must not be tied to it. Do not cherish in your mind too much of worldly ambition. You have already provided for the bare necessities of life. Be content with them.

The mind has a natural proclivity towards the low and the vulgar — towards lust and lucre and towards name and fame. The task of the aspirant is to gather together that scattered mind and fix it on the lotus feet of the Lord.

One should keep strict vigilance over one’s mind, analysing it at every turn. Whenever you notice that the course of the mind is altering even slightly, you should at once start praying to Him with all humility, and you should apply yourself more intensely to your spiritual practices.

When the mind becomes purified by spiritual practices, it feels the living and divine presence of God. That experience is what really counts; and its effect lasts through one’s life.

If He, out of His grace, but turns the mind even a little, then this very restless mind, mad as an elephant as it is, becomes calm and gets lost in samadhi — it gives up all attachments to worldly things once for all.

How can one reach high spiritual states unless the mind becomes very fine? Again, can the mind rise to the supersensuous plane all of a sudden? It requires long spiritual practice.

28 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Shivananda

It is better to avoid those kinds of food that create mental disturbance and prevent the mind from concentrating on God. The Holy Mother used to say: “Pray to the Master that he may keep the head steady.” To lose one’s head is to lose all. “Shoot me,” said Swamiji [Swami Vivekananda], “if my brain goes wrong.”

Yes, the mind becomes purified when it is disciplined through morality; and the divine vision dawns on that pure mind. God sees one’s mind. He becomes gracious where He sees sincere craving. You should be up and doing; engage yourself in spiritual practices with firm determination. It will not do to give up japa and meditation under the simple excuse that your mind does not settle down to these. The mind generally remains scattered over many objects. That scattered mind has to be gathered together and concentrated on the object of meditation. You should also come here now and then and associate with the monks; that will strengthen your mind greatly.

I tell you frankly, my son, I know of no artificial trick by which the mind can be fixed or divine bliss attained. I warn you further that no speedy result can be expected in this path. One has to go on persevering in the path, day after day, month after month, year after year, with the same determination — one has to make spiritual efforts. The mind that has remained scattered so long has to be gradually gathered together with patience, and then fixed at the feet of God.

Names and forms and all such things belong to a very low order of existence. When the mind transcends names and forms you come to the acme of realization; then everything is full of Bliss, everything is full of Consciousness.

29 June 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Shivananda

He alone is the Lord of the mind — the Supreme Spirit. If He graciously turns inward the mind — which is otherwise so turbulent, like a mad elephant — this mind becomes calm and absorbed in samadhi, reaching a state beyond all modifications. Unless the mind becomes subtle and fine, one cannot have spiritual experiences. Can the mind become placid in a day? How much spiritual discipline is necessary for it?

Swami Turiyananda

Write in big characters on the door of your mind ‘No Admission’ — and no outside disturbance will trouble you during meditation. It is because you allow outside things to disturb you that they have access to your mind. There are several obstructions to concentration: Laya, Vikshepa, Kashaya, Rasavada. Laya is the mind being overcome by Tamas — the mind falls asleep and loses consciousness. Most aspirants are held down by Laya. Vikshepa is the scattering of the mind on multifarious objects. Kashaya is finding meditation distasteful — one feels disinclined to meditate. But one must still persist. Rasavada is the mind being fascinated by the vision of divine forms and refusing to ascend higher. Meditate on His lotus-feet, the senses will withdraw of themselves and the mind lose itself in Him. The Master one day was asked if the disease in his throat hurt him. 05/07/2021

The Master replied: ‘What foolish things you say! Does the body ever attain sainthood? It is the mind that becomes such.’ Unless the mind remains unaffected, a mere spartan-like fortitude does not count much; you feel the pain, only you suppress its outward expression. If you feel that all pain and suffering are of the body, not your own, and that you are separate from the body, only then you are right. Never expect anything from anyone. But always give. Otherwise, a sense of dryness will overtake you. But you must not give your mind to anyone. That you must give only to God. ‘Let the pain know and the body know, but you, oh my mind, remain for ever in bliss!’

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Turiyananda

Is it easy to detach the mind from all objects? Only a hero can do that. The external objects are ever trying to enter into your mind and conquer you. In the mind itself there are many layers, one upon another. It is no use merely closing the eyes and ears. [To the question: “Cannot the mind remain alert and awake of itself?”]

A: But can that state come automatically? You must practice first. Try consciously to correct yourself first, then you will find that your mind has become its own monitor. People want to reach that state at once. You will have to work your mind yourself. Others cannot do that for you. The Master has said again and again: ‘You must try a little. Only then will the Guru reveal the Truth.’ Let me tell you from our experience that if anyone advances towards Him a single step, He advances towards him ten steps. This is our personal experience. If you do not exert, none can do anything for you. The Great Ones point out the way. Is that little help? If you tell us your difficulties, we can help you. We also have travelled the same path, so we can tell you about it. Does one want that the butter should be churned out and held before one’s lips? — Even then he keeps his mouth shut! Have we to feed him also? This is a mental disease, Styana — the mind refuses to labour or do anything. You must analyse your mind very carefully. The Master would instruct us to work with the hands but to keep the mind ever on Him. It is very difficult to truly understand the intricacies of the mind without being an advanced aspirant. How many are the ways in which the mind is deluding us! If anyone points out the delusions, we find excuses for them! We do not understand how many kinds of self-love are in us. It is no joke to submit to anyone — not outwardly, but in spirit. Swami Vivekananda was once reading the Bible. He was in those days a vegetarian. When he read of Jesus’s meat-eating, he did not like it. But at once he thought, ‘Oh, how proud I have become because I am living on vegetables!’

July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Turiyananda

To think of means for the future, that is Parigraha. Birth and rebirth, all follow from Parigraha. We are already thinking of ways and means for the future. Wherever our mind is, there we also are.

5 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Turiyananda

Write in big characters on the door of your mind ‘No Admission’ — and no outside disturbance will trouble you during meditation. It is because you allow outside things to disturb you that they have access to your mind.

There are several obstructions to concentration: Laya, Vikshepa, Kashaya, Rasavada. Laya is the mind being overcome by Tamas — the mind falls asleep and loses consciousness. Most aspirants are held down by Laya. Vikshepa is the scattering of the mind on multifarious objects. Kashaya is finding meditation distasteful — one feels disinclined to meditate. But one must still persist. Rasavada is the mind being fascinated by the vision of divine forms and refusing to ascend higher.

Meditate on His lotus-feet; the senses will withdraw of themselves and the mind lose itself in Him.

The Master one day was asked if the disease in his throat hurt him. The Master replied: ‘What foolish things you say! Does the body ever attain sainthood? It is the mind that becomes such.’

Unless the mind remains unaffected, a mere spartan-like fortitude does not count much; you feel the pain, only you suppress its outward expression. If you feel that all pain and suffering are of the body, not your own, and that you are separate from the body, only then you are right.

Never expect anything from anyone. But always give. Otherwise, a sense of dryness will overtake you. But you must not give your mind to anyone. That you must give only to God.

‘Let the pain know and the body know, but you, oh my mind, remain for ever in bliss!’

6 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Turiyananda

Is it easy to detach the mind from all objects? Only a hero can do that. The external objects are ever trying to enter into your mind and conquer you. In the mind itself there are many layers, one upon another. It is no use merely closing the eyes and ears.

[To the question: “Cannot the mind remain alert and awake of itself?”]

A: But can that state come automatically? You must practice first. Try consciously to correct yourself first; then you will find that your mind has become its own monitor. People want to reach that state at once. You will have to work your mind yourself. Others cannot do that for you.

The Master has said again and again: ‘You must try a little. Only then will the Guru reveal the Truth.’

Let me tell you from our experience that if anyone advances towards Him a single step, He advances towards him ten steps. This is our personal experience. If you do not exert, none can do anything for you. The Great Ones point out the way. July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Turiyananda

To think of means for the future, that is Parigraha. Birth and rebirth, all follow from Parigraha. We are already thinking of ways and means for the future. Wherever our mind is, there we also are. If you do not have Parigraha, where would your mind be? Naturally on the Atman itself. This one practice of Aparigraha can take you to the highest. If there be a hole of attachment in the mind, the result of Japa will run out through it. One test of the steadiness of mind is the steadiness of look. As soon as the mind gets steady, the look also gets steady. No more is there any restiveness in one’s look and movements. One should be consistent in thought and words. It won’t do to let the lips utter something which the mind does not approve. What the mind thinks, the lips too should express, and vice versa. It is extremely difficult to detect the tricks that the mind plays. Great God!

Unless one is chaste, the mind is never steady. “The body is formed of the elements and is swayed by thought. If the mind-stuff is disturbed, the elements are destroyed. Therefore, it should be carefully protected. A steady mind-stuff only can give rise to a bright understanding.”

What is the mind-stuff? It is that which gives rise to thought — where the first impression is received. So, it is clear that if the very source of thought is agitated, meditation is out of the question. We simply go on reading ‘mind-stuff, mind, intellect,’ but which is which, one has to understand by diving deep into the interior. It is difficult to escape if the mind-stuff has already received bad impressions. “If the mind, which is outgoing in its activities, is ever so slightly deflected from the ideal, it goes down and down, even as a play ball inadvertently dropped at the head of a staircase goes down bumping from one step to another!” [Avadhuta Gita]

8 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Turiyananda

If you do not have Parigraha, where would your mind be? Naturally on the Atman itself. This one practice of Aparigraha can take you to the highest. If there be a hole of attachment in the mind, the result of Japa will run out through it. One test of the steadiness of mind is the steadiness of look. As soon as the mind gets steady the look also gets steady. No more is there any restiveness in one’s look and movements. One should be consistent in thought and words. It won’t do to let the lips utter something which the mind does not approve. What the mind thinks, the lips too should express, and vice versa. It is extremely difficult to detect the tricks that the mind plays. Great God!

Unless one is chaste, the mind is never steady. “The body is formed of the elements and is swayed by thought. If the mind-stuff is disturbed the elements are destroyed. Therefore it should be carefully protected. A steady mind-stuff only can give rise to a bright understanding.”

What is the mind-stuff? It is that which gives rise to thought — where the first impression is received. So it is clear that if the very source of thought is agitated, meditation is out of the question. We simply go on reading ‘mind-stuff, mind, intellect,’ but which is which, one has to understand by diving deep into the interior. It is difficult to escape if the mind-stuff has already received bad impressions. “If the mind, which is outgoing in its activities, is ever so slightly deflected from the ideal, it goes down and down, even as a play ball inadvertently dropped at the head of a staircase goes down bumping from one step to another!” [Avadhuta Gita]

How it goes down, and down, till it reaches the extreme limit of the fall! Meditation can be on divine forms, as well as on Om. As one goes on meditating, the mind gets absorbed in Om. As one goes on ‘repeating Om and reflecting on its meaning,’ the mind becomes steady, that is to say, it does not give it up. Books on yoga say that all power is in us. We must control the mind through proper discipline, then only will its power be manifested. The fit man overcomes his defects bit by bit. If you try to do it all of a sudden, you won’t succeed, for they will persist. Therefore one should withdraw the mind slowly. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, “A finger-print is clear when the ink is all right, and if it is bad the impression also is bad.”

Spiritual instructions make a lasting impression on the mind that possesses discrimination and renunciation; and when there is a deficiency in these, the impression produced is proportionately small. In Samadhi there is complete destruction of the mind, but it must be the Nirvikalpa Samadhi. To transcend the mind is to manifest the intellect fully. It is not that the mind is altogether annihilated, but the mind which formerly had relations with the phenomenal world is gone. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the pure mind and the pure Self are one. The mind gets purified as soon as its worldly character is destroyed. A pure mind is that which, fully believing in the unity of Self, sees the same Atman in all, and deals with them accordingly.

9 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Turiyananda

By silent and continued prayer and meditation, one should create in the mind a subconscious current, and it will go on working at all times—even in sleep. Not that one will have no dream, but the current thus generated will be supreme, working imperceptibly within. Even the worst suffering a man undergoes is due to Her will, and it is ultimately for his good, for such suffering removes countless past impressions from his mind.

First, you have to prepare the mind. After that, any subject to which you may apply it will stand explained. The method of controlling the mind is by seriously watching it for some length of time. It can be done both by love and by discipline, according to circumstances. The mind should be under your control—it must not be allowed to ride on you, for then the tables will be turned.

It is the nature of the mind to be fickle and restless, like a naughty child that has to be pulled back by the ear to its studies. How difficult to hold the mind forever above the world! It wants to come down. It is indeed very hard to escape the grip of desire.

The great elements, egoism, intellect, and also the unmanifested, the ten senses, desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, the body, consciousness, fortitude—these briefly described, constitute the Kshetra and its modifications. The Kshetrajna alone is real, and its reality makes the Kshetra—the body, mind, etc.—appear as real.

10 July 2021

Swami Turiyananda

Ordinarily we know only the surface waves of our mind. But through Yoga practice we learn to go deeper. By watching and studying our own minds we dive below the surface consciousness, and observe what is going on there. Many Samskaras — latent desires and tendencies — are stored up there, waiting for an opportunity to express themselves. These we can discover before they rise to the surface. This is very important, for once a thought has come to the surface it is extremely difficult to control. But at an early stage, before it has fully developed and gathered strength, it is easy to manipulate. This is called, “Seeing our thoughts in seed form.” The seed is easily destroyed, but when it has germinated and grown into a big strong tree, it requires great strength and effort to hew it down. So we must crush our desires in their early, undeveloped stages. Yogis can do this. They keep down undesirable thoughts in the germ state by smothering them beneath thoughts of an opposite nature. Thus they conquer all evil tendencies — hatred with love, anger with kindness and so on. Have you seen people play chess? The players sometimes overlook a move because their minds are set on winning the game. But the looker-on will see the move, because his mind is calm, not disturbed by the desire to win. We become ambitious, and thus lose clearness of vision. Don’t you see, I am never idle? The mind must be occupied some way or other. If you don’t do physical work you must use your mind — read, or study, or meditate, and don’t spend your time in idle gossip.

13 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Turiyananda

The world is neither good nor bad. What I call good, you perhaps call bad, and the reverse. Where is the standard? The standard is in our own attitude toward life. Each one has his own standard. And with increased experience and insight, the standard changes.

The pity is that we still recognize evil. When we become perfectly good ourselves, the whole world will appear good. We see only the reflection of our own minds.

See the Lord always in everything, and you will see no evil. A suspicious mind sees evil everywhere; a trusting mind sees only good.

A quarrelsome person constantly finds something to quarrel about; a peaceful person finds no one to quarrel with.

The hunger of the body is very little. A couple of pounds will satisfy it. But the hunger of the mind is insatiable. It devours mountains of food and is never satisfied, always craving for more.

It is our own projection. Good and bad are in our own minds. It is good to see good everywhere.

Ordinary people identify themselves with the mind.

Bondage and freedom are both in the mind. Atman is beyond mind.

Try to live with those who have mastered the mind. If you cannot live with them, think of them. Mind controls mind. The mind can be concentrated in many ways, through meditation, singing, reading, etc. Always watch your mind. Be the master of the senses and the mind.

Try to keep your mind in the Lord. He will surely come to your aid. There is no question about it. When the mind becomes impure, doubts immediately make their appearance. Watch that your mind does not give room to selfishness. Surrender your mind to the Lord.

14 July 2021

ON MIND

Swami Turiyananda

The world is neither good nor bad. What I call good, you perhaps call bad, and the reverse. Where is the standard? The standard is in our own attitude toward life. Each one has his own standard. And with increased experience and insight, the standard changes. The pity is that we still recognize evil. When we become perfectly good ourselves, the whole world will appear good. We see only the reflection of our own minds. See the Lord always in everything, and you will see no evil. A suspicious mind sees evil everywhere; a trusting mind sees only good. A quarrelsome person constantly finds something to quarrel about; a peaceful person finds no one to quarrel with. The hunger of the body is very little. A couple of pounds will satisfy it. But the hunger of the mind is insatiable. It devours mountains of food and is never satisfied, always craving for more. It is our own projection. Good and bad are in our own minds. It is good to see good everywhere. Ordinary people identify themselves with the mind. Bondage and freedom are both in the mind. Atman is beyond mind. Try to live with those who have mastered the mind. If you cannot live with them, think of them. Mind controls mind. The mind can be concentrated in many ways, through meditation, singing, reading, etc. Always watch your mind. Be the master of the senses and the mind. Try to keep your mind in the Lord. He will surely come to your aid. There is no question about it. When the mind becomes impure, doubts immediately make their appearance. Watch that your mind does not give room to selfishness. Surrender your mind to the Lord.

15 July 2021

ON MIND

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. One who keeps one’s mind ever filled with goodwill for others can get a thousand faults of his own burnt to ashes and he comes to be remembered as a saint.

16 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Adbhutananda

The holy company you keep, the spiritual talk you hear all make an impression on your mind. In the course of time you will realize the effects of these things and the momentous changes that they will bring about in your life.

[To the question: “Maharaj, why are there so many ups and downs in the mind of a householder?”]

A: Because the mind of a householder is too involved with worldly objects. Sometimes it goes up as a result of spiritual practices, but it falls back again. The Master used to say: ‘If one ties a rope with a brick at the end of it to the tail of a mongoose, it will be able to climb a wall only as far as the loose rope permits, but no farther, because of the weight of the brick. Likewise, the mind of a householder may move toward God, but the weight of worldly objects pulls it back.’ To keep the mind always in God is a great tapasya; such a mind does not fluctuate between high and low. A thread with stray fibres cannot pass through the eye of a needle; similarly, a mind with desires cannot be absorbed in God. When a man’s mind becomes fully concentrated on God, he enjoys the bliss of the Atman. But this is very difficult in the householder’s life. Disease, sorrow, enjoyment, desire — all these are constant companions of the householder; also physical lethargy and mental restlessness. In addition to these if a man doubts the existence of God, there is no hope of his getting liberation. Often you will find that worldly people are busy with their families, their children, and other mundane matters, but they have no inclination to think about God. Such distracted minds cannot make progress in spiritual life.

17 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Adbhutananda

Wherever you go, the world will follow you. Does it exist outside us? No, everything is in our own minds. 18 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Adbhutananda

The nature of the mind can be changed by chanting the name of the Lord. Gradually, desires and doubts cease, and the mind dissolves into its causality. Then, there is none to think or imagine. Waves of desire in the mind show that the mind is active; the mind becomes pure only when it becomes waveless. The power of God descends on the pure mind, and only then does one realize the Self.

If you see cruelty around you, you will find cruelty in God. If you see compassion everywhere, you will witness his infinite compassion. It all depends on your own mind. Always remember that to the pure mind, all things are pure.

You are aware of your consciousness, but you are unable to express it. [To the question: “Why?”]

A: Because your mind is so deeply covered with desires, doubts, and ignorance that your real nature is unable to express itself. Haven’t you seen those polishing shops at Mechuabazar in Calcutta where they have glass jars filled with coloured liquids? The metal worker takes a tarnished brass pot and dips it into a jar, and instantly all the tarnish goes away and the pot starts to glitter. Then, he dips it into another jar, and it turns a golden colour.

Similarly, the cloudy stuff which has been covering our ‘I’-consciousness must first be washed away; then, we shall see the brilliance of the inmost Self. Dip your mind in the jar of the Lord’s name, and all the unclean stuff will be washed away. Then, dip it in the jar of the Lord’s grace. You will see how beautifully our real nature will shine forth. You will have to clean your mind first. There is no other way.

If you want happiness in this world, think of yourself as pure gold and not as gold-plated.

18 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Adbhutananda

The nature of the mind can be changed by chanting the name of the Lord. Gradually, desires and doubts cease and the mind dissolves into its causality. Then there is none to think or imagine. Waves of desire in the mind show that the mind is active; the mind becomes pure only when it becomes waveless. The power of God descends on the pure mind, and only then does one realize the Self. If you see cruelty around you, you will find cruelty in God. If you see compassion everywhere, you will witness his infinite compassion. It all depends on your own mind. Always remember that to the pure mind all things are pure.

You are aware of your consciousness, but you are unable to express it.

[To the question: “Why?”]

A: Because your mind is so deeply covered with desires, doubts, and ignorance that your real nature is unable to express itself. Haven’t you seen those polishing shops at Mechuabazar in Calcutta where they have glass jars filled with coloured liquids? The metal worker takes a tarnished brass pot and dips it into a jar, and instantly all the tarnish goes away and the pot starts to glitter. Then he dips it into another jar and it turns a golden colour. Similarly, the cloudy stuff which has been covering our ‘I’-consciousness must first be washed away; then we shall see the brilliance of the inmost Self. Dip your mind in the jar of the Lord’s name, and all the unclean stuff will be washed away. Then dip it in the jar of the Lord’s grace. You will see how beautifully our real nature will shine forth. You will have to clean your mind first. There is no other way. If you want happiness in this world, think of yourself as pure gold and not as gold-plated.

19 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Adbhutananda

It is God’s grace alone that enables an aspirant to stop the waves of the mind and dissolve the intellect. Evil qualities pollute the mind of a person who searches for the lapses and shortcomings of others. Look, if one makes a habit of repeating the holy name, the name itself will take hold of the mind. Likewise, if we can surrender our minds at the feet of the Lord, the wind of worldliness will not be able to dry our minds and make them dreary. Dissatisfaction and craving for worldly enjoyments are signs of a diseased mind. He who fears and doubts cannot make any progress either in spiritual or worldly sphere. The mind is cramped. He alone is a hero, he alone attains greatness who moves forward to realize the truth without caring whether the world is real or not.

This wicked mind cannot rest for a second. It is on a haphazard run in all directions. One must keep a vigilant watch over its workings, over where it goes. For this, the company of holy men is very important, and prayer and meditation. Then alone does the mind slowly quiet down.

20 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Mind is bound on all sides by ignorance, and if you compare your knowledge with your ignorance, your knowledge seems infinitesimal. Now it is impossible for the limited to conceive the unlimited. Mind is matter-mixed spirit. Mind’s real nature is dull and inert, i.e., jada. To remove the eye trouble, put on green spectacles instead of painting the whole world with the green paint. So set the mind right and not attempt to right the world. There is no difference between the purified mind and the true Self of man. The mind is pure when it is single, that is, when it is devoted to one object. If you wish to see God, the only way is to get rid of all selfish desires and make the mind single.

[To the question: “How can we make the mind pure?”]

A: Try to get rid of the ego by cultivating a sense of oneness. Think you are in no way superior to any living being, that the smallest insect crawling there is just as you are, and has just as much right to live. When we lose all sense of separateness, egotism will go, the mind will become single or pure, and only God will be there. The mind is like a mirror. When it is clean, it gives a perfect reflection; but if it is covered with dust, it gives no reflection at all. The more you can wipe off the dust, the better the reflection you will get. Every mind can be a reflector of eternal Truth, but the simple mind reflects it more clearly. To such a mind Truth is much more conceivable and visible than to a mind which has been given a definite shape by much reading and study.

21 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Remaining in the mind, you will never get away from doubt. How long do you think? As long as there is a doubt in your mind. When you have reached a definite conclusion about a thing, you cease to think about it; so thinking and doubting are synonymous. If you make much of mind you make much of doubt. People are sceptics. Why? Because they make much of this little mind. But the mind never directs a man properly. Go beyond the mind and you will go beyond all doubts. Inside the body there is desire and greed. Inside the mind there is doubt. Inside the world there is change, there is death. Go beyond this and you will find peace and bliss. Until you go beyond them you can never realise what peace and bliss mean.

[To the question: “Do we go beyond the mind in sleep?”]

A: In sound sleep, yes.

[To the question: “How do we remember our dreams?”]

A: When you fall asleep and dream, you lose the consciousness of your physical body, but you don’t lose consciousness of your Self. That occupies your consciousness and records the dream. Fill your heart with devotion, and your mind will turn naturally to God. The true devotee never thinks of himself. He is so full of the thought of God that his own self is forgotten. That is the best way to attain salvation. The more we try to fix our mind on God, the more quickly shall we forget ourselves and the more quickly shall we reach freedom. The best way to do this is not to think of ourselves in any way, and try to keep our minds on the presence of God. It is always wise to fix the mind upon a certain object, if it cannot always be fixed upon God. The mind thus trained will not find much difficulty in fixing itself upon the Holy Feet of Sri Krishna. By whom is the world conquered? By Him who has conquered his mind.

22 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Ramakrishnananda

That this world is hollow and unreal I can prove to you in a few minutes. All memory exists in the mind. Indeed the mind is made up of memory; therefore, all the past and all the future exist in the mind—only the present exists in the senses. Now, how long does any sense perception last? Just the point of time when the object comes in contact with the sense organ; then, at once, it becomes a matter of memory. This point of time, like Euclid’s geometrical point, actually has no magnitude. The present, therefore, is in reality only such a point without dimensions; but man, because he wishes to live in his senses, magnifies this point and extends it to the “present age” or the “present time” or to “now-a-days,” which means these few weeks or months or years. Actually, the present has no real conceivable existence, and only the past and future have duration. As these exist in mind, the whole of the universe may be said to be in mind; and when a man goes out of his mind, he goes out of the universe. This is proved when a man is in sound sleep. At that time, he goes away from his mind and his senses. He does not remember that he has a wife or a child, that he owes money, that he has a house or a garden; all these have ceased to exist for him. Only when he wakes up does he gradually remember them, and his anxieties return. This shows that they only exist in the mind and have no existence outside. When a man once understands this, he ceases to care for the mirage of the mind, the mirage of the senses. This world of outer creation then appears to him hollow and meaningless, and nothing can disturb him.

23 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Actually, time, space, and causation are not separate entities outside; they all exist in me, that is, in my mind. The whole universe is inside the man. The more you can keep your mind on God, the more quickly you will reach Him. Mind is like a big mirror which gives a perfect reflection but which has been so thickly covered with dirt that nothing can be seen in it. The more you can rub off that dirt, the more you will be able to see yourself in it. The more you can remove the least speck of dust, the more you can get a perfect image of your true self. What is that dirt that hides the image? Selfish desires. When people sometimes say to me, “I find it so difficult to concentrate my mind. It goes to my business, to my household affairs, to amusements, and it is impossible to hold it on any higher point. Why is this?” I tell them: It is because your mind does not belong to you anymore. You have sold it to your worldly interests. How can you expect to command what is not yours? As long as you are held by your senses, as long as you care for good food, for sweet sounds, or for beautiful sights, you cannot hope to fix your mind steadily on any point. Sri Ramakrishna said that God is knowable through a purified mind. When the mind is entirely engrossed with worldly objects, what is the use of making a lip-prayer to God? Such shallow love cannot move His heart. When this hypocrisy will go and the mind will be pure and simple like that of a child, we shall be blessed with His grace.

Religion belongs almost wholly to the mind. Without donning the ochre robe of a monk, one can attain salvation. First, the mind is to be prepared. That is primary. The question of garb and other externals is secondary. It is in the mind that man is bound and in the mind he becomes free. If the mind is good, an ochre cloth is helpful; but if the mind is bad, it will only deceive. The ochre robe, the marks on the forehead, pilgrimage, kirtana, japa and austerity are not essentials in religion but are mere externals. These outer forms train the mind to be worthy of the divine grace.

The more we try to fix our mind on God, the more quickly shall we forget ourselves and attain salvation. You must go beyond your mind and senses, then meditation will come of itself. This is the only way to get inner vision. As long as the mind goes out to the world through the senses, it will be restless, and it will be weak. The more a mind is restless, the weaker it is; the more it is calm, the stronger it is. When the surface of the mind is calm and clear, the Self is perfectly reflected.

24 July 2021

The Holy Guru Poornima

Today is the most auspicious Guru Purnima day. On this sacred day, may the Jagadguru bless us all with Guru bhakti.

Once at the Baranagore Math, Latu Maharaj was suffering from a serious attack of pneumonia and Sarat Maharaj was attending on him. Being a medical student, Sarat Maharaj was in favour of following the physician's injunctions strictly and would not yield to Latu Maharaj's request to make him seated during the evening hours. At this, Latu said, 'Leave off all those idle talks about your doctor's injunctions. What do they understand? It is my Master's order and it shall be obeyed, under all conditions. If you do not help me sit up, mind you, I shall have to take the help of Mahavirji (or Hanuman, Sri Ramachandra's faithful servant).'

Even this had no effect on Sarat Maharaj. For some reason, however, he had to leave the room for a few seconds. When he returned, he was surprised to find Latu Maharaj sitting up in his bed. Seeing this, Sarat Maharaj remorsefully and in a tone of loving complaint said, 'Latu, brother, should you have done like this in this condition of your body? The physicians requested you and us repeatedly not to do anything like this. Should we not follow their advice when ill? Have we not heard the Master say that during illness one should be guided by the advice of the doctors? And have we not seen him strictly following their injunctions? Do you not remember that doctors once asked him not to take water and how obediently he followed it? Why then, brother, do you go against their injunctions?'

But Latu Maharaj brushed aside all these and said, 'I do not know arguments. It is his order and it must be obeyed.'

A similar incident occurred much later at Varanasi during his last illness. At that time too, he carried out the Master's word. Nobody could ever think that in such a physical condition any human being could ever sit up, unaided. And this was what he actually did, so strong was his determination to follow the Master's orders to the letter. Unique was the Master, wonderful was his Guru-Bhakti!

May Sri Guru Maharaj bless us all with Guru Bhakti.

Jai Ramakrishna

25 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Saradananda

The Master would compare the mind to a packet of mustard seeds. “If the packet is once untied, the seeds get scattered in all directions. How difficult it is to collect them again! Some are perhaps lost for ever.” But absolute faith makes the impossible possible. You complain that thoughts of duties sometimes intrude when you sit for meditation. All minds are in the same predicament. You cannot escape this even if you leave work and retire to a forest. But if through God’s grace it becomes firmly impressed on your mind that the world is impermanent and if the idea that God alone is your true goal takes a grip on your heart, then this kind of unsteadiness of the mind will be greatly eliminated. All souls are ever free, and that is why all minds ever hanker for freedom. The mind gets purified through selfless work. And when the mind becomes pure, knowledge and devotion are manifested in it. Restlessness arises because of the outgoing tendency of the mind. As the mind becomes more and more indrawn, more and more concentrated, the wild roamings of the mind will cease and you will experience inner joy and ineffable bliss. What is known as the destruction of the mind in Vedantic literature is not a state of vacuum. It is a state of deep concentration. The mind is to be made absolutely one-pointed through meditation on God. Then alone this condition will arise. Gradually the mind will become steady, like an unflickering flame, and be fully absorbed in Brahman.

26 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Saradananda

Perfect peace will not come until the mind is fully concentrated. You must dwell on God uninterruptedly and be absorbed in the contemplation of His true nature. There must be no slackening of efforts until the goal is reached, until samadhi is attained. If you practice japa and meditation regularly, without break for some years, you will see for yourself what result comes to pass. Your mind will become pure and you will be absorbed in the thought of God. Then you will be reluctant to leave off meditation even for a single day. The reflection of God is always in the mind, but until the mind becomes tranquil and pure, the image of God cannot be observed. Your mind will become your Guru. It will show you what to do, what not to do, and point the way to truth. By and by you will realize everything. Make Him the goal of your life. Give your mind to God and to none else. This much I can say: “He who dwells in God has nothing to fear from the world. He will be protected from all dangers and difficulties.”

The main thing is the one-pointedness of the mind. It is the nature of the mind to flirt from object to object. It does not remain steady. Even in sleep it wanders about and conjures up fantastic dreams. Diverse thoughts will distract your mind and you will feel exasperated. But do not give up the spiritual struggle. It is hard to control the mind; but it must be done. There is no other way. At other times, keep a watch over your mind and see that recollectedness continues throughout the day. To attain peace one has to practice control of the senses and the mind. Conflicting desires arise in the mind. Because of these desires the mind is constantly lashed into waves. As long as these waves form, the mind is restless. In order to control these waves which give rise to thoughts of a worldly and distracting nature, one must live a life of self-discipline.

27 July 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

Swami Akhandananda

One day, Swamiji was reading a newspaper attentively, and I was pushing him to draw his attention. Swamiji said to me, “How many minds have I? Only one!” So, when you do something, do it with the whole mind — no talking or listening to anybody’s talks then. It is the nature of the mind to think of this and that. 1 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Subodhananda

First, take hold of your mind through discrimination; then, make it calm through proper training, so that it runs towards the Lord all the twenty-four hours of the day. Urge the mind on towards the Lord; then, you will understand everything. That the mind has been unsteady all along from your childhood is nothing peculiar with you—this is the case with everyone. But one thing that you have to remember is that, come what may, you have to proceed towards the Lord, who stands behind all sorrow and suffering. This you must know for certain. Talk of the Lord, and you will find how the mind frees itself from all the trammels of the world. If you are to give your whole mind to anybody, it must be to God alone. Innumerable are the men whose passions are strong. The Master used to say that the mind is like a mad horse, which is prone to running hither and thither; and just as a coachman controls the horse with the girdles, so must a man direct the mind with the power of discrimination, which is already in him. If men are guided by this discrimination, they never come to grief.

1 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Subodhananda

First take hold of your mind through discrimination, then make it calm through proper training, so that it runs towards the Lord all the twenty-four hours of the day. Urge the mind on towards the Lord, then you will understand everything.

That the mind has been unsteady all along from your childhood is nothing peculiar with you, this is the case with everyone. But one thing that you have to remember is that, come what may, you have to proceed towards the Lord, who stands behind all sorrow and suffering. This you must know for certain.

Talk of the Lord and you will find how the mind frees itself from all the trammels of the world.

If you are to give your whole mind to anybody, it must be to God alone.

Innumerable are the men whose passions are strong. The Master used to say that the mind is like a mad horse, which is prone to running hither and thither, and just as a coachman controls the horse with the girdles, so must a man direct the mind with the power of discrimination, which is already in him. If men are guided by this discrimination, they never come to grief.

2 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Vijnanananda

Man hankers after the things of the world—wealth, sense enjoyments, honour, etc.—in the hope that these can give him happiness in life. But it is the experience of all that the pursuit of these has only a reverse effect on the mind. Not only do we fail to realise the desired end through that, but the restlessness of the mind is even increased, and we are rendered more unhappy than in the beginning. Every breath of ours should be associated with Him in our mind. You are the complete master of your mind, and you can shape it as you like. When the mind is completely under your control, it will have nothing to exist on, except noble thoughts. 3 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Vijnanananda

When the mind vibrates in tune with the higher laws, you get a vision of your cherished deity or of gods and goddesses in all their radiance, in the spot between the eyebrows. When the mind is overcome with evil thoughts, it becomes dejected and inactive like a mouse in the grip of a cat. But why should you suffer it to be like that? In situations like that, you should summon up within you the strength of a hero and shake off all evil thoughts. This is the only way out.

The centre of man’s thoughts is in the mind and the senses are all subject to the mind. Seeing, hearing, understanding — all these happen through the mind. It is a common observation that the purer the mind, the clearer the understanding. A man’s face is a fairly clear index of the state of his mind. The more unsullied the mind, the greater is its ability to apprehend the thought processes of other people. It is just like receiving radio waves. Any thought arising in a mind creates a vibration, and a mind which is a good receiver catches that vibration and understands the thought current that gave rise to it. The only thing necessary is the purity of mind.

Besides, certain hours or changes of season exert an influence on the mind; and that is why the scriptures prescribe engaging of the mind in some religious rituals or introspection on these special occasions. In your mind, you should always be thinking of God.

[Concerning the Fourth Dimension:]

It is beyond the range of intellectual comprehension. Can it be easily known? Just see. We are told to remember God. But it is often forgotten that He cannot be comprehended by the human mind: He is beyond it.

3 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Vijnanananda

When the mind vibrates in tune with the higher laws, you get a vision of your cherished deity or of gods and goddesses in all their radiance, in the spot between the eyebrows. When the mind is overcome with evil thoughts, it becomes dejected and inactive like a mouse in the grip of a cat. But why should you suffer it to be like that? In situations like that, you should summon up within you the strength of a hero and shake off all evil thoughts. This is the only way out. The centre of man’s thoughts is in the mind and the senses are all subject to the mind. Seeing, hearing, understanding — all these happen through the mind. It is a common observation that the purer the mind, the clearer the understanding. A man’s face is a fairly clear index of the state of his mind. The more unsullied the mind, the greater is its ability to apprehend the thought processes of other people. It is just like receiving radio waves. Any thought arising in a mind creates a vibration, and a mind which is a good receiver catches that vibration and understands the thought current that gave rise to it. The only thing necessary is the purity of mind. Besides, certain hours or changes of season exert an influence on the mind; and that is why the scriptures prescribe engaging of the mind in some religious rituals or introspection on these special occasions. In your mind, you should always be thinking of God.

[Concerning the Fourth Dimension:]

It is beyond the range of intellectual comprehension. Can it be easily known? Just see. We are told to remember God. But it is often forgotten that He cannot be comprehended by the human mind: He is beyond it. The finite cannot grasp the Infinite, the part can never contain the whole. The finite mind realizes that God is outside it: but, even then, it feels satisfied with whatever it can know about Him. But does this mean the whole knowledge of God?

4 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Vijnanananda

Brahman is like a motionless snake. Shakti is like a snake in motion, and that is the kundalini. When this spiritual energy moves upwards, the mind also gets elevated; and when it moves downwards, it draws the mind down to a state of darkness and ignorance. Confinement in a physical frame also diminishes the strength of the mind. After giving up the mortal body, the mind gets new strength. Everybody says the mind is assailed with all sorts of thoughts [at the time of meditation]. Why not put up a ‘No Admittance’ sign mentally and refuse to let those thoughts crowd into the mind?

Beyond this universe lies that ocean of divine light. It is through the grace of the great souls that we find our way to that divine light. They help us to rise from the lower plane to the higher. Thus we get the inspiration to cross ‘the seas of the material world’ and move into the ocean of divine light. This is not a very difficult thing, because the mind has a tendency to rise up to that direction. Material things, no doubt, attract the mind which appears to get stuck with them. But when the attraction for the higher plane is strong enough the same mind will seek to go up and it will move upward. And before long to this mind the entire universe will have no existence.

One has to be very careful; if a bad thought enters the mind, it affects and poisons the entire system. Whatever the state of the mind, you have to do [japa] regularly. Try to reason that you have a separate entity from your mind. Let the mind have its own feelings of joy, sorrow, or anything — you just ignore them and go on with your own work. The mind after all is yours, and you say it is not under your control! Does that sound reasonable? Why should you allow the mind to rise above you and rule you?

There is a saying: ‘Although the Guru, Krishna, and the Vaishnava, all, are kind to me, unkindness on the part of one set everything to nought.’ The unkind one was the mind, it ruined everything.

5 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MIND

Swami Vijnanananda

Our Master used to say: Meditation should be done in the heart, in a secluded corner, and in the forest. [The forest] is not a jungle. It refers to your mind, where the passions dominate. Such a mind is like a forest. You have to purge your mind of all these passions, make it pure and holy, and then invoke God there. ‘Mind’ here means the ‘heart’. You have to think that your deity whom you adore lives inside the heart.

That the mind refuses to fix itself on the object of meditation need not worry you at all. You should go on telling your beads morning and evening even though the mind wanders. You should never give it up. And there is no reason to despair either. In time everything will come out all right. Your mind may not settle always on your object of worship, but it must get settled for some time at least, maybe once in fifteen minutes? That should be enough. The point is, you have to repeat His name and think of Him. You have to see that your mind is fixed on Him all the time.

[In order to come nearer to God] you have to adhere to truth and have to be steadfast in this respect. The mind and the tongue must become one.

6 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna. (Today is the auspicious Janma-Tithi of Most Revered Swami Ramakrishnanandaji Maharaj. On this holy day may he bless us all with Guru Bhakti.)

Swami Ramakrishnanandaji: Sri Ramakrishna was an expert jeweller. He gathered around him invaluable jewels, each unique and incomparable in his or her own way. Of these, Swami Ramakrishnanandaji stands supreme, a paragon of Guru-Bhakti, devotion to Guru. In his mind, his Guru, brother disciples, and devotees—all appeared as the veritable manifestations of the same divinity. Indeed, every moment of his life he perceived God in the world. From time immemorial, the guru has been given the highest place of honour in India and elsewhere. The Hindu scriptures go to the length of saying that the guru is Brahma, Vishnu, and Maheshwara. Swami Ramakrishnanandaji looked upon Sri Ramakrishna as the Supreme Brahman.

Swami Ramakrishnanandaji continued for twelve long years serving the Master in the shrine and looking after the needs of the inmates of the Baranagar and Alambazar Maths. Love of service was ingrained in him. Sometime after the passing away of Sri Ramakrishna, the monastic community was seized by a desire for going on pilgrimage, practising austerities in lonely sacred spots, forests, and river banks. Swami Ramakrishnanandaji, however, was the only person who never left the Math, being responsible for the Service of the Master in the form of His Relics. It is said that the Swami never went, even to Varanasi on pilgrimage, but day after day continued to do the Service of the Master over his picture and Relics as he had been attending on him in his lifetime. This discipline constituted his main Sadhana and joy.

In later days, Swami Vivekananda paid the following high compliments to the contribution of Swami Ramakrishnananda to the success of the monastery they started:

"Sasi was the main pillar of the Math. Without him, life in the monastery would have been impossible. Often the monks would be lost in prayer and meditation, with no thought of food, and Swami Ramakrishnananda would wait with their meals or even drag them out of meditation in order to feed them."

7 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

ON MIND – Swami Vijnanananda:

Can there be any cessation of actions? So also misery is unending. On the one hand, science is trying to remove misery, and on the other hand, it is bringing about a terrible revolution. So the most reasonable position is to take shelter under God. Try to see the Lord's Lila even in these miseries and sufferings. He is the supreme benefactor, but man is deluded by playing with earthly dolls! He forgets everything by being satiated with lust and greed, and thirsting for name, fame, and honour. That is why the Merciful God has brought famine, plague, and this great war [World War I], eventually for the good of many.

If you feel that life in the world is a great bondage, and that the world is an abode of misery, there will come distaste for worldly enjoyments and your love for God will increase. You will then be interested in taking the remedy, which is to think of your Chosen Ideal and to repeat his name. If it were easy to surrender one's heart and mind or easy to accept such an offering by anybody and everybody, there would have been an end to the sufferings and miseries of the world.

Misery is a great teacher. Unless a man goes through misery and suffering himself, he cannot feel sympathy for others' sufferings. 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.

10 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

Swami Ramakrishnananda

The lover of God sees that instead of bringing enjoyment, the desires are the source of all miseries. Why should you throw away your perfect nature and take an imperfect nature? Why do you give up your infinite life for this perishable life of a few years? You have degraded yourself. The omnipotent, omniscient, immortal eternal being is imagining that he dies; that he is limited, ignorant, weak and helpless. You are pure, you are spotless. Do not give way to false imagination. This false imagining will make you what you are imagining yourself to be. You are like a man who hears the false news that his entire fortune has been lost and begins to lament and ask, ‘What shall I do? How shall I live?’, while all the time his lands and money are there as before. So you are imagining that you are miserable and helpless; but you have not lost your infinite glory. You are absolutely perfect, all-blissful, immortal. Why do you want to be the Son of God? In order to get rid of [the miseries of the world], — is it not? So, where is the difference between Bhakti and Jnana?

The first personal pronoun is the root of all our miseries. Hence our primary duty should be to get rid of it somehow or other. When the ‘I’ is gone, nothing remains but God or Divinity. Let Him exist alone in his glory. Deny ego, it is the cause of all your miseries. What we call misery is in fact His kindness. We forget God in our greed for transient pleasures. So He makes us remember Him by these little miseries. His kindness is expressed through both favourable and unfavourable circumstances.

11 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MISERY

Swami Turiyananda

If you feel miserable for want of God, know that He is very near to you — you will soon have His vision, you will soon attain infinite bliss. Nobody wants God. Men want to get rid of their misery, to enjoy life. To conceive a ‘motiveless’ love for Him is very difficult. If you are miserable for not having realized God, the more this mood grows, the more you will earn His grace. We feel unhappy when we make ourselves small. We feel miserable when we think of ourselves as finite.

Swami Adbhutananda

Divine Providence has given man the sense of free will and the principle of karma. It is left to man to do as he wishes. If he chooses to do actions which bring him less happiness and more misery, he alone is responsible, not God. The idea of ‘mine’ produces misery, while the knowledge of the real ‘I’ brings bliss.

Swami Saradananda

If we view life from another angle, we will notice that it is unhappiness that teaches us more than happiness; it is misery that cleanses our hearts more than enjoyment.

Swami Vijnanananda

As for the material world, well, you can see it for yourself. Everywhere you find only miseries.

12 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Brahmananda

You are a monk. You have no right to think of the body. You have embraced the monastic life, renouncing everything. It does not become you to try to exercise authority over others. That brings great bondage. Whatever you do, know that it is the Lord’s work you are doing. 13 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Shivananda

A monk should not neglect learning; he should read the scriptures. He should maintain good health. He should be sweet in his talk; calm and steady and gentle in his behaviour. He should keep himself away from lust and lucre for ever, and should not even come near these. It is difficult to be a true monk; it won’t do merely to perform the viraja homa in order to take the vow of monasticism, and then put on the ochre robe. He, indeed, is a true monk who has given up from his very heart all kinds of desires. Renounce as much as you can. You will find that the Mother will supply you with all your needs at the proper moment to such an extent that you will hardly know what to do with all that. You should not accumulate. Not only that; a monk should not even have the idea of accumulation. It should all come and pass away like the water flowing under a bridge; but once you start accumulating, the inflow will stop; and then, the water will stagnate. Besides, you should never ask for anything. Stay where you are, depending fully on Him and taking shelter under him.

[To the question: “What is the place of monks in our society?”]

A: Among the various forces operating in nature two are most prominent and potent: One evolves forms around us on the relative plane, the other does the opposite — destroys them, leading to involution and final unity. 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. As monks aim at freeing themselves from attachment, they represent the other force, namely, that of dispassion or repulsion. 14 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Shivananda

Again, contraction is death, expansion is life. This expansion is only a manifestation of dispassion or repulsion. Fullest expansion, the goal of all sentient beings, is the attainment of a state of absolute existence, knowledge and bliss. Monks serve a very important purpose in the economy of nature by helping men in the unfolding and controlling of their minds and by leading them to that blessed state. From time immemorial up to this day it has been the monks who have been the dynamic, world-shaking leaders of men in the domain of religion, sociology, philosophy and science. A true monk is absolutely pure, compassionate and fearless. Fearlessness is one of the essential virtues that characterize a true monk. He who is subject to fear has not yet become a full-fledged monk; he has just started on the path.

[To the question: “Can a family man be a monk?”]

A: Yes. We can cite, for example, the sage Janaka and other Kshatriya monarchs of the Upanishadic age.

[To the question: “Can a woman take the vow of monasticism?”]

A: Yes. Everyone can take the monastic vow; there is no sex in the Self.

[In answering to the notion monks who were engaged in works of service would sometimes have, that they were wasting their time in useless activity, missing the vision of God, which they thought should come only through exclusive spiritual practice, Mahapurush explained the true meaning and purpose of work:]

May the Lord give you indomitable enthusiasm and courage! Know it for certain that the Ashrama is bound to flourish. Don’t worry on that score. Never forget what Swamiji said regarding work. Whatever you do in connection with the monastery or in the way of service to the country is not something inferior to spiritual practice. All that you do is His work — even as japa and meditation are. Never doubt this. Even as repeating His name and thinking about Him is spiritual practice, so is the service of man when done selflessly. You are wholly mistaken, nay irrational, if you think that you have wasted your life in doing service. Spiritual practice is not of one kind only; it is various. It is renunciation of the ego or the self. Above everything, a monk should observe the vow of chastity and poverty.

13 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Shivananda

A monk should not neglect learning; he should read the scriptures. He should maintain good health. He should be sweet in his talk; calm and steady and gentle in his behaviour. He should keep himself away from lust and lucre for ever, and should not even come near these. It is difficult to be a true monk; it won’t do merely to perform the viraja homa in order to take the vow of monasticism, and then put on the ochre robe. He, indeed, is a true monk who has given up from his very heart all kinds of desires.

Renounce as much as you can. You will find that the Mother will supply you with all your needs at the proper moment to such an extent that you will hardly know what to do with all that. You should not accumulate. Not only that; a monk should not even have the idea of accumulation. It should all come and pass away like the water flowing under a bridge; but once you start accumulating, the inflow will stop; and then, the water will stagnate. Besides, you should never ask for anything. Stay where you are, depending fully on Him and taking shelter under him.

[To the question: “What is the place of monks in our society?”]

A: Among the various forces operating in nature two are most prominent and potent: One evolves forms around us on the relative plane, the other does the opposite — destroys them, leading to involution and final unity. 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. As monks aim at freeing themselves from attachment, they represent the other force, namely, that of dispassion or repulsion.

14 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Shivananda

Again, contraction is death, expansion is life. This expansion is only a manifestation of dispassion or repulsion. Fullest expansion, the goal of all sentient beings, is the attainment of a state of absolute existence, knowledge and bliss.

Monks serve a very important purpose in the economy of nature by helping men in the unfolding and controlling of their minds and by leading them to that blessed state. From time immemorial up to this day it has been the monks who have been the dynamic, world-shaking leaders of men in the domain of religion, sociology, philosophy and science.

A true monk is absolutely pure, compassionate and fearless.

Fearlessness is one of the essential virtues that characterize a true monk. He who is subject to fear has not yet become a full-fledged monk; he has just started on the path.

[To the question: “Can a family man be a monk?”]

A: Yes. We can cite, for example, the sage Janaka and other Kshatriya monarchs of the Upanishadic age.

[To the question: “Can a woman take the vow of monasticism?”]

A: Yes. Everyone can take the monastic vow; there is no sex in the Self.

[In answering to the notion monks who were engaged in works of service would sometimes have, that they were wasting their time in useless activity, missing the vision of God, which they thought should come only through exclusive spiritual practice, Mahapurush explained the true meaning and purpose of work:]

May the Lord give you indomitable enthusiasm and courage! Know it for certain that the Ashrama is bound to flourish. Don’t worry on that score. Never forget what Swamiji said regarding work. Whatever you do in connection with the monastery or in the way of service to the country is not something inferior to spiritual practice. All that you do is His work — even as japa and meditation are. Never doubt this. Even as repeating His name and thinking about Him is spiritual practice, so is the service of man when done selflessly. You are wholly mistaken, nay irrational, if you think that you have wasted your life in doing service. Spiritual practice is not of one kind only; it is various. It is renunciation of the ego or the self.

Above everything, a monk should observe the vow of chastity and poverty.

15 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Shivananda

What you wrote was not only extremely inadvisable but sounded like the raving of a man in delirium. You stated that you didn’t care to look after your aged mother and wanted to be a monk, and so on. That is why I did not feel like replying.

According to my understanding, an able-bodied son, and an only son — who thinks of renouncing the world in preference to caring for his aged dependent mother, does not deserve to be a devotee of the Lord. I know quite well that where you are you can easily give your heart and soul to God, growing in devotion; and the Lord will surely be gracious to you. So patiently remain contented with the position the Lord has put you in.

A genuine devotee is like a kitten. In whatever position God places him, he is satisfied and calls upon Him, faithfully carrying on his spiritual practices and devotions. You will certainly have peace in your mind if you can be resigned like this; otherwise you will be spending your days in unhappiness, even if you become a monk.

If it be His will to make a monk of you, He will see to it that you become one. You will not accomplish anything by unnecessary worry and hurry. Care for your old mother with joy and continue the work you are doing while directing your mind wholly to God. That is how you will find peace.

The monk who is anxious about his health or is afraid of death, is no monk at all. He is only preparing himself to be one; he has not yet become a monk.

Swami Premananda

He who renounces sexual appetites — not in conduct only, but also in thought — he it is who has renounced all worldly pleasures. He alone is a man of true renunciation. Renunciation is not in the garb of a monk, nor is it in the renunciation of fish and meat.

We are born to serve all jivas as Narayana [God]. This is our sadhana. We have no time to look into the goodness and badness of people. It is against our dharma [religious duty].

We must make our own those who are poor, weak, ignorant and fallen. This, however, does not mean that because we must love the poor, we have to hate the rich and fortunate. Remember Swamiji’s words, ‘The Beloved Lord dwells in all beings, from Brahma to worms and atoms.’ You must learn to live in love and harmony with all.

Dispassion, renunciation of ego, love, devotion, and living faith — these are the signs of a true monk. No garb ever made a monk. For a householder to neglect his duty, for a brahmachari to give up his vows, for a monk to be restless with passions, these are hypocrisies.

The gerua robe is the sign of renunciation; to one who is dispassionate it is merely an ornament. But if the mind runs after woman and gold and is made restless by the passions, then the wearing of the robe becomes a farce. Colour your mind and heart with the colour of renunciation, dispassion, and devotion to God. Then only will you become a true monk.

The ideal of a monk’s life is not merely to wear the garb, memorize scriptural passages, and wander about to places of pilgrimage. No! It is far better to remain in one place and engage yourself intensely in the practice of spiritual disciplines than to wander aimlessly about from one place to another; especially for a beginner. He should stay in one place and practice meditation and japam with great regularity.

The only desire a monk should have in his heart is the desire to realize God.

Because you have become monks is no reason why you should scorn householders. Never make a sect of monks.

The ceremony of renunciation and the wearing of the gerua robe are not enough.

16 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Premananda

It does not become a monk to have so much clothing. He who renounces sexual appetites — not in conduct only, but also in thought — he it is who has renounced all worldly pleasures. He alone is a man of true renunciation. Renunciation is not in the garb of a monk, nor is it in the renunciation of fish and meat.

We are born to serve all jivas as Narayana [God]. This is our sadhana. We have no time to look into the goodness and badness of people. It is against our dharma [religious duty]. We must make our own those who are poor, weak, ignorant and fallen. This, however, does not mean that because we must love the poor, we have to hate the rich and fortunate.

Remember Swamiji’s words, “The Beloved Lord dwells in all beings, from Brahma to worms and atoms.” You must learn to live in love and harmony with all.

Dispassion, renunciation of ego, love, devotion, and living faith — these are the signs of a true monk. No garb ever made a monk.

For a householder to neglect his duty, for a brahmachari to give up his vows, for a monk to be restless with passions, these are hypocrisies. The gerua robe is the sign of renunciation; to one who is dispassionate it is merely an ornament. But if the mind runs after woman and gold and is made restless by the passions, then the wearing of the robe becomes a farce.

Colour your mind and heart with the colour of renunciation, dispassion, and devotion to God. Then only will you become a true monk.

The ideal of a monk’s life is not merely to wear the garb, memorize scriptural passages, and wander about to places of pilgrimage. No! It is far better to remain in one place and engage yourself intensely in the practice of spiritual disciplines than to wander aimlessly about from one place to another; especially for a beginner. He should stay in one place and practice meditation and japam with great regularity.

The only desire a monk should have in his heart is the desire to realize God. Because you have become monks is no reason why you should scorn householders. Never make a sect of monks. The ceremony of renunciation and the wearing of the gerua robe are not enough.

17 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Turiyananda

Well, the whole trouble is due to these — the palate and the sexual instinct. In the Himalayas there are lots of solitary places suited for spiritual practices, but why can’t monks live there? Owing to the urge of the tongue. The craving for delicacies drives them out of those places. And why is it that monks cannot live in peace at one place? Either they have a rude tongue and quarrel with others, or they hanker after dainty dishes, or it is the sexual instinct. Hence if a monk can live at a place peacefully for twelve years, he is said to have ‘perfected his seat’. A twelve year’s restraint is not a joke!

The greatness of a monk is in proportion to the amount of self-examination he has made — to the degree of intimate knowledge he has of his ins and outs. Real monks and sages never say anything to cause any pain to others. For a monk truth is everything. If he gives up truth, he can progress no more. Innocent lies are untruths all the same. A monk must not hoard. It is better for sadhus not to have personal funds.

Swami Adbhutananda

Never forget the goal of monastic life. Don’t wear the gerua cloth for outward show. The gerua cloth may bring you name and fame, but that will not help you realize God. Go into solitude and practice your spiritual disciplines with all your heart. Only then will you progress quickly. Avoid gossip and politics.

18 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Adbhutananda

Is it so easy to be a monk? A real monk longs for God, weeps for God. He does not think about himself and is not disturbed by physical discomfort. A real monk will not see faults in others, and he will have neither attachment nor aversion for anyone. He should be friendly with all. A real monk must try to ease the sufferings of others, and if he does not have the means, he should encourage them with inspired words so that they can fight against life’s odds. He does not hoard for the future and seeks nothing except God. A real monk is free from fear and is straightforward. His behaviour is simple, like a child’s. Wherever he goes, he hears the call of God. Just see. X. is going to become a monk without arranging for support for his aging parents. There is no greater sin in this world.

19 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Saradananda

Whether you are to marry and live in the world or to become a monk and renounce the world — this is a very intricate question. You alone are the fittest person to decide. None can do it for you. It is not necessary that everyone become a monk. Nor has everybody the aptitude and necessary prerequisites for leading a monastic life. If you have no obligations to your family and you feel a strong urge to renounce the world for the sake of God, you are free to do so. But you must watch carefully and see whether it is a passing emotion or a genuine desire. Very often one does not know the subtle desires that lie hidden below the surface consciousness which create trouble in later years. You have quoted a passage from the scriptures. It is true, without renunciation immortality cannot be attained. But the sages have prescribed two paths for arriving at the goal of renunciation. Those who have known the transiency of the world and are free from all physical cravings give up everything and embrace the life of monasticism. This is the path of negation. In this path the spiritual aspirant is aware of his goal from the very beginning and consequently renounces the popular view of the world and life that makes one forget the reality. But there is the other path that is equally true and equally helpful in leading aspirants to the highest goal.

20 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Saradananda

Whether you are to marry and live in the world or to become a monk and renounce the world — this is a very intricate question. You alone are the fittest person to decide. None can do it for you. It is not necessary that everyone become a monk. Nor has everybody the aptitude and necessary prerequisites for leading a monastic life. If you have no obligations to your family and you feel a strong urge to renounce the world for the sake of God, you are free to do so. But you must watch carefully and see whether it is a passing emotion or a genuine desire. Very often one does not know the subtle desires that lie hidden below the surface consciousness which create trouble in later years. You have quoted a passage from the scriptures. It is true, without renunciation immortality cannot be attained. But the sages have prescribed two paths for arriving at the goal of renunciation. Those who have known the transiency of the world and are free from all physical cravings give up everything and embrace the life of monasticism. This is the path of negation. In this path the spiritual aspirant is aware of his goal from the very beginning and consequently renounces the popular view of the world and life that makes one forget the reality. But there is the other path that is equally true and equally helpful in leading aspirants to the highest goal.

21 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Vijnanananda

He is the real monk who can discard the whole bundle of his past impressions and surrender himself completely to God and the Mother. All desires and ambitions should be merged at the feet of God. ‘I want Mother and nothing else’ should be your motto. You have joined the monastic order; but it is a very hard life. Particularly in the case of those who have renounced everything, in the name of the Master, it is essential that their life should be exemplary in every respect. Renunciation of wealth and lust in thought, word and deed is the high ideal of monastic life; otherwise it is no use putting on the saffron robe. Your object in life is self-realization; but that is not an easy thing at all and the slightest attachment to wealth and lust would be an insuperable impediment. Unless you are completely detached from everything, your meditation, prayer, work and learning will all be in vain. Our Master used to say that a monk should not look at even the picture of a woman; and wealth he should discard as something extremely filthy. Wealth and lust are so much connected that one follows in the wake of the other. But it is not as if you are to hate women or treat them with disdain. You have, on the contrary, to treat them with the utmost respect and consider them as being on the same level as the Mother who is there in the temple.

22 August 2021

Swami Dayatmananda: Swami Niranjanananda was one of those few disciples whom Sri Ramakrishna termed as Nitya-siddhas or Ishwarakotis—that is, souls who are perfect from their very birth and are not caught by Maya at any time. With particular reference to Niranjanananda, the Master once said that he was born with the characteristics of Rama inherent in him. The early name of Swami Niranjanananda was Nityaniranjan Ghosh, and he was usually called by the shortened form of Niranjan. He came from a village in Twenty-four Parganas but lived in Calcutta with his maternal uncle, Kalikrishna Mitra. In his boyhood, he became associated with a group of spiritualists in Calcutta. He was very often selected as a medium, and a very successful medium he always proved himself to be. At this time, he developed some psychic powers—e.g., powers of curing people in a miraculous way and so on. It is said that a very rich man was suffering from insomnia for eighteen long years and sought the help of Niranjan for recovery. Niranjan said afterwards: "I do not know whether that man got any real help from me. But finding the man suffering so much in life in spite of all his riches and wealth, I was seized with a feeling of the emptiness of all worldly things."

Hearing about the great spiritual power of Sri Ramakrishna, Niranjan one afternoon came to Dakshineswar to see him. Some say that Niranjan came to Sri Ramakrishna first with his spiritualist friends. It is said that they tried to make Sri Ramakrishna a medium. At first, Sri Ramakrishna agreed and sat like an innocent child to be a medium, but soon he disliked the idea and left the seat. Niranjan was about eighteen years old when he met Sri Ramakrishna for the first time. He had a majestic appearance—being a tall figure with broad shoulders and a strong physique. Though a boy, fearlessness beamed through his eyes. Sri Ramakrishna was surrounded by a circle of devotees when Niranjan came to him. In the evening, when all the devotees dispersed, Sri Ramakrishna turned to Niranjan and inquired all about him. Coming to know about his interest in spiritualism, Sri Ramakrishna told young Niranjan: "My boy, if you think of ghosts and spooks, ghosts and spooks you will become. And if you think of God, divine will be your life. Which do you prefer?"

"Of course the latter," replied Niranjan. Thereupon, Sri Ramakrishna advised Niranjan to sever all connections with the spiritualists, to which Niranjan agreed. At the very first meeting, Sri Ramakrishna talked with Niranjan as if he had known him for a long time. Sri Ramakrishna, seeing it was getting dark, pressed Niranjan to pass the night at Dakshineswar, but Niranjan could not do that lest his uncle should be anxious for him. He, however, promised to come again. This meeting, though short, so much impressed Niranjan that all the time on his way home he was thinking about Sri Ramakrishna. At home also, Sri Ramakrishna occupied all his thoughts. So within two or three days, he again came to Sri Ramakrishna. As soon as Sri Ramakrishna saw the boy near the door, he ran to him and warmly embraced him. Then with deep feelings he began to say: "My boy, days are passing; when will you realise God? And if you do not realise God, the whole life will be meaningless." 22/08/2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Vijnanananda:

It is the woman who makes the mother, and you have to bow to her from a distance. You are monks with a noble ideal in life, and that makes it incumbent on you not to mix too much with them. You have, of course, to do all kinds of public work, and that makes it difficult to avoid women altogether. But the point is that the work you do is the Master’s work, and this advice to monks was also given by him. Now, you have got to reconcile these two things. You may speak to women when it is absolutely essential, but you have got to be on your guard. And your talk with them can only be in connection with the work you do, so that you must confine yourselves strictly within limits. It is certainly not my idea that you should shut yourselves up behind closed doors. Your work should be taken as a kind of mental discipline, and your gaze should be fixed on the high ideal you have set before yourselves. Otherwise, you will be caught unawares, and there will be danger which you will find it impossible to overcome. Sometimes I feel this system of public service has an element of great risk in it. The public are benefitted, undoubtedly; but our people who are rendering this service are treading a path that is full of risks, and they have to be very careful. But this, too, is a great truth that instead of wasting your time in laziness and idle gossip, as some monks do in northern India, it is definitely better to keep yourselves engaged in this kind of public work. Of course, for those whose mind is fixed constantly on God, there is no need to take up this kind of work.

Jai Ramakrishna.

MORALITY

Swami Brahmananda:

What is morality? If one acquires devotion to God, morality and purity will follow without one even trying to be moral or pure.

Swami Ramakrishnananda:

[To the question: “What constitutes morality?”]

A: All that takes man to God is morality; whatever takes man away from God is immorality.

ON MOTHER

Swami Brahmananda:

Mother has the key to the knowledge of Brahman. Unless she shows her grace and opens the door, no one can enter into the realm of Brahman.

Jai Ramakrishna.

ON MOTHER

Swami Shivananda:

The Lord has two powers — Vidya Shakti and Avidya Shakti.

23 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MONASTIC LIFE / MONK

Swami Vijnanananda

It is the woman who makes the mother and you have to bow to her from a distance. You are monks with a noble ideal in life and that makes it incumbent on you not to mix too much with them.

You have, of course, to do all kinds of public work, and that makes it difficult to avoid women altogether. But the point is that the work you do is the Master’s work, and this advice to monks was also given by him. Now, you have got to reconcile these two things. You may speak to women when it is absolutely essential, but you have got to be on your guard.

And your talk with them can only be in connection with the work you do so that you must confine yourselves strictly within limits. It is certainly not my idea that you should shut yourselves up behind closed doors.

Your work should be taken as a kind of mental discipline, and your gaze should be fixed on the high ideal you have set before yourselves. Otherwise you will be caught unawares and there will be danger which you will find it impossible to overcome.

Sometimes I feel this system of public service has an element of great risk in it. The public are benefitted, undoubtedly; but our people who are rendering this service are treading a path that is full of risks, and they have to be very careful.

But this, too, is a great truth that instead of wasting your time in laziness and idle gossip, as some monks do in northern India, it is definitely better to keep yourselves engaged in this kind of public work.

Of course, for those whose mind is fixed constantly on God, there is no need to take up this kind of work.

24 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MORALITY

Swami Brahmananda

What is morality? If one acquires devotion to God, morality and purity will follow without one even trying to be moral or pure.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

[To the question: “What constitutes morality?”]

A: All that takes man to God is morality; whatever takes man away from God is immorality.

ON MOTHER

Swami Brahmananda

Mother has the key to the knowledge of Brahman. Unless she shows her grace and opens the door, no one can enter into the realm of Brahman.

25 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MOTHER

Swami Shivananda

The Lord has two powers — Vidya Shakti and Avidya Shakti. If He removes from us the influence of the latter and helps with the former, then everything goes on well. So pray, ‘Mother, be gracious unto me.’ If Her grace is there, nothing is impossible. How can man understand the Absolute through the intellect? Comprehension is possible only if the Mother is gracious enough to lift the veil. Everything depends upon the will of the Mother. Knowing that the Mother is ever merciful, continue to call upon Her. Let the Mother keep you in whatever state She pleases. In this way eventually you will have unmixed bliss and a full vision of the Mother!

Light cannot be found anywhere outside. It is all within. The Mother, the Embodiment of Light, is within every heart. She is within me; she is within you. She is everywhere from Brahma to the smallest insect, in the movable and the immovable. The light you refer to will come from within. The more you try to enter within, reaching the inner and inmost recesses of your heart, the greater the light you will receive. The Mother, the Embodiment of Light, is within every heart. She is within me; She is within you. She is everywhere, in everything, from Brahma down to the smallest insect — in the movable and the immovable. Pray to Mahamaya. She holds the key in Her hands. The realm of light will be opened unto you if She graciously unlocks the door. She alone is the source of the entire universe. We have all come from that Mother and will eventually merge in Her again.

26 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MOTHER

Swami Turiyananda

If He removes from us the influence of the latter and helps with the former, then everything goes on well. So pray, ‘Mother, be gracious unto me.’ If Her grace is there, nothing is impossible. How can man understand the Absolute through the intellect? Comprehension is possible only if the Mother is gracious enough to lift the veil. Everything depends upon the will of the Mother. Knowing that the Mother is ever merciful, continue to call upon Her. Let the Mother keep you in whatever state She pleases. In this way eventually you will have unmixed bliss and a full vision of the Mother!

Light cannot be found anywhere outside. It is all within. The Mother, the Embodiment of Light, is within every heart. She is within me; she is within you. She is everywhere from Brahma to the smallest insect, in the movable and the immovable. The light you refer to will come from within. The more you try to enter within, reaching the inner and inmost recesses of your heart, the greater the light you will receive. The Mother, the Embodiment of Light, is within every heart. She is within me; She is within you. She is everywhere, in everything, from Brahma down to the smallest insect — in the movable and the immovable. Pray to Mahamaya. She holds the key in Her hands. The realm of light will be opened unto you if She graciously unlocks the door. She alone is the source of the entire universe. We have all come from that Mother and will eventually merge in Her again.

As long as we remain true to the Mother, there is no fear that anything will go wrong. But the moment we forget Her, there will be great danger. Therefore I always ask you to think of the Mother. Are you not the son of the Mother anyhow, and devoted to Her already? What if you are not a Sannyasin? You are Mother’s child just the same and are no less dear to Her. You only look up to Her for everything and love Her with all your heart and soul. She knows better where to keep you and in what manner than you can possibly do yourself. Only stick to Mother and never forget that you belong to Her.

With the advance of age there comes a time when, instead of leaning on the theory of causation, we naturally resign ourselves to the Divine Mother. How is it that we know, and yet cannot act? This is due to Her Maya. She must be propitiated. ‘She being propitiated grants the boon of Freedom.’ Aye, without Her grace, no man can get out of this net-work of illusion. Only through worship can the common man realize the supreme beatitude, the state of universal consciousness. There is no other way. Merely saying, ‘I am Brahman,’ is no use as long as there is the least ignorance left in you. You must worship God. The Mother being pleased by worship grants both enjoyment and freedom.

Just think, ‘I am Thy child, Thou art my Mother.’ Talk with Her in the same way as you are talking with me. She knows your heart. She is indeed within all. She alone is without beginning and without end. Is there anything else without beginning? It is only to give an explanation to the people that one has to say, karma is without beginning, etc. Health or disease, good or evil — everything comes and goes according to Her will. This is the final truth. He only can understand this, to whom She Herself reveals this truth. If you are determined not to understand, I have no power to make you convinced.

27 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MOTHER

Swami Turiyananda

That everything happens at Her will, one must actually realize in life; else, a mere intellectual belief is of no avail. That is our resting place, as it were; when we receive blows from the world, we get peace from this thought. Why do you plan? Why are you scheming? Why do you look so far ahead? Let Mother plan. Her plan comes true. Human planning is all in vain, if She does not consent. She knows what will happen. The future is an open book to Her. Live in the present; make the best of your time and opportunities. Don’t think of the future. Know it for certain that Mother’s will shall come to pass. Trust in Her. Only try to love Her sincerely; give yourself to Her, let Her do with you as She wishes. Trusting in Mother does not mean idleness. Try to know Her will, and then be up and doing like a man. Don’t you see, I am never idle? The mind must be occupied some way or other. Let Mother’s will be done. Never mind sunshine or rain, we must not forget Mother at any time. Even if we don’t see Her, why should we lose heart? She appears again in our view. She knows what is best for us. Once we have given over to Her, what right have we to think of ourselves again? It is not so easy to do as to say — of that I am sure, but there is no other way out. Whether we see or don’t see, Mother is our only place of rest. Mother knows the heart and sees the heart and arranges things accordingly. Let your light so shine, that everybody can see it. Let your work be silent and in secret and your Mother who seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. May we never lose sight of this our real Self, which is the Self of all, our dear Mother, whose children we are. If you fall, you will fall into the lap of the Mother. You will get up again and try again. Take all your troubles to Mother. She will right all wrongs.

[To the question: “How will She right wrongs, Swami?”]

By drawing you close to Her. When you know Mother, nothing else matters.

28 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MOTHER

Swami Turiyananda

[To the question: “Will Mother really enter into the details of one’s life?”]

Certainly — why not?

[To the question: “How?”]

By giving understanding. When you give yourself to Her, you will see everything in a new light. You will know that this life doesn’t matter. We are Mother’s children, we have nothing to fear. She gives and She takes. Blessed be Her name.

[Disciple: “Mother can protect us.”]

You are right, never forget it. Always trust in Her. What is life without Her? It is all sham and humbug. She alone is real. We must try to see Mother in everything. That will make us spiritual. Planning is useless, for Mother knows already what will come to pass. We plan because we don’t have absolute faith. It requires great faith not to plan. 29 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MOTHER

Swami Ramakrishnananda

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

Swami Saradananda

Brahman and Brahman’s power are non-different, like fire and its power of combustion. The scriptures speak of this Brahman as the Cosmic Person and the power associated with Him as the Mother of the universe. That is why the presiding deity of Gayatri is sometimes spoken of as the Cosmic person, and sometimes as the Mother of the universe. That is why there is no contradiction in imagining either way. If it is the will of Mother, do you think that it will take time to grant Her vision and fulfill the desire of our heart? When you belong to Her, there is no question that visions and experiences will be yours some day in your life.

Swami Subodhananda

The All-powerful Mother of the Universe resides in every woman. Know this much for certain that the great Universal Mother lives in and permeates everything — be it happiness or sorrow or anything else.

30th August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious Janma Tithi of Bhagawan Sri Krishna. On this sacred day may Bhagawan Krishna bless us all with devotion.)

Some teachings of Sri Krishna

“Arjuna, everything comes and goes in life. Happiness and unhappiness are temporary experiences that rise from sense perception. Heat and cold, pleasure and pain will come and go. They never last forever. So, do not get attached to them. (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2:14)

“Arjuna, no doubt the mind is very difficult to control. However, it can be controlled by constant practice and detachment.”

(Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6:35)

“Arjuna, you only have the right to act (Karma); at the same time, you do not have the right for the fruits of actions. You should not act, motivated by the fruits of actions and also never be inactive any time.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2:47)

“Even if you are the worst sinner in the world; you can still cross the ocean of Sin; by a bark of (Jnana) wisdom. As the blazing fire burns wood to ashes, Arjuna, so does the fire of true knowledge (Jnana) which will burn all ‘karmic debt’ to ashes.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4:36, 37)

“Arjuna, a person is considered superior, who is impartial towards friends, enemies, friends, relatives and strangers and treat everyone with equal respect.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6:09)

“Abandon all Dharma (duties) and just surrender unto me (the will of God). I shall deliver you from all bonds of Karma. Do not fear.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18:66)

“Arjuna, the one who is not disturbed by anyone, who is equipoised in happiness and distress, fear and anxiety, is very dear to Me.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12:15)

“Arjuna, when inertia and inactivity are predominant, ignorance, stress, and delusion arise.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 14:13)

“Arjuna, anything done such as sacrifice, charity of penance or austerity, without faith is useless. It has no value in this life or hereafter.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17:28)

29 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MOTHER

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Divine Mother does not like us to call ourselves Her servants. We are children to Her, not servants. Always think of yourself as Her child. 30th August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious Janma Tithi of Bhagawan Sri Krishna. On this sacred day may Bhagawan Krishna bless us all with devotion.)

Some teachings of Sri Krishna:

“Arjuna, everything comes and goes in life. Happiness and unhappiness are temporary experiences that rise from sense perception. Heat and cold, pleasure and pain will come and go. They never last forever. So, do not get attached to them.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2:14)

“Arjuna, no doubt the mind is very difficult to control. However, it can be controlled by constant practice and detachment.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6:35)

“Arjuna, you only have the right to act (Karma); at the same time, you do not have the right for the fruits of actions. You should not act, motivated by the fruits of actions and also never be inactive any time.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2:47)

“Even if you are the worst sinner in the world; you can still cross the ocean of sin by a bark of (Jnana) wisdom. As the blazing fire burns wood to ashes, Arjuna, so does the fire of true knowledge (Jnana) which will burn all ‘karmic debt’ to ashes.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 4:36, 37)

“Arjuna, a person is considered superior, who is impartial towards friends, enemies, relatives and strangers and treat everyone with equal respect.” (Bhagavad Gita Chapter 6:09)

“Abandon all Dharma (duties) and just surrender unto me (the will of God). I shall deliver you from all bonds of Karma. Do not fear.”

31 August 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON MOTHER

Swami Vijnanananda

There is a Bengali song which runs like this: ‘You have brought me up and taken care of me. O Mother, I only know you are there, but I have never seen you.’ It is an idea which very much appeals to me. The Mother is looking after us all the time, but does not appear before us. We cannot say it is a fault on Her part. She is always with us, only we ourselves refuse to see Her. How can we see Her, if we are slaves to our senses and passions? It is these senses and passions which, for their own sport, have kept us in the dark.

The Vedanta characterizes time, space, and causation as illusion or Maya. That Maya is the ‘Mother’, the Primordial Energy. To know this Maya is to conquer it, and one who has done so is a man of real strength. We are the children of the Mother; so, what have we got to fear? Let us hold fast to the truth and pray to Her, and She will surely confer on us Her blessings. Invoke the blessing of the Mother — morning, noon, and evening.

Our Mother is the embodiment of law. If you conduct yourself in accordance with this law, you will gain complete knowledge and understanding, and going against this law will only lead to inevitable disaster, and you will be pulverized into atoms. This law of God acts silently, is great and all-powerful. This is what Christians call the Holy Ghost and Hindus call Shakti.

For the sake of the devotees, the Mother comes with ten arms, and says: ‘Shed your fears. You have made Me your sole refuge, and I am, therefore, protecting you with ten arms. Death will be powerless to come anywhere near you. It is for you that I hold a sword.’

The Mother’s name has a special virtue: it saves you from women and all vulgar thoughts about them. I have felt this very strongly. Her name confers devotion, faith, reverence, wisdom, wealth, and everything else. In the book of Chandi, you find She can give you wisdom and deliverance. The Mother’s name gives me greater strength than that of the Master. The Holy Ghost is the Mother, the impersonation of Shakti. Without the Holy Ghost there would be no Jesus Christ.

1 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

MUSIC

Swami Brahmananda

One day a fine musician was playing musical scales. Maharaj went into a spiritual mood. A devotee complained that no devotional songs were being played. This jarred Maharaj. He turned to the devotee and said: “Don’t you realize that sound is Brahman? You see, you love music and singing. You must remember that God can also be approached through music. Music is ‘sound-Brahman’. This truth is experienced, if one meditates.”

NON - ATTACHMENT

Swami Turiyananda

How dreadful is this realm of Maya! What stormy billows on it! One can watch it calmly only if one succeeds in removing oneself from it, if one is non-attached. Otherwise there is a great danger. But it is very difficult to remove oneself from it.

Swami Shivananda

You must always bear in mind the most essential things that will enable you to realise God, viz., spending your time in the company of men who have realized God or are in the right track in that direction, perusal of the lives of great Bhaktas, and above all, Abhyasa and Vairagya, non-attachment to thoughts other than those of your Ishta Devata.

2 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

NON - DUALISM

Swami Adbhutananda

Ah, the folly! Can one force the non-dualist’s attitude on one’s mind? It is a slow growth. The Master used to say, “When the fruit grows big, the flower drops of itself.” Just imagine what true non-dualism means — the Master could not walk on grassy plots! Such becomes the self-identification with all things when one realizes the Atman-Brahman. But one must keep sharpened one’s power of discrimination between the real and the unreal, between the one and the many from the very beginning of one’s Sadhana.

OBJECT

Swami Shivananda

The object of one’s life is not work; it is the realization of God. The work that makes one forget God is highly degenerate. 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. The sole object of life is somehow or other to keep our minds directed towards the lotus feet of God. Once the mind becomes absorbed in His lotus feet there is no fear any more. Our one object is to realize God.

Swami Premananda

We should never forget that our real object is to enshrine the Lord in the heart of every man in the world, for the real temple of the Lord is the human heart. There within the heart of every man the ground has to be consecrated, for it has been defiled by the profanity of worldly desires and pleasures. There on that consecrated ground let the temple of Divine Communion be raised and the overflowing bliss of the Supreme Good reign. Infinite Bliss from within, that is the idea. Let the devotee be flooded over by this Bliss from within.

3 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

OBSTACLES / OBSTRUCTIONS

Swami Brahmananda

Many are the obstacles to a godly life. Therefore it is necessary to pray earnestly to the Lord to remove these obstacles. Yearn for his grace.

[To the question: “Sometimes, as I continue practicing japam, my mind becomes blank. What causes that, Maharaj?”]

A: That is one of the obstacles in the way to spiritual growth. Meditation must be practiced along with the practice of japam. Meditation means a continuous flow of thought toward God. In the path of spiritual progress many obstacles arise. Evil, subtle influences may hinder your growth. Hence mudras and bhuta shuddhi and similar practices are prescribed in the ritualistic worship.

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

A: Pray to the Lord! Talk to him! Through his grace mountain-high obstacles are blown away as easily as a heap of ashes.

Swami Shivananda

Can you tell me of any work that is wholly free from hindrance? And the obstruction becomes great in proportion as the work is great. The power of the soul is awakened as a result of that clash. When God is favourable, the path of spiritual practices itself becomes easy; all obstacles are removed.

Swami Premananda

You will find that there are many subtle impressions, habits of thought and action lying dormant and hidden in the subconscious regions of the mind.

4 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

OBSTACLES / OBSTRUCTIONS

Swami Turiyananda

There are several obstructions to concentration: Laya, Vikshepa, Kashaya, Rasasvada. Laya is the mind being overcome by Tamas — the mind falls asleep and loses consciousness. Most aspirants are held down by Laya. Vikshepa is the scattering of the mind on multifarious objects. Kashaya is finding meditation distasteful — one feels disinclined to meditate. But one must still persist. Rasasvada is the mind being fascinated by the vision of divine forms and refusing to ascend higher. Circumstances may or may not be favourable, but who cares? We must strain every nerve to accomplish the thing. If you are determined to do it at any cost, you will find that great obstacles which you thought would overpower you, ultimately turn out to help you. But you must struggle sincerely. Then Patanjali says about the obstructions to Yoga. What are those distracting influences? They are as follows: One may get diseased. Either one becomes mad or has some serious illness that prevents any further progress. Lassitude is inaction of the mind or torpidity. Doubt is cogitating whether a thing is of this kind or that — whether a particular course of action will produce the desired results or not. Not doing that which will lead to Samadhi or Yoga is inadvertence. Laziness is the want of proper care or exertion owing to an excess of Tamas or dullness. Attachment is attraction for sense-objects. Delusion is mistaking one thing for another. Not reaching the higher states of Samadhi is what is called non-attaining of heights. There is one more, viz. the inability to stay on a particular state of Samadhi already attained. These disturb the mind and prevent Yoga. All these obstructions are removed if one meditates on Om. But then, a man may not at all be disposed to meditate!

5 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

OBSTACLES / OBSTRUCTIONS

Swami Adbhutananda

Contentment is an obstacle to spiritual progress.

It is true, people do practice sadhana to find peace. But if the aspirant forgets God after finding some peace, how can he make any further progress? If there is no dissatisfaction, longing for God does not come.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

This disbelief is almost an insurmountable obstacle in the spiritual life. It is not only an obstacle but a disease!

Swami Saradananda

Impatience is the greatest obstacle in spiritual life.

It is only through japa and meditation that one removes all obstacles, attains purity of heart and finally arrives at the full consciousness of God.

Despondency is one of the greatest obstacles in spiritual life. It saps energy and destroys your ability to struggle.

[To the question: “Why do a slight fever and other obstacles come while making japa and meditating?”]

Prarabdha karma seems to be the reason.

Power seeks channels for its manifestation, and gathers force in the midst of obstructions.

Swami Akhandananda

Have you read the book, Up from Slavery — the great story of service, of educating the people? It tells of how they made their own bricks with which they built the school. In the beginning they were unable to do so; but after repeated failure they succeeded.

He that is born with a mission does not stop at obstacles. He is never depressed: he will finish his work and then only rest.

That which is an obstacle will become a helping force. Desire to have Him. Be angry with Him. Ask Him, ‘Why are You not coming to me?’

Direct all emotions — love, anger, etc., towards Him. Be greedy to taste His playful life, His name and form. Be infatuated with His beauty. Feel proud that you have loved Him and got His assurance.

Nurture jealousy in this way: ‘O, how he is advancing in Sadhana! Why not I? He has a vision of God; why have I none?’ These six enemies [lust, anger, greed, infatuation, pride and jealousy] become six friends when turned towards God.

Is there any fixed time and place for taking the name of God? Throw away the clocks, break them. They are a kind of obstacle. It is from the sun that we get the idea of time. Think of a state where there is no sun.

6 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

OBSTACLES / OBSTRUCTIONS

Swami Subodhananda

You complain of restlessness during Japa. That is nothing peculiar in your case; many others are in the same predicament. Still, you must never cease from calling on the Lord, and know this for certain that the Lord’s name cuts through all obstacles.

Swami Vijnanananda

Through wealth and honour, our egotism is bloated up, and there is no greater obstacle in the spiritual path than egotism.

PAIN

Swami Brahmananda

Make God the be-all and end-all of your life. Devote yourself sincerely to realizing Him, and you will be free from all sorrow and pain.

Swami Shivananda

Man suffers so much by ignorantly identifying himself with the body. The way out is to know Him. He is Purity, Knowledge, and Freedom itself. He is the Indwelling Spirit of all. By knowing Him, man goes beyond pain and sorrow. This is all the sport of God. In one form, He is bringing pain to so many people, persecuting them with famine, sickness, and grief; in another form, again, it is He who is inspiring people to remove the distress of humanity. It is the great Cosmic Mother having Her play, and as a consequence, people suffer pain and sorrow. Who can ever understand all this? Men can be saved only if they take note of all this for a while and think of the transitoriness of worldly things. Who will understand all this? Man can escape all this pain if he pauses and thinks of the unreality of the world; and yet, day and night, he is engrossed in Maya.

7 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PAIN

Swami Premananda

The world is the world of relativity. Do not be unnerved in the least by pleasure and pain. Repeatedly convince yourself of the truth that change of condition is the will of God and everything occurs for our good. 8 September 2021

ON PASSION

Swami Brahmananda

If you allow your mind to wander and lead a purposeless life, a bad reaction is bound to follow. Passions will overcome you. To attain spiritual tranquillity you must keep up a regular practice, even against your inclinations. Spiritual awakening is bound to come, and when it does, all the passions that ever existed in you will be forgotten. When you are in the society of holy men, you may think that your passions are dead, but do not be deceived. You are free of passions only after you have attained samadhi. Therefore, be always vigilant until you have transcended the mind. Also, unless you keep lust, anger, greed, and such other passions under control, the mind will remain unsteady. How can you meditate with an unsteady mind?

Real austerity consists in the control of the passions. Passion must never be allowed to raise its head. If you merely say, “I will conquer lust, I will conquer anger and greed,” you can never conquer them; but if you can fix your mind on God, the passions will leave you of themselves. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, “The more you move eastward, the farther you are from the west.” Call on God and pray to him. Then the objects of sense will no longer attract you. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the power of the mind becomes strengthened by the practice of continence. A man so strengthened is not overcome by lust and anger. Passions seem trivial to it. Swamiji also has said, “A little awakening of the Kundalini is dangerous.” Unless the Kundalini rises to the higher planes, lust, anger, and other low passions become very powerful. Meditation is possible if you can keep lust, anger, and all other passions under control. If any of them grows strong, you cannot have meditation. But real Tapasya is to restrain the passions and not give vent to them. This indeed is the highest Tapasya.

8 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PASSION

Swami Brahmananda

If you allow your mind to wander and lead a purposeless life, a bad reaction is bound to follow. Passions will overcome you.

To attain spiritual tranquillity you must keep up a regular practice, even against your inclinations. Spiritual awakening is bound to come, and when it does, all the passions that ever existed in you will be forgotten.

When you are in the society of holy men, you may think that your passions are dead, but do not be deceived. You are free of passions only after you have attained samadhi. Therefore be always vigilant until you have transcended the mind.

Also unless you keep lust, anger, greed, and such other passions under control, the mind will remain unsteady. How can you meditate with an unsteady mind?

Real austerity consists in the control of the passions. Passion must never be allowed to raise its head.

If you merely say: ‘I will conquer lust, I will conquer anger and greed’, you can never conquer them; but if you can fix your mind on God, the passions will leave you of themselves.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say, ‘The more you move eastward, the farther you are from the west.’ Call on God and pray to him. Then the objects of sense will no longer attract you.

Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the power of the mind becomes strengthened by the practice of continence. A man so strengthened is not overcome by lust and anger. Passions seem trivial to it.

Swamiji also has said, ‘A little awakening of the Kundalini is dangerous.’ Unless the Kundalini rises to the higher planes, lust, anger, and other low passions become very powerful.

Meditation is possible, if you can keep lust, anger, and all other passions under control. If any of them grows strong, you cannot have meditation.

But real Tapasya is to restrain the passions and not give vent to them. This indeed is the highest Tapasya.

9 September 2021

ON PASSION

Swami Shivananda

[To the question: “I cannot change the tendencies of my mind yet. Please bless me so that I can control my passions.”]

Of course, you have my blessings. But you will have to exert yourself too. You have children. From now on, practise a little self-control and change the course of your life. You have had enough of enjoyment; now stop. Of course, force alone will not help; but if you struggle sincerely, in time he will make your body and mind pure. It is only by realizing Him that one gets rid of all passions and desires, attains fullness, and becomes the Self Itself.

Jai Ramakrishna 10 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PASSION

Swami Turiyananda

Never pride yourself on your having gained control over the passions. If you do, they will at once raise their heads. Mere suppression of passions helps little. There must be a high ideal along with self‑restraint. Without a high ideal, the passions will find another outlet. You must give them a new direction, then you will be automatically rid of them. As for example lust. The Master explained: “What is lust? It is the desire to get. Then desire to get Him, and strengthen this desire greatly.”

Passions will last so long as the body lasts. But through His grace they cannot raise their heads. [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. There is no creature more despicable than a person subject to passion. To what indignities he puts himself!

“Come, o mind, let us evade lust and other passions, and live by ourselves.” But how difficult to evade them! It is these which have made brutes of men!

Control your passions — anger, jealousy, pride. And never speak ill of others behind their backs.

Swami Abhedananda

Man is a slave to his passion, which is the same as desires, and desires are ever associated with selfishness.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Man is a hero so long as he struggles. But to conquer one’s passions is no joke. Man can only do it by finding something that gives him greater pleasure. To be able to give up the sense world means that man has found something better. Man must give up everything to God, then alone he thrives.

10 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PASSION

Swami Turiyananda

Never pride yourself on your having gained control over the passions. If you do, they will at once raise their heads.

Mere suppression of passions helps little. There must be a high ideal along with self-restraint. Without a high ideal, the passions will find another outlet. You must give them a new direction, then you will be automatically rid of them.

As for example lust. The Master explained: ‘What is lust? It is the desire to get. Then desire to get Him, and strengthen this desire greatly.’

Passions will last so long as the body lasts. But through His grace they cannot raise their heads.

[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.

There is no creature more despicable than a person subject to passion. To what indignities he puts himself!

‘Come, o mind, let us evade lust and other passions, and live by ourselves.’ But how difficult to evade them! It is these which have made brutes of men!

Control your passions — anger, jealousy, pride. And never speak ill of others behind their backs.

Swami Abhedananda

Man is a slave to his passion, which is the same as desires, and desires are ever associated with selfishness.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Man is a hero so long as he struggles. But to conquer one’s passions is no joke. Man can only do it by finding something that gives him greater pleasure. To be able to give up the sense world means that man has found something better. Man must give up everything to God, then alone he thrives.

11 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PASSION

Swami Saradananda

You should drive away all depressive thoughts, telling yourself that it is the nature of the mind to have passions and they arise due to past habit. Fix your mind on God and they will leave you alone.

Swami Akhandananda

The whole mind is packed with anger and passion. Weep and pray! How piteously they cry for their children and wives! But how few cry for the Lord?

Swami Vijnanananda

The very first attribute of God is lordliness. Contemplation on Him should enable us to gain lordliness over our passions and become masters of ourselves.

Unless one can restrain one’s passions, it is impossible to get anywhere near God.

The Mother is looking after us all the time, but does not appear before us. We cannot say it is a fault on Her part. She is always with us, only we ourselves refuse to see Her. How can we see Her, if we are slaves to our senses and passions? It is these senses and passions which, for their own sport, have kept us in the dark.

When we have control over our passions, we shall succeed; we shall ourselves then feel that we are advancing towards God.

You will have to subjugate your passions and hold fast to the faith that God exists everywhere. You see, God is always inside and also outside, telling us to shed fears and worries. ‘You can’t run away from Me,’ says He. ‘You want to play about a little. Well, go on playing. But I am ever inside you; seek and ye shall find.

The moment you attain complete mastery over your passions, you will get Me within you, effulgent and blissful.’ He is always with us. He is there already manifested. We do not see him because we do not have the will. How can we see Him if we are controlled by passions?

Passions are controlled only when we have the real vision of God.

I say, he only is free who has gained mastery over his passions; and one who is a slave to them is bound in chains.

If you want to control your passions, you have to meditate constantly on the Master and the Holy Mother, and all degrading thoughts will at once cease to trouble you.

God is both inside and outside you. When you realize that He is within you, your passions will be under control.

12 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PATIENCE

Swami Brahmananda

You practice meditation and japam; you progress a little, then comes a period of dryness. It seems that the doors are entirely closed. At that time it is necessary that you stick to your spiritual practices with infinite patience; by so doing you will find one day that all of a sudden the doors are opened. What a great joy it is then! In spiritual life many such thresholds have to be crossed. Have patience, infinite patience, until you reach the Reality. In the primary stage, meditation is tiresome — it is like learning the alphabet. Gradually, peace comes. There are boys who after they have been initiated complain to me that they are not getting anywhere. I do not listen to them for two or three years. Then later they come and tell me: “Yes, Maharaj, I am getting somewhere now.”

Do not be impatient. Struggle intensely for two or three years, and your heart will be flooded with joy. Learn patience. Anger is controlled through patience. Be patient, forbearing, and humble. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: “He who can forbear, lives. He who cannot, is lost.”

If you wish to realize God, practice the spiritual disciplines with patience and perseverance. In due course you will be enlightened. When the time comes, the Lord will reveal His grace to you. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: “Until the time is ripe the mother bird does not break open the egg.”

Do not be impatient. Impatience avails nothing. Work and wait. This period of waiting is no doubt very wearisome. One moment you feel hope, then again despair; joy is followed by sorrow. So the struggle continues for some time until God, at long last, is revealed. 13 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PATIENCE

Swami Premananda

Patience and forbearance should be our guides in life. Have infinite patience. To live in the world we need to cultivate these two qualities — patience and forbearance. But the tree does not bear fruits except at the right season. Nothing is gained by being impatient. If you want to be good and happy in this world, have patience and forbearance. Infinite patience, unlimited forbearance, and forgiveness — these alone bring peace and happiness. Why should you fear? Do not be disheartened by the thought that you have not attained your goal. Considerable patience is required. Without patience no one can walk in the spiritual path.

Swami Turiyananda

You must have patience. Rome was not built in a day. You never forget that.

Swami Adbhutananda

Do not fear, for some day the grace of the Lord will come to you. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, ‘Before evening you will receive a leaf plate’. Have patience and wait.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

We should all ‘strike off our fetters;’ but have you ever seen a fetter stricken off with a single and sudden blow? If you want to break through your fetters, you must be patient enough to apply a series of successive blows. Nothing sudden has brought about good.

Swami Saradananda

Don’t get disheartened if you do not have the results of your spiritual practices in the beginning. You will surely see the results in due time if you practice with patience and perseverance. Afterwards, when you progress more, you will understand everything yourself.

Swami Vijnanananda

What you require is hope, faith, and patience; and gradually you will reach the goal.

13 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PATIENCE

Swami Premananda

Patience and forbearance should be our guides in life.

Have infinite patience. To live in the world we need to cultivate these two qualities — patience and forbearance.

But the tree does not bear fruits except at the right season. Nothing is gained by being impatient.

If you want to be good and happy in this world, have patience and forbearance. Infinite patience, unlimited forbearance, and forgiveness — these alone bring peace and happiness.

Why should you fear? Do not be disheartened by the thought that you have not attained your goal. Considerable patience is required. Without patience no one can walk in the spiritual path.

Swami Turiyananda

You must have patience. Rome was not built in a day. You never forget that.

Swami Adbhutananda

Do not fear, for some day the grace of the Lord will come to you. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, ‘Before evening you will receive a leaf plate’. Have patience and wait.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

We should all ‘strike off our fetters;’ but have you ever seen a fetter stricken off with a single and sudden blow? If you want to break through your fetters, you must be patient enough to apply a series of successive blows. Nothing sudden has brought about good.

Swami Saradananda

Don’t get disheartened if you do not have the results of your spiritual practices in the beginning. You will surely see the results in due time if you practice with patience and perseverance. Afterwards, when you progress more, you will understand everything yourself.

Swami Vijnanananda

What you require is hope, faith, and patience; and gradually you will reach the goal.

What you require is a good deal of faith, reliance, and patience; and with all this you will gradually reach the goal.

14 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Brahmananda

The Master loved us so dearly that he gave us everything he had to give. But let me tell you: you may receive these things, but unless you realize them through your own effort, you cannot attain peace. Give your body and mind to worldly enjoyments, and the world will destroy them both. Devote them to God and his service, and you will enjoy bodily health, peace of mind, and spiritual joy. You will find peace and happiness only if you can remember the Lord. Accept all trials and tribulations boldly. Welcome them, for through them you shall surely find peace. Know him as your very own and you will find peace in him. Forget the body and its comforts; shake off the delusion of birth and death. Shake off the illusory peace of Maya and find the real peace — the everlasting peace of God. With unwavering faith in the words of the Guru, the disciple must regularly practice repetition of the mantram and meditation on its meaning. Thus will he find peace of heart. Be up and doing! Waste no more time. The senses now are strong, and must be kept under control. This is a difficult task, no doubt, but if you practice meditation continuously for seven or eight years you will find peace and bliss, and enjoy the fruits of your practices. Even after one year of steady practice you will find some result. No one can find peace if he hurts another. Never utter one word that would hurt another. “Tell the truth, but never tell a harsh truth.” As long as you think, “God is there,” you will find no peace. When you know and can feel that he is here, here, you will find peace. Know this: without worshiping God you can never have peace of mind. Therefore, spend some time every day in the worship of God, in japam and meditation, and in singing God’s glory. The more you suffer for God’s sake, the more peaceful will you become at last.

15 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Brahmananda

It is hard indeed to kindle any thought of God within the human heart without the fire of renunciation. I am certain that the more a man possesses this fire within himself, the greater is the peace he enjoys.

There is the path of the good and the path of the pleasant: one leads to everlasting peace and the other leads to suffering. Choose therefore the path of the good.

Peace dwells in the heart of one who loves God. Realize that your life without him is barren. Yearn for him, and peace will follow. When a man finds no peace in the world, dispassion grows within him and he is drawn to God. The more a man realizes that the world is barren, the more intense becomes his devotion to God and the greater is his peace. The greater the thirst, the sweeter the water. First create the thirst and then you will find peace in God.

The only way to control the mind and find peace is to chant the name of God and meditate on him.

When a man realizes God and works as his instrument, he finds peace in himself and gives peace to others.

To find goodness and attain peace, give up everything for God.

He who is honest, faithful, and devoted will have to come within the orbit of Sri Ramakrishna where alone in this age real peace is to be found.

Meditation gives not only mental peace but also physical health.

[To the question: “How can one have peace?”]

A: By loving God, and by having true faith in Him. You cannot have it at the very beginning. At first there must be great restlessness; your heart will be full of anguish at not having yet realized the Lord. But it is all right; the more thirsty you are, the better you will relish water. You must create restlessness, if there is none. When men no longer find any joy in the world, they feel restless, and then they are attracted towards God.

16 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Shivananda

The greater the thirst, the sweeter the water. First create the thirst and then you will find peace in God. The only way to control the mind and find peace is to chant the name of God and meditate on him. When a man realizes God and works as his instrument, he finds peace in himself and gives peace to others. To find goodness and attain peace, give up everything for God. He who is honest, faithful, and devoted will have to come within the orbit of Sri Ramakrishna where alone in this age real peace is to be found. Meditation gives not only mental peace but also physical health.

[To the question: “How can one have peace?”]

A: By loving God, and by having true faith in Him. You cannot have it at the very beginning. At first there must be great restlessness; your heart will be full of anguish at not having yet realized the Lord. But it is all right; the more thirsty you are, the better you will relish water. You must create restlessness, if there is none. When men no longer find any joy in the world, they feel restless, and then they are attracted towards God.

Whenever you call on Him, even though for a short while, do so whole-heartedly. This is a great secret. It is the only way to enjoy peace in the world. The moment one forgets this, one is in trouble. Pray to Him, and He will give you peace. Out of His compassion He will strengthen your heart and make you one with Him. With the practice of meditation peace of mind will grow, and then alone will you be in a position to undertake humanitarian activities in the right spirit. Compared with pains and sorrows there is very little happiness. But those who are devoted to God know some peace in this world. They are not disturbed by whatever pains or sorrows may come to them, because they know that everything comes from God. It is the same God who gives us happiness and again trials and difficulties. That is why they can patiently bear everything as a blessing from God. The one abiding Reality and the only Abode of peace is God. Hold fast to Him, my daughter; then alone will you have peace in life. In this sorrowful world He alone is peace. The fact that sometimes you lose control over your mind signifies that a big wave will come and you will have great peace. I have told you the way to reach that abode of peace; but you will have to do everything. From outside will come only suggestions; the rest has to be accomplished by one’s own efforts.

17 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Shivananda

Advance towards God, my child; the more you go towards Him, the more peace you will get. There is no peace in anything in this world. At the feet of God alone does one find the abode of peace. Of course, one should repeat the name with devotion. Then alone will one have joy and peace in one’s heart. Be at peace by surrendering yourself to Him. You have to spend your time in meditating on Him, repetition of His name, recollection of Him, reading about Him, reflecting on Him, and prayer to Him. Then only will you get real bliss and peace in life, and your taking refuge in Him will be fruitful. One need have no worry if one but does regular spiritual practice; peace is bound to come. Let them but make some effort to see if the result is a fact or not. Is it easy to attain peace? How can peace come so long as one does not become enlightened? The real peace comes only when the mind becomes absorbed in Him, not earlier. It’s enough, if the mind gets merged in Him even once only. Then the mind can no longer derive any happiness from things outside. He is, in fact, the mine of all peace.

18 September 2021

[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.

[To the question: “Maharaj, can a man have peace before the realization of God?”]

No, real peace is far off. But if you find a man’s desire for sense-enjoyments is growing less and less and his love is extending over all beings, then you may know that he is progressing towards God. One must keep out attachment. 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. You may love all the beings in the world and be not at all under bondage, but the moment you allow your love to be centred on any special object, you are bound. If you can get rid of these loads, then only can you attain to peace and liberation.

We can be at perfect peace if we can resign ourselves to the Lord. Let Him do what He thinks best. Each man has his own world and sees the same substance in a different way. Realizing the Self in all things, one attains to Peace Eternal.

The world is full of bewildering variety and is extremely complex. All phenomena are the effect of Trigunas. But there is a higher state beyond them, which has been realized by Paramahamsas. Whoever sees the underlying unity amidst these varieties has peace eternal. For then there is neither loss nor profit nor good nor evil.

That everything happens at Her will, one must actually realize in life; else a mere intellectual belief is of no avail. That is our resting place, as it were; when we receive blows from the world, we get peace from this thought. If one can surrender oneself wholly to Him, there is real peace.

19 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Premananda

If you can, love others, and then you will be blessed with peace and happiness. Let strong renunciation and intense yearning possess you. Then only will you experience God’s grace and receive peace. One finds no peace without devotion to God. Material wealth does not make a man happy or peaceful. This ‘me’ and ‘mine’ is the greatest enemy. We must crush this enemy, we must kill all selfishness. Then only will the whole world become our own; then only will we see this world as belonging to God; then alone will there be peace and happiness on earth. Be strong in the strength of God and engage yourself in work as an instrument in his hands. That will bring peace and joy. Infinite patience, unlimited forbearance, and forgiveness — these alone bring peace and happiness. Nothing other than devotion to God can bring peace to the arid heart. Let the strong wind of dispassion rise in your minds, that the trees of desire be uprooted. Then, even as birds fly from the shelter of trees before a strong wind, will the ignorance of selfishness, jealousy, hatred, and egoism take flight from your hearts. Then shall peace follow and fill your lives, even as calm follows the storm. Free your minds from all desires, and peace will reign in your hearts. In their greed for power and conquest, the Western nations are at war with one another [World War I]. 20 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Turiyananda

The more you will free yourself of egotism and become His instrument, the more you will realize peace. The more you will feel that God is the only doer, not you, the more will your heart be filled with peace.

[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.

[To the question: “Maharaj, can a man have peace before the realization of God?”]

No, real peace is far off. But if you find a man’s desire for sense-enjoyments is growing less and less and his love is extending over all beings, then you may know that he is progressing towards God. One must keep out attachment. 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. You may love all the beings in the world and be not at all under bondage, but the moment you allow your love to be centred on any special object, you are bound. If you can get rid of these loads, then only can you attain to peace and liberation. We can be at perfect peace if we can resign ourselves to the Lord.

20 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Turiyananda

The more you will free yourself of egotism and become His instrument, the more you will realize peace. The more you will feel that God is the only doer, not you, the more will your heart be filled with peace.

[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.

[To the question: “Maharaj, can a man have peace before the realization of God?”]

No, real peace is far off. But if you find a man’s desire for sense-enjoyments is growing less and less and his love is extending over all beings, then you may know that he is progressing towards God.

One must keep out attachment. 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.

You may love all the beings in the world and be not at all under bondage, but the moment you allow your love to be centred on any special object, you are bound. If you can get rid of these loads, then only can you attain to peace and liberation.

We can be at perfect peace if we can resign ourselves to the Lord. Let Him do what He thinks best.

Each man has his own world and sees the same substance in a different way. Realizing the Self in all things, one attains to Peace Eternal.

The world is full of bewildering variety and is extremely complex. All phenomena are the effect of Trigunas. But there is a higher state beyond them, which has been realized by Paramahamsas. Whoever sees the underlying unity amidst these varieties has peace eternal. For then there is neither loss nor profit nor good nor evil.

That everything happens at Her will, one must actually realize in life; else a mere intellectual belief is of no avail. That is our resting place, as it were; when we receive blows from the world, we get peace from this thought.

If one can surrender oneself wholly to Him, there is real peace. You cannot find peace in anything else. The more you go towards Him, the greater is the peace. Ultimately you will have to rest in Him.

21 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Adbhutananda

God takes charge of the soul which is not bound by Maya. When God guides a man, an uninterrupted current of happiness, peace, and bliss flows in his mind and no other waves of thought can be raised there. He becomes one with that unfathomable, waveless ocean of Satchidananda. Look, is peace the end of sadhana? There are many states higher than peace. But if you want to experience those states, you need to attain peace first of all. Do you know what that peace is? One is then, as it were, satisfied with his life, and external trials and tribulations do not disturb the mind. The door to the spiritual path does not open unless the aspirant is filled with peace externally and internally. But once the door to the spiritual realm opens, discontentment again begins. However, this is a mysterious kind of discontentment which I cannot explain to you. In this state the aspirant can neither sit idle nor can he progress quickly. Spiritual disciplines and austerity are necessary to understand this. A man can attain peace if he gives up worldly enjoyment, for such enjoyment is the source of sorrow and sufferings, disease and despair. Do you ask what happens if one believes in God and loves Him? He is rendered innocuous, he cannot do harm to anyone, this brings peace to himself and to society.

22 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Abhedananda

Unless one has inner peace and contentment, one will find restlessness and suffering wherever one goes.

Since your petty will is not being fulfilled, give it up and drift, wholly depending on His Divine will, then you will get peace.

If you practise resignation to the will of the Lord, you will get peace of mind.

One can have no peace so long as one is a slave to desires. Peace arises from detachment. Peace means the conquest of desires. And the way to the conquest of desires is through doing good to others, striving for the welfare of others.

Renunciation alone can bring peace.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Inside the body there is desire and greed; inside the mind there is doubt; inside the world there is change, there is death. Go beyond these and you will find peace and bliss. Until you go beyond them, you can never realise what peace and bliss mean.

Fear exists when there is duality, fearlessness exists when there is only One. Since we cannot be happy so long as we fear, we shall not be able to find peace until we can say, ‘I am alone. I need nothing.’

Allow me to point out to you that peace is one’s own mental property and hence you should never allow either household or social affairs to intrude into the holy precincts of your mind, where only Parama-Shiva should reign supreme, showering peace and bliss upon you.

Surrender yourself completely to the Lord. Then salvation will be yours. A smile will always play on your lips and your face will be shining and your mind will be calm and peaceful.

23 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Saradananda

Both peace and peacelessness come to us for the sake of our own experience, according to God’s dispensation, but we have to remain steady under all circumstances by holding on to Him. Again, from one point of view, peacelessness appears to be the more welcome, for then one can call on the Lord with greater earnestness. Perfect peace will not come until the mind is fully concentrated. You must dwell on God uninterruptedly and be absorbed in the contemplation of His true nature. There must be no slackening of efforts until the goal is reached, until samadhi is attained. Until a man gives up shop-keeping and rids himself of the spirit of bargaining, no peace will reign in his soul. To attain peace one has to practice control of the senses and the mind. If you can surrender yourself to Him, you will be at peace. Do japa and meditate as much as possible; do not give that up. By practice, a taste for repeating the Lord’s name will come and you will know peace and bliss. If you cannot meditate on the Ishta just think that He is. That also will give you peace.

Swami Akhandananda

There is no happiness here, no peace. How can there be? This is not our place — this narrowness, selfishness. We want freedom from all these. That is real happiness, that is real satisfaction. That is peace and bliss. The company of Sadhus is essential: doing some work is absolutely necessary for peace. Work to your heart’s content and you will get peace. *The Imitation of Christ* is a great book; it helps much towards a spiritual life of renunciation. We had that book in our first monastery.

24 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PEACE

Swami Subodhananda

You ask me how you can have peace. Swami Vivekananda used to sing a song, which means, ‘Where would you seek for me, O devotee? I am not in Kashi, Kailas, or Mecca, or in a Masjid, or anywhere else, but I am by you only. When you have faith even for a moment, you will find me in a trice through the least searching. Hear of this faith by sitting near all the devotees.’

All this may appear rather too dry and intellectual for you. But know this much for certain that the great Universal Mother lives in and permeates everything — be it happiness or sorrow or anything else. There is another way of attaining peace of mind. When you have no work in hand sit down with others and read some good book and discuss about it. Talk of the Lord and you will find how the mind frees itself from all the trammels of the world. Why do people lose peace of mind? How can a man have peace who thinks bad thoughts, talks bad things and keeps his mind occupied with trifling affairs day and night?

Swami Vijnanananda

Even if God were to appear before us to bring peace unto our souls, we would refuse to recognize Him. For when He comes, He takes away our worldly possessions, and few of us are ready to make this sacrifice. You have done the right thing in making the Master your sheet-anchor. He came down to save people. You only pray to Him and peace will be yours. The aim of human life is to realize God, as this alone can give us real joy and eternal peace. Only the realization of Atman, the ultimate Truth behind all things, will give us everlasting peace. If God Himself comes down to confer on us the blessing of peace, we will turn down His offer. This is why He comes down to us as the embodiment of renunciation. He comes to relieve us of all our worldly possessions and everything that we call our own. In the midst of your hard life-struggle, your efforts should be directed towards attaining mental equilibrium. That is the only way of achieving worldly peace. To achieve real peace, what is needed is renunciation and self-purification — that is an all-time truth. Chant the name of God and then only you will have peace of mind. Repeat His name and peace will be yours.

25 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

PERFECTION

Swami Premananda

If you do not manage to become perfect in the present life, it is doubtful whether you will be able to become perfect even in a thousand lives. Take the stand that in this very life you will achieve perfection. Delusion will then be broken and darkness will be removed. Increase your faith and devotion and you will get everything. 26 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PHILOSOPHY

Swami Vijnanananda

This is the kind of faith that is needed. Otherwise, arguments and discussions only cloud the issue and create confusion. In the end, Kant and other philosophers say: “One cannot be sure that God exists.” But behind this entire world of creation, there is something which guides everything in an orderly fashion. All that means precious little. On the other hand, one can see God, talk with Him, and touch Him. Do they say such things? If not, what is the use of their philosophy?

ON PILGRIMAGE

Swami Brahmananda

If you think that you can become a mahatma or a great seer by wandering here and there, let me tell you, you are mistaken. You cannot become a saint that way. Without unceasing practice, you cannot have any religious experience; it cannot be had by trickery. It is wise to go occasionally to places of pilgrimage and live there for some time. The holy atmosphere and change of scenery are aids to the health of the body and mind. These places are also conducive to meditation. At each place of pilgrimage, there is a special time when the spiritual current flows. If at those times an aspirant meditates, his mind easily becomes absorbed and he finds increased joy in his meditation.

[To the question: “But how does one know that time?”]

A: It is not difficult. A man who practices meditation can very easily recognize it.

Swami Shivananda

My child, in common parlance it is said that a rolling stone gathers no moss. Aimless wandering by itself cannot be beneficial in the spiritual realm, nor can it help one towards God realization. But with the aim of getting rid of the ego and fostering a spirit of full reliance on God, one may periodically subsist on food gathered from many places, or live a life of total seclusion without any possession, or wander about a little. Undoubtedly, such courses can be helpful, but there is no necessity for pursuing them year after year.

26 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PHILOSOPHY

Swami Vijnanananda

This is the kind of faith that is needed. Otherwise, arguments and discussions only cloud the issue and create confusion. In the end, Kant and other philosophers say: ‘One cannot be sure that God exists’. But behind this entire world of creation, there is something which guides everything in an orderly fashion. All that means precious little. On the other hand, one can see God, talk with Him, and touch Him. Do they say such things? If not, what is the use of their philosophy?

ON PILGRIMAGE

Swami Brahmananda

If you think that you can become a mahatma or a great seer by wandering here and there, let me tell you, you are mistaken. You cannot become a saint that way. Without unceasing practice you cannot have any religious experience; it cannot be had by trickery. It is wise to go occasionally to places of pilgrimage and live there for some time. The holy atmosphere and change of scenery are aids to the health of the body and mind. These places are also conducive to meditation. At each place of pilgrimage, there is a special time when the spiritual current flows. If at those times an aspirant meditates, his mind easily becomes absorbed and he finds increased joy in his meditation. [To the question: “But how does one know that time?”]

A: It is not difficult. A man who practices meditation can very easily recognize it.

Swami Shivananda

My child, in common parlance it is said that a rolling stone gathers no moss. Aimless wandering by itself cannot be beneficial in the spiritual realm, nor can it help one towards God realization. But with the aim of getting rid of the ego and fostering a spirit of full reliance on God, one may periodically subsist on food gathered from many places, or live a life of total seclusion without any possession, or wander about a little. Undoubtedly, such courses can be helpful, but there is no necessity for pursuing them year after year.

27 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PILGRIMAGE

Swami Shivananda

When you meditate, try to think of what you saw in holy places. This is certainly the object of going on pilgrimages. If one undertakes them like a tourist, he gains nothing from them. The holy places are indeed His glories. While thinking of Him, one should also think of the manifestations of His power. In holy places, there is a special manifestation of Him. He is not seated in our chapel only. He, the Lord of the Universe, is all-pervasive and exists everywhere, but He is specially manifest in holy places and in His saints and devotees.

Many have expressed the opinion that pilgrimages at an inauspicious time do not bring good fruit. You will come across many sadhus who have made pilgrimage on foot to the four dhamas 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.

Well, it is not good for the devotees of God to roam about too much; that hinders the growth of true devotion. Hence, one should sit down somewhere after seeing some holy places; and then one should occupy oneself fully with one’s spiritual efforts. That helps the development of spiritual intensity and love for God. Too much moving about hither and thither dries up spiritual intensity. But I am not referring to the itinerant monks who take up a vow for such a purpose for a limited time.

Even as a rolling stone gathers no moss, aimless wandering, by itself, cannot be beneficial in the spiritual realm, nor can it help one towards God-realization. And where would you go, and why? The Lord is within.

28 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PILGRIMAGE

Swami Premananda

Worship and serve Sri Ramakrishna with your whole heart. Repeat his name and be absorbed in meditation. If you cannot surrender your mind to God, what is the use of visiting places of pilgrimage? Call on him with your whole mind and you will find him, no matter where you may be.

Swami Turiyananda

It is not good to wander much if you do not at the same time continue your spiritual effort.

Swami Adbhutananda

When I was young, I visited many holy places and associated with many sadhus. I went on foot to the four important holy places. There were no railways then, and you can imagine what difficulties one had to undergo. But even though I practiced such austerities, I gained very little; ignorance and sorrow were as deep as ever. Finally I sat down here in the garden and made a resolution, ‘May God be realized or may this body die.’ Now, you see, I have gotten a little abiding bliss.

Swami Vijnanananda

Gods and sages do come to bathe at Triveni. If they do not come, the place can no longer be considered as a holy place of pilgrimage.

29 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON POSSESSION

Swami Brahmananda

As long as you possess anything, you cannot have Him.

POWER

Swami Brahmananda

When the mind grows subtle, its power increases and the aspirant is immediately able to grasp the truth of God. It is not an easy matter to see God. Without a harmonious development of the mental, physical, and spiritual powers, religion is not possible. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the power of the mind becomes strengthened by the practice of continence. A mind so strengthened is not overcome by lust and anger. Passions seem trivial to it. Through continence a special power is stored up in the brain. If a man becomes established in continence, he will begin to see the expression of God everywhere.

[Told about a Swami who had been stung by a scorpion and seemed to be miraculously cured by the power of a mantram:] Come along! [Pointing to a plant in the garden:] Look, the juice of this plant cures scorpion sting!

Swami Shivananda

Dispassion is the first principle of spiritual life. A man of learning may write books or give lectures, but if he has no dispassion in his heart and if he does not practice what he teaches, his words cannot be effective for they have no power behind them. They merely create a momentary sensation. Whoever manifests special power and is held in high esteem and reverence by many, undoubtedly represents a special divine manifestation. If a spiritual aspirant pays attention to mystic powers, he cannot progress any further towards God; he ends with them alone. These mystic powers are to be shunned like the most obnoxious thing. The greatest mystic power is to efface in a trice all the results of work accumulated in hundreds of past lives and to turn the mind completely towards God. Have a fixed time for your spiritual practice, for that is the source of all strength and power. It will not do if you belittle it, devoting less time to it. The more you grow in discrimination and dispassion, the more power you will manifest. Even if you yourself are not aware of it, others will feel it. Always remember that He is the All-in-all; you are nothing. The more this idea grows in you, the more you will be the channel for a greater expression of His power.

30 September 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the birthday of Revered Swami Abhedanandaji Maharaj. May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, Swami Vivekananda and Swami Abhedanandaji bless us all with Bhakti.)

Teachings of Revered Abhedanandaji Maharaj

Absolute single-minded devotion to the Lord is what you should cultivate. Unless one has inner peace and contentment, one will find restlessness and suffering wherever one goes. Raise a wall all around your mind by your discrimination. Do not allow the distraction of external circumstances to enter your mind. Know that this is Sadhana (spiritual practice).

You cannot find in the world any place after your heart. Learn to turn unfavourable circumstances into favourable ones. The mind is all in all. You cannot hear the rumbling sound of the carriage if you withdraw your mind from your ears. Keep to your helm, and pray to the Lord. He is our help and mainstay.

Know that you will not be at all tormented by mental unrest if you, without being sentimental, dedicate the good or bad results of your actions to the lotus feet of the Lord. There is no need for you to be impatient for doing Japa or meditation and flying to solitude for that purpose. Shri Ramakrishna used to say, “Meditate in a corner, or in the forest, or in the mind.” The Sadhaka who lives in a city can sit inside the mosquito curtain and easily do his Japa and meditation in the night without distraction.

Why should you be afraid of doing work? If the mind is not purified by work, one cannot attain true knowledge. Wherever you go with your little mind, the mind will also accompany you and abide with you. It is by the power of habit that evil thoughts rise in the mind. Form a contrary habit by continued practice, and gradually the habit of evil thoughts may not arise in the mind. Bad thoughts gain strength with association. Hence, associate with the good and give up evil company. When the mind becomes steady by continued practice of Japa, meditation is accomplished by itself.

1 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON POWER

Swami Premananda

You must make your lives blessed by realizing God in this very life. Chant his name and you will feel infinite power. Let steadfastness grow in you. Believe that infinite power is in you. In a pure body and a pure mind, the power of God becomes manifest. Man by himself has no power to do the Lord’s work. What good work you see done is the manifestation of the divine power; it expresses the glory of Mother’s power, beyond thought’s compass. In their greed for power and conquest, the Western nations are at war with one another [World War I]. But so long as they have the greed for power, they will never know peace.

2 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON POWERS (Siddhis)

Swami Turiyananda

Powers sometimes come of themselves to the spiritual aspirant, but the moment he cares for them he is gone — his further progress is stopped. These powers, again, do not last. Not to speak of using them for selfish purposes, even using them for other ends means losing them. A man set out from home in search of the gems of the sea. When he came to the sea-shore he found variously coloured pebbles and shells scattered there and he set himself to fill his pockets with these — he forgot all about the gems in the sea. The Divine Mother deludes all so as to make them forget their ideal. What is there in these powers? Sri Ramakrishna used to say, “It is priding oneself upon others’ things, as the washerman does.” What matter these to you? They all belong to the Lord; only He is making them pass through you, that’s all. If power is latent in anybody, it will manifest itself wherever you may put him. Manifest thy manliness by ousting destiny through thy own power. We must have the power to give up at will — to leave everything behind, for nothing is really ours.

3 October 2021

[To the question: “Maharaj, could you teach me something so that I will no longer suffer from poverty?”] You won’t like what I tell you. You want the sort of trick that one uses to make gold out of a handful of dust; but I don’t know that trick. I am a monk. I stay in this place and chant the name of the Lord. I can tell you something about God and spiritual life, but you won’t be satisfied. You want miraculous powers. Are powers so easy to come by? Are you ready to exert yourself? If you chant the Lord’s name a hundred thousand times a day, then come and sit here. Infinite are his attributes, and infinite are his powers! Who can transcend them? One could spend millions of lives concentrating on just the glories of God, but what would he gain from it? He might comprehend God’s glory and power, but that does not mean he has truly experienced him. Realization of God means that one becomes absorbed in him, transcending his attributes and powers. It is not an easy thing!

One can hint at God’s attributes in words or speak of his powers, but God is not limited by these. Infinite are his glories and infinite are his powers! Who can limit God? All spiritual powers and supernatural powers together cannot reveal him. God is in everything and again he is beyond everything. 6 October 2021

Just as you have many good qualities and you can do many things, so also you have many powers which you can either show or hide; but these do not reveal your real nature. Your real nature permeates through your qualities and powers, and again, it is beyond them. An aspirant can have a glimpse of the glory and power of God, but this does not mean he can comprehend God fully. Yes, you may attain siddhi, but not real samadhi. An aspirant attains siddhi and prosperity through exertion and power, but he realizes God through samadhi.

Look here. The name of the Lord itself is shakti, God’s power, and the named is God himself. Without worshipping Shakti, one cannot realize God. God gives power to those who are pure in heart. Apply whatever powers you may have been endowed with to good purposes and see that you do not harm anybody.

6 October 2021

MAHALAYA

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious birth-day of Revered Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj. Today also happens to be the start of Mahalaya. On this most auspicious day may Revered Akhandanandaji bless us all with Bhakti.)

(Some notable incidents from the Life of Revered Akhandanandaji)

(Swamiji’s pilgrimage with Swami Akhandanandaji)

The Sitaramji temple at Ayodhya

Swamiji wanted us to go straight to North India from holy Kashi without stopping at any other place. There is a temple of Sitaramji at Ayodhya. The head of that monastery was a monk well known for his austere practices. I repeatedly asked Swamiji to pay a visit to that monk on our way north, but Swamiji would not agree. He wanted to go straight to the Himalayas. He took me to task, saying, "Why didn't you accompany Baburam? Wherever he sees a piece of stone, stone-chips, or a temple, he starts prostrating." He thus spoke harshly about Baburam. But that was his way of talking because he loved us very much.

In spite of those strong words, I purchased two tickets for Ayodhya. Swamiji entered the railway compartment with a long face and stopped talking to me. In due time the train stopped at the Ayodhya station and we both got off. Carrying a hubble-bubble for Swamiji, I got into an ekka cart. Ever since we left the Kashi station he had not exchanged a single word with me, and now he was so angry that he threw the hubble-bubble away. We soon arrived at the Sitaram temple near the famous Lachhman Ghat on the Sarayu River, and in the evening we ate prasad and went to bed. That evening we did not talk much with the head of the monastery. And still Swamiji was not on speaking terms with me. I just cannot express my state of mind then.

In the company of the sadhu Janaki Bal Sharan

The Mahanta, or the head of the monastery, was Janaki Bal Sharan, a disciple of Yugal Bal Sharan. He had a long beard. Though he was a Vaishnava, he did not wear any of those religious marks on his body. As the head of a monastery, he had a large income. If he wished he could eat on a gold plate, but he was well known for his genuine renunciation and affectionate nature. Instead of eating from a plate, he always took his meal on a sal leaf along with his guests. He had a Naga assistant who wore a garland of large rudraksha beads. He had a strong body and carried a big bamboo staff. Mahanta Janaki Bal Sharan handed over to him all the responsibilities of conducting the affairs of the estate, and he himself remained engaged in meditation and other religious practices.

I had visited this place once before. I was familiar with the Mahanta's renunciation and affectionate nature, and that was why I strongly insisted on bringing Swamiji. The next morning I introduced Swamiji to the Mahanta. They had a long discussion on love, renunciation, and devotion, and finally they talked about the single-minded and loving nature of the poet Hafez. Swamiji had been so angry with me that he had not exchanged a single word with me since the night we departed.

4 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON POWER

Swami Turiyananda

It is true the Brahma-Sutras have stipulated that a Jivanmukta cannot create or destroy the world, these functions belonging to God. But it is not that they lack the power to create etc., they simply do not want to create. Possession of all powers is a sine qua non of the attainment of Mukti. God is the motive power behind both virtue and vice. What a great power is imbedded in words! Though we may be repeating that all is unreal, that this world is false, yet suppose I tell you a harsh word it disturbs your mind. When there is so much power in evil words, why should there not be power in the Vedic dicta? But as we have no faith in the Vedic dicta or Mantras, they do not become effective in our life. We are bound by the delusion of ignorance. Tear away the delusion and be free. All power is within you, for you are the Atman. With the sword of knowledge, sever the veil of Maya, and assert your divine nature.

[To a psychic student practicing automatic writing:] What is this foolishness? Do you want to be controlled by spooks? Give up that nonsense. We want Mukti, liberation, we want to go beyond this world and all worlds. Why should we want to communicate with the departed? Leave them in peace, it is all Maya. Get out of Maya and be free!

5 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON POWER

Swami Adbhutananda

[To the question: “Maharaj, could you teach me something so that I will no longer suffer from poverty?”] You won’t like what I tell you. You want the sort of trick that one uses to make gold out of a handful of dust; but I don’t know that trick. I am a monk. I stay in this place and chant the name of the Lord. I can tell you something about God and spiritual life, but you won’t be satisfied. You want miraculous powers. Are powers so easy to come by? Are you ready to exert yourself? If you chant the Lord’s name a hundred thousand times a day, then come and sit here. Infinite are his attributes, and infinite are his powers! Who can transcend them? One could spend millions of lives concentrating on just the glories of God, but what would he gain from it? He might comprehend God’s glory and power, but that does not mean he has truly experienced him. Realization of God means that one becomes absorbed in him, transcending his attributes and powers. It is not an easy thing!

One can hint at God’s attributes in words or speak of his powers, but God is not limited by these. Infinite are his glories and infinite are his powers! Who can limit God? All spiritual powers and supernatural powers together cannot reveal him. God is in everything and again he is beyond everything. Just as you have many good qualities and you can do many things, so also you have many powers which you can either show or hide; but these do not reveal your real nature. Your real nature permeates through your qualities and powers, and again, it is beyond them.

An aspirant can have a glimpse of the glory and power of God, but this does not mean he can comprehend God fully. Yes, you may attain siddhi, but not real samadhi. An aspirant attains siddhi and prosperity through exertion and power, but he realizes God through samadhi. Look here. The name of the Lord itself is shakti, God’s power, and the named is God himself. Without worshipping Shakti, one cannot realize God. God gives power to those who are pure in heart. Apply whatever powers you may have been endowed with to good purposes and see that you do not harm anybody.

MAHALAYA

6 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious birth-day of Revered Swami Akhandanandaji Maharaj. Today also happens to be the start of Mahalaya. On this most auspicious day may Revered Akhandanandaji bless us all with Bhakti.)

(Some notable incidents from the Life of Revered Akhandanandaji)

(Swamiji’s pilgrimage with Swami Akhandanandaji)

The Sitaramji temple at Ayodhya

Swamiji wanted us to go straight to North India from holy Kashi without stopping at any other place. There is a temple of Sitaramji at Ayodhya. The head of that monastery was a monk well known for his austere practices. I repeatedly asked Swamiji to pay a visit to that monk on our way north, but Swamiji would not agree. He wanted to go straight to the Himalayas. He took me to task, saying, "Why didn't you accompany Baburam? Wherever he sees a piece of stone, stone-chips, or a temple, he starts prostrating." He thus spoke harshly about Baburam. But that was his way of talking because he loved us very much.

In spite of those strong words, I purchased two tickets for Ayodhya. Swamiji entered the railway compartment with a long face and stopped talking to me. In due time the train stopped at the Ayodhya station and we both got off. Carrying a hubble-bubble for Swamiji, I got into an ekka cart. Ever since we left the Kashi station he had not exchanged a single word with me, and now he was so angry that he threw the hubble-bubble away. We soon arrived at the Sitaram temple near the famous Lachhman Ghat on the Sarayu River, and in the evening we ate prasad and went to bed. That evening we did not talk much with the head of the monastery. And still Swamiji was not on speaking terms with me. I just cannot express my state of mind then.

In the company of the sadhu Janaki Bal Sharan

The Mahanta, or the head of the monastery, was Janaki Bal Sharan, a disciple of Yugal Bal Sharan. He had a long beard. Though he was a Vaishnava, he did not wear any of those religious marks on his body. As the head of a monastery, he had a large income. If he wished he could eat on a gold plate, but he was well known for his genuine renunciation and affectionate nature. Instead of eating from a plate, he always took his meal on a sal leaf along with his guests. He had a Naga assistant who wore a garland of large rudraksha beads. He had a strong body and carried a big bamboo staff.

7 October 2021

(Some notable incidents from the Life of Revered Akhandanandaji)

The story of the single-mindedness of the poet Hafez

Mahanta Janaki Bal Sharan handed over to him all the responsibilities of conducting the affairs of the estate, and he himself remained engaged in meditation and other religious practices. I had visited this place once before. I was familiar with the Mahanta's renunciation and affectionate nature, and that was why I strongly insisted on bringing Swamiji. The next morning I introduced Swamiji to the Mahanta. They had a long discussion on love, renunciation, and devotion, and finally they talked about the single-minded and loving nature of the poet Hafez. Swamiji had been so angry with me that he had not exchanged a single word with me since the night we departed. But after meeting and talking to the Mahanta, Swamiji's large eyes that resembled lotus leaves were filled with tears of gratitude. He became very much pleased with me and praised the Mahanta profusely. The Mahanta too was full of praise for Swamiji and expressed his gratitude to me for bringing Swamiji there, though I had to practically force him.

Respected Gangadhar Maharaj then began telling the story of Hafez i.e., Muhammad Shamsuddin Hafez, a famous Persian [Iranian] poet. Hafez was a poor Muslim beggar. He used to pass his days in great hardship by begging. One day Hafez entered the house of a young prostitute to beg. She was a very beautiful woman. While giving alms from behind a curtain, her exquisite beauty caught the eyes of Hafez and he was charmed. The passion-stricken beggar then began to think: I am very poor, just a beggar in the street, and that woman is a greedy prostitute. How is it possible for me to have her? It was like a dwarf attempting to grab the moon. How could the penniless Hafez think of getting one whom the rich young men of the city coveted? It was a big ambition for him. However, he decided that his wish would be fulfilled if he could save up some money. From that day, Hafez started saving half of whatever he collected by begging, even if he had to remain half fed. He also started getting money by selling dried cow dung cakes. His ambition was to save enough money and then get her.

Hafez, who was half fed and afflicted with hunger, used to do something else strange. At the end of night, without anyone's knowledge, he would complete all the chores of the prostitute's household — like sweeping, washing the utensils, storing water, etc.— and slip away. On waking in the morning, the maidservants would be surprised to see their chores already done, and wonder who it was who stealthily did all their chores. After some days had passed like this, the mistress of the house started thinking that the person who did her household chores might be a thief. He must have some other motive. Somehow or other, he must be identified. Resolving thus, the mistress gave orders to the maids: "Tonight you must lie down and pretend to be asleep. I too shall remain awake. We must get this person who is coming." She also said, "Do not catch him right away. When he tries to slip away after finishing his work, only then call me. But, be careful. In no way should he be treated cruelly.” Everyone got ready to catch that weird, unconcerned thief who worked only for the benefit of others. Then the Thief, lost in love for the prostitute, arrived at the usual time and completed all his duties. But just as he was ready to slip away, the woman for whom he remained half fed to save money, whom he loved more than his own life, stood there right in front of him. Seeing her, Hafez stood motionless. (To be continued)

Jai Ramakrishna

8 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Some notable incidents from the Life of Revered Akhandanandaji)

The story of the single-mindedness of the poet Hafez

‘Noticing the dry hair and torn clothes of the benevolent beggar, the mistress of the house ordered her attendants to bathe him after massaging his body with scented oil, and then dress him in new clothes, feed him with tasty food, and take him to her room. Ever famished with hunger, Hafez tasted all those things that he had never tasted before in his life and was beside himself with joy. After he finished his bath and meal, the lover Hafez was brought into the room of his ladylove. There he was seated on the costly bed, and then the mistress of the house came and said, “I shall come back and talk to you about your particulars and also why you have been coming and secretly doing my household work. In the meantime, you can relax comfortably in this room.”

‘The long-cherished wish of Hafez was going to be fulfilled that evening. He was totally immersed in his own happy thoughts. Sitting alone in the room he was thinking of many things and was waiting for the time to pass. The day appeared to him rather too long. With much impatience he waited for evening to come. The cursed evening never seemed to arrive, and the sun also was showing no signs of setting. When the afternoon finally came, he again and again went out of the room to see how much longer it would be for the sun to set. To him, an instant seemed like an age. In due course, the sun, witness to all the good and bad deeds of human beings, did set on the horizon. With an eager heart, Hafez waited for that auspicious moment when his ever-cherished sweetheart would arrive. Just then a maid entered the room to light the lamp. Seeing her lighting the lamp, the steadfast Hafez was reminded that he too had an obligation to light the lamp in the Pir’s darga [a mausoleum of a Muslim saint]. Should he make an exception that day? Certainly not!

No sooner had that thought come to his mind than Hafez — the respectful, steadfast, and loving devotee of the Pir — at once ran to light the lamp in the Pir’s darga ignoring his long-cherished object of enjoyment, for whom he had so long been seized with a strong desire, for whom he had so long saved money, even remaining half fed. (To be continued)

9 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Some notable incidents from the Life of Revered Akhandanandaji)

The story of the single-mindedness of the poet Hafez

Ever famished with hunger, Hafez tasted all those things that he had never tasted before in his life and was beside himself with joy. After he finished his bath and meal, the lover Hafez was brought into the room of his ladylove. There he was seated on the costly bed, and then the mistress of the house came and said, "I shall come back and talk to you about your particulars and also why you have been coming and secretly doing my household work. In the meantime, you can relax comfortably in this room.”

The long-cherished wish of Hafez was going to be fulfilled that evening. He was totally immersed in his own happy thoughts. Sitting alone in the room he was thinking of many things and was waiting for the time to pass. The day appeared to him rather too long. With much impatience he waited for evening to come. The cursed evening never seemed to arrive, and the sun also was showing no signs of setting. When the afternoon finally came, he again and again went out of the room to see how much longer it would be for the sun to set. To him, an instant seemed like an age. In due course, the sun, witness to all the good and bad deeds of human beings, did set on the horizon. With an eager heart, Hafez waited for that auspicious moment when his ever-cherished sweetheart would arrive. Just then a maid entered the room to light the lamp. Seeing her lighting the lamp, the steadfast Hafez was reminded that he too had an obligation to light the lamp in the Pir's darga [a mausoleum of a Muslim saint]. Should he make an exception that day? Certainly not!

No sooner had that thought come to his mind than Hafez — the respectful, steadfast, and loving devotee of the Pir — at once ran to light the lamp in the Pir's darga ignoring his long-cherished object of enjoyment, for whom he had so long been seized with a strong desire, for whom he had so long saved money, even remaining half fed. (To be continued)

As Hafez did not agree to drink even after repeated requests, the fakir threw the glass on the ground. The glass broke, but there was no liquid found inside. Seeing that, a thought dawned in Hafez's mind. He then begged for the wine, but the fakirs did not give him any. They said, "We offered you the last glass, but you refused. There is no more for you." After repeated requests by Hafez, they said, "If you lick the spot where the glass broke, you may get something." With great faith, Hafez licked the spot just a little. At once he became intoxicated with divine love and his thirst for enjoyment was gone forever.

Meanwhile the prostitute, not finding Hafez in the room that evening, set out from her house. After making enquiries from the village people, she came to the place where the beggar was sitting with his eyes overflowing with tears of love. He was intoxicated with love. The overwhelmed lover Hafez, through gestures, asked her also to lick the spot. Having done so, she too became intoxicated with divine love and the course of her life changed. A moment's companionship with a religious person helped her to gain a new life, and she became immersed in the worship of God.

From that day on, the lover Hafez sat in his hut repeating the name of Allah. Only at the end of the day would he go out to beg and to light the lamp in the Pir's darga. Only then could he be seen as he collected the rubbish from the street, otherwise, he was never seen anywhere. Thus day after day, month after month, year after year passed. Once his neighbours, not seeing him come out for begging for some days, entered his room and found that the dedicated ascetic had left his mortal body. There his dead body was lying, and also a torn mattress, a water pitcher, a broken plate, and his main asset — seven large earthen containers. These were filled with the rubbish that he had collected.

10 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON POWER

Swami Ramakrishnananda

When we drop the ego from our consciousness and live in God, we have unlimited power. All our power comes from renunciation. Man is made in the image of God; that is, man possesses all the power of God, but in miniature form. Evolution is a process of ‘rolling out’. As we evolve spiritually, the inner powers become more and more manifest. There is infinite power latent in you. So, be not diffident. You are sure to succeed in any path.

Swami Akhandananda

Without His will and grace, nobody has any power to do anything. ‘O Lord, not I, not I, but Thou, but Thou’. Feeling weak after eating food is bad; feeling weak after a fast is good. This increases the mental power and self-confidence.

Swami Vijnanananda

Organized work is also a worship. Swamiji never criticized the work of the Congress. After all, they think about the welfare of the country, don’t they? In unity is manifested Divine Power. Whatever God wills is immediately done. We, also, should have the power to translate our wishes into action. Great souls, wherever they are, create a spiritual zone around them; and anybody coming within that zone realizes something like an electric current passing into him. It is a very strange phenomenon, impossible to explain, unless one has experienced it oneself. 14/10/2021

This is a wonderful play of energy, one’s power involuntarily acting on another. The Bijamantra is very powerful. The seed words like Hrim, Srim, Krim etc., have undoubtedly special powers.

14 October Hriday’s Vision

Hriday had a vision of the Master at the time of the worship of Durga. Seeing the advent of the autumn season of 1868, Hriday resolved to perform the autumn worship of the Mother in his house. He requested his uncle to be present at the worship. Knowing that Hriday, a man of action, might possibly get peace by celebrating the worship, the Master agreed to it, while Mathur rendered pecuniary help to him. He helped him, no doubt, but expressed great eagerness to have the Master at his own residence during the worship. Wounded at heart on that account, Hriday made ready to go home alone to perform the worship. Seeing him thus wounded, the Master, Hriday told us, consoled him, saying, “Why are you pained? In my subtle body I shall daily go to see your worship; nobody except you will see me! Have as the Tantradharaka a Brahmin to dictate the Mantras to you and perform the worship yourself according to your own devotion. Instead of keeping a complete fast, at midday drink milk, Ganga water, and the syrup of candy. If you perform the worship in this way, the Mother of the universe will certainly accept your worship.”

Hriday said that the Master gave him detailed instructions as to who should be ordered to make the image, who should be appointed Tantradharaka, and how all other things should be done. He then started home with great delight to perform the worship. Hriday reached home and did everything according to the advice of the Master. He performed the rites pertaining to the sixth day of the bright fortnight such as the awakening of the Goddess, the preliminary consecration of the image, the invocation of the Devi, etc., and engaged himself in the worship. After completing the worship enjoined for the seventh day, Hriday saw the Master in a luminous body standing in ecstasy, beside the image during the adoration of the Devi with the waving of lights. Hriday said that he was filled with great zeal and ardour on having the divine vision of the Master near the image at that time every day and also during the Sandhi Puja, the “juncture” worship. Hriday came back to Dakshineswar shortly after the worship was finished and narrated to the Master everything concerning the worship. “At the time of the Arati and the ‘juncture’ worship”, said the Master to him, “I felt indeed a great yearning to see your worship and I went into ecstasy, and felt that I went along a path of light and was present in your worship hall in a luminous body.”

Subha Vijaya

Today is the auspicious Vijaya Dasami. On this auspicious day may the Divine Mother, Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

Durga Puja at Mathur’s House

It was the morning of the tenth day (Vijaya Dasami). The image was to be immersed after sunset. There descended, as it were, a shadow of sadness over the minds of all the household of Mathur Babu. Enjoying a divine bliss, Mathur was not conscious of the approaching moment of immersion. His heart was swelling with joy as before. Having brought the Mother of the universe to his house and enjoying the blessed company and grace of “father”, Mathur was experiencing a fullness of joy within himself and was forgetful of the outer world.

Jai Ramakrishna

14 October 2021

Subha Vijaya. Today is the auspicious Vijaya Dasami. On this auspicious day, may the Divine Mother, Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with Bhakti.

15 October 2021

16 October 2021. Jai Ramakrishna.

ON PRANAYAMA

Swami Brahmananda: Pranayama and other Yogic practices are not suitable to the present times and conditions. 17 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

Pranayama

Swami Saradananda

Our Master, Sri Ramakrishna, has warned against depending upon such external means as pranayama and other hatha yoga exercises. He has told us repeatedly not to pay much attention to them. When over-zealously done, they may upset the brain or lead to some dangerous results. Always bear in mind that your main objective is not the control of breath, but the control of mind through meditation and to be absorbed from day to day in the awareness of God. There is no necessity of doing pranayama. At least, Sri Ramakrishna did not ask us to do it. Control of the breath comes of itself when the mind is concentrated through love of the Chosen Ideal.

If a student does a little pranayama, say one or two pranayamas before sitting for japa, that can be allowed. That will do no harm. While practicing nadi-shuddhi, the number of inhalations and exhalations should be the same. For example, if the time devoted to puraka is 16 japa, the rechaka is to be done to the same count of 16 japa. Pranayama is to be done on an empty stomach, i.e., before taking food. With a full belly you can do japa but not pranayama. There will be no harm if the pranayama is done four hours after taking your meal. While doing pranayama, imagine the mantra is mixing with the air awakening the kundalini in the muladhara chakra and then merging into the effulgent Paramatman in the head.

[To the question: Do Pranayama, Asana, etc. help to remove the tendencies of the mind?]

Nothing particular can be achieved through them. One may derive some benefit. The more you will love God, the more will the mind come under your control.

16 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRANAYAMA

Swami Brahmananda

Pranayama and other Yogic practices are not suitable to the present times and conditions. One must observe complete Brahmacharya in order to practise them. One’s food must be absolutely pure, Sattvika, and one must be guided by an expert teacher.

Practice is the means of concentrating the mind. Pranayama, breath-control, is also one of the means. But it is not safe for a householder; if one is not continent, one falls ill. Moreover, one must have nutritious food, a fine place, and pure air.

Swami Shivananda

[To the question: “Maharaj, do we have to practice pranayama?”]

We seldom advise anyone to practise pranayama. Neither is it necessary.

[To the question: “In your article on pranayama, you mentioned that while repeating the name of the Lord one has suspension of breath.”]

Yes, it happens. If one repeats the name of the Lord with devotion, the mind gradually becomes quiet and there is spontaneous control of the breath. If you wish you can hold your breath within while doing japa. It is not at all necessary to breathe in and out or suspend the breath and do things of that kind as mentioned in Raja-yoga. The essential thing is devotion and sincerity. God is Truth itself — the Inner Controller. He dwells in every heart as Consciousness. He is the Ocean of pure mercy. Without His grace, my child, nothing is possible. You may practise japa, meditation, pranayama, rituals, ceremonies or similar things — nothing will help you unless you have His grace.

Pranayama should not be attempted. That is a path fraught with danger.

17 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

Pranayama

Swami Saradananda.

Our Master, Sri Ramakrishna, has warned against depending upon such external means as pranayama and other hatha yoga exercises. He has told us repeatedly not to pay much attention to them. When over-zealously done, they may upset the brain or lead to some dangerous results. Always bear in mind that your main objective is not the control of breath, but the control of mind through meditation and to be absorbed from day to day in the awareness of God. There is no necessity of doing pranayama. At least, Sri Ramakrishna did not ask us to do it. Control of the breath comes of itself when the mind is concentrated through love of the Chosen Ideal. If a student does a little pranayama, say one or two pranayamas before sitting for japa, that can be allowed. That will do no harm. While practicing nadi-shuddhi, the number of inhalations and exhalations should be the same. For example, if the time devoted to puraka is 16 japa, the rechaka is to be done to the same count of 16 japa. Pranayama is to be done on an empty stomach, i.e., before taking food. With a full belly you can do japa but not pranayama. There will be no harm if the pranayama is done four hours after taking your meal. While doing pranayama, imagine the mantra is mixing with the air awakening the kundalini in the muladhara chakra and then merging into the effulgent Paramatman in the head.

[To the question: Do Pranayama, Asana, etc. help to remove the tendencies of the mind?]

Nothing particular can be achieved through them. One may derive some benefit. The more you will love God, the more will the mind come under your control.

18 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Brahmananda

Of himself, man can accomplish nothing. There is only one thing to be done: Pray to God and pray unceasingly. Thus we may forget the ego altogether and continually remember that God alone is real, that God alone is the Truth. He in whom a longing for God has awakened, let him rise and struggle. While sitting, or lying down, or eating, let him pray piteously to His blessed feet: “O Lord, have mercy on me! Allow me to understand your grace!”

Never try to limit God. Infinite are his moods and aspects. He is beyond the reach of mind and intellect. And yet, if one earnestly prays to him, he becomes attainable to the pure mind. Pray to the Lord with all your heart! Then alone you will long for him. When one is hungry, one enjoys food. When one has no appetite, one doesn’t care even for delicacies. And that is why people don’t taste the nectar of his name. Take refuge in Him and earnestly pray for His grace. Why did you come here, renouncing hearth and home? While eating, while lying down, while standing, while sitting, pray to Him: “Lord, give me the power to feel and understand your grace!”

In spite of all weakness, the easiest way to attain God is to take refuge in him. What does this mean? Shall we not do anything? Shall we remain passive? No! We must pray; we must cry unto God that he may awaken in us longing for him and that our cravings for enjoyment may be wiped out. Pray: “O Lord of the Universe, reveal your grace to me! I am helpless. I have no shelter but you. You are the only refuge of the weak. Give me strength to remember you always.” If one can really surrender oneself to God, then everything becomes easy; but it is not so easy to do this.

19 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Brahmananda

Without divine grace it is not possible to take refuge in God. And in order to feel this grace one must associate with holy men, read sacred books, and pray earnestly. Pray to the Lord with a yearning heart. Tell him freely that you desire him alone. Do not doubt that he exists. Those who are meek and lowly are soon blessed with his vision. If you approach him with devotion, he will surely reveal himself. Do not feel shy because you have made mistakes or have not called on him for a long time. He is the very embodiment of compassion. He does not care about your faults. Go to him with the simplicity of a child, and he will receive you. Surrender yourself wholeheartedly to God. Take refuge in him. Pray constantly with a pure, sincere heart: “O Lord, I do not know what is good and what is bad for me. I am entirely dependent on you. Grant me what I most need for the spiritual life. Take me along the path which will lead me to the greatest good. Give me the faith and strength constantly to remember you and meditate on you.”

We judge men by their actions, but God looks into their innermost minds. Be sure of this: God runs to him who prays with a sincere heart. Whatever you do, whether you are sitting or lying down, or eating, or working, pray constantly: “O Lord, make me able to understand and receive that grace which I know you are ready to give me.”

Lose yourself in prayer and meditation; otherwise, how can the door to spiritual truth be opened?

There comes a time when the spiritually advanced man wants to devote himself solely to meditation and prayer. When that time comes, work drops away from him of itself. However, this happens only when the mind is spiritually awakened.

20 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Brahmananda

Think of him as your very own. Pray to him, “Lord, reveal yourself to me!” God cannot remain unmoved by the pleas of such a devotee. He hastens to him and takes him in his arms. Oh, how inexpressible is that joy! How boundless that bliss! Only he can know who has had that experience, compared to which all worldly pleasures seem insipid and worthless. Pray to him: “Reveal your grace to me. Give me faith and devotion.” Pray earnestly. Make your mind and your lips one. Keep a sharp eye on the mind and see that no undesirable thoughts or distractions enter in. Whenever they try to crowd in, turn the mind toward God and pray earnestly. The main thing is sincerity and earnestness. If these qualities are in your prayer, it will surely reach the Lord. God is the Light of Knowledge, and in order to obtain his grace and see him, you must pray earnestly to him to turn that light upon himself. Then only can you see him. The most suitable hours for prayer and contemplation are those at the junction of day and night, and at midnight. Daytime has many distractions. Pray earnestly to him with all your heart and soul: “O Lord, give me understanding. Free me from all sense of ego. Teach me to submit to your will. Make me your own.”

“Eat the mangoes, do not count the leaves.” The sole purpose of life is to reach God. Reach him first. Pray to him unceasingly. Wake up; plunge into the ocean of nectar. Solve the mystery of life and death, and become immortal.

21 October 2021

Oh, how inexpressible is that joy! How boundless that bliss! Only he can know who has had that experience, compared to which all worldly pleasures seem insipid and worthless. Pray to him: “Reveal your grace to me. Give me faith and devotion.” Pray earnestly. Make your mind and your lips one. Keep a sharp eye on the mind and see that no undesirable thoughts or distractions enter in. Whenever they try to crowd in, turn the mind toward God and pray earnestly. The main thing is sincerity and earnestness. If these qualities are in your prayer, it will surely reach the Lord. God is the Light of Knowledge, and in order to obtain his grace and see him, you must pray earnestly to him to turn that light upon himself. Then only can you see him. The most suitable hours for prayer and contemplation are those at the junction of day and night, and at midnight. Daytime has many distractions. Pray earnestly to him with all your heart and soul: “O Lord, give me understanding. Free me from all sense of ego. Teach me to submit to your will. Make me your own.”

“Eat the mangoes, do not count the leaves.” The sole purpose of life is to reach God. Reach him first. Pray to him unceasingly. Wake up; plunge into the ocean of nectar. Solve the mystery of life and death, and become immortal.

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Brahmananda

Know that he is dearer than the dearest, and then pray to him with a yearning heart for his grace and vision. Cry to him like a child; he cannot resist your tears. Only those who love God like shopkeepers looking for profit will give up if their prayers are not answered immediately. Pray, worship, meditate regularly. God’s grace is supreme; without it nothing is achieved. Pray to him unceasingly for his grace. Prayer is efficacious. He lovingly hears your prayers. Pray to him unceasingly: “Lord, I do not know what is good or what is bad; I am yours, do with me as you please.” Pray! Pray unceasingly. Let him be your only refuge. Proceed along the path into which you have been led and pray to your Guru with a sincere heart. He will guide you, wherever he is. Pray to the Lord that cravings may never arise in you. The Lord’s grace shines upon all. Strive a little and your eyes will open to his grace. Pray to the Lord. Practice with regularity. Gradually, the mind will become inclined to worship and meditation.

[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! Through his grace mountain-high obstacles are blown away as easily as a heap of ashes.

22 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Shivananda

It is not an easy thing to realize the unreality of the world. One cannot have that realization without the grace of God. Cry to Him and pray, and you will have His grace. He is right inside. You will realize Him the moment He lifts the veil of ignorance. It is grace and grace alone that we need; there is no other way. Now sincerely cry and pray: “Mother, reveal Thyself to me. I am weak, devoid of spiritual discipline and devotion! Be gracious and appear to me!” Do not pay heed to anything else and continue calling upon Her. Whether the mind is concentrated or not, do not give up calling upon Her. Sincere prayer will certainly bring response from Him. If you pray very sincerely, you are bound to get a response. Pray to Him very sincerely: “O Lord, have mercy upon me, be gracious to me. You have been gracious to so many people here and elsewhere. Will You not be gracious to me also? One of your sons has taught me how to call upon You, and so I am calling upon You for Your grace. It is Your son who taught me this way.” Pray in this way, and He will certainly bless you. We are His servants and have dedicated our bodies, minds, and souls at His feet. I assure you, He will certainly bless you. Be resigned to the Mother. Pray to Her earnestly, crying like a child, and you will discover the light. It is He who has kept this world enchanted by His Maya. That is why one should also pray, “O Lord! Do not keep me ignorant with your world-bewitching Maya. Give me pure devotion to your lotus feet. May my life be glorified!”

23 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Shivananda

It is also true that if a person sincerely prays to Him, He listens to that prayer and lifts the veil. He will listen to your prayer all the more because you are in the world. He is especially gracious to you householders because He knows that you carry a heavy load on your shoulders. You are being scorched by the sorrows and bereavements of this world. That is why, if you pray a little, He will be pleased and come to your rescue, quickly removing the load from your shoulders. But that prayer should be sincere and earnest. Pray very sincerely: “O Lord, make me Thy own. I am lacking in understanding. I do not know how to love Thee. Graciously draw me to Thee and teach me to love Thee.”

In whatever condition you find yourself, pray very sincerely: “Mother, be gracious to me. Have mercy on me. Give me devotion and faith at Thy lotus feet.” The Master used to say that the Lord responds quickly to the prayers of householders. If they call upon Him, He blesses them because He is the Indwelling Spirit. He knows very well what a heavy load has been placed on their shoulders, and He is quick to feel compassion for those who are in the world. “Ah! A load weighing several thousand pounds, as it were, has been placed on their shoulders, and yet they want to see Me!” That is, God is very easily pleased with householders. Therefore I say, my child, call upon the Lord every day regularly, no matter for how short a time.

24 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Shivananda

Go on making regular japa of the mantra you have received today; and along with japa, pray with all humility: ‘Lord, bless me so that I may meditate on You and so that my mind may lose itself at Your lotus feet.’ And He is sure to do so, rest assured.

Call on God with all earnestness and pray: ‘Master, be kind to me. I am an ignorant person; I do not know how to pray to You. Be gracious to me. Grant me full love of and full faith in Your lotus feet; and grant me full knowledge. To whom else can I turn but you? Take pity on me, and reveal Yourself in my heart.’

If one but takes to meditation and japa and prays to Him constantly, one’s mental tendencies get the proper direction, and one’s senses come under control.

It is He who fulfills all desires if one but prays with earnestness. He is the ordainer of all the desired results of everybody. It is He who vouchsafes all the fruits that people want — be these virtue, secular prosperity, enjoyment, or liberation.

Simply make japa of his name; and pray whole-heartedly, ‘O Lord, be kind to me.’ If the prayer proceeds from the heart, he will surely hear.

Weep, my son, weep. I know of no other method but weeping. Weep with the prayer: ‘O Lord, be merciful to me; reveal yourself to me; grant me the vision of Thyself.’ Pray and weep for ever more. The more you weep for Him, the more will He be revealed in your heart. Weep with intense love, weep with the utmost longing.

It is he alone who can take us across. If he does not ferry us out of his own mercy, how can any mortal ever cross this sea of the world? Master, you are limitless, you are fathomless. Who can ever know you? Nobody can find your limits. Be kind to me. Reveal your true nature just a little out of your own compassion; and then alone will people’s bondage fall off forever.

25 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Shivananda

Weep, only weep; weep piteously like a simple boy with all earnestness and pray: ‘Master, do grant me faith and devotion; protect me, Mother, and free me from this bondage of Maya that Thou hast spread around me.’ To tell you the truth, my son, I know this much alone. Weep in the name of Mother, my son, weep. Lie down at Her feet, take refuge in Her, and weep. She will certainly take pity.

Pray to him with all your heart, ‘Master, I am a boy; I know nothing. Be kind to me; fill my heart with faith and devotion, and reveal to me your own reality.’ That will bring you full success.

Go on practising japa, meditation, and prayer intensively, and you will find that you have acquired a fresh energy in body and mind. Pray earnestly; prayer is very helpful. When you feel that you cannot engage yourself in japa and meditation, you should then pray earnestly and sincerely.

Pray to him most fervently. He knows one’s heart. He knows what he should give to his devotee and when. Continue to remain at his feet, taking refuge in him.

The cry for help will naturally burst out of the inmost core of one’s heart when one feels the real want, when one feels in agony just because one has not seen God, when the whole world appears as void in His absence.

No one can say when that blessed moment will come. That state will come only when He is gracious, and when you feel it in your own heart. Go on calling on Him with earnest supplication; pray incessantly: ‘Lord, take pity on me, be gracious to me.’ He will hear your prayer — I give you that assurance. He is the fulfiller of all the wishes of his devotees.

You see, my child, God alone can give you these experiences. Hold on to Him, cry and pray to Him. Whatever is necessary He will do at the proper time.

Pray to Mahamaya, the Firstborn. She holds the key in Her hands. The realm of light will be opened unto you if She graciously unlocks the door.

Be resigned unto the Mother. Pray to Her earnestly, crying like a child, and you will discover the light. You will see that the blissful Mother will give you joy and peace.

Gradually, by the repetition of His name and earnest prayers to Him the mind will become absorbed in Him.

Always pray that you remain His servant always, and that you may go on doing the work as service to the Master.

Do not do your spiritual practices forcibly. In an easy way, with inner feeling, pray to Him as much as you can.

You must sincerely pray to God to make your mind calm and to enable you to attain Him.

26 October 2021

ON PRAYER

Swami Premananda

Continue to remain at his feet, taking refuge in him. The cry for help will naturally burst out of the inmost core of one’s heart when one feels the real want, when one feels in agony just because one has not seen God, when the whole world appears as void in His absence. No one can say when that blessed moment will come. That state will come only when He is gracious, and when you feel it in your own heart. Go on calling on Him with earnest supplication; pray incessantly: “Lord, take pity on me, be gracious to me.” He will hear your prayer—I give you that assurance. He is the fulfiller of all the wishes of his devotees. You see, my child, God alone can give you these experiences. Hold on to Him, cry and pray to Him. Whatever is necessary He will do at the proper time. Pray to Mahamaya, the Firstborn. She holds the key in Her hands. The realm of light will be opened unto you if She graciously unlocks the door. Be resigned unto the Mother. Pray to Her earnestly, crying like a child, and you will discover the light. You will see that the blissful Mother will give you joy and peace. Gradually, by the repetition of His name and earnest prayers to Him the mind will become absorbed in Him. Always pray that you remain His servant always, and that you may go on doing the work as service to the Master. Do not do your spiritual practices forcibly. In an easy way, with inner feeling, pray to Him as much as you can. You must sincerely pray to God to make your mind calm and to enable you to attain Him.

Let this prayer constantly rise in you that self-conceit, egoism may not creep into the soul. God is the inner ruler; he sees and knows everything. Pray and tell him all your wants with a guileless and sincere mind. He is more yours than you yourself. He will certainly listen to your prayers. Pray: “Whatever I may be, Lord, Thou hast to accept me as I am, for whom else do I have? Lord, I am thine, and Thou art mine.” Know that we are eternally related to him. Call upon the Lord, and he will take away all falsity from the heart and give you the strength to hold on to truth. But you must exert yourself. Let your prayer arise from the heart; then alone you will get the answer. True it is that man is a slave to worldliness; but pray: “Lord, bless me with right understanding.”

Pray that you may only be an instrument in the hands of the Lord, through his grace. Then only will you become a real karma yogi. Pray to the all-knowing, omnipotent Lord, and all weakness will fly away. God dwells in every being, and he knows the innermost thoughts of all. Pray to him with your whole heart, weep before him. He is the one who can direct your mind toward the path of good, he is the one to give you the strength to follow the path. If you vow to yourself that you will follow the path of righteousness, you will be able to do so by the grace of the Lord. But pray to him day and night, weep before him; you will gain strength and you will attain devotion. Live very carefully and pray to him, “Lord, protect, protect me.”

Pray always that you may have strength, vigour, and energy in your heart. Without energy, nothing can be achieved. Be pure and sincere. Pray from your heart: “Lord, have mercy upon me, have mercy upon me.” The supremely merciful Lord will give you strength, faith, and confidence. Call from the very bottom of your heart, and he will certainly hear and respond.

27 October 2021

ON PRAYER

Swami Premananda

Be not vain. 28 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Turiyananda

Always pray to Him that you may not forget Him. Pray, ‘Do not give me such work to do, as will make me forget Thee; and wherever Thou keepest me, may I ever remember Thee!’

But do not say to Him, ‘Give me this’, ‘Do not give me that’. It will be a selfish prayer. When you want to do one thing and do not want to do another, you allow your ego to come in. Some there are, who are afraid of work and try to avoid it. That makes their bondage and selfishness lasting. Pray to Him for Bhakti. But be ever ready to obey His commands. Pray, ‘May I keep Thee in mind under all conditions! May I never fall into any other company than that of Thy devotees!’

Cry to Him — make Him restless. Strike your head on the ground till it breaks. Tell Him: ‘Thou art the Inner Controller. Look within me, see if there is anything.’ Even to pray to Him thus is something. Pray crying to Him, ‘O Lord, may I love Thee with all my heart!’

One must pray from the bottom of one’s heart to have a steadfast devotion for God. If you pray to the Lord, with your whole heart, He cannot but listen — take my word for it. But you must not be a hypocrite. By silent and continued prayer and meditation one should create in the mind a subconscious current, and it will go on working at all times — even in sleep. Not that one will have no dream, but the current thus generated will be supreme, working imperceptibly within. During this spiritual endeavour one should not mix with too many persons or engage in useless talk. He knows what is best for you. Even if you pray for what is not desirable, He will do the right thing by you. We have been reading these few days of the selfish prayers in the Rudradhyaya: ‘Do not destroy my cows. Ever turn thy benignant face on me. Come putting aside thy bow and arrows. And humble my enemies and chastise them.’

28 October 2021

Let not thoughts of lust, hatred, jealousy or selfishness ever enter the doors of your mind. Whenever such thoughts try to creep in, pray, pray earnestly, and remember the ideals set before you by Sri Ramakrishna and Swamiji, and struggle unremittingly to free your mind of all impurities. Repeat occasionally this prayer of purity:

May my flesh and my blood be purified;

May my skin and my bones be purified;

May the marrow of my bones be purified;

May all my body be purified. May I be free from attachments. May I be free from impurities!

May my organs of sense be purified;

May my organs of action be purified;

May all my actions be purified;

May I be free from attachments. May I be free from impurities!

May my mind be purified;

May my vital energy be purified;

May the earth and the air be purified;

May fire, ether and water be purified. May I be free from all attachments. May I be free from impurities!

May I be pure! May I be pure!

I am verily the Atman!

I am pure! I am free! I am blissful!

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Turiyananda

Always pray to Him that you may not forget Him. Pray, ‘Do not give me such work to do, as will make me forget Thee; and wherever Thou keepest me, may I ever remember Thee!’

But do not say to Him, ‘Give me this’, ‘Do not give me that’. It will be a selfish prayer. When you want to do one thing and do not want to do another, you allow your ego to come in. Some there are, who are afraid of work and try to avoid it. That makes their bondage and selfishness lasting. Pray to Him for Bhakti. But be ever ready to obey His commands. Pray, ‘May I keep Thee in mind under all conditions! May I never fall into any other company than that of Thy devotees!’

Cry to Him — make Him restless. Strike your head on the ground till it breaks. Tell Him: ‘Thou art the Inner Controller. Look within me, see if there is anything.’ Even to pray to Him thus is something. Pray crying to Him, ‘O Lord, may I love Thee with all my heart!’

One must pray from the bottom of one’s heart to have a steadfast devotion for God. If you pray to the Lord, with your whole heart, He cannot but listen — take my word for it. But you must not be a hypocrite. By silent and continued prayer and meditation one should create in the mind a subconscious current, and it will go on working at all times — even in sleep. Not that one will have no dream, but the current thus generated will be supreme, working imperceptibly within. During this spiritual endeavour one should not mix with too many persons or engage in useless talk. He knows what is best for you. Even if you pray for what is not desirable, He will do the right thing by you. We have been reading these few days of the selfish prayers in the Rudradhyaya: ‘Do not destroy my cows. Ever turn thy benignant face on me. Come putting aside thy bow and arrows. And humble my enemies and chastise them.’ Well, such prayers come out of selfishness. But when one is rid of body-consciousness, one does not feel these desires.

29 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Turiyananda

[To the question: “My only prayer is that my mind may always remain fixed on Him — that I may never forget Him.”]

Surely you should have that kind of prayer. You must say, ‘Why should I forget Thee? I have given up everything only with the object of praying to Thee. May Thou in compassion see that I do not forget Thee.’

To pray to Him also is a form of work. 30 October 2021

You should do that with all your heart and soul. Rob Him of His peace, as it were, by your constant and incessant prayers. Pray for unflinching love and devotion and you will have everything.

The waves will never subside. Then how to bathe? He who bathes amidst the waves, he alone takes his bath. In the same manner, he who is able to pray amidst pleasure and pain, disease and sorrow, misery and poverty — he alone is capable of calling on the Lord. On the other hand, he who says, ‘Let the proper time come; then I shall pray,’ — he will never do it. Very few people have everything just as they want it. Disease and suffering are ever present. He who calls on the Lord no matter what his circumstances are, he alone can succeed.

It does not matter that you have to live in the world; if you but keep remembrance of the Lord, desires cannot lead you astray. Constantly pray to Him; tell Him your wishes; He will set everything right. The only refuge is the Lord. To have constant devotion to Him and to have a taste for repeating God’s name — these only are real prayer. Serve with all your mind; it will have the effect of a spiritual discipline. Work of such quality is equal to prayer and meditation. You must put heart and soul into your prayer; otherwise you can’t succeed in spiritual life. ‘I must realize God in this very life!’ — that should be your attitude.

30 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Trigunatitananda

It is extremely bad if our devotion increases when He is kind and it takes to flight when He is cruel or does not heed our prayers. There is no other path but to call on Him, as though one’s very life is in imminent danger. Always pray, ‘Lord, please reveal yourself; please show yourself to me. I want nothing else, not even heavenly joys. I want you only.’ And along with this, one has to pray, ‘Lord, remove from me all hankering for enjoyment.’ Spiritual progress is a far cry in the midst of selfishness and narrow-mindedness.

Swami Adbhutananda

The day when you pray: ‘I do not want money, name, or fame. I want thee and thee alone’ — on that very day he will come to you. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that before starting to chant the name of the Lord, one should salute the name. One should take refuge in the name of the Lord. The name and the named, that is, the Lord, are one. If one prays wholeheartedly to the name, one’s prayer reaches the Lord.

You are asking about prayer. Well, you know God’s name; you can begin with his name as your guide. ‘O Lord, may I never forget your name. I take refuge in you. Please assign me to your service and destroy my ego and my doubts. You are my master, Guru, father, mother, and all in all. I am your child. Please guide me to the path of blessedness. Make me your instrument. Do not delude me with your bewitching Maya. O my sweet Lord, I have not seen you; I have only heard your name. Please make me your own.’ You will have to pray like this daily. Only then will he choose to bestow his grace on you. Once you are chosen by him you will not have to worry any more. He will guide you at every step and will tell you what to do. It is easy to fool human beings, but not God. He knows your shortcomings in spite of your best efforts to hide them. Pray to the Lord with a guileless heart, ‘O Lord, please remove all my faults and weaknesses.’

What is the use of prayer and meditation if you have no dependence on Him? Everything else is useless if you lack in this.

31 October 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Abhedananda

If one prays with a yearning heart to the Lord to get devotion and faith, He grants it. So pray in this way: “O Lord, be graciously pleased to bless me with unswerving devotion and unshakable faith. May my mind and heart be ever attracted to Thy lotus feet, and may it not wander from there in any other direction.”

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Pray to God constantly: “O Lord, grant that I may know my own nothingness and that Thou art all in all. Help me to realise that I am a mere instrument in Thy hands and that all is done by Thee.” When a man comes to understand this, he is truly happy, because he feels secure. He knows all his actions are guided by God, who will never misdirect him. Do not forget to pray to Him incessantly. Since you have the photograph of Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna, I cannot but advise you to look upon Him as God Incarnate. Pray before His photograph and you are sure to get your desires fulfilled. There is none kinder than He. Does not the child ask of the father or the mother whatever he wants, fully knowing that his prayers are sure to be answered? Just in the same manner, you should also pray to your God for everything needed for your realization.

1 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Ramakrishnananda

If we pray to God in right earnest with our whole heart, He is sure to come to us. The trouble is we pray to so many others besides God. We pray to the doctor to give us health, to the shop-keeper to give us food, to another for something else, and in among the rest, we pray to God to give us spiritual light and knowledge. When we look at Him and pray to Him and to no one else, He is sure to answer our prayers, if we make them really intense. To see God everywhere is the highest worship; meditation is the next best; prayer and repetition of the Divine Names are lower than that; and external worship is the lowest. If you weep and pray to God thus, “O gracious One! I am weak and helpless. Forgive the sins which I have committed in this or the previous life, knowingly or unknowingly. Remit the results of my evil actions.” If you can sincerely weep with a contrite heart, He will surely pardon your sins. If we pray to God in right earnest with our whole heart, He is sure to come to us.

Cry to Him with a heart full of yearning. The Master would ask us, ‘Did you call on Him with tears today?’ If we answered ‘yes’, he would be very glad. Again he would ask, ‘From which corner — outer or inner — of the eyes did the tears trickle down?’ And then he would proceed to explain that tears coming from the corners near the nose are tears of repentance, and those from the outer are tears of love.

5 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Akhandananda

Just start here and now. Pray to Him with tears. Just speak to him, ‘Why have I no such experience? Why do I not see You? Why am I not eager to see You? Why do I not develop an earnest desire to see You?’

The Master would teach us how to pray. Sitting on his cot with legs out-stretched like a child he would cry ‘O Mother, come to me, do come. I cannot bear the separation. 6 November 2021

ON PRAYER

Swami Akhandananda

Dirt is in the mind much as it is in a dirty room. You have to clean it sometimes with a broom, or sometimes with water. Some ideas of the mind are to be swept out forcibly, others are to be washed away with tears. With tearful prayers you have to say to Him: ‘O Lord, why do such ideas come to my mind? With these there You will never come into my mind. So make my mind pure and clean. Come and appear to me.’ You have to say this with tears. That is how our Master taught us. 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:

O Mother, how shall I call on You?

Teach me to call upon You in such a way

That I may end my calling You

With a single call, once and for all.

You have to be very prayerful. Pray along with repetition of the name of the Lord. Meditation is a long way off!

Always resort to prayer and repetition of the Name — this is Sadhana. Pray: ‘Give me devotion, give me faith, appear before me.’

Just cry for one night, saying: ‘O Lord, I am a fool, without any intelligence. I do not know anything. I do not understand anything. You show me everything. You please give me understanding. You appear before me.’ One such earnest prayer will change things overnight.

6 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Akhandananda

Dirt is in the mind much as it is in a dirty room. You have to clean it sometimes with a broom, or sometimes with water. Some ideas of the mind are to be swept out forcibly, others are to be washed away with tears. With tearful prayers you have to say to Him: ‘O Lord, why do such ideas come to my mind? With these there You will never come into my mind. So make my mind pure and clean. Come and appear to me.’ You have to say this with tears. That is how our Master taught us.

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:

O Mother, how shall I call on You?

Teach me to call upon You in such a way

That I may end my calling You

With a single call, once and for all.

You have to be very prayerful. Pray along with repetition of the name of the Lord. Meditation is a long way off!

Always resort to prayer and repetition of the Name — this is Sadhana. Pray: ‘Give me devotion, give me faith, appear before me’

Just cry for one night, saying: ‘O Lord, I am a fool, without any intelligence. I do not know anything. I do not understand anything. You show me everything. You please give me understanding. You appear before me.’ One such earnest prayer will change things overnight.

7 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Subodhananda

Now you pray to Him with utmost devotion and faith, and He will show you the path that leads to Him. He Himself will grant everything — devotion, faith, and all else that one needs.

Swami Vijnanananda

Always have the good of the universe at heart and let this become a part of your daily prayer. We should hold fast to faith and never lose it. With all the strength of this faith, we should, in all simplicity, patiently pray to the Mother to make us pure in heart, and She will certainly grant our prayer. Invoke the blessing of the Mother — morning, noon, and evening. Pray to Her: ‘O Mother, give us that intelligence which enables one to realize Divinity.’

You have done the right thing in making the Master your sheet-anchor. He came down to save people. You only pray to Him and peace will be yours. 8 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Vijnanananda

Your goodwill should flow out for the whole world. Your daily prayers should include an invocation for the welfare of all. You should pray to the Holy Mother for strength, without which nothing can be done. From the Master you should ask only for pure bhakti. I say, pray to your mind for blessings. You should pray to the Mother to make you pure in heart. She will set things right. Never give way to evil thoughts. When they come, pray earnestly to the Master, and you will be rid of them. May all be blessed. May all that is good accrue to the world, to the universe. Keep these good wishes ever alive in your mind. Look, God is all-pervading and all-powerful. There is nothing that cannot be granted by Him. Whatever people seek from Him, He supplies like a servant, as it were. That is the reason why one should not ask Him for anything. You should remain satisfied with whatever He is pleased to give on His own. Why should you pray for paltry things like worldly riches? Pray to Him that He may give you strength to become pure and unselfish and the power to realize the Truth. Unless you are completely detached from everything, your meditation and prayer, work and learning will be of no avail.

8 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRAYER

Swami Vijnanananda

Your goodwill should flow out for the whole world. Your daily prayers should include an invocation for the welfare of all. You should pray to the Holy Mother for strength without which nothing can be done. From the Master you should ask only for pure bhakti. I say pray to your mind for blessings. You should pray to the Mother to make you pure in heart. She will set things right. Never give way to evil thoughts. When they come, pray earnestly to the Master, and you will be rid of them. May all be blessed. May all that is good accrue to the world, to the universe. Keep these good wishes ever alive in your mind. Look, God is all-pervading and all-powerful. There is nothing that cannot be granted by Him. Whatever people seek from Him, He supplies like a servant, as it were. That is the reason why one should not ask Him for anything. You should remain satisfied with whatever He is pleased to give on His own. Why should you pray for paltry things like worldly riches? Pray to Him that He may give you strength to become pure and unselfish and the power to realize the Truth. Unless you are completely detached from everything, your meditation and prayer, work and learning will be of no avail.

9 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PRIDE

Swami Shivananda

After acquiring a little devotion or spiritual fervour, people declare themselves to be Avataras in no time! Well there it ends. Because of egotism and pride they cannot make any progress. On the contrary, they lose what they have acquired. 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 are true to yourself, if your thoughts and actions are in accord with each other, pride and egotism can never assail you, whether you are engaged in spiritual practice or service to God.

Swami Premananda

Pride, vanity, or egotism cannot touch those who are true devotees of the Lord. You must remember that you are his children. But do not let this make you proud. Pride must be given up once for all. The essence of Sri Ramakrishna’s teaching is that one should give up all pride and egotism. Why should you hate? Salute [even the prostitute] from afar, thinking that it is through the will of God that they are what they are, and that it is through His will again that you are what you are, and that His will can in a moment redeem them forever and drag you down. Destroy your pride and egotism once for all.

10 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

PRIDE

Swami Turiyananda

Never pride yourself on your having gained control over the passions. If you do, they will at once raise their heads. The Master used to say that water accumulates only in a low land. Only in humility the good qualities of the mind and heart become manifest. Pride always holds the head high. It is very difficult to truly understand the intricacies of the mind without being an advanced aspirant. How many are the ways in which the mind is deluding us! If anyone points out the delusions, we find excuses for them! We do not understand how many kinds of self-love are in us. It is no joke to submit to anyone — not outwardly, but in spirit. Swami Vivekananda was once reading the Bible. He was in those days a vegetarian. When he read of Jesus’ meat-eating, he did not like it. But at once he thought, ‘Oh, how proud I have become because I am living on vegetables!’

A Bengalee graduate, a monk, of great renunciation, was a class-friend of Swamiji, through whom we came to know this monk. He prided himself on being a perfect master of his senses. He used to beg money for lepers and for people ailing from foul diseases, and serve them. He used to say to us: ‘Swamiji is the only one amongst you who has got brains. You may be Sadhus, but none of you have brains.’ He did not believe in the authority of the Shastras, and used to say, ‘If we too write books, they will be just as good as Shastras.’ He was much given to argumentation. His boldness too was remarkable. People made much of him, and deservingly too. Once I had to see him at Allahabad. He frankly told me that he had just had a fall. I rebuked him for his giving way to temptation at such an advanced age. He then disclosed to me everything, how being under the impression that he was proof against temptation, he got befooled by a wicked woman. Pride humbled him. In such matters one must never be daring. Hence the clear note of warning in the scriptures against them.

11 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

PRIDE

Swami Turiyananda

Human nature is the same everywhere. But with us everything, except the zenana, is open and exposed. We cannot even keep our natures secret. But you know very nicely how to do that. You all wear masks. When you have pain, you smile; when you are poor you buy a few cheap tinsels to appear rich; when you are in misery, you say, ‘Everything is fine;’ when you are not feeling well you say, ‘Never felt better.’ We don’t do that. [To the remark: “You know what is the reason? It is because we don’t want sympathy.”] That’s pride. You like to give sympathy, but not to receive it. You like to be helpful to others, but you don’t allow others to be helpful to you. Life should be a matter of give and take. Be ready to give, and equally ready to receive, but without attachment in either case. Then there will be no pride, no self-sufficiency. We cannot stand alone in this world, we are all interdependent. Control your passions — anger, jealousy, pride. And never speak ill of others behind their backs. If you can give up pride, then you really renounce.

12 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

PRIDE

Swami Adbhutananda

There are three possible relationships one can have with God: ‘My God,’ ‘I am God,’ and ‘I am God’s.’ The last one is best, because it does not tempt pride. No one should show his pride or lose his temper; for the moment he does so, Maya will snare him.

Swami Ramakrishnananda

We are all only puppets in the hands of God. When we understand this, all pride and ambition, all vanity and egotism will go. For that reason is the man blessed who has faith, because he has realised his puppet nature.

Swami Akhandananda

Know it for certain that pride goes before a fall. This I know from my personal experience.

Swami Brahmananda

Open your heart to him. He will guide you along the right path. There is nothing more purifying than his name and meditation upon him. Keep a sharp eye on the mind and see that no undesirable thoughts or distractions enter in. Whenever they try to crowd in, turn the mind toward God and pray earnestly. Through such practice the mind is brought under control and becomes purified. If your mind has become pure and you live with pure thoughts, no evil can touch you. The chanting of the name of the Lord purifies both the body and the mind. The one object of spiritual disciplines is to know God — to obtain his grace. The mud of ‘lust and gold’ that stains the mind must be washed away. Unless the heart is purified, God’s grace is not revealed. Sri Ramakrishna used to say: “So long as the needle is covered with mud, it is not attracted to the magnet. But when the mud has been washed away, the needle is naturally drawn toward the magnet.”

The mud of the mind is washed away if one thinks of the Lord and meditates on him and prays to him with a yearning heart. At once the magnet of God attracts the needle of man’s mind to him, and the moment the mind becomes pure, the divine grace begins to flow. Through this divine grace God is revealed.

16 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious birthday of most Revered Swami Subodhanandaji Maharaj. On this sacred day may Revered Maharaj bless us all with Bhakti.)

Reminiscences of Swami Subodhanandaji Maharaj

Swami: Sometimes the Master would say, “The Divine Mother Herself has come to visit the world in human form [i.e., meaning himself]; when people of all sects assemble here, this body will not last.”

One day while walking in the Panchavati at Dakshineshwar, the Master went into ecstasy. Then, facing the northwest, he pointed to himself and said, “Look, the Divine Mother is saying that the more a person thinks of me (i.e., Sri Ramakrishna), the more quickly he will understand the highest truths of religion.”

Again, pointing to the northwest, he said, “I shall be born again in that direction; then many people will attain knowledge.”

On another occasion the Master told me about himself: “This body is a cage of flesh and bone, but the Mother is playing inside it. He who was Rama and Krishna is living in this body.”

Sri Ramakrishna would freely talk to the disciples about the struggles and experiences of his spiritual journey. He saw the Divine Mother in all women; as a result, no woman could tempt him. Once the Master said to Subodh: “During my sadhana I was in a God-intoxicated state. One day, while I was picking grass sitting under the Panchavati in Dakshineshwar, a beautiful young woman came and stood behind me, trying to draw my attention. I was unaware of her presence. After waiting for a long time, she felt neglected and said to me: ‘Hello, sadhu, I have been standing behind you for a long time—neither did you look at me nor talk to me. I have visited many ashramas. Wherever I went, everyone eagerly talked to me or asked me to stay in the ashrama. You are a wonderful detached monk. You didn’t look at me even once!’”

Subodh learned a lesson, and he later narrated this incident to M.

17 November 2021

(The passing away of Revered Subodhanandaji Maharaj)

It was Thursday, and Maharaj’s body shook a little at about 11.30 am. After that, his pulse couldn’t be detected for half an hour or so. A similar thing had happened about one week earlier. Manindra Maharaj, who is a doctor, then gave Maharaj musk and makardhwaj mixed with other medicines. Two hours after the medicine was administered, Maharaj’s pulse became normal and he was also able to talk a little. Many doctors came to see him in the evening, but everybody doubted that Maharaj would survive the night. Maharaj asked, “What day is it?”

Swami Parabrahmananda informed him that it was Thursday. Maharaj again asked, “What day is tomorrow?” “Friday,” he was informed. When Parabrahmananda asked Maharaj why he was asking this, Maharaj said, “There is no particular reason.”

At night he said, “I bless you so that you may attain faith and devotion.”

When he was asked whether everybody in Belur Math should be informed [that Khoka Maharaj’s last moment had come], and also if a picture of Sri Ramakrishna should be brought to him, Maharaj said: “No, there is no need to inform everybody. And I also don’t need a picture of the Master. The Master, Holy Mother, and Swamiji are visiting me frequently, so what will I do with a mere picture?”

Maharaj lay wide awake throughout the night. The next morning Khoka Maharaj took a little milk and pomegranate juice by turns a number of times. The kaviraj came at 10 am. He prescribed makardhwaj medicine, but he also said that Maharaj wouldn’t survive the day. Since the previous night Maharaj had refused to take any more medicines. He had also began to have hiccups.

On Friday morning, Siddheshwar Babu, Maharaj’s younger brother, came to see him, together with his wife and other family members. But Maharaj didn’t let them enter his room, and they sat on the veranda. Maharaj’s condition deteriorated in the afternoon. His pulse grew weaker. But he was still conscious, and whenever someone entered his room he wanted to know who it was. At about 2.30 pm he enquired about the well-being of the members of the Math.

Vikas Maharaj entered his room about fifteen minutes before Maharaj left his body. When Abhay Maharaj asked Khoka Maharaj whether he recognized the person who had just entered, Khoka Maharaj said, “Yes, it is Vikas.”

He then said, “Whether my body stays or goes, the Master is looking after you all and will continue to do so.” He had said the same thing the night before. After this, his eyes became still and his pulse couldn’t be detected. Everybody began to chant the Master’s name. After a few minutes, Khoka Maharaj laughed aloud three times and left his body. His eyes were half open.

Jai Ramakrishna 18 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious birthday of most Revered Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj. On this sacred day may Revered Maharaj bless us all with Bhakti.)

(Reminiscences of Revered Swami Vijnanananda)

I was a mere boy, fourteen or fifteen years old, when I first met Sri Ramakrishna. It came about this way. One day I was playing a game with another boy in his home when a mutual friend of ours came and asked, “Would you like to visit a paramahamsa?”

“Where is he?” we inquired. “At the Dewan’s house, nearby.”

We had no idea what a paramahamsa was. Anyway, we all went to meet him. As we entered the hall of the Dewan’s house, we heard a chorus of melodious voices. We encountered a strange scene. A group of devotees were singing. Sri Ramakrishna was standing in the center, completely oblivious of his surroundings. A disciple was holding him so he would not fall. His face shone with a heavenly lustre, and a smile played over his lips. His eyes seemed to be gazing at something, and he appeared, as it were, immersed in an ocean of bliss. After a while he sang a song in praise of the Divine Mother. He was still in an ecstatic mood. It seemed to me that he was having a direct vision of the Mother and was singing to her. After the music, Sri Ramakrishna and his companions were led upstairs by the host, and we returned home.

I met Sri Ramakrishna another time in Mani Mallick’s house. I went there with Sarat, who was my classmate. Several years passed. I was then about seventeen or eighteen years old and a student at St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta. One day I went to visit Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. It was in the afternoon. Many devotees were seated in his room. I went in, prostrated before him, and then sat quietly in a corner. Seated on the small cot, Sri Ramakrishna was conversing with the devotees. In physical appearance he was like any other man, but his smile was something divine. When he smiled, a wave of joy played, not merely over his eyes and face, but over his whole body. And his blissful smile would wipe out the worries and troubles of those who looked at him. His voice was so sweet and melodious that one never tired of hearing it. His eyes were keen and bright, and his look was tender and affectionate. I felt Sri Ramakrishna’s room vibrating with a tangible atmosphere of peace. The devotees present seemed to be listening in blissful absorption to the words which poured from the Master’s lips. I don’t recall what he said, but I still remember the transport of delight I experienced then as if it had been yesterday.

18 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious birthday of most Revered Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj. On this sacred day may Revered Maharaj, bless us all with Bhakti.)

(Reminiscences of Revered Swami Vijnanananda)

I was a mere boy, fourteen or fifteen years old, when I first met Sri Ramakrishna. It came about this way.

One day I was playing a game with another boy in his home when a mutual friend of ours came and asked, “Would you like to visit a paramahamsa?”

“Where is he?” we inquired.

“At the Dewan’s house, nearby.”

We had no idea what a paramahamsa was. Anyway, we all went to meet him.

As we entered the hall of the Dewan’s house, we heard a chorus of melodious voices. We encountered a strange scene. A group of devotees were singing. Sri Ramakrishna was standing in the center, completely oblivious of his surroundings.

A disciple was holding him so he would not fall. His face shone with a heavenly lustre, and a smile played over his lips. His eyes seemed to be gazing at something, and he appeared, as it were, immersed in an ocean of bliss.

After a while he sang a song in praise of the Divine Mother. He was still in an ecstatic mood. It seemed to me that he was having a direct vision of the Mother and was singing to her.

After the music, Sri Ramakrishna and his companions were led upstairs by the host, and we returned home.

I met Sri Ramakrishna another time in Mani Mallick’s house. I went there with Sarat, who was my classmate.

Several years passed. I was then about seventeen or eighteen years old and a student at St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta. One day I went to visit Sri Ramakrishna at Dakshineswar. It was in the afternoon. Many devotees were seated in his room.

I went in, prostrated before him, and then sat quietly in a corner. Seated on the small cot, Sri Ramakrishna was conversing with the devotees. In physical appearance he was like any other man, but his smile was something divine.

When he smiled, a wave of joy played, not merely over his eyes and face, but over his whole body. And his blissful smile would wipe out the worries and troubles of those who looked at him.

His voice was so sweet and melodious that one never tired of hearing it. His eyes were keen and bright, and his look was tender and affectionate.

I felt Sri Ramakrishna’s room vibrating with a tangible atmosphere of peace. The devotees present seemed to be listening in blissful absorption to the words which poured from the Master’s lips. I don’t recall what he said, but I still remember the transport of delight I experienced then as if it had been yesterday.

19 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj)

As you think, so you become. As thoughts of love help in expanding the self, so do thoughts of anger and jealousy lead to its contraction. Unless one can restrain one's passion, anger, etc., it is impossible to get anywhere near God. If you want to control your passion, anger, etc., you have to meditate on the Master and the Holy Mother and you will then be free from all degrading thoughts.

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 a bad 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 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.

20 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj)

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 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.

Now I shall refer to another story. A very well-read man went to a Sadhu for guidance in the matter of Self-realization. The Sadhu told him: "First of all you have to unlearn all that you have learnt in books, and then you can come to me." So you see that book-learning is useless for the purpose you have in view. The only thing required is faith. Brahman is like a motionless snake. Shakti is like a snake in motion, and that is the kundalini. From Buddha's life and discourses, we find that action follows thought; as you think, so you act. You recite 'Ram, Ram' (the name of Rama). Do you know what 'rum' is? It is an intoxicating drink. You cannot know what it is like unless you drink it. You cannot know the glory of God's name unless you chant it. To grieve over not having a male child and to think that this means the end of the family line is a very crude way of looking at things. Real children are one's good, liberal, and holy thoughts—also, good deeds. These last forever; there is no death for them. Her divine light is pervaded everywhere; only man cannot realize it. Babies, six or seven months old, see that light, and seeing it smile and play, moving their arms and legs, at the sight of which people say that they are doing so in a dream. It is a matter of fact that the company of holy men makes the heart pure forever. It is said that the sage Durvasa once went to visit hell where condemned souls were suffering all sorts of tortures as punishment for their sins. As soon as the sage made his appearance there, they were relieved of their agonies and began to sing the glories of God. Hell seemed to have been transformed into heaven; the reason was that the sage's purity of life had such innate power in it as to deliver those tortured souls from their sins and save them from the agonies of hell.

21 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj)

People very often are saved if they live in the proximity of spiritually developed souls. Once, on Dussera day, we were staying with Swamiji in Nilambar Mukherji's garden-house at Belur. It was the monastery then. Swamiji was in those days on a very high spiritual plane. That day when I touched his feet in obeisance, I received a strong shock like that of electricity. Anyone going near such persons would feel as if a spiritual zone had been created round about them. Whosoever entered that zone could feel as if an electric force was entering into him from outside. He would have that experience immediately. Great souls, wherever they are, create a spiritual zone around them; and anybody coming within that zone realizes something like an electric current passing into him. Swami Brahmananda also was a reservoir of spiritual power. One day, when he was sitting in deep meditation, his body had become stiff; I was sitting close to him and felt my nerves also getting stiff and taut. This is a wonderful play of energy, one's power involuntarily acting on another. The greatest need is to concentrate on Him when we are dying. The best time for meditation is midnight. You can then achieve results very soon. Nature is in a quiet mood then, and the concentration is easier. Every day you should regularly practise meditation. That helps you to concentrate your mind.

22 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

(Teachings of Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj)

One should try to help others as far as possible, but without beating one's drum. For the rest of the time, one should be all by oneself. In this way, concentration of mind will be gradually achieved. Everybody complains that he cannot concentrate his mind on God because it is assailed by all sorts of thoughts. Why not put up a “No admittance” notice and refuse to let those thoughts crowd into the mind?

Don't give up japa and meditation simply because you cannot concentrate your mind properly. My only advice to you all is to forsake idleness. An idle brain is the devil's workshop. You must do everything with concentration and diligence. Within everybody there is Consciousness. This Consciousness pervades the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, the sky, the air, etc., down to the minute being, and it is because of this consciousness that there is motion in everything. In the transcendental state, i.e., the state of complete union with the Infinite, there is no outward consciousness; only a slight feeling remains there. Contemplation on Him should enable us to gain lordliness over our passions and become masters of our souls.

23 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna.

(Teachings of Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj)

The question that arises in my mind is, where shall we be after giving up this mortal frame? I asked Mahapurush Maharaj, who told me that we would be in the Ramakrishna Loka, the world where we would be keeping company with the Master. But I have decided not to go anywhere. To contemplate on the Master all the time and not to forget him even for an instant is to be in his company. That is Ramakrishna Loka—to think of him all the time with heart and soul, never losing him even for a moment.

One should not ask for anything from God but remain satisfied with whatever He is pleased to give. Real welfare lies in using things properly; wrong use of things brings misfortune. You should be satisfied with whatever you can secure for keeping the body fit, and then go on working selflessly for God. There is a Hindi couplet which says that jewels, elephants, and houses, indeed, all wealth is just valueless compared to contentment. It is all so difficult; you cannot have contentment so long as you are subject to worldly desires. Once they disappear, you are free.

Purity, truthfulness, and honesty should make the cornerstone of your life, and there should be faith. With these, a man will have contentment in life, whatever circumstances he may happen to be in. Contentment in all circumstances is the mark of religious life.

24 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Vijnananandaji Maharaj)

When we have control over our passions, we shall succeed; we shall ourselves then feel that we are advancing towards God. When the mind is completely under your control, it will have nothing to exist on except noble thoughts. After the dissolution of the mortal frame, the soul takes a subtle form and more intensely reaps the harvest of previous deeds. If one can control one's senses and transcend the bounds of time and space, one is in a position to summon the souls of dead persons, and get a response from them. They also respond as people respond to us when we call them. God pervades everything. But, of course, it is a joyful experience. He is inside and outside. When you realize that He is within you, the senses get controlled once for all; and it is for this that you have renounced everything, do you understand?

This universe—the entire creation and all living beings—has been there from the beginning of time. Nothing new is happening; the same process has been going on in different ages, just like a lump of clay being made into a particular image and then broken and made into another image. This is how the process of creation has been going on; nothing new, only a repetition.

25 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PURITY

Swami Shivananda

It is only by doing selfless work that the mind gets purified. And when the mind is purified, even the slightest suggestion would fill your heart with devotion for the Lord. If the mind be not purified, you may practise Japa to any extent, nothing will result by way of spiritual progress. What can Japa do if the mind is full of selfishness, jealousy, hatred, etc.?

Purity and guilelessness should be your watchword. That Primordial Energy, the power of Brahman, is beyond the reach of this mind and intellect of ours. She manifests Herself in a pure mind. Purity is the foundation of a spiritual life. God reveals Himself soon in a pure heart. Try to remain pure in body, speech, and mind. The main thing that counts is to call on Him with all sincerity. As you go on calling on Him and weeping for Him, all the dirt in your mind will be washed away, and it will become purified. Then, that pure mind itself will act as Guru to you. You will then get all the answers from within yourself to all the questions that you may have—about what you need at a particular time, how you should meditate, how you should call on Him, and all such things. Sincerity, earnestness, purity—these form the main foundation of a spiritual life.

26 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PURITY

Swami Shivananda

When the mind becomes purified by spiritual practices, it feels the living and divine presence of God. That experience is what really counts; and its effect lasts through one’s life. Live a very pure life. God reveals Himself to those hearts that are sincere and pure. Purity is the only basis of a spiritual life. The purer the receptacle the quicker is His manifestation. Through constant thought of Him and meditation on Him, the mind and heart become purified; and to that pure mind a divine revelation occurs spontaneously and God’s grace is realized. Yes, the mind becomes purified when it is disciplined through morality; and the divine vision dawns on that pure mind. The mind becomes purified by spiritual practices, renunciation, and austerities; and in that pure heart, the love for God finds expression, and God reveals Himself there. The thing that matters is to love God, thinking Him to be one’s own. One is vouchsafed the divine mood when one’s mind becomes purified through meditation on God. It is not possible to serve the great saints in the real sense, unless one has one’s mind purified through spiritual efforts. When the mind becomes pure, it vibrates and reacts to spiritual things. The higher the mind ascends the more it reflects spiritual ideas. Purity and guilelessness should be your watchwords. The Master forgives all failings except hypocrisy and self-deception. Yes, a strict ethical life purifies the mind, and spiritual ideas flash across a mind that is pure. But I do not think that one can realize God by simply living a good moral life.

27 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PURITY

Swami Shivananda

Purity is the basis of spiritual life. God manifests Himself in a pure, guileless heart. Bear this in mind: intense spiritual practice is necessary in order for one to see the Divine in man. Steady repetition of the name of the Lord along with meditation will purify the mind, and in a mind that is pure will arise spiritual emotions and feelings. Regular meditation and devotions at stated hours purify the mind and thus one becomes grounded in a particular idea. Steady practice is what is needed. Perform the work of Sri Thakur perfectly; that alone will purify your minds. And you will get joy. Keep holding on to Thakur. You will get bhakti, mukti, and all. By remembering him and reflecting on him the mind and heart get purified. Do the work of serving the Master and the gods with much application and attention, so that there may not be the slightest flaw. Through this service will be effected the purification of the mind-stuff and the attainment of devotion.

[To the question: “Can I continue to be pure and spiritual, irrespective of my actions, good or bad?”]

Certainly not. Your good actions contribute to make you more and more spiritual, while the bad ones go to drag you down to samsara and prevent your freeing the soul from the bondage of birth and death; to obtain that freedom is and ought to be the one aim of your having taken birth as a human being.

28 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PURITY

Swami Premananda

Always cultivate pure thoughts. Purity is strength, and purity is God. Live such a life that no one may be an enemy to you.

Seek not for the results of your actions — such is the teaching of the Lord. Your heart will thus be purified.

Man attains God by purity, guilelessness, and steadfast devotion to him.

In a pure body and a pure mind, the power of God becomes manifest. Think and think of God; the impurities of the mind will be washed away.

Know that knowledge, love, and purity belong to our very nature; fame, honour, and glories are foreign to our nature. Let not our minds ever run after such.

Always remember, purity and steadfastness in truth make a god out of a man.

He who has received initiation has his body purified.

Be completely pure, and hold on to the truth.

When the heart is purified the mind becomes one-pointed, subtle, and pure; one attains the vision of God.

Sri Ramakrishna was the soul of purity and renunciation. Hold fast to him as your ideal, and so make your minds pure.

Taking vows and fasting on special days like this help us to develop discrimination and dispassion. They are aids in purifying the heart and thus prepare us for God-vision and realization.

If you want to realize him, you must make your heart pure. All the passions will have to be conquered.

29 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PURITY

Swami Turiyananda

The pure portion in you is God Himself. Those who have absolute trust in God will be at once purified through His grace, though they might have committed heinous sins before. Lust, anger, fear, affection, amity, and friendship — those who always cherish any of these feelings towards God, assuredly attain to concentration on Him. But can such things happen unless the mind is absolutely pure? Never think of it!

It is selfishness that is impure. First of all a man should perform his duties according to his caste and order of life and when the mind is thus purified, he should approach the qualified teacher for the attainment of Self-knowledge. There is no way out unless one has fulfilled one’s duties. Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the pure mind and the pure Self are one. The mind gets purified as soon as its worldly character is destroyed. A pure mind is that which, fully believing in the unity of Self, sees the same Atman in all, and deals with them accordingly. If you succeed in purifying the mind, everything is set right.

The pure-minded have things pre-arranged for them in the external world. They find everything ready for them. When Swamiji went to America for the first time, I accompanied him from Mt. Abu to Bombay. In the running train, Swamiji said to me in all seriousness, ‘Well, all that preparation that you see going on is for this (i.e., Swamiji). My mind tells me so. You will see it verified at no distant date.’

Take for instance the case of Sri Ramakrishna. The Kali Temple at Dakshineswar was kept ready for him. All that arrangement was made for him beforehand.

30 November 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PURITY

Swami Turiyananda

Association with holy people purifies the mind. But they must be really holy men. The mind must be made pure. An impure mind is one which has got a great attachment to sense-enjoyments; whereas the one which has got a great measure of dispassionateness is pure. Be yourself, be strong. Realization is only for those who are strong, pure, and upright.

[On the merit of bathing and other religious performances]

It all depends on our mental attitude, on our faith and belief. Where there is true devotion, the result is good. Devotion purifies the mind.

ON PURITY

Swami Saradananda

[To the question: “Has any person realized God through mere work?”]

A:- Through selfless work the mind gets purified. And when the mind becomes pure, there arise knowledge and devotion in it. Meditation will purify your mind. Continue *japa* and meditation without losing heart. If you practice *japa* and meditation regularly, without break for some years, you will see for yourself what result comes to pass. Your mind will become pure and you will be absorbed in the thought of God. The reflection of God is always in the mind, but until the mind becomes tranquil and pure, the image of God cannot be observed. In other words, God is always present within us. But we will not be aware of that presence until the mirror of the heart is clear. Through *japa* and meditation you can purify the heart and then the true nature of God will be revealed to you. Then you will experience that blessed state in which all doubts vanish and the heart overflows with pure love and joy of His presence.

The scriptures say that the name can be repeated audibly, semi-audibly, or mentally. Of the three, mental repetition is the best. It will purify your mind and help you to keep your thoughts in God. It is only through *japa* and meditation that one removes all obstacles, attains purity of heart and finally arrives at the full consciousness of God. The more one purifies these internal organs, the more one is able to detect and interpret correctly the will of the Universal Mind.

There is nothing so powerful to purify the mind as work done unselfishly with a spirit of dedication and service. That is the only way by which you can rid yourself of bad thoughts. Sri Ramakrishna was averse to all negative ideas. He would say, ‘If a man boldly says there is no poison, even the poison of a snake bite disappears.’ Repeat unto yourself the idea that you are a child of God and have become pure since the moment you first uttered the name of God.

There is no necessity of our solving these questions, nor do I have the time. Make *japa* and meditate daily and remain pure in body, mind, and speech — by that alone you will achieve your life’s goal. As a matter of fact knowledge dawns as soon as the mind becomes pure. The utterance of the Mantra in a proper spirit even for once purifies the mind. Instantly the mind becomes delighted and blissful.

3 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PURITY

Swami Saradananda

[To the question: “Has any person realized God through mere work?”]

A: Through selfless work the mind gets purified. And when the mind becomes pure, there arise knowledge and devotion in it. Meditation will purify your mind. Continue japa and meditation without losing heart. If you practice japa and meditation regularly, without break for some years, you will see for yourself what result comes to pass. Your mind will become pure and you will be absorbed in the thought of God. The reflection of God is always in the mind, but until the mind becomes tranquil and pure, the image of God cannot be observed. In other words, God is always present within us. But we will not be aware of that presence until the mirror of the heart is clear. Through japa and meditation you can purify the heart and then the true nature of God will be revealed to you. Then you will experience that blessed state in which all doubts vanish and the heart overflows with pure love and joy of His presence. The scriptures say that the name can be repeated audibly, semi-audibly, or mentally. Of the three, mental repetition is the best. It will purify your mind and help you to keep your thoughts in God. It is only through japa and meditation that one removes all obstacles, attains purity of heart and finally arrives at the full consciousness of God. The more one purifies these internal organs, the more one is able to detect and interpret correctly the will of the Universal Mind. There is nothing so powerful to purify the mind as work done unselfishly with a spirit of dedication and service. That is the only way by which you can rid yourself of bad thoughts. Sri Ramakrishna was averse to all negative ideas. He would say, ‘If a man boldly says there is no poison, even the poison of a snake bite disappears.’ Repeat unto yourself the idea that you are a child of God and have become pure since the moment you first uttered the name of God. There is no necessity of our solving these questions, nor do I have the time. Make japa and meditate daily and remain pure in body, mind, and speech — by that alone you will achieve your life’s goal. As a matter of fact knowledge dawns as soon as the mind becomes pure. The utterance of the Mantra in a proper spirit even for once purifies the mind. Instantly the mind becomes delighted and blissful.

4 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PURITY

Swami Vijnanananda

With our superficial knowledge we may fail to grasp many things which, however, become clear when we achieve purity of mind. As a matter of fact, the company of holy men makes the heart pure forever. To achieve real peace, what is needed is renunciation and self-purification — that is an all-time truth. Whether in the spiritual or in the political sphere, you cannot expect to achieve anything without self-abnegation. The purer a person is, the more will the Master reveal himself to him. Very few persons can realize Him. One cannot reach God unless one’s mind is pure. In this respect one has to be very careful; if a bad thought enters the mind, it affects and poisons the entire system.

[To the question: “What is the effect of making pranam, paying obeisance to God?”]

It purifies the mind.

[Question: “And what does that lead to?”]

It leads to God-realization. And that is the great finale, the climax, the ultimate fulfilment!

[To the question: “What is the way to purify the mind?”]

Recite your chosen mantra, that will do. You should pray to the mother to make you pure in heart. She will set things right. Make your heart pure and everything will be all right in due course. When the purity of heart is attained, you will have a taste of spiritual joy. That joy is incomparable. You are the master of your own mind; keep it pure. Whenever the mind becomes pure and holy by getting detached from the world and material things, it reflects the luminous image of God. Repeat the name of the chosen deity and you will have it all. Purity, truthfulness, and honesty should make the cornerstone of your life. And there should be faith.

5 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON PURITY

Swami Vijnanananda

With our superficial knowledge we may fail to grasp many things which, however, become clear when we achieve purity of mind. As a matter of fact, the company of holy men makes the heart pure forever. To achieve real peace, what is needed is renunciation and self-purification — that is an all-time truth. Whether in the spiritual or in the political sphere, you cannot expect to achieve anything without self-abnegation. The purer a person is, the more will the Master reveal himself to him. Very few persons can realize Him. One cannot reach God unless one’s mind is pure. In this respect one has to be very careful; if a bad thought enters the mind, it affects and poisons the entire system.

[To the question: “What is the effect of making pranam, paying obeisance to God?”]

It purifies the mind.

[Question: “And what does that lead to?”]

It leads to God-realization. And that is the great finale, the climax, the ultimate fulfilment!

[To the question: “What is the way to purify the mind?”]

Recite your chosen mantra, that will do. You should pray to the mother to make you pure in heart. She will set things right. Make your heart pure and everything will be all right in due course. When the purity of heart is attained, you will have a taste of spiritual joy. That joy is incomparable. You are the master of your own mind; keep it pure. Whenever the mind becomes pure and holy by getting detached from the world and material things, it reflects the luminous image of God. Repeat the name of the chosen deity and you will have it all. Purity, truthfulness, and honesty should make the cornerstone of your life. And there should be faith.

6 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

PURPOSE

Swami Brahmananda

The one purpose of life is to know God. Plunge deep into the sea of bliss and become immortal. Attain knowledge and devotion, then serve God in mankind. The one purpose of human life is to attain devotion to God and spiritual illumination; otherwise, life is vain and meaningless. Eating, drinking, sleeping, and procreating are not the sole ends of human birth; these belong to the brutes. How blessed is this human birth! Man alone can find God. To realize Him must be man’s only purpose. Strive hard to reach Him and be free in this very life. The one purpose of life is to know God. Learn to be absorbed in Him. Activity is not the goal. Be firmly convinced that to realize Him is the only purpose of life. “Eat the mangoes, do not count the leaves.” The sole purpose of life is to reach God. Reach Him first.

7 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

PURPOSE

Swami Shivananda

The only purpose of life is to realize God — no matter whether sons and wives remain or go. Whatever you may do, know this, my child, that the one purpose of life is to realize God. This world is short-lived and evanescent; God alone is the abiding reality.

Swami Trigunatitananda

When that Self is realized, one will find It present everywhere; and that is one’s highest achievement. One’s purpose in life is to attain that state.

Swami Abhedananda

The real purpose of life is to gain self-knowledge; life is not meant for a discussion as to whether virtue or vice exists.

Swami Saradananda

You have come to the world to realize God. That is the sole purpose of life. It has no other end. The only purpose of life is to have a direct vision of Him — try to know this. Then, the mind will never again be shaken by the glamour of name, fame, and power; only then the mind will be safe from the clutches of lust and gold. What more to write? Become His through and through.

8 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

RAMAKRISHNA

Swami Brahmananda

Sri Ramakrishna is the avatar of this age, and he is helping every sincere and earnest aspirant. He is waiting for you.

Sri Ramakrishna was born in this age to teach mankind that dispassion is the ideal of human life.

He who is honest, faithful, and devoted will have to come within the orbit of Sri Ramakrishna where alone in this age real peace is to be found. He who follows the ideal which Sri Ramakrishna embodies will become heir to eternal happiness.

Swami Shivananda

The Master forgives all failings except hypocrisy and self-deception. Those who play false and take to hypocritical ways, do not belong here. The Master does not allow them to remain in the Order; he removes them. Only those who are genuine can stay.

The manifestation of divine power we see in Sri Ramakrishna in this age is unique. There has not been such a manifestation in many centuries. The wave of spirituality will roll on unimpeded over all the world for a long time.

It doesn’t matter if you can’t meditate upon the Mother herself. The Master is the crystalized embodiment of all gods and goddesses. All the divine manifestations that have been in the past and will be in the future are within the Master. Therefore if you meditate upon Sri Ramakrishna it is as good as meditating on all divine forms. Of course, one should have that awareness.

Simply make japa of his name; and pray whole-heartedly, ‘O Lord, be kind to me.’ If the prayer proceeds from the heart, he will surely hear.

The Master himself said: ‘He who came as Rama, and he who came as Krishna, has descended here again’. Well, my son, this is a declaration from the lips of God Himself, this is the message of the Incarnation for this age. We also repeat the same message. One will attain freedom in this age by merely calling on the Master.

9 December 2021

He who follows the ideal which Sri Ramakrishna embodies will become heir to eternal happiness.

The Master forgives all failings except hypocrisy and self-deception. Those who play false and take to hypocritical ways, do not belong here. The Master does not allow them to remain in the Order; he removes them. Only those who are genuine can stay.

The manifestation of divine power we see in Sri Ramakrishna in this age is unique. There has not been such a manifestation in many centuries. The wave of spirituality will roll on unimpeded over all the world for a long time.

It doesn’t matter if you can’t meditate upon the Mother herself. The Master is the crystalized embodiment of all gods and goddesses. All the divine manifestations that have been in the past and will be in the future are within the Master. Therefore, if you meditate upon Sri Ramakrishna, it is as good as meditating on all divine forms. Of course, one should have that awareness.

Simply make japa of his name; and pray whole-heartedly, ‘O Lord, be kind to me.’ If the prayer proceeds from the heart, he will surely hear.

The Master himself said: ‘He who came as Rama, and he who came as Krishna, has descended here again’. Well, my son, this is a declaration from the lips of God Himself, this is the message of the Incarnation for this age. We also repeat the same message. One will attain freedom in this age by merely calling on the Master.

Jai Ramakrishna.

RAMAKRISHNA

If one has the sincerest faith that the Master is the incarnation for this age, that he is none other than God Himself, and that one has been blessed by one of his sons, then one need have nothing more to worry — one has already reached the goal of life. One must have full faith in his being the Incarnation of God.

It is the Master himself who sits in my heart as the Guru and blesses the devotees. It is to save sinners and the afflicted that the Master incarnated. If someone takes shelter under him with all sincerity, he just passes his hand of mercy over the supplicant and wipes away all his sins. By his divine touch, one becomes sinless then and there. What is wanted is sincere love for him and the absolute surrender to him.

Girish Babu used to say at the end of his life, ‘Had I known that there was such a huge pit in which to throw one’s sins, I would have committed many more.’ He is full of compassion, a veritable sea of mercy. The Master is the Incarnation for this age. When you go on repeating His name, your mind will be filled with untold joy. 10 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

RAMAKRISHNA

Swami Turiyananda

Those who profess to be the children of the Master must have Yoga, Bhakti, Karma, Jnana, nay, everything. For Sri Ramakrishna stands for the synthesis and harmony of all religious paths. The spiritual growth of a person following a particular line was the rule in the past. But now one should have an all-round development combined with a magnanimity of heart to tolerate others.

Swami Trigunatitananda

A holy man is full of compassion. About Sri Ramakrishna I heard that as he was one day walking over a lawn, he once turned back to find that the grass over which he had trodden were trying to raise their heads again with difficulty. This made him weep, and he said, “Alas, these too are sentient, these too are suffering greatly!” From that day on, he could not walk on lawns.

10 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

RAMAKRISHNA

Swami Turiyananda

Those who profess to be the children of the Master must have Yoga, Bhakti, Karma, Jnana, nay, everything. For Sri Ramakrishna stands for the synthesis and harmony of all religious paths. The spiritual growth of a person following a particular line was the rule in the past. But now one should have an all-round development combined with a magnanimity of heart to tolerate others.

Swami Trigunatitananda

A holy man is full of compassion. About Sri Ramakrishna I heard that as he was one day walking over a lawn, he once turned back to find that the grass over which he had trodden were trying to raise their heads again with difficulty. This made him weep, and he said, ‘Alas, these too are sentient, these too are suffering greatly!’ From that day on, he could not walk on lawns.

11 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

RAMAKRISHNA

Swami Ramakrishnananda

Since you have the photograph of Sri Ramakrishna, I cannot but advise you to look upon Him as God Incarnate. Pray before His photograph and you are sure to get your desires fulfilled. There is none kinder than He. Oh! Whenever I remember His Glory and Greatness, I become at once transported. Do not think Him to be not with you. He is always beside those who are good. Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna will surely help you, if you only sincerely ask Him for help. He is the Incarnation of Love and Mercy.

It is very good that you have great reverence and love for Sri Ramakrishna. By worshipping Him, you do not cease to be a devotee of the Mother, for Sri Ramakrishna is the manifested form of Shakti. Shakti who is Infinite, and hence inaccessible, in order to be accessible to all has assumed the benign form of Sri Ramakrishna in this age. Many of Sri Ramakrishna’s direct disciples have seen Him after His disappearance from mortal view and, if you have a real longing to see Him, He is sure to satisfy you. God’s forms are not allegorical. They are real.

Never forget that Ramakrishna was always a little boy of four or five with his Mother by his side. He was teaching from his very birth. His entire life was one long lesson. It was characteristic of him that he used the simplest language such as a child could understand, yet into that simple language he put thoughts that only a great sage could think out. People would come to him and ask him to initiate them into the spiritual life and he would say, “My dear sir, you are not meant to be a Sadhu. You would better get a position and take care of your family.” He was able to tell at a glance what a man was fit for. A disciple told me that when one day someone asked Sri Ramakrishna how he knew so clearly what was in others’ minds, he replied: “When you look through a window, you see everything in the room, do you not? So when I look into the eyes I see all that is behind.”

12 December 2021

Swami Premananda Jayanti

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious birthday of Revered Swami Premananadaji Maharaj.)

(On this sacred day may the Swami bless us all with Bhakti)

Reminiscences of Holy Mother and Swami Premananda By Swami Sambuddhananda

The time we are speaking of was more than fifty years ago, when a band of devotees used to invite Swami Premananda to different places in Bengal. In 1914 they had decided that, after celebrations of the anniversary of Shri Ramakrishna’s birth had been completed at Belur Math, they would celebrate it themselves?

Swami Premananda himself had been thinking of this kind of celebration since March of that year, and was wondering if an invitation would be forthcoming from North Bengal. On the day in question he happened to be at the Balaram Mandir – the house of Balaram Bose.

Balaram Bose was one of the foremost householder disciples of Shri Ramakrishna, and one of the suppliers of his wants. He had a large zamindary – his father’s property in Orissa – and a large income. His house in Baghbazar section of Calcutta still stands, and since Shri Ramakrishna visited it many times, it has holy associations.

Though there were plans at one time to take a road through there to another part of Calcutta, the government has not allowed it to be demolished. Balaram Babu had married the sister of Swami Premananda, and the Swami was there at that time.

Some of my friends at our hostel prevailed upon me to go to Swami Premananda and invite him to their place for the celebrations. It was in the Malda district of North Bengal, famous for its mangoes.

When we all arrived at Balaram Bose’s house and asked to see the Swami, he came out at once. He was already acquainted with me, and was eager to see some of the young students of the colleges. They extended their invitation to him, to come to their part of the country to grace the occasion of the celebrations of Shri Ramakrishna’s birthday.

At once he said, ‘Well, we too have been thinking that although various parts of Bengal have invited us, North Bengal alone has not been heard from. So you come from North Bengal. It is very good. All right, I shall try. If nothing stands in the way we shall go.’

At this the boys became very enthusiastic and said, pointing to me, ‘We want to take him with us. He will guide us in organizing the celebrations etc.’

Hearing this Swami Premananda said, ‘Yes, it will be very nice if you can take him. He will be able to give you all sorts of help in organizing the celebrations in a proper way. Take him.’

So, although it was the summer holiday, instead of going home I accompanied them to Malda. They wanted to celebrate the Master’s birthday on a very large scale, inviting devotees from various parts of Bengal, and arrangements had to be made for food and lodging for about a week. It is our practice on such an occasion to go from place to place seeking persons likely to contribute their mite to the success of the celebrations.

The couple of thousand rupees already collected was not sufficient, although the cost of food in those days was about one-tenth of what it is now. So they formed a committee of about a hundred volunteers, each carrying out the work he was especially qualified to do.

13 December 2021

Swami Premananda

Jai Ramakrishna

Reminiscences of Holy Mother and Swami Premananda By Swami Sambuddhananda

It is the custom in India that whenever celebrations are organized in the name of a God or Goddess, one and all, especially persons able to do so, contribute their quota. As all consider the celebrations a great occasion, they contribute either in cash or in kind or in energy by working. At one point a band of collectors began to visit different villages gathering rice, etc., for the occasion. They purposely avoided a certain house because they were given to know that that was the house of a poor family, and if they were to go there they might be put in an awkward position in that no one would be able to give them anything. But the head of that poor family came forward, and meeting the leader of the party with folded hands said, ‘Well, sir, you have visited all the houses of the village, but I do not know by what fault of mine you didn’t care to grace my house with the dust of your feet. Even the dust of your feet I had not the opportunity to get. I don’t know what I have done.’

They were all much ashamed to hear this, so they went to the house and the poor man contributed beyond their dreams, in cash and in kind. He had kept it already since preparations for the function had started. He said, ‘Suppose that I cannot contribute anything, suppose that I give only a handful of rice, and you are going to distribute, say, one hundred maunds of rice, why should my poor one handful not go into it?’ They were ashamed of themselves and apologized and took all that he had given.

14 December 2021

Swami Premananda

Jai Ramakrishna

You can easily understand how disappointed we all were, having worked for two months for this one function. So they gathered together and there was a great deliberation. I told them, ‘Here is an idea. Let us not be in a hurry to change the date, for that will cause many difficulties. Let us see for a few days what develops.

I would ask you to do one thing: each one of you, (and there were more than a hundred workers there) go on performing the japa of Shri Ramakrishna one thousand times every day – whether in the morning or evening or both times does not matter, but make it a point that you perform the japa one thousand times every day.’

Swami Saradananda

The marriage of Sri Ramakrishna has a deep meaning. He entered into it with the idea that people might learn from his example that marriage is a sacrament and has an ideal much higher than the gratification of the senses. This ideal was not exemplified in the lives of Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Shankara, and the other avatars. It was demonstrated in the life of Ramakrishna to fulfill a great need. For the first time in the history of the world an absolutely pure married life was expressed through lifelong spiritual practices and austere disciplines. Sri Ramakrishna would say, “Let men cast their own lives in this mould and fashion an image of purity and perfect beauty.”

All Sri Ramakrishna’s emphasis was laid on prayer and meditation. Sri Ramakrishna was averse to all negative ideas. He would say, “If a man boldly says there is no poison, even the poison of a snakebite disappears.”

The Master came to make religion easy. People were being crushed under the weight of rules and regulations. To repeat the Lord’s name and to worship Him no special time and place are necessary. In whatever condition one may be, one can take His name. The Master never used to give too much importance to these external observances. The Master once sang a song to me and told me, “Assimilate any one of these ideas and you will reach the goal.” The song runs as follows:

“O Lord, Thou art my everything, the sole support of my life, the quintessence of reality. There is none else besides Thee in this world whom I can call as my own.

“Thou art happiness, peace, help, wealth, knowledge, intellect, and strength; Thou art the dwelling house and the pleasure garden; Thou art the friend and relative.

“Thou art this present life, the sole refuge; Thou art the life hereafter and the heaven; Thou art the injunction of the scriptures, the Guru full of blessings, and the store of infinite bliss.

“Thou art the way and the goal; Thou art the creator and preserver and the worshipped; Thou art the father that punishest Thy child, the loving mother and the storehouse of infinite bliss art Thou.”

If the mind does not become steadily fixed at the feet of Sri Sri Thakur, then pray to Him with yearning — “O Thakur, please make my mind steady.” Know definitely that Sri Sri Thakur is hearing all your words and is able to know all your thoughts and moods. 20 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON Sri RAMAKRISHNA

Swami Vijnanananda

The Master is like the Ganga, and all sorts of people will come to him. Let them come. With whatever ideas they take refuge in him, they will get his blessings. You should look upon the Master and the Holy Mother as one and the same. You must remember that without the Master’s grace you cannot get the Holy Mother, just as without the Holy Mother’s grace you cannot get the Master. The Master is like Narayana and the Holy Mother is like Lakshmi. You should pray to the Holy Mother for strength, without which nothing can be done. From the Master you should ask only for pure bhakti. The Master’s photograph reveals an image of transcendence of all the six chakras. I see many things in it and so I talk about them. He came to the world to save people. Go on repeating his name and peace will be yours. All the sins of the body and the mind are washed away if one looks at him for some time. But don’t approach him with selfish desires. To invoke the Master means imbibing some of his virtues. When a man thinks intensely about someone else, he comes to acquire some of the virtues of the latter. Invoke the Mother. Everything will be all right then. The Master, on the other hand, is very strict. He is not moved until everything is done punctiliously. The Mother is very kind.

17 December 2021

Swami Premananda

Jai Ramakrishna

So Baburam Maharaj left us at once and entered the Mother’s room, and I followed him. I wanted to see what would take place between the Mother and the son.

He was standing with folded palms before the Holy Mother who asked one question. What a wonderful reply the Swamiji gave, and what a wonderful atmosphere those words created all round! One cannot explain it, one cannot even conceive it! He alone knows who has experienced it.

The Mother asked him, ‘Well, Baburam, when these boys are so earnest to take you there, won’t you go?’ Such an awesome moment it was – only heaven can understand! Baburam Maharaj, flushed with emotion said to her, ‘Well, Mother, well, Mother, what do I know, what do I know? Whether I should go or not – I do not know – I will do whatever you say.’

He said these words loudly and with a great intensity of emotion, with the result that all those who were around, in the house and outside, were thrilled and became silent. The Mother of the Universe was talking with her beloved child and this was going on between the two.

When he spoke these words, Mother was silent. Some time passed in silence and no one could move or say anything, for all were thrilled with a particular sense of Divinity.

Then the Mother said, ‘Well, then you go. You go, but do not stay there for a long time.’ Because the care of sadhus is very difficult, in that they have a special routine of taking bath, meals, and going to bed etc., therefore the Mother did not want him to stay for a long time.

Baburam Maharaj then went out of the room and downstairs, and resumed his conversation with Swami Saradananda.

At this time I thought that now that my objective had been achieved, it would be better for me to run away smoothly and silently. After Baburam Maharaj has left the attendant called me and said, ‘Holy Mother is asking for you.’

I thought to myself, what else is going to happen? So I went and stood up and said to her, ‘Mother!’

She said, ‘You know, all these persons – Baburam and others – do you know what great saints they are – do you know? And why they have come to this world – do you know? The longer they live in this world, the greater is the benefit to it.

So you do one thing – please see that no kind of inconvenience, nothing unfavourable and untoward, happens to him during the celebrations. Remember this and take care of him.’

Previously I had decided that since I was at the head of the whole affair, it would not be possible for me to look after the Swamis only; but now I had to reassure the Mother. ‘Well, Mother, be assured that I shall do my very best and am ready to lay down my life in the service of the Swamiji, if required. The arrangements are O.K., but I will personally look to it, though I have many things to do. I will leave the overall management with special instructions, because everything for the Maharaj is separate.’ Then the Mother blessed me and I came down.

And now, hearing that Baburam Maharaj was going to Malda, many of the devotees pressed forward. He asked them, ‘Would you like to go?’ ‘Oh yes, Maharaj, we must!’ In this way a number of devotees agreed to join the party.

Finally with a party of about thirty we started for Malda at night, and found everything had been made ready. Food was duly brought, but I was more anxious about what was going to happen when we were received at the station in Malda.

However, I found that thousands of people were there to receive him at the station platform. At once the band and kirtan party started up their music. We all got off the train and the Swamiji had to sit in the first-class waiting room, but only for a few minutes. We left the station and were passing through the street, and according to the Indian custom people of both sides, as well as from the windows above went on crying. ‘Ulu, ulu,’ (for ululi, meaning prosperity, goodwill, aloha etc.) and all began to throw flowers and flowered rice and the road was soon covered with them. In this way we proceeded and took Swami Premananda to the house which had been appropriately decorated for him. It seemed to please him very much.

(Reprinted from Vedanta for East and West, Mar-Apr 1969)

18 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

RAMAKRISHNA

Swami Akhandananda

The present religion is the harmony of all previous religions — of the paths of knowledge, devotion and work. We want knowledge, we want devotion, we want work. Any one of the three in itself will not suffice, we want all the three. Our Master and Swamiji make a complete ideal. Many young men come and ask, ‘If Ramakrishna is God, why is India not becoming a free country?’ The answer is: He has sown impartially the seeds of his ideas in all directions: the harvest will be according to the soil and also according to the toil of the people. What he has given to India and to Bengal is more than enough. They are able to bear the burden of so much. Slaves for 800 years — what can they do? They have no strength, no energy — nothing. I find in them no spirit of adventure, no determination, no discipline. Sorry to tell you that I can little rely on them. See how, in the soil of free countries, our Master’s ideas are taking root, and how they are sprouting up. People there have strength and energy, they have enthusiasm and earnestness, they are fit to receive the ideas. Just see, our Master’s ideas are ingrained in all of us but the expression varies according to the person. Our Master is living and moving in all as Narayana. The seed of this Religion of Service was in him. Therefore you now see the tree and its branches. At Deoghar he said to Mathur Babu: ‘Feed these poor people, give them clothing and oil, or else I will not proceed to Varanasi’. That is how the wheel of this Religion of Service for this age, started rolling. The Master would teach us how to pray. Sitting on his cot with legs out-stretched like a child he would cry, ‘O Mother, come to me, do come. I cannot bear the separation. How can You be at peace, away from Your little son? How can You, forgetful of me, busy Yourself with other things? Come, O Mother, come and take me up in Your arms!’

At such times he would cry like an utterly forlorn child just to show us how a child in distress pines for its mother. The idea awakened his feelings to such a degree that he would actually cry like a child restless to see its mother. After some time Sri Ramakrishna would become still and begin saying with tears, in a trembling voice: ‘O Mother, I am without any Sadhana, without Bhajan. O Mother, give me knowledge, give me devotion. O Mother, may I have a mind fixed at Your feet!’

19 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON RAMAKRISHNA

Swami Saradananda

The marriage of Sri Ramakrishna has a deep meaning. He entered into it with the idea that people might learn from his example that marriage is a sacrament and has an ideal much higher than the gratification of the senses. This ideal was not exemplified in the lives of Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Shankara, and the other avatars. It was demonstrated in the life of Ramakrishna to fulfill a great need. For the first time in the history of the world an absolutely pure married life was expressed through lifelong spiritual practices and austere disciplines. Sri Ramakrishna would say, “Let men cast their own lives in this mould and fashion an image of purity and perfect beauty.”

All Sri Ramakrishna’s emphasis was laid on prayer and meditation. Sri Ramakrishna was averse to all negative ideas. He would say, “If a man boldly says there is no poison, even the poison of a snakebite disappears.”

The Master came to make religion easy. People were being crushed under the weight of rules and regulations. To repeat the Lord’s name and to worship Him no special time and place are necessary. In whatever condition one may be, one can take His name. The Master never used to give too much importance to these external observances. The Master once sang a song to me and told me, “Assimilate any one of these ideas and you will reach the goal.” The song runs as follows:

“O Lord, Thou art my everything, the sole support of my life, the quintessence of reality. There is none else besides Thee in this world whom I can call as my own. Thou art happiness, peace, help, wealth, knowledge, intellect, and strength; Thou art the dwelling house and the pleasure garden; Thou art the friend and relative. Thou art this present life, the sole refuge; Thou art the life hereafter and the heaven; Thou art the injunction of the scriptures, the Guru full of blessings, and the store of infinite bliss. Thou art the way and the goal; Thou art the creator and preserver and the worshipped; Thou art the father that punishest Thy child, the loving mother and the storehouse of infinite bliss art Thou.”

If the mind does not become steadily fixed at the feet of Sri Sri Thakur, then pray to Him with yearning — “O Thakur, please make my mind steady.” Know definitely that Sri Sri Thakur is hearing all your words and is able to know all your thoughts and moods. Whatever you ask from Him with yearning, that indeed you will get.

20 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON Sri RAMAKRISHNA

Swami Vijnanananda

The Master is like the Ganga, and all sorts of people will come to him. Let them come. With whatever ideas they take refuge in him, they will get his blessings.

You should look upon the Master and the Holy Mother as one and the same. You must remember that without the Master’s grace you cannot get the Holy Mother just as without the Holy Mother’s grace you cannot get the Master. The Master is like Narayana and the Holy Mother is like Lakshmi. You should pray to the Holy Mother for strength without which nothing can be done. From the Master you should ask only for pure bhakti.

The Master’s photograph reveals an image of transcendence of all the six chakras. I see many things in it and so I talk about them.

He came to the world to save people. Go on repeating his name and peace will be yours. All the sins of the body and the mind are washed away if one looks at him for some time.

But don’t approach him with selfish desires.

To invoke the Master means imbibing some of his virtues. When a man thinks intensely about someone else, he comes to acquire some of the virtues of the latter.

Invoke the Mother. Everything will be all right then. The Master on the other hand, is very strict. He is not moved until everything is done punctiliously. The Mother is very kind.

21 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON REALITY

Swami Brahmananda

God is. Religion is true. These truths are not preached merely to make men moral or to keep an orderly society. God truly is; he is the Reality and he can be realized. He is true. There is no greater truth than he. There is nothing real outside; everything real is within.

Swami Shivananda

God alone is the one eternal substance, the abiding reality. It is necessary to be fully convinced of this in one’s heart. The one abiding Reality and the only Abode of peace is God.

[To the question: “How can it be proved that this world is unreal and Brahman alone is real?”]

If we observe closely the changeableness of things outside as well as within, we can be convinced of the unreality of the entire world. Every change perceived by the senses as happening outside has its counterpart within us. In proportion as the outer world is changeable, so is the inner world. By the reality of a thing is meant truly its existence at all times, eternally. 22 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON REALITY

Swami Ramakrishnananda

God is the only existence that is real; all other existences are unrealities behind which God exists as the reality. If you would find the Supreme Reality which lies behind all these hollow unrealities, you must be wholly devoted to it. You must worship the living God with your whole heart and give up the worship of things that perish. You must feel the utter hollowness of everything but Truth, as Nachiketa did. Wealth, kingdoms, enjoyments, power were to him nothing — less than a zero. He wanted nothing but Truth, and Truth was bound to come to him. You must have the same firm conviction about the hollowness of the material world and seek God with undivided devotion; then he will surely come to you.

It is because we are mistaking the real for the unreal, and the unreal for the real, that all this seems so serious to us. We are taking the play to be the real thing and the player to be unreal: whereas the player or God is the one reality and the play of creation is absolutely unreal. If you will analyze your own life, you will find out how vague and uncertain it is — a birth, a death and a little space between. Out of darkness you have come, into darkness you will go, and you call the space between ‘life’. There was no dream; then you dreamt, and then again there was no dream. A dream you look upon as unreal, but this little span of life is just as much a dream, just as unreal as the dream that comes to you in sleep. At any moment death may take you away.

What are the Himalayas? Just rock piled on rock. Look at all that is outside — the countless solar systems and the galaxies. The earth in the vastness of the heavens is only a minute point. Of what significance is it? The only reality in this universe is God.

Swami Saradananda

The reality must not be lost sight of. One must have a tight hold over it — the Truth, the only abiding thing in this fleeting world. The Master once told Hari Maharaj, “You are studying Vedanta. What’s the essence of it? Brahman alone is true and the Jagat is false. Isn’t it? Or anything else? What you require is the essence; throw off everything else.”

22 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON REALITY

Swami Ramakrishnananda

God is the only existence that is real, all other existences are unrealities behind which God exists as the reality.

If you would find the Supreme Reality which lies behind all these hollow unrealities, you must be wholly devoted to it. You must worship the living God with your whole heart and give up the worship of things that perish. You must feel the utter hollowness of everything but Truth, as Nachiketa did. Wealth, kingdoms, enjoyments, power were to him nothing — less than a zero. He wanted nothing but Truth and Truth was bound to come to him. You must have the same firm conviction about the hollowness of the material world and seek God with undivided devotion; then he will surely come to you.

It is because we are mistaking the real for the unreal, and the unreal for the real, that all this seems so serious to us. We are taking the play to be the real thing and the player to be unreal: whereas the player or God is the one reality and the play of creation is absolutely unreal. If you will analyze your own life, you will find out how vague and uncertain it is — a birth, a death and a little space between. Out of darkness you have come, into darkness you will go, and you call the space between ‘life’. There was no dream; then you dreamt, and then again there was no dream. A dream you look upon as unreal, but this little span of life is just as much a dream, just as unreal as the dream that comes to you in sleep. At any moment death may take you away.

What are the Himalayas? Just rock piled on rock. Look at all that is outside — the countless solar systems and the galaxies. The earth in the vastness of the heavens is only a minute point. Of what significance is it? The only reality in this universe is God.

Swami Saradananda

The reality must not be lost sight of. One must have a tight hold over it — the Truth, the only abiding thing in this fleeting world. The Master once told Hari Maharaj. ‘You are studying Vedanta. What’s the essence of it? Brahman alone is true and the Jagat is false. Isn’t it? Or anything else? What you require is the essence; throw off everything else.’

23 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

ON REALIZATION

Swami Brahmananda

People work so hard to pass an examination! To realise God is even easier than that. Only let them call on Him with a calm, cheerful heart. First know Him. After God-realization you may live in the world and your feet will not tread the wrong path. The world’s Maya will not be able to bind you. Then, no matter which way you follow — whether the way of knowledge, or the way of devotion, or the way of work — you and others will benefit immensely, and your human birth will be blessed. Through His grace “the knot of the heart, which is ignorance, is loosed, all doubts are dissolved, all evil effects of deeds are destroyed, when He who is both personal and impersonal is realized.”

Be simple and guileless. Without simplicity and childlike faith nobody can realize him. 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 out of Him!

The highest method of worship is meditation on the unity of the Atman and Brahman. This leads directly and immediately to God. The aspirant experiences Brahman; he knows that God is. 24 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

(Christmas Eve, December 1886)

In the middle of December, Baburam's mother, Matangini Devi, invited the young monks to visit her native village, Antpur, during the Christmas vacation. Narendra, Baburam, Sharat, Shashi, Tarak, Kali, Niranjan, Gangadhar and Sarada boarded the Tarakeswar train at Howrah Station. They had taken musical instruments with them. As soon as the train moved off, Narendra started singing, and the others joined in. They got down at Haripal station, and went to Antpur in a carriage. In the calm and quiet of the village, the spiritual fire in the young monks blazed up into a conflagration. Narendra's enthusiasm fanned the flames. The spirit of the Master as it were spoke and worked through him. He was intensely possessed by the vision of the sannyasi's life and would cry out, "Let man-making be the goal of our lives! Let us make this our only spiritual discipline! Away with vain learning! Let not the glamour of the world captivate our minds even for a moment! Realization of God is the one and only thing in life! That is what Shri Ramakrishna's life represented! We must realize God!"

Inspired by these thoughts and fired by a oneness of purpose, the young men became aware of a sense of unity—a feeling that they were all linked by some wonderful spiritual power. During their stay at Antpur they seemed to grow into one body, one mind and one soul. The days passed in sadhana. Ramakrishna was in their minds; his name on their lips. Upon all alike there seemed to descend a spirit of renunciation, a desire to take the sannyasi's vow, each in the presence of the others. The monastic spirit seemed to be intensified in their hearts, both for their own liberation and for the good of the world. Each disciple saw in his brother-disciples a world of spiritual force; and that vision intensified the love among them. This was as it should have been, for the Master's spirit was destined to be perpetuated. Thus at Antpur, in still hours, subtle things were happening, knitting the brothers together.

It all found expression one night before a huge Dhuni (sacred fire) in the compound. Overhead was the clear night sky, and all around was quiet. Meditation lasted a long time. When a break was made Narendra began to tell the story of Jesus, beginning with the mystery of his birth, through to his death and resurrection. Through his eloquence, the brother-disciples could catch something of the apostolic fervour that had impelled Paul to spread the Christian gospel far and wide in the face of adversities. Narendra charged them to become Christ themselves, and so aid in the redemption of the world; to realize God and to deny themselves as Jesus had done. Standing there before the sacred fire, their faces lit up by the flames, the crackling of the wood the sole disturbing sound, they took the vows of renunciation before God and one another. CHRISTMAS GREETINGS & A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

“I wish you all A Merry Christmas and A Very Happy New Year.” May the New Year bring abundant grace and spiritual life. May Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother, and Swami Vivekananda bless us all with devotion and Faith. With prayers, best wishes. Swami Dayatmananda.

How to Follow Christ and Disregard the World’s Prizes

The Lord says, “Whoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness” (John 8:12). Christ encourages us to pattern our lives after his so we can become spiritually enlightened. Our most important task, then, is to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ. Christ’s teaching is superior to all the teachings of the saints, and if you have the Spirit you will discover through him “the hidden manna” of the Word (Rev. 2:17). Many who have heard the gospel all their lives have not been affected by it because they do not have Christ’s Spirit. If you truly want to understand and enjoy the words of Christ you must attempt to live like him.

What is the point of scholarly discussion of a deep subject like the Unity, if you lack humility? You can be sure that profound talk does not make anyone holy and just, but a pure life pleases God. I would rather feel contrition than know its definition! If you knew the entire Bible by heart and were familiar with all the philosophers, what good would it all be without the love of God and his grace? Anything other than loving and serving God is “useless, useless, all useless” (Eccles. 1:2). Here is the wisest thing you can do: forget the world and seek the things of heaven.

24 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

(Christmas Eve, December 1886)

In the middle of December, Baburam's mother, Matangini Devi, invited the young monks to visit her native village, Antpur, during the Christmas vacation.

Narendra, Baburam, Sharat, Shashi, Tarak, Kali, Niranjan, Gangadhar and Sarada boarded the Tarakeswar train at Howrah Station. They had taken musical instruments with them. As soon as the train moved off, Narendra started singing, and the others joined in.

They got down at Haripal station, and went to Antpur in a carriage. In the calm and quiet of the village, the spiritual fire in the young monks blazed up into a conflagration. Narendra's enthusiasm fanned the flames. The spirit of the Master as it were spoke and worked through him.

He was intensely possessed by the vision of the sannyasi's life and would cry out, "Let man - making be the goal of our lives! Let us make this our only spiritual discipline! Away with vain learning! Let not the glamour of the world captivate our minds even for a moment! Realization of God is the one and only thing in life! That is what Shri Ramakrishna's life represented! We must realize God!"

Inspired by these thoughts and fired by a oneness of purpose, the young men became aware of a sense of unity--a feeling that they were all linked by some wonderful spiritual power. During their stay at Antpur they seemed to grow into one body, one mind and one soul.

The days passed in sadhana. Ramakrishna was in their minds; his name on their lips. Upon all alike there seemed to descend a spirit of renunciation, a desire to take the sannyasi's vow, each in the presence of the others. The monastic spirit seemed to be intensified in their hearts, both for their own liberation and for the good of the world.

Each disciple saw in his brother - disciples a world of spiritual force; and that vision intensified the love among them. This was as it should have been, for the Master's spirit was destined to be perpetuated.

Thus at Antpur, in still hours, subtle things were happening, knitting the brothers together.

It all found expression one night before a huge Dhuni (sacred fire) in the compound. Overhead was the clear night sky, and all around was quiet. Meditation lasted a long time.

When a break was made Narendra began to tell the story of Jesus, beginning with the mystery of his birth, through to his death and resurrection.

Through his eloquence, the brother - disciples could catch something of the apostolic fervour that had impelled Paul to spread the Christian gospel far and wide in the face of adversities.

Narendra charged them to become Christ themselves, and so aid in the redemption of the world; to realize God and to deny themselves as Jesus had done.

Standing there before the sacred fire, their faces lit up by the flames, the crackling of the wood the sole disturbing sound, they took the vows of renunciation before God and one another. The very air was vibrant with their ecstatic fervour.

Strangely, the monks discovered afterwards that all this had happened on Christmas - eve!

May Sri Ramakrishna as Christ bless us all with devotion.

26 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna. (Today is the auspicious birthday of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi. On this sacred day may the Divine Mother bless us all with Bhakti.)

Let us remember always the Ten Commandments of the Holy Mother:

1. You have a Mother; I am your Mother.

2. You are my child; live like my child.

3. Remember me whenever you are in distress.

4. If you want peace of mind, do not find fault with others.

5. Find fault with yourself.

6. No one is a stranger.

7. This world is your own.

8. Make it your own.

9. *Japat Siddhih.* Japa confers God-realization.

10. There is no difference between me and Sri Ramakrishna.

27 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna. (Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi The Holy Mother)

“One may commit a fault while serving a great soul. It happens in this way: while he enjoys the privileges of such service, his egotism increases. He then wants to control, like a doll, the person he serves. He wants to boss the latter in everything—eating, sitting, or rising. He loses the spirit of service.” 28 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi The Holy Mother)

"But why should it be so with those who serve their superiors, forgetting their own comforts and looking upon the latter's pleasure and pain as their own? And you are talking of the downfall of the attendants!

Many great souls surround themselves with riches and splendour. This attracts many to come to them as attendants. Such attendants become intoxicated with the enjoyment of their position and so they pave the way to their own downfall. Tell me how many there are who can render service in the proper spirit? You see, the reflection of the moon falls on the water of the lake. At this the small minnows jump about in ecstatic joy, thinking that the moon reflected in the water is really one of them. But when the moon sets, they remain as before. After exhausting themselves in glee, they fall into a state of depression. They cannot understand what it is all about."

"Where is that competent student who can understand spiritual instruction? First of all, one should be fit; otherwise, the instructions prove futile. If the disciple is good, the Guru is also benefited thereby."

"Disciple: 'Do those who give up their bodies in a state of unconsciousness attain to a higher spiritual state afterwards?'

Mother: 'The thought that is uppermost in the mind before one loses consciousness determines the course of one's soul after death. Though one gets a new body on account of desires, yet one does not completely lose spiritual consciousness if one has to one's credit merits from previous births.'"

"A devotee came to Mother one day and called her 'Mother', to which she replied, 'Yes, my son.'

The devotee then said, 'Mother, I called you "Mother" and you responded saying "Yes". What more fear need I have?'

Mother corrected him saying, 'No, my boy, don't you speak thus. "He who is diffident wins in the end."'"

"One day a disciple said to the Mother, 'Mother, no bad ideas come to my mind.'

With a start she stopped him and said, 'Don't say that. One must not say such a thing.'"

"One who speaks out at the proper time is a true friend. There is no use for sympathy at the wrong time."

"Everyone can break down some thing, but how many can build it up?"

"The Master used to say that one should learn from the scriptures that God alone is real and the world illusory. Suppose I write to you a letter asking you to bring certain things for me. How long do you need the letter? So long as you do not know its contents. But when you have known the contents of the letter do you need it any longer? Then you will procure those things and come to me. On the other hand, what is the good of reading the letter day and night?"

29 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi The Holy Mother)

"In the opinion of worldly men it is not proper to visit a holy place at an inauspicious time. It is true that one may put off such a pious intention, considering the impropriety of the time, but death does not make any distinction of time. As none knows when death may come, one should carry out pious intentions whenever the opportunity presents itself, without waiting for a particular time."

"Whenever you go from one place to another, observe the things around you, and also keep yourself well informed about what happens in the place where you live. But keep your lips shut."

"It is essential that one should work. It is through work alone that one may break asunder the bonds of Karma; only then is one free from desires. One shouldn't be without work even for a single moment."

"New devotees should be given the privilege of service in the shrine room. Their new zeal makes them serve the Lord carefully. The others are tired of service. Service, in the real sense of the word, is not a joke. One should be extremely careful about making His service perfectly flawless."

28 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi The Holy Mother)

"Where is that competent student who can understand spiritual instruction? First of all, one should be fit; otherwise, the instructions prove futile.

"If the disciple is good, the Guru is also benefited thereby.

Disciple: "Do those who give up their bodies in a state of unconsciousness attain to a higher spiritual state afterwards?

Mother: "The thought that is uppermost in the mind before one loses consciousness determines the course of one's soul after death.

"Though one gets a new body on account of desires, yet one does not completely lose spiritual consciousness if one has to one's credit merits from previous births.

A devotee came to Mother one day and called her "Mother", to which she replied, "Yes, my son."

The devotee then said, "Mother, I called you 'Mother' and you responded saying 'Yes'. What more fear need I have?

Mother corrected him saying, "No, my boy, don't you speak thus. 'He who is diffident wins in the end.'“

One day a disciple said to the Mother, "Mother, no bad ideas come to my mind."

With a start she stopped him and said, "Don't say that. One must not say such a thing.

"One who speaks out at the proper time is a true friend. There is no use for sympathy at the wrong time.

"Everyone can break down some thing, but how many can build it up?

"The Master used to say that one should learn from the scriptures that God alone is real and the world illusory. Suppose I write to you a letter asking you to bring certain things for me. How long do you need the letter? So long as you do not know its contents. But when you have known the contents of the letter do you need it any longer? Then you will procure those things and come to me. On the other hand, what is the good of reading the letter day and night?

29 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi The Holy Mother)

A devotee came to Mother one day and called her “Mother”, to which she replied, “Yes, my son.” The devotee then said, “Mother, I called you ‘Mother’ and you responded saying ‘Yes’. What more fear need I have?” Mother corrected him saying, “No, my boy, don’t you speak thus. ‘He who is diffident wins in the end.’”

One day a disciple said to the Mother, “Mother, no bad ideas come to my mind.” With a start she stopped him and said, “Don’t say that. One must not say such a thing. One who speaks out at the proper time is a true friend. There is no use for sympathy at the wrong time. Everyone can break down something, but how many can build it up?”

“The Master used to say that one should learn from the scriptures that God alone is real and the world illusory. Suppose I write to you a letter asking you to bring certain things for me. How long do you need the letter? So long as you do not know its contents. But when you have known the contents of the letter, do you need it any longer? Then you will procure those things and come to me. On the other hand, what is the good of reading the letter day and night?”

“In the opinion of worldly men it is not proper to visit a holy place at an inauspicious time. It is true that one may put off such a pious intention, considering the impropriety of the time, but death does not make any distinction of time. As none knows when death may come, one should carry out pious intentions whenever the opportunity presents itself, without waiting for a particular time.”

“Whenever you go from one place to another, observe the things around you, and also keep yourself well informed about what happens in the place where you live. But keep your lips shut.”

“It is essential that one should work. It is through work alone that one may break asunder the bonds of Karma; only then is one free from desires. One shouldn’t be without work even for a single moment.”

“New devotees should be given the privilege of service in the shrine room. Their new zeal makes them serve the Lord carefully. The others are tired of service. Service, in the real sense of the word, is not a joke. One should be extremely careful about making His service perfectly flawless. But the truth is, God knows our foolishness and therefore He forgives us.”

“One must work in the shrine room with great attention. Offerings and the rest should be made in proper time.”

30 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Today is the auspicious birthday of Revered Swami Shivanandaji Maharaj. On this sacred day may the Swami bless us all with Bhakti.)

Mahapurush Swami Shivanandaji was one of Sri Ramakrishna's blessed direct disciples who dedicated their lives at the feet of the Master and served as his principal aides in carrying out his divine mission. I came to know the Swami intimately first at Dakshineswar and later in other places. It was in Sri Ramakrishna's room at Dakshineswar that I first met him, sometime in 1884, fifty-two or fifty-three years ago. Tall and slim, he impressed me as being fearless. The Master said to him: “Look here, many people, young and old, come to this place. I seldom ask them anything about their home and family connections. But I feel like making an exception in your case. Tell me where you come from and what your father's name is.” In reply, Mahapurush told the Master about his father and family. After hearing him Sri Ramakrishna rejoined: “Oh, I see, you are the son of Ram Kanai. I know your father very well. He is a highly developed soul. You will certainly make progress along spiritual lines.”

31 December 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

(Teachings of Swami Shivananda)

A monk of the Order said: “Maharaj, should we not sometimes leave the monastery and go somewhere else for the practice of austerity and meditation? Are not visiting holy places and wandering as itinerant monks also favourable to the monastic life?”

Swami: “My child, in common parlance it is said that a rolling stone gathers no moss. Aimless wandering by itself cannot be beneficial in the spiritual realm, nor can it help one towards God-realization. But with the aim of getting rid of the ego and fostering a spirit of full reliance on God, one may periodically subsist on food gathered from many places, or live a life of total seclusion without any possession, or wander about a little. Undoubtedly such courses can be helpful, but there is no necessity for pursuing them year after year.”

Swami Adbhutananda used to say: “Where would you roam? Children of Sri Ramakrishna should stay in one place.”

It is very true. He who has peace within is peaceful everywhere. And where would you go and why? He, the Lord, is within. That is why the Master often sang:

Stay by yourself, O my mind!

Why wander here and there?

Look within, in the inner chamber of your heart;

You will find whatever you wish there.

He, the invaluable Philosopher’s Stone,

Can fulfil your most cherished desires.

You know not, O my mind,

What treasures lie strewn

At the entrance of the mansion of the Lord!*

Swami Shivananda sang the song again and again in his unusually sweet voice. After a brief pause he said: “The end of this song, especially, contains profound truth. At His door everything is available—enjoyment, liberation and even the knowledge of Brahman. But, my child, you will have to seek, you will have to ask longingly. This seeking is what is called spiritual practice. If one sincerely longs for the vision of Him, He is sure to bless him. When once out of compassion He opens the gate and awakens the kundalini, the latent spiritual power, you realize that everything is within. But nothing can be achieved without the awakening of the kundalini through His grace.”

Daily Messages - 2021: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 01:55, 31 August 2026

Messages from Swami Dayatmananda

1 January 2021

HEARTY KALPATARU GREETINGS

2 January 2021

3 January 2021

Finding Peace

4 January 2021

The Value of Adversity

How to Resist Temptation

5 January 2021

THE WORSHIP OF SHODASI

6 January 2021

How to Resist Temptation

7 January 2021

How to Resist Temptation

8 January 2021

Passing Judgment

Living with imperfections in others

Peace does not come from others

9 January 2021

10 January 2021

11 January 2021

Understanding Human Misery

12 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

13 January 2021

Thinking About Death

14 January 2021

Divine Judgment

15 January 2021

Good Advice for Good Living

The Inner Life

16 January 2021

17 January 2021

The Giddy Fish

18 January 2021

Thinking About Death

19 January 2021

20 January 2021

Thinking About Death

21 January 2021

Divine Judgment

22 January 2021

Good Advice for Good living

23 January 2021

ADVICE CONCERNING INWARD THINGS

24 January 2021

Humility

25 January 2021

It is Good to Be Peaceable

26 January 2021

Jai Ramakrishna

Simplicity and Purity

27 January 2021

What Comes Naturally and What Is a Gift from God

28 January 2021

The Joy of a Clean Conscience

29 January 2021

How to Be Christ’s Close Friend

30 January 2021

When We Can Find No Comfort

31 January 2021

Be Thankful for God’s Grace

1 February 2021

Only a Few Love the Cross

2 February 2021

The Royal Highway of the Holy Cross

3 February 2021

Christ Speaks Inwardly to the Faithful Soul

The Truth Speaks Within us without Noisy Words

4 February 2021

5 February 2021

6 February 2021

Topic: *Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram*

Topic: *Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13*

Meeting ID: 246 270 8251

Password: 12221853

Jai Ramakrishna

Topic: Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram

Topic: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13

Topic: Sri Dakshinamurthy Stotram

Topic: Bhagavad Gita Chapter 13