Video 127

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna read by Swami Atmajnanananda (04/07/2023)

foreign [Music] Souls they're praised by Poets and removal sin they are auspicious to hear wonderful and exalted those who spread these words throughout the world are true leaving Souls welcome everyone to our class on the gospel of srama Krishna before we start I wanted to give an update on our Swami Brahma rupana Nikki he returned from India just over a week ago and wasn't feeling very well and then developed some symptoms we tested him for for covidi tested positive and then he started getting some some pain in his in his rib area and the coughed and everything so we we had him admitted into the hospital and they've been treating him there uh is an oxygen level was quite low it's much better today we were worried about that that's much better the heartbeat heart rate is a little high and some other sodium potassium things are a little bit off but as of today he's doing much better he may be in the hospital another couple of days then they'll put him in the rehab because he hasn't moved at all is uh it's very weak and everything and no solid food or or even liquid at all everything through Ivy no no no not defeating to just do her ID but I saw him today and and he was cheerful he seemed better last night was was worrisome but he seemed to be doing better so uh yeah that's so that's he can't have visitors and uh really can't take phone calls so if anybody really needs an update they can check with the sender last Friday I hope some of you got to see we had the introduction to our big program the concluding weekend of the 25th anniversary of the center and so we missed our gospel class last week we'll be continuing we're on the chapter rules for householders and monks this is Page 408. the date is March 23 1884. and Mr ramakrishna is in his room and some other devotees are there was talking about uh there's people of bygone Generations what tremendous Faith they had and then even talking about his father when my father chanted the name of raghavir his chest would turn Crimson this also happened to me when I saw the cows at rindavan returning from the pasture I was transported into a Divine mood and my body became red very strong was the faith of the people in those days one hears that God used to dance then taking the form of Kali while the devotee clapped his hands keeping time yeah I I don't know Elsa to explain how people had visions and and with absolute faith in in those days of course with tacos the mother and father that's a special kind of thing but even in general how they wouldn't question it all if some deity would appear a dream or something they would assume 100 real so all the question of the the almost childlike Faith which taku praised so much we can't fake it we and we can we can learn to have it if this is something that I think it comes with being born in a certain era and a certain atmosphere Village especially uh growing up like that it's just these things are not questioned modern day people can't expect to have that type of faith we can have our own type of faith a little different of course but uh Taco prays that people who were very simple had that simple type of faith has a very wonderful thing those who have it Yogi was staying in the Hut at the panchavati in those days they wandering sadhus anyone who came they would have a place they would they would be given to some place to stay and they could get their food there so many many satus passed through uh and and poor people could come and take food that the dakshines were Kali Temple so ahati Yogi was staying in the Hut at the panchavati ram prasanna the son of Krishna Kishore of ariadha and several other men had become his devotees the yoga needed 25 rupees a month for his milk and opium yeah this was this was a I don't know opium in those days was uh half considered a medic the medicine for stomach treatments and things and uh 25 Rupees is a lot of money yeah this is why this will be a little recurring theme here that who will give so much money is this and he said who wants money is not people don't earn anxious to go to that sadhu that will be a little bit of theme Here that's it for for a whole month yeah you think Kaku got what seven rupees a month of course he had his own room and everything and food but still it's a lot of money so Ram prasanna had requested sarama Krishna to speak to his devotees about the yogi and get some money I asked against ramification to get money for somebody else it was a funny thing but talk where he had no Pride that way so they want me to ask I'll ask the master said to several devotees ahati Yogi has come to the panchavati go and visit him see what sort of man he is he's not recommending him or anything but he likes this RAM prasanna and he doesn't want to just refuse him a young man of 27 or 28 known as takurdada entered the room with a few friends and saluted the master he lived at paranagor and was the son of a Brahman pundit he was practicing the kotokuta this is a recital of stories from religious books with appropriate you've heard these things that it's very very nice that there'll be some narration then there'll be some song then there'll be some hymn that's chanted a whole like a one-man show that they can give a whole lecture like that with the advice singing it's very beautiful in order to earn money to meet his family's expenses at one time he had been seized with the spirit of renunciation and had gone away from his family even now he practiced spiritual discipline at home master have you come on foot where do you live yes sir I've walked from home I live in baranagar master have you come here for any particular purpose I've come here to visit you I prayed to God but why do I suffer now and then from worries for a few days I feel very happy why do I feel Restless afterwards does anybody have that problem is there anybody who doesn't have that problem yeah this is what it means to live in the world we have our good days and we have our bad days and this we we have to expect and they'll be all sorts of problems that everybody has to face some are blessed with good health it seems like they can do anything stay up all night and eat as much food as they want and they have good health other people they fall sick all the time but generally there'll be some health problems sooner or later and there'll be some family problems there'll be some social problems and when everything is fine the mind doesn't cooperate for no reason we we're just not in a good mood people are so susceptible this this idea of mood this is a very interesting subject how we get disc covered with a mood the Gloom gloomy mood something that it just pervades everything all of our thoughts all of our feelings everything just no matter what happens we're just not very happy with anything I often quote Swami Swan energy he used to say if a small child is in a bad mood and you give it candy it'll cry if it's in a good mood you give it a slap and it'll laugh so mostly uh are our happiness and sadness and whatever whatever our reaction is it depended more on our mood than anything else we're a good mood we can put up with anything we're in a bad mood even people try to be nice to us oh how are you today why do you keep asking how am I yeah you see I don't feel good again or Swami's father poor man he was so sick at the end and he said everybody calls me Mirage how are you what can I say he said if that's all you're calling don't call me I'm a sick man what can I say so everybody is subject to to moods and ups and downs is those who aren't are the ones we consider absolute Saints did charama Krishna ever get annoyed with anybody or anything that he would get a little bit annoyed with someone who would snap at somebody or something occasionally but he also had a human mind he emphasized that very much he emphasized that more I think than than the god coming and and revealing himself in human form even more when God comes he comes with that's a little bit of Veil of Maya and how many times he mentioned that how Rama wept for Sita so even Rama if he can weep that means that uh this mind is is just such an unpredictable thing and this ego is is so easily bruised that uh really it's very hard to have any contentment in life unless we know how to to control it or we know how to bypass it somehow so this is a great challenge in in life so he's asking a question as if he's the only one this is a problem many people feel that she was why do why do I have good days in bed as if they're the only ones sometimes it's helpful just to realize that everybody has the same problem can I coach quotes from his father Angie again yeah he he had such wonderful ways of explaining things he said you wake up one morning and throat is sore and you have a fever and you feel horrible and you're thinking ah I'm so sick and everything then you read in the paper thousands of people are suffering from flu as you had a fluid immediately you feel a little bit better you're not the only one everyone else is Africa so if we know we're all in the same boat it helps a little bit so this is a question for a few days I feel very happy why do I feel Restless afterwards master I see things have not been fitted quite exactly the Machine Works smoothly If the mechanic fits the cogs of the wheels correctly that's a nice answer in your case there is an obstruction somewhere now we can we can say that taco will give some general answer for everybody but we know Taco had this special power of insight and uh I don't know it sounds like this is the first time he's meeting this but anyhow he had that ability to understand what's going on inside of a person with without having to ask too many questions or anything so this will be something especially for this takodara yes sir that must be so Master are you initiated yes sir Master do you have faith in your mantra now there's not too much this conversation stops a little bit here but what can we gain from this answer I think what what we get is that we should do our spiritual practice that this is the best way to avoid the ups and downs of the mind to do our spiritual practice to get connected with that internal reality that is ever present and uh has no ups and downs if we if we grab a hold of that then we're more or less safe Taco gives a nice illustration that you can swing round and round and round if you're holding on to a pillar you won't fall down otherwise you will fall so uh without saying anything you know do spiritual practice the first thing he says or you initiated a friend of takodada said that the latter could sing well the master asked him to sing if anybody could sing Tucker would ask him to sing he'd love to hear music talk with other saying I shall become a yogi and dwell in love's Mountain cave I shall be lost in yoga beside The Fountainhead of bliss I shall appease my Hunger for knowledge with the fruit of truth I shall worship the feet of God with the flower of dispassion a little bit like our mental worship I shall not seek a will to slake the burning thirst of my heart but I shall draw the water of Peace into the jar of my soul drinking the Glorious nectar of thy blessed Lotus feet I shall both laugh and dance and weep and sing on the heights of joy Master ah what a nice song Fountainhead of bliss fruit of Truth laugh and dance and weep and sing your song tastes very sweet to me why should you worry now this really if we if we try to get to the heart of of why we are ups and downs this and that most of it is worry most of it is some type of anxiety what will happen what does that mean that means lack of of surrender and lack of sharanagati if we if we have that that whatever happens is is for the best or if we have the statiksha whatever happens I can bear what can affect me I'm the self I'm the witness of everything if we have that then we'll be very firm and strong so this this uh spiritual practice is getting connected to that reality Within uh it makes the Mind strong then we can put up with all different types of problems and difficulties in the world I talk where we'll talk about it a little bit here yeah he's he'll return to talk with all this question Pleasure and Pain or inevitable in the life of the world one suffers now and then from a little weary and trouble a man living in a room full of soot cannot avoid being a little stained now sometimes taqwa gives this is the example of difference between assadu life and and the family life or House of their life he says that a householder there's no chance of of avoiding living in the world having a job family there's no chance of avoiding a little bit of of this contamination of the worldliness the soot that way so I'll do if you can live in in some environment away from everything maybe free a little bit but the mind is still the problem yeah so uh if we can get over this anxiety and worry and now how do we do it one thing is we we have to be sensible people and we have to make Provisions householders especially make Provisions somebody can say that I'm constantly worried about what will happen to me in my retirement years another person says I have the savings account I have an IRA I put money away I know that I'll be safe in in those years practical type of thing Dr says even for the sadhu that the once he's roaming about without worry the other says oh you're going all around where did you keep your things I first found my room I put it there and I locked it up under K I don't have to worry I can just go about freely so one thing is is to be very practical as far as possible to eliminate all of the Practical problems that may come up that may be five ten percent we don't know the things will come up regardless but to that extent to be uh sensible people and to look after our health a little bit look after or financial condition all of these things this is helpful so this is number one the main thing is to understand that whatever happens will happen and will survive your worst comes the worst we won't survive what does that mean we're going to die anyhow one day nobody's going to live forever and if we really believe that this is just a little bit of a uh two-day uh vacation not a very sunny vacation and that we can get to go back to our real home then we we won't care too much we get too attached we get to attach to this this this world which is really not such a wonderful place it's not such a wonderful place now going into the hospital I went to see or Swami this couple of days going to the hospital uh how these nurses do it day and night they're with people who can can barely breathe and and uh whether they survived of the night is it questionable sometimes and they they say and how many especially with this covert time how many got completely burned out and just couldn't do it anymore but uh yeah this this life in the world is not such an easy thing so we have to have tremendous Inner Strength which comes from spiritual practice comes from faith comes from surrender and the staticia is a wonderful thing yeah the holy mother had the tremendous statement that she said that the greatest virtue that anyone can have is forbearance and the greatest treasure that anyone can have is contentment and one comes directly from the other if we if we have that forbearance we can just put up with anything whatever our attitude either his mother's will or my karma whatever attitude and then we'll have this certain amount of contentment people who like this Karma idea they can say yeah what can I do with my karma that I made my own bed I have to sleep in it who can I I'm not going to blame anybody else others will say oh yeah I renounced everything to mother and now it's all in her hands whatever she does is for the best I'll accept it that way uh just like the kitten so different attitudes to take but really this uh this this idea that uh one suffers now and then from a little worrying trouble that yeah this worry and trouble this is this is the meaning of life what is the meaning so I'm sorry what is the meaning of this this life it means suffering we're we're not so pessimistic as some Buddhist philosophers and things but still not that everything is is suffering in misery but is it part of life we have to accept swamiji says in one place that there'll always be an equal amount happiness is sadness and then he says but probably more misery probably more misery than happiness otherwise it so much depends on the mind that's the other thing please tell me what I should do now Master chant the name of a Hadith morning and evening clapping your hands now Taco would give this advice sometimes and we think that anybody could give that advice nothing very special to that this are uh the Hari Mirage where he was asking about how to get rid of lust and taku says repeated in the morning this is a holy man this is the best advice he can give but he said he did it it worked so anyhow if Krishna says to do it it's different from somebody else saying to do it there's there's some force and power behind it but what it really means is is dive deep within develop this inner life is the only way of of uh of getting through this life unscathed is by having a very strong inner life that has to be the most important thing what happens in the external world that is secondary because everything is a mind we live in the mind everything is the mind all the experiences outside we are experience in the mind not that they're not taking place but everything's experienced in the mind so it depends on the state of the Mind how we take these things how they affect us it depends on the state of mind more than than the external circumstance that's the most important thing that's why we see some of these these really great Souls how they're unshaken in the midst of anything no matter what happens especially their own physical health oh I'm perturbed that yeah life is like that the body is like that it will break down and everything you just accept it find yourself what does that affect me really if we have that type of attitude morning and evening Clapping Your Hands come once more when my arm is healed a bit yeah this is the period not still when he's trying to get over that broken arm mahim entered the room and saluted the master we've met him before many times he considers himself a great pundit is a little bit of a egotistical person but sincere in his own way and Tucker likes him Tucker liked all of these the slightly Oddball people so Taco is always nice to him and everything but he knows that he considers himself a little bit of a uh intellectual so ramakrishna said to him ah he has sung a nice song please sing it again repeated the song Master to mahima please recite that verse the one about Devotion to Hari now talk word has him repeat this many times we go through the whole gospel we see on several different occasions he'll ask him to repeat that why if the Sanskrit of it is not very interesting and I don't find it such a beautiful verse or anything but taqwa likes the cinnamon and he he likes to give this he knows it gets a little puffed up he feels happy if he can do all the things so he does it there's another there was another instance where they're talking and this is saying he doesn't really care much for the devotion and everything's like that he's a real God he thinks of himself as real Yani and somebody not in maybe one of them said but you always recite that verse he says that he asked me to recite it so I recite it as if it's not really is his inner attitude anyhow there's a funny character there are a lot of funny characters and talk with Leela what need is their opinions if God is worshiped with love what is the use of penance if God is Not worshiped with love what need is their repentance is God is seen within and without what is the use of penance if God is not seen within and without asked him to recite a second thing these two things we find many times Master recite that part also obtained from him the love of God recited oh my child cease from practicing further penances hasten to shankara the ocean of heavenly wisdom obtained from him the love of God the pure love Praise by devotees which snaps in Twain the shackles that bind you to the world Master yes shankara will bestow the love of God mahima one who is free from bondage is the Eternal Shiva master shame hatred fear hesitation these are the shackles the different Passions what do you say yes sir and also the desire to conceal and shrinking before praise master there are two signs of knowledge first an unshakable Boutique Boutique not we sometimes make this distinction between Manus and buddhi it's not a very strong distinction we can say it's just a very strong mind the mind that's that's not so susceptible to the external circumstances in the fix this this means this is the very inner strength in the strength of Mind something like that so two signs of knowledge first an unshakable Boutique no matter how many Sorrows afflictions dangers and obstacles one may be faced with when the Mind does not undergo any change this is a sign this is this is this is the sign of this age of steady wisdom how they're just not moved we have this phrase in in Gita that jazz standing firm like a mountain unmovable and this idea of being stuck with like the Anvil we'll get that here how his name is huge Hammer blacksmith and uh they'll they'll put the iron in in the in the fire and they'll put it there and they'll just bang on it and it won't move with with a tremendous force of that huge Mallet or Hammer whatever the the Anvil won't move this is the example that they have for that type of mind that is not affected by the external things we can expect to have that 100 we're trying to reach a level where we're not affected so much one of our swamis once said that what we're trying to have is is a is a a buffer you know uh buffer is something which will absorb the shock we'll still feel some shot but it'll absorb most of it this is what we try to do ultimately of course we want to be a completely free from all of this but at least I have that spiritual strength within so that we're not knocked off our feet by when these these tragedies come so first an unshakable Boutique no matter how many Sorrows afflictions dangers and obstacles one may be faced with one the Mind does not undergo any change it is like the blacksmith's Anvil which receives constant blows from the hammer and Still Remains unshaken and second manliness now this isn't a man male female type of thing this just means strength swamiji himself you remember that great statement he said the older I get the more it seems to me that everything is a question of Manliness so again there's another gender related issue it means courage and strength and they're not wavering not having that Weekly salary couldn't bear weakness he wanted us to be strong so this is the second very strong Grit if lust and anger into a man he must have renounce them once for all if a tortoise once tucks in its limbs it won't put them out again though you may cut it into four pieces and the others there are two kinds of renunciation intense and feeble feeble renunciation is a slow process one moves in the slow Rhythm intense pronunciation is like a sharp the sharp edge of a razor it cuts the bondage of my easily and at once this viragya this varagya is a very special thing that uh is very often misunderstood very often taken to some negative thing that it simply means that we don't feel much attraction for the world a little bit of dispassion or like uh lack of interest in in worldly things this real great idea what taka is talking about uh is a tremendous Force a tremendous Force I I often think of this it says that this shraddha entered into him this is also a con enter into people and those who take the monastic life very often it comes because of this says a very strong type of feeling that unbearable to live in this world they'd have to get out somehow the to the long long this is have to be understood together the tremendous Longing To when he's Longing To to escape somehow awkward he uses a very strong language sometimes that to to someone who has this but I'll give this world is like a blazing forest fire and he says even one's own relative seemed like venomous black cobras he's a very strong language that way so there's a variety intense it consumes a person most of the of of the monks uh have a little bit of that at some time in in their life that it becomes a very strong type of thing now does it last throughout a whole lifetime that type of an idea and that type of yakulita the tremendous Restless longing for God everyone is different in all different cases I was thinking about this today that we get established in it but it's impossible for that blazing fire to continue uh unless we have our God realization if it's so strong that everything gets burned up we have that really otherwise spiritual life they say it's it's uh it's not it's not a it's a marathon it's not a Sprint we it's impossible to have that type of burning renunciation uh throughout the whole lifetime if we do then we'll have some type of realization otherwise it I it it provides an unshakable ground for spiritual life it may it may not be uh the blazing fire but that heat will remain there anyhow everybody needs a little bit of this radar gear it's not just for for the monks that a little bit of this and we have to understand a tremendous longing to to break out of the shackles of ignorance the tremendous Longing To Have Some Type Of God realization or to know our real nature otherwise this very mild type of renunciation ah well I can do it tomorrow no rush it doesn't amount to too much it's better than nothing of course but this is very argue we have to understand it's it's it's really a tremendous power if uh we we really have that type of intense renunciation and if we look at the lives of all the great Saints uh this this is one of the things that will will stand out look at the lighter Buddha we read we read about that the day that he gave up everything that there was some I guess because of the birth of the child that they were tremendous celebration in the palace and singing and dancing and drinking and eating and everything and and when he went in he saw that there were people lying on the ground drunk and and others exhausted and all of this and he said it was just like uh a vision of hell with demons and everything it's just unbearable he had to leave he had no choice that's that's that intense we'd argue that and in his case even for someone like that in his case that it remained but how long did it take was it five years something like that or anybody remember that he went from one group to another group and finally had his his Enlightenment six years six years yeah so to maintain that tremendous right argue for six years is no joke only these special Souls can can do that otherwise it's not that we lose it but at least I think for monks that one's finally joining and everything it's it's quenched a little bit satisfied a little bit but we have to make sure that we don't lose it completely there's one big problem is that we feel that once we've taken sannyasa we've completed the job and don't have to do anything a very great problem in spiritual life and it can come from all different things it can come out of a great tragedy it can come the death of a loved one all sorts of things you remember our uh what was his name Govinda Roy the uh this Christian sadhu who came Quaker who came this ramakrishna uh on the day that his brother was to be married that everyone was there and they have the the big tents that they set up and everything and and one of the uh post broke something like that and it fell down and died instantly when the David's married somebody and from that day onward this radar became then what is what is the purpose of life in this world and everything so it can come from some type of tragedy in life uh it can come from seeing a great soul we know again the life of Buddha that it came because of four visions that he saw a very sick man that he saw a very old man he saw a dead man and then he saw a young monk face beaming with the joy not looking one way or the other all of these brought that tremendous so there are two types of renunciation intense and feeble feeble renunciation is a slow process one moves in a slow Rhythm intense pronunciation is like the sharp edge of a razor it cuts the bondage of Maya easily and at once one former labors for days to bring water from the lake to his field but his efforts are futile because he has no Grit another farmer after laboring for two or three days takes a vow and says I will bring water into my field today and not till then will I go home he puts aside all thought of his bath or his meal he labors the whole day and feels great joy when in the evening he finds water entering his field with the murmuring sound then he goes home and says to his wife now give me some oil I shall take my bath after finishing his bath in his meal he lies down to sleep with a peaceful mind Tucker tells this story several different times how he even says during the day his wife sends the daughter come take your food you can finish later and he says get away from me and then the wife comes said get out get out of here you crazy woman don't you Noble starve and then finally he finishes the job and content generally he talks about here he doesn't tell that but he says a second Farmer in the same situation the wife says come why work so hard you can do it tomorrow he said okay and he went home and uh and they never got water in the field and they suffered from famine a certain woman said to her husband so and so has developed the spirit of great dispassion for the world but I don't see anything of the sword in you he has 16 wives that'll give us this passion for the world how does one have 16 wives right and yeah he has 16 wives he is giving them up one by one the husband with a towel on his shoulder was going to the lake for his bath he said to his wife you are crazy he won't be able to give up the world is it ever possible to renounce bid by bit I can renounce look here I go he didn't stop even to settle his household Affairs he left home just as he was the towel on the shoulder and went away that is intense renunciation now what about the case of somebody who says let me work for a few years and save a little bit of money and look after the family this and that and then he'll renounce and they go ahead and they do it what about that person irresponsible good responsible person absolutely or the Kumar Maharaj he did that just for the sake of his family he worked a few extra years he joined a little bit late yeah so he wouldn't have that worry and anxiety so they had some money and then with with the free clear mind was good renounce it and he's in a much better place yes here or there here yeah so easy to remember yeah easy to renounce so we there are certain rules to renounce one and in those days you have to remember that this this sannyasa came after the householder life and uh there were different rules and and different theories one was that uh really the first three stages are the only three stages it was a certain schools this Sanya sessions really isn't considered to be part of uh of an army type of life that you uh ramacharia and then and then there's another group that said that you can take the sannyasa only after going through all of those that it's necessary to be married have a family and have property and do all of that and then you give it to the children and you you go into the Forest Lane you take the sanyasi then the the other theory that you can go directly from brahmataria to sanyasa this is what we do of course but well the the theory that is generally accepted oh and for the householder to take the sanyasa generally it was felt that he should do it only if his wife uh uh wouldn't suffer and financially at least monetarily and that there should be uh birth after the birth of the Sun and this is what happened in the case of swamiji's grandfather if if swamiji grandfather had renounced the world before giving birth to a son then where would Trump would you be now we could have been born in another family of course but because he had the son that son was formed his own father and uh that's why swamiji didn't have any uh uh answer uncles on uh was that the element you know that is only uh on on his father's side that's just after the birth of that one son yeah but then we have this uh one verse from one upanishad not such an important information but this is on that very day when you feel that intense then you can leave no matter what then there's no Leo there's no rules or anything if it's that intense but if it's not see this is he had other people that they had their family and sometimes he would say that uh okay if they really want to renounce they have to provide for the family but in the case of those who have this renunciation is so intense that they're almost helpless and then some somehow they're allowed to uh bypass some of these other rules there's another kind of renunciation called monkey renunciation a man harrowed by distress at home puts on an ocher robe and goes away to benarus for many days he does not send home and he knows of himself then he writes to his people don't be worried about me I've got a job here so this is this is the renunciation can be a type of escapism I can't find a good job this and that in in our order in India which is a little bit different nowadays but uh the standard of living now in our order is quite good if if somebody really doesn't uh doesn't care about uh being able to move about very freely and doesn't have much interest in in getting a job or having a good career and wants to be able to get all of his meals and a place to stay without worry and everything to join the order but this is not the purpose this is this is that Marketa wait on you that and they find something better to live because there's no renunciation real renunciation behind it yes there's some type of convenience you could say there's always trouble in family life now remember Taco is talking to the men here so the women don't get offended the wife may be disobedient perhaps the husband earns only 20 rupees a month he hasn't the means to perform the rice eating ceremony for his baby he cannot educate his son the house is dilapidated the roof leaks and he hasn't the money to repair it so he renounces the world no this is not the right thing but just talking about the problems in life then talk with says therefore when the youngsters come here I ask them whether they have anyone at home no this means because the the youngsters means these young boys who will become monks they will know the thought at that time the girls will come up and they'll renounce the world and be at that time so uh it was it was the responsibility of the sun to look after the parents so takwa sometimes says that if one has that good karma then perhaps elder brother is there to look after the parents he doesn't have to worry about that but this was this was uh always a burden on the family and the joint family situation where the parents could only uh be able to retire if the Sun is there living at home who will look after the household and and uh pay all the expenses and everything if there's a daughter she'll live with her husband's family so this was this was uh always a question uh now what about cases where somebody's absolutely qualified to become among but there's no one else at home then absolutely qualified then look at Pharmacy's condition he it was his responsibility his brothers were both young much younger at that time but uh there were no question who would not say to him yes get married look after the family this and that that's your duty responsibility he had a greater mission in life so it all depends on the individual case I remember a little personal experience I went to see so I mean Saturday this was before I joined and I went to get his blessings to join and he only asked me one question is there anyone to look after your mother he didn't say parents he didn't say father or anything is there anyone to look after your mother will your mother suffer if you I said yes the the families and they don't have any problems that way then he said good so yeah our water is a little bit different that way there are several cases where some joined and then mother got sick or some problem at home and the the seniors direct disciples even sent them home to look after them and then they came back and joined again now this is a wonderful thing that especially for for the widows for the mothers yeah because in India uh maybe not so much now but there there used to be quite a large age difference uh between the the husband and the wife that very often the wife could be you know at least 10 years younger so that uh it was it was much more common for the the mother to be the Widow for the husband to die earlier and then who to look after so uh we have now I think a couple of different places and I know people have raised money especially for the mothers of saltus uh to to retire and everything uh wherever you're thinking Menards I think in Calcutta now also yeah Bangladesh they were trying also that way so it was a very nice idea because the mother's sacrificed losing his son so we're at least in their old age they have some place and everything yeah foreign [Music] [Music] this is a young man who wanted to become a monk and what happened his father died young father so all he had was Mother and all the mother had was this so just mother and son yes nobody else yeah then after college wanted to join the order of course yeah was a terrible blow to the mother she said what will I do now mother said what will I do now he says you can also read that yeah no this is uh sometimes it takes tremendous strength of mind because family can put tremendous pressure in India everyone is very happy to be to see somebody else's son become a monk somebody else somebody else's son to become alive yeah nobody wants their own son to become a monk in India yeah I know cases where even they've had lawsuits will have a lawsuit that my son has been brainwashed by the order and they have to release them and everything what tremendous strength am I in for for the sun to to just say no I'm not going home no matter what so sometimes it can be like that so Taco uh those who are the chosen ones that he recognizes is his his real uh Parsons his his his real uh Inner Circle future monastics and then it it wasn't such an issue but the the others who would come he would want to make sure that no one else will suffer in the family and everything and is it real renunciation that was that was the question foreign therefore when the youngsters come here I ask them whether they have anyone at home to mahima why should the householders renounce the world now we have to remember that takor he'll give the advice that's appropriate for the person he's talking to this is mahima is somebody who wouldn't be interested in pronunciation at that the old age and everything uh but also this question of of those who have already taken to the married life they've already said their responsibilities they've taken the vows of marriage and everything uh what what advantage is it for them to renounce and what allows them to be free from those vowels they're very big question some of some of the greatest monks of our order were married and and just gave up our Swami uh who who uh translated into the Great Master uh he is a wonderful story he was a professor he taught philosophy and was was teaching some class on the upanishads this is insulate and uh I he was saying something like some of these ideas one cannot really understand unless unless one renounces everything and one of the students said to him but you're teaching us and you haven't renounced he said yes this is true and then he left home and everything and became one of the great considered one of the great amongst of our order this white argue is something you know the story of this he was a uh on the Hobie what did they wash washerman yeah and they have to uh they make some type of Ash they have to burn some type of the banana plant or something that made some type of ass that they use to wash the clothes something like that and he hadn't done it it was a little bit late and his daughter said Baba you haven't yet uh burned and the word is the same as of Asuna something like that that is getting late and you haven't burned up so he took it this other now your life isn't going by and still you have these desires that you haven't given up and taking this in that way then he he renounced became a saintly type of person so what triggers things we never know what will trigger something so let me try to finish this paragraph therefore when the youngsters come here I ask them whether they have anyone at home to mahima why should householders renounce the world what grade troubles the wandering monks pass through the wife of a certain man said to him you want to renounce the world why you will have to beg morsels from eight different homes but here you get all your food in one place isn't that nice now we're lucky we get all of our food in one place and we can still be bugs but there there was a very interesting incident in the life of a holy mother many of the young monks of the order would go to holy mother or others and complain we came to spend our time in spiritual practice and we have to spend so much time in in doing the work of the order and made the office work maybe in a hospital they would complain like that and she would say Baba yes that you're living a nice easy life you have a beautiful place to stay you get all your meals and everything uh you want to lead a life of of uh dear spiritual practice very good go live under a tree foreign [Music] mostly that they they felt it or not getting as much time as they liked for their meditation this and that yeah some especially your early days some had to work day and night in hospitals and things and and there was a shortage of help and everything so really unless unless the monks in that situation looked upon Seva as spiritual practice and if they came with this idea that they wanted to spend long hours in meditation and everything and then a little bit of uh yeah disappointment would be there even today we'll have we'll have some young monks who join and uh they'll reach a point where they say really I want to spend all of my time in spiritual practice and they'll go off on their own live in uttakashi and good monks they may be good monks they may be some of them may just be lazy but we've seen a few of them with very good monks just cut out for a different type of monastic life or life is a life we have to Value Service as spiritual practice we have to look upon that as a privilege in in our particular order you want to renounce the world why you will have to bake morsels from eight different homes but here you get all your food in one place isn't that nice only praising householder life the sometimes he talks about we'll get it here about the Monk Is Like Somebody fighting in an open field and the householders like within a fort a closer I remember a nice story I told by foreign she was talking about the experience of uh of renouncing and becoming a nun and she said that before that it was as if she was someone trying to to reach her home at night late at night and dark at night and someone's following her and she thinks it may be a thief maybe a murderer she doesn't know who it is she's walking faster and faster running and running and running then finally she gets home and she she opens the door and she and she gets in slams the door and locks it and feels he feels completely at peace then she realizes that she locked the thief inside the house with her so this is our new life that there's no escaping because everything is is internal within the mind so this that was that that realization that uh this is sadhu life it is a bit in the open field we don't we don't have some of the protection and everything we have to be uh 100 Vigilant in our spiritual practice that story okay let this stop here this is uh page 411. um [Music] foreign who was stainless of infinite nature whose heart melts and sympathy for his devotees who is an embodiment of the Divine and the Supreme Lord and ever worthy of our worship [Music] peace peace peace foreign