19/01/2021
Jai Ramakrishna
(Today is the Janma-Tithi of Revered Saradanandaji Maharaj. May he bless all of us with Bhakti)
(Spiritual Talks By Swami Saradananda)
Disciple : ‘X— instructs his disciples not to practise Japa without taking bath etc. Are such observances compulsory’?
Swami: “The Master came to make religion easy. People were being crushed under the weight of rules and regulations. To repeat the Lord’s name and to worship Him– no special time and place are necessary. In whatever condition one may be, one can take His name. The Master never used to give too much importance to these external observances.
As to means, adopt whichever suits you best. If you like God with form, that will also lead you to the goal. If you like God without form, well and good; stick to it and you will progress. If you doubt His very existence, then better pray to Him thus :
“I do not know whether Thou existeth or not, whether Thou art formless or with form. Do Thou make known to me Thy real nature.
As to changing of clothes, taking bath, and other external observances, if you can observe them, well and good; if not, go on calling on Him without paying much attention to all these.
The Master once sang a song to me and told me,
‘Assimilate any one of these ideas and you will reach the goal.’
The song runs as follows :
‘O Lord, Thou art my everything, the sole support of my life, the quintessence of reality. There is none else besides Thee in the three worlds whom I can call as my own.
‘Thou art happiness, peace, help, wealth, knowledge, intellect, and strength; Thou art the dwelling house and the pleasure garden; Thou art the friend and relative.
‘Thou art this present life, the sole refuge; Thou art the life hereafter and the heaven; Thou art the injunction of the scriptures, the Guru full of blessings, and the store of infinite bliss.
‘Thou art the way and the goal; Thou art the creator and preserver and the worshipped;
Thou art the father that punishest Thy child, the loving mother and the storehouse of infinite bliss art Thou.’
