Reply to Eric and all: Keeping one's committments

[Guest guest]

Namaste Vish,

I appreciate your thoughtful reply. I thank you for

kindly imparting the story of Swamiji's exemplary

approach. This teaching is priceless. Communication

for some reason was especially difficult, which means

as you have suggested that the goals were not so

clearly defined on either side of the conflict as is

usually the case. I do not believe I am properly

prepared to impart any pure knowledge at this stage,

rather I wish to establish and imbibe this true

understanding within a developing sadhana and

devotion. I relinquish any attachment to being an

instructor. That said my main objective in accepting

the proposal was to receive and share divine love with

other souls who wished the same. I can say this with

sincerity. The other fellow, seems to have too many

conflicts with the notion of group sanskrit chanting

and potential problems for those just starting out. It

seems he doesn't want a devotional mantra class

afterall, instead he wants a " sounding class " and

" vocal warmup " class, which doesn't interest me at

this time. I didn't know this until I spoke to the

lady who explained that she would be teaching

precisely that. It seems she doesn't choose to teach

mantras either, or bhajans, even though the event has

been advertised as a chanting class sigh~. All that is

fine, it's simply that this was not clarified at all

from the beginning and nothing was directly

communicated that he did not want a chanting

class(which he claimed to initially desire). It would

have made a lot of sense to have said this from the

beginning. In situations like this, I often suspect

that entities are interfering and deliberately stiring

up trouble in such situations and they have more

opportunity to do so in those especially with those

who consume high amounts of dissociative substances

who are using these tamasic ingredients without full

understanding. I am at peace with the way things have

unfolded and I am trusting it is for the highest good

of the karma of all, if the divine wants me to sing

with others, then certainly it will happen in the

right place, in the right time in the right way.

Jai Maaji Jai Swamiji,

Divine Love,

Eric

--- inspectionconnection108

<inspectionconnection108 wrote:

 

> Namaste Eric: Thanks for sharing your experience.

> I feel that we

> can all learn much from it. I will share an

> expereience of Swami's in

> order to try to answer your questions.

> Once 6+ years ago, Maa and Swami were " on tour " in

> the Midwest. I was

> present. There was a wonderful satsung in a small

> temple. As we

> entered, we saw folks putting money into a basket by

> the door. After

> a very powerful and joyous satsung, the organizer of

> the event came to

> Swami with a large bundle of cash. He attempted to

> hand it to Swami.

> Swami asked: " where did the money come from? "

> The man replied

> that he had advertised in the newspaper that there

> was a $20 entry fee

> for the satsung, and this was the profit.

> Swami promptly and firmly declined to take the

> money. He suggested

> that the funds be given to charity or to the temple

> for maintenance.

> He refused to take money for satsung, even though He

> and Maa could

> have used the money to cover the expenses of the

> nationwide tour.

> Swami had been very clear prior to the event that He

> would only accept

> money if it was given freely, from the heart, as a

> result of the bliss

> and joy devotees experienced during satsung. But,

> He could not, would

> not, charge for satsung. In our tradition, no fee

> can ever be charged

> for knowledge, for how can one fix a fee for divine

> satsung, for pure

> knowledge?

> To this day, there is no charge for any event or

> puja or homa at the

> Devi Mandir. If a person wishes to give a donation

> from the heart,

> they are free to. If not, there is no pressure to

> make a donation.

>

> Now Eric, I shared this story because it reflects

> upon several points

> you raised: 1. prior to the event, Swami did His

> best to communicate

> clearly to the temple organizer about the nature of

> the satsung and

> the values which He and Maa live by. 2. He kept His

> commitment and

> brought Maa to the satsung and performed a divine

> service. 3. He held

> to His standards, and did not take the money when it

> was offered. 4.

> He was kind and compassionate to all those He came

> in contact with,

> even though they did not share the same standards as

> He.

>

> Each of us, as devotees, has to clearly define our

> goals, communicate

> them to others-as it pertains to the circumstance at

> hand, and

> maintain the highest standards possible, in every

> circumstance,

> especially when someone challenges our position.

> In addition, if we are called upon to share our

> knowledge with others,

> we must be certain that we have the blessing of our

> Gurus, and the

> knowledge and experience to impart that knowledge to

> others. It is a

> great responsibility, and incredibly rewarding to

> share Divine

> Knowledge with others. So, in order to impart the

> highest wisdom, we

> must be prepared and trained by a qualified Master.

> I humbly suggest that your review your goals and

> plans, and

> communicate them to this fellow, and if the two of

> you share the same

> goals, and you work out a plan which allows everyone

> to fulfill their

> goals, then go forward with love and divine energy.

>

> If you realize that you and he have incompatible

> goals, then

> respectfully decline and move on.

> As you can see, karma comes from our every action,

> so, to maximize the

> positive effects for everyone, including yourself,

> pray to Maa and

> Swami for clarity, and follow Their advice.

>

> Jai Maa Jai Swami

>

> with love

>

> vishweshwar

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

, Eric Cassils

> <Quanchula1 wrote:

> >

> > Namaste:

> >

> > I have a question in regards to this fulfilling

> > commitments that I hope is alright to ask, since

> it's

> > on the topic. I was requested recently to lead a

> > chanting class to a small group of people a yoga

> > studio. I replied that I was agreable, but that I

> > wasn't 100% commited because I had to be 100%

> commited

> > to my studies. So he tried to get a hold of me and

> to

> > talk about payment, but I was busy for a week and

> > could not go online because my computer died. I

> said

> > people could donate if they desired to a suggested

> amt

> > of $5-10, which would help to support the process.

> He

> > said he was agreable. I arrive at the center to

> see a

> > flyer about which I had never been informed, with

> my

> > name and someone else's name that I did not

> recognise.

> > Upon inquiry I was told that this woman would be

> > teaching the chanting class, while I could talk

> about

> > the virtues of chanting, but would not be

> permitted to

> > instruct or sing. I was taken aback by this sudden

> > drastic change of plan and felt I had been

> decieved.

> > As well, at this point I was becoming more and

> more

> > overwhelmed with studies and course work

> preparation.

> > I took this to be a sign that something was not

> right,

> > and I declined to give any lectures on chanting,

> and

> > replied that this woman was capable of teaching

> > chanting, so she could talk about it to, and in

> fact

> > that's perfect, because have bitten off more than

> I

> > can chew. In all due honesty, I must say my ego

> felt

> > slighted, manipulated and disrespected by the fact

> > that I wasn't informed of any of these events. I

> felt

> > devalued of respect and sadness and indignation

> came

> > out to play. On the other hand I was very much

> > relieved of the pressure and felt it must be an

> act of

> > grace from Maa. I realised that Shree Maaji says

> that

> > one must do one's sadhana and keep it under wraps

> > until it bears fruit.

> > Yet when I walked into the studio the man's

> father

> > who owns the yoga studio accused me in his

> Australian

> > accent of " nigging on my promise " or in other

> words

> > not keeping my word. I replied that I had not

> > officially promised to lecture on any subject, so

> it

> > was an impossibility for me to be doing any

> nigging,

> > that I was sorry I would not attend, but

> university

> > studies are among my highest priorities, and that

> they

> > already had officially recruited someone for the

> > official task. So this was a sticky situation for

> me.

> > I never agreed to lecture on chanting, but rather

> I

>

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