Swami Shivapadananda

Anger as manipulation

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

673

   

The difference between human beings and the deities is that humans say, 'I like this and I don't like that,' but the deities will straight away say, 'I like this.' If you say, 'I do not like that,' they will keep quiet; they never say they do not like something.

Women are not supposed to get angry too quickly. Anger can be shown in many different ways. Anger is a thing that blackmails the husbands. If you lovingly get angry it is just as good as getting hatefully angry - you should not get angry.

Now, the husbands, even in words, should try to please their wives. The wives too in thought, word and deed should try to please the husbands.

Life is not a play. It is said: 'But once only you will pass on the face of this Earth' - after that you are gone. Who knows when you will come next? Maybe your husband will be a demon and you will be a demoness. Perhaps you will not have the opportunity to practise what you can practise now as a human being.

Sri Sarada Devi's life was full of trials and tribulations from the beginning. She went through more difficulties than an ordinary wife goes through today and yet she remained calm. She never became angry.

Sri Ramakrishna said to one of his nephews, 'In this [meaning himself] if something gets angry it is nothing; but in that body [meaning Sri Sarada Devi] if that thing gets angry, even Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh [Shiva] cannot save you.'

It was she that made him great. It was she that told him, 'I have come to help you, not to bring you down.' He surrendered like a true bhakta [devotee] to a goddess and said, 'Look I am your husband, do what you like to me.' And she, just like a true goddess, said, 'Nay, I have manifested myself as vidya maya not avidya maya. I have come here to uplift you and not to bring you down.'

1) Care should be taken by the reader to understand and take Swamiji's words in these postings, in context. Every teaching or instruction that he gave was specific to the people who were with Swamiji at the time. 2) Mouse-over the words highlighted in red in the posting for further explanation or links.

There are currently available, over 100 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order. Click HERE for the second website on Swamiji's life and teachings.

Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Nischalananda Puri, Swami Shivapadananda

Click Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna to read online...

Reference websites (please mouse-over the name to connect): Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of SA, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Ramakrishna Dham, Swami Shivapadananda 2

 

On birth, Maya and balance

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

629

   

[Swamiji continues speaking about the Bhagavad Gita]

I am not manifest to all beings as I am veiled by yogamaya [the divine power of illusion/delusion] . . .

God is present everywhere, but He does not show Himself in everything. If there is a flaming fire, you can see the fire; but if you see two dry sticks, though the fire is in them too, it is not manifest; but if you rub the sticks together hard enough the fire is manifested. So God is present in everyone. But do not think that everyone can be treated alike. The lion may be God and the man may be God, but the man cannot sweetly say, 'Lion, you are a god, come to me.' The lion will say, 'A lovely breakfast has arrived today.' [laughter] So you have to treat each case accordingly. Admire the lion from afar. Admire the bad man from afar. Say, 'God is present there.'

This deluded world does not know Me, the unborn and imperishable.

The Lord consciously comes to the world and consciously leaves the world, hence He is unborn. God says, 'I did not take birth, the body took birth though I was inside that.' But because you ignorantly came into this world, you are born. And when you ignorantly leave this world, you will die. But when you knowingly come into this world and knowingly leave this world, you are never born and you never die. Therefore God never dies.

'This deluded world,' means there is a lot of maya [illusion/delusion] in this world. In the Upanishad [Hindu philosophical treatises]  it is said: 'O Lord, withdraw all your golden coloured rays so I will be able to see the Purusha [the Atman] in the sun.' This means: take away all these pleasures, these sensual entrapments, so that I may be able to realise the truth.

By the delusion of the pairs of opposites, rising from desire and aversion . . .

You are either attracted to somebody or repelled. Instead you must be like Buddha - be in the middle path. Do not be attracted nor repelled; just be calm, quiet. When the veena [pictured] string is over-tuned it snaps and when the veena is under-tuned it does not play. So just tune it right and you will find everything is God. If you do not adjust the lens of a camera properly it takes a blurred picture. Similarly, you have not adjusted your senses yet to purity, so it takes blurred pictures. But if you adjust a lens correctly it takes beautiful pictures, doesn't it? So now you have to adjust yourself through sadhana  [spiritual practice].

1) Care should be taken by the reader to understand and take Swamiji's words in these postings, in context. Every teaching or instruction that he gave was specific to the people who were with Swamiji at the time. 2) Mouse-over the words highlighted in red in the posting for further explanation or links.

There are currently available, over 100 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order. Click HERE for the second website on Swamiji's life and teachings.

Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Sarada Devi, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Nischalananda Puri, Swami Shivapadananda

Click Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna to read online...

Reference websites (please mouse-over the name to connect): Ramakrishna Math and Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of SA, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Ramakrishna Dham, Swami Shivapadananda 2

 

Swami Shivapadananda on what is behind what we see

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 280

There are three states of consciousness, deep sleep, dream, waking. You dream of Swamiji prostrating to his guru. You wake up. Where is Swamiji, where is his guru? Then you know.

Shiva is linked with Ganga [the river Ganges]  who is auspiciousness.

But what underlies all this? What is behind them? That you have to find. Then you will know.

If God is omnipresent, think of Him in this statue [image, murthi or picture] and in that statue. Realise Him there. Shiva is the master of the five elements: Water/Ganga, Earth/body, fire/third-eye, air/prana [Qi, Chri or Universal Life Force], and ether [Akasa (pr: a-kaa-sha) - all-pervading space]/all space is inside Him. Shiva’s bija [mystic seed or essence] mantra is namah shivaya. The five parts are: na, ma, shi, vi, ya.

Either I see myself as Spirit and so in all. (That is, these hands do the work - I do nothing; these eyes do the seeing - I do nothing. I am the silent witness.) Or: I am nothing.

Christ is more crucified today than ever before. In his life he made eleven men selfless and one man more selfish. All Masters are the same.

Only when you offer every action to God will you be pure. This is true surrender. When the mind is turned to God, it cannot go against conscience. Dreams even are sattvic [pure, harmonious].

Hold your deity’s feet in your heart and repeat:
Mukam karoti vacalam pangum langhayate girim
yat kripa tamaham vande paramananda madhavam

Meaning: I salute that Madhava [divine presence], the source of supreme bliss, whose grace makes the dumb eloquent and the cripple cross mountains. [Verse 8 of the Bhagavad Gita Dhyanam, or meditation on the Bhagavad Gita.]

 

Swami Shivapadananda on mind-management

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 275

Question: They say the devil destroys one, is that wrong? Swamiji: It is right because it refers to unrighteousness, and good can never come out of it. Man makes his own destiny. Pray.

Question: What is the difference between praying once and often? Swamiji: It is like this - you come here one day and I am not here so you do not come here again. If you come every day, what do you get? Mountains high [of benefits].

Offer every action as a flower at God’s feet. When we worship God we do not expect anything. Apply this to your daily life. We want no reward. Feel that it gives you great joy.

Thus service becomes worship. Selfishness disappears and there is great happiness. Who is the performer of these actions? The energy of God, Shakti. When worship is directed in and through all, the ego is gone. That is liberation.

Love is a tender green plant in me but it can only grow because the hate that was there before has gone. Between hate and love there is the razor-edge path, the fulcrum [balance point on a see-saw], the balance of life.

Karma comes to an end only when I uproot the roots of karma within myself. The quality of violence is where? In me. How does energy, comprising my mind, become violence? Once I see it I begin to throw it away, then there is no more violence in me.

As fire is to the flame, so God is to God’s nature - that is, light, heat, smoke. Light is clear, divine, illumined. The world is clear, the mind is clear, my role is clear and I go about it. There are no doubts, [there is] no vacillation. Heat is passion, dynamism. Smoke blinds. As you sow, so it grows. That is, out of a certain action, there will be certain fruit.

 

Swami Shivapadananda on the complexity of the body

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 255

Life is such a glorious thing. Take a day off and think about it. But do it after sadhana [spiritual practice], because that is when the mind is most calm.

The body is complicated. Think of the heart, the lungs, look at the eye, the ear. Is feeling the same in an ant as in a man? Do ants get headaches? Each is glorifying the same thing - till it comes [down] to the atom. But we do not think. We take things for granted.

The easiest way to progress in spiritual life is to keep the mind pure. Do japa [repetition of a mantra or God’s names].

Question [from devotee]: Are you saying do japa all the time? Swamiji: Do it whenever you get the chance. God is not fussy, because He is Infinite and we are so small. All religions are only to give you intense yearning for God.

When you think deeply, certain questions arise.

If you see a fault, it is not there, it is here. Do not pick others out for their mistakes. If fifty people are rogues, why should I care? I must not be a rogue. Consider yourself a student. Put discipline on yourself.

Self-pity is evil.

[Pictured: The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. Former residence of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Pray for the Chinese regime to develop compassion and tolerance.]

 

Swami Shivapadananda on knowing who we really are

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 175

Ganesha [The Hindu god remover of obstacles] is OM [Or AUM: the sound symbol mantra encompassing the entire Sanskrit alphabet from A thru U (the middle) to the end M]. 

This is because Om is the first [primordial] sound. It is God Itself. [See footnote].

The elephant is the animal that is nearest to the vibration of OM. The Infinite - the elephant - is all ears and we are all mouth. We do not lend our ears to hear. We are “I” specialists: “I did this,” “I did that,” “I did everything.”

If a man must speak, let him speak the highest. If a man must hear, let him hear the highest.

Ganesha cares about the feeling of devotion, the love.

People get angry with someone else - but that anger hurts them themselves.

In India I asked a holy old man, “What is maya [the so-called ‘veil of delusion’ that prevents us from remembering who we really are]?” He said with his eyes full of tears, “When God fails to do something, Maya is the power which does it for God.” Maya is the power of God.

Sri Ramakrishna said, “So long as I live I learn.” So long as this ‘I’ is in you, you are ignorant. So long as you think you are the body, you must learn that you are not the body. When I know I am Spirit, I stop learning - I am One without a second.

Seers always speak the truth. Sri Ramakrishna spoke the truth for twelve years, and whatever he said came true.

You may do something spiritual on your own. But there must be a scriptural source of reference to know if it is right or wrong.

Footnote: The Christian Bible book of Genesis starts with the words, ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.’ Same sound.

 

Swami Shivapadananda on different forms of God realisation

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 95

Though Totapuri [Sri Ramakrishna’s Advaita (non-dual) Vedanta ‘teacher’] had realised God [as a non-dual, formless experience], ignorance was still attached to him. One time he said to Sri Ramakrishna, “Why are you wasting your time with this unreal world?”

Later we find that Totapuri got complete knowledge. Then Sri Ramakrishna said, “Ah, now I see you are a complete man, a perfect man.”

What Totapuri took forty years to realise, Master [Sri Ramakrishna] realised in three days. When Master was clapping and singing the name of the gods and goddesses he was rebuked by the guru, Totapuri. The guru said to him, “You have realised the highest. Why are you still making chapati?” [In making chapati (a circular, flat, unleavened bread) the kneaded dough is slapped between the hands (or rolled) to flatten it. So this was a reference to Master’s joyful clapping].

In reply Sri Ramakrishna said some very sweet words: “You told me that Mother [the female aspect of the Divine Consciousness] does not exist, the world does not exist.” Then the devotee in Sri Ramakrishna cried to the Divine Mother, “Ma, Totapuri teased me, he said you do not exist!” That night Totapuri got terrible stomach pain. So he thought: “All this is unreal, I must give up this body.” [see footnote 1] So he went to the Ganga [river Ganges] and walked in. He walked from one bank to the other but did not drown. This was across the Ganga that will take a big ship! Totapuri began to say, “Ah, Mother . . .” Then, in a flash, She revealed Herself by Herself. And he said, “Ah, Mother, You exist!”

Before he had known nirvikalpa samadhi [non-dual super-consciousness] but he did not know Mother, and that the world is also an expression of God’s divinity. [See footnote 2] 

Thus Totapuri sat and thought deeply: “The ego is here, not there. The ego is part of the illusion. Till the ego does not disappear, God will never be revealed.” Sri Ramakrishna said to him, “Now you are a perfect man.” The devotee Sri Ramakrishna revealed the greatness of God to the guru, Totapuri. That is the avatar [incarnation].

The relative world is also God in a different form. What happens is that if you realise that this world is an expression of God, you have spiritualised the world. Sadhakas [spiritual aspirants] must live constantly spiritualising the world.

[Footnote 1: 'Jal (water) samadhi' refers to a holy person consciously giving up their body (when it no longer serves their purpose) in a river or other expanse of water. We might think it's 'suicide', but because they consciously relinquish the body, rather than 'drown' the body, it is not.]

[Footnote 2]: Sri Ramakrishna very frequently referred to Jnana (knowledge) and Vijnana. i.e. the obverse and reverse of the coin of God Realisation. Jnanis realise God or the Self as an impersonal, non-dual (formless) experience. The Vijnani would have that realisation plus the personal (dualistic, with form) experience. Sri Ramakrishna stressed that Vijnana was the 'fuller' realisation.

Posted by Clive Simpkins

 

Swami Shivapadananda on illusion

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 94

An excerpt from “Children of the Rishis” by Swami Vivekananda

Few lands can claim that their great ones were Rishis, seers of Truth. The things of the world seem to be made of the pairs of opposites - and made to go together – for example husband and wife. You must have a counterpart to make the glory of the light of the Rishis shine out. In Hinduism, in Vedanta [literal meaning: end of the Vedas, summation of, final word on], the religion of the Rishi, it usually deals with the Knowledge that swallows all other knowledge, when secular knowledge comes to an end. One designation of this ability is known as Vedanta.

The Vedas teach you how to fulfil your desires, how to live happily in this world, through comforting and protecting others etc. And this is swallowed by that Knowledge, knowing which, all other knowledge is known. The seer of Truth should know not only the Truth, but what is ignorance - meaning complete knowledge.

Totapuri [the Advaita (non-dual) Vedanta ‘teacher’ of Sri Ramakrishna] realized God, the Supreme Lord, in nirvikalpa samadhi [super-consciousness of the non-dual, formless] and called it Brahman, according to the Vedas, and said, “This world is a world of magic. It is illusory in the form in which we see it.”

Swamiji: To whom is the world illusory? It is illusory to us who are the children of the Rishis [Seers, sages, saints]. Why? Because the Rishis realized it and say it is so. The whole world appears to be, but it is not so. The Vedas say: Maya [the veil/force of illusion] cannot be said to appear or disappear. Whilst it is there, it is there - like the snake and the rope [*see footnote]. The snake is the reality to whom? To the ignorant man. After finding the rope you cannot say, “It did not exist,” or, “It did exist.” You can only say, “I saw the reality as something else.” Swami Vivekananda calls this ‘the world play of God’ [this is where the term ‘lila’ (pronounced leela) is frequently used].

* the rope analogy: The Hindu scriptures and teachers say that if you come across a rope lying on the ground, in the dark, you may mistake it for a snake. It isn’t a snake and never was, but the illusion of the snake is there.

Posted by Clive Simpkins