Guest guest Posted January 27, 2010 Report Share Posted January 27, 2010 Namaskar William, I am glad I am not the only person born in the USA who received the calling, as I have learned to call it when speaking of my personal life and experiences. Like you, I am devoted to Kali, but am merely an American-borne Eurasian who has very little contact in the Midwest with Hindu traditions short of the mainstream ones. With my schedule and my distance from the closest temple, it can be hard to have community connections in general. Nonetheless, like you, I intend to pursue studies in Indian Religion when I go to graduate school. As for your question, I cannot say I know for certain. Based on my limited understanding, Tantra is almost a sort of spiritual science, and like you, I would be uncomfortable going far without an authentic guru to provide guidance, big and little. I recite a specific mantra, but otherwise, I am hesitant to share it because I am a mere novice bhakta and hardly feel like I have the authority to pass such things down to anyone. Like you, I have interest in Bengali culture and traditions - or even on a more general scale, the goddess traditions of Northeast India. It will be what I seek to study in graduate school and if I get to where I want to be, I will be able to do field work that hopefully, does more justice to the culture (s) than past colonial literature has done (exceptions like Arthur Avalon not included in the statement). With globalization on the rise, there is no more an important time than now to partake in devotion as well as to learn (and revise) from an academic standpoint. I probably did more rambling than helping, and for this I apologize. I am more or less in a similar position. Jai Ma. Aum Shanthi. Sincerely, Arya/Christina On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 2:10 PM, William Clark <kalibhakta wrote: > > > Namaskar Everyone, > > I am curious as to opinions felt by group members here. I am a Kali > Bhakta, a very fervent one, but would like to practice Tantar as well. > However without a Guru, I do not think I can get so far using mantras > etc. > > Do you think there is more spiritual benefit to practicing Tantra? > > I have stayed in Bengal for a year before and am going back this year. > I will be staying a few years and hope to find a Guru. This can be a > lot harder than you think! I spent a lot of time in the cremation > grounds of Tarapith, but I did not really learn anything except how to > drink booze ;-) It was fun and I recorded a lot of great Bengali folk > music, but it was not good for learning Tantra. > > My main interest is Bengali culture and I hope after my next trip to > pursue Hindu studies in the USA and learn Sanskrit. I love Ma so much > that I want to dedicate every moment of my life to her. I often feel > sad that I am so separated from her. It is something none of my > western friends could really understand, but I truly love her more > than anything. > > Yours, > > William > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2010 Report Share Posted January 29, 2010 Namaste Willian. We can start in the path of tantra because our samskaraas from the past lifes. Maybe we was born in a culture very diferent fron the culture of the tantra and our parents and familly they don´t have any interest for teh tantra, but because of our samskaras from the past lifes we are atracted for the Tantra path. Tantra needs Guru, without Guru we don´t can go in deep, in fact the proper Shakti has her own Guru who is Shiva, we can read in many tantras about the necesity for the Guru, Maha nirvana tantra, kularnava tantra... Without diksha we don´t can go in deep in tantra and diksha means one Guru who give you diksha. Is not easy to fin a proper Guru, we have to look if we are proper student and after we have to look for a Guru and follow the instructions of the shastras for learn from the Guru. In Bhagacavd Gita chapter 4 sloka 34 it said we have to surrender to de Guru, we have to server to the Guru and we have to make costan questions to the Guru for learn. If inside of you it´s the correct samskara and you can apart the inicial ignorance of your ego you will fin a Guru and you will go in deep in Tantra path. In the service of Shrigurudeva Shivashankara www.vedicfoundation.es --- El mié, 27/1/10, Amaya Kalarathri <theilluminatedcelestial escribió: De: Amaya Kalarathri <theilluminatedcelestial Asunto: Re: Kali Bhakti Para: Fecha: miércoles, 27 de enero, 2010 23:54  Namaskar William, I am glad I am not the only person born in the USA who received the calling, as I have learned to call it when speaking of my personal life and experiences. Like you, I am devoted to Kali, but am merely an American-borne Eurasian who has very little contact in the Midwest with Hindu traditions short of the mainstream ones. With my schedule and my distance from the closest temple, it can be hard to have community connections in general. Nonetheless, like you, I intend to pursue studies in Indian Religion when I go to graduate school. As for your question, I cannot say I know for certain. Based on my limited understanding, Tantra is almost a sort of spiritual science, and like you, I would be uncomfortable going far without an authentic guru to provide guidance, big and little. I recite a specific mantra, but otherwise, I am hesitant to share it because I am a mere novice bhakta and hardly feel like I have the authority to pass such things down to anyone. Like you, I have interest in Bengali culture and traditions - or even on a more general scale, the goddess traditions of Northeast India. It will be what I seek to study in graduate school and if I get to where I want to be, I will be able to do field work that hopefully, does more justice to the culture (s) than past colonial literature has done (exceptions like Arthur Avalon not included in the statement). With globalization on the rise, there is no more an important time than now to partake in devotion as well as to learn (and revise) from an academic standpoint. I probably did more rambling than helping, and for this I apologize. I am more or less in a similar position. Jai Ma. Aum Shanthi. Sincerely, Arya/Christina On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 2:10 PM, William Clark <kalibhakta (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote: > > > Namaskar Everyone, > > I am curious as to opinions felt by group members here. I am a Kali > Bhakta, a very fervent one, but would like to practice Tantar as well. > However without a Guru, I do not think I can get so far using mantras > etc. > > Do you think there is more spiritual benefit to practicing Tantra? > > I have stayed in Bengal for a year before and am going back this year. > I will be staying a few years and hope to find a Guru. This can be a > lot harder than you think! I spent a lot of time in the cremation > grounds of Tarapith, but I did not really learn anything except how to > drink booze ;-) It was fun and I recorded a lot of great Bengali folk > music, but it was not good for learning Tantra. > > My main interest is Bengali culture and I hope after my next trip to > pursue Hindu studies in the USA and learn Sanskrit. I love Ma so much > that I want to dedicate every moment of my life to her. I often feel > sad that I am so separated from her. It is something none of my > western friends could really understand, but I truly love her more > than anything. > > Yours, > > William > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2010 Report Share Posted January 29, 2010 Namaste Group: I am so happy to be back with this group. Jai Maa! I am another Westerner attempting to study Tantra while living in a very remote area. There is a tradition in the Mahabharata, which tells of a very poor man who wanted to study swordsmanship from a great guru. He then makes a statue of the guru and worships it. The story goes that he becomes the guru's greatest student. Then of course the story has a quirky ending where the guru does show up and asks the student to cut off his arm in repayment, but besides the bizarre ending it does speak to those of us who are far away from a guru. The real guru is within, but it is very difficult for those of us stuck in the maze of Maya to see this real self. You might find a Tantric that you admire and get a picture of him/her and place it on your altar as in the story, or take some time repeating a Shiva mantra asking for the inner guru or a real one. The real quest is an inner one, and although I would be delighted to go to Tarapith or Kamakhya, I realize that I will probably never be able to go. I did once in my past spend many years traveling around Asia, only to find the same self-obsessed people there as I had found in America. Sign me another lonely Westerner, Shankari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2010 Report Share Posted January 29, 2010 Actually, Shankari, the story you are talking about from Mahabharata is given its meaning by the ending. Arjuna was the greatest archer in the world, and he learned from his guru Drona. But while he was learning, a young low-caste boy named Ekalavya watched the lessons from the forest and became an even better archer than Arjuna. When Drona found out that Ekalavya had learned all of this by spying on their lessons and by learning without permission, in secret, Drona asked for guru-dakshina from Ekalavya. For those who don't know, guru dakshina is the payment the guru asks in return for their teaching, and it cannot be refused by a true disciple. Drona tells Ekalavya that he has to cut off his right thumb, which ruined his chances at being a great archer, making Arjuna again the best archer in the world. Ekalavya gladly gave his thumb, because he was a true disciple, but he paid the price for his stealing the knowledge. He kept the knowledge, but was no longer able to use it. This story is possibly about many things, but what I was taught is that one of its lessons is about stealing knowledge and trying to outwit your karma. Ekalavya knew that Drona wouldn't teach him, so he created a statue of Drona to worship, and learned in secret. He still considered himself Drona's student, and even bragged about it to the Pandavas. This made Arjuna complain to Drona. Ekalavya's devotion to his guru was steeped in his own ego, his own desires. So when Drona demanded the cruel payment, he was creating order again, and in essence taking back what had been effectively stolen from him. For me, this story says, if you are meant to be initiated into Tantra, then be patient and don't try to move too quickly on your own. You may be skilled, but your ego can become easily wrapped up without the guidance of a guru. Your knowledge is rendered useless without a proper guide. If your slippery ego becomes big through teaching yourself from books and the Internet, then the knowledge you gain is rendered useless, like an archer cutting off his thumb. That being said, some gurus these days welcome disciples from afar, and those who don't have access to a community or a guru should begin there. Some gurus have teachings that they have made accessible to a lot of people through books and such. Shree Maa and Swami Satyananda Saraswati, the Bihar School of Yoga, and Ammachi are three well-known sources. If you have no guru, it is good to learn from these kinds of teachers. If you say to yourself " I will never go to Kamakhya or Tarapith, " then you probably won't. If you want to make a pilgrimage to one of these places, make it a priority and set a reasonable date, whether that's one year or five years in the future. And then start saving for the trip. But don't expect to find a guru there - those who offer themselves as gurus to outsiders without knowing you often have ulterior motives (they want money or worse). Taking a guru is like getting married or being adopted - you become family for life. Remember that. jai MA kamesvari -kulasundari Sri Kamakhya Mahavidya Mandir kamakhyamandir.org facebook.com/kamakhyamandir On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 7:34 AM, Shankari Kali <shankari_kaliwrote: > > > Namaste Group: > > I am so happy to be back with this group. Jai Maa! > > I am another Westerner attempting to study Tantra while living in a very > remote area. > > There is a tradition in the Mahabharata, which tells of a very poor man who > wanted to study swordsmanship from a great guru. He then makes a statue of > the guru and worships it. The story goes that he becomes the guru's greatest > student. Then of course the story has a quirky ending where the guru does > show up and asks the student to cut off his arm in repayment, but besides > the bizarre ending it does speak to those of us who are far away from a > guru. > > The real guru is within, but it is very difficult for those of us stuck in > the maze of Maya to see this real self. You might find a Tantric that you > admire and get a picture of him/her and place it on your altar as in the > story, or take some time repeating a Shiva mantra asking for the inner guru > or a real one. > > The real quest is an inner one, and although I would be delighted to go to > Tarapith or Kamakhya, I realize that I will probably never be able to go. I > did once in my past spend many years traveling around Asia, only to find the > same self-obsessed people there as I had found in America. > > Sign me another lonely Westerner, > Shankari > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 29, 2010 Report Share Posted January 29, 2010 Namaste Kulasundari: I am not a rich person, and cannot fool myself. I do not have the funds to save for a trip like that. Simply put. I have accepted that right now flying to India is out of the question. One could look at the story in the Mahabharata like the one who studies is arrogant or you could look at the story like Drona wants Arjuna to be the greatest archer and makes darn sure he is or that Drona didn't want a poor guy studying archery. Either way, it's not my favorite story. We need a guru to unravel the mysteries for us, but sometimes they don't come. I have been waiting for 27 years. I have had some interesting people in my life, but I don't have a guru standing over me. I would also like to discuss some individuals who became enlightened without a guru. Most of the female saints never had a guru: Anandamayi Ma, Shree Maa, Ammachi, Sri Karunamayi, and Ramana Maharshi amongst others. Should we follow individuals who have no guru line? Some people who created whole religions had no gurus as far as we know: Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Lord Mahavir, and Buddha. Buddha seemed to have followed some gurus around, but finally made his own religion. For now I will continue waiting for a guru. In peace, Shankari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Namaste William: Yes, it can be tough to practice in the West. There are several places in USA were one can find other Kali Bhaktas. For one, there is a Kali Mandir in Laguna Beach, CA, that I have heard good things about: http://www.kalimandir.org/ Also, if you are looking for a guru or community here in the West, you may want to consider the Monks of the Ramakrishna Order / Vedanta Society. They are disciples of Sri Ramakrishna and the Holy Mother, both of whom were quite devoted to Maa Kali. However, if you are already at the stage of hanging out in cremation grounds at Tarapith, you may find their more Sattvic/Monastic take on the Mother to not be quite your style. (I've certainly had that issue myself, being the argumentative free spirit that I am..) http://www.vedanta.org/wwc/usa.html In any case, they are delightful in their devotion, and those here in the West tend to be quite accessible. Best of luck on your journey. Jai Maa! -S. Santo Sengupta " Aum Shanti Shanti Shantih. " On Wed, Jan 27, 2010 at 3:10 PM, William Clark <kalibhakta wrote: > > > Namaskar Everyone, > > I am curious as to opinions felt by group members here. I am a Kali > Bhakta, a very fervent one, but would like to practice Tantar as well. > However without a Guru, I do not think I can get so far using mantras > etc. > > Do you think there is more spiritual benefit to practicing Tantra? > > I have stayed in Bengal for a year before and am going back this year. > I will be staying a few years and hope to find a Guru. This can be a > lot harder than you think! I spent a lot of time in the cremation > grounds of Tarapith, but I did not really learn anything except how to > drink booze ;-) It was fun and I recorded a lot of great Bengali folk > music, but it was not good for learning Tantra. > > My main interest is Bengali culture and I hope after my next trip to > pursue Hindu studies in the USA and learn Sanskrit. I love Ma so much > that I want to dedicate every moment of my life to her. I often feel > sad that I am so separated from her. It is something none of my > western friends could really understand, but I truly love her more > than anything. > > Yours, > > William > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Namaste: The story of Ekalavya, Prince of the Nishada people, is quite touching. Calling him an " outcaste " is a bit of a simplification - the Nishadas were likely a non-Vedic people who lived in the wild places that most urbanized folk feared. I always viewed the sacrifice of his thumb to Dronacharya to illustrate how faultless the bond between Arjuna his guru was. Arjuna went out of his way to prove his devotion to his master, and as such, Drona took a larger dakshina (gift) from Ekalavya to protect his favored pupil's status. -S. Santo Sengupta " Aum Shanti Shanti Shantih. " On Fri, Jan 29, 2010 at 5:45 PM, Shankari Kali <shankari_kaliwrote: > > > Namaste Kulasundari: > > I am not a rich person, and cannot fool myself. I do not have the funds to > save for a trip like that. Simply put. I have accepted that right now flying > to India is out of the question. > > One could look at the story in the Mahabharata like the one who studies is > arrogant or you could look at the story like Drona wants Arjuna to be the > greatest archer and makes darn sure he is or that Drona didn't want a poor > guy studying archery. Either way, it's not my favorite story. > > We need a guru to unravel the mysteries for us, but sometimes they don't > come. I have been waiting for 27 years. I have had some interesting people > in my life, but I don't have a guru standing over me. > > I would also like to discuss some individuals who became enlightened > without a guru. Most of the female saints never had a guru: Anandamayi Ma, > Shree Maa, Ammachi, Sri Karunamayi, and Ramana Maharshi amongst others. > Should we follow individuals who have no guru line? > > Some people who created whole religions had no gurus as far as we know: > Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Lord Mahavir, and Buddha. Buddha seemed to have > followed some gurus around, but finally made his own religion. > > For now I will continue waiting for a guru. > > In peace, > Shankari > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Namaste, Some times i hear to my Guruji Swami Shankaratilakananda: If we have a health problem, to whom we will go? a doctor who study in the university with his maters? or a person who is very devoted of the medicine, read some books of medicine and have some pictures of important doctors in his house? It has the same importance the espiritual science than material sciencie? If it has the same importance or more, then why we don´t think that we need to follow pocess for learnt it like in de materialistic sciences? If we have inspiration in the model of Budha, Cristo and another big Yogis, then may be we have to make the same than they. May be we have to make the big tapasyas (austerityes) that they made... But also we can have inspiration in another big yogis like Adi shankaracharya who tell us the importance and the necesity of to have a Guru. If we want to learnt i am sure that we can make efort to find a Guru in western countryes or in oriental countryes. In these days there are several Gurus and ashramas in western countryes. (I apologize for my english because i am from Spain) In the service of Shrigurudeva Shivashankara --- El vie, 29/1/10, Shankari Kali <shankari_kali escribió: I am so happy to be back with this group. Jai Maa! I am another Westerner attempting to study Tantra while living in a very remote area. [....] The real guru is within, but it is very difficult for those of us stuck in the maze of Maya to see this real self. You might find a Tantric that you admire and get a picture of him/her and place it on your altar as in the story, or take some time repeating a Shiva mantra asking for the inner guru or a real one. The real quest is an inner one, and although I would be delighted to go to Tarapith or Kamakhya, I realize that I will probably never be able to go.. I did once in my past spend many years traveling around Asia, only to find the same self-obsessed people there as I had found in America. Sign me another lonely Westerner, Shankari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 > > > I would also like to discuss some individuals who became enlightened > without a guru. Most of the female saints never had a guru: Anandamayi Ma, > Shree Maa, Ammachi, Sri Karunamayi, and Ramana Maharshi amongst others. > Should we follow individuals who have no guru line? > > There are different paths to moksha! And the kind of guru you follow depends on what you want as a devotee. There is Tantra, and to study Tantra one needs the guru, unless one has already been liberated and receives the knowledge. There is Advaita Vedanta, and other similar methods. There is the path of the brahmachari and sannyasi. Then there is bhakti, and pure god devotion, which requires no guru, no special rituals, no training, only complete sincerity. For a lot of female saints, practically speaking, this was their only option. You take a guru because you want to emulate the guru and become like them... What else do you expect from a guru? You absorb the positive and leave the rest. If you recognize someone as a realized soul and that is enough for you, then it doesn't matter what their lineage is. If there is a particular form of sadhana you want to learn, a particular path you want to walk, a particular life you crave, then you have to find a guru that can teach you that. MAA takes care of us if we trust Her completely. Maybe that means we have a guru that we meet in person and have with us and study with and even live with if we're lucky, maybe it means we never have a guru and just live in devotion. But at some point we have to stop searching for the guru and just trust that MAA has it all in Her hands, and that She will give us what we need, when we need it. jai MA kamesvari -kulasundari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Very good points; thank you for sharing them. My guru also says that he never had a guru in human form; he spent time with many enlightened beings and even worked for Maharishi Mahesh for many years, but never considered any of them his guru. He learned many things from the saints and seers he connected with though; it is necessary to be taught some things and to see a living example of how dharma is manifested on the Earth plane. To force expressed through the human form will put pressure on any sincere seeker of Divine and speed up the transformation process. Aspire, aspire, aspire for what you want and it will be brought to you. If you want to emulate the masters, you will be brought to masters. If you want to express love and devotion, you will be brought to great Bhaktas. If you want to share conceptual clarity of the path, you will be brought to great jnanis. Man is made solely of faith (as is taught in ch. 17 of the Bhagavad Gita), and what he or she has true faith in will manifest for him or her, based on the level and faith and aspiration. Divine Mother will bring us exactly what we need, when we need it. Love and Light. ________________________________ Kulasundari Devi <sundari > > I would also like to discuss some individuals who became enlightened > without a guru. Most of the female saints never had a guru: Anandamayi Ma, > Shree Maa, Ammachi, Sri Karunamayi, and Ramana Maharshi amongst others. > Should we follow individuals who have no guru line? > > There are different paths to moksha! And the kind of guru you follow depends on what you want as a devotee. There is Tantra, and to study Tantra one needs the guru, unless one has already been liberated and receives the knowledge. There is Advaita Vedanta, and other similar methods. There is the path of the brahmachari and sannyasi. Then there is bhakti, and pure god devotion, which requires no guru, no special rituals, no training, only complete sincerity. For a lot of female saints, practically speaking, this was their only option. You take a guru because you want to emulate the guru and become like them... What else do you expect from a guru? You absorb the positive and leave the rest. If you recognize someone as a realized soul and that is enough for you, then it doesn't matter what their lineage is. If there is a particular form of sadhana you want to learn, a particular path you want to walk, a particular life you crave, then you have to find a guru that can teach you that. MAA takes care of us if we trust Her completely. Maybe that means we have a guru that we meet in person and have with us and study with and even live with if we're lucky, maybe it means we never have a guru and just live in devotion. But at some point we have to stop searching for the guru and just trust that MAA has it all in Her hands, and that She will give us what we need, when we need it. jai MA kamesvari -kulasundari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 Kulasundari Your advice has turned very philosophical ...and nice! JR --- On Sat, 1/30/10, Kulasundari Devi <sundari wrote: Kulasundari Devi <sundari Re: Re: Kali Bhakti Saturday, January 30, 2010, 11:01 AM Â > > > I would also like to discuss some individuals who became enlightened > without a guru. Most of the female saints never had a guru: Anandamayi Ma, > Shree Maa, Ammachi, Sri Karunamayi, and Ramana Maharshi amongst others. > Should we follow individuals who have no guru line? > > There are different paths to moksha! And the kind of guru you follow depends on what you want as a devotee. There is Tantra, and to study Tantra one needs the guru, unless one has already been liberated and receives the knowledge. There is Advaita Vedanta, and other similar methods. There is the path of the brahmachari and sannyasi. Then there is bhakti, and pure god devotion, which requires no guru, no special rituals, no training, only complete sincerity. For a lot of female saints, practically speaking, this was their only option. You take a guru because you want to emulate the guru and become like them... What else do you expect from a guru? You absorb the positive and leave the rest. If you recognize someone as a realized soul and that is enough for you, then it doesn't matter what their lineage is. If there is a particular form of sadhana you want to learn, a particular path you want to walk, a particular life you crave, then you have to find a guru that can teach you that. MAA takes care of us if we trust Her completely. Maybe that means we have a guru that we meet in person and have with us and study with and even live with if we're lucky, maybe it means we never have a guru and just live in devotion. But at some point we have to stop searching for the guru and just trust that MAA has it all in Her hands, and that She will give us what we need, when we need it. jai MA kamesvari -kulasundari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2010 Report Share Posted January 30, 2010 I have to agree with JR here. You put things in a perspective where people can take meaning as well as appreciate some of the traditions and their roles. Jai Ma! Aum Shanthi. Sincerely, Arya/Christina On Sat, Jan 30, 2010 at 1:42 AM, Radhakrishnan J <jayaarshreewrote: > > > Kulasundari > Your advice has turned very philosophical ...and nice! > JR > --- On Sat, 1/30/10, Kulasundari Devi <sundari<sundari%40kamakhyamandir.org>> > wrote: > >> > > > I would also like to discuss some individuals who became enlightened > > without a guru. Most of the female saints never had a guru: Anandamayi > Ma, > > Shree Maa, Ammachi, Sri Karunamayi, and Ramana Maharshi amongst others. > > Should we follow individuals who have no guru line? > > > > There are different paths to moksha! And the kind of guru you follow > depends on what you want as a devotee. > > There is Tantra, and to study Tantra one needs the guru, unless one has > already been liberated and receives the knowledge. > > There is Advaita Vedanta, and other similar methods. There is the path of > the brahmachari and sannyasi. > > Then there is bhakti, and pure god devotion, which requires no guru, no > special rituals, no training, only complete sincerity. For a lot of female > saints, practically speaking, this was their only option. > > You take a guru because you want to emulate the guru and become like > them... > What else do you expect from a guru? You absorb the positive and leave the > rest. If you recognize someone as a realized soul and that is enough for > you, then it doesn't matter what their lineage is. If there is a particular > form of sadhana you want to learn, a particular path you want to walk, a > particular life you crave, then you have to find a guru that can teach you > that. > > MAA takes care of us if we trust Her completely. Maybe that means we have a > guru that we meet in person and have with us and study with and even live > with if we're lucky, maybe it means we never have a guru and just live in > devotion. But at some point we have to stop searching for the guru and just > trust that MAA has it all in Her hands, and that She will give us what we > need, when we need it. > > jai MA kamesvari > -kulasundari > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Kulasundari Ji Maharani! This initial reply to Shankari was right on point, well written, practical and perfect! In life, we need to set priorities. They say " Life is what we make it " . If something is important to us, we need to prioritize it. We all need $$. We all have bills. Shankari, I totally sympathesize and empathize with your situation. Times are tough here these days, but surely not anywhere near as tough as it is for so many living in absolute poverty in India and elsewhere. It is NOT necessary to go to Kamakhya or Tarapith and even if you did, it does guarantee anything. Kulasundari pointed out quite a few teachers and there are quite a few more. You know of them already. But if you truly feel called to visit either/both of those places, and this is a priority for you, then you need to set a plan to bring that goal into reality. First figure out how much a trip like that would cost. Then see how much you can put away each week/month towards that goal. Are there any odd jobs you could take to bring more $$ towards that cause? Even if it takes you 10 years and you can only save $20-$30/month, that could do it. And I wholeheartedly feel that if you put the effort forth, MAA will provide for you, unless your Karma dictates otherwise...and even then... Don't let life and its challenges get you down. RISE UP AND FIGHT! If it is important to you, you will do just this! It is difficult for people to surrender to disciplining themselves enough to incorporate a daily practice into their lives. Changing oneself and growing Spiritually is hard, challenging work, though if it is our goal and priority then we must organize our lives to do just that. One can always find excuses. Most just like to fantasize and complain. I've done enough of this myself! Start small and build up. You will gain strength and be able to do more. Soon you will achieve your goal and more! JAI AMMA MAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Surya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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