Swami Shivapadananda

On wanting the essence of God

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

628

   

[Swamiji continues speaking on the Bhagavad Gita]

Verily [truly] the reward (the fruit) that accrues to those men of small intelligence is finite [limited].

If you think that God can only give you this or only give you that, you have small intelligence. But if you think that God is Satchidananda, that He can give you anything, then you have infinite knowledge and therefore you will have infinite fruit. Your [Ishta Deva] deity has taken a special avatar [incarnation] only for you, to save you from this mass of ignorance. God has taken the avatar - no one else.

The worshippers of the gods go to them . . .

Now this is a very funny thing. If I am praying to Sri Lakshmi like this: 'Sri Lakshmi Namah, Sri Lakshmi Namah, Sri Lakshmi Namah, wealth is coming, wealth is coming, wealth is coming,' do you know where I will be born next birth? I will not go to heaven; I may be born in the family of a rich man, full of nonsense, a miser, and a lot of richness will surround me. I will not go to Sri Lakshmi's house where Lord Vishnu is living. But if I say, 'Sri Lakshmi namah, I want you, I want you,' and if I get her - she lives with Lord Vishnu and Lord Vishnu and herself are not two separate beings - I will get God-realisation.

So do not think that 'go to the gods,' means you will go to some heaven. But if you worship God and say, 'You are all-knowing, Lord, I want You. You give me knowledge, You give me this, You give me that, Lord, but I want You more than all these things', then you will go directly to God.

But in any case in all these deities God Himself is seated.

. . . but My devotees come to Me.

And what am 'I'? In the opening verse of the Bhagavatam it says, 'God is the truth'. Mahatma Gandhi qualified it when he said, 'Don't say "God is truth," say, "truth is God".' If you say 'God is truth' then the atheists will say, 'I don't want your God.' But if you say 'truth is God' even an atheist becomes a worshipper of God because he likes truth though he may reject your concept of 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.

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

 

One God many deities

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

625

[Pictured: 18th-19th Century depiction of Lord Krishna and Arjuna his disciple at the battle of Kurukshetra]

   

Swamiji to devotee: What is your trade my son?

Devotee: I teach.

Swamiji: The day you learn that you do not teach, you only suggest, that is when you have the truth.

[Swamiji continues reading from the Bhagavad Gita]

Verily this divine illusion of Mine [God's power of illusion/delusion - Maya] made up of the three qualities of nature [Gunas]  (sattvic) [balance, harmony], rajasic, [high to excessive activity] (tamasic) [slothfulness] is difficult to cross over.

The Lord Himself is saying, 'It is difficult to cross over, don't be a fool.' How to overcome it? He says, 'Those that take refuge in Me alone cross over this illusion.' No man can cross it through drugs, no man can cross it through some magical power - holding the nose and pressing the toes - no man can get out of it by raising his kundalini. There is only one way: take refuge at God's lotus feet. And 'at God's lotus feet' does not only mean at Sri Krishna's feet. It means at your chosen [personal, Ishta Deva] Deity's feet. Just like God took an avatar [incarnation] as Krishna, God can take an avatar as Shiva, God can take an avatar as Vishnu, God can take an avatar as Mother Kali, God can take an avatar as Bandi, God can take an avatar as Hanumanji.

Ramana Maharshi puts it very well. He says that when you are meditating your mind becomes like a dog. It sniffs and sniffs and sniffs until it smells out where the master, the Self, is.

Sri Ramakrishna puts it the other way. He says, 'You must become like a dog. Its master can dress up as a clown or a spaceman but a dog will smell its master out.'

So you and I must smell out our master, the Self, in any guise. He can come as Kali, Durga, Bandi, Sitala, even if he comes as Ravana, who cares?

A pure mind will see purity all the time. An impure mind will see impurity in the pure.

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

 

Who we really are

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

624

   

[Swamiji continues speaking on the Bhagavad Gita]

Swami Vivekananda said, 'There are two parallel lines; one is called matter and the other is called Consciousness.' If you take matter away then Consciousness will remain; and that Consciousness is you. Therefore the Vedas say 'Prajnanam brahma': Consciousness is Brahman. And that Consciousness is all-pervading; it is in everything. The only thing is that we do not know it. Consciousness never dies. A dead body has no consciousness. Consciousness is the truth, the Reality.

Furthermore Swami Vivekananda said: 'The day science can put the five elements together and make Consciousness, is the day you can prove the theory that 'Consciousness is Brahman,' is wrong. Until you can create consciousness please accept what we say.'

[Lord Krishna says] Whatever beings and objects that appear active and inert, know that they proceed from Me, they are in Me, yet I am not in them.

Here is another thing that is in you. You are, at the present moment, imagining that you are this body but you know that you are not the body because if I cut off your hand and throw it aside you are not a quarter that side and three quarters this side. You would only say, 'My hand is lying there.' Just like 'my jersey' or 'my coat' or 'my shirt'.

You say, 'My body.' Who is this who owns everything, and says, 'My, my,' every time? Who is this? Find the possessor of all this and you will know who you are. You are identifying yourself with a very fat body and you are saying, 'I am a fat man'. You are not fat. Your body is fat. Then you say, 'Oh, I am feeling very depressed.' You fool. You are not feeling depressed, your mind is feeling depressed. You say, 'I'm a very clever man.' It is not that you are a clever man, but that your intellect is sharp, your intellect is clever at a particular thing. Who is the 'you' that is operating through these three apparent bodies?

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 how the divinity is concealed in us

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

623

   

[Swamiji continues speaking on the Bhagavad Gita]

[Lord Krishna speaks] And in all beings I am the desire unopposed to dharma, O Arjuna.

He is talking about His higher nature here. Higher than adharma [unrighteousness] is dharma [righteousness]. He says, 'I am the freeing agent because dharma frees you, adharma binds you and I am not that binding factor in you.'

Whatever beings and objects that appear active and inert, know that they proceed from Me, they are in Me yet I am not in them.

The bad and the good, the high and the low, proceed from God Himself but he says, 'Know that these proceed from Me and I am not in them.'

To explain this let us say that you are in the dark and you see something strange, you shout, 'Ghost, ghost, ghost.' But when you put on a torch what happens? You see the stump of a tree. Therefore the tree is not in the delusion called ghost.

"They are in Me." In other words they are superimposed on Me; but I am not in that superimposition; I am not the ghost; I am a tree.

I know that sometimes I found this very difficult to understand until guru's grace came.

Question: Swamiji, if all things become illusion what in me is not an illusion?

Swamiji: That which is inside it. Whatever is its real nature is not an illusion: the Self: God. When you are in deep sleep, when you have no dreams, when you do not know anything, that which makes the food digest, that which makes the heart beat, that which keeps you breathing, is the real Self. (Do not worry about voluntary and involuntary muscles; that too He made.) Do you understand what I am saying?

Devotee: Partly.

Swamiji: Very good. Even that is progress.

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

 

Higher and ‘lower’ consciousness

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

621

   

[Swamiji continues speaking on the Bhagavad Gita]

Devotee: When Sri Krishna says: 'There is nothing whatsoever higher than Me,' is this 'higher than Me' referring to man's higher and lower nature or only the higher nature?

Swamiji: 'Higher than Me' means Consciousness. There is nothing higher than Him. He is the source. Further on it says, 'I am the seed.' The seed is higher than everything.

Devotee: He says, 'All this is strung on Me.' All what?

Swamiji: This whole world, this whole Universe, is strung on Consciousness. If Consciousness was not there, the whole world would not be . . .

Devotee: Is it the lower nature strung on the higher nature?

Swamiji: Yes. The higher nature is expressed in this lower nature. It is the higher nature expressed as earth, water and other things.

Your leg is a lower part of you, isn't it? Is it strung to the higher part of you? If your head were not there how could that leg live? [laughter]

All are part of Him; but this is the lower part that we can see or perceive through the senses. If you see it, it becomes lower. But if you see the same thing from beyond the senses it becomes all Brahman.

Lord Krishna speaks: Know Me, O Arjuna, as the eternal seed of all beings.

Now the crux of the matter is the eternal seed. He is not a temporary seed. He is the eternal seed; always existing. It always exists and will always, in the future, be there. He is the eternal seed of everything, of all beings.

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 God-Consciousness

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

620

   

[Swamiji continues reading from the Bhagavad Gita]

Lord Krishna speaking: There is nothing whatsoever higher than Me, O Arjuna. All this is strung on Me as clusters of gems on a string.

There is nothing higher than Consciousness. All things are built around Consciousness. If you look at a stone, even the stone is appreciated because you have Consciousness. The Consciousness in that stone is latent or dormant so you are higher in many ways.

I am the sapidity in water.

Like the sap of a tree. Without the sap the tree is a dead thing. There is something called strength or sapidity in water; without that strength the water would be of no use. The strength in the water is God Himself.

I am the light in the moon and the sun.

We know that the moon has no light of its own, so the Lord says the reflected light and the light origin are both His. In the same way, the apparent man is also Him. If the 'rope' was not there, where would the 'snake' come from? But it is not the truth; it is a reflected truth.

I am the syllable Om in the Vedas.

If you want to read the Vedas know that He is Om; the AUM; the creator, the preserver and the transformer or destroyer is He.

I am the sound in ether and virility in man.

He is the sound that you hear. Even if no one makes a sound there is a sound the yogis hear within themselves. And He is strength in man.

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 Lord Krishna’s teaching

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

581

   

[Swamiji Reads from the Bhagavad Gita]

Sri Krishna to Arjuna: Bound by your own karma, born of your own nature, that which from delusion you wish not to do, even that you shall do, helplessly, against your will, O son of Kunthi.

Swamiji: 'Against your will' you will have to do it, because your nature will make you do it. Fire will say, 'I do not want to burn,' but fire will be forced to burn.

The Lord dwells in the hearts of all beings, O Arjuna, and by his maya causes all beings to revolve as if mounted on a machine.

Swamiji: In other words: karma itself becomes the Lord's hands and legs. God Himself does not burn you; but if you hold fire, which was made by God, it will burn you.

Seek refuge in Him alone with all your heart. By his grace you will gain supreme peace and the eternal abode. Thus has wisdom, more profound than all profundities, been declared to you by Me. Reflect upon it fully and act as you choose.

Swamiji: In other words what the Lord is saying is, 'Go and reflect on it and if it makes sense then choose whichever course you like and do it.' If you want to bind yourself further to delusion, go ahead. But if you feel that the Lord is right, and that He knows better than you, then do what He says.

Listen again to My supreme word, the profoundest of all. You are beloved of Me therefore I shall tell you what is for your good.

Swamiji: Why is He telling us this? Why has God brought these scriptures to us? Because He loves us. We are his beloved. He did not just give the scripture to us because He wants to be a big shot. He loves us. He is part of it. He does not want us to suffer in ignorance, unknowingly. In reality you are born in joy, you live in joy and you pass on in joy. That is what the Upanishad says. But what is it in between that makes us feel that we are not living in bliss? That is what Sri Krishna is saying here: 'Look, I love you. You are still in bliss. Do it this way and then you will come to know.'

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.

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 living decently

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

568

   

In Patanjali's Yoga Sutras we find the virtues (Niyamas).

   

1. Non-stealing. Besides the obvious this also means that if there is a sale somewhere and you grab all the shoes before your poor neighbour, then you are a rogue to that extent. You have stolen from your neighbour. You are not going to wear them all, as a matter of fact most of the shoes will be lying in a cupboard unused.

2. Not telling lies. One of the greatest sins on the path of humanity is speaking lies. Lies are things that will injure your meditation. At all times be truthful. If you cannot be truthful then be silent.

3. Make money righteously. If you want to become rich, become rich by all means, but do not become so rich that you will be buried in your money. It would be better if you gave up all that money for the sake of the poor. Sri Ramakrishna says that it is the rightful duty of people to make money but with that money one must serve the children of God. To that extent you are buying your security or merit. But if you are giving money away for name and fame then to that extent you are a brute. Some people cannot be trusted because they will cut their own brother's throat, or they will even sell their mothers to make a profit. Lies in business also bring more and more maya.

Once, Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu went together to a place where they found a poor man praying to Lord Vishnu. 'O Lord, bless me,' he prayed. Hearing this the Lord said, 'I bless you.' No sooner did Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva turn away than a flood came. The man shouted, 'Protect me Lord Vishnu, protect me.' But the flood washed him away. This, apparently, was a very serious matter, a very cruel matter. So Lord Shiva asked, 'Is this how you treat your devotees?' Lord Vishnu said, 'This is the right way to treat them. Now show me how you treat your devotees.'

Lord Shiva then took him to a place where there was this king who prayed day and night to Lord Shiva for more wealth. The Lord showered him with lots of money. And the more he asked for, the more the Lord gave him. And the more he got, the more the king would say, 'I am the king. Do you see how my Lord blesses me with money, money, money? Wherever I walk, Mother Lakshmi [the goddess of wealth] follows me.'

At this time the king happened to be doing a Maha Yajna [great sacrifice] and in this Maha Yajna it was a prescribed rule that he should feed the beggars - but only at certain times. Now Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu got disguised as beggars and went there. No sooner had they reached the gate than the time was up. The gatekeeper said to these two people, 'Hey. You're too late you'd better go now.' So they asked, 'Why? Please give us some food.' 'But don't you know that the merit time is over?' asked the gatekeeper. Lord Shiva then said, 'I am hungry. What do I know about merit? I came for some food. I heard the king is so charitable, giving away a lot of food. Please let us eat.' Then the gate-keeper gave them two or three clouts [blows] and they held their heads and ran away.

Lord Vishnu then said to Lord Shiva, 'Is this how your devotees behave? You give them money and see what they do. Come, I shall show you my two devotees, the ones that died. Look. There they are, Jaya and Vijaya, my servants in heaven. This is how I bless them: I take away everything they have but I give them authority over my gate. You give them everything here on Earth and what do they give you?'

Many rich people and people with name and fame are like that.

On the other hand some rich people are very good. They follow the rules and become richer. God wants to give them more because they are giving sincerely. They do not cut across the rules of God's dharma. What is merit and what is demerit when my stomach is empty?

Am I to give only out of motivation or should I try to uplift the poor and the down-trodden? The Lord does not see if the person is a saint or a sinner. He showers his sunshine and his rain on saint and sinner alike. 'You have the rights to the flower and the fruit,' says the Lord, 'and I have the rights only to bring rain to you. Mine is only to give you blessings but your karmas can turn into dharma or adharma.'

If you think that you can practise vices and still do meditation you are wrong. In the scriptures all the people with powers, and all those who wanted power, came to naught in the end. Ravana is an example of this. Ravana was a great bhakta [devotee] of Lord Shiva and look at his plight, instead of becoming desire-less he became desire-full [filled].

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.

 

Swami Shivapadananda on living in the moment

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

Day 550

[Pictured: Front interior staircase of Udbodhan House leading to the first floor - the quarters of Sri Sarada Devi the Holy Mother and the room of Swami Saradananda.]

   

Whenever you meet and greet each other, do it as if it were the first time you are meeting that person.

When I look at the ashram [monastery, hermitage - even in modern days] boys and girls I always watch to see if they are chasing yesterday's thought. I want to see if they are fresh or stale. To the extent they still have yesterday's thought (or fear, or anger) with them, to that extent they are stale and need to be freshened up. To the extent they have forgotten yesterday and have realised today is a good day, to that extent they are spiritualised.

God bless. God speed.

Some people do not understand why I ask them to do certain things - to come here at certain times and so on. There is a meeting point of spirituality and love. Spirituality is jnana [divine knowledge] and when you practise it to the extent that it permeates your body, to that extent you gain power.

The first rule in spiritual life is obedience. You may not understand it but that does not matter. You must know that I will not give you poison.

Everyone that is seated here must have had some spiritual experience, or an experience which was above the senses. Otherwise what are we doing here? It is not for nothing that somehow our experiences have told us that there is a God. But we do not want to surrender to God, though I am afraid to use the word surrender. What do I mean by surrender? I sometimes pray to God to give me the meaning of surrender. If I say, 'God, take my surrender, I am giving You my power of attorney,' that too is not right because 'I' am still doing it. God has not yet taught me how to surrender.

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.

Swami Shivapadananda on knowing your true nature

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.

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.