Sadhana : Social Work and Personal

[Guest guest]

I always believe there should be a balance, for everything is about

balance. Social work is also sadhana but of a different nature.

Personal Sadhana is the first and prime important as far as I am

concern. For everything should start from the home before we take it

out. Social Sadhana is for society, and personal Sadhana is for our

own personal benefits. Social Sadhana is maintaining the

communication between the society and us. Personal Sadhana is

maintaining the communication/contact between the Divine and us. If

we cannot even get our house in order, how can we go out and try to

help others.

 

My 2 pence that is.....

[Guest guest]

N. Madasamy wrote:

>

> I always believe there should be a balance, for everything is about

> balance. Social work is also sadhana but of a different nature.

> Personal Sadhana is the first and prime important as far as I am

> concern.

 

 

In the beginning of your spiritual career - ofcourse!!

> If

> we cannot even get our house in order, how can we go out and try to

> help others.

>

 

I for one rather choose Wangari Maathai and her extensive commitment as

an example rather than a yogi sitting in a cave 8 hours a day.

 

But this is my personal preference, we are all different.

 

Rgerads

 

Lars

[Guest guest]

Hi Lars:

 

You replied to Nora:

 

*** I for one rather choose Wangari Maathai and her extensive

commitment as an example rather than a yogi sitting in a cave 8 hours

a day. ***

 

But is that a useful comparison?

 

Of course, we all adore a seemingly superhuman achiever who directs

her/his abundant energy to the betterment of humanity. It's like

adoring the air we breathe, or the Sun that warms our world. But these

are rare and special individuals -- that's why they're singled out

with Nobel Prizes and so on.

 

The "yogi sitting in a cave eight hours a day" is a rare and special

person too -- one hardly ever sees such things. Chances are, such a

person is a renunciate, an ascetic, a monk. They are to be met and

understood on their own terms, just as a Wangari Maathai must be.

 

To bring all of this down to earth, one rarely meets a Shakta with the

luxury of time enough to be either social saint or isolated monk.

Devi, as the World, expects Her devotees to both love and engage the

world with all their heart and soul. Most are householders, with

families and jobs and all kinds of mundane obligations.

 

That's why some say Devi's path is the hardest of the Hindu paths:

Because She wants it all. Like Her, we too must be all three at once

-- householder fulfilling our daily obligations, "social saint"

fulfilling our obligations to society and the world, and "renunciate"

devoting our entire existence to Her work and glorification. None of

these aspects may be neglected.

 

Aum MAtangyai NamaH

[Guest guest]

I wrote "I always believe there should be a balance, for

everything

is about balance. Social work is also sadhana but of a different

nature. Personal Sadhana is the first and prime important as far as

I am concern.

 

 

Lars wrote : In the beginning of your spiritual career – of

course!!

 

Nora's response : They start simultaneously : When career stop

becoming just career but a spiritual journey.

>From Verse 27 of Shri Aadi Shankara's Saundaryalahari:

 

Let my every word be a prayer to Thee,

Every movement of my hands a ritual gesture to Thee,

Every step I take a circumambulation of Thy image,

Every morsel I eat a rite of sacrifice to Thee,

Every time I lay down a prostration at Thy feet;

Every act of personal pleasure and all else that I do,

Let it all be a form of worshiping Thee."

 

I wrote : If we cannot even get our house in order, how can we go

out and try to help others.

 

Lar wrote : I for one rather choose Wangari Maathai and her

extensive commitment as an example rather than a yogi sitting in a

cave 8 hours a day.

 

As Devi Bhakta said, the Yogi who sits in a cave 8 hrs a day too is

a rare and special person too. Shakti Sadhana is not about

renouncing the world, but to embrace it as how a mother would have

embrace her child unconditionally. To be able to sit for 8 hrs take

a lot of discipline. Wangari Maathai, she is a great soul. It is

good yes! to do something like that, where others can actually see

what you have done. You get a lot of praises, people flocking to

you, recognition, nobel prize award etc. Sounds fantastic eh! more

rewarding...

 

But you see there are some people who too have done commitment to

the society in their own way. Those who comes and do what they are

suppose to do and then disappear. No praises, no rewards needed and

most important nobody knows. To me that is the best commitment one

can do to another, because like our personal sadhana in our pooja

room, they are a private affair. It is between DEVI and you. If you

can do the same for social sadhana, it is honourable indeed.

 

Lar wrote :But this is my personal preference, we are all different.

 

Nora response : Yes, that is what I believe it is meant to be. We

are all different. Look at our fingers, they are never the same.