A Place where devotees gather to share inspiration.
"Holy Mother" painted by Swami Tadatmananda
Used courtesy of the Vedanta Society of Southern California
That's a good point NWA. Just quickly on the intoxicant thing; addiction of any sort is bad, isn't it ? Personally it is something i've battled with for many years, and at present, opiate based painkillers are the problem. They have a number of negative effects, and at their most basic, make one selfish.
Certainly something must be done.. and because they are not obviously destroying my life etc., in a way it is harder to stop; before, when the problem was alcohol, it became so unmanageable that in the end i simply had to deal with it.
There seems to be a general tendency to want to be inebriated, even with my sadhana, such as it is.. for example i'm unable to do much meditation, but the mind enjoys kirtan and fast mantra repetition, as it gets a 'high' from it.
But interesting about the prayer; a new angle i'd not considered.
btw, am usually on here as Anthony, but forgot to put that name on.. many thanks. Om Hari Om!
Location: UK
Hi Anthony,
RE: Addiction
You ask if addiction of any sort is bad. Unfortunately, I don't
have the answer to that question. I guess that it all depends on the individual, and how the addiction is 'controlled'. If the addiction is 'controlling' the person, then I guess it is indeed 'bad'. Then again,
the word: "addiction" itself, implies a loss of control......
Sri Ramakrishna said: "Buddha used to take opium. Do you know what is Nirvana and all that? Taking opium and remaining sedated. He would lose all external consciousness. This was his Nirvana.
Hearing such an elucidation of Buddha’s Nirvana everybody laughs. The conversation goes on."
Swami Ishanananda, in the book, "In The Company Of The Holy Mother Said:
"About six months ago Radhu was delivered of her child; but she cannot still stand up owing to weakness, she just crawls about. Over and above this, she has become addicted to opium.
"That morning Mother was dressing vegetables, when Radhu came for her opium. Mother understood and said, "How lomg more like this, Radhu? Why don't you stand up? I am tired of you. I am risking my whole spiritual life for your sake. Can you tell me from where to get money for all this expenditure?"
Such mild rebuke set Radhu's temper ablaze; she picked up a big brinjal from the basket in front and threw it at Mother's back with all force. As soon as it bumped on her back, I saw Mother's back cave in; and the place immediately got swollen.
Mother looked at the Master and said with folded hands, "Master, don't you be offended with her, for she is ignorant." She took the dust off her own feet in hand and placing it on Radhu's head, said, "Radhi, the Master never uttered so much as a word of admonition against this body, and you are giving it such pain! How can you understand to what order I belong? How lightly indeed you dare to think of me, simply because I live with you thus!" Radhu now began to weep."
Comment: In this case, we can see that the 'addiction to opium' was 'controlling' Radhu's behaviour.
Swami Vivekananda said this about Opium addiction:". I have seen a man who is not happy unless he swallows a lump of opium every day. He may dream of a heaven where the land is made of opium. That would be a very bad heaven for me."
He also wrote: "Well, dear old maids, you sometimes have a glimpse of the lake and on every hot noon, think of going down to the bottom of the lake, down, down, down, until it is cool and nice, and then to lie down on the bottom, with that coolness above and around, and lie there still, silent, and just doze - not sleep, but dreamy dozing half unconscious sort of bliss - very much like that which opium brings; that is delicious; and drinking lots of iced water. Lord bless my soul - I had such cramps several times as would have killed an elephant. So I hope to keep myself away from the cold water."
Additional Comment: From the above, one must assume that Swamiji knew all about opium and its effects.....
Swamiji also wrote the following: "Sarada has his malaria brought over from Dinajpur. I made him eat a dose of opium the other day without much benefit to him except his brain which progressed for some hours towards its natural direction, namely, idiocy."
So, I guess that, in the final analysis, we must not allow our addictions to gain the upper hand.
Sri Ramakrishna had this to say about 'hemp':
"At the end, Mother, may I just have a garland of bones and a pot of hemp" (Hemp and a necklace of bones are characteristics of Shiva, the embodiment of renunciation)
-also-
"With a smiling face, Sri Ramakrishna looks at Shivanath and other bhaktas. Says he, “I say, this is Shivanath! You see, you are a bhakta, I feel very happy to see you. This is the nature of all those who are addicted to smoking hemp. Such a smoker feels happy when he meets another like him. He may perhaps embrace him.” (Shivanath and all others laugh.)"
Om Shanthi Om
Nahabat Guestbook Daily Readings from "In The Company Of The Holy Mother".
Thanks for that, NWA and Ankur.. that is one of the great things about this site; one may be totally frank, and not get negative feedback.
Swamiji's comments about Sarada are so funny! idiocy..
One thing that certainly comes through, which i feel is very important, is not to get too hung up on one's perceived weaknesses - they only gain strength from the attention given. Again, a big thankyou; alot of new things to ponder. Om Hari Om!
Location: UK
Namaste Anthony,
RE: Mother's Courtyard
Yes, this is indeed a wonderful palce to share ideas.
RE: "...one may be totally frank, and not get negative feedback."
Comment: "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he won't give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?" (Luke 11.11)
RE: "Swamiji's comments about Sarada are so funny! idiocy.."
Comment: We are indeed fortunate, to have such copious amounts of material on Swamiji's life and teachings; so that we know him intimately, as one would know a favorite brother.
Unfortunately, we have very little material on the life and teachings of Lord Jesus Christ. If there were more material available, I dare say, we would discover that Jesus has a great sense of humour, similiar to Swami Vivekananda's.
Personally, I believe that the Lord never leaves us. He is manifested in various forms, moving from one room to the other, down through the years, with effortless ease....
Om Shanthi Om
============
Respected web admin,
what a beautiful quote from Swami Ji. I myself have problems with praying as it is commonly understood. I have passed through worse phases when I could not pronounce the word Rama and Laxmi. I used to repeatedly say kama instead of Rama. Ultimately I tried Ratnakar's formula and repeated Mara, Mara several times to yield one Rama! FOr Laxmi I used the term, "Alok ki Ma". I understood and I think God understood. Others would have thought me crazy. Now I can say Rama and Laxmi. Then for prayer, I can at best say, Guru's Will when it comes to praying for someone. That I feel to be sort of the best prayer. Not my will be done but the Guru's will, Mother's will be done and my will is not Guru's will. I don't know if you will find all this strange. But as Holy mother once said one has to improvise according to circumstances and being in the process of repaying old karmic debts, my improvisations are much needed though sometimes bizarre and scarcely to be revealed publicly but since it helps me survive with some peace of mind, I have no complaints. Ten years of experimenting and still I fail many times.
Regards,
Ankur
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Replying to:
Hi Tony,
When you say that you "have a problem with certain kinds of intoxicants", does this mean that the 'use of intoxicants' adversely effects your life?
In other words, do you miss work because of it, or is it destroying your personal relationships, and/or causing undue financial strain?
Otherwise, the problem may be in your own mind. Only you know for sure.
RE: Prayer
You wrote: "i can't sit in the altar room and from the bottom of my heart - ask for things"
Comment: Is there any need to 'ask for things', when God knows exactly what you need?
Swami Vivekananda said the following, quoting Lord Buddha:
"With every breath you are praying in God. I am talking; that is a prayer. You are listening; that is a prayer. Is there ever any movement of yours, mental or physical, in which you do not participate in the infinite Divine Energy? It is all a constant prayer. If you call only a set of words prayer, you make prayer superficial. Such prayers are not much good; they can scarcely bear any real fruit.
Is prayer a magic formula, by repeating which, even is you do not work hard, you gain miraculous results? No. All have to work hard; all have to reach the depths of that infinite Energy. Behind the poor, behind the rich, there is the same infinite Energy. It is not that one man works hard, and another by repeating a few words achieves results. This universe is a constant prayer. If you take prayer in this sense, I am with you. Words are not necessary. Better is silent prayer."
FROM: BUDDHA'S MESSAGE TO THE WORLD
(Delivered in San Francisco, on March 18, 1900)
Om Shanthi Om
Nahabat Guestbook features Daily Readings from "In The Company Of The Holy Mother"
Location: Guwahati, Assam, India
Dear Ankur Ji,
RE: " I used to repeatedly say kama instead of Rama."
Do I detect a Freudian Slip?
"A Freudian slip, or parapraxia, is an error in human action, speech or memory that is believed to be caused by the unconscious mind. Some errors, such as a woman accidentally calling her husband by another man's name, seem to represent relatively clear cases of Freudian slips. In other cases, the error might appear to be trivial, bizarre or even nonsensical, but shows some deeper significance on analysis." (From Wikipedia)
Additional Comment: Perhaps you could not pronounce the name of Rama, during japa, due to an unconscious desire for Kama (physical love)?
As far as I am concerned, this is only natural for a young man, such as your good self.
"It is as if the Divine Mother said to the human mind
in confidence, with a sign from Her eye,
'Go and enjoy the world'. How can one blame the mind?
The mind can disentangle itself from worldliness if,
through Her grace, She makes it turn toward Herself.
Only then does it become devoted to the Lotus Feet
of the Divine Mother." (Sri Ramakrishna)
Om Tat Sat
==============
Hey Tony,
For me, it is hard to find the right posture for prayer...Christians have always been taught to bow down on their knees... this has never felt right for me personally...no explantion or defense...it just doesn't feel natural...
I have found lately that sitting in a yoga position for prayer seems more natural to me...
In fact, I wonder if hand mudras would be useful to you...
NWA and Ankur,
I was helping a taxpayer who is deployed in Iraq by E Mail the other day...His name was Daniel Wagner and when I responded to his E Mail, I called him Mr. Webster by mistake...he E-mailed me back and wanted to know if I thought he was a dictionary
Get it? Daniel Webster who wrote the English dictionary...
Thaks Rosemary.. i sit in the "easy comfortable" asana - Sukhasana, as that has always felt natural.. however, the Japanese style of kneeling is quite effective for short periods - it's very hard not to have a straight spine!
As for mudras..sounds interesting; i have almost no knowledge of them, or what they do etc., so if anyone knows of a good book, or somewhere online, it would be appreciated.
Also, a good point about prayer there.. who, afterall, allows the prayer to form ? Jai Ma!
btw, i hear this friday is a very powerful day; the Laksmi Puja.
Location: UK
Hi sister Rosemary,
The lotus position is good for meditiation &
prayer.....also 'laying down flat' works as well.
As long as the body is comfortable....otherwise,
it will take your mind away from the purpose of
the exercise...
RE: Daniel Webster
Even amid the carnage of war, we can find some
humour.
Om Shanthi Om
I thought about this a little...
I'm not so sure that we aren't framing this problem in the wrong way..
My thought has been that maybe prayer is not something that comes FROM us so much as something that comes TO us.
Just a thought...