Swami Atmananda on Monastic Life

Atmananda would keep only a minimum number of clothes and other personal belongings. Normally he would keep with him one shirt, two pieces of cloth, and one vest. He would say: “If one can manage with only a single piece of cloth, one should not keep more. Should one engage the mind which should be offered to God in looking after one’s belongings?” Occasionally he used to pack all his belongings, tie them at the end of a stick, and check whether he could, if necessary carry his own luggage himself.

Atmananda loved orderliness. His few belongings were kept very nicely arranged; even a broom was carefully placed in its own particular place. Regarding the importance of keeping things in order, he said: “It is a sign of control over one’s mind. Those who are haphazard externally are so internally also. A good artist can become a good monk. An artist must have concentration of mind without which spiritual practice is impossible.” He would also say, “Everything must be in its proper place.” … He would often say: “A monk should live in such a way that he can be prepared to depart from the ashrama in five minutes. Likewise, he should also be ready to depart from this world as soon as the final call comes. He should be completely unattached.” …

According to him, ”If a monk depends solely on God, he will never be in want of anything.” His counsel to monks was: “Do you know what sannyasa means? It is to sacrifice the body for the good of the world, for the welfare of the people, by eating whose food you are maintaining your monastic life.”

Though non-acceptance of gifts was one of the cardinal principles of Atmananda’s life, he never rejected the affectionate gifts given by any devotee or monk. He would gladly accept the presents but would at once send them to the general store of the ashrama for the use of all. …

He disliked unrestrained mixing of the monastic members with lay devotees and advised the former to always keep their distance. To monks who mixed too much with householders he would say, “This will harm your spirit of renunciation and lead to your ruin.” He would also tell them: “Don’t remain in the town after dusk. The mind gets attached to worldliness by seeing the attractive glamour and beauty of the city at night. Finish your work early and return to the ashrama before evening. The prayer rug protects the monk. While walking along the street don’t look right or left out of curiosity.”

He would be annoyed if he found monastics engaged in gossip or political discussions and would say: “Gossip ruins a man. Therefore beware of it. If you have no work, you might as well sleep in your room, but do not indulge in gossip. If someone comes to you for idle talk, start reading a book. You will find that the person will not stay long.” He would say to the young monks: “When one is unable to remove the undesirable impressions already existing in the mind, why gather new impressions? It is not good for a monk to cherish such desires as ‘I shall see this,’ or ‘I shall know that,’ etc.” He also did not like to see the monks reading newspapers. Once a monk asked him, ”Unless we read the newspaper how shall we get information about floods, famine, and other calamities?" “Are you the head of the ashrama?" Atmananda asked in reply. Then he said: “The superior who is in charge of the ashrama will gather all the information and instruct you accordingly. Simply obey his orders. The goal of life is to realize God. For that purpose only, strict monastic vows are adopted. Therefore whatever stands in the way of following these vows and whatever distracts the mind should be mercilessly abandoned.” In the Dhaka monastery the newspapers were kept in the library and were not allowed inside the monks’ quarters. To the new entrants he would often say: How will you spend your days in our old age when you won’t have the capacity to work? This is why it is necessary to form right now good habits like those of meditation, japa, reading the scriptures, and holy discussion. If you waste your time now by gossiping then in your old age also you will have to do the same. Make a routine and follow it strictly. Of course, some time should be provided for talking after meals or for an evening walk.”

Atmananda also did not like the idea of monks mixing too much with women devotees. When women devotees would visit the ashrama, he would talk to them only as a duty and only by way of answering their questions. He would say, “There should be an ashrama where there is not even a female sweeper.” One day some students and teachers of a local girls’ school visited the Dhaka ashrama, and Atmananda asked a brahmachari to distribute prasad to them. Seeing that the brahmachari was taking much time doing this, Atmananda later said to him by way of advice: “Unmarried girls are like poisonous snakes. Never be in their company for long.”

—Monastic Disciples of Swami Vivekananda, 191–195

The End of Misery

The miseries of the world cannot be cured by physical help only. Until man’s nature changes, these physical needs will always arise, and miseries will always be felt, and no amount of physical help will cure them completely. The only solution of this problem is to make mankind pure. Ignorance is the mother of all the evil and all the misery we see. Let men have light, let them be pure and spiritually strong and educated, then alone will misery cease in the world, not before. We may convert every house in the country into a charity asylum, we may fill the land with hospitals, but the misery of man will still continue to exist until man’s character changes.

—Swami Vivekananda, Karma Yoga
Complete Works, 1.53.

Sri Ramakrishna on Sannyasa

Saturday, February 2, 1884

MASTER (to Mahima Chakrabarty): “Now let me tell you something that will agree with your mood. According to the Vedānta one has to know the real nature of one’s own Self. But such knowledge is impossible without the renunciation of ego. The ego is like a stick that seems to divide the water in two. It makes you feel that you are one and I am another. When the ego disappears in samādhi, then one knows Brahman to be one’s own inner consciousness.

“One must renounce the ‘I’ that makes one feel, ‘I am Mahima Chakravarty’. ‘I am a learned man’. and so on. But the ‘ego of Knowledge’ does not injure one. Śankarāchārya retained the ‘ego of Knowledge’ in order to teach mankind.

“One cannot obtain the Knowledge of Brahman unless one is extremely cautious about women. Therefore it is very difficult for those who live in the world to get such Knowledge. However clever you may be, you will stain your body if you live in a sooty room. The company of a young woman evokes lust even in a lustless man.

“But it is not so harmful for a householder who follows the path of knowledge to enjoy conjugal happiness with his own wife now and then. He may satisfy his sexual impulse like any other natural impulse. Yes, you may enjoy a sweetmeat once in a while. (Mahimacharan laughs.) It is not so harmful for a householder.

“But it is extremely harmful for a sannyāsi. He must not look even at the portrait of a woman. A monk enjoying a woman is like a man swallowing the spittle he has already spat out. A sannyāsi must not sit near a woman and talk to her, even if she is intensely pious. No, he must not talk to a woman even though he may have controlled his passion.

“A sannyāsi must renounce both ‘woman’ and ‘gold’. As he must not look even at the portrait of a woman, so also he must not touch gold, that is to say, money. It is bad for him even to keep money near him, for it brings in its train calculation, worry, insolence, anger, and such evils. There is an instance in the sun: it shines brightly; suddenly a cloud appears and hides it.

“That is why I didn’t agree to the Mārwāri’s depositing money for me with Hriday. I said: ‘No, I won’t allow even that. If I keep money near me, it will certainly raise clouds.’

“Why all these strict rules for a sannyāsi? It is for the welfare of mankind as well as for his own good. A sannyāsi may himself lead an unattached life and may have controlled his passion, but he must renounce ‘woman and gold’ to set an example to the world.

“A man will have the courage to practise renunciation if he sees one hundred percent renunciation in a sannyāsi. Then only will he try to give up ‘woman and gold’. If a sannyāsi does not set this example, then who will?

“One may lead a householder’s life after realizing God. It is like churning butter from milk and then keeping the butter in water. Janaka led the life of a householder after attaining Brahmajnāna.

“Janaka fenced with two swords, the one of jnāna and the other of karma. The sannyāsi renounces action; therefore he fences with one sword only, that of knowledge. A householder, endowed with knowledge like Janaka’s, can enjoy fruit both from the tree and from the ground. He can serve holy men, entertain guests, and do other things like that. I said to the Divine Mother, ‘O Mother, I don’t want to be a dry sādhu.'

“After attaining Brahmajnāna one does not have to discriminate even about food. The rishis of olden times, endowed with the Knowledge of Brahman and having experienced divine bliss, ate everything, even pork.

(To Mahima)“Generally speaking there are two kinds of yoga: karmayoga and manoyoga, that is to say, union with God through work and through the mind.

“There are four stages of life: brahmacharya, gārhasthya, vānaprastha, and sannyās. During the first three stages a man has to perform his worldly duties. The sannyāsi carries only his staff, water-pot, and begging-bowl. He too may perform certain nityakarma, but his mind is not attached to it; he is not conscious of doing such work. Some sannyāsis perform nityakarma to set an example to the world. If a householder or a man belonging to the other stages of life performs action without attachment, then he is united with God through such action.

“In the case of a paramahamsa, like Śukadeva, all karmas—all pujā, japa, tarpan, sandhyā, and so forth—drop away. In this state a man communes with God through the mind alone. Sometimes he may be pleased to perform outward activities for the welfare of mankind. But his recollection and contemplation of God remain uninterrupted.”

—Sri Ramakrishna, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p 387–8.

Drawing back from Desire

As to sexual impulse. Regard it not as something sinful and horrible and attractive at the same time, but as a mistake and wrong movement of the lower nature. Reject it entirely, not by struggling with it, but by drawing back from it, detaching yourself and refusing your consent; look at it as something not your own, but imposed on you by a force of Nature outside you. Refuse all consent to the imposition. If anything in your vital consents, insist on that part of you withdrawing its consent. Call in the Divine Force to help you in your withdrawal and refusal. If you can do this quietly and resolutely and patiently, in the end your inner will will prevail against the habit of the outer Nature. …

The trouble of the sex-impulse is bound to dwindle away if you are in earnest about getting rid of it. The difficulty is that part of your nature (especially, the lower vital and the subconscient which is active in sleep) keeps the memory and attachment to these movements, and you do not open these parts and make them accept the Mother’s Light and Force to purify them. If you did that and, instead of lamenting and getting troubled and clinging to the idea that you cannot get rid of these things, insisted quietly with a calm faith and patient resolution on their disappearance, separating yourself from them, refusing to accept them or at all regard them as part of yourself, they would after a time lose their force and dwindle.

—Sri Aurobindo
Bases of Yoga, 76, 78.

The Proper Attitude towards Women

Place: Dhaka; Time: 1922.

At one place, in connection with the strict rules of a monk’s life, the Master says: “For a monk, it is incumbent to give up lucre and passion. He must not even look at the picture of a woman.” In this context, a brahmacharin asked Mahapurushji: “Maharaj, the Master says that a holy man should not so much as look at the picture of a woman, whereas we have even to speak with them in connection with the various duties we undertake. How are we to acquit ourselves under such circumstances?”

Mahapurushji kept silent for a few moments, and then said: “Look here, my son, did you not live with your mother and sisters at home? When you have to talk with women in connection with your duties, have the same unsophisticated mind and the same childlike attitude as you had at home with the women of your family. Have the idea in your mind that they are your mothers and sisters. But it goes without saying that, unless a special necessity arises, it is best to avoid conversations with women even though they be devotees, and particularly so when alone. You can talk about the necessary matters in public. You have to embrace the monastic life; you should always keep your vows intact and your ideal before you whenever you take a step in any direction. You should look upon all women as the veritable manifestations of the Mother of the universe. This is spiritual discipline for you.”

The brahmacharin: “Even so, if the mind becomes affected by degrading ideas, what shall we do, Maharaj?”

In answer to this, Mahapurushji said in rather a stern voice: “People in whose hearts passion stirs up under all circumstances at the very sight of women, are not only not fit to be monks at all; they are not even fit to live in human society. The remedy for them is to retire to a solitary place that is entirely free from women, where they may not even have sight of women. They should return to society after totally eradicating those beastly propensities through hard spiritual practices. Society, too, has its own rules, its own discipline.”

For Seekers of God: Spiritual Talks of Mahapurush Swami Shivananda,
p. 156–7.

The Sannyasin Born for This

Remember, for the salvation of his own soul, and for the good and happiness of the many, the sannyasi is born in the world. To sacrifice his life for others, to alleviate the misery of millions rending the air with their cries, to wipe away the tears from the eyes of the widow, to console the heart of the bereaved mother, to provide the ignorant and depressed masses with the ways and means for the struggle for existence, and enable them to stand on their own feet, to preach broadcast the teachings of the shastras to one and all without distinction for their material and spiritual welfare, to rouse the sleeping lion of Brahman in the hearts of all beings by the diffusion of the light of Knowledge—for this the sannyasin is born in the world!” And turning to his brother-monks he exclaimed: “Remember, it is for the consummation of this purpose in life that we have taken birth; and we shall lay down our lives for it. Arise, awake, and arouse and awaken others; fulfil your mission in life, and you will reach the highest Goal!”

“You must renounce everything,” he continued to the candidates for sannyasa; “you must not seek pleasure or comfort for yourself. All attachment will have to be cut and cast aside. You must look upon lust and gold as poison, name and fame as the vilest filth, glory as a terrible hell, pride of birth or position as sinful as drinking wine. Being the teacher of your fellow-men and devoted to the Self within, you will have to live to attain freedom and for the good of the world. Can you strive with your whole soul to do these things? Take this path only after serious reflection. There is yet time to return to the old life. Are you ready to obey my orders implicitly? If I ask you to face a tiger or a venomous snake; if I ask you to jump into the Ganga and catch a crocodile; if I want to sell you to work the rest of your life in a tea-garden in Assam as coolies; or if I order you to starve yourselves to death, or burn yourselves in a slow fire, thinking it will be for your good—are you ready to obey me instantly?

“Arouse shraddhā in yourself and in your countrymen! Like Nachiketa, go to Yama’s door if necessary, to know the Truth—for the salvation of your soul, for the solution of the mystery of life and death! If going into the jaws of death helps you gain the Truth, you have to do that fearlessly. All fear is death; you have to go beyond it. Be fearless, be ready from today to lay down your life to attain moksha (liberation) and for the good of others. Otherwise what is the use of bearing this burden of flesh and bones? Being initiated into the fiery mantra of absolute renunciation for the sake of the Lord, give away your body for the good of the world, as the sage Dadhichi did when the Devas came and told him that the demon Vritra could not be killed with any other weapon but a thunderbolt made of his bones!”

Swami Vivekananda, Life of Swami Vivekananda, 2.243–5.

Practice of Oneness which is Love

The eternal, the infinite, the omnipresent, the omniscient is a principle, not a person. You, I, and everyone are but embodiments of that principle, and the more of this infinite principle is embodied in a person, the greater is he, and all in the end will be the perfect embodiment of that and thus all will be one as they are now essentially. This is all there is of religion, and the practice is through this feeling of oneness that is love.

—Swami Vivekananda, Letter to Mary Hale, May 1896