[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
DAILY READINGS
From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji
795
Devotee: Swamiji, how can I improve my memory?
Swamiji: You can improve your memory by leaving out all the things that are not necessary and by thinking about things that are necessary in life. And of those necessary things, think mostly about that which is the best in life - and that is God. So keep thinking about God and as you keep thinking about God - on and off of course in the beginning - then your memory must improve.
Meditation will improve your memory.
Meditation has three steps. First you look at the form and you contemplate or think about it. Then take out a part of it and concentrate on that. Lastly is when you continuously think about that [meditate]. At that point your memory has improved. Now, start by only thinking about that and nothing else.
When a man tells me his memory is bad, first of all I think that this man wastes his time on a lot of things for nothing [distractions]. He goes to bed too early or too late, he watches the TV over limit or he does not watch the TV at all. He gossips a lot, and he doesn't talk about the essentials [creating imbalance]. That's the first thing that goes through my mind. Secondly, when he says his memory is bad then I also consider that maybe his health is bad. Because his health is bad maybe he cannot concentrate properly. So it's not his fault. He must go to a doctor to get his health right.
The last one - which is supposed to be the first one (the householders must remember this) - is that if you over-indulge especially in non-brahmacharya [particularly sexual activity] life, you must get a very weak memory. Must. Therefore all gods, all great prophets, saints, sages and Incarnations practised brahmacharya.
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:
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
