spiritual teachings of swami BRAMHANANDA: spiritual teachings of swami BRAMHANANDA (spiritual teachings of swami vivekananda)

Swami Brahmananda was one of the most
eminent and one of the most beloved of the disciples of Sri Ramakrishna the first also to come to Him. Sri Ramakrishna regarded him as His own son and admitted him to the utmost
intimacy. In this familiar daily intercourse the disciple caught the glint of the Master's effulgence. It shone through all he said, all he did, all he was. It gave him unlimited power and insight, and an authority no one thought to dispute. This last he used sparingly. He led rather by quiet appeal than by more insistent methods, but so mighty was his spiritual force that his gentlest suggestion was to those who heard it, a word of command.
It was my blessed privilege to be closely associated with the Swami during the six months of his first visit to Madras. When the present book of coun
sels was put into my hands to revise, edit and prepare for publication, there rose before my mind once again the picture of that majestic, yet child-like, figure moving in the twilight shadow up and down the dim monastery hall at Mylapore; once again his gentle voice sounded in my ears; once again the benediction of his loving presence fell in refreshing shower over my spirit. I have striven to lit that voice sound unmuted through these pages; to lea^e unbarred the benediction of that presence. The spiritual instructions which follow were spoken in largest measure at Benares, Kankhal,
Belur, or elsewhere, in informal conversations. Some were written in personal letters. In the earlier days of the Swami's administration as
President of the Ramakrishna Mission he remained
nearly always in retirement at Puri, or at the Head Monastery of the Order on the Ganges above Calcutta. At that time he was reluctant to assume
the place of teacher. At Madras, if any one asked him a question he would answer: "Go and ask Sasi Maharaj. He knows everything. I know
nothing."
vi
Later he emerged from his seclusion and became an active and stimulating visitor at the various Centres of the Mission. The teaching set down in the present volume belongs to this second period. It was preserved by devout disciples and published in the "Vedanta Kesari," the Official Magazine of the Mission's work at Madras. Carefully and reverently revised, it appears now in more permanent form. * The counsels given are pre-eminently practical. They are the spontaneous expression of the Swami's own wide vision and profound spiritual experience. Their power is irresistible. They transform and redeem. They kindle fresh ardour
in the heart. They transmute life into living. Charged with a holy message they go forth now, bearing to world and cloister alike, the promise of
spiritual achievement.