[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
[now a Centre of the international Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission]
DAILY READINGS
Transcribed from the recordings made by Mother Radha
Day 1049
Devotee asks: If you are sincerely spiritual, will the material look after itself?
Swamiji: No, it won't look after itself. You must treat it as duty and look after it. Understand what I mean? Only a yogi can speak like that. A yogi won't care about anything because what he desires - will happen. But what you desire doesn't happen. So until that [state] is reached, you have to look after it. And then, if you become a yogi, you will understand that other people can't do that. So you will do what is dharmic [righteous]. You will do everything according to dharma. You will serve, you will do everything, you will look after things. You will tell others, "this is valuable," – only valuable as far as using it goes. Not getting attached to it and calling it your own.
You see, if at the ashrama [monastery, spiritual retreat], if the swami or the sannyasins [monks] just treat it anyhow and take it for granted, [thinking] "I am spiritual," everything will go chaotic. But you see, you have a Constitution [for the organisation] and you must see that dharma embodying the Constitution is implemented.
Devotee: Not neglected…
Swamiji: No, you can't neglect your body and say you are spiritual. Unless you reach the stage, where, as I told you, what you desire happens. And [then] you will always desire for the best. Because then the whole universe becomes your body. Apparently you are here, but you are all over. You know that. Therefore what is there to look after? Because your [higher] Self, you [lower self] can't look after.
There's a stage when you take the Lord, singular, and meditate on him. Then it must [also] be in universal form - Vishwaroop. Your deity, whether it is Shiva, Kali, Krishna…because Krisha showed it practically. People only go for Krishna as a deity - but it's not just Krishna. [It's the same with] Any deity. First you meditate on the form. Then that form must be meditated on in universal form - Vishwaroop – and then it must become formless, nameless [Brahman]. Krishna gives you the three stages in the [Bhagavad] Gita. So that's how you reach the highest truth. First the formless, when the whole universe becomes God. You see it pulsating, then you find the universe has come out of something formless, nameless. It's not extracting anything but it's merging. Like a drop of water merges into the river and the river merges with the ocean.
It's a wonderful meditation. Read between the lines in the scriptures and you'll see what I mean. Some people, when you tell them to meditate on the deity, they get so fed up [irritated], they think, "what this – this deity is not taking me any higher." But when you sit, inside here, you will know straight away, "no, it needs another step now, so it will push slowly." Until then, just get the intense yearning to know a little more truth and then the yearning will push you a little bit. Like Indra [king of the Hindu gods] came [to Prajapati] for the first time [see story at footnote]. Vairocana [king of the demons] came the first time. He made a mistake, He thought the body was everything. So he told his gang, "eat, drink and be merry." But Indra said, "wait a minute, that's not it, that doesn't die - this body dies." He came back to ask again. So intense yearning to know the truth [is essential]…and he came again…and each time he came to know a little bit more. Like that. I don't know how many times he came, three or four times or six times. And pushed and pushed until he got it. People make a mistake to think that ordinary people just touch and it happens like that. It won't happen. An Incarnation [avatar] will say, like Christ said, "behold!," and you could see it. Ramakrishna just touched – "wake up, Mother!" and the person got into samadhi [superconsciousness]. It can't happen to everybody. Others must go – pushing gear [working, struggling]
Footnote: Indra and Vairocana story.
This story is found in the last chapter of the Chandogya Upanishad:
Vairocana, kind of the demons, and Indra, king of the gods, approached Prajapati, the creator god, to be taught about the Atman – the Self, which is without disease or death. Prajapati told them that the person seen in the eye was the Atman. He asked them to adorn themselves and look at their reflections in a pot of water and said that what they would see was the Atman.
They then started home. Vairocana followed the advice, saw the reflection of his own body in the waterpot and began to worship himself as the Atman, indulging in all the pleasures of the body. Indra also followed the advice, saw his own perishable body in the waterpot and doubted how his perishable body could be the imperishable Atman. So he returned to Prajapati for further instruction. Prajapati said to him that the person of the dream was the Atman, for when the physical body is hurt in dream the dream body is not hurt.
Even then Indra was not satisfied, for even though the dream person may forget the pains of the physical body and not be touched by them, he suffers from dream experiences as when a man dreams [fearfully] that he is being attacked by a tiger. Then Prajapati said that a person in deep, dreamless sleep was the Atman. But again Indra was not satisfied, for the person in deep sleep knows nothing, is unconscious and is not a master of himself. In addition even deep sleep comes to an end. Then Prajapati revealed to Indra that the Atman, the seer of all, is beyond deep sleep; it is body-less, unfettered and beyond the reach of pains and pleasures.
1) Care should be taken by the reader to understand and take Swamiji's words in these postings, in context. Every teaching or instruction that he gave was specific to the people who were with Swamiji at the time.
2) Mouse-over the words highlighted in red in the posting for further explanation or links.
There are currently available, 150 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order.
For more about the Holy Trinity, and also the founding Swamis of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, please mouse over their names below:
Sri Ramakrishna Sri Sarada Devi Swami Vivekananda
Swami Nischalananda Swami Shivapadananda
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna - read online
Reference websites - please mouse over the name and click to connect:
Ramakrishna Math and Mission Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa Ramakrishna Dham
