Swami Shivapadananda

Truth and Austerity

 

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

775

 

What you think – the words – you must say the same thing and when you say that and you act accordingly, then only your prayer will be answered. Not that you go in the shrine and say, 'God, God, you are my father, and all the world are your children, and we are brothers and sisters' and you come outside and treat someone like a dog. Or hate somebody, talk ill about somebody. God never answers the prayers of people like that. You have to be pure inside and pure outside. Then only, whatever you say will come right.

Khudiram [the father of Sri Ramakrishna] – how did he lose his little piece of land? How? The landlord there [in the village of Karmarpukur in West Bengal, India] said, 'Look, there's a man I don't like. I'm going to take him to court. You must come as a witness. And Khudiram said, 'But that man didn't do what you claim.' The landlord said, 'Well, you must give false evidence.' Khudiram said 'No! I will not.' The landlord replied, 'Well, you know what the result will be. I will take you off this land.' Khudiram responded: 'Never mind if you take me out'. The landlord repeated, 'I'll take your land.' Khudiram replied: 'Take it, but I will not go to court.' And truly, he did not go to court to give false evidence - and the landlord chased Khudiram away from there, and he was left without property. Until some [sympathetic] people got together and got five acres more land somewhere else and they built a place.

God [Sri Ramakrishna the Incarnation – avatar] was born in that house [pictured above] - where man practices truthfulness. He doesn't just come into anyone's house. You have to burn in the fire of truth. How do you burn in the fire of truth? Ramakrishna Paramahamsa's father was truthful, therefore so much pain and misery came on him, that his land and house and everything was taken away. That means he suffered for the sake of truth. His ego was burning in the fire of truth and that is tapasya [austerity, self-denial]. That is tapasya. 'Tapa' means heat. The heat of truthfulness makes you suffer and when it makes you suffer, you give way to greater things in your life. And that is what Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said: If one practices for twelve years – truth – speak the truth, whatever he says with his mouth will come true. Whatever he says. Out of truth Sri Ramakrishna was born. And he practised truth and he realised truth, called God.

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.

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

Meaning of Satchidananda

 

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

757

   

[Pravrajika] Atmaprana [the first Sannyasini (Hindu nun) of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]: Would Swamiji say that it is sat chit, or Satchidananda together?

Swamiji: Satchidananda is only One. It is different aspects of that One. The dispelling power of darkness is in the lamp. When the light comes on what happens? The darkness goes.

Sat is existence. Then side by side it has knowledge - which makes me see a thing in its rightful place. And because of that I feel happy - ananda - no confusion there. So all three are in One. Sat is not different from chit and chit is not different from ananda. The whole three are only One - Satchidananda.

We are trying to express the different attributes of the same thing. Ultimately Satchidananda is only the limited reading the Unlimited. You can't give a description of the highest Thing. 'Absolute' never has a description, never will have a description.

The question people will put to you is, 'Didn't Sri Shankaracharya limit the Unlimited by saying Satchidananda?' My answer is emphatically, 'Yes and no.' Yes, if you take it from your point of view, that we describe it so it has to be limited. That which is beyond description is unlimited. But it was put there only to remove the limited, so you will get to the Unlimited.

When I say it is sat it means it is existence, not non-existence. So it removes non-existence. And ultimately that which I know as existence must go too. What do I know about existence, as ordinary man? It is too limited. So sat is put there to make it 'that which is existence'. We don't mean that which is non-existence. And ultimately the existence that I know must go, because the Absolute cannot be thought of. How can you think of absolute? So as long as I am thinking of something, it is not that existence we are talking of - sat.

[Continued in post 758]

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  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

Truthfulness and why you’re born where you’re born

 

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

755

   

One thing stands out in the life of Sri Ramakrishna's father [Khudiram Chattopaydhyaya]: truthfulness. Because of truthfulness all his wealth was lost. He was a man who stuck to truth. He was a person who, therefore, would not tell lies about his visions. We can infer from these facts that he must have been telling the truth about Master's [Sri Ramakrishna's] conception because he stood by truth for all those years before Master was born. In him the quality of truth was prevalent.

There was the incident when they asked Master's father to lie before the magistrate in court. He wouldn't do it.

This the public needs to hear about. Stress must really be made on this particular topic. Bearing these facts in mind Master's life will have a different meaning altogether. When one reads Sri Ramakrishna's life one could possibly start thinking, 'Is this true? Is that true?' But straight away a divine quality is attributed to him when one speaks about his father's quality from the beginning.

One fact you must get across clearly to the devotees and the public is that the soul is attracted to where its desires are, to where its work has to be fulfilled. Now Sri Ramakrishna was essentially a teacher of universality, and Swami Vivekananda was that soul, according to Sri Ramakrishna, who came to help him. If you read about Swami Vivekananda's family you will see that universality of religion was already there. The trait was already there when Swami Vivekananda took birth.

The soul is attracted to a particular place where it is conducive for it to work out its karma [purpose, destiny, chosen path] , work out its future.

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  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

 

Frankness and Truthfulness

 

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

722

   

[Swamiji's Commentary on a Reading]

. . . to be absolutely frank and open in one's dealings is real truthfulness.

Pandit Nehru's [pictured above, first Indian Prime Minister on Independence in 1947] advice to his daughter on her marriage was, 'No matter what you do, do not keep a secret from your husband. There is to be no secret between you two.' Thus he gave a key to observe her fidelity.

. . . it is very difficult to remove oneself from it [untruth and falsehood].

A lot of people come to me and say, 'Oh, but it's difficult.' I know it's difficult. That is why you are a king of creation; that is why I am giving it to you to do. It is difficult. Why should I give you all the easy things to do?

Reading: [To a devotee who wished to leave the city] . . .if you go now it will be setting a bad example.

Master's [Sri Ramakrishna's] children were very conscious that they set a good example. When I went to Belur Math [the international headquarters of the Ramakrishna movement] in 1985 I asked Swami Satprakashananda, 'Please give me some instructions or advice on how to lead a spiritual life.' Do you know what he said? 'Do not worry, Thakur [the Master, Sri Ramakrishna] will do everything. Only you must become a good example, set an example of a perfect sadhu [holy man, monk, renunciate].' That was his advice. 

. . . look to the Atman [universal soul], not to the body. Practise fixing the mind on the Atman.

[Swamiji] Practise this while walking, talking, crossing the road, sitting. Try all the time to bring your mind on to the Chosen Ideal, the Atman, the Absolute.

 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  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

 

Lies!

 

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

721

   

[Swamiji's Commentary on a Reading]

. . . innocent lies are untruths all the same

Sri Ramakrishna said to one of his friends that he would go and visit him on a particular day. But he forgot till almost midnight. Then he went to the man's garden house but found the gate locked. He put one foot in there and shouted, 'Here! I have come.' Do you see how Master stuck to truth? This may seem a senseless action by the Master. No. Once you get in the habit of doing everything truthfully your conscience hurts you and makes you do the truthful thing.

. . . wishing to keep the incident of the Kalighat priest kicking him a secret, the Master asked Hriday his nephew to elicit from him a promise not to mention it to anybody. Hriday at first objected but Sri Ramakrishna made him elicit the promise from him three times and then remarked, 'Now it will never escape my lips.'

[Swamiji explains] Shivanath, Mathur Babu's [the son in law of the Rani Rasmani, founder of the temple] family priest, became jealous of Sri Ramakrishna because Sri Ramakrishna was naturally getting name, fame, position and adoration. So the family priest became very jealous and one day he kicked Master. Sri Ramakrishna knew that if Mathur Babu came to know about it he would get rid of that priest. So he made Hriday ask him three times to promise that he would not tell anybody.

Three times Master promised this. And instead of keeping his promise to God, the abstract, he kept his promise to man. He never mentioned it to anybody while the priest was working there.

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  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

 

   

 

Swami Shivapadananda on courage and truthfulness

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

601

   

Once somebody asked Swami Vivekananda: 'Have you realised God?' His reply was typical of him. He said, 'It is difficult enough to be a gentleman.' Gentlemanliness involves so many things: to be united with your brothers and sisters; to utter words which are sweet and pleasing to people and yet not bring harm to them; your sitting and your standing should not agitate anybody; your walking should not agitate anybody. So it is difficult enough to be a gentleman yet we foolish people think we have become God-realised.

Simplicity, purity, holiness. You must base your life on these things. Read the scriptures and see how you can be simple, not complicated.

Swami Vivekananda said to Sister Nivedita that he only wanted a few disciples who had the highest and best in life to renounce. Swami Vivekananda did not want a lazy person who could not make it at school or at work to come and take shelter at his feet.

Once one of Swami Vivekananda's friends came to him and said, 'Maharaj, [a term of respect, meaning literally 'great king'] I am so inspired with your life that I want to become a holy man, I want to renounce.' Swami Vivekananda looked down and said, 'Can you steal?' The man said, 'No.' Swami Vivekananda said, 'First go and learn to steal.'

If the man was not brave enough to steal, do you think he would be brave enough to be killed? Sannyasa [monastic renunciation] means nothing else but 'death'. If a man has thoughts like: 'What will others think of me if I say certain things?' then he can never practise truth, he can never be a renunciate. That is why Swami Vivekananda said: 'First go and learn to steal.' Do you think that a man who was afraid to go to jail if he was caught could live in the 'forest'? He could not even live in a nice jail. So his words may have been extreme but Swami Vivekananda was trying to say, 'Only the fearless, those sticking by truth, can realise God and no one else.'

Those of you who are too afraid to tell your husbands the truth, you cannot realise God. Those of you who are too afraid to tell your wives the truth cannot realise God. Tell each other the truth. There must be the understanding that your partner is always trying to help you, not run 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

Swami Shivapadananda on the truthfulness of Swami Vivekananda

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.

Day 472

   

Swamiji continues talking about the pre-monastic Swami Vivekananda

Naren [Narendranath Datta, later Swami Vivekananda] was also truthful. At school, during a lesson, the teacher heard talking in the class and thinking that it was Naren he said, "Right, Naren, you tell the class what I just said." Naren repeated the whole thing word for word, so the teacher thought it could not have been him talking. Later on however, after the other boy had been punished, Naren went to the teacher and admitted that it had been him. His mind could not tolerate lies because he had a conscience. It seems that some of our consciences have become paralysed. You have no conscience if you speak lies and bluff others. Swami Vivekananda, from that young age, manifested this love of truth. This is an example of how your children too should be.

This same Swami Vivekananda liked to play games. He would gather all his friends around him and tell each one which part to play: "You are a servant, you are a shoe maker, you must sweep the floor and I am the king." [laughter] Even when he was young that inner nature of his manifest itself. He was a ruler - he grew up ruling. He ruled his own mind and body and today he rules a universe with his thoughts. He is the one that changed the thought waves of the whole universe.

It appears that he loved his charioteer - the man who drove him to school in a horse drawn carriage. He would say, "When I grow up I'll become a charioteer." In the beginning he learned from this man how to discipline the horses. Later he disciplined the 'horse' of his own mind and became the charioteer for thousands of people in India and the rest of the world.

Do not take anything on faith unless it is proved. No superstition whatsoever could catch hold of Swami Vivekananda. We are living in a scientific age and we should not accept everything without question.

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.

Reference websites: Ramakrishna Math & Mission, Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa, Ramakrishna Dham

   

 

Connecting the two websites

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.

Day 457

 

Today's reading is on the second Swami Shivapadananda website. Just click on the link below:

http://swamishivapadananda2.typepad.com/swami_shivapadananda_2/2009/01/swamiji-answe-1.html#more to go straight to the posting.

Scroll down to 'Swamiji relates an incident'. It's the story about Aka, an elderly female devotee. Apologies for the confusion. We're making quite sure that the two sites don't replicate information from today.

Brand new material from Swamiji's CD recordings – originals  made by Mother Radha [pictured], will start featuring on http://swamishivapadananda2.typepad.com from today.

Enjoy reading!

Swami Shivapadananda on truthfulness and service

 

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.

Day 455

   

Once a learned man went to Shankaracharya and said, "Maharaj [an honorific. Literal meaning: great king], you are so holy, and we householders are suffering in the villages and the towns. Please come and speak to us about truth. By your grace we will make progress and people will be comforted." The first time the man asked, Maharaj kept quiet. The second time again Maharaj kept quiet. The third time the man asked, Shankaracharya said, "Why should I come there? What for? There are a lot of other people preaching truth." The man said, "No. Please, you must come."

Shankaracharya then asked, "By my coming there what will the people do?" The man said, "They will do what you say." "Do you know what is truth and what is untruth?" "Yes," he said. "Tell me, didn't you utter an untruth at any time?" The man just put his head down.That is truthfulness. The man was so truthful that he knew that what Shankaracharya was saying was applicable to him.

So whatever I say, and if it comes direct to you, it's for you.

Devotee: Swamiji, what does "serving selflessly" mean?

Swamiji: Firstly, to see the "servant" power we must look at Hanumanji's example. He is the Eternal Servant of the Eternal Lord, humility personified. His humility was not a worm-like thing. Not like now when the sannyasis go and prostrate fully to everybody, but on the quiet they say, "That fellow, I'll fix him up."

It wasn't like that with Hanumanji. He prostrated to Sri Rama in everyone. Hanumanji never gave up his principle.

So, "serving selflessly" means you are the servant of God Himself. Thus you go into it deeper, and willingly do it. That means the serving power, the servant power, is awakened in you.

Bhakti [spritual devotion or love] means love or devotion for God. Bhava means deep, intense, irreversible feeling for God Himself. And when bhakti matures it becomes prema [descibed by Sri Ramakrishna as 'ecstatic love', 'divine love of the most intense kind'].

 

Swami Shivapadananda on Truth

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.

Day 454

Referring to the opium incident [see previous posting] afterwards Master [Sri Ramakrishna] said, "It is because I placed my whole responsibility upon the [Divine] Mother, that She holds me by the hand and never allows me to stray even an inch from truth." Do you see how humble he was?

Very often Sri Ramakrishna used to show his displeasure to those who did not observe truth in their words and deeds. Once he said to Sivanath, one of his devotees, "It is said that truthfulness alone constitutes the spiritual discipline of the Kali Yuga. If a man clings tenaciously to truth, he ultimately realises God. Without this regard for truth one gradually loses everything."

Again, Sri Ramakrishna used to take lemon with his food. One of his devotees had given Master permission to take a lemon from his garden every day. And one of Master's attendants would fetch it. One day Sri Ramakrishna could not touch the lemon and everyone wondered what was wrong. Later, on enquiry, it was found that the owner of the garden had leased out the garden to someone else. This lemon had been taken without the permission of the new owner and so for Sri Ramakrishna it was equal to stealing. His adherence to truth was so instinctive that even unknown to himself he would not deviate from the literal truth.

Now these are very simple facts but it is good for us to remember them. We can remember big things, in big circumstances, but we forget that small things go to make up big things. Every moment Sri Ramakrishna was conscious of this fact in his life. If a disciple told a lie and came to him, he used to turn his face away from the disciple.

I know a lot of people don't come to see me because of that. They say, "Swamiji, you know, sometimes the way you speak, it looks like you're telling me off." So the guilty conscience becomes a handcuff - it cuffs you down. But you know this yourself.