Swami Ramdas - Thus Speaks Ramdas

THUS SPEAKS RAMDAS

Thus SPEAKS RAmdAS

ANANDASHRAM

Anandashrama P O Kanhangad - 671531 Kerala, India

Publisher Details

Published by :

Anandashram, Kanhangad, Kerala-671531

Ph:0467-2970160

Website: www.anandashram.org

All rights reserved

First Edition 1959

Tenth Edition 2012

Eleventh Edition 2014

Twelfth Edition 2018

CONTENTS

Publishers Note

Thus Speak Ramdas is the compilation of select quotations, first published in 1959. Categorised into different topics, these inspiring words of Swami Ramdas offer immense clarity and conviction to aspirants on their spiritual journey.

We hope that these insightful sayings would be greatly helpful to readers for a deeper understanding of the all-pervading Reality.

Anandashram

THE AIM OF LIFE

Human life is a rare acquisition. Its purpose is to know the Atman by knowing which you have nothing more to know. Everyone must realise that the Divine is within him. God is within your heart; you are His embodiment. You are He, but you do not know that. There is a veil of ignorance separating you from God. Remove the veil. First God, everything else comes next.

The microcosm is the macrocosm. The individual is the universal. God dwells in every being and thing, however small, in His entirety and perfection. Think, not in terms of the individual, but always in terms of the universal. Do everything for the sake of God. Then your ego-sense will vanish and you will realise you are the Universal Spirit changeless, eternal, infinite. This is your goal.

Your life is intended for the service of all. The expansion of the individual into

the universal is possible only when God- thought rules your mind, when God-love fills your heart and Gods will governs your actions. Whenever you see anybody, you must see not only the external form but also the indwelling Reality. This is the true vision. This alone can free you from the sense of diversity and make you realise the unity and oneness of all existence. It is not merely in holy persons and places that you should see God, but in all, everywhere, even in the marketplace. You must always feel the Divine Presence in and about you.

Just as man has aspiration for the Divine, woman also has. So women too must be given ample opportunities to walk on the path that leads to liberation. We have in India, women who have reached the highest spiritual attainment.

ASPIRATION

The first thing necessary is keen aspiration to realise God or Truth. This aspiration will make you constantly remember Him because where your love is, there your heart is. So if you really desire to realise God, you cannot but remember Him. By such constant remembrance and aspiration, your heart will be purified and your devotion to Truth will become one-pointed.

It is much easier for a poor man to tune his mind to the Divine than for a rich man who is steeped in worldly pleasures. Many of our Rishis and saints were born poor.

The path is simple, straight and easy. Remember the Beloved with all the love of your heart. That instant you are filled with joy. There will be no strain, no pain, no struggle. As you seek Him, so does He seek you in the shrine of your heart.

Let His love envelop and absorb you.

God is ever after us. He wants to take us to Himself and grant us the highest beatitude. But we try to escape from Him even as a dirt-covered child runs away from its mother who wants to bathe it. We are trying to run away from the Divine Mother who wants to purify us and give us the highest bliss. We like playing with the toys of the world, ignoring Her call.

Seek not to find peace and freedom in the external circumstances of life. True freedom and happiness is an inner state which you acquire when you are in tune with God who dwells within you. Let the knocks you get in life turn you more and more towards God.

NAMASMARAN

All Sadhana is for keeping remembrance of God unbroken. Remembrance is Darshan. The easiest way is to take the name of God constantly. The Name is the link between the devotee and God. It brings the devotee face to face with Him and enables him to realise oneness with Him. Namasmaran is capable of granting the universal vision by which one sees everything as God. When you take the name, you are taking the Name of the Lord who dwells in your own heart.

Take the Name with all the faith you are capable of. Repeat it without a moments break, whether you are in the kitchen, or engaged in fetching water, taking bath, walking in the streets or doing any physical work. If you do not practise keeping the Name ever on your lips, you cannot avoid being unhappy. Know this once and for all.

Japa must be done with intense love and devotion for God, and not as a discipline imposed on you by somebody else. If you do not get joy in doing Japa , you had better not do it, as it will not help you very much. When you have love for God, Japa of His Name must give you great joy. It is not mere mechanical repetition that helps, but a spontaneous outflow of your love for Him along with the repetition of His Name.

It is not always necessary that you should chant the Name of the Lord aloud. In the early stages, it might be found very helpful. But mental repetition is far more effective.

All names of God are great and powerful. But Ram Nam has a value of its own. Rhythm is a most important factor in a Mantra . The soothing melody of the repeated word, or combination of words, has a marvellous effect on the distracted mind. No two letters linked

together could, by their harmonious music, lull and bring peace to the mind more than Ram. It is said, rightly, that Ram is equal in power to the sacred syllable OM. For the devotee who strives to reach God through His Saguna or personal aspect, Ram is valuable also as the name of an incarnation of God. For these reasons, Ramdas thinks that Ram Nam is more widely popular in India than any other Name.

God is a wonder. His Name is a greater wonder. As a worm bores through the wood until it makes the inside hollow, the Ram Mantra gradually destroys all your desires and purifies you through and through. By chanting it, a new strength, a new joy and a new light will reveal themselves in you. Then you will realise you are an immortal and radiant Spirit ever identical with God.

The Name or Mantra , by itself, is to be taken as God. A separate form of

His need not be meditated upon. The sound of the Name is Nada-Brahman or Shabda-Brahman . Concentrate on that. After the repetition of the Mantra for some time, your mind will become still. In this stillness you will realise the Divine dwelling within you, and His presence will be felt thereafter at all times. Nama Japa is the simplest way to realise God.

The Name is God, the Guru, the all in all. Indeed, the power of Gods Name is simply marvellous. It can take man to the summit of spiritual experience. It grants one eternal freedom, bliss and peace. The Name has the power to tear up the veil of Maya or ignorance and bring you face to face with God or Truth. It gives you at once the bliss of Bhakti and Mukti . The Name is not different from Him. The Divine Name is greater than any philosophy in the world. It is the key by which you can unlock the

gates to the kingdom of immortal peace and bliss.