Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, lived from December 22, 1853 to July 20, 1920. Called the Holy Mother by her devotees, she was born in Jayrambati, a village in Bengal. She was both a nun and a mother, the final arbiter of all spiritual matters at Belur Math, yet also the caretaker of her niece. To the many devotees who came to her in India and from abroad, she was their mother. She took care of their physical and spiritual needs as well as taught them spiritual wisdom. She hid her great spiritual attainments and power behind a veil of modesty. To a fortunate few, she sometimes revealed her nature as the Divine Feminine Archetype. For others, they felt their lives blessed by being able to feel her silent presence. To understand her teachings and life, we need to travel a great distance to a land where gods and goddesses live among men and women, where the spiritual realm is more real than the physical world we inhabit, and where mother is worshipped as the supreme divine power through which the entire cosmos moves. Swami Tattwamayananda, a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India, minister-in-charge of the Vedanta Society of Northern California (founded by Swami Vivekananda, the first Hindu monk to preach in the West, in 1900), an eminent Vedic scholar as well as scholar of European history and language, has shared in five sessions the fruit of a lifetime of meditating on Holy Mother’s teachings. The lectures were held at a private retreat on the Vedanta Society’s Olema retreat property in Marin County from August 31 – September 2, 2019. Swami Tattwamayananda brings his immense scholarship, spiritual insight, and understanding of the spiritual needs of our time, to bring Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s teachings to us through biography, history, philosophy, myth, and Sanskrit tradition. Swami Tattwamayananda, currently the Minister of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco, (originally founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900) served in various centers of the Ramakrishna Order in India as editor, publisher, and teacher of Sanskrit, Advaitic texts such as Sri Shankaracharya's commentaries on the 'Prasthanatraya' (the fundamental Sanskrit texts of Vedanta philosophy), Buddhism and Indian philosophy. He underwent traditional training in Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit, Vedic and Vedantic literature for many years, from his early days. Before coming to the United States in January 2012 he was teaching Sanskrit, Vedantic scriptures and Indian philosophy at the Training center in Belur Math, the institution that trains the monks of the Ramakrishna Order at the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, Kolkata, India. Apart from his traditional education, the Swami has also received modern University education in English literature, psychology, European history, and Western philosophy. He is frequently invited for lectures on Yoga, Vedanta, and traditional Hindu scriptures and for participating in interfaith dialogues.
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Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, lived from December 22, 1853 to July 20, 1920. Called the Holy Mother by her devotees, she was born in Jayrambati, a village in Bengal. She was both a nun and a mother, the final arbiter of all spiritual matters at Belur Math, yet also the caretaker of her niece. To the many devotees who came to her in India and from abroad, she was their mother. She took care of their physical and spiritual needs as well as taught them spiritual wisdom. She hid her great spiritual attainments and power behind a veil of modesty. To a fortunate few, she sometimes revealed her nature as the Divine Feminine Archetype. For others, they felt their lives blessed by being able to feel her silent presence. To understand her teachings and life, we need to travel a great distance to a land where gods and goddesses live among men and women, where the spiritual realm is more real than the physical world we inhabit, and where mother is worshipped as the supreme divine power through which the entire cosmos moves. Swami Tattwamayananda, a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India, minister-in-charge of the Vedanta Society of Northern California (founded by Swami Vivekananda, the first Hindu monk to preach in the West, in 1900), an eminent Vedic scholar as well as scholar of European history and language, has shared in five sessions the fruit of a lifetime of meditating on Holy Mother’s teachings. The lectures were held at a private retreat on the Vedanta Society’s Olema retreat property in Marin County from August 31 – September 2, 2019. Swami Tattwamayananda brings his immense scholarship, spiritual insight, and understanding of the spiritual needs of our time, to bring Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s teachings to us through biography, history, philosophy, myth, and Sanskrit tradition. Swami Tattwamayananda, currently the Minister of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco, (originally founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900) served in various centers of the Ramakrishna Order in India as editor, publisher, and teacher of Sanskrit, Advaitic texts such as Sri Shankaracharya's commentaries on the 'Prasthanatraya' (the fundamental Sanskrit texts of Vedanta philosophy), Buddhism and Indian philosophy. He underwent traditional training in Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit, Vedic and Vedantic literature for many years, from his early days. Before coming to the United States in January 2012 he was teaching Sanskrit, Vedantic scriptures and Indian philosophy at the Training center in Belur Math, the institution that trains the monks of the Ramakrishna Order at the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, Kolkata, India. Apart from his traditional education, the Swami has also received modern University education in English literature, psychology, European history, and Western philosophy. He is frequently invited for lectures on Yoga, Vedanta, and traditional Hindu scriptures and for participating in interfaith dialogues.
5 - Holy Mother on Sincere Faith, Prayer, and Sublimating Your Desire | Swami Tattwamayananda
Sri Sarada Devi | The Holy Mother
1 hour 27 minutes
6 years ago
5 - Holy Mother on Sincere Faith, Prayer, and Sublimating Your Desire | Swami Tattwamayananda
This lecture was delivered on September 2, 2019 as part of the Labor Day Vedanta Retreat held in the Olema Vedanta Retreat.
1. Real Faith
-Holy Mother: “Is faith so cheap, my child? Faith is the last word. If one has faith, the goal is practically reached."
-There is faith at the beginning in spiritual life. There is also real faith, the end of spiritual life, which is the same as experience or is based on experience.
2. Sincere Prayer and Sincere Recognition of Grace: A Guaranteed Method
-"Pray to God with tears in your eyes whenever you want illumination or find yourself faced with any doubt or difficulty. The Lord will remove all your impurities, remove your mental anguish, and give you enlightenment. Open your grief-stricken heart to the Lord. Weep and sincerely pray, "Oh Lord, draw me towards you. Give me peace of mind." By doing so constantly you will gradually attain peace of mind. One who makes a habit of prayer will easily overcome all difficulties and remain calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials of life. God cannot be realized without love, your sincere love. Even the impossible becomes possible through devotion."
-Prayer is a guaranteed method for spiritual life. Intensity and integrity and sacredness and sanctity are the preconditions for prayer in Vedanta. Then, it becomes a reality. We evolve from praying for something, to praying to surrender to God. We also need to learn to recognize God's grace as God's grace. Seekers may interpret the answer of the prayer as an accident. We need to evolve a mind that can interpret and recognize grace as grace.
3. Prayer for Worldly Needs Eventually Leads to Spiritual Wisdom, If We Pray with Complete Sincerity.
-Four categories of seekers are there: seekers of wealth, seekers under distress, seekers of knowledge, and the wise (Bhagavad Gita 7.16). All of them are ‘udara,’ noble-hearted (Bhagavad Gita 7.18). God will fulfill your worldly desires, then he will give you the wisdom to go beyond those desires. Mother grants our needs, devotion, and knowledge. You should not think that you cannot pray for worldly things. It is better to pray to God for our desires than to resort to other means. Mother manifests in the homes of noble-minded people as ‘Sri,’ prosperity. We get sanctity, sense of sacredness, and ‘lajja’ – a sense that we should not do something that does not befit us.
4. Channeling the Restless Mind
-Holy Mother: "The mind is by nature restless. Therefore, at the outset, to make the mind steady, one may practice meditation by regulating the breathing a little. That helps to steady the mind. But one must not overdo it. You may talk of the vision of God or meditation but remember the mind is everything. One gets everything when the mind becomes steady."
-Disciple: "Is it of any use to be merely repeating his name without intense devotion?"
-Holy Mother: "Whether you jump into water or are pushed into water, your clothes will be drenched, is it not so? Meditate every day as your mind is yet immature. Constant meditation will make your mind one-pointed."
-At the beginning, mind becomes especially restless when we try to withdraw it inward. Divert the mind and senses towards good things to keep them out of mischief. Examples from Yoga-Vasishta and Vivekachudamani are given. We should always leave a little bit of time for our own spiritual life.
5. Sublimating Your Desires
-A disciple asked if all men or women can get rid of desires. Mother replied: "How can they? If they could the creation would come to an end. The world is going on because not all can become free of desires. People with desires are born and born again. As long as a man has desires, there is no end to his transmigration. It is desires alone that make him take one body after another."
Sri Sarada Devi | The Holy Mother
Sri Sarada Devi, the spiritual consort of Sri Ramakrishna, lived from December 22, 1853 to July 20, 1920. Called the Holy Mother by her devotees, she was born in Jayrambati, a village in Bengal. She was both a nun and a mother, the final arbiter of all spiritual matters at Belur Math, yet also the caretaker of her niece. To the many devotees who came to her in India and from abroad, she was their mother. She took care of their physical and spiritual needs as well as taught them spiritual wisdom. She hid her great spiritual attainments and power behind a veil of modesty. To a fortunate few, she sometimes revealed her nature as the Divine Feminine Archetype. For others, they felt their lives blessed by being able to feel her silent presence. To understand her teachings and life, we need to travel a great distance to a land where gods and goddesses live among men and women, where the spiritual realm is more real than the physical world we inhabit, and where mother is worshipped as the supreme divine power through which the entire cosmos moves. Swami Tattwamayananda, a senior monk of the Ramakrishna Order of India, minister-in-charge of the Vedanta Society of Northern California (founded by Swami Vivekananda, the first Hindu monk to preach in the West, in 1900), an eminent Vedic scholar as well as scholar of European history and language, has shared in five sessions the fruit of a lifetime of meditating on Holy Mother’s teachings. The lectures were held at a private retreat on the Vedanta Society’s Olema retreat property in Marin County from August 31 – September 2, 2019. Swami Tattwamayananda brings his immense scholarship, spiritual insight, and understanding of the spiritual needs of our time, to bring Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi’s teachings to us through biography, history, philosophy, myth, and Sanskrit tradition. Swami Tattwamayananda, currently the Minister of the Vedanta Society of Northern California, San Francisco, (originally founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1900) served in various centers of the Ramakrishna Order in India as editor, publisher, and teacher of Sanskrit, Advaitic texts such as Sri Shankaracharya's commentaries on the 'Prasthanatraya' (the fundamental Sanskrit texts of Vedanta philosophy), Buddhism and Indian philosophy. He underwent traditional training in Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit, Vedic and Vedantic literature for many years, from his early days. Before coming to the United States in January 2012 he was teaching Sanskrit, Vedantic scriptures and Indian philosophy at the Training center in Belur Math, the institution that trains the monks of the Ramakrishna Order at the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission, Kolkata, India. Apart from his traditional education, the Swami has also received modern University education in English literature, psychology, European history, and Western philosophy. He is frequently invited for lectures on Yoga, Vedanta, and traditional Hindu scriptures and for participating in interfaith dialogues.
