Holy Mother on Renunciation

I asked the Holy Mother, “How shall I lead a spiritual life, Mother?” She said, “Spend your days as you are doing now. Pray to Him earnestly and remember Him always.”

Disciple: Mother, the fact that even great men become degraded frightens me terribly.

Mother: When a person has enjoyable things all around him, their influence naturally affects him. My son, don’t look at a woman, even if it be only a figure made of wood. Avoid the company of women.

Disciple: Men can’t do anything on their own. It is He who is making them do all that they do.

Mother: True it is that He is causing men to do everything. But do they have that understanding? Being filled with egotism, they think they are the doers of everything and that they don’t have to depend upon God. Those who rely on Him are protected by Him from all dangers.

Then pointing to a monk, the Mother continued: “The Master used to say, ‘Monk, beware!’ A monk has always to be on the alert. He should be cautious all the time. A monk’s path is very slippery. In walking along a slippery path, one has to move cautiously at every moment. Is it easy to become a monk? A monk must not even glance at a woman. While walking he should keep his eyes fixed on his toes. The ochre cloth of a monk protects him as does the collar on a dog. No one hurts such a dog, for they know it has a master.

“A man’s mind runs after bad things. If he wants to act virtuously, the mind fails to co-operate. In earlier days I used to leave my bed daily at three o’clock in the morning to meditate. One day I felt unwell and out of laziness dispensed with the meditation. Because of this my meditation was stopped for a few days. Therefore, if one wants to achieve something noble, he must be sincerely arduous and seized with a firm resolve. When I used to stay in the Nahabat, on moonlit nights I would look at the reflection of the moon in the still waters of the Ganges and, weeping, pray to God, ‘There are stains even on the moon, but let my mind be absolutely stainless.’ During my stay there the Master forbade even Ramlal to see me, although he was a nephew. Now-a-days I talk with all and come out in the presence of others.

“You are a Calcutta boy. Had you so desired, you could have married and led a householder’s life. Since you have renounced everything, why should you give your mind to it again? Should one again take in the spittle that has been once spat out?”

—Swami Shantananda, The Gospel of the Holy Mother, p. 212