RE- Shri Somayaji unsubscribing

[Guest guest]

Somayaji--unsubscribing from the group.

 

Shri Somayaji has d. The reason is that his son-in-law passed

away in spite of the fervent prayers of all the members of his family and so

he has lost his faith in God.

 

Only a person who has experienced such a sorrow can fully understand

Somayaji's reaction. I had such an experience. My daughter, 54 years old,

passed away suddenly in February this year. She was living in Mumbai with

her husband and children. She was in perfect health. Every day my wife and I

used to talk to her on the phone from Chennai. One morning suddenly my

son-in-law rang up to inform us that she had some breathing difficulty and

was admitted to the ICU in a hospital. The doctors said that there was no

danger to her life. Treatment was given, but the very next afternoon she

passed away. My wife and I were shattered. All my knowledge of Vedanta did

not help me to face this sudden calamity. My wife and I rushed to Mumbai by

the earliest flight next morning. The cremation was performed the next day

after her son and daughter-in-law arrived from USA.

 

There is no greater punishment for a human being than to have to look at the

lifeless body of his child. And, paradoxically, the older the child, the

greater is the sorrow. I lost my mother when I was only 13, but the sorrow I

felt then was nothing compared to what I felt on losing my daughter. I

cried out to God, "O God, why have you inflicted this cruel punishment on me

and my wife? You could have taken us away earlier and spared us this

sorrow".

 

But I then consoled myself with the thought that whatever God does is only

for our good. I felt that this was the way in which He was cleansing me of

my sins committed in some past birth, whether inadvertently or deliberately

and taking me nearer to liberation. Though my wife and I have consoled

ourselves in this manner, the fact remains that all happiness has gone out

of our lives. We are only praying to Him to take us away soon. Meanwhile I

have to keep my mind occupied and so I am continuing to do my nityakarma and

pooja, and studying Vedanta.

My latest book, a translation of Madhusudana Sarasvati's Siddhantabindu,

published by Adi Sankara Advaita Research Centre, Chennai, is being released

on the 21st of this month. Previously this would have given me immense

happiness, but not now.

 

S.N.Sastri

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Sastri-ji,

 

I am so sorry to hear of the death of your daughter and the affect it has

had on you and your wife - likewise my sincere condolences to Sri Somayaji

and his family. I too have lost a child, a long time ago, in his first few

years of life. It is a hard blow to the heart to lose one of our own

children.

 

Its ironic that we all argue so much over ideas and words, so often divided

by our beliefs (thoughts) and too often the desire to be right (or at least

show the other person is wrong).

 

Yet we are all united in our frailty as human beings who suffer and also in

our one-ness with all life. Both are beyond speech and words and clever

ideas.

 

If only 'we' could recognise that underlying frailty and/or one-ness with

each other and perhaps bring a little more gentleness into our exploring

together these great truths of Advaita Vedanta. Perhaps we might build more

bridges in thought that unite us and less walls that divide us.

 

sincerely and with warm regards,

 

Peter

[Guest guest]

 

S.N. Sastri <sn.sastri >

T

 

Only a person who has experienced such a sorrow can fully understand

Somayaji's reaction. I had such an experience. My daughter, 54 years old,

passed away suddenly in February this year.

 

S.N.Sastri

 

Shreeman Sastriji - sASTAnga praNAms.

 

 

 

We thank you immensely for sharing your loss with us. We are able to see your emotional side. It is difficult for outsiders to understand the loss for near and dear. I am always without words to express the sympathy. Some times just the consoling presence itself speaks volumes. We are fortunate to have you with us and share your feelings and knowledge. Your contributions are very much revered by all the list members. Please continue your posts they are very educational.

Hari Om!

Sadananda

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Sastri-ji:

 

We all know that human life is indeed full of suffering. Perhaps some

suffer more than others in this life but everyone experiences shocks and

tragedies. When we lose a loved one, words are not able to give us

consolation. I understand what Somayaji was saying and what he must be

going through and your experience is similarly very difficult. Words at

times fail to offer us comfort although I have to say in honesty that

when my father was in the hospital and later passed away the words of

the esteemed list members indeed were very healing to me and were a balm

to my heart and remembering their encouragement still soothes me.

 

Although I cannot fathom the depth of your sorrow or Somayaji's, I know

that both of you must be very good and decent people who live their life

according to dharma. Lord Krishna says to Arjuna that he has the right

to action but not to the fruits of action. Ultimately, all of us have to

accept that it is not our personal will but the divine will according to

which things happen. Sri Ramana used to say that the body has come into

existence to experience various pleasures and pains and sorrows for

which it is destined. The only freedom that we have is to turn within

and inquire into our true nature.

 

Our bodies and minds are fragile and we must be gentle with ourselves

and not judge ourselves too much. After my father passed away, I

continued to dream of him almost everyday and sometimes still do. In the

dream he would be alive and quite real, as real as when he was living. I

would embrace him very tightly in the dream. He appeared perfectly fine

and I would think that its good he is out of hospital now. When I would

wake up, I would realize that he is gone and that I cannot call him up

and speak to him, much less hug him. So it takes time to adjust to our

loss. We cannot fathom the mystery of life but only surrender to the

Lord of Life, Lord of the Heart who is in the heart of all beings (I am

in the heart of all Gudakesha) and who magically reveals Himself to be

our very own Self.

 

Namaste

Love to all

Harsha

 

 

S.N. Sastri wrote:

>

> Somayaji--unsubscribing from the group.

>

> Shri Somayaji has d. The reason is that his son-in-law passed

> away in spite of the fervent prayers of all the members of his family

> and so

> he has lost his faith in God.

>

> Only a person who has experienced such a sorrow can fully understand

> Somayaji's reaction. I had such an experience. My daughter, 54 years old,

> passed away suddenly in February this year. She was living in Mumbai with

> her husband and children. She was in perfect health. Every day my wife

> and I

> used to talk to her on the phone from Chennai. One morning suddenly my

> son-in-law rang up to inform us that she had some breathing difficulty and

> was admitted to the ICU in a hospital. The doctors said that there was no

> danger to her life. Treatment was given, but the very next afternoon she

> passed away. My wife and I were shattered. All my knowledge of Vedanta did

> not help me to face this sudden calamity. My wife and I rushed to

> Mumbai by

> the earliest flight next morning. The cremation was performed the next day

> after her son and daughter-in-law arrived from USA.

>

> There is no greater punishment for a human being than to have to look

> at the

> lifeless body of his child. And, paradoxically, the older the child, the

> greater is the sorrow. I lost my mother when I was only 13, but the

> sorrow I

> felt then was nothing compared to what I felt on losing my daughter. I

> cried out to God, "O God, why have you inflicted this cruel punishment

> on me

> and my wife? You could have taken us away earlier and spared us this

> sorrow".

>

> But I then consoled myself with the thought that whatever God does is only

> for our good. I felt that this was the way in which He was cleansing me of

> my sins committed in some past birth, whether inadvertently or

> deliberately

> and taking me nearer to liberation. Though my wife and I have consoled

> ourselves in this manner, the fact remains that all happiness has gone out

> of our lives. We are only praying to Him to take us away soon. Meanwhile I

> have to keep my mind occupied and so I am continuing to do my

> nityakarma and

> pooja, and studying Vedanta.

> My latest book, a translation of Madhusudana Sarasvati's Siddhantabindu,

> published by Adi Sankara Advaita Research Centre, Chennai, is being

> released

> on the 21st of this month. Previously this would have given me immense

> happiness, but not now.

>

> S.N.Sastri

>

>

[Guest guest]

Shri Somayaji has d. The reason is that his son-in-law passed

away in spite of the fervent prayers of all the members of his family and

so

he has lost his faith in God.

 

Humble praNAms

Hare Krishna

 

Sri Sastri prabhuji & Sri Somayaji prabhuji kindly accept my heartfelt

condolences.... I pray earnestly the almighty to give eternal peace to the

departed souls...May the almighty grant you enough strength to withstand

this great loss....

 

At the age of 39, I myself sofar a witness of somany deaths including my

parents, father-in-law cum brother-in-law, my elder brother (he was just 2

years elder to me) and my close friend & colleague.. ..I lost my mother at

the age of 17, I lost my father 12 years back & my elder brother 15 years

back & my father-in-law (my wife's father as well as my elder sister's

husband) just three days after my marriage, and my close friend & colleage

who was just sitting beside me at the work station died on the spot due to

massive heart attack.. ....after seeing my elder brother's death my father

was so depressed & eccentric, in that agony he was about to throw out idols

from pUja room which he used to worship everday !! but my uncle finally

could able to console him...I was the eye witness to all these life

drama-s....But, frankly speaking these incidents instead of bringing

hatred towards god's act, helped me to draw myself towards inside & I

started to realize the uncertainties of this empirical life....jAtasyahi

dhruvO mruthyuH says krishna in gIta....I always remember this slOka...&

everyday polish my mind with these slOka-s & try to prepare my mind to

withstand the *sudden shocks* in life...

 

Kindly pardon me for talking about *vairAgya* at the time of great

sorrow...in my humble opinion, this is the right time to dismantle

ourselves from the attachments & cultivate the vairAgya...I know this is

all easy to advise than done...but this is the *naked truth* (nagna satya)

which we are encountering in our day to day life...

 

Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

bhaskar

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "S.N. Sastri" <sn.sastri wrote:

>

> Somayaji--unsubscribing from the group.

>

> Shri Somayaji has d. The reason is that his son-in-law

passed

> away in spite of the fervent prayers of all the members of his family

and so

> he has lost his faith in God.

>

> Only a person who has experienced such a sorrow can fully understand

> Somayaji's reaction. I had such an experience.

 

Namaste,

 

Close on the heels of hearing about the tragedy in Sri Somayaji's

family, i heard yesterday that a friend's neighbour (in Bangalore), a

man of 31 years suddenly passed away due to brain haemorrhage. He is

survived by his wife and a 21 day old baby.

 

I recollect the passing away of my maternal uncle. He was living wtih

his family in USA. His wife and son had come to Chennai on holiday

while his daughgter was doing a school final course in Singapore. He

had spoken to his wife and had planned to come away to India for good

soon and perform his son's upanayanam. On the third day of this

conversation, the family got news that he had passed away. He worked

for an aircraft manufacturing co. As he did not turn up for work, the

company made calls to his residence. As there was no response for a

whole two days, they visited the house, forced opened the door and

found him lying dead on the bed.

 

The family was shattered. My aunt asked me in great anguish: Ask your

Acharya Swamigal why this happened to us. We were so religious. In

the cold of USA we performed the shraddhams of the elders bathing in

cold water and did not leave out any observances. Why did this happen

to us?

 

Later she, a pious lady, gave up even lighting a lamp before the house

deity. She lost all belief in God and soon after the tragedy developed

severe arthritis and other problems and came to a situation where she

could walk only with a walker. She was 42 when she was widowed. My

uncle was 48 when he died. He had just a few months earlier written a

condolence letter to us on my father's death. No body thought that he

would die so soon.

 

I was reminded of a scene from the feature film 'Shankaraacharya' of

G.V.Iyer. In that film, the young Shankara watches a night-long

performance of the Kathopanishad story of Yama and Nachiketas. The

next morning as Shankara sets out to bathe from his house, he sees

people mourning in front of a house. On the pial he notices the

costumes worn by the person who played the role of Yama the earlier

night. He sees the ephemarality of life. 'Yama' himself carried away

by Yama !!

 

Death does deal a severe blow to the near and dear ones.

 

Regards,

subbu

Om Tat Sat

[Guest guest]

advaitin, bhaskar.yr wrote:

 

....

 

> Kindly pardon me for talking about *vairAgya* at the time of great

> sorrow...in my humble opinion, this is the right time to dismantle

> ourselves from the attachments & cultivate the vairAgya...I know this is

> all easy to advise than done...but this is the *naked truth* (nagna

satya)

> which we are encountering in our day to day life...

>

> Hari Hari Hari Bol!!!

> bhaskar

 

This is so true, true to our only dedication, our unique way to

worship in the simplest way the simplest form of God of whom we expect

nothing but hope to serve as best as we can by keeping our heart

attached to his heart in each moment.

My father passed away a month and ten days ago it was a terrible

experience to see this man who was in my childhood the symbol of

strength and confidence, the first image of divinity for a child,

wither in his hospital bed, losing his good sense, the last day i

thought i had gone to the wrong room, i did not recognize him and made

an superhuman effort to not show him on my face.

I caressed his forehead and held his hand in his very last moments of

lucid mind, i remembered how Sri Ramana assisted his dying mother, i

helped my father pray and breathe for hours, reminding him constantly

to the quest for light, to call his personal angel to guide him.

He finally died in his sleep two days later when i was away home; i

used his death to strengthen my sadhana, i renounced several

hindrances and shackles, conduct and food habits.

Two weeks ago my father visited me in a dream, vivid and radiant,

happy and busy among his flowers, he was in no hurry to address my

questions, i left him alone.

 

May peace prevail.

[Guest guest]

My heartfelt condolences to Somayaji.

I can understand the anguish, frustration and sorrow at the loss or our near and dear ones.

I can only say that it is all play of fate or play of karmas.

Let me tell you my story, as to how fate catches you when you are least prepared for it -

2 years ago I lost my father. He was just 56.

It all happened suddenly.

He got a painless heart attack due to diabetes in the evening while at work. No one suspected that it was a heart attack because it was painless. The only problem was he vommited 7-8 times. Some people brought him home at around 7 in the evening.

Even we thought maybe it is some in-digestion or something. He was also trembbling like we have in case of fever. I dont know what happend to me, maybe fate purposely turned my mind. I thought he was suffering from some minor viral fever maybe. The thought that a massive heart attack may have happened never entered in my foolish mind nor to any other family members.

So I gave him a pill of Crocin and he slept. After some 2 hrs I went into his room to check. Somehow I happened to check his pulse, and found that he was pulseless. Even then I did not suspect that he was going to die. I just thought this may not be a minor fever, so lets call on the doctor.

By 11 I called the doctor, he checkd and asked us to shift him to hospital urgently.The doctor did not say anything at that point of time. Atleast I should have suspected something by this time. But no, I did not suspect anything. Neighbors came for help, but I told them it is nothing serious, we are just admitting him to hospital, dont worry.

In the hospital the doctors swiftly put him on bed and attached the machine (i dont know the name) and gave some some 2 or 3 injections in his heart..

I was still sitiing relaxed as if nothing has happend. Beacuse had not occured to me even in my rarest of my dreams that my physically fit father could have a heart attack.

After some time doctor called me in his cabin and rvealed the truth ' The chances of his survival are almost nil, we are trying our best'.

I cannot forget that moment. I was completely shattered. I was completely duped by the fate. Fate played a very dirty game with me.

I saw helplessly my father die. That feeling of helplessness is real bad..

The next morning I cremated him. All the time I was just thinking how can this happen to me. The person whom I talked and played with, just the previous day, has been turned to ash now.

The sorrow was great. My mother, she even cries now when she remembers him.

My friends and well-wishers consoled me at that time. I would like to take this oppurtunity to thank Sadaji, who came to my help. He consoled me when I was in need of it.

I have narrated my story to show the ephemarality of human life and unreliabitly of the fate.

This atleast brings in us the smashan vairagya which is temporary.

But it surely helps to reveal the naked truth to us.

The naked truth that everything which has a beggining has to end some day..

All our near and dear ones who are alive will go one day. Even our body wont be there for ever. This kind of thinking helps us to develop detachment..

It helps us to develop the attitude - We should just do the karmas which we are assigned to, and surreneder them to lord.

Let him take care of us.

Regards

- Vishal

 

 

Talk is cheap. Use Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min.

[Guest guest]

advaitin, bhaskar.yr wrote:

>

>

> Shri Somayaji has d. The reason is that his son-in-law

passed

> away in spite of the fervent prayers of all the members of his

family and

> so

> he has lost his faith in God.

>

 

It is heart-rending to hear the personal losses of Sri Sastri-ji and

Sri Somaya-ji. As we have seen from others who have shared, death

and grief are in everyone's life.

 

My father suffered from diabetes and died due to diabetic

complications. His leg had to be amputated and I remember carrying

the leg afrom the hospital and arranging to bury the leg when I

visited chennai during that time. My sister passed away after a

relapse of cancer when she was just 35. My nephews were just 11 and

15. I can only imagine the grief they went through after that. I

pray for the Lord's Grace in the healing process.

 

regards

Sundar Rajan

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "S.N. Sastri" <sn.sastri wrote:

>

> Only a person who has experienced such a sorrow can fully

understand

> Somayaji's reaction. I had such an experience. My daughter, 54

years old, passed away suddenly in February this year.

 

> My latest book, a translation of Madhusudana Sarasvati's

Siddhantabindu, published by Adi Sankara Advaita Research Centre,

Chennai, is being released on the 21st of this month. Previously

this would have given me immense

> happiness, but not now.

>

> S.N.Sastri

>

 

Pranams Sastri-ji

A palpable pall of gloom has descended on us upon hearing this news.

 

In the darkest hour of your persoanl life, you are taking the time

to light the lamp of wisdom in so many of our lives?!! - the world

is truly blessed because of mahatmas such as yourself.

My sashtang pranams to you.

 

Please accept my heartfelt condolences. My prayers are with you and

your family. "Vaasamsi jeernani yathavihaya..." - your daughter is

with certitude in a better place and close to Ishwara.

 

Not advise but a small, humble suggestion. Your efforts at

translating the siddhantabindu are coming to fruition this month -

heariest congratulations. If your daughter were to be able to talk

to you for a minute today - she would have surely told you - appa,

please enjoy your day of deserved glory. On the day of the book

release, not for your sake, but for her sake, please allow yourself

some joy in and through the tears, and I can assure you she will be

present there for you, not in person but in spirit, and in seeing

your smiles she will feel happy as well.

 

PLease also pray to Ishwara not for a quick exit from here, but for

a long innings so as to enable people like me and many others get

some wisdom from you. This is also what your own daughter would be

telling you - "appa, i was not fortunate to have your grace bless me

for long, but please let others blessed with longer lives also be

blessed with your words of wisdom and inspiration"

 

You could perhaps even consider starting another wonderful work

soon, in her memory. That way your mind may be diverted to some

extent from the tragedy and hundreds of more souls will have another

wonderful addition to their spiritual libraries by means of another

book you could dedicate to in the memory of your daughter.

 

Once again, my sashtang pranams, and reverential gratitude for

spending some of your moments with us.

 

Hari OM

Shyam

[Guest guest]

Pranams Sri Somayaji:

 

The list members truly expressed their sympathy and concerns regarding the death of your beloved son-in-law. I am happy to note that you are slowly recovering from this tragic event. There is an interesting event reported with respect to one of the devotees of Lord Buddha. A lady lost her only child and with great grief, she went to Him and asked Him to revive the child's life. Lord Buddha was very compassionate and told the lady that He can in fact revive the child, but He needs a spoon of water from a house where no death ever occured. The lady immediately replied Him saying that she would bring a glass of water within a few hours. She then went to every house asking whether any death ever happened in their household. Everyone she met replied her saying that there were one or more deaths in their family. After visiting over 100 houses, the lady was able to reconcile the death of her child. All our scriptures (especially Bhagavad Gita) reienforce the same idea

implicitly and explicitly many times.

 

Warmest regards,

 

Ram Chandran

-------------------------

Note: I had several private email correspondence with Sri Somayaji and I am pleased to share the following reply to the list.

 

Ram Chandran <ramvchandran >

Friday, September 8, 2006 10:56:33 AM

Re: Fwd: Re: RE- Shri Somayaji unsubscribing

 

Sri Ramachandranji and all members of the group,

 

I am very thankful to all the members of this group for having expressed their condolence messages,Sympathy and soothing words regarding my son-in law's death, a very painful experience for all the members of my family.At the age of 70 it is a thunderbolt on my head and I am slowly trying to recover from the shock-again thanking you all-Somayaji

 

 

 

 

Ram Chandran <ramvchandran >

 

 

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