This lecture was delivered on August 31, 2019 as part of the Labor Day Vedanta Retreat held in the Olema Vedanta Retreat.
-Holy mother Sri Sarada Devi is the embodiment of motherhood. Because she was a nun, her motherly regard was able to transcend all national, cultural, religious, and racial boundaries and reached the transcendental spiritual dimension. Because she was more than a conventional ‘acharya’ and a conventional mystic, her spiritual insight and spiritual experiences were far greater. Yet she preferred to modestly hide her extraordinary spiritual power. Every person who came to her felt that she was not only embodiment of divine motherhood but also felt as if they were in the presence of their own biological mother.
-“Matri devo bhava” is an instruction which means: Let your mother be “deva” (God) to you. ‘Deva’ is one who answers our prayers, sits in our heart, is effulgent, kindles the light within us and lives in the celestial world. Mother has all the same attributes – she is the first and eternal teacher.
-According to Manu, an ‘acharya’ (teacher) deserves ten times the respect given to an ‘upadhyaya’ (guest teacher). A father deserves 100 times the respect given to an ‘acharya.’ A mother deserves 1000 times the respect given to a father.
-Holy Mother played a crucial role as a head of the Ramakrishna monastic order and had a unique synthesis of spirituality and insight into human affairs. Even luminaries such as Swami Vivekananda sought her advice and blessings. Swamiji’s story of invoking Mother Saraswati before his Chicago lecture is discussed.
-Holy Mother had spiritual common sense. With enlightenment, she developed unique insights into the nature of things and gained direct understanding of many problems related to our practical spiritual life.
-Holy Mother: “How many are there who can meditate and practice ‘japa’ all the time? At first they very earnestly practice these disciplines, but their brains become heated in the long run by sitting constantly on their prayer rugs. They become very vain. They also suffer from mental worries by reflecting on different things. It is much better to work than to allow the mind to roam at large. For when the mind gets a free scope to wander, it creates much confusion. My Naren thought of these things and wisely founded institutions where people would do disinterested work.”
-When a beginner tries to meditate, the mind does not always co-operate. Mind does not co-operate due to certain past ‘samskaras’ that are not conducive to spiritual life. This friction can be reduced by increasing the balance of positive ‘samskaras’. Though one cannot directly control the mind, one can, to some extent, consciously do physical work for a good cause and this will divert our mind towards positive channels to generate spiritual energy, increase the balance of positive ‘samskaras,’ reduce mental conflicts and evolve in spiritual life.
-Work can be physical in nature, such as cleaning a temple, or it can be more subtle in nature such as reading a good book.
-Starting with noble work done with a selfish motive is better than doing nothing. One can then evolve towards doing selfless work.
-A beginner has less freedom at the mental level, and encounters conflicts. However, he has more freedom at the physical level and should start his spiritual life with physical activities. Physical energy, especially for noble purposes, has a purifying effect on the mental system and generates ever higher aspirations.
-‘Karma’ is not the final goal of life. If one feels an inner contentment after completing work, that means the work has had purifying effect on the mind. If that contentment is absent, then it is just perfectionism at the empirical level. ‘Karma’ is not the goal, it is just the beginning stage.
-Holy Mother: ‘Asanas’ are meant to keep the body fit. However, if practiced too much, they may attract the mind towards the body. Work and physical fitness should not become the goal. She advised disciples to keep this in mind and act accordingly.
-Any practice to generate nervous energy without being established in ‘yamas’ and ‘niyamas’ can be disastrous. Yamas and niyamas prepare us for proper utilization of our resources.
-Sometimes Holy Mother enquired about the families of monks and emphasized the importance of human relations. She showed natural affection towards monks and their families. Looking after family obligations is very important in spiritual life. Sankaracharya and Sri Ramakrishna’s relationships with their mothers are discussed.
Holy Mother: ‘Karma’ counters the effect of past bad deeds. Good actions can reduce the intensity of what we are destined to suffer.
-Three types of karmas are discussed: ‘sanchita karma,’ which are yet to manifest; ‘prarabhda karma,’ which have started manifesting; and ‘agami karma,’ which are yet to come.
-The theory of karma is not pre-destination. ‘Prarabhda karmas’ can also undergo change due to ‘japa,’ meditation and noble activities. Example is provided of an arrow which can be deflected by a strong wind. Similarly, with human effort and God’s grace, intensity of ‘prarabhda karmas’ can be reduced.
-An example of western tourists in Sarnath is provided as an illustration of how our past karmas bring us into association with places, people, events, and ideas in this life.
-The third chapter of Gita is discussed. Mind cannot remain quite even for a split second. If it is not directed towards higher, creative pursuits, it will find its own lower pursuits. Holy Mother advised seekers to do Master’s work to keep the mind focused on higher pursuits.
-Mind has to be made ready for spiritual practices, just as a ground has to be made ready for irrigation by removal of weeds. Physical or intellectual work helps purify the mind for higher spiritual practice.
-It is a wrong notion to imagine you can do work with no ego at the beginning. It is important to develop a friendly, spiritual ego. Give your ego a spiritual promotion by letting it be God’s servant. If one does good activities continuously with a proud ego, you will naturally evolve and be able to continue good activities without ego – the ego becomes sublimated, purified and then disappears.
-Lord Krishna: If a beginner is engaged in activities with a definite purpose, it is wrong to advise him to remove the motive. Instead, the motive should be given a promotion towards a higher ideal. Even Buddha had a strong purpose and went through austerities with strong determination. That is how he became Buddha.
-‘Mantra japa’ has four stages in descending order: ‘Para’ (identification with reality of/ realization of the essence of the mantra), `Pashyanti’ (completely focused on the meaning and essence of the mantra), `Madhyama’ (mental repetition but verbalized, not audible) and `Vaikhari’ (verbal repetition with sound audible).
Physical work combined with ‘japa’ and meditation helps one evolve from the gross to subtle.
-Rivalry and competition when engaged in physical work is due to the wrong notion of the scope of work. Work is a means, not the supreme goal of life. A spiritual seeker is neither over-joyed nor depressed, no matter what the outcome of work.
-The 12th chapter of Gita (‘Bhakti-Yoga’) is discussed. Keep the mind on God, then God will dwell in the heart.
-Follow the nine disciplines of surrender to God: Sravanam, Kirtanam, smaranam, Padasevanam, Archanam, Vandanam, Dasyam, Sakhyam, Atmanivedanam. Give every action and word a spiritual dimension.
-Duryodhana’s story is discussed to illustrate how one can feel overpowered by one’s own negative inherited ‘samskaras.’ This kind of inner hypocrisy can be overcome through sincere surrender to God and doing whatever is possible in the way of noble actions to change the composition of our character.
-Holy Mother’s broad, natural spiritual insight is further illustrated. She showed great spontaneous appreciation for the “dharmic words” of a Christian wedding vow, wanting to hear the words repeated again and again.
-Holy Mother: One utterance of ‘japa’ with great concentration of mind and with focus on the meaning of the ‘mantra’ is equal to million mechanical repetitions of the ‘mantra’ with the mind elsewhere.
-Holy Mother: Both human effort and God’s grace are required. Examples are provided of different advice to two disciples, one emphasizing human effort and another emphasizing God’s grace.