Dreaming mantra

[Guest guest]

"For some reason I felt to ask him if he had ever

dreamed his mantra, because awhile back it occurred to

me that dreaming mantra could be an indicator of

progress in the practice of japa. And sure enough, he

confirmed that during a nightmare, when he was afraid

in the dream, he did japa."

 

About two years ago I started learning about mantra

meditation where I was taught that the goal was to be

chanting God's name at the moment of death, which is

why we should chant always since we don't know when

that moment will come. Anyway, I had a dream where a

tornado hit and swept me up. I was terrified, and I

knew I was going to die. The noise was deafening, and

I could see others caught up in it too. Then I

remembered what to do! I clearly remember saying,

"God, take me gently into your fold." Then I started

chanting the mantra I used at the time and the noice

subsided into silence. I was still caught in the

tornado, but I was full of peace and quiet. It was a

GREAT dream!

 

Gabriela

 

 

 

--- Kenna <kenna wrote:

> Namah Shivaya.

>

>

> No words to describe the joy of returning to the

> temple for morning prayers.

> Now the woman gather in the old temple and several

> brahmacharinis take turns

> leading on different days. This practice has been

> the center of my life

> since the visit in 2000 and returning to it was

> utter delight.

>

> (The men pray together in the new hall.)

>

> After 108 Names and 1000 Names we chanted the Sri

> Mahisasuramardini Stotram,

> which can be found in the 2002 Bhajan supplement.

> Does anyone know when Amma

> first directed that this be chanted? I think it's

> significant that it is

> being chanted now and would appreciate others'

> perspectives on it. I have

> continued the practice as part of morning prayers

> and find it to be a very

> powerful practice. The last line of each verse is

> translated as "To You, the

> whole world is one family." And at the end, that

> line is repeated several

> times to the melody of the whole verse.

>

> Since it was Friday, Amma came to the temple mid

> morning and answered

> questions and gave darshan to new comers.

> Unfortunately I was still in jet

> lag mode and can't remember anything of substance

> from it except the joy of

> being there again.

>

> In the evening after bhajans as Amma left, I joined

> the small herd of people

> who dashed from the hall to the area by her

> apartment to get a good spot to

> watch her feed Ram, the elephant. This was high on

> my list because Ram had

> arrived just after we left in 2000, and I had been

> wishing so much to meet

> him. They brought him past the back of hall and into

> Swami alley just as I

> got there and I managed to get in behind him as they

> closed the gate into

> the alley. A friend led me to the pond side where

> the crowd was lining up

> and we weren't far from where Amma stood at the

> bottom on her steps. There

> was a wooden gate separating Ram from Her and she

> fed him handful after

> handful and it was all simply delicious. She had to

> give him some medicine,

> which he didn't like, but which he would take from

> his beloved mother. Hence

> my reference in the last post: Amma knows how to get

> us to take the medicine

> we otherwise wouldn't take, even though we need it.

> At the end of the

> feeding, Ram took water and sprayed some of us. He

> blessed me with a good

> spray, and all I could do was thank Sri Ganesh for

> clearing the way that led

> me back there.

>

>

> Since a large group was doing the IAM meditation

> training, there was a need

> for vegetable choppers, so I joined the vegetable

> chopping team after

> morning prayers. What lovely company with whom to be

> peeling onions and

> garlic and cleaning beets and potatoes and cabbage!

> I especially enjoyed

> meeting Hamsa from Germany and learned that the

> first IAM meditation taught

> outside India was there. For some reason I felt to

> ask him if he had ever

> dreamed his mantra, because awhile back it occurred

> to me that dreaming

> mantra could be an indicator of progress in the

> practice of japa. And sure

> enough, he confirmed that during a nightmare, when

> he was afraid in the

> dream, he did japa. Wow! How inspiring! Jai Hamsa.

> Jai Ma!

>

> Sunday was to be the last day of public programs for

> a whole week before we

> all left for Cochin. Amma had decided to take a

> break in order to give

> herself and others more time to prepare and also to

> give more space to all

> the AV50 travelers who kept arriving in larger and

> larger numbers.

>

> This was the day Amma dressed me as my own mother

> never had. The day before

> at the public program, I was admiring the way the

> mothers would dress their

> daughters for darshan. I spent a lot of time

> studying the way so many Indian

> mothers are with their small children, so gentle and

> loving. Witnessing this

> was very healing for me and helped me grow closer to

> Amma as a loving

> mother. Anyway, I was at the Indian grocery for a

> couple of things and

> observed a western woman shopping for an outfit for

> her grown daughter. Here

> it was again: a mother showing love for her

> daughter. She examined a

> beautiful pink punjabi and decided it was too small.

> Next thing I knew I was

> buying it and went to put it on before darshan

> started. It really felt like

> Amma had arranged it all. I spent a lot of time in

> the front of the temple

> letting go of a few more layers before going for

> darshan. I remember

> standing in the darshan line mentally asking Amma to

> please prepare me for

> the IAM meditation training which I was scheduled to

> take in a couple of

> days.

>

> The next morning I woke up freezing, barely made it

> through prayers, and had

> my roommate summon nurse Prasida. It was eventually

> decided that I had ecoli

> infection and I was put on a 5 day round of Cipro,

> which turned me around in

> time to actually take the training. I was one of the

> first. There were many

> more. We were very well treated. The doctor came to

> my room. Swami

> Dayamritaji inquired about me. Many days later, in

> Cochin, someone told me

> that once a homeopathic expert was at the ashram

> developing a remedy to

> address malaria, parasites and other such problems

> and Amma called her off

> of it saying, "You're taking away all my tools."

>

> All I can say is, as with the poison bug that flew

> into my eye on my first

> visit to the ashram, I never doubted that Amma was

> giving me exactly what I

> needed. That it was all her grace.

>

> Pranams to my roommates, who went without the fan

> for a couple of days until

> I got over the chills. Never expected to be so cold

> in Kerala!

>

> Next: Amma answers some questions and sings in many

> languages.

>

> Aum Amriteshvaryai Namah

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

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