Daily Reflection - Devotion - How to become a strong devotee?

[Guest guest]

Namaste Beloved Family,

 

On reading the thought below i have a question - how do we become such a strong

devotee? i would greatly appreciate your thoughts, ideas, insights and experiences.

 

In the class today, Swamiji told us a story -

 

A disciple asks his Guru "How can i see God?"

 

The Guru says, "Come, take a bath."

 

They go to a pond and as they are going inside the water - the Guru puts His hand on the

disciples head and keeps him down. The disciple is gasping for breath and is huffing and

puffing - finally, when he lost all hope, Guruji lets go His hand. The disciple comes up

from water.

 

Guru asks "How did you feel?"

 

Disciple says, "Well, i was just longing for air." The Guru said when you long for God the

same way - You will get darshan.

 

Well beautiful family - you MUST see Swamij say this story - His expressions and language

are so beautiful - it will be up on the web under Cosmic Puja Classes in the next few days.

 

i was wondering - how do you get to be in that place? To long for God that way?

 

Please share your thoughts and insights! Thank you very much!

 

Jai Maa!

 

 

 

 

 

, shreemaadevotee wrote:

>

> Daily Reflection

> October 25 - Devotion

>

> In the Puranas it's written that Hanuman was such a strong devotee that for

> his benefit God assumed the form Rama.

>

> from Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss

> Copyright 2005 Devi Mandir Publications

> First Edition

> www.shreemaa.org

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Ramya,

 

One reply to your question," how to become a strong devotee?" could be

as follows:

 

Meditation is generally thought of as gathering the strands of the

scattered mind by means of concentration. But to gather the scattered

strands of emotion is, at least, equally important.

 

The feeling of drowning or suffocating if one is forced to live a life

in the world could be a sign that the emotional strands have been

gathered in to a significant degree. And when that happens, what is

there to hold one to this world any longer? And without the world, what

remains but God?

 

I heard a story years back of a young man who used to frequent an ashram

after school. One day, the old lady who had done the evening worship for

many years, was carring an armload of flowers through the small library

where the young man was reading about the lives of the great Indian

Swamis. She was generally very silent, and seldom spoke to anyone, but

this time she stopped beside the young man and asked him, "Are you

interested in spiritual life?"

 

It was an odd question. The lady had known him for three of four months

by that time, and she was not prone to ask questions in any case-and

certainly not while preparing for worship. It was as if she had been put

up to it by someone else.

 

But the young man was too preoccupied with his reading to notice the

incongruity, he looked up absently and answered without thinking, "I

have no other interest," and returned at once to his book.

 

Two days later, a very holy and senior swami from another city visited

the ashram without prior notice and took a couple of minutes to speak

with the young man who was then working in the garden near the gate,

before continuing inside to visit with the swami in charge of the

ashram.

 

And two days after that, the young man disappeared from the face of the

earth. Neither his friends nor relatives knew anything more about him.

 

I heard that story long ago and it is still with me. I think the moral

must be, "Be careful what you pray for because you may get it"---you may

disappear without a trace. God only knows.

 

Respectfully,

 

Tanmaya

 

 

 

, "n_ramya108" <n_ramya108 wrote:

>

> Namaste Beloved Family,

>

> On reading the thought below i have a question - how do we become such

a strong

> devotee? i would greatly appreciate your thoughts, ideas, insights and

experiences.

>

> In the class today, Swamiji told us a story -

>

> A disciple asks his Guru "How can i see God?"

>

> The Guru says, "Come, take a bath."

>

> They go to a pond and as they are going inside the water - the Guru

puts His hand on the

> disciples head and keeps him down. The disciple is gasping for breath

and is huffing and

> puffing - finally, when he lost all hope, Guruji lets go His hand. The

disciple comes up

> from water.

>

> Guru asks "How did you feel?"

>

> Disciple says, "Well, i was just longing for air." The Guru said when

you long for God the

> same way - You will get darshan.

>

> Well beautiful family - you MUST see Swamij say this story - His

expressions and language

> are so beautiful - it will be up on the web under Cosmic Puja Classes

in the next few days.

>

> i was wondering - how do you get to be in that place? To long for God

that way?

>

> Please share your thoughts and insights! Thank you very much!

>

> Jai Maa!

>

>

>

>

>

> , shreemaadevotee@ wrote:

> >

> > Daily Reflection

> > October 25 - Devotion

> >

> > In the Puranas it's written that Hanuman was such a strong devotee

that for

> > his benefit God assumed the form Rama.

> >

> > from Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss

> > Copyright 2005 Devi Mandir Publications

> > First Edition

> > www.shreemaa.org

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Ramya,

 

just some thoughts: reading the story, what I noticed was that it was

the Guru who applied the pressure, and it was the Guru who let go in

his own good time. So, in my view, our becoming a strong devotee is

nothing but the Guru's grace.

I think perhaps it may be something like this: we start out with the

idea that we are ready for the spiritual life, but perhaps we really

don't know what it is we want. Perhaps we are not so ready as we think

we are. We may think we only want to see God, but perhaps there are

still other things we'd like as well. So the Guru applies some

pressure; we are thrown back in the world, are immersed in it,

circumstances are arranged where desires are fulfilled: perhaps we get

a tempting career opportunity, perhaps we find ourselves surrounded by

all kind of temptations luring us away from sadhana, perhaps we find

ourselves enmeshed in all kinds of relationships and obligations

taking up our time. This pressure, which seems to push us away from

God and Guru, actually brings us closer, because now our longing for

the spiritual life becomes more urgent; experience teaches us there is

no happiness in these things and we can't live like that. As we become

desperate, the Guru lets go of the pressure, circumstances change and

perhaps we are invited to a puja, or we suddenly find time for our

sadhana again, and we can breathe. Perhaps in his mercy, the Guru

holds us down and lets us come up many times, and thus trains our

'devotion muscles', so we become finally strong enough to be taught

how to swim in the Ocean of Divine Love.

 

"He is the cause of climbing above in the tree of the world of objects

and relationships, and rescues us from falling into the ocean of hell

or the sea of conflict and confusion. Therefore, we bow down to the

respected Guru"

 

with love,

Henny

 

, "n_ramya108" <n_ramya108

wrote:

>

> Namaste Beloved Family,

>

> On reading the thought below i have a question - how do we become

such a strong

> devotee? i would greatly appreciate your thoughts, ideas, insights

and experiences.

>

> In the class today, Swamiji told us a story -

>

> A disciple asks his Guru "How can i see God?"

>

> The Guru says, "Come, take a bath."

>

> They go to a pond and as they are going inside the water - the Guru

puts His hand on the

> disciples head and keeps him down. The disciple is gasping for

breath and is huffing and

> puffing - finally, when he lost all hope, Guruji lets go His hand.

The disciple comes up

> from water.

>

> Guru asks "How did you feel?"

>

> Disciple says, "Well, i was just longing for air." The Guru said

when you long for God the

> same way - You will get darshan.

>

> Well beautiful family - you MUST see Swamij say this story - His

expressions and language

> are so beautiful - it will be up on the web under Cosmic Puja

Classes in the next few days.

>

> i was wondering - how do you get to be in that place? To long for

God that way?

>

> Please share your thoughts and insights! Thank you very much!

>

> Jai Maa!

>

>

>

>

>

> , shreemaadevotee@ wrote:

> >

> > Daily Reflection

> > October 25 - Devotion

> >

> > In the Puranas it's written that Hanuman was such a strong devotee

that for

> > his benefit God assumed the form Rama.

> >

> > from Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss

> > Copyright 2005 Devi Mandir Publications

> > First Edition

> > www.shreemaa.org

> >

>

[Guest guest]

There is no way to do this, but to do it.

 

The man who is drowning is not taking time to schedule an appointment

with air ... he must be IN AIR, NOW!

 

so will a strong devotee think, feel, act, and do.

 

"i am in knowledge know."

 

"i am in God's company now."

 

"i am beyond thoughts, worries, anxieties, now."

 

"i have left confusion so far, that i don't even know what it is

anymore. when i see confusion it dissolves or does not, and even that

does not matter."

 

"there is no, now, later, tomorrow, etc."

 

"everything to know is known; to feel has been felt; same for

experience, hope, my future, my past, my sense of posession, etc."

 

"thoughts and actions are one."

 

"the knowledge, or love, or devotion, that i want, i actually need,

and therefore will have now."

 

"i cannot waste time with feeling myself a limited being. all remorse

is gone. i am beyond good and evil now. every looking at everything

thing is a blessing. closing my eyes, so is this darkness."

 

Any words that say truth will do. The words of truth will carry your

mind and body into the Air. When we don't even feel Air we are into

something beyond happiness.

 

s

 

 

 

, "n_ramya108" <n_ramya108 wrote:

>

> Namaste Beloved Family,

>

> On reading the thought below i have a question - how do we become

such a strong

> devotee? i would greatly appreciate your thoughts, ideas, insights

and experiences.

>

> In the class today, Swamiji told us a story -

>

> A disciple asks his Guru "How can i see God?"

>

> The Guru says, "Come, take a bath."

>

> They go to a pond and as they are going inside the water - the Guru

puts His hand on the

> disciples head and keeps him down. The disciple is gasping for

breath and is huffing and

> puffing - finally, when he lost all hope, Guruji lets go His hand.

The disciple comes up

> from water.

>

> Guru asks "How did you feel?"

>

> Disciple says, "Well, i was just longing for air." The Guru said

when you long for God the

> same way - You will get darshan.

>

> Well beautiful family - you MUST see Swamij say this story - His

expressions and language

> are so beautiful - it will be up on the web under Cosmic Puja

Classes in the next few days.

>

> i was wondering - how do you get to be in that place? To long for

God that way?

>

> Please share your thoughts and insights! Thank you very much!

>

> Jai Maa!

>

>

>

>

>

> , shreemaadevotee@ wrote:

> >

> > Daily Reflection

> > October 25 - Devotion

> >

> > In the Puranas it's written that Hanuman was such a strong devotee

that for

> > his benefit God assumed the form Rama.

> >

> > from Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss

> > Copyright 2005 Devi Mandir Publications

> > First Edition

> > www.shreemaa.org

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Namaste everybody!

 

First comes inspiration......

While reading my first account of a saint's life, I cried

incessantly. The beauty in the words and the longing for God was so

beautiful! It made me realize that this was the ultimate goal for

me, the only thing that would make me truly happy.

 

On the night of Kali Puja Maa said something:

As always She said, "May Divine Mother bless you with pure

devotion," but then She also said that by doing tapasya we would be

able to show our love for Her. It's that effort we make that takes

us out of our "comfort zones" that expresses what we really feel. I

can say I love you, but when I really work at showing you how I love

you, then it really means someting.

 

Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaai Maa,

Gauri

, "n_ramya108" <n_ramya108

wrote:

>

> Namaste Beloved Family,

>

> On reading the thought below i have a question - how do we become

such a strong

> devotee? i would greatly appreciate your thoughts, ideas, insights

and experiences.

>

> In the class today, Swamiji told us a story -

>

> A disciple asks his Guru "How can i see God?"

>

> The Guru says, "Come, take a bath."

>

> They go to a pond and as they are going inside the water - the

Guru puts His hand on the

> disciples head and keeps him down. The disciple is gasping for

breath and is huffing and

> puffing - finally, when he lost all hope, Guruji lets go His hand.

The disciple comes up

> from water.

>

> Guru asks "How did you feel?"

>

> Disciple says, "Well, i was just longing for air." The Guru said

when you long for God the

> same way - You will get darshan.

>

> Well beautiful family - you MUST see Swamij say this story - His

expressions and language

> are so beautiful - it will be up on the web under Cosmic Puja

Classes in the next few days.

>

> i was wondering - how do you get to be in that place? To long for

God that way?

>

> Please share your thoughts and insights! Thank you very much!

>

> Jai Maa!

>

>

>

>

>

> , shreemaadevotee@ wrote:

> >

> > Daily Reflection

> > October 25 - Devotion

> >

> > In the Puranas it's written that Hanuman was such a strong

devotee that for

> > his benefit God assumed the form Rama.

> >

> > from Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss

> > Copyright 2005 Devi Mandir Publications

> > First Edition

> > www.shreemaa.org

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Wow, Henny ji! That was beautiful. And I can relate, it seems I'm

in the process of developing some spiritual muscles myself.

Thank you.

Pranam,

yogini

 

, "henny_v_i" <henny_v_i

wrote:

>

> Dear Ramya,

>

> just some thoughts: reading the story, what I noticed was that it

was

> the Guru who applied the pressure, and it was the Guru who let go

in

> his own good time. So, in my view, our becoming a strong devotee

is

> nothing but the Guru's grace.

> I think perhaps it may be something like this: we start out with

the

> idea that we are ready for the spiritual life, but perhaps we

really

> don't know what it is we want. Perhaps we are not so ready as we

think

> we are. We may think we only want to see God, but perhaps there

are

> still other things we'd like as well. So the Guru applies some

> pressure; we are thrown back in the world, are immersed in it,

> circumstances are arranged where desires are fulfilled: perhaps we

get

> a tempting career opportunity, perhaps we find ourselves

surrounded by

> all kind of temptations luring us away from sadhana, perhaps we

find

> ourselves enmeshed in all kinds of relationships and obligations

> taking up our time. This pressure, which seems to push us away

from

> God and Guru, actually brings us closer, because now our longing

for

> the spiritual life becomes more urgent; experience teaches us

there is

> no happiness in these things and we can't live like that. As we

become

> desperate, the Guru lets go of the pressure, circumstances change

and

> perhaps we are invited to a puja, or we suddenly find time for our

> sadhana again, and we can breathe. Perhaps in his mercy, the Guru

> holds us down and lets us come up many times, and thus trains our

> 'devotion muscles', so we become finally strong enough to be

taught

> how to swim in the Ocean of Divine Love.

>

> "He is the cause of climbing above in the tree of the world of

objects

> and relationships, and rescues us from falling into the ocean of

hell

> or the sea of conflict and confusion. Therefore, we bow down to

the

> respected Guru"

>

> with love,

> Henny

>

> , "n_ramya108" <n_ramya108@>

> wrote:

> >

> > Namaste Beloved Family,

> >

> > On reading the thought below i have a question - how do we

become

> such a strong

> > devotee? i would greatly appreciate your thoughts, ideas,

insights

> and experiences.

> >

> > In the class today, Swamiji told us a story -

> >

> > A disciple asks his Guru "How can i see God?"

> >

> > The Guru says, "Come, take a bath."

> >

> > They go to a pond and as they are going inside the water - the

Guru

> puts His hand on the

> > disciples head and keeps him down. The disciple is gasping for

> breath and is huffing and

> > puffing - finally, when he lost all hope, Guruji lets go His

hand.

> The disciple comes up

> > from water.

> >

> > Guru asks "How did you feel?"

> >

> > Disciple says, "Well, i was just longing for air." The Guru said

> when you long for God the

> > same way - You will get darshan.

> >

> > Well beautiful family - you MUST see Swamij say this story - His

> expressions and language

> > are so beautiful - it will be up on the web under Cosmic Puja

> Classes in the next few days.

> >

> > i was wondering - how do you get to be in that place? To long

for

> God that way?

> >

> > Please share your thoughts and insights! Thank you very much!

> >

> > Jai Maa!

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > , shreemaadevotee@ wrote:

> > >

> > > Daily Reflection

> > > October 25 - Devotion

> > >

> > > In the Puranas it's written that Hanuman was such a strong

devotee

> that for

> > > his benefit God assumed the form Rama.

> > >

> > > from Ramakrishna The Nectar of Eternal Bliss

> > > Copyright 2005 Devi Mandir Publications

> > > First Edition

> > > www.shreemaa.org

> > >

> >

>

[Guest guest]

Amazing,

 

I have never heard anyone speak of this place before.

It is a strange state....

 

So what is next once here.....continued

tapas.....surrender.....?

 

Grace??????????? Maybe that is the last piece, where

God and Guru see that you are willing to drown as long

as you have too, to finely reach the shore of Peace.

 

 

 

The feeling of drowning or suffocating if one is

forced to live a life in the world could be a sign

that the emotional strands have been gathered in to a

significant degree. And when that happens, what is

there to hold one to this world any longer? And

without the world, what remains but God?