Swami Shivananda passed away in Belur Math (1934)
If anyone ever asked where he would go after leaving the body, Swami Shivananda replied that his rightful place would be in Ramakrishnaloka with the Master. One day he humbly said to a monk: “Look, I am my Master’s dog. As a dog protects the precious wealth of its master from robbers, so I am protecting the valuable spiritual treasures [discrimination, renunciation, knowledge, devotion] of the master in this monastery. He who stays here like a faithful dog will attain the greatest good.”
(p.178, God lived with Them)
We may read books, hear lectures, and talk miles, but experience is the one teacher, the one eye-opener. It is best as it is. We learn, through smiles and tears we learn. We don’t know why, but we see it is so; and that is enough.
(p.493, Vol.8, Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Swamiji in his letter to Miss Mary Hale from Pasadena on 20 Feb, 1900)
Man is merely an instrument, and the Lord is the operator. Blessed is he through whom the Lord gets his work done. Everyone has to work in this world, no one can escape from it. But he who works for his own selfish ends – his work, instead of liberating him from the trap of maya, binds him. On the other hand, the wise man, working for the Lord, cuts the fetters of work.
(p.62, Spiritual Treasures, Letters of Swami Turiyananda, Swami Turiyananda’s letter to Suresh (Swami Yatiswarananda) from Varanasi on 20 Feb, 1913.)