Swami Shivapadananda

Discovering Prana

 

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

784

 

Do you know how Prana [universal life-force] was discovered? You see, one yogi got his disciple [chela: follower/devotee/student] and made him from very young, grow up in an ashrama [monastery] where only monks [sannyasis] lived. Only monks. And this pure boy grew up, seeing only pure men. And when he became about twenty five [he was now a sannyasi – monk] , his guru [spiritual preceptor] said, 'I'll send him to the village to go and beg [for food - madhukari bhiksha, collected a little from each house the way a bee collects pollen from flowers] today.' 

He went to the village and knocked on one door. A beautiful girl came out. He looked at her beauty and then he noticed her breasts. In total innocence he asked, 'What is that?' She felt very shy and went back inside the house. She went and told her mother, 'This sannyasi is talking nonsense. He asked me this question. The mother was a real mother and she understood what had happened. He's a sannyasi and he does not know. She came to the door and asked him, 'What happened my child?' 

He asked frank questions, 'But why are you different (i.e. have breasts?). Why are you like this. The woman loked at him and said, 'My son, God is so great – like you have come here for food, that means this food is yours already. But God provided provided food for you even before you came to birth. That means when you were in your mother's womb, he made your mother's breasts full of milk. Before you could even come here, he provided your food. So just as he provided your food, he must have provided a shelter. So everything he has provided. 

So this man [monk] said, no I don't want your bhiksha [food offering]. And he got all his prana under control. And from inside he was vitalised. He didn't go [any longer] to beg, he didn't struggle for shelter because he was in samadhi [spiritual super-conscious state]. A man in samadhi, how can he live without food? But he lives without food. He doesn't have to eat. His body does not die. Though they cannot register the heartbeat but still the man is living. 

In India they were excavating in the Himalayas. In many places when they dug the sand the man's body [exposed by the digging] was cut and blood was oozing and they wanted to know, how many hundreds of years that fellow must have been sitting there?

Devotee: How are they capable of getting sustenance, Swamiji?

Swamiji: They take it direct – they extract it from Akasha [the subtle matter of the universe]. Some people make me laugh. They say, 'We eat flesh, that means we eat grass, because the sheep eat the grass.' And this fellow said, 'Well why don't you go and eat the grass [directly]? Why must you eat the sheep? [Swamiji laughing] Get it direct. [devotees laughing heartily]. Why don't you get it direct?

Now [in order] not to give those senses a chance, or [allow] the mind to be agitated, you eat those things that keep your mind calm. So you [can] easily meditate and send it towards God. In reality, whilst killing is there, with five elements and feeling and all that - but in reality whatever you eat you must eat to control your mind. We are not such hard and fast people. Actually, in Lord Buddha's time they made this ideal of not eating meat and all those thing. But before that, five Brahmins used to finish [eat] one cow. [i.e. they were meat-eaters]

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

 

Swami Shivapadananda on Pranayama (Yoga Breathing)

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha's notes, written at Swamiji's feet.

Day 410

From a book by Swami Yatiswarananda

Pranayama  [controlled yoga breathing] is dangerous if you do not follow a regulated life, under the constant guidance of a qualified teacher [Guru]. But there is no harm in practising regulated breathing, without holding the breath. First, practise it at definite times. Later, you can do it at other times too.

Swami Shivapadananda: Try to practise rhythmic breathing always, till it becomes a habit. Irregular breathing is a tremendous waste of time and makes the mind restless. The senses must be subdued; the mind must be made rhythmic. All of the body machine must come under your control - then you can enjoy operating the body machine, otherwise not.

There is need for constant alertness. Most of us are dream-walking, we just walk in a dream, we do not know how our life went on Earth.

Old people forget things; middle-aged people get to know things, and teenagers know everything.

Become fully conscious under all circumstances, in all situations in life, and learn to recognise your own true motive.

Criticise yourself severely. There must be constant but not destructive criticism [self-observation and evaluation], if it is to help you in your spiritual striving and evolution.

'I am a sinner.' Say this and it makes you a sinner all the more, and takes away from you all spiritual initiative. 

Swami Shivapadananda on preventing a cold

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 264

Not only at initiation, but even now, the guru is giving you power and you are using it. How do you know it is his? Because you will open up; your intuition will begin to work and you’ll suddenly feel, ‘Ah yes, this is how it goes.’

Sometimes the urgency is there and sometimes it is not. Yes, sometimes when you are with the guru, it is there but when you are back in the world, it has gone. That is why we must keep going inside, why we must do japa, why we must roll the [prayer] beads. All this helps us. So be aware and seek diligently.

Lying and stealing is selfishness.

A great saint said: “I am the living stream. Come, take what you want.”

If you keep getting colds then too much prana [or Chi or Qi] is escaping from the feet and not enough is replaced. You lie in bed with the feet uncovered. A cold wind blows on them and then you get a cold. Build up the physical body, do breathing exercises and keep the feet warm.

What is prana? We do not know. Take semen for example, divide it and divide it and divide it. What is left seems like nothing, but it is the vital force itself. We do not know what it is but we see its manifestation. If someone behaves queerly [peculiarly], it is not your business. Just look behind the behaviour. What do you see? God. See It. Gurudev [Swamiji’s Guru, Swami Nischalananda] is good to me, look behind the behaviour, see God. See It.

Swami Shivapadananda on Prana [energy/life-force]

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Taken from Mother Radha’s notes, written at Swamiji’s feet.

Day 47

An excerpt from a book by Swami Yatiswarananda

Find rest in the mantra [sacred word or sound symbol] - not in sleep. If you are tired, prostrate and say, O Lord, Thou art energy, fill me with energy; Thou art strength, fill me with strength. This calms the mind. Seek solitude within you. Real silence is silence of the mind. Real solitude makes you forget the world. Meditate and erase all thought of the world. Think of the Lord alone.

[Sw.S] Some people are afraid to display a picture of Master [Sri Ramakrishna] because people will ask questions. Master is not a rogue. He has chosen one or two, not many.

Prana is everything. If someone tells something harsh, it is like murdering somebody. If you get a hiding, the pain goes away in time – but not so with harsh words. Gurudev [Swami Nischalananda – Swamiji’s Guru] would speak sweetly.

You must have sattvic [gentle, balanced] quality in the voice.

The Murthi [sculpture, statue-representation or picture] 

When prana [universal life force] is there, more people respect it. Before worshipping the murthi we put prana into it, and then worship it. Otherwise when offering food you are making a dead body [i.e. inanimate statue] eat. You must give your own life, your breath, to the murthi. Otherwise no one will worship it.

If you tell a lie, you increase the lies in you. You must speak the truth.

When giving a speech in the shrine you’ll only speak surpassingly when you recognise the prana.

Posted by Clive Simpkins