To Matt, Sal, and Sadhu Maa

[Guest guest]

Namaste

 

Matt's post below really captures the seed of what I wished to convey.

An example of the notion of " boon and blessings " can be heard in our

weekly group chant of the Chandi. When we get to Chapter 13, Chandi

asks what boon we desire?. Swami always prays aloud for us all and

asks for pure devotion and peace on every level of reality for all

beings.

In every text, Shiva puja, Durga puja, Kali puja, etc., some of the

verses we chant ask the Gods and Goddesses to bless us with devotion,

health, welfare, intelligence, protection, etc. All of these pujas

are guided meditations into the presence of God. They are performed

for a specific purpose, and if performed with devotion and love, one

will obtain the darshan of the diety one worships.

I remember when Swami performed a Latin Mass on Christmas eve, and we

celebrated the rites of Easter from the Christian tradition. Those

were beautiful ceremonies, and Jesus's love and peace was certainly

felt by all present.

I hope we can continue this dialogue to help each other understand

and appreciate the varied ways we can reach out to God.

 

Jai Maa Jai Swami

 

Peace to all

 

vishweshwar

 

 

 

 

 

 

-- In , " matthewgindin " <matthewgindin

wrote:

>

> Namaste Sal,

>

> Your message wasn't addressed to me, but by posting it here I thought

> you were inviting commentary, so I thought I'd share some thoughts I

> had reading what you wrote.

> My understanding is that Mother's love is indeed unconditional. It is

> true though, that some actions bring us close, and some lead us

> further away. The language of " boons and blessings " , as I understand

> it, comes from the puranas and dramatic, colorful teaching stories of

> India, and shouldn't be misconstrued to picture God as a kind of

> Queen petulantly giving out rewards to those who please her. The

> Divine Mother is totally sattwik, pure, and above such things. Human

> language, though, expresses the way she relates to us in various

> manners so as to appeal to different moods, different psychologies,

> different people. Within Hindu Dharma there is a very great plethora

> of expressions of the divine-human relationship. All of them are

> symbols and tools for different people at different times. If not

> useful to me or you, we should simply leave them for those to whom

> they are useful, without judgement.

> The Mother works with us through our karma, and puja, austerities,

> etc are ways of purifying ourselves to come close to her. She

> responds to us when we do good things or acts of devotion so as to

> encourage us to do good things and acts of devotion, out of love.

> You criticised the mentioning of Swamiji's fast in your post. I

> think, with all due respect, you may have been mistaken in

> criticizing this. In the Gospels Jesus' miracles and Divine acts are

> recounted in detail. Why?

> I think it is to encourage faith and emulation. In the same way

> Swamiji's fast was recounted to encourage faith and emulation in my

> opinion.

> The Divine Mother will never abandon us or think poorly of us,

> because she knows as as we truly are- pure sparks of her own divine

> being. She loves us as what we are- infinitely valuable. " There can

> be a bad child but never a bad mother " as the song says, thus she

> always loves us.

> She wants us, though, for our own good, to grow and learn, and come

> close through sadhana. It is not Her who changes through practices,

> but us.

> That's my understanding of the attitudes behind the post, and of the

> issues involved. I hope those thoughts were useful in some way.

> Om Shantih

> Jai Maa, and Happy Navaratri

> Sushuddha

>

>

>

>

> , " sal. " <salpaulsen@> wrote:

> >

> > Peace to you, Vish,

> >

> > We are all grateful for your reminders and postings as to how we

> can

> > further our devotion, as you do yours, to Shree Maa and Swami. But

> > when I read this one, it truly scared me. I question if this is

> the

> > sentiment that Mother and Swami wish to portray to the faithful.

> >

> > Your phrase -

> > " In order to grow closer to Her and to be granted a boon by Her,

> take

> > extra time to commune with Her. She will give you many blessings. "

> >

> > I'm confused. Is this self-serving? Doesn't she love us anyway?

> > Wouldn't an extra, silent, heart-felt " thank you " suffice? Does

> > loving her extra buy us favor?

> >

> > And then you go on to say - " Swami demonstrates His devotion to Ma

> > by fasting for the entire 9 days, and only drinking 1 cup of water

> > per day. "

> >

> > Does it benefit Swamiji greater that the world knows how he

> > personally demonstrates his love for Mother? What does he gain by

> > having this advertised? Swami is a realized master. If any of the

> > rest of us were to even attempt something like this or gently nudge

> > our loved ones to express devotion in this way, thinking our Mother

> > will love us more, is ill-advised and dangerous. I know you're

> only

> > trying to offer an example, but this is really extreme.

> >

> > Your post so startlingly moved me, I went to look up a passage from

> > another of my beloved masters, Jesus, from his Sermon on the

> Mount.

> > Believe it or not, I picked up a book and immediately opened to

> this

> > very page...(thank you Mother for finding this for me so quickly

> and

> > effortlessly...)

> >

> > " Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them,

> > otherwise ye have no reward of your Father (insert Mother) which is

> > in Heaven. Therefore when thou dost thine alms, do not sound a

> > trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in

> > the streets, that they may have the glory of men. Verily, I say

> unto

> > you, they have their reward...That thine alms may be in secret: and

> > thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

> > And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for

> > they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of

> > the street, that they may be seen of men...But thou, when thou

> > prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou has shut thy door,

> pray

> > to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in

> > secret shall reward ye openly. But when ye pray, use not vain

> > repetitions, as the heathen do, for they think that they shall be

> > heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them:

> > for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask

> > him. " (Matthew VI)

> >

> > respectfully,

> > sal.

> >

> > , " inspectionconnection108 "

> > <inspectionconnection108@> wrote:

> > >

> > > Namaste: Sunday is day one of Summer Navatri. We will be

> meeting

> > in

> > > the Temple every morning for songs and prayers at 4:30 AM. This

> is

> > > the best time to focus on Maa. The 9 days of Navaratri, are a

> time

> > of

> > > extra focus on Divine Mother. Maa and Swami suggest extra prayer,

> > > meditation, puja, etc., to Mother, to express our love and

> devotion

> > > during this special time.

> > > In each season there are 9 days set aside for deeper worship of

> > > Mother. In order to grow closer to Her and to be granted a boon

> by

> > > Her, take extra time to commune with Her. She will give you many

> > > blessings. Swami demonstrates His devotion to Ma by fasting for

> the

> > > entire 9 days, and only drinking 1 cup of water per day. Each

> > devotee

> > > can choose some special way to demonstrate their love for Divine

> > Mother.

> > > Happy Navaratri

> > >

> > > Jai Maa Jai Swami

> > > vishweshwar

> > >

> >

>