How to share our snakalpa- to Shubal and Durga, and everyone-Thank you

[Guest guest]

Namaste Brother and Sister, Shubal and Durga

 

What a wonderful, organized, and heartfelt offering to Maa and Swami

and Mother Earth.

It really inspired me pray for the ability to offer more to this

sankalpa.

As each of us chants daily, I suggest we all ask Maa how we can how we

can spread this effort, and touch and inspire more devotees to become

involved in this prayer for peace.

Many of us know friends and family who want to "do something" for this

world, but don't know what to do.

Can we all think together, and offer suggestions on-line as we "chat",

and see what we can do to spread this amazing and powerful prayer

throughout this universe?

My heartfelt thanks to Shubal and Durga for this great effort, and I

pray that seeds you planted will bear much fruit. I hope we can

"chat" with your new friends here to share with, and encourage them in

their efforts. It really helps me to share with you all daily.

I look forward to sharing suggestions with you all.

 

Jai Maa Jai Swami

 

love

 

vishweshwar

 

 

 

 

, shubalanddurga wrote:

>

> Here’s an idea for increasing participation in Shree Maa’s 2007

peace

> mantra sankalpa:

> Shubal and I requested the permission and blessing from Shree Maa

and Swami

> to invite the people who sing kirtan with us to participate in the

sankalpa.

> We held a gathering last night to review and begin the practice.

People came

> with loving intentions towards manifesting peace. For us, beginning

in this

> way was powerful, inspiring, energizing and fun. We’re writing

to share the

> live presentation and also the written orientation we created for

those too

> far to join us (enclosed), which include parts of on-line group

posts by Swami,

> Nanda, Chris, Vishveshwar, Tanmaya, Brian and Surya.

> Inviting participation: We sent an email explaining the sankalpa and

> inviting people to a satsang a week later. We received 30 responses

from the

> Northeast, and 1 from Toronto. Of these, 10 came for satsang, and

another 20 couldn’

> t make it but expressed interest in an email orientation.

> Getting ready: Shubal and I met, coordinated about the goals and

activities

> for the evening and divided responsibilities. We quietly played the

CD of

> Shree Maa and satsang chanting the mrithunjaya mantra the whole

day. We

> laminated the wallet cards offered by Chris to the on-line group,

and printed the

> self-standing cards on cardstock. We made name tags and a dakshina

offering

> basket for the Devi Mandir. We prepared chai, prasad and arati ghee

lamps. We

> decorated the puja room with flowers, burned incense and filled the

space with

> candles.

> Putting the practice into context: We began by introducing Shree

Maa &

> Swami and what they do, and acknowledged their presence and

blessings. We gave an

> overview of the Chandi Path, discussed chapter 11 and passages just

before

> the mantra and the mantra. We summarized Vish’s recent on-line

comments about

> Swami's teaching that reciting the Chandi Path is a way to overcome

ego and

> realize the goal of life according to the Bhagavad Gita, to become

a Divine

> instrument. We shared Swami’s translation of the mantra, and

Tanmaya's recent

> on-line comments about its meaning -- a request for the wholeness

of the

> all-pervading Mother to heal the fear that torments our worlds with

the peace

> of unity.

> We talked about the Devi Mandir’s 3-year yagya for universal

peace and how

> the peace mantra sankalpa is aligned with the last year of that

sankalpa. We

> shared a photo of Shree Maa and Swami performing a yagya.

> Discussing & demonstrating: We discussed that making a sankalpa means

> concretizing an intention by making a commitment to oneself to do

everything

> possible to achieve a goal of deep personal conviction; that a

sankalpa is a gift,

> like the 2006 Mother Earth sankalpa was a gift to Mother Earth.

Most had

> never done a mantra practice, and some were uneasy committing to

100,000

> repetitions. We didn’t want people to feel pressured, so we

offered some ideas for

> making a less overwhelming start and encouraged people to do

whatever feels

> comfortable. We also offered a bunch of choices for the sanklapa

part of the

> evening â€" including making a sankalpa of 100,000 recitations,

committing to

> a different number, making any sankalpa, or simply participating as an

> observer.

> We gave an information sheet that followed the outline of the

meeting and

> included the mantra, the link to Shree Maa chanting the mantra

on-line, the

> sankalpa prayer, the reporting of weekly grand total etc. We

listened to the

> mantra on the CD of Shree Maa chanting the Chandi Path several

times together.

> We practiced the mantra slowly together several times looking at

the parsed

> transliteration on the info sheet.

> We shared Swami's on-line comments from a while back on the 3 sound

levels

> of chanting and benefits of each. We mentioned intention and

devotion as key,

> and that the speed for optimal focus and devotion varies for

different

> people. We mentioned that japa can be done anywhere, like while

driving. We

> presented a translation of the Mundaka Upanishad that Nanda offered

on-line last

> year -- about mantra as the bow, the devotional aspirant the arrow,

> meditation as the bowstring, and unity the target. We talked about

how ultimately the

> mantra does us; we become the instrument.

> We demonstrated the recommendations we’d gotten from Swami for

this mantra

> -- doing japa with the right hand facing sideways and chanting 'om

namah

> shivaya' on the inbreath and loudly pronouncing the mantra during

the outflowing

> breath. We shared Brian's on-line comments from last year about

mantra: the

> moment of pause after exhaling as a moment of touching unity and

inviting the

> energy into individual consciousness on the inhale; the exhale with

mantra

> directing Her healing energy to areas of our bodies and minds and

environment.

> We led the group in chanting the mantra musically about 10 times,

starting

> slowly, gaining momentum, and demonstrating a rhythm. We gave out

the wallet

> and self standing cards and shared the idea of tracking weekly

totals by

> recording daily totals in a pocket calendar, as well as Surya’s

idea to the

> on-line group -- using a hand tally counter. We reviewed how to

make a weekly

> report of the grand total to Nanda.

> Making the Sankalpa: We entered the puja room with malas and

mantra cards.

> For those with no mala, we demonstrated the finger-counting method.

Again we

> welcomed people to make whatever sankalpa they wished. We recited the

> sankalpa prayer looking at the info sheet, held a flower and

sprinkled it with

> water, quietly stated our individual goals, offered the flowers

onto plate, and

> offered the plate to God at the altar.

> Unifying: We chanted a full mala together, starting loud and slow,

going to

> quieter and faster, with more focus. We sang a rousing Jai Maa

aarati ringing

> the bell, chasing away ego with a fly whisk, and waving a lamp. We

sang a

> Chandi Maa kirtan ‘til the little room felt like it would blast

right through

> the roof. It was a truly unifying experience, and people said they

felt Divine

> Mother's presence.

> We offered ash from the Devi Mandir 3-year yagya, for people to

apply to

> their third eyes. We sat together for a while, sharing

conversation, chai and

> sweet prasad. Local Devi Mandir family member Sadananda joined us,

and the

> three of us took turns relating little stories involving Shree Maa,

Swami, the

> Devi Mandir and sadhus, the sadhana, the books, the classes, the

on-line

> discussion group, and the daily webcam offerings.

> After several hours the bhav was high, and everyone seemed to be

brimming

> with joy. Some want to gather again for support and inspiration, to

chant the

> mantra together and share in satsang.

> Following up: We emailed to thank those who joined us, to offer the

> written orientation to those who couldn’t make it, and to mention

the possibility

> of future gatherings.

>

> Jai Maa........Jai Swami.......Jai Peace

>