Save your Punyas, Not the Money

SPEND MONEY FOR GOOD CAUSE

Jai Shri Mataji,

In these days of recession, it has become a habit for all people to save money as much they can and not willing to donate or shell out any thing for the charity. The more we spend towards good cause, the more we will receive back.

The following are the golden words of our mother about spending money for good cause.

1984-05-21
"But the people like Indians, who are not calculating, are not so rich, they are very generous, they always have money for Sahaja Yoga. I have never had a problem of money with them. Never. Because they are not so calculating. To them, to do for others, not for yourself, but for others, to spend for others. If they have come to your house, alright, open your heart now; this is the time to spend. Not for drinking and self-indulgence, but for the indulgence of doing for others; that’s their practice and tradition. ‘Oh, they have come! Let’s spend now. What can we do?’ This is the main thing one should understand, those who are mostly indulgent are extremely miserly people. So, the attention which is cunning is the worst attention because, you see, cunningness also cheats yourself, if it is cunning with you and you think, ‘Oh, I’ve been smart enough, you see I’ve saved 2p’. But you have lost your soul. You are no more a Sahaja Yogi."

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So when we observe well the words of mother, it is very clear that to be a true sahaj yogi, we need to spend money for good cause and not to worry so much about the future. This is the best sahaj way. I would like to share a short story narrating the importance of spending for good cause and being a good soul.

The following is that short story.

One day a zamindar(richest man of a village) rode his horse, with a servant behind him holding an umbrella to shield his master from the sun. After a while, the zamindar dismounted from the horse and rested in the shade of a tree.

A poor man who was passing by told the zamindar, “You travel on horseback. But I have to walk, and will therefore be exposed to the sun for longer. Don’t you think I should have your umbrella?”

The zamindar saw the logic of his words, and gave the poor man his umbrella. Then the poor man said, “Why do you need slippers?” And the zamindar parted with his footwear. Then the poor man said, “Why do you need this horse? Give that also to me.” But the zamindar now drove the poor man away.

Far from being unhappy, the poor man was happy. The puzzled zamindar asked him why. The poor man said had he gone home without asking for the horse, he would have felt miserable, wondering if he should not have asked for that too. But now that he had asked and was refused, he felt relieved.

He now knew that even his asking wouldn’t get him the horse. When we work hard for something, we are happy with the results. But when something comes easily, we become demanding.

Now both the zamindar and the poor man are happy and their hearts filled with joy that is arised out of the giving and receiving gestures. The giver always is more happeir seeing the happiness on the face of the receiver.

In another instance, a rich man had a big gold bar, which he buried in his garden. Every day he would dig it up and have a look at it. One day his neighbour stole the gold bar. When the rich miser confronted him, the latter replied that since the rich man was only going to look at the gold bar and not use it anyway, what did it matter whether it were brick or gold?

While we must save for a rainy day, it is also important to spend.

While giving to those in need is important, the gesture must not be such as to encourage laziness, and while it is important to save, it is equally important to know how and when to spend. The important thing is to have a balanced outlook towards money and wealth.

Soundarya Lahari

A small description about this powerful verses sung in praise of the Devi.

The story goes like this:

When Adi sankaracharya visited the Kailash (abode of Lord Shiva and Parvathi), Shiva gave it to Sanakaracharya the soundarya lahari, which is nothing but a collection of 100 verses in praise of the Sakthi (Goddess Parvathi).

Sou in sanskrit is 100 and when one sings or reads this with full devotion, one can enjoy the bliss, hence the name soundarya lahari.

The first 49 verses is called Anandha Lahari and the remaining 51 verses is Soundarha Lahari.

On his way back to Earth, Shiva's vehicle (Nandhi) snatched the first 49 verses. When Adi Sankara was praying to Goddess Sakthi to help him get the songs in full, Sakthi asked Sankara to start writing the missing 49 verses by himself.

Hence the first 49 verses describes the beauty of the Devi and the balance songs are used to describe the destroying powers of the Devi. Even today, for certain ailments, these are very powerful and found to have curing powers.

I happen to listen one of Shri Mataji's speech recently in which She explains about Soundarya Lahari in just two words:-

YOUR MOTHER IS ATHI ROUDRA, ATHI SOWMYA...

Means she is all powerful to destroy any negativity at the same time

She is eternally beautiful/kind.

The famous music composer Illayaraja (from Tamil film industry) has composed a beautiful song in tamil which is nothing but one verse of Soundarya Lahari. The song Janani, Janani.. even today this song is played as an opening song by all light music troupe.

This song is full of vibrations..

Happy reading...

GREAT LESSON TO BE ADHERED FROM A CHILD

The desire to seek happiness is predominant in individuals, but many not only lack the ability to understand what makes one happy but are also not aware of the means to attain it. The worldly Maya holds its sway over many, preventing the perception of what is enduring and tempting them to long for temporary fulfilments such as money, fame, and power.

Only when the truth of the ephemeral quality of life begins to sink into one’s consciousness will it be possible to desire to seek the ultimate goal of life, salvation. For this to happen, one has to derive inspiration and lessons from the lives of the devout who exemplify the best of virtues.

When extolling the qualities and attributes of the child devotee Prahlada in the Bhagavata Purana, Sage Narada tells Yudhishtira that there is no end to his qualities, just as one cannot adequately describe the auspicious attributes of the Supreme Being. Prahlada exemplifies the qualities of devotion, discrimination and detachment. This child was blessed to receive the highest teaching from Sage Narada while still in the womb. The mind determines the thought, word and deed of an individual and since Prahlada was by nature a realised soul and a staunch devotee of the Lord, he always contemplated on Him and was not attracted towards worldly objects. He had the senses under control and though an Asura by birth, he remained an embodiment of goodness in conduct.

Prahlada taught the other Asura children the philosophy of life. He warned that Samsara is akin to a dilapidated well and when caught in it none can help us out except God or a True Guru. He entreated them to seek the blessings of Lord Narayana. He refused to accept his father’s command to pay obeisance to him instead. A frustrated Hiranyakashipu tried in vain to make his beloved child toe his line and succumbed to open display of enmity towards the child, an unnatural reaction born from ego and pride.

Humility is a virtue to be cultivated from the example of the devout who are rich in the experience of God and hence are not in the least proud.

So when we closely relate this story of Born Realised Prahlada it reveals the core essence of wonderful Sahaja Yoga Meditation. Just Try to observe the wonderful sahaj Qualities of Prahlada like, 'Devotion, Discrimination, Detachment, Control over Senses, Showing Love and Compassion to the worst enemies, Overcoming the Ego and pride of opposite person through true love and affection.

Every individual will understand and interpret shri. Mataji's words in their own way. It is most important to understand the core essence of Mother's words. It is very very easy to talk about sahaj and the qualities for hours, days, weeks, months and years... But it is next to impossible when it comes to practical application. It can be achieved only by means of TRUE SELF INTROSPECTION. May be some people would have acquired very very few qualities of sahaj, but to live in sahaj we need sincerity, dedication, fullest devotion, surrender to our mother and above all our divine mother's utmost grace and blessings. So the prime focus is to be on SELF INTROSPECTION and to grow deeper in sahaj. These are purely personal views.

JAI SHRI MATAJI.

God and Kaliyuga

How to reach God in Kaliyuga? (The present age)

Before that, let's see how humans reached God in previous ages;

Kretha Yuga - By yagnas (Havan, Homam etc.)

Tretha Yuga - By Penance (Taking Sanyas and by performing Penance in Forests, hills etc.)

Dwabara Yuga - Bhakthi Marg (Chanting repeatedly God's name, Singing in Praise of God)

In Kali Yuga - Just if you think about God in your heart, you will reach God.

Having said that...

Not that the kali yuga humans are superior to other ages but this is only possible in Kali Yuga. Man will not have time to think about God in pursuit of his Material life, often he forgets about the very existence of God, hence one who just think about God will attain godliness.

Engey Brahmanan? (Where is the Brahmin)

Of late, I'm busy watching the serial in Jaya TV, Engey Brahmanan? (Where is the Brahmin?).

Going by the title, if you get it wrong that it's about a religion, then you are sadly mistaken.

Again, if you assume that this is yet another Indian serial which talks about the usual hatred, revenge and frivolous material things, again you are mistaken.

This is purely about higher things in life which we normally do not seek. The topics covered in the serial are very much Sahaj. The highlight or specialty of the serial is between the soap, the writer gives certain explanation by quoting various puranas, upanishads and vedas, which is very interesting to watch and clarifies our doubts.

The writer is none other than Cho Ramasamy who is the editor of the famous magazine Tuklaq, published from Chennai.

Whatever I could remember from the past episodes, I blog in this column so that the reader can correlate the same with Sahaj matters.

Kundalini and Pure Desires - Part 2

In continuation of my previous blog, I happen to listen to Shri Mataji's speech and She explained it beautifully about Freedom to mankind and ultimate freedom.

It solved all my doubts about fulfillment of desires, be it pure or otherwise.

In case someone needs reference of the speech cassette, here it is.

The Sahaj Guru and Complete Faith, Cabella, Guru Puja.

It's better to listen to the cassette directly.

Living in Bliss

Living in Bliss

Chit ananda rupam Shivoham Shivoham

My body is like a vehicle in which I travel in this world. My senses are like the windows of this vehicle and my mind is the engine that I use to run my worldly affairs. I use the “I” thought to play a role in this world. I am not to confuse myself to be the vehicle. There is a whole lot of difference between the vehicle and the owner who runs it. The sorrow of the vehicle is not the sorrow of the owner. When there is wear and tear in the vehicle, the owner does not suffer wear and tear. All sorrow is created due to our wrong identification with the instruments which we use to work in this world. A thought “I” am sad arises in our mind. Who is this “I”? This “I” is merely a thought in the mind. If we get driven by the thought unconsciously giving it our assent, we start feeling sad. We need not feel sad when the “I am sad” thought arises. We may even just observe its occurrence and watch its death. It’s just that we are all playing our respective roles in this drama of life. The masks we use to operate in our roles are our body and the mind. The “I” thought is the “I” of the role. We are the one’s playing the role. To whom is the sorrow? Sorrow is simply a misperception.

In these 6 verses Sri Adi Shankaracharya explains to us how we are different from the masks we wear. We can use these as aids to meditation. We simply sit down and recognize the truth in these verses clearly and be with it. By thus being a witness we observe that sorrow cannot cling to it and the sorrow of the “I” thought is not our sorrow. This practice of detachment is what is suggested in bhagavad gita as “abhyasa vairagya”. In fact, to detach we need to be attached in the first place. Can something cling to us in the first place? Let’s look at this. Whatever clings, clings to the role and not to the one who plays the role.

“Chit ananda rupam Shivoham Shivoham”, “Aham Shiva:” I am shiva. Shiva is a word, so what does that mean? It is “Anada Rupa:” it’s of the form of Bliss. I am that embodied Bliss. If we are embodied bliss, why do we suffer? It’s strange, coz, just as fire cannot feel cold, coz fires very being is heat. It’s not fire’s property, but it’s being itself. Same way, Shiva is Bliss, they are not two things and Sankaracharya says in his Nirvana Shatakam, that he is that Bliss. There is therefore no question of suffering. Suffering is an error in perception. If we can simply abide within in ourselves, we discover this fact that all our sense of incompleteness is a misperception.