TEACHINGS OF SRI SARADA DEVI

CHAPTER-VI: THE IDEAL OF RENUNCIATION-PART-II

Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi

11. "People find opportunities according to their fate and Karma. ... The fact is, if one's time to go beyond the world is ripe, one will break all bonds and come; nobody will check him. Lack of money, awaiting somebody's approval, fear of having to go back, these are nothing." 

12. "You see, my dear, many people seek God only after disappointment in other spheres. But he, who from childhood can place at the Master's feet a heart as pure as a flower, is blessed indeed!" 

13. "The other day X — said to me, 'Mother, we are always to be alert. We always tremble with fear lest we should think any unholy thought.' That is very true. A monk is like a bleached cloth. ... One does not notice the spots in a black cloth so much, but even a drop of ink looks so prominent on white linen. The monk's life is always beset with dangers. The whole world is engrossed in lust and gold. The monk must always practise renunciation and dispassion. Therefore Sri Ramakrishna used to say, 'A monk must always be alert and careful.' "

14. "Sri Ramakrishna used to say, 'O Sadhu, beware!' Sadhus should always be alert. The path of a Sadhu is always slippery. When one is on slippery ground, one should walk tiptoe. Is it a joke to become a Sannyasin? If one had so desired, one could have married and lived the life of a householder. Now that you have given up such intentions, the mind should not be allowed to think of these things. What has once been spat out, is not eaten again. The ochre robe of a Sadhu protects him as the collar of a dog protects it from danger. No one molests a dog with a collar, as it belongs to someone or other. All gates are open to a Sadhu. He has admission everywhere."

15. Devotee: "Mother, I am overtaken by fear on seeing how even high spiritual persons meet with a fall."

Mother: "If you are constantly in touch with objects of enjoyment, you are likely to succumb to their influence."

16. At Jayrambati when a young man was initiated into Brahmacharya, he asked, "How long will I have to fulfill its vows?" Mother answered him at once with a firm voice, "As long as there is life in your body."

17. "Faith and firmness are the basic things; if faith and firmness are there, then you have it all."

18. "Forgetting your personality, try to understand your identity [with God]."

19. "It is extremely bad for a monk to possess money. There is nothing impossible for the round pieces to do — even to the extent of endangering life."

20. To a disciple who had been busy with accounts the whole day, Mother said, "Can anyone who has renounced the world relish these things? Once there was a mistake in the accounts relating to the salary of the Master. I asked him to talk to the manager of the Temple about it. But he said, 'What a shame! Shall I bother myself about accounts?' Once he said to me, 'He who utters the Name of God never suffers from any misery. Why do you worry?' These are his very words. Renunciation was his ornament." 

SOURCE: saradadevi.info/THM