Sravan-Great stories

[Guest guest]

Namaste: these are great stories. Thanks for sharing Papia. Hope

you and family are well. The hunter in the tree is a favorite of

mine. Shiva accepts whatever we can give. He really wants our pure

devotion. In this month, Sravan, His month, we should just say His

name in our hearts day and night.

Last night in class, Swami told the story of the devotee who clung to

the Shiva Lingum, and would not let go when Death came to take him.

His devotion was so strong and his faith so pure, that Shiva

interceded with Death and let him live. He went on to write the

Chandi, and other great works of love and devotion to Shiva and Shakti.

I pray that we can all achieve that pure faith, devotion, and love for

Shiva, that we all merge into Him, that He remove all fear so that we

CAN merge with Him

 

Jai Ma Jai Swami

 

vishweshwar

 

 

 

 

-- In , " roy.papia " <roy.papia wrote:

>

> Dear Srini,

>

> Sorry, it took so long to reply. Here are two of my favorite Shiva

> stories.

>

> The Hunter and the Bilva Leaves

> Once a hunter, while chasing a deer, wandered into a dense forest and

> found himself on the banks of the river Kolidum when he heard the

> growl of a tiger. To protect himself from the beast he climbed up a

> tree nearby. The tiger settled itself comfortably on the ground below

> the tree and showed no intention of leaving. The hunter stayed up in

> the tree all night and to keep himself from falling asleep, he gently

> plucked one leaf after another from the tree and threw it down. Under

> the tree was a Shiva Lingma and the tree blessedly turned out to be a

> bilva tree. Unknowingly the man had pleased Shiva with bilva leaves.

> At sunrise, the hunter looked down to find the tiger gone, and in its

> place stood Lord Shiva. He prostrated before the Lord and attained

> salvation from the cycle of birth and death.

>

> The Devotee and the Incense

> Once a devotee went to his Guru and said that he wanted darshan of a

> god and asked who he should worship. The Guru suggested Shiva. So the

> devotee established a murti and worshipped it with great earnestness

> and devotion for many years. Finally, he came to his Guru and

> complained that he was getting nowhere and wanted to worship someone

> else. The Guru suggested Vishnu. So the devotee established the

> Vishnu murti and proceeded to do sadhana. One day during puja he

> noticed that the smoke from the incense sticks was wafting towards

> the Shiva murti. It seemed to him as though Shiva was inhaling the

> incense and enjoying the perfume immensely. The more he thought of

> it, the angrier he became. He turned to the Shiva murti and said " I

> am not doing Puja to you, this is for Vishnu. If you smell the

> incense then you are a thief. " But, Shiva seemed unperturbed. The

> very angry devotee started to shout and scream at him, and finally in

> sheer desperation took some cotton wool and tried to stuff it up

> Shiva's nose. At that moment, the Lord appeared before him. The

> stunned devotee fell at his feet and asked, " Lord, when I worshipped

> you with so much earnestness, you ignored me. Today, when I have

> treated you so badly you have given me darshan. I don't understand. "

> Shiva repled, `When you were doing your sadhana earlier you did not

> truly believe that I was present in the murti, but today you treated

> me like a real person. "

>

>

> , " srini_sadhu " <srini_sadhu@>

> wrote:

> >

> > Namaste Family,

> >

> > Today is the first day the bright fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of the

> > month of Sravan.

> >

> > This month is the most auspicious month for Lord Shiva.

> >

> > Shree Maa suggests that we make japa of 10 malas of " Om Namah

> > Shivayah " every Monday. On other days we can do something for Lord

> > Shiva: for example: japa of one mala, chant Shiva's names, sing

> songs

> > of praise, etc.

> >

> > Also it be inspiring to share your favourite stories of Lord Shiva

> on

> > this forum.

> >

> > love,

> > srini

> >

>