A Place where devotees gather to share inspiration.
"Holy Mother" painted by Swami Tadatmananda
Used courtesy of the Vedanta Society of Southern California
Dear Sister Rosemary,
it is a pleasure to receive postings from all of you, hence though I keep promising myself I will not write anymore, I do so again!
The blackberries did help. Though I needed rest yesterday, my stomach is back to normal and I cycled several kilometres or miles today. Sri Fhanindra also recommended sugarcane juice which I took today.
I seem to have created confusion over the matter of addressing the Holy Mother. She is your own mother. Please address her as you please. That itself will be dear and acceptable to her.
The Sri Sai Satcharita is a treasure. Indeed Shirdhi Sai Baba is one of the saints of India I especially revere. My mother also reveres him and there are big pictures of him at our dwelling. Mother tells me that when I was one-year old, a sadhu came from North India and giving mother a locket of Shirdhi Sai Baba told her to put it around my neck for life. That hasn't happened, but I keep a photo of his in my purse and we have also visited Shirdhi. Liked it very much. The t.v. here is presently showing a serial on his life. When I first showed Sri Fhanindra his photo, he remarked, "exudes peace" and later, "a very satvika person. Of a different plane altogether."
Sri Fhanindra is comfortable in his dwelling. He seems to feel as if he had been living there from before. I have conveyed Web Admin's best wishes to him. A strange thought came to me yesterday. I was lying and intermittently praying, when as if somebody said, "Each being is the embodiment of a particular beneficient diety. Who knows that may be of the Guru?" With regards to Sri Fhanindra having answers to my questions, I read a beautiful story in a book that I bought today:
There is a story from the life of St. Francis of Assisi, in Italy. An old, nearly blind beggarwoman asked him for alms. She couldn't see that he was dressed as poorly as she, and was not likely to have anything to give her. It distressed him, however, that he had nothing to give her. And then he realized that he still had one thing in his possession: his well-thumbed copy of the Holy Bible. This he gave to her, in the hope that she might be able to sell it for a few coins.
He then prayed almost apologetically, "Lord, in helping this poor old woman I have even given away Your word!"
A voice within him replied, "Francis, I have placed my word in your heart. You have no need for that merely printed copy of it."
FROM
The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita-explained by Paramhansa Yogananda, as remembered by his disciple Swami Kriyananda (J. Donald Walters). The Swami is an American now based in India.
Regards.
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Replying to:
Dear Brother Ankur,
Thank you so much for your kind answering thoughts...(don't you hate it when the electicity goes out?)...Thank you also for troubling Sri Fhanindra (sp?) with my dreams. I am very interested in what he has to say...
I want to do the right thing, so if I am addressing Sri Sarada Devi in the wrong way, then, I want to correct that. I need teaching. In a personal way, when I feel anxiety over the smallest thing, I find myself just saying the name, "Mother" and the anxiety seems to lessen...
I'm glad Sri Fhanindra (sp) has gotten his move and hope that he is comfortable. I am very much interested in natures' cures and wonder if the blackberries helped?
Spiritual lessons seem to pop up from nowhere, do they not? I was looking at a beautiful full moon two between the branches of a tree in my yard and I was thinking that there was some spiritual significance..then last night I was reading Sri Sai Sacharita when there was a discourse of the taking of darshan of the moon between the branches of a tree..
Really enjoy talking with you. Hope your stomach trouble is better and am very glad that Sri Fhanindra has answers for the questions that come to you.
Jai Ma!
Location: Guwahati
Dear Brother Ankur,
What a delight your posts are!!
I felt no criticism in your remarks about how I addressed Holy Mother. Your remark merely made me think about why you even noticed. I wondered (because I am Western) if I might be too casual...However, I do not in any way believe that I have been irreverent...never intended that!!!I understood that you were being complimentary in your remarks..and thank you for that. If Mother were here, I believe that it would be "Mother" that I would call her...that is what I imagine in my mind.
Since I have had my cancer, the names of certain herbs and foods have called out in my dreams. One that I remember was "Pure sugar cane" ...just those words, like that... I have not followed up on sugar cane, but I have on the other callings....maybe I should listen to myself more closely!!???
....."A strange thought came to me yesterday. I was lying and intermittently praying, when as if somebody said, "Each being is the embodiment of a particular beneficient diety...."
There is VERY MUCH in what you are saying here....I have had the same "strange thought"...
My regards to Sri Fhanindra...
and thank you, dear Brother.
Jai Ma!!
Dear Sister Rosemary,
thank you for your post which I accessed just some time back.
Yes, we do sometimes get good guidance from our Self. Sri Fhanindra respects that guidance very much.
Your posts have given me joy.
I may be called by Sri Fhanindra this Saturday. Then, God willing, we will discuss your dream. I was thinking let me get an answer from him then I will write. I also plan to discuss that thought.
Today has been a relatively good day.
Thank you once again.
Ankur
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Replying to:
Dear Brother Ankur,
What a delight your posts are!!
I felt no criticism in your remarks about how I addressed Holy Mother. Your remark merely made me think about why you even noticed. I wondered (because I am Western) if I might be too casual...However, I do not in any way believe that I have been irreverent...never intended that!!!I understood that you were being complimentary in your remarks..and thank you for that. If Mother were here, I believe that it would be "Mother" that I would call her...that is what I imagine in my mind.
Since I have had my cancer, the names of certain herbs and foods have called out in my dreams. One that I remember was "Pure sugar cane" ...just those words, like that... I have not followed up on sugar cane, but I have on the other callings....maybe I should listen to myself more closely!!???
....."A strange thought came to me yesterday. I was lying and intermittently praying, when as if somebody said, "Each being is the embodiment of a particular beneficient diety...."
There is VERY MUCH in what you are saying here....I have had the same "strange thought"...
My regards to Sri Fhanindra...
and thank you, dear Brother.
Jai Ma!!
Location: Guwahati
Namaste Ankur JI,
I am happy that you have overcome your stomach ailment. These things can be
very trying.
You related a delightful story from the life of St. Francis of Assisi, which I enjoyed very much.
My brother-in-law is a Fransiscan Priest stationed in Goa. He was in Madya Pradesh [Raipur] for a period of time, but now is stationed in Goa [Karnataka], where he works as the head of a parish. He is 69 years old, but looks very young, without a grey hair on his head.
As you know, the Fransiscans have adopted the vow of poverty, in memory of their patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi.
When I was a child, growing up in Montreal, I would sometimes see a Fransiscan monk, standing and waiting for the bus. People would come and offer money to him. He would not touch the money, but rather would open the purse which he wore attached around his waist, and allow them to drop the coins within.
Of course, he could never use that money to travel on the bus, since he is obliged to return the purse intact to his superior. My father explained to me, that one must place a bus ticket into his hand...only then could he board the vehicle....otherwise he may have to stand for hours, until some kind soul presents him with a ticket.
I found a very nice painting of Shirdhi Sai Baba Here
Incidentally, my favorite incense is Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa Sandalwood from Mysore. The singer / songwriter Bob Dylan burns Nag Champa throughout his concerts.
Have a nice day,
Nahabat Web Admin
Respected Web admin,
it was really nice to read your post. Really is great to stick to even one vow in life. I feel then all vows are adhered to automatically like bowing to one's chosen diety, all dieties receive one's reverence. The men of God seem to look younger than they are perhaps because they adhere to His laws. The few saints I have met in life so far appeared decades younger than their physical age. As Krishna promises in the Gita, for those who depend on Him, surrender to Him, He will preserve what they have and Himself carry to them what they need. The painting of Shirdhi Sai Baba is really nice and mother also liked it. I used to listen to Bob Dylan's recordings many years ago on Radio. Liked them.
Thank you.
Ankur
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Replying to:
Namaste Ankur JI,
I am happy that you have overcome your stomach ailment. These things can be
very trying.
You related a delightful story from the life of St. Francis of Assisi, which I enjoyed very much.
My brother-in-law is a Fransiscan Priest stationed in Goa. He was in Madya Pradesh [Raipur] for a period of time, but now is stationed in Goa [Karnataka], where he works as the head of a parish. He is 69 years old, but looks very young, without a grey hair on his head.
As you know, the Fransiscans have adopted the vow of poverty, in memory of their patron saint, St. Francis of Assisi.
When I was a child, growing up in Montreal, I would sometimes see a Fransiscan monk, standing and waiting for the bus. People would come and offer money to him. He would not touch the money, but rather would open the purse which he wore attached around his waist, and allow them to drop the coins within.
Of course, he could never use that money to travel on the bus, since he is obliged to return the purse intact to his superior. My father explained to me, that one must place a bus ticket into his hand...only then could he board the vehicle....otherwise he may have to stand for hours, until some kind soul presents him with a ticket.
I found a very nice painting of Shirdhi Sai Baba Here
Incidentally, my favorite incense is Satya Sai Baba Nag Champa Sandalwood from Mysore. The singer / songwriter Bob Dylan burns Nag Champa throughout his concerts.
Have a nice day,
Nahabat Web Admin
Location: Guwahati
Dear Ankur ji,
You wrote: "The few saints I have met in life so far appeared decades younger than their physical age."
Comment: Of course, living a life of 'non-attachment' [renunciation], relying upom God, rather than upon the [small] self, will result in less stress and worry, which translates itself into a youthful demeanour.
Om Shanthi Om
Respected Web Admin,
You have put it nicely. By the way, you may be knowing that the first Guru in the Shaivite tradition was Lord Dakshinamurti Shiva or south-facing Shiva, whose appearance is that of a beautiful young boy, who teaches his disciples, the first-born four sons of Lord Brahma, Sanat, Sanatan, etc., who are depicted as old sages with matted hair, in silence with his hands in Jnana mudra or the mudra of wisdom. Sri Fhanindra also looks very young and one of his qualities is that even if somebody by chance gets angry with him, on coming face-to-face with him, seeing his face, all anger evaporates. Sri Fhanindra attributes it to the Divine Mother, his chosen ideal Durga whose characteristic is to love all equally. Yet, I have also found evidence of what the scriptures say of sages, "Harder than the thunderbolt, softer than the flower." In matters of principle, he is very strict and though very slow to take offence, if riled, is unforgiving. At the same time, he himself said, "it doesn't take me long to melt."
Sorry, I wrote unrelated thoughts. But my conception of sages and saints changed drastically since I met Sri Fhanindra. They are also human beings, feeling joy and sorrow much more acutely than the rest of humanity. They have their moods, their quirkness of character which we all possess. They also feel angry. What differentiates them from us at our present stage of evolution is their TOTAL reliance on the Divine, and their constant meditation on Him. So that whatever they do turns by His grace for the good of the many, for the welfare of the many. And trials and tribulations don't crush them for He is with them and they become a channel for His peace and mercy. How much they toil, superhuman it seems, and their only delight is in Him. Perhaps the greatest blessing is to be in mental communion with such saints. Mere physical proximity doesn't achieve much. You must meet them with your own consciousness heightened and according to your receptacle, you will receive their grace.
Thanks and regards.
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Replying to:
Dear Ankur ji,
You wrote: "The few saints I have met in life so far appeared decades younger than their physical age."
Comment: Of course, living a life of 'non-attachment' [renunciation], relying upom God, rather than upon the [small] self, will result in less stress and worry, which translates itself into a youthful demeanour.
Om Shanthi Om
Location: Guwahati, Assam
Dear Ankur ji,
You wrote: "My conception of sages and saints changed drastically since I met Sri Fhanindra. They are also human beings, feeling joy and sorrow much more acutely than the rest of humanity."
Comment: Yes, so very true. Saints are indeed human beings, and, although
blessed with a special relationship with the divine, are subject to
the same fluctuations in mood, physical and mental distress, etc., as all of us.
Their senses and perceptions, being so finely tuned, are much sharper than the average person's, and they therefore feel more acutely, both positive and negative vibrations, generated by contact with other entities.
Om Shanthi Om
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Thank you,
respected web admin. Given these conditions, their love and compassion is all the more extraordinary. Perhaps meditating on God, they are endowed with God's attributes.
Regards,
Ankur
Dear All,
found the below on the net searching for Swami Rama. It is a poem by his disciple Swami Veda Bharati. Thought would share.
Regards.
I live in a cave, a spacious grotto with many exits of diverse contours,
many colored beams of lights
pouring in, radiating out,
a thread of life to and fro.
My cave in a mountain, volcanic, shaking,
quiet restful for long moments,
and again suddenly quaking.
this my cave looks out
to roads, to paths and valleys, to other mountains,
to sailing clouds and lightning rows.
I sit and watch many a procession,
shouting hilariously, mourning silently,
curious, halting to peep in at me
or indifferent passing
while evenings diminish
or mornings grow.
Warm is the fire I have kindled
and fed with life-fuel;
ashen, asleep I blow away.
Stirred awake
the embers glow
Flickering footwork, dancing shadows,
grotesque paintings, darkness mixed
with outer lights and alien rainbows.
Afeared so, I quit this fire,
rushing to my river of depths,
silent waters flowing to quench
bursting flaming thirst-volcanoes.
Safely tucked in mountain's womb,
cool, collected, smiling, poised
I take a dip of withdrawal
to my subterranean river.
While abroad, the world's procession
lost, wearied, whither-so-ever goes!
There are subterranean rivers within you at a certain place in this cave, in this residence of yours. At the outer halls of the cave, the psychic levels, you have inner darkness conflicting with outer lights and outer darkness mingling with inner lights, as well as all kinds of shades and shadows and fantasies and fears. But going deeper, you get to the subtler place in you, the subterranean river of energy and life. There you learn to be neutral to those parts of your body about which you can do nothing, for there are other sources of happiness for the mind.
Find those sources of happiness, create that happiness and you will find that there is more energy in you, there is more life in you, there is more creativity in you, there are greater sources of fulfillment in you than you have thought possible. The yogis will keep saying this again and again and again. But people listen and they go out of the lecture hall and forget. Do not forget. That's all.
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Replying to:
Will someone interpret for me this dream. Just keen to know your thoughts. It is about the Holy Mother and the only dream about her that I remember almost clearly, more than a decade down memory lane.
I dreamt that I was standing and Holy Mother came sailing in reverse through the air out of her(shrine?) and kicked me on my forehead. Accursed destiny or blessed touch? Or both. A redemption through suffering!
What a discriptive poem! Thanks, Ankur!
Location: san Diego, California, USA
