Guest guest Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Dear Sal, bless you for asking these questions! I'd like to share some thoughts on the subject of taking sankalpas from my own experience, if I may, not because I know a lot about the subject, but because your questions are my questions also. Last year, I completed a sankalpa with great effort, this year I failed almost immediately and I have had to start over and over. And yes, the effect was that I felt good about myself in the first case and not so good in the second. I even developed a sankalpafobia for a while. But all this has taught me something about sankalpas: they are not so much something we invented for God, but something God invented for us. I mean, it is through the whole process of taking a sankalpa and falling or not falling, getting up again and wondering what happened to our resolve etc. that we learn to discriminate, and see how the mind works. At least, that is what I experienced. The story of the Chandi only came alive for me after having taken big sankalpas with varying success. The whole process of taking a sankalpa and trying to complete it confronts you with how the ego plots to make use of every (!) experience, both good and bad. But it also forces you to focus on God again and again, thus allowing you to to glimpse the beyond. Like you, I believe Mother loves us all always anyway. But I also believe She has some very clever ways to make us more receptive to that love. I used to struggle with the interpretation of grace as 'do and get', because to me it sounded so much like 'do ut des' (give so that you get) and I also thought there might be an element of calculation in the whole thing. But now I feel that I was mistaken: we are not trying to manipulate Mummy into giving us things we want by showing off, but rather, because we are just doing what She asks us to do because we trust Her, we find we get everything we need and more, even when we ourselves think we have failed. with love, your friend Henny 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...
Guest guest Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 henny_v_i <henny_v_i Sent: Monday, July 7, 2008 10:35:51 AM[www.ShreeMaa.org] Re: to Sal- Q and A with Swami: why do we sacrifice?Dear Sal, bless you for asking these questions! I'd like to share some thoughts on the subject of taking sankalpas from my own experience, if I may, not because I know a lot about the subject, but because your questions are my questions also. Last year, I completed a sankalpa with great effort, this year I failed almost immediately and I have had to start over and over. And yes, the effect was that I felt good about myself in the first case and not so good in the second. I even developed a sankalpafobia for a while. But all this has taught me something about sankalpas: they are not so much something we invented for God, but something God invented for us. I mean, it is through the whole process of taking a sankalpa and falling or not falling, getting up again and wondering what happened to our resolve etc. that we learn to discriminate, and see how the mind works. At least, that is what I experienced. The story of the Chandi only came alive for me after having taken big sankalpas with varying success. The whole process of taking a sankalpa and trying to complete it confronts you with how the ego plots to make use of every (!) experience, both good and bad. But it also forces you to focus on God again and again, thus allowing you to to glimpse the beyond. Like you, I believe Mother loves us all always anyway. But I also believe She has some very clever ways to make us more receptive to that love. I used to struggle with the interpretation of grace as 'do and get', because to me it sounded so much like 'do ut des' (give so that you get) and I also thought there might be an element of calculation in the whole thing. But now I feel that I was mistaken: we are not trying to manipulate Mummy into giving us things we want by showing off, but rather, because we are just doing what She asks us to do because we trust Her, we find we get everything we need and more, even when we ourselves think we have failed. with love, your friend Henny 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. > > , "inspectionconnecti on108" > <inspectionconnecti on108@> 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. > > > > > > > > > > > > , "inspectionconnecti on108" > > > <inspectionconnecti on108@> 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 > > > > > > > > > >hallo i am new to the group and i dont want to be rude but i find that you have to trust shree maa and swamiji i dont think it is important to do the skanpale everytime perfect i think its right to love god the divine your love is important to god and time will allow us to learn its like finding a street that you dont know. you look slowly and slowly without racing then you will find it wih peace. i dont like stress i have to do everythink slowly i have a big family with stress i dont acheive anythink.love lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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