[2nd President and Spiritual Head: the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa]
[now a Centre of the international Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission]
DAILY READINGS
Selected from Mother Radha's recordings of Swamiji.
Day 975
Sri Krishna taught us the art of service. Once there was a big yagna – yagna is sacrifice – maybe a fire sacrifice, singing bhajan and kirtan [religious songs], maybe prana [Qi, chi] sacrifice because you give your breath and time. So there was a service and they gave everybody work, a task, to do.
Swamiji speaking to the children: Now you children tell me that Sri Krishna Bhagawan is a God. What kind of work do you think he took? You see, there were great kings, the five Pandava brothers [from the Hindu epic the Mahabharata] were given their work, other saints and sages were given their work. Sri Krishna Bhagawan was God among them – what kind of work do you think he took? You know what he said? He said, 'I will look after the people's shoes and groom their horses.'
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa did a similar thing in his life. You know, in India they used to have pride of caste. And Ramakrishna thought he also had pride of caste and he wanted to get rid of it. He wanted to test his mind. So he'd wake up very early in the morning, before the other people could get up. And he would go and wash the lavatory of the sudras [serving-class people] - with his hair. He had long hair in those days, now you see it short. He used to wipe the place and one day people saw him and they were crying, 'Lord, Lord, why must a great bhakta [devotee] like you do that?' You know what answer he gave? He said, 'If I cannot clean my children, who will come?
So, yes, service [seva] in humility – it's not service in pride. The whole world is served yet there is no peace, why? Because the service in this world is through pride. Service in… pride. The day the service becomes service in humility, service in selflessness, that day the nectar [amritam] will be yours. That day you will become immortal. When you don't want to be known and yet you want to know God, then and then only will you and I progress in this world. What kind of service did I say you must give? Selfless service.
Brahma [the Hindu god representing 'creation'] invited all the rakshasas and all the gods to a ceremony. There were the demons – you know what demons are? – rakshasas. All the rakshasas were on one side and on the other side were all the gods. Gods are good people and demons are a mixture of bad and good. They came and sat in rows. Brahma said to the gods, 'Look, here is nectar - amritam. The demons and you gods are here. Now if you drink this nectar – you'll get immortality. You will never die.
[Swamiji then engages the congregation in a very amusing practical exercise to demonstrate what took place. He called two little boys to the front. One represented a god and the other a demon. The one condition for drinking the nectar, Brahma told the gods and demons – was that they were not permitted to bend their elbow to drink it. This made it impossible to drink it oneself. The gods, using a straight arm, fed each other with the nectar. The demons, however, being the selfish creatures they were, would not do that. So they could not drink.]
Swamiji continues: The demons ran away in anger. The gods did not drink the nectar for themselves. They gave it to each other. So that is selfless service. Not serving yourself but serving others. In serving others, the service itself is nectar - amritam. You mustn't think some miracle will happen. When you are serving others it is nectar that you are drinking. You will become immortal. And when you become immortal you can immortalise others – make others deathless. Selfless service purifies the mind. Selfish work, selfish service, makes the mind dirty - makes the mind impure.
Therefore when you come to satsang [religious or prayer service] the idea is to sing to God, not to sing to yourself. When you're singing to God you're becoming selfless because you're not singing about yourself. Who are you singing about? – God. And when you take God's name selflessly, a kind of power comes into your heart. A kind of power comes into your body. A kind of power comes into your mind. A kind of power comes into your words. Your words will be just like God's. These are no lies, these are vak [pronounced 'vaak' - lit: from the mouth or speech] siddhi [siddhi is a power. So this is a special power of speech, influence, inspiration], man [pronounced 'maan' - lit: mind] siddhis [powers].
People may think they are taking God's name and nothing will happen. I can tell you this. Many things happen – only you don't know – you don't see it. Like when you're standing outside at night-time. You think nothing is dropping. In the morning you get up. What do you find on the car? Dew drops! You didn't see it, but the dew came down. Similarly when you take God's name you are purified – strength is added. But you do not know – you do not notice it. Because when you notice it, then the 'I' – the ego [ahamkara] – is there. When you don't notice it, God is there. The 'I' is absent.
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, 150 different CDs or DVDs with mp3 files, of Swamiji speaking. Please email timhoare@webmail.co.za to order.
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