Swami Shivapadananda

Swami Shivapadananda on non-conversion

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

599

[Pictured: The Ramakrishna Centre of Southern Africa temple at Avoca, on the north coast of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa]

[Continued from yesterday]

The Ramakrishna Centre [of Southern Africa] in no form whatsoever preaches conversion . . .

Whilst we accept all as human beings we also accept all as religious people. But above all we definitely stick to our principles like tenacious bulldogs. We must not give up our religious principles. They are our birthright.

At the Ramakrishna Centre we preach introversion not conversion. Mankind has gone out too much seeking pleasures in this world. While our dharma allows us to enjoy certain pleasures, we will enjoy them - like having a wife, having children, owning a building, owning a motor car and so on. Our dharma allows us to have these things but to have them in such a way that we do not get attached to them. Ultimately we must leave these too.

We want to be attached only to God but we take aid from these various things. If I have to climb a tree I may take the aid of a ladder but I do not get stuck to that ladder. So these things are different 'ladders' to help us. They are not there to break our inner spirit but rather to assist us. Whilst going up we take the aid of 'this' and let go of 'that'.

Sri Ramakrishna is the most Universal Being so far. Maybe there are others who will come one day when we are lacking, but he is the most Universal so far.

Sri Ramakrishna said that all the scriptures have contained truth but by following one scripture you yourself must try to improve your life and progress towards the spiritual goal - God-realisation. He himself did this.

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 resurgence of Dharma

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

597

[Continued from 596]

Then came the time when dharma [righteousness] was embodied in the form  Sri Ramakrishna, in the form of Raja Ram Mohan Roy [pictured left], in the form of Dayanand Saraswati [Swami - pictured right] in the form of Rabindranath Tagore, [pictured below left] in the form of Keshab [Chandra] Sen [pictured below right]. And because we realise that our roots have been planted in the wrong place we are now uprooting them from there and planting them in these dharmic ideals, so that they will be revitalised, rejuvenated.

In the Western world, though people grew materially strong, spiritually they starved. But amongst them were people like Sister Nivedita; [the Anglo-Irish Ms. Margaret Noble - pictured below Tagore on left] and Swami Vivekananda [pictured below Chandra Sen on right] accepted, selected, and gathered many disciples from the West.

 In this case we find that though Sri Ramakrishna was born in India his  fruits are scattered all over the world. Is he confined only to India? He is the Universal tree. A tree that is even in the three lokas [realms of existence]. He is the Universal loka. His fruits fall on all. Sister Nivedita was one and Mr. Anthony Goodwin [the devoted 'scribe' who recorded in shorthand, so many of Swami Vivekananda's talks] was another fruit that dropped in a place other than India. In my opinion all the saints and sages who came after Swami Vivekananda (no matter to which organisation they belong) are all the fruits of Sri Ramakrishna. I say this because the principles that were preached by Sri Ramakrishna are now embodied and preached under the names of many other organisations. Sri Ramakrishna did the work of Sri Krishna himself. He actually said to Swami Vivekananda in his last days: 'He that was Rama and he that was Krishna is Ramakrishna.' It shows that he himself came to uplift his own principles in the form of the scriptures. Sri Ramakrishna uplifted all the scriptures of the whole world, regardless to which religion those scriptures belonged.

[To be continued]

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