Steady Mind

Disciple: What can repetition of His Name achieve, if it is not attended with earnestness? 

Mother: Regardless of whether you get into water willingly or are pushed, your clothes will be soaked. Practise meditation regularly, for your mind is still unripe. After prolonged practice of meditation your mind will become steady. And you should constantly discriminate between the real and the unreal. Know the worldly objects to which the mind is drawn to be unreal and surrender your mind to God. A man was angling in a pond all by himself when a bridegroom's procession with its music passed by. But his eyes remained fixed on the float.  

                                     - The Gospel of the Holy Mother, P214

Respect for Monks

Holy Mother insisted that her devotees pay respects to the monks. 

In 1919 when she was staying with Radhu at Koalpara Ashrama, Brahmachari Barada was preparing the shopping list according to Holy Mother’s instructions. At that time a woman devotee happened to pass that way, and her cloth inadvertently touched Barada’s back. Although he did not notice it, the Mother did. Irritated, she said to the woman devotee: “Hello, don’t you see this young boy is sitting in front of me and writing? Are you not aware that your cloth has brushed over his back? He is a brahmachari and you are a woman. You should pay respect to the monks. Touch the upper corner of your cloth on the ground and bow down to him.” 

The Mother spoke in such a serious tone that it became a lesson for the other women. 

                    - ‘Sri Sarada Devi and Her Divine Play’ 

                                 by Swami Chetanananda, P411-12

Satya Yuga

 

Japa and Meditation

 

Guru Superior than Incarnation

 

Bhagawati

I [Surendranath Sircar] said, "Mother, devotees call you Kali, Adyasakti, Bhagavati, etc. In the Gita it is mentioned that the saints Asita, Devala, Vyasa, and others called Sri Krishna as Narayana Himself. Sri Krishna himself told this to Arjuna. 

By mentioning it himself in the Gita, the idea has been still more emphasized. I believe everything that I have heard about you. Still, if you will please speak of it yourself, my doubts will be dispelled. I want to hear from you directly whether these things are true." 

"Yes, true they are," said the Mother. After this I never asked the Mother any question relating to her real nature. 

- The Gospel of the Holy Mother, P221

Purity Itself

 

Compassionate Mother

When the Mother used to stay at 10/2 Bosepara Lane, Swamiji [Swami Vivekananda] dismissed an Oriya worker of the monastery on the charges of stealing. He went to the Mother and prayed, “Mother, I am a poor man. The salary that I get every month is not adequate, for I have a family to support. That’s why I have become like this.” He said this and began to weep. That day the Mother kept him there and arranged for his bathing and food. 

In the evening when Swami Premananda came to make obeisance to her, she said, “Look here, Baburam, this person is very poor. He was impelled by his poverty and the difficulties in his family to do what he did. Should Naren on that score scold him and drive him out? You are all monks – you hardly understand the difficulties of a householder’s life! Take the person back.” On this, Baburam Maharaj said, “If I take him back to the Math, Swamiji will be displeased.” As soon as he said this, the Mother instructed, “I am telling you – take him back.” 

Baburam Maharaj reached the Math along with the person a little before evening. Swamiji was then sitting in the veranda. On seeing the person, Swamiji exclaimed, “You have brought that fellow back again! Just look at Baburam’s thoughtlessness!” When, however, Baburam Maharaj conveyed to Swamiji what the Mother had said, without uttering a single word, Swamiji took him back.   

               - ‘The Compassionate Mother’ by Br Akshayachaitanya, P187-88

Guru and Disciple

 

Cast the Image

 

Food Offering to Lord

One day she asked me to make food offering to the Master. I did not know the Mantras etc., for offering food. So I told the Mother, "But, Mother, I do not know how to offer food to the Master." 

The Holy Mother then explained, "Look, my dear, think of the Master as your own and say, 'Please come, please sit down, please take, please eat,' and you must think that he has come, he has sat down, and he is taking food. Do you need Mantras etc., for your own near and dear ones? All ceremonies and forms are like the honour and respect shown to relatives when they come. With your own people you won't need all that. With whatever attitude you give him, with the same attitude he will take." 

After that the Holy Mother taught me a Mantra for making food offering to the Master. 

                            - The Gospel of the Holy Mother, P370

Repeating God's Name

 

Surrender

One day the Holy Mother said, "However much of Japa you do, however much of work you perform all is for nothing. If Mahamaya does not open the way, is anything possible for anyone? Oh bound soul! Surrender, surrender. Then alone will She take compassion on you and leave your path open." Saying this, she told an incident in the Master's life at Kamarpukur. 

"One day in the month of Jyeshta, there was a heavy rain one evening. The whole field was covered with water. The Master was going along the main road near Dompada wading in the water. There, seeing that many fish had accumulated, people were beating them to death with sticks. One fish kept going round and round the Master's feet. Noticing it, he said, 'Hey, do not kill this fish. It is going round my feet, surrendering itself to me. If anybody can, let him take this fish and set it free in the pond.' Then he himself set it free and came home and said, 'Ah, if anyone could surrender in this manner, then alone can he find protection.'" 

                                     - The Gospel of the Holy Mother, P408-09

Japa

 

Firm Resolve

A man's mind runs after bad things. If he wants to act virtuously, the mind fails to co-operate. In earlier days I used to leave my bed daily at three o'clock in the morning to meditate. One day I felt unwell and out of laziness dispensed with the meditation. Because of this my meditation was stopped for a few days. 

Therefore, if one wants to achieve something noble, he must be sincerely arduous and seized with a firm resolve. When I used to stay in the Nahabat, on moonlit nights I would look at the reflection of the moon in the still waters of the Ganges and, weeping, pray to God, 'There are stains even on the moon, but let my mind be absolutely stainless.'  

                  - Holy Mother, The Gospel of the Holy Mother, P212

Mantra-Guru