Shri Debajit Das’s favourite hymn, Abide with Me (Henry F. Lyte, 1793-1847):
Abide with me - fast falls the eventide,
The darkness deepens - Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me!

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see -
O Thou who changest not, abide with me!

I need Thy presence ev'ry passing hour -
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's pow'r?
Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Thru cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

Hold Thou Thy word before my closing eyes,
Shine thru the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heav'n's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee -
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

Shri Debajit to me: “I stand vindicated…”

Do not tell anybody else, except the Guru, the realisations, the visions or similar experiences, that spiritual practices may bring to you. Always keep your spiritual treasure -- your inmost thoughts hidden within you. These are not for vulgar gaze. These are your sacred possessions to be shared only between you and the Lord in secret. Likewise, do not talk of your defects and blemishes to others. You lose thereby your self-respect and the respect of others. They are for you to confess to the Lord. Pray to Him for strength to overcome them – Swami Virajananda.
Fwd: March 31st, 2012 Saturday: Reminiscences of The Holy Mother


Debajit Das debajitd@gmail.com

2:45 PM (7 hours ago)


to me



that the sanchita karma is washed away by the Guru !
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Satwik Joglekar
Date: Sat, Mar 31, 2012 at 7:47 AM
Subject: March 31st, 2012 Saturday: Reminiscences of The Holy Mother
To: holy_trinity@googlegroups.com, rkmdvt@googlegroups.com

31-March-2012 (Saturday)
Reminiscences of The Holy Mother!!!

SWAMI GAURISWARANANDA - 06

I was already grown up. I looked young only because I was short for my age. Anyway, when I approached Mother she was happy. She said, “Well, if you desire initiation, then spread out the asana and sit here after saluting the Master.” Besides Mother’s own, there were two asanas of carpet for any couple to be initiated together. I spread out one of those before Mother, and after offering pranam to the Master and Mother, I sat down. Taking water from the kosha with the kushi, she sprinkled it on me saying, “May the sins of previous birth perish, may the sins of the present birth, committed consciously or unconsciously, perish.” Thus she purified my body. Then she mentioned a god and suggested, “He is your Ishta isn’t he?” Lest I fail to understand, she repeated, “It is him that you revere most, adore most, don’t you? I shall impart that mantra to you which symbolizes him.” Upon this, I replied, “Mother, you have guessed correctly that I revered him the most. But now that I have gone through the Master’s teachings, all gods and goddesses are one and the same to me. Well, if I ask for a particular mantra, will you give that to me?” Mother said, “Speak.” When I mentioned the mantra, she asked, “If you receive this mantra, will that make you happy?” I said, “Yes.” Then she pronounced the relevant mystic words and showed me how to repeat the mantra 108 times. After telling me a few dos and don’ts, she said, “Always consider your Guru and your Ishta to be one and the same, never consider them separate.” At that time I had not known that after receiving initiation one has to make an offering to one’s Guru. Besides, I did not have a single paise with me that day. After having food at home I used to walk to school, and from school I used to walk down to Jayrambati. So money was not necessary at all. However, Mother did not mention gurudakshina. After the ceremony, when I touched Mother’s feet by way of salutation, she said, “On this day one has to lay one’s head at the feet in order to salute,2 because she who was the mother so long has now become the Guru.” (2 Previously when the author had placed his head at her feet, she had said that touching feet with the hand would suffice.) She herself guided me, and I too laid my head at her feet by way of pranam. Mother placed both hands on my head to bless me and said, “Now let us go, you must have something to eat. It’s quite late and you must be hungry.” As soon as I went out of the room, Jnan-da enquired, “Have you made any offering?” I replied, “No, how could I? I don’t have a single paise in my pocket.” Then Jnan-da drew out the handkerchief from his pocket and gave me all the money he had, coins of every denomination, amounting to two and a half rupees or three. When I approached the Mother’s room again with the money, she said, “What is it, son?” I showed her the money. “Where did you get it?” She wanted to know. I replied, “Jnan-da gave it to me.” At that she said, “Alright, give it to me,” and accepted the money. When I saluted her again with my head on her feet, she blessed me with her hand on my head, and said, “Now come and have some food.” She took some puffed rice on a small plate for herself and gave me some too. We sat side by side and ate. Mother passed some puffed rice into my plate from hers and said, “Eat, my son, I am old and my teeth are getting loose, I can’t chew any longer.” In reality she was giving me her prasad, without my praying for it. Nowadays devotees who are initiated, first take their guru’s prasad before they have anything to eat. And here was I having prasad, unsought, that Mother in her compassion had let me have.

(Reminiscences of Sri Sarada Devi by Monastics, Devotees, and others - Compiled and Edited in Bengali by Swami Purnatmananda - Translated by Maloti Sen Gupta: P 79-81)

Quotes:

“One has to face the results of his actions be it from this birth or past. This is the law. Where do you need to go and what fear should you have for your future when you have got the holy name of Sri Ramakrishna?”
- Revered Swami Ranganathananda Ji Maharaj to a disciple.

“You only need one thing: God’s Name. Keep it with you always. You may not see Him, but you can be close to Him [through His Name]. There are many other things in books that seem to help some people, but I don’t know about these things, I just know God’s Name.”
– Swami Gitananda Ji (Senior Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Order).

"The Master (Sri Ramakrishna) came to make religion easy, for earnest seekers were being burdened unnecessarily with the weight of so many rules and regulations. It is his teaching that no special times or places are necessary for the repeating of the name of the Lord and the worship of Him in the heart. Regardless of circumstances or surroundings the name of the Lord can be chanted audibly or within secretly. The Master did not stress or give much importance to external observances. With regard to the means of worship he allowed much freedom. Choose for yourself that which suits you best. If you like to think of God with form, you will reach the goal; if you like better to think of God without form, that is well also, for you will attain the same goal. Whichever is your choice, be steady, unwavering, persistent. Progress will be yours without fail.

"Concerning the changing of clothes, the taking of baths, and other external observances before chanting the name of the Lord and worshipping Him in the heart, do so if it is possible; if you are unable to observe these externalities, mere observances of tradition, go on calling on Him unmindful of ought else save Him.

“The Master once sang a song to me and told me, 'Assimilate any one of these ideas and you will reach the goal.' The song which He sang went thus:

'O Lord, Thou art my everything, the sole support of my life, the quintessence of reality. There is none else beside Thee in this world whom I can call my own.
'Thou art happiness, peace, help, wealth, knowledge, intellect, and strength; Thou art the dwelling house and the pleasure garden; Thou art the friend and relative.
'Thou art this present life, the sole refuge; Thou art the life hereafter and heaven; Thou art the injunction of the scriptures and the Guru full of blessings.
'Thou art the way and the goal; Thou art the creator and preserver and the worshipped; Thou art the father that punishest Thy child, the loving mother and the storehouse of infinite bliss art Thou.'"

-- Pujaniya Sharat Maharaj or Swami Saradananda Ji, Shri Ramakrishna’s disciple and Holy Mother Sarada Devi’s Vasuki, the mythical serpent who upholds the world.


27.6.96

My Dear -----,

I duly received your letter dated 7th. Mysterious are the ways of God! We do not know why the Holy Mother plays with us. Patiently go on calling on Her. She has placed you variously in this world; as if conducting an examination. Do not lose hope, hold on to Her firmly. In this transient world She alone is our own. She is the reality. Try to feel Her presence ever in your heart and experience real peace and joy.

Hope by now you have come back to Trichur. May the departed soul of your younger sister rest in peace. Hope her daughter also has come back to Calcutta. Sri Sri Ma has relieved your sister from her physical sufferings and given her shelter on Her lap.

The demise of Dhiraprana is indeed a great loss to our Sangha. The void that she has left behind would be felt by everyone who knew her.

Remember that Sri Sri Ma is sitting there with her divine glory and love. Try to continue your duties depending on Her. May She guide you always. She is always with you. She said, ‘If a thorn ****** your foot, it hurts me like a spear piercing my heart.’ So, She always feels your pains, She does not remain indifferent to your difficulties. ‘Misery is truly a gift of God’.

May Sri Sri Ma make your mind calm and quiet. May you have peace of mind through Her grace.

With my heartfelt love and blessings,

Yours affectionately,

Mokshaprana

Posted by Amit Neogi in Holy Mother’s Courtyard in Holy Mother Cyber Tantu website on Sep 14th, 2002 - 1:24 PM

"Do not hurt anyone. Don't pray to God to punish the offender. Instead, pray for his/her good too." – Shri Ma

Always do your duty to others, but love you must give to God alone. Worldly love always brings in its wake untold misery.”
– Ma Sarada
Nija Guna Kripa Karo Adhama Acharo

Hori Moi Tumar Choronor Dhuli, Maa Moi Tumar Cheero Dasi, Guru Moi Tumar Choronot Thaku

HARI OM TAT SAT RAMAKRISHNA

May All Beings Be Peaceful, May All Beings Be Happy, May All Be Free From Sorrow, May All Beings Be Healthy, And May All Realize God

- Ankur Acharya of Bhuteshananda (Ma-Guru) Ramakrishna

Location: New Delhi

Dear Ankur,

You are so blessed to have had the darshan of so many Holy people.

May Mother Jagadatri bless you and may you always remember her.

Yours
Rosemary

Location: New Bern, NC

Thank you, Sister Rosemary.

With regards,

Ankur

Location: New Delhi, India

Dear Ankur,

Perhaps I should explain myself better, if I can. These things are so hard to verbalize!! From my studies, I have learned how important the Goddess Jagadatri was in Holy Mother's family. She seems to hold the key to keeping the mind in control. She also was so very personal and important to Mother's family. It seems to me that it would be well worth for all to seek her protection, but most of all, worthwhile to those devoted to Holy Mother...

...at her wonderful feet...
Rosemary

Location: New bern, NC

Dear Sister Rosemary,

Thank you for your post. I have read your other recent posts in Mother's Courtyard, and admire your devotion to the Holy Mother. Please continue in that. All of us are trying (myself I feel the least or sometimes not at all!) in our own different and unique ways to please Holy Mother, to make Her happy, for in that we, Her children, feel happy ourselves. I hope to soon type for you and post in Mother's Courtyard a beautiful story that Swami Lokeswarananda Ji has mentioned in his book of commentary on the Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna, which will further make you feel how right you are in your devotional approach to Holy Mother.

Having said this much, let me tell very briefly about my approach a little. Even as I tell this I once again thank you for your post which shows your concern for your brethren and love for Holy Mother. I regard Shri Ramakrishna and the Holy Mother to be One, or sometimes as two aspects of the One Existence, Knowledge, Bliss (Satchidananda), and following the specific input from my Guru Swami Bhuteshananda, who had bowed at Holy Mother's feet once, and is Swami Saradananda's disciple, I regard Holy Mother as Sarva Deva Devi Swarupa, i.e., as the embodiment of all Gods and Goddesses. As such, by the Grace of the Guru, who is none other than Holy Mother, I am given to perceive Holy Mother at whichever shrine and embodiment of the Divine Mother I bow to. In this connection I am giving here the brief account of my visit to one such shrine just the other day (I had sent you the account, albeit without the last few lines, which are of relevance here).
We went to the temple of the Divine Mother at Chhatarpur on 1 April, 2012. And had afternoon prasada there. About One Hundred Thousand people are fed there everyday during the Navaratri puja time without any charge whatsoever. Surely the Holy Man was blessed by Her, the Divine Mother, to be able to erect the vast temple complex to the Divine Mother at Chhatarpur. And the whole vast multitude of people were so peaceful, so orderly without any sort of external management, and so accommodating; so were the volunteers who served food, etc.
And I saw Ma, i.e., Sarada Ma, in all the vigrahas of the Divine Mother. She taught me the secret. Look at the eyes, and Ma appears there. Of course, in the Durga vigraha, I was defeated, for I had become complacent by then of seeing Ma. But as I left acknowledging defeat, Ma showed Herself again! And it was not I but Bhuteshananda Ji... .

Having said all this, dear Sister Rosemary, I am sincerely grateful to you once again for your concern and kindness. Indeed, I myself do wish so dearly to have self-control, peace, and love for Holy Mother, Shri Ramakrishna, Swami Ji, Swami Saradananda Ji, Shivananda Ji, my Gurudeva and other children of Shri Shri Thakur and Ma. I await their Grace.

With humble regards,

Ankur

Location: New Delhi, India

Very well said, Ankur!!

Location: New Bern, NC

Satwik ji, and Sisters Rosemary, and Jayanti, heartfelt namaskars to you all.
I am an initiated devotee, and recently stumbled on your chat room. I want to convey my gratitude for the many wondeful conversations, video links,daily quotes, and for sharing your memories in the 'Stories your children told me' thread. Most of all, thank you for your dedication in creating and maintaining this site.
Thank you again and Jai Ma!
Sincerely
Srinivas Somayajula

Location: Stamford, Connecticut

I meant Ankur Acharyaji, for 'What your children told me'
Srinivas

Location: Stamford, Connecticut