to Nanda and retreat participants- 1 - Chanting along with Swamiji

[Guest guest]

Dear Nanda and all,

 

thank you for sharing your retreat experiences; as I was unable to

attend, I am very happy to hear what you all did and what a bliss-full

experience it was. And, I must admit, I am a little green around the

edges with envy (which I pray Mother will take away:)). I sincerely

hope I will be able to come to the US next time!

Fortunately, I have been able to see and hear parts of the activities

via the webcam; I heard you all singing beautifully and with great

gusto (and it must have been very late/early in the morning in

Califoria, )and I joined you for the sandhi puja, which was very

exciting.

And, Nandaji, your description of your Chandi sankalpa spoke to my

heart, because via the webcam I have had a similar experience. What

with the Chandi sankalpa, Prayer Club and my regular sadhana, I had

quite a bit to get through. So in the afternoon, I became a little

tired of it and turned to the webcam to get inspiration. Swamiji was

there, chanting at the fire and I thought I might as well chant a

little more. As he had already chanted the thirteen chapters of the

Chandi the first time I watched, I thought he would be gone the next

time I tuned in. But no, he was still there, and the next time, and

the next. And, since Swamiji kept going, I did too. Before I knew it,

I had finished the sankalpa and my regular sadhana. I could not make

out at the time what he was chanting, but perhaps it was the occasion

when you were sitting there with him. The mere fact that he was there

all the time carried me through. Of course, it is not the same as

actually sitting there at the fire, but the webcam really does offer

us all the opportunity to share in the blessings. That our Gurus

should be so generous as to allow every person 'out there' who is

interested to watch them perform their own sadhana is an invaluable

gift and a demonstration of incredible generositiy.

I am very grateful to have been able to see and hear parts of what was

happening at the retreat and to all participants for relating their

experiences. I am looking forward to hearing more. Please share

without shame or hesitation:),

 

with love,

Henny

 

 

 

, Nanda <chandimaakijai wrote:

>

> Dear All,

> As some of you know, I am a weekender (Sundays mostly) at the

Mandir. With increasingly tight job schedules, it is a blessing when I

am able to stay there for any length of time. As part of the Navaratri

retreat, I jumped at the chance to stay for three days in the presence

of our Gurus.

>

> Here were some of the incidents that meant a lot to me ...

>

> Chanting the Chandi along with Swamiji

>

> On Saturday morning, I went to the temple and sat down with the

Chandi to complete the vow that I had taken as part of the group

sankalpa. It was about 8 AM and many of the retreat participants were

sitting inside the temple - some of them doing puja and others

silently meditating in the presence of Maa and Swamiji. I set up my

asan close to the fire, where Swamiji was doing the full Chandi with

samputs and was already into the 11th Chapter.

>

> I opened the book and took the sankalpa to chant the entire text.

The last few times when I tried to chant the entire text by myself, in

the privacy of my home, I had stopped and gotten distracted midway.

This time, in the presence of Swamiji, I took the conscious decision

not to stop, come what may. Of course, when I take those decisions,

there is always a situation that immediately tries to test and also

some unseen hands that try to help sustain that resolve. It happened

twice that day.

>

> One thing that immediately struck me was how easy it is to stay

focussed when chanting along with Swamiji. As I remarked to Him later

"Swamiji, today I chanted on your steam" . The Chandi became even more

interesting, with me trying to keep pace with Swamiji. I knew that I

could keep going as long as Swamiji kept chanting.

> Swamiji completed his Chandi when I was almost done with my

Kushandika. I was disheartened - now he was going to get up and leave

and let me chant all by myself. But no !!! He continued with the

Rudri. I was so thrilled, and I continued with the next few chapters

of the Chandi.

>

> Come Chapter 7, and Swamiji had finished the Rudri, and again the

momentary disheartening feeling. "OK, now you are on your own Nanda "

I told myself. But the Gods were kind, Swamiji went on to chant the

Kali Sahasranam. I couldnt believe my luck. I kept going with renewed

energy and had finished Chapter 13 when Swamiji finished Kali Sahas.

>

> This time, I knew it would be too much to ask, and I was mentally

thanking Swamiji for staying along with me until I finished the

majority of the Chandi. I was preparing to let him go, but Swamiji ,

it looks like, had other ideas. He went on to chant the Shiva

Sahasranam.

>

> I couldnt believe my luck, and kept pressing on. Swamiji finished

Shiva Sahas and I finished the Chandi at about the same time. I was so

grateful to have chanted with no effort at all, and indeed , on

Swamiji's steam. I prepared to get up, but Swamiji kept going ... he

went on to the Gayatri Sahasranam.

>

> In the time it took me to chant one text, Swamiji was doing five.

And that too in one asan (without getting up from his seat or moving

his knees) .

>

> This is the blessing ! This is the miracle ! Just the privilege to

be around a soul like Swamiji so that one's own struggles at sadhana

become so much lighter.

>

> I would like to say a few words about the tests that happened as

well. Once I got a note requesting my presence for the group

discussion. I was very tempted to get up - because after all , it

behooves me to help and participate in the activity as a seva to our

Gurus. Then I told myself, that the Chandi was really what was

important to me that day and to be forgiven for anything else that I

could/couldnt do.

>

> The second test was more interesting. I noticed that Swamiji had run

out of firewood, and was stretching to get wood from another bin

placed at an awkward angle from him. Again I thought - "helping

Swamiji is more important - let me get the firewood for him first and

then continue". Once again, the sankalpa in me reminded me of my

original resolve "come what may". I asked for forgiveness and

continued with the Chandi. Almost immediately, another devotee stepped

into the breach and helped Swamiji.

>

> I recount the incident for two reasons -

> 1) How we get helped in keeping our resolve even in the midst of all

the tests.

> 2) and most importantly, what an opportunity it is to do our sadhana

in the presence of our Gurus.

>

> It strikes me that one of the uniqueness of our Gurus is that we get

to see them perform their own Sadhana. They not only share the sadhana

that will help us, but also demonstrate how it should be done - with

all the resolve, and the commitment and love.

>

> Jai Maa

> Jai Swamiji

>

> Nanda

>