Sarada Devi: The Universal Mother — Swami Bhaskarananda

Recorded at the Vedanta Society of Western Washington on December 3, 2017.In this talk, Swami Bhaskarananda presents Sri Sarada Devi, known as the Holy Mother, as an embodiment of the universal motherhood of God. Beginning with the Vedantic understanding that the one, impersonal Divine may be approached as Father, Mother, child, or friend, he explains how Sri Ramakrishna regarded Sarada Devi as the Divine Mother in human form. Through incidents from her life, Swami Bhaskarananda illustrates how her motherhood extended beyond family, social standing, religion, nationality, and even the distinction between human beings and animals. She welcomed those considered virtuous as well as those regarded as sinful, teaching, “I am the mother of the good and the mother of the wicked also.” Her compassion expressed itself not merely as an ideal but through service, forgiveness, acceptance, and an unwillingness to reject anyone who approached her as Mother.Swami Bhaskarananda connects this universal motherhood with the Vedantic ideal of expanding one's sense of belonging until the entire world is regarded as one's own family. He emphasizes Sarada Devi’s teaching not to dwell on the faults of others, but to recognize one’s own shortcomings and learn to embrace the whole world as one’s own. Her life, he explains, demonstrates the spiritual growth by which the mind becomes increasingly pure and unselfish, allowing the divinity already present within every being to become more fully manifest.