Guest guest Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 A great paradox has puzzled me for much of my life – the bigger something is, the harder it is to see it! This was especially driven home recently when I took a group of students on temple pilgrimage tour of South India. I promised them to show them one of the greatest Shiva temples in the world, with the most awesome Lingam enshrined in the Sanctum Sanctorum, the famous Brihadeshwara Temple at Tanjore. The Lingam, carved from one stone, is one of the largest in the world. More than 20 feet high and almost as wide, it fills the inner chamber like a colossus. After we had stool in Darshan before this fabulous spiritual icon for five minutes, I heard one of the Western students behind me whisper to another, “where is the Lingam? I don’t see it.” The Lingam was so gigantic, it surpassed his imagination, and he literally “could not see it! We have all had similar experience, on various levels. Sometimes, the gifts we receive from others and so “gigantic” we literally “do not see them.” For example, the gift of life: gestation, nurturam, education, settling given us by our parents is so immense; we often don’t “see it.” The gift of life and spirit given us by the Divine, the opportunity to flower and grow in an abundant, loving universe is so immense “we don’t see it.” Instead, we in our limited vision can “see” only the smaller gifts – someone buys us a coffee, and we feel a surge of gratitude. Someone offers us a rose and we warm our heart to them our heart stays warm to them for a long time. An office colleague compliments us on our new dress, and we feel a flood of for their generous loving spirit. Yet, our husband / wife slogs day and night to keep us in comfort, and we remember only that he / she throws his / her wet towel on the floor after he/ she showers. Our child struggles to please us with good marks in school and helpful gesture at home, but we can only see that he put on two unmatched socks before rushing for the school bus. If these things are regular occurrences, it is time to step back, take a deep breath and enlarge our vision. Those forces, energies, powers, people who support our lives in the greatest way, with an effort so large it is almost invisible, are the forces, powers, people we must strive to see clearly, constantly, and in the proper perspective. The role they play in our lives may be so immense; we may have great difficulty in perceiving it. This is probably why we cannot “see God.” He / She / It is just too big for us! We have to “stretch our consciousness and our imagination” to understand and appreciate that huge cosmic mysterious force which creates sustain, and changes us! To comprehend the Infinite, we the finite, must ourselves become as large as that which we seek to understand. Constant expansion of consciousness in day-to-day Sadhana will stretch our individuality until it becomes the universality. This largeness of spirit will then enable us to perceive that is which large. --- Yogacharini Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani (AMMA) Yogacharya Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani Chairman : Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER 25,2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry-605 013 Tel: 0413 - 2622902 / 0413 -2241561 Website: www.icyer.com www.geocities.com/yognat2001/i_am_here Mail is new and improved - Check it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 Dear Dr.Ananda, I request you to please put up this beautiful short essay of Amma in the magazine " Yoga life " for the others to see as well. Narasimhan 9thjuly 2004 --- " Dr.Ananda Bhavanani " <yognat2001 wrote: > A great paradox has puzzled me for much of my life – > the bigger something is, the harder it is to see it! > This was especially driven home recently when I took > a group of students on temple pilgrimage tour of > South India. I promised them to show them one of the > greatest Shiva temples in the world, with the most > awesome Lingam enshrined in the Sanctum Sanctorum, > the famous Brihadeshwara Temple at Tanjore. The > Lingam, carved from one stone, is one of the largest > in the world. More than 20 feet high and almost as > wide, it fills the inner chamber like a colossus. > > After we had stool in Darshan before this fabulous > spiritual icon for five minutes, I heard one of the > Western students behind me whisper to another, > “where is the Lingam? I don’t see it.” > > The Lingam was so gigantic, it surpassed his > imagination, and he literally “could not see it! > > We have all had similar experience, on various > levels. Sometimes, the gifts we receive from others > and so “gigantic” we literally “do not see them.” > > For example, the gift of life: gestation, nurturam, > education, settling given us by our parents is so > immense; we often don’t “see it.” The gift of life > and spirit given us by the Divine, the opportunity > to flower and grow in an abundant, loving universe > is so immense “we don’t see it.” Instead, we in our > limited vision can “see” only the smaller gifts – > someone buys us a coffee, and we feel a surge of > gratitude. Someone offers us a rose and we warm our > heart to them our heart stays warm to them for a > long time. An office colleague compliments us on our > new dress, and we feel a flood of for their generous > loving spirit. Yet, our husband / wife slogs day and > night to keep us in comfort, and we remember only > that he / she throws his / her wet towel on the > floor after he/ she showers. > > Our child struggles to please us with good marks in > school and helpful gesture at home, but we can only > see that he put on two unmatched socks before > rushing for the school bus. > > If these things are regular occurrences, it is time > to step back, take a deep breath and enlarge our > vision. > > Those forces, energies, powers, people who support > our lives in the greatest way, with an effort so > large it is almost invisible, are the forces, > powers, people we must strive to see clearly, > constantly, and in the proper perspective. The role > they play in our lives may be so immense; we may > have great difficulty in perceiving it. > > This is probably why we cannot “see God.” He / She / > It is just too big for us! We have to “stretch our > consciousness and our imagination” to understand and > appreciate that huge cosmic mysterious force which > creates sustain, and changes us! > > To comprehend the Infinite, we the finite, must > ourselves become as large as that which we seek to > understand. Constant expansion of consciousness in > day-to-day Sadhana will stretch our individuality > until it becomes the universality. This largeness of > spirit will then enable us to perceive that is which > large. > > --- Yogacharini Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani (AMMA) > > > > Yogacharya > Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani > Chairman : Yoganjali Natyalayam and ICYER > 25,2nd Cross,Iyyanar Nagar, Pondicherry-605 013 > Tel: 0413 - 2622902 / 0413 -2241561 > Website: www.icyer.com > www.geocities.com/yognat2001/i_am_here > > > > > > > > > Mail is new and improved - Check it out! ===== ______________________ India Careers: Over 50,000 jobs online Go to: http://.naukri.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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