[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
[now a Centre of the international Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission]
DAILY READINGS
Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.
Day 950
When you're singing, there is the bhakti [devotional path] kind of worship. With this kind of worship there is one thing one must remember. There is exercise for the body - your body will be very healthy. Then, there is intelligence involved in this [process]. Because you have to get the stepping [in the yoga or other exercise] or asana [posture] right. So bodily health is intelligence. It's not just automatic. And if you're not doing it correctly, your mind will get disturbed.
Now rhythm also goes with it. With the rhythm your breathing will also improve. You'll get breath control at the same time. [Swamiji demonstrates with some gentle bhastrika, a rapid yoga breathing [pranayama] technique helpful for re-energising and clearing airways] With breath control – now what comes when you're singing? Love. Love for….God. When that love comes, it's an offering to God - and not only an offering to God. It brings love to all those people who are seated [listening to you]. The vibration that is created – they are all caught in it and it automatically purifies their minds.
Now this sitting and singing bhajan and kirtan [religious hymns and songs] is good too, but there you find you only get mental exercise and the intelligence that comes when you concentrate. But here [with physical exercise] actually what you think is not useful, is very useful. You're developing a very important ship – but where's the captain? More important though than the captain is the ship [body] itself. Because if there's no ship where's [the need] for a captain?
This body is very important – it's a ship [vessel]. The rudder - the intellect [buddhi], the captain, the intelligence - can do nothing without the ship. So to keep this body healthy is a very, very good thing. When people do this [exercise] it's not [necessarily] a particular kind of hatha [physical] yoga, it's yoga [Sanskrit root word yuk - divine union] itself.
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
