SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
Day 519
[Pictured: The small house at Kamarpukur where Sri Ramakrishna lived in his early years (centre). The family shrine is on the left, the birthplace temple on the extreme right.]
Swamiji reads from 'The Teachings of Swami Vivekananda'
Man is like an infinite spring coiled up in a small box and the spring is trying to unfold itself. All the social phenomena that we see are the result of this trying to unfold. You are the children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings. You are divinities on Earth. Sinners? It is a sin to call a man so, it is a standing libel on human nature. Each one of us has come out of one protoplasmic cell and all the powers we possess were coiled up there.
Swamiji: Beautifully put - from one cell everything developed.
Reads: The energy was there, potentially no doubt, but still there; so is infinite power in the soul of man, whether he knows it or not. Its manifestation is only a question of being conscious of it.
Swamiji: Mark those words. The manifestation of the power is only to be conscious of it.
Reads: This infinite giant is, as it were, waking up and becoming conscious of his power and arousing himself. With his growing consciousness more and more of his bonds are breaking, his chains are bursting asunder and the day is sure to come when, with the full consciousness of his infinite power and wisdom, the giant will rise to his feet and stand erect. Let us all help to hasten that glorious consummation.
Swamiji: Whether he knows it or not, its manifestation is only a question of being conscious of it. Of what? Of what you are. Again, that same story of Swami Vivekananda comes in, when the little tiger cub grew up with the sheep. It was bleating like a sheep and eating grass like a sheep, until one day a big tiger came and roared. The cub started shivering like the sheep. The big tiger thought, 'What is this?' Again the tiger roared and all the sheep ran away. Only the cub was left and he was shivering more than the sheep. Then the big tiger got angry and said, 'What is wrong with you? Don't you know you are a tiger? Look at yourself, you are the same size as me.' Saying this the tiger took it by force and showed it its face in the well. When it saw its reflection it roared and all the hills and mountains shook. The power manifested as soon as it became conscious of who it was. These are no secrets that I am telling you - these are the words of the scriptures. You can go on repeating soham, soham [a mantra meaning, 'I am He' (God), I am He] but nothing will happen until you consciously apply your mind to: I am He. I am He means I am the Spirit. Only then will soham help. Otherwise it is like you are saying, I love you, I love you, and in the mind you are saying, I hate you, I hate you.
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