[Pictured: aerial view of the Ramakrishna Centre of SA ashram complex, Glen Anil, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa]
[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 1044
Today is Guru Purnima….you'll find in India, every ashrama [monastery, religious retreat centre], every ashrama, will be worshipping Ved Vyasa, the great guru, through the symbols of the respective gurus [spiritual preceptors]. In the scriptures the Lord has declared that amongst certain things he manifests or shines out more… in certain instruments you can make him out more. His reflection or his glory is more revealed in certain things. They found that our gurus reveal to individual hearts, and collectively to the universal hearts of all. Example: he says that, "amongst the mountains I am the Himalayas. Amongst the human beings I am the king, amongst the five Pandavas, Arjuna, I am you. Look at me. I have manifested more in you because I take that glory, that glory that you have, is not yours. It is mine, O Arjuna."
Similarly, as Ved Vyasa in the Bhagavatam says that the avataras [incarnations of God] are most popularly known as the 10 avataras – great avataras. But there is, again, another category of avataras, known as the 25 avataras. In the scripture, the Lord says, besides saying I am another 25 avataras, know your avataras are infinite. Your avataras are?...infinite. You cannot limit God's manifestation to 10 avataras or 25 avataras, but his avataras are infinite. Thus you will find, as he says, "amongst the rishis, I am Kapila Rishi". In the same, Ved Vyasa writing, he puts the words so beautifully, he says, "amongst the writers or compilers of the Vedas, know that to be Ved Vyasa." [Swamiji chuckling] It's the Lord himself speaking but how nicely he diverted our mind and says, "Ved Vyasa is the author". Then very lovingly he removes the veil – if a man is not careful, he can't see it – he says, "among the compilers and the writers, know them to be Ved Vyasa". Ved Vyasa himself is saying that.
But supposing I'll say, Swami Nischalananda [Swamiji's guru] said, "know that amongst the devotees I am Nischalananda". Now somebody will look at him egoistically – but you see, when the state of consciousness goes higher and higher, when that [the individual] is identified with That [the higher state of consciousness, God, Brahman], the man no longer speaks. The man no longer?...speaks. That power, through that man, speaks. But ordinary people, who don't know his inner life, will tend to criticize him. Also, you must be very careful – if a man is not [God] realised he doesn't reach the stage where it's the very same thing [identified with God], then what must one do? God, I don't know you, because I am trying to know you. Whatever your form is, I don't know but I know you are omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. I worship you through everything. Therefore in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna showed to Arjuna, that not only that which he outlines is him, but the whole of creation is his manifestation. So anywhere you touch you are still touching, what?...God.
Now, one would ask, what happens then if the guru is not right [competent]. [Paramahamsa] Ramakrishna answers the question. Where man fails, guru takes over. Man will let you down hundreds of times but the Lord, the guru, will never let you?...down. Provided you have this one, very important thing in you. Unflinching faith to know God. Unflinching faith to serve God. And intense desire to?...get him. Intense desire to get him. If you have that, you have no fear whatsoever. He must reveal himself to you.
In the olden days they say there was no such thing as reincarnation of God and all that. But as time went by [Swamiji chuckling] the Rishis themselves got together and they thought, look, wait a minute. There are great Rishis, these are all Rishis, but all the Rishis are not in the same category. Because as in the ordinary world you find that IQs are?...different. They found that something supreme manifested from certain people and they could explain it. Certain things they could not explain. So those people that we cannot explain their ways and means, their working, he liberates everyone whether he's a saint or a sinner - we call him an incarnation [avatara]. He comes like a?...what do you call that big wave? [devotees answer] Tidal wave. Tidal wave! [Tsunami] He does not select a devotee or a non-devotee. He does not select a sinner or a saint. He realises all is his. His grace comes like that and washes and smashes down all misconceptions and all ignorance. Thus absorbing himself into him?...self. That is called incarnation. Who does not say "my chela [disciple]", who does not say "your chela". Who says, "all are my manifestation and therefore I come to wash myself with my own grace". With my own?...grace.
Then, later on you'll find that others came and they did not reveal, or in them did not manifest the whole of the glory of that unexplainable One. We call them rishis, we call them munis. [sage-saint, seers]. We call them rishis and?...munis. But, one important thing must be remembered while you are doing this….that one flower may repel you and another flower may attract you. So that flower that attracts you in the inner world, is your inspirer, your God in life, it's your saviour in this life. And in the case of we who are initiated by Gurudev [Sri Swami Nischalananda Puri, Swamiji's beloved guru], who are initiated by various rishis, that becomes our saviour and we worship that grace, that consciousness in him, that has come like a barge to take us across a sea of samsara.
How he works, we don't know. Sometimes he's very full of compassion. Sometimes we say that he's not full of compassion – he's full of wrath. [Swamiji chuckles] But that's apparent. That is?... apparent. Since there's a doctor seated here, doctors take a big knife and go and operate on the patient. That patient will say, "what kind of Kali-avatar is this?" But in their heart they know that they are full of?...compassion. They are cutting out that disease that will kill the spirit in that particular person. In reality you can never kill a spirit but which will cover the spirit in that particular person. So our gurus are like that. They work in diverse ways.
While coming here I told [name inaudible] a story in the car. That if I ill-treated somebody most, I told them who I ill-treated. But if you look at it as ill-treatment, or you look at it as kind treatment, all I'm concerned about it that it was a 'treatment'. [Swamiji chuckles]. It must cure some sort of disease. It is a treatment. You can look at it as ill-treatment or good treatment.
With these words I say, that you have all worshipped a supreme consciousness today, here. We call it guru, we call it God, we call it devi or we call it deva. There's nothing else but Satchitananda – eternal spirit. Which ordinarily in this world is known as intelligence, consciousness, knowledge, that we?...worship. That which is not darkness but always?...light. What is darkness? [Swamiji chuckles] What is darkness? Isn't darkness, Swami Vivekananda said, also light? It's also light. Because what may be dark to me, may be light to somebody else. How does he say it? He says that we are not travelling from untruth to truth. We are travelling from lower truth to the Absolute truth.
So all are true, though we find relatively true, but it is part and portion of that particular supreme being. Even the Lord himself, if you read nicely in the Bhagavatam, he says, "the lower part here down is hell. In his own body he says there's hell. So even hell is a part of him. Then he says, AUM, bhur, bwha, swaha and he goes up, to satyam loka, heaven, then he says, "all these are parts in me and heaven is right on top. The different portions of heaven. That's why we repeat, AUM bhur, AUM bwah, AUM Swah etc. to Satyam, the higher loka.
The lower lokas we do not repeat because we don't want to go down. What you think, you become. If you think of London, those people who have been to London, you are already in London in your mind, so you see? You think of the lower world, you already get to the lower world, so we always want to go higher, so we think of the higher lokas [realms]. But the idea is not to go to any lokas. The idea is to go to that which is beyond lokas. And what is beyond lokas? God himself. Everything is in God, nothing is out of God. The bad man says, "God help me to do wrong and the other fellow mustn't catch me" – he's still in God. The other fellow doing dharma, righteousness, he's also still in God.
May that guru of gurus, paramatma, parabrahman, bless us all. We are all disciples of his. Hari AUM Tat Sat.
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