Swami Shivapadananda

Swami Shivapadananda with more on the guilelessness of Hanuman

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

Day 543

   

Swamiji continues speaking on Sri Hanuman

Then Hanumanji thought: 'Sri Rama is with me, I should be sleeping at the same time as Sri Rama.' So he went to his kutir [little hut/room/quarters] and slept.

And Hanumanji sleeps with Rama up to this day. When Sri Rama goes to sleep, Hanumanji goes to sleep. When Sri Rama gets up, he gets up. Only when the guru goes to sleep then the chela [disciple] should go and sleep. The guilelessness of this is so beautiful that you should offer Hanumanji a little sindoor and recall that guilelessness. Guileless, what a beautiful word. That is why it is very wonderful for married women to use sindoor [vermillion powder as a dot on the forehead or in the hair parting]. But they do not understand this guilelessness of Hanumanji. Hanumanji is the only male deity to whom you give sindoor. For example, if you give sindoor to Sri Ganesha it is more for his wives, his shaktis [female aspects of God].

Swami Vivekananda also showed us guilelessness. When he went to sleep a light would appear in his mind. He was so guileless that he thought that this light appeared for everyone. One day the Master [Sri Ramakrishna] asked him, 'Did a light appear?' He said 'Yes. Wasn't it there for everybody?' 'No, no, no. It's special, it's only happening to you.'

So Hanumanji's guilelessness is that he goes to sleep with his Lord, married or not. He said to Sri Rama, 'I don't understand all that, I only understand that I want to be with you, O Lord, and you with me.' What innocence, what bhakti [divine love, devotion].

My guru was a great worshipper of Hanumanji, and Hanumanji led him to his own form called Lord Shiva. Then Lord Shiva led him to his own form called Sri Ramakrishna.

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 the purifying power of the Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

Day 541

   

Swamiji continues speaking on The Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi

I ask you again and again: Can you become like this? Yes you can. I swear you can. But surrender to her, not only in thought, in word and in deed, but in your very heart.

When you find somebody speaking ill of the Holy Mother, think about what she would have said. When you find somebody speaking about the negative qualities of others, think what Sri Sarada Devi would have said. If you cannot say anything then your purity, in the form of silence, will sooner or later bathe the person next to you.

When Girish [Chandra Ghosh]came to Sri Ramakrishna he thought himself a sinner. Many politicians who came to Sri Sarada Devi thought they were sinners, but she only saw in them a saint in disguise. Slowly, without preaching, she cooked for them and converted their way of life, transformed their very lives. She transformed their lives for the highest service.

Each of the direct disciples of Sri Ramakrishna would not have been so, had it not been for the Holy Mother. If Sri Ramakrishna purified the outside and the intellect, she purified the very heart by cooking the food with her own hands and serving it out so that it would permeate even the marrow of that person. It is this Shakti [the female divine power aspect of God] which we worship as Kanyakumari, which we worship as Kali and as Durga. It is this Shakti that has come in the form of 'my husband' and 'my wife.'

My prayer is:

O Divine Mother, you have bluffed me a long time with your deluding power, for you enjoy playing. I am tired. I want to come home. I want to come home, Ma. Take this away. I am tired of this name and fame. I am tired. I want you and you alone, Ma. Draw the curtain, I want to come home to you for I am tired.'

God bless you. God speed. May you know that you have Sri Sarada Devi [as your very own].

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 Holy Mother’s acceptance of all

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

Day 538

[Pictured: Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother]

   

Swamiji continues speaking on the Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi

When people came to Sri Sarada Devi did she ask: 'What is your lineage?' No. Though many had asked this question before they accepted disciples. Even Sri Ramakrishna had asked it on occasion. But it was given to Holy Mother and Holy Mother alone to accept that which was hers, whatever the form. And although we may see a person as low or high, to the Holy Mother that person was only a child.

Let's say you have two children, one who is crippled and another who is full of health. Which child would you love best? To you, both are your children. Whether you pinch the nose or the toes they have the same pain. So here and now stop looking for negative qualities in this world. Rather go for the highest positive qualities, the qualities which were Sri Sarada Devi's.

This Holy Mother has manifested herself and I know that there are many Sarada Devis amongst you. And I am sure that she will be proud of you, just as Mother Sita, Gargi and Maitreyi must have felt proud on seeing a Sarada Devi walking on Earth with the purity that she had.

Can you start off with a little japa [repetition of the Holy name] on her name? Can you start off with a photograph of her in your room? Can you, morning and evening (or when you get time), glance at the photograph and reflect on her purity? 'She was purity itself,' said Swami Abhedananda [one of the direct monastic disciples of Sri Ramakrishna]. She had spotless beauty, spotless purity.

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 the perfect marriage

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

Day 537

[Pictured: The Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi]

Swamiji continues speaking on Holy Mother [Sri Sarada Devi]

Can one partner stand up and say, 'Let us pray to God now and ask God to give us the strength to love each other for the sake of the spirit, to love each other, not because of what I give you or what you give me, but because each of us is a manifestation of the Divine Being'? Can we do this? Can we become part of Mother Sarada Devi and therefore Sri Sarada Devi Herself, or part of Sri Ramakrishna and therefore Sri Ramakrishna himself?

Can we honestly stand up and confess, at that particular moment, 'Ma, I cannot help it, I am weak. This thing that you have provided in the form of a husband, a wife, is yours. It is you. Ma, give me strength to become above that'?

When you recognise it then and there, when you plead your ignorance of spirituality to her, and when you plead to her to give you an eye of knowledge and a heart of divine love, then you have started to succeed. Otherwise we are more dead than alive. Or as Swami Vivekananda said, 'We are dead to spirituality, alive to sensuality.'

You wives have a great Ideal in front of you. Allow me to appear as a fanatic for a moment and say, no other people have an Ideal like this; no other institution has an Ideal like this.

But, now that you have this Ideal in the form of Sri Sarada Devi, what are you going to do about it? Put her in cold storage? Or are you going to start now so that we may end up with another Mother Parvati, another Sri Krishna, another Jesus the Christ, another Lord Buddha or another Swami Vivekananda in this world? And who else but the great Shakti of Sri Sarada Devi can do this?

But we are caught, it seems, in 'touch-me-not.' We always feel, 'That person is low and I am higher than him, I am cleaner than that other person, my community is cleaner than his community, my community is the highest.' You start this on an individual level but ultimately you are lost trying to find what is pure and never getting purity at all.

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 the uniqueness of Sri Sarada Devi

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

Day 536

[Pictured: Sri Ramakrishna and the Holy Mother, Sri Sarada Devi]

Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother, does not care about our praises, our offerings and our intelligence. She gives us all this and all she wants from us is to give her love, love, love, in every part of her creation,

I try to put this into practice in my own life but I know I fall far short of her expectations of me. Nevertheless, the hope I have is in trying; the hope I have is that I have accepted her as one of the greatest manifestations of all the deities. She is the manifestation of the motherhood of God, men and creatures whom she herself came to protect in the form of Sri Ramakrishna. If she did not provide the cradle of purity, the cradle of selflessness, the cradle of love, then we would not have a Ramakrishna today to worship.

If Sri Ramakrishna is praised, she is the praise. If Sri Ramakrishna is glorified then she is the glorification. If Sri Ramakrishna is being worshipped today then she is the worshipped. To show this to us the Master, who was supposed to have guarded his spiritual treasures miserly, went to the Holy Mother and said to her, 'O Sarada, you have the rights over me. On my side I am duty bound to satisfy you in any way you say, unconditionally.' (Here I am not talking about the Mother's manifestation in the form of a statue in the temple but the Holy Mother in bone, flesh and marrow.) Can you imagine if the Holy Mother had given in and dragged him down to our level?

We may say, 'Who cares about that Sarada Devi? Who cares about that Ramakrishna?' But it was her awareness and consciousness of Sri Ramakrishna's greatest treasure, his extraordinary spiritual achievement, that prompted Sri Sarada Devi to spare it for us. Sri Ramakrishna was so great that he offered it to the Mother herself. He said, 'Take away this spirituality if you like, it is your right and my duty to satisfy you.'

But how many of us feel like that Sarada Devi? How many of us feel like that Ramakrishna? How many of us lure people into temptation? How many of us, wives, husbands and sons, are the victims of these great temptations of lust, greed, anger and gold? Can you put Holy Mother's forbearance into practice in your daily life when the temptation comes?

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 Mother Sarada Devi’s purity

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

Day 535

[Pictured: The Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi]

When a talk on a spiritual topic is being given you should see which aspect of that talk you can take, and how best you can put it into practice. This will only come about if you begin loving that personality who you are hearing about. If for example you do not love Sri Sarada Devi then you are sure to ignore everything that she said in her life. The Holy Mother's life was so very pure that even the gods and goddesses came to serve her. We learn from the history of the Holy Mother's life how on many occasions the different Deities manifest themselves to serve her.

I want you to think deep in your heart about what kind of personality or soul she must be that she did not evoke competition in others, she did not evoke jealousy in others, she did not evoke inferiority complex in others. If we evoke these things in others, it is a great impediment on the path of our spirituality.

Do you feel happy about the way you behave? Do you feel in your life that you are becoming an aspect of that Divine Mother? Are you at least bringing some comfort to the dogs and cats - let alone man and gods? Do you think dogs love you? Do you think cats love you? This may sound like a very simple question but in fact it is a very deep question. And if the dogs and cats cannot trust you then what right have you to ask human beings to trust you?

We have heard how in the presence of the Holy Mother everything became liquefied, as it were, and flowed in the form of the greatest nectar called motherly love. And we, the followers of the Sanatana Dharma [literally 'the eternal religion' - Hinduism] in its truest sense, should bow our heads in humility and feel protected and happy because the Supreme Being came down in the aspect of the Holy Mother to bless us. But if we turn a blind eye to this we only have ourselves to blame.

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 with tough talk on morality

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

Day 533

[Pictured, Lord Rama and Mother Sita]

   

When I went to India in 1969 I did not know the customs of the people there. One day I was sitting in a bus when a few women got on as well. No one gave them a seat and I thought, 'What is wrong here?' Humbly, like a gentleman, I stood up. I thought about how these poor ladies must have walked so far in the sun. So I said to one of them, 'Ma, please come and take a seat.' But she would not take the seat. So again I said, 'Ma, take your seat.' Then the conductor came along and said, 'No, she won't sit, Swami. You sit.' I said, 'But she should sit.'

He then asked me a very serious question: 'Is that your lady?' (That is a bad thing to ask in India.) I said 'No. I do not know what you mean.' He said, 'If she is not your lady why do you want her to sit next to another man? We do not do that here.' It was foolish of me not to have observed this. Of course in South Africa it would have been acceptable to do this but in India it is considered culturally wrong. The body of somebody else's wife should not touch another man. If this discipline is practised here in South Africa it will also bring about good results.

In the Ramayana we find that Mother Sita put on a veil when she was talking with Ravana [the demon king] in (Sri) Lanka. This shows that she did not even touch Ravana's breath. Why then did Mother Sita go in the fire when she came back from Sri Lanka? It was not that Sri Rama was not sure of her purity, but that when Mother Sita had been alone in the forest Ravana had actually held her and put her on the airship. Therefore some people might have said, 'Ravana touched her so she became impure.' That is the reason she walked through the fire when she came back - to show that she had not been defiled in any way.

It says in The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda that you are not even supposed to say to another man's wife, 'How beautiful you look.' Have you no wife to admire? Have you no mother to admire? Have you no sister to admire? What business have you to admire someone else's wife? And our foolish mothers think that it is a compliment. It is not a compliment. It is a germ of immorality. I think it is the duty of wives to object if somebody says that kind of thing to them. Now you may think I am being very strict but I have to tell you everything from the scriptures. Why should I hide this fact from you? I have to tell you this too.

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 the power of early developmental ‘imprinting’

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

From Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji

Day 522

[Pictured: Sri Sarada Devi's home at Jayrambati (centre) where she lived for much of her life.]

Swamiji continues speaking on Prahlada

No matter how hard Hiranyakasipu [Prahlada's evil father] tried to destroy the shape and form of dharma with adharma, dharma came up again and again in Prahlada. Instead of thinking of finite things, i.e. the things of the world, of kingdom, position and name, Prahlada always thought about the Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent Lord, Maha Vishnu. Later, after Prahlada had killed Hiranyakasipu, he had the darshan vision of Maha Vishnu as Vishnu, who appeared as a finite form.  

The main thing here is to see that no matter how much Hiranyakasipu tried to change Prahlada's first impressions, they could never be destroyed. We learn from this that, besides being taught as youths, our children should also be thought of when they are in their mother's tummy. Their real mother, the Divine Mother, desires the good, not only of the child, but of society, country and universe. If we do this then the child starts off thinking the highest thoughts, thoughts of gods and goddesses.

These thoughts of gods and goddesses, the loving japa [concentrated repetition of a mantra or God's names] the loving fasts, the loving offerings, form certain impressions in the child's mind whilst the child is still in the mother's womb. This adds to and strengthens the good samskaras from previous births.

Once this child is born these good impressions are further strengthened by being put to sleep whilst hearing godly songs, songs of the great heroes of the religions of the world - especially those of your own culture. Who can change a child like that? Not even a Hiranyakasipu.

Can you imagine the threat of a king, a king of evil, to his son? The father threatened Prahlada with all his evil weapons but one wonderful thing had happened: Prahlada had been taught to see God in everything. An evil man sees fire as fire that burns, but Prahlada saw fire as God. That which was fire and poison to Hiranyakasipu, the same thing transformed itself into a blessing, into an aspect of Maha Vishnu, to Prahlada. From this point of view, we say that if you think of sin you have become a sinner and sin will affect you. If you think of good you will become good; and good will bless you. If you have good within, you will see good without. If you are bad within you will see bad without.

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 Ramakrishna’s picture and breathing

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.

Day 483

 

Swamiji reads from "Sri Ramakrishna and his Disciples" by Sister Devamata, and comments

Arduous spiritual practices, the severest exercises in yoga, were tried and mastered by Sri Ramakrishna.

Swamiji: The most difficult exercises in yoga Master performed. He does not look like that does he? If you look at his photograph he still looks simple. Someone once said to me, "But I don't find Master's photograph everywhere, Swamiji." I said, "If you want to have Master's photograph everywhere, all you have to do is to put two stripes on his forehead, put a rudraksha [type of bead] mala  [pictured] on him, and put a tirusula [trident - pictured] by him – then people will buy his photograph by the thousands." Do you know why they do not buy his picture? Because he is too simple, he is too sattvic. Only a pure mind will be attracted to that pure spirituality.

Sometimes, when Sri Ramakrishna found people following him, he would take off his dhoti [cotton wearing cloth]  and carry it in his hand, so that the people left him alone and ran away. That is the kind of being he was - he did not want people to gather around him, to praise him and flatter him for nothing. In the beginning they found it so difficult to take a photograph of the Incarnation [Avatar]: Sri Ramakrishna. So they spoke to Naren – the young Swami Vivekananda [pictured alongside]. Naren knew what to do, He went to the Master and started speaking about spirituality. No sooner did he get in samadhi [superconsciousness] than Naren said, "Take the photo, take it quickly before he comes down [to normal consciousness]." [laughter] That is how his photograph came to be taken. Later on he posed for photographs because he could see that all, even that too, was maya [delusion/illusion].

Reads: The Master practised pranayama so much that he formed a habit of remaining for long periods without breathing. The disciple Sashi [later Swami Ramakrishnananda - pictured alongside] told me, 'Now and then he would stop breathing. Even after we came to him he used to tell us; "If I am not breathing please remind me." '

Swamiji: Look at this innocent, guileless, child. How beautiful it is. It is such a natural state.

Reads: Sashi said, 'Sometimes, when he was sleeping we would see that the breath had stopped, then we would wake him up and tell him, "Master you are not breathing." "Oh, oh, thank you," he would say, and again begin to breathe.'

Swamiji: If it was done consciously you may say, "Oh, purposely he was stopping his breath." But when he was fast asleep the breath stopped. The people near him got worried, so they shook him awake. Even in sleep they disturbed him.

Reads: Not hours, but whole days and nights, were spent in continuous meditation. Someone asked the disciple Sashi, in my hearing, if his Master had not remained once for three days wholly unconscious of outer things. His reply was: 'Three days? For twelve years, through that time, he did not know when the sun rose or when it set. He did not know whether he had taken food or not. Occasionally when a moment's consciousness would come he would feel as if someone was dwelling inside him and he would ask, "Who are you? Why are you here?" So completely had the [Divine] Mother possessed him.'

Swamiji: This is why I draw your notice to the fact that if, after getting trance, that person does wrong things, then know that it is not the right kind of trance. At the same time I want you to understand that I am not running down any trance.

Reads: Sri Ramakrishna's mind was so constantly turned towards God that even when he was eating he would often not be conscious of it and someone would have to tell him when he had eaten enough. He would ask and if the person said, 'Yes,' then at once he would stop eating. Once none of his own was with him and he asked some other man who happened to be there, 'Have I had enough?' The man replied, 'Yes.' So Sri Ramakrishna said, 'Very well, I will not take any more.' Just then Hriday [Sri Ramakrishna's nephew -pictured supporting the Master] came in and, seeing that Sri Ramakrishna had taken only half the usual quantity of food, he insisted on his eating more. Sri Ramakrishna then perceived that he was still feeling hungry but he said, 'No, I have said that I would eat no more and I cannot break my word.'

Swamiji: He was truthful even there. He said, "I have said no and that means no." Not like us who would say, "All right, put more."

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 Purity, Devotion and Faith

SWAMI SHIVAPADANANDA

DAILY READINGS

Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.

Day 482

 

Swamiji reads from "Sri Ramakrishna and his Disciples" by Sister Devamata, and comments

Purna was another beloved disciple of Sri Ramakrishna. He was brought to see the Master when he was only nine years old. 'Who am I?' Sri Ramakrishna asked the boy. Purna replied without a moment's hesitation, 'You are an Incarnation of deity.' Then Sri Ramakrishna asked him if he spent some time each day in thinking of God, the child replied that he often meditated and that when he did, tears of joy streamed out of the corners of his eyes. Sri Ramakrishna always said of him that he had attained the highest state of bhakti, devotion. He loved him so much that he would, now and then, stand and wait at the gate of his school to give him some sweetmeats and whenever he went to the house of any devotee in Calcutta he always asked that Purna be brought to him.

Swamiji: Do you know what you get by reading the scriptures, the Puranas? Your mind gets purified, thus earning the merit of purity. So by reading Sri Ramakrishna's Gospel our minds become purified, his spiritual power becomes our power, his spiritual bhakti becomes our bhakti. The love that he felt becomes ours.

Reads: On one occasion when Sri Ramakrishna was talking with his disciples he suddenly became entirely abstracted and for ten or fifteen minutes remained in that state. When he returned to outer consciousness he explained, 'I have been with Suresh.' Suresh himself said later that he was sitting before the newly set up image of the Divine Mother when suddenly he saw Sri Ramakrishna before him, consoling him. He stayed with him for a little while and then went away, leaving his mind perfectly pacified.

Swamiji: Now we Ramakrishna-ites are not supposed to talk about miracles, because if you base your faith on miracles, and if one day the miracle does not happen, then your faith will fall. You must base your faith on God and God alone, whether God keeps you happy or God keeps you sad.

Reads: Another sceptic who was transformed into an ardent devotee by the touch of Sri Ramakrishna's transmuting power was Girish Chandra Ghosh [pictured alongside]. His gratitude knew no bounds. In giving expression to it one day he exclaimed, 'How can I repay or serve him who has enabled me to cross over the sea of this world and a no-less-terrible sea of scepticism? There is nothing in him I cannot worship. Sri Ramakrishna was like an indulgent mother to me always. He scolded his disciples sometimes but he never scolded me. He came frequently to my house and he was unfailing in his love towards me.'

Swamiji: In this ashram [monastery] I have experienced something similar. Whenever I came in front of Gurudev [Swami Nischalananda Puri, Swamiji's Guru, pictured alongside] he used to tell me ten hundred words, but when Vishnupriya, my gurubhai [fellow-disciple of the same Guru], came to him, oh, he would pat him and talk so nicely. You know, jealousy is not a nice thing.

Reads: Preparation for Sri Ramakrishna's mission stretched out for long years. His message was an all-inclusive one. Before Sri Ramakrishna could proclaim it, he had to relate his attainment to every aspiration of the human heart, to every form of religious faith and feeling.

Swamiji: What a heart Sri Ramakrishna had. He wanted all religions to live. He wanted to see the truth in all the other religions because his religion is all-inclusive, non-exclusive.

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.