TEACHINGS OF SRI SARADA DEVI

THE SPIRIT OF DISPASSION

Sri Sarada Devi with Sister Nivedita

   1. "Listen, dear, when God first created man, He endowed him with the spirit of goodness. As a result, men were born with wisdom and it did not take them long to realize that the world was an ephemeral thing. Immediately they took the Name of God and set out to meditate on Him and by His grace were liberated from the bonds of life. God thought, 'This will not do; this is not the way to make them play the game of life.' In the end, along with the spirit of goodness, He mingled in profuse quantities of the spirit of materialism and that of vanity. Now the game of life went on with a swing!"

2. "What an illusion Mahamaya has conjured up! Here is this infinite world, and what one claims as his possession will be left behind at death. Still men cannot understand this simple truth."

3. "A person may have no relatives anywhere, but Mahamaya may make him keep a cat and thus make him worldly. This is how She plays!"

4. A disciple asked if all men can get rid of desires. Mother replied, "How can they? If they could, then the creation would come to an end. The world is going on because not all can be free of desires. People with desires are born again and again."

5. "As long as a man has desires there is no end to his transmigration. It is the desires alone that make him take one body after another. There will be rebirth for a man if he has even the desire to eat a piece of candy. ... Desire may be compared to a minute seed. It is like a big banyan tree growing out of a seed, which is no bigger than a dot. Rebirth is inevitable so long as one has desires. It is like taking the soul from one pillow-case and putting it into another. Only one or two out of many men can be found who are free from all desires."

6. "The body means the existence of desire, otherwise it would not have existed. It all ends when one no longer has any desires."

 7. "This world is moving around like a wheel. That indeed is the last birth in which one gets completely rid of all desires."

8. "Those who are born to God have fulfilled all their desires. So long as a man has any desires, he is incapable of such devotion."

9. "The Master used to say that the worldly person is like a spring mattress—sit on it and it goes down, but the moment you get up, it springs back at once. The regard and devotion for God of these worldly men is just like a drop of water on a hot plate—it evaporates in no time."

10. Referring to one devotee, Mother said, "He is so deeply engrossed in worldliness and still he says, 'Why do I not see the Master?' Many women used to come to the Master and say to him, 'Why can't we concentrate our minds upon God? Why can't we steady our minds?' and things like that. He would say to them, 'You are like a new-born babe and still smell of the lying-in room. First get rid of that smell. Why are you so worried about realizing God now? Everything will happen in the course of time.' 

SOURCE: Teachings of Sri Sarada Devi