Guest guest Posted July 4, 2008 Report Share Posted July 4, 2008 Namaste to all family: Swami responded to Sal's question about sacrifice. Her question is blow. SWAMI'S RESPONSE: It is not Mother who wants sacrifice from us. We want the privilege of demonstrating the sincerity of our devotion by performing a vow of worship for Her. The Christian view is that God wants from us. Our view is how privileged we are to be able to offer to Her. Jai Maa Jai Swami vishweshwar -- In , " sal. " <salpaulsen wrote: > > Peace to you, Vish, > > I would deeply appreciate to hear Swamiji's wisdom as to why devotees > need to give up something in order to receive Mother's blessing, and in > particular, over the course of four times in a year. Is this not sort > of like the Christian Lenten season? What does one gain by sacrifice? > > For truly, dear Mother, this naughty, naughty child only wants to offer > her love to you and wonders why decreasing her consumption of beloved > chocolate over prayers of love for you would make you happy... > > blessings to all, > sal. > > > > , " inspectionconnection108 " > <inspectionconnection108@> wrote: > > > > Namaste all family: this Thursday July 3rd, Summer Navatri begins. > > Our Mandir family will be celebrating for 9 days, honoring and > > worshiping Mother. This is a powerful time to dive into Her worship: > > To deepen one's relationship with Her and surrender our hearts to Pure > > Love and Pure Devotion. > > Mother's devotees typically take sankalpas to perform additional > > sadhana and decrease their intake of food. Some do complete fasts, > > others refrain from all by fruit and nuts, while others simply eat > > less. Each of us has a personal relationship with Her, and each of us > > decides what we wish to surrender in order to become closer to Her, to > > receive Her darshan. > > > > Jai Ma Jai Swami > > > > vishweshwar > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 Oh, dear Vish, I hope that your comment on my question is a typo, and not a statement of personal opinion... So now I am even more confused...and this stems from the Christian commandment, " Do Not Take the Name of The Lord, Your God, In Vain. " My interpretation of this is that we should not make promises (false or otherwise) to commit ourselves to the numbers game of devotion to God. If we fail at our goal, we take a hit to our ego. If we succeed, we puff our ego like peacocks. Is it not (our) conscientious attempt to perhaps manipulate the benevolence of the universe? How did those feel after completing or not completing some of the huge sankalpas asked of us over the last several years? Does one internalize it as guilt, sorrow, failure? Or does one beam with pride over having accomplished something enormous? Either way, is this not a direct hit to our vanity? Are we somehow attached to the outsome? Again, I always ask, does Mother not love us all the same anyway? ....too many questions....I feel like a three-year old....I'd be the one following Swamiji around all day, tugging at his robe, asking " Why? Why? Why? " with respect, sal. , " inspectionconnection108 " <inspectionconnection108 wrote: > > Namaste to all family: Swami responded to Sal's question about > sacrifice. Her question is blow. > > SWAMI'S RESPONSE: > > It is not Mother who wants sacrifice from us. We want the privilege of > demonstrating the sincerity of our devotion by performing a vow of > worship for Her. > > The Christian view is that God wants from us. Our view is how > privileged we are to be able to offer to Her. > > > Jai Maa Jai Swami > > vishweshwar > > > > -- In , " sal. " <salpaulsen@> wrote: > > > > Peace to you, Vish, > > > > I would deeply appreciate to hear Swamiji's wisdom as to why devotees > > need to give up something in order to receive Mother's blessing, and in > > particular, over the course of four times in a year. Is this not sort > > of like the Christian Lenten season? What does one gain by sacrifice? > > > > For truly, dear Mother, this naughty, naughty child only wants to offer > > her love to you and wonders why decreasing her consumption of beloved > > chocolate over prayers of love for you would make you happy... > > > > blessings to all, > > sal. > > > > > > > > , " inspectionconnection108 " > > <inspectionconnection108@> wrote: > > > > > > Namaste all family: this Thursday July 3rd, Summer Navatri begins. > > > Our Mandir family will be celebrating for 9 days, honoring and > > > worshiping Mother. This is a powerful time to dive into Her worship: > > > To deepen one's relationship with Her and surrender our hearts to Pure > > > Love and Pure Devotion. > > > Mother's devotees typically take sankalpas to perform additional > > > sadhana and decrease their intake of food. Some do complete fasts, > > > others refrain from all by fruit and nuts, while others simply eat > > > less. Each of us has a personal relationship with Her, and each of us > > > decides what we wish to surrender in order to become closer to Her, to > > > receive Her darshan. > > > > > > Jai Ma Jai Swami > > > > > > vishweshwar > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 6, 2008 Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 > How did those feel after completing or not completing some of the > huge sankalpas asked of us over the last several years? Does one > internalize it as guilt, sorrow, failure? Or does one beam with > pride over having accomplished something enormous? Either way, is > this not a direct hit to our vanity? Are we somehow attached to the > outsome? Again, I always ask, does Mother not love us all the same > anyway? While your point is well taken that any activity we perform with a sense of doership is just an expression of our vanity, the equal love of the Mother manifests differently according to the desires of her children. Not all devotees of the Mother are looking for liberation while living. In fact, probably a fairly small number. In the words of Ramprasad's song: In the market place of this world, the Mother sits flying Her kites. She cuts the string of one or two and when the kite soars up into the infinite: Oh how She laughs and claps her hands! The sun shines equally on all but one with a magnifying glass we can use its rays to start a fire. Sadhana is such a magnifying glass with which we light the fire of tapas. There is obviously a very big difference between an ordinary person who does not perform ritual service or have devotion to an ishta devata and a sadhaka such as Svamiji or Maa who has immersed him or herself in remembering the divine. I think that is obvious to any of us that have spent time in the company of sages. Mantras do not truly awaken until they have been recited according to agamic injunction, often 100,000 or more times. This isn't a numbers game, but rather a divine science of sound and energy. Christianity likely has some redeeming qualities, but I think that we must treat each mystical discipline on its own terms rather than try to mash it all up into a single stew of aphorisms and axioms and insist that they be homogenous and consistent. Making resolves and vows and bringing them to fruition are part and parcel of the Hindu approach to purifying the habitual mind. They are not a form of spiritual materialism and should be judged according to their intention and purpose. Sincerely, Kalidas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 When you do the best you can, even if you do not reach your goal you have not failed. The mother sees your effort. Take fail and succeed out of the equation and just do. There are so many unforseeable obsticles that can pervent you from reaching the goal that you set for yourself. The mother may have other plans for you. When you practice sacrificing things for the mother, you are practicing paying attention to the mother. Instead of thinking about chocolate, you think about the mother. Do you think you will listen better to mother when you are thinking of her, or chocolate? The child that is listening and paying attention to the mother is better perpared to recogize and receive her blessings. Hope this gives you a different look. -Susan -- In , " sal. " <salpaulsen wrote: > > Oh, dear Vish, I hope that your comment on my question is a typo, and > not a statement of personal opinion... > > So now I am even more confused...and this stems from the Christian > commandment, " Do Not Take the Name of The Lord, Your God, In Vain. " > > My interpretation of this is that we should not make promises (false > or otherwise) to commit ourselves to the numbers game of devotion to > God. If we fail at our goal, we take a hit to our ego. If we > succeed, we puff our ego like peacocks. Is it not (our) > conscientious attempt to perhaps manipulate the benevolence of the > universe? > > How did those feel after completing or not completing some of the > huge sankalpas asked of us over the last several years? Does one > internalize it as guilt, sorrow, failure? Or does one beam with > pride over having accomplished something enormous? Either way, is > this not a direct hit to our vanity? Are we somehow attached to the > outsome? Again, I always ask, does Mother not love us all the same > anyway? > > ...too many questions....I feel like a three-year old....I'd be the > one following Swamiji around all day, tugging at his robe, > asking " Why? Why? Why? " > > with respect, > sal. > > , " inspectionconnection108 " > <inspectionconnection108@> wrote: > > > > Namaste to all family: Swami responded to Sal's question about > > sacrifice. Her question is blow. > > > > SWAMI'S RESPONSE: > > > > It is not Mother who wants sacrifice from us. We want the privilege > of > > demonstrating the sincerity of our devotion by performing a vow of > > worship for Her. > > > > The Christian view is that God wants from us. Our view is how > > privileged we are to be able to offer to Her. > > > > > > Jai Maa Jai Swami > > > > vishweshwar > > > > > > > > -- In , " sal. " <salpaulsen@> wrote: > > > > > > Peace to you, Vish, > > > > > > I would deeply appreciate to hear Swamiji's wisdom as to why > devotees > > > need to give up something in order to receive Mother's blessing, > and in > > > particular, over the course of four times in a year. Is this not > sort > > > of like the Christian Lenten season? What does one gain by > sacrifice? > > > > > > For truly, dear Mother, this naughty, naughty child only wants to > offer > > > her love to you and wonders why decreasing her consumption of > beloved > > > chocolate over prayers of love for you would make you happy... > > > > > > blessings to all, > > > sal. > > > > > > > > > > > > , " inspectionconnection108 " > > > <inspectionconnection108@> wrote: > > > > > > > > Namaste all family: this Thursday July 3rd, Summer Navatri > begins. > > > > Our Mandir family will be celebrating for 9 days, honoring and > > > > worshiping Mother. This is a powerful time to dive into Her > worship: > > > > To deepen one's relationship with Her and surrender our hearts > to Pure > > > > Love and Pure Devotion. > > > > Mother's devotees typically take sankalpas to perform additional > > > > sadhana and decrease their intake of food. Some do complete > fasts, > > > > others refrain from all by fruit and nuts, while others simply > eat > > > > less. Each of us has a personal relationship with Her, and > each of us > > > > decides what we wish to surrender in order to become closer to > Her, to > > > > receive Her darshan. > > > > > > > > Jai Ma Jai Swami > > > > > > > > vishweshwar > > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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