The Power of God’s Name is infinite - Selections from “The Divine Life” by Sri Swami Ramdas (vegetarian), Part 1 of 2

Sri Swami Ramdas was born in Kanhangad, India. As a young man, he understood that the only way to eternal peace is through the Divine path of oneness with the Supreme Being. He thus began to devote his life solely to God. Sri Swami Ramdas’ book, “The Divine Life,” is a compilation of more than 200 essays. We will now share with you selections from “The Divine Life” by Sri Swami Ramdas.

DIVINE THOUGHT “In order to attain to the supreme blessedness of life, namely the realization of God, we have to surcharge our thought with the idea of God. God must take possession of our mind until our mind is no longer there as such, and God alone is. Until this is done the aspirant must employ every means possible to control the mind and its activities so that the thought of God alone should rule in it. This thought must sink deep into the mind, transforming its fickle, restless and impure nature into the very Spirit of joy, purity and peace.”

“Saints are truly the redeemers of fallen souls. It is by their power alone the mind that runs in pursuit of transient pleasures can be made to concentrate its attention upon the eternal, changeless and blissful indwelling Reality. When thus the mind is permeated through and through with the imperishable idea of God, man attains the supreme goal of life.”

DIVINE NAME “The difficulty that confronts the devotee in his path to this supreme goal of life is the restless nature of his mind. A mind purified and concentrated upon the great ideal enables the devotee to realize his oneness and union with Him, and get the vision of Him in all beings, creatures and things. God-realization is only for him who has so controlled his mind as to subdue the desires relating to the objects of the senses. Now what is the unfailing, easy and most potent practice by which the unruly mind can be brought under subjection? This is the singing of God's hallowed Name.” “What is required first is an absolute faith in the greatness and potency of the Name. Given this faith, which comes only by the grace of the Lord, the devotee swiftly reaches His all-merciful feet.”