Guest guest Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Namaste Eric, Pray to Mother for guidance, strength, and to cut those distracting thoughts. As long as our desire is strong, our love and devotion is pure, and we perservere, success is guaranteed. (just don't watch the clock -- we are all on our own (lives)time schedules!!) Jai Maa!! love ambika , Eric Cassils <Quanchula1 wrote: > > Namaste Vish and Ambika, > > Thanks for your encouragement. Memorization seems like a daunting task at this stage, but it's worth a try, even if success remains elusive. I will, as suggested, try the Navarna mantra along with the Sankalpa mantra for the time being. Sometimes due to some grace I can overcome the tamas and chant the kavach, but that Tamas is still a force to be reckoned with. I will give those classes which I missed a careful listening. Swami's classes are veritable gems of inspiration. I'm beginning to understand how achieving low marks in exams, is deeply humbling, even reassuring, reminding me that the mind is capable only of pining after Maa Chandi, not of truly comprehending complex mental constructs, since none of the chemistry, or the density of one's grey matter really accounts for a pico gram of difference upon the inevitable collapse of the transient body and its ego. So I will try it out, and see what happens. > Jai Maa, Jai Swami, > Eric > > --- On Wed, 6/4/08, inspectionconnection108 <inspectionconnection108 wrote: > > > inspectionconnection108 <inspectionconnection108 > > [www.ShreeMaa.org] Eric and all: Re: Chanting the Chandi > > > > Wednesday, June 4, 2008, 3:54 AM > > Namaste Eric: Swami's class on Monday night dwelt on the > > chapter where > > Chandi describes the benefits of chanting the Chandi. > > Every part of > > one's life is touched by chanting. Every part. The > > benefits are so > > immense and total. I hope you can take the time to > > download it off > > the web site and give it a listen. > > Even if your time is limited, try chanting the Navarana > > mantra daily. > > As the " heart " of the Chandi, it will surely > > help you in your life. > > Maa Chandi just waits for us to give Her some attention and > > devotion. > > Then, as soon as we do, She rushes to us and showers us > > with love. > > > > Jai Maa Jai Swami > > > > vishweshwar > > > > > > > > , " way131 " > > <wendy131@> wrote: > > > > > > Hi Eric > > > > > > Memorizing Chandi, for me, feels like waaaay too > > daunting a task at > > > this point. Perhaps one day it will begin to happen. > > > > > > I will say that one thing that IS happening (which my > > brothers and > > > sisters at the Devi Mandir told me would happen) is > > that I am getting > > > muscle memory in my mouth. That is, sometimes the > > words just come out > > > of my mouth and I have barely used my eyes to read > > them on the page. > > > It feels so good when that happens -- just easy and > > natural. > > > > > > I hope you are listening to Swamiji's classes on > > the Chandi Path. You > > > can get to them from the website (scroll down to the > > videos link). > > > They will certainly inspire you. Listening to Swamiji > > talk about the > > > Chandi Path is absolutely heart opening -- you will > > have no choice but > > > to sit up straight and start chanting!!! > > > > > > Jai Maa! > > > > > > lovelove > > > ambika > > > > > > , Eric Cassils > > <Quanchula1@> wrote: > > > > > > > > Namaste Ambika, > > > > > > > > I appreciate your method of study. All of you are > > inspiring me to > > > start the process of internalising the Chandi. It > > seems the truth that > > > enduring knowledge is not gained without memorisation > > and memories are > > > not formed without repeated application becomes more > > obvious. For > > > instance, prior to a recent biochemistry exam, the > > professor had given > > > us a sample midterm which seemed to demand detailed > > familiarization > > > with both names, molecular structures of metabolic > > pathways, several > > > of them, along with electron flow mechanisms of > > enzymes on their > > > substrates. I was very scared, there was not enough > > time to memorize, > > > but I memorized as much as I could staying up all > > night before the > > > midterm, not having realised this level of detailed > > study was > > > expected. I expected to fail the exam but decided I > > would cut my > > > losses and learn the material for knowledge's sake > > itself. When I went > > > to take the exam, I found that it was more lenient > > than the practice > > > midterm, and I was able to answer a > > > > lot of questions, with a mixture of memorization > > and understanding. > > > However I would have done better had I allocated > > sufficient time to > > > thoroughly memorize everything. Somehow it is my > > belief that when we > > > memorize we may not first understand everything but > > from memorization, > > > we enable a strong foundation that leads to > > understanding. A child > > > learns language by committing the words first to > > memory, and only by > > > using those words repeatedly in sentences does their > > meaning become > > > established. So I thank you for your post. It has > > helped me clarify my > > > own learning process and has encouraged me to set a > > further goal to > > > study the Chandi more deeply. > > > > > > > > Namaste! > > > > Jai Maa! Jai Swami! > > > > Eric > > > > > > > > way131 <wendy131@> wrote: > > Namaste > > > Prathiba, > > > > > > > > I am glad to hear this post was helpful to you. > > > > > > > > One thing, this is not really my method -- it is > > a variation of > > > > Swamiji's suggested method to memorize the > > Chandi. I have heard Him > > > > say on more than one occasion that if you wanted > > to memorize the > > > > Chandi, do it one verse at a time/one verse per > > day. Memorizing > > is not > > > > my goal - pronunciation and understanding is... > > at this point. > > > > > > > > So to answer your question -- yes. I do read the > > English translation. > > > > Sometimes I read it beforehand, sometimes after, > > and sometimes I kind > > > > of read it simultaneously! The hard part is that > > sometimes a verse is > > > > only half of a sentence, so it doesn't make > > complete sense. But then, > > > > I read on!! > > > > > > > > Do persevere... With Maa and Swamiji at our > > back, giving > > blessings, we > > > > can succeed. It also makes it a lot easier to > > get up in the morning, > > > > especially during the cold, dark winter!! > > > > And if you miss a day, just keep moving on -- > > FYI -- if I miss a day, > > > > sometimes I do two slokas the following day (but > > sometimes not!!!) > > > > > > > > Good luck, and please feel free to share your > > experience here. We are > > > > all learning and loving this together. Also, if > > you have any other > > > > specific questions, you are welcome to email me > > offline, if you > > prefer. > > > > > > > > Jai Maa! > > > > > > > > ambika > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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