Leela and all: and Ego/seva

[Guest guest]

Namaste Leela and all: whatinspiring messages on seva and prayer.

Ramakrishna always described the complex states of consciousness with

such clarity. He " put His heart and soul " into the message, and

lifted the reader to the most refined states of consciousness. His

bhava was so pure, so strong, that even today, when we read His words,

we feel the purity and divine love in them. They touch our hearts and

life our souls to God.

He reminded all devotees to demonstrate our love of God thru action.

To devote one's full attention to service of the Divine, to " give more

than one takes " , and to accept whatever God gives as prasad, sacred

and blessed. He taught that one should be a witness to the action,

and, ultimately, to " let God be the doer " , to surrender to the Divine.

His life was a constant reminder of selfless giving. Up to the end of

His Earthly drama, as His body grew weaker and weaker with cancer, and

the doctors told Him to rest, He continued to teach and give darshan,

and take His devotee's karma.

He taught that a devotee should serve God in man, and He sent His

foremost disciple Viveckananda, to America, and He in turn inspired

thousands of Westerners to learn meditation and understand the

Universal Nature of all Religions, and to serve God in man.

Thus, the Pure Soul Ramakrishna, sent a Divine Wave of love to the

West, and the ripples of that wave are being amplified today by Maa

and Swami. For it was He who sent them here from India to create the

Devi Mandir and teach us how to worship and create Temples in our

homes. And now, we beam this energy throughout the world thru the

internet.

Indeed, nothing can stop this wave of love.

 

Peace, love, and harmony to all

 

Jai Ramakrishna, Jai Maa, Jai Swami

 

vishweshwar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

, " deviloka " <deviloka wrote:

>

> , " inspectionconnection108 "

> <inspectionconnection108@> wrote:

> >

> > Namaste all: Swami has asked we post this question from him

> >

> > Which is greater, praying to God or working for God?

> >

> > Jai Ma Jai wami

> >

> > vishweshwar

> >

> I loved seeing the answers to this question! I thought about the

> question before I read the answers and found that others answered

> much the way I did in my mind. Work done with devotion is prayer.

> Prayer is an action and thus it can be called work. However if one

> still has a sense of " I " and " mine " , a sense of " doership " , working

> FOR God, is like offering ALL of ones actions to God (in the sense of

> karma yoga as described in the Bhagavad Gita) and could be considered

> greater than prayer alone. If one has no sense of " doership " , what

> work or prayer is to be done? And by whom? It is all the Mother's

> dance, and working and praying become steps and movements in the

> dance. This seems to relate so much to the ongoing discussion of ego

> which I have been pondering, and Vishweshwar's lovely answers from

> the life of Shri Ramakrishna. (and also the posts from the Hanuman

> Puja!)I journaled about that(ego) and consulted with " The Gospel " ,

> just for myself. Maybe that could be considered prayer, which is

> private and beneficial for my own sadhana. But if I post it here,

> perhaps it is more like work,done in the world, which may inspire or

> benefit others as well as myself. so here is another take on work,

> prayer and intentional duality.

>

> Intentional Duality:

> An interesting quote from the Abridged Gospel Of Shri Ramakrishna,

> Shri Ramakrishna is discussing the ego and the " I " feeling with the

> devotees and says: " Further, you see, people speak of the waves as

> belonging to the Ganges; but no one says that the Ganges belongs to

> the waves. "

> There is no " Purusha/Prakriti dualism " here. The waves and the

> Ganges are not two, it is one river of consciousness flowing. The

> Ahamkara, or the feeling of " I " is one aspect of the nature of that

> flow, as are the other aspects of mind. Shri Ramakrishna is well

> aware that it is the human condition to be identified with the waves,

> the individual ego and the body, and so he tells us: " However you may

> reason and argue, the feeling that the body is identical with the

> soul will somehow crop up from an unexpected quarter. " Therefore he

> says, " The feeling,'I am He' is not wholesome. A man who entertains

> such an idea, while looking on his body as the Self, causes himself

> great harm...He deceives himself as well as others. He cannot

> understand his own state of mind. "

> His precription for this, to avoid this pitfall is to keep up an

> intentional duality of the ego as the servant of God or the devotee

> of God. To be in constant rememberance that we " belong to the

> Ganges " . He often tells the story of " Hanuman Consiousness " - When

> Lord Rama asked Hanuman, " How do you look upon me? " Hanuman

> replies, " O Rama, as long as I have the feeling of " I " , I see that

> thou art the whole and I am a part; Thou art the Master and I am thy

> servant. But when, O Rama, I have the knowledge of Truth, then I

> realize that Thou art I, and I am Thou. " So, in the deepest part of

> the water, the waves disappear, the " I " , the wave is no longer

> percieved and only the water exists, the wave of Hanuman dissappears

> into Rama, undifferentiated consciousness.

> So here is Hanuman, knowing the Truth of non-duality in his heart,

> but fully aware that as long as he is incarnated as Hanuman, this " I "

> crops up and he knows how to deal with it appropriately. Again, Shri

> Ramakrishna says: " Since this " I " must remain, let the rascal be

> God's servant. " !!!!!

> Love to all and thank you for this wonderful community!

> Leela

>