APPROACHING THE GURU : 3.

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Part-3.


I remember, in those days, while at Swargashram, Sri Swamiji would save every possible minute and add it to his Sadhana.

He would keep old rotties (breads) in his room, dry them in the sun every day, and soak them in water an hour before his meal-time and this he would have for his meals along with gud (jaggery).

In this way, he was able to save more than an hour which he would have spent in going to Kshetra for Bhiksha (alms).

This was Swamiji's food at a time when Vivekananda abused him for not supplying ghee.



Another instance. A young Sannyasin, a disciple of Swami Sivanandaji, met me, at Madras. He related his miserable life at that moment.

He came to South India to lead a Parivrajak-life after visiting Badrinath and other places in Uttarakhand.

The first thing I asked of him was, whether he had taken Sri Swamiji's permission and whether Sri Swamiji had instructed him to undertake a Yatra (pilgrimage).

To both questions, he replied 'no'. Further, he related how he slept on roadsides and railway platforms, how he met with physical violence for travelling without ticket and so on.

Such was his miserable life. Why should he suffer?



The answer is simple: he did not take instruction from Swamiji and neither did he allow Swamiji to mould him.

He gave full freedom to his individuality and, therefore, reaped the consequences thereof, suffering.

To a further question he replied, that he had no plans.

I fully remember Sri Swamiji having remarked in a meeting at Colombo during the All India-Ceylon Tour (in 1950) the importance of chalking out a plan to guide us in our actions.

I replied to that Sannyasin, that I had a well-chalked out plan confirmed by the Guru and so I do not suffer.

SRI SWAMI PARAMANANDA
To be continued  ...



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