the company of 'good people'

[Guest guest]

our siva dancer has raised a very good topic for discussion... that

of 'satsangati' - the company of good people...

 

there is a sanskrit verse that goes like this...

 

Santapthaayasi sansthitasya payaso naamaa pi na

shruyate

muktaa kaaratayaa tadeva nalineepatra sthetam drishyate

antah saagara shukthi madhya patitam tat moukthikam jaayate

praayena adhama madhyama uttama jushaam evam vidhaa vrittayaha

 

When a drop of water falls on heated iron, it disappears immediately,

whereas if it happens to fall upon a lotus leaf, it

appears like a pearl! and the same thing turns into a

pearl if it chances to drop into the mouth of an oyster

during the swathi constellation. Thus the company (bad,

mediocre or good) in which a person moves and lives

determines his future....

 

**********************************************************************

so, life is all about 'choices' - when i go into a group and find i

do not like something , i voluntarily drop out!!! there was a group

(hare krishna group ) which was criticizing shri ramkrishna

paramahamsa in all its posts- although i am a krishna devotee, i

bowed out of that group! who are we in relation to great souls like

shri ramkrishna etc? we are 'nothing' ... unless we have 'humility'

we cannot progress in spiritual life...

 

the point is great men or that for that matter even gods and

goddesses do not need us to protect them from abuse because they are

above and beyond all these mundane notions of praise and criticism!!!

it is we who need the protection of god/ess against 'criticims' !

 

on another note, many of us light lamps during deepavali and say 'o!

we are lighting lamps on a dark amavasya night so goddess lakshmi can

find our house and bless us." this is again a myth!! godesses can see

us and our houses and our hearts no matter whether there is darkness

or not because they themselves are the 'light' - it is us mortals who

need to 'light' up our inner chamber so god/ess can take residence

there permanently!!!

 

my 2 cents... that is why we need to seek the company of 'few good

men/women'even if we are sitting in the company of one man who is

speaking the 'truth' that is satsangh. par ecxellance!! here 'truth'

refers to 'vedantic truth' !!!

 

love and love

[Guest guest]

Well Adi_Shakthi16 I have a different opinion. We always see Devi's

and the Devas sitting on or holding the lotus. What does this means?

We should rise above everything else and remain pure despite the

impurities.

 

Do you actually believe that by mixing with good people will make one

good? Logically it should, but does it all the time?

 

The basic thing that we need in life is principles. That is the

foundation to our beliefs. Once we have that solid, no matter what

others say about you, you will not stirred. Infact its good to stay

in a room of people who criticise your faith and learn from them. The

biggest challenge is not to be affected by all those criticism. Once

you are able to detach from all these negative emotions, you are

free. It is a great feeling to be FREE.

[Guest guest]

--- Nora <ashwini_puralasamy wrote:

> Do you actually believe that by mixing with good

> people will make one

> good? Logically it should, but does it all the time?

 

AUM ganapataye namah

 

Hi Nora! I feel that this issue depends on the seeker

and the quality of the "good people." If s/he is open

to the darshan of saintly people then whether s/he

knows it or not, some of their "goodness" WILL rub off

on them. The effects may not be felt immediately, but

rather later on down the road as little things are

remembered here and there.

 

At the same time, if one is not open to the darshan,

not much will happen, as perfectly explained in that

saying, "If a pickpocket meets a saint, then all he

sees is his pockets."

 

Now one may argue that a person gains merit just by

seeing a holy person, whether they are open to it or

not; would a pickpocket truly NOT be affected if he

ever tried to pick the pocket of say Budhha? Probably

this fortunate soul would become one of Buddha's

greatest followers. But if this pickpocket met up with

a lesser soul, but good nonetheless, his darshan may

not be enough to change the pickpocket's ways--UNLESS

this pickpocket is trying to become a good person,

then even meeting up with this lesser soul will be

helpful.

 

So basically, it depends on the "good people," but

more importantly on the quality of the seeker.

 

AUM parashaktiye namah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

--- Nora <ashwini_puralasamy wrote:

> Well Adi_Shakthi16 I have a different opinion. We

> always see Devi's

> and the Devas sitting on or holding the lotus. What

> does this means?

> We should rise above everything else and remain pure

> despite the

> impurities.

>

> Do you actually believe that by mixing with good

> people will make one

> good? Logically it should, but does it all the time?

>

> The basic thing that we need in life is principles.

> That is the

> foundation to our beliefs. Once we have that solid,

> no matter what

> others say about you, you will not stirred. Infact

> its good to stay

> in a room of people who criticise your faith and

> learn from them. The

> biggest challenge is not to be affected by all those

> criticism. Once

> you are able to detach from all these negative

> emotions, you are

> free. It is a great feeling to be FREE.

 

AUM ganapataye namah

 

Sorry, Nora! Now I see that you are saying the same

thing as me--if the seeker is solid enough in his

principles, then he can even get beneficial darshan

from negative people. You took this even a step

further. Forgive me, next time I'll read the posts

more closely!

 

AUM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

I agree with Nora and Santos and would like to add my tuppence. If you are not

on a strong enough foundation THEN you get upset about the nature of others; in

such cases the best option for such weak sadhaks is to avoid company that upsets

them.

The very test of weakness or otherwise is whether one can stand all types of

people while your foundation remains intact and you do NOT get upset.

Kochu

Rolando Santos <sivadancer wrote:--- Nora

<ashwini_puralasamy wrote:

> Well Adi_Shakthi16 I have a different opinion. We

> always see Devi's

> and the Devas sitting on or holding the lotus. What

> does this means?

> We should rise above everything else and remain pure

> despite the

> impurities.

>

> Do you actually believe that by mixing with good

> people will make one

> good? Logically it should, but does it all the time?

>

> The basic thing that we need in life is principles.

> That is the

> foundation to our beliefs. Once we have that solid,

> no matter what

> others say about you, you will not stirred. Infact

> its good to stay

> in a room of people who criticise your faith and

> learn from them. The

> biggest challenge is not to be affected by all those

> criticism. Once

> you are able to detach from all these negative

> emotions, you are

> free. It is a great feeling to be FREE.

 

AUM ganapataye namah

 

Sorry, Nora! Now I see that you are saying the same

thing as me--if the seeker is solid enough in his

principles, then he can even get beneficial darshan

from negative people. You took this even a step

further. Forgive me, next time I'll read the posts

more closely!

 

AUM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site

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shakti_sadhnaa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

dear nora! i do not expect you to agree with everything i say or do

not say!!! i am sure you do not expect me to agree with everything

you do say or do not say!!!conformity is dull and boring to say the

least!!!

 

 

after all, we are all not devas or devis still! we are still affected

by all that is around us, good and bad! just not too long ago, you

were complaining about other groups and the 'pornographic' material

contained therein and how you were so upset by some abusive posts in

a 'LAKSHMI' GROUP WHERE there were no moderators to even moderate the

posts!! so, yes ideally, we all like to be like a lotus flower -

which stands tall even when surrounded by dirt in a muddy pond!!!

that is why a yogi always sits in the 'padmasana' position!!! but in

this very group, i have seen all kinds of outbursts; nobody is

immune; neither you nor i !maybe i more than others!! because the

ego is very strong! it is futile to pretend otherwise!!!

 

and believe me, no company is good or bad ' it is thinking that makes

it so; valmiki, the robber, was transformed by the rama nama he heard

from sage narada! and sometimes a sage can also get seduced by

volumptuous and beautiful woman as was the case of sage vishwamitra

by menaka, the apsara!!!so , what are we while compared to great

sages like vishwamitra!! we are still in our 'spiritual' infancy!!!

 

 

and pray what is satsangh?there are many forms of satsangh. When you

meditate on the holy mantra given by your sadguru, that is also one

form of satsangh!

If you are in a 'KIRTAN; CHANTING THE MAMES OF THE LORD OR SINGING

HIS GLORIES, THAT IS ALSO SATSANGH!

if you go to listen to a spiritual discourse by an enlightened soul ,

that is also a form of satsangh.

 

contemplating, meditating, listening, reflecting on god's name and

teachings of scriptures and reading sciptural texts etc are all

forms of satsangh.

 

so, satsangh can be external or internal!

External Satsang (the company of the true and the wise }

internal Satsang (Naam Smaranam )

thus, we seek the company of those who have realized the self so that

they can help us also in our spiritual path!

 

if an ordinary wood is placed near sandalwood, the ordinary wood

takes on the fragrance of the sandalwood. similarly, when we are in

the company of self-realized souls, we also get slowly transformed!

this was the point i was tying to make! more power to you, if you can

be like the lotus flower ! nothing like that! but i am still a rose

with thorns!!! but the thorns also have the fragrance of the rose

just by being on the same stem with the rose!

 

om shanti! om shanti! om shanti!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..

[Guest guest]

My 2c-

 

Usually the "bad" people that i come across are an

unconscious reflection of what is in within myself.

When someone does something that grates on my nerves,

I usually find that under similar circumstances, I

would have done the very thing. In order to see what

really I am, I just look at the people around me. The

very reason for being put in unfavourable

circumstances is to clear off those deeply hidden

vasanas which otherwise would stay hidden.

 

 

yogaman

 

Message: 3

Fri, 15 Nov 2002 06:26:16 -0800 (PST)

sankara menon <kochu1tz

Re: Re: The company of 'good people'

 

 

I agree with Nora and Santos and would like to add my

tuppence. If you

are not on a strong enough foundation THEN you get

upset about the

nature of others; in such cases the best option for

such weak sadhaks is to

avoid company that upsets them.

The very test of weakness or otherwise is whether one

can stand all

types of people while your foundation remains intact

and you do NOT get

upset.

Kochu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

"for once, we agree! smiles"

 

Amazing !!!

 

"i do not expect you to agree with everything i say or do not

say!!!

i am sure you do not expect me to agree with everything you do say or

do not say!!! conformity is dull and boring to say the least!!! "

 

Now! Now ! Now! Adi_Shakthi16 you are not upset or angry aren't

you

just because I have different opinion and have decided to voice it

out? I thought we are having a constructive discussion here, after

all this is an open forum. So what's the problem?

 

"you were complaining about other groups and the 'pornographic'

material contained therein and how you were so upset by some abusive

posts in a 'LAKSHMI' GROUP WHERE there were no moderators to even

moderate the posts!!"

 

Did I say or even suggest that I am upset. Please refer to my post

again. I am making a statement and giving an example because in one

of your remark you state "…this is Devi's forum and Devi is in

charge , not us mortals!!!". And I am trying to point out to you

that

it's the mortals like us who manages this group. If the

moderators of

the group decides to switch off the post function ( like in some

group when the moderators are away on vacation etc) no post will make

it to the message board.

 

Am I angry with the person who comes to the lakshmi group and post

those nasty messages? No! I am not. I don't blame him/her for

doing

so. But What I am asking is : What happen to the moderators? My

opinion is that, if you are not able to moderate a group or having

problem, then either delete it or pass it to somebody else to manage

it, instead of leaving it unattended and allowing others to use it as

a playground to hurl insult not only at others but at Devi herself.

 

Now if you people here want to know which group and feel that we

ought to do something about it, please go to :

 

laxmi/ message 3 and 4

 

I have already send an email to the moderator, so far there is no

reply as yet. We can make an appeal to or what ever, from what

I gather they will not do anything. Its only the moderator/owner who

can delete the message or the group.

 

 

OM ParaShaktiye Namaha

[Guest guest]

childofdevi! beautiful! exactly! in psychology, we call

this 'projection' - always 'projecting' our emotions on others!

 

you remind me of a kabir poem-

 

Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala, Bura Naa Milya Koye

Jo Munn Khoja Apnaa, To Mujhse Bura Naa Koye

 

I searched for the crooked, met not a single one

When searched myself, "I" found the crooked one

 

it takes a great person to acknowledge that !

 

love and keep up the good work!