Thubten, Sal, and all: Q and A with Swami: why do we sacrifice?

[Guest guest]

Namaste: I have asked Swami to comment on the issues raised in your

post and Sal's post. I did put your name on the post I intended for

Sal, so sorry.

You ask questions are how one could feel if one completes or does not

complete a sankalpa. But you do not tell us how you feel. What is

your experience when you perform a sankalpa / worship? Do you feel

closer to Mother? Do you feel happy? And, if you do not complete

your sankalpa, how do you feel? Sad, dejected, further away from Her?

Swami emphasizes that each of us has our own unique relationship with

Mother / God. Therefore one can only look into one's heart to

determine how one feels. She is our nearest and dearest, our Mother,

friend, guide, she is not distant and judging. She wants us to

succeed, to reach our goals. If one wants to know Her, then one has

to work. For example, if you love someone, you try hard to please

them, giving them gifts, attention, devotion, all of yourself.

In my experience, it is no different with building a relationship with

Mother Divine.

Whether we fail or succeed in our sankalpas, I feel that Mother loves

me the same. In the same way, our Earthly Mother watched and helped

us learn to walk and talk, and She did not punish us because we did

not perform perfectly. She supported and nurtured us, and loved us

unconditionally. Just so Mother Divine is ever with us, ever

protecting and guiding us.

I have been blessed to be with Shree Maa for 10 years. I have failed

and fallen many times, but, each time I got back up, brushed myself

off, and tried again. She has always been the same to me. Always

loving me, always praying for my success. ALWAYS.

I hope you can come to the Mandir to meet Her. All these issues and

questions will melt away in Her presence. She is Divinity, and She

will take away all our confusion and pain.

 

Jai Ma Jai Swami

 

vishweshwar

 

 

 

, " Thubten Namgyal "

<anandabhairav wrote:

>

> Dear Vishweshwar,

>

> I am sorry, I don't follow. I think perhaps you are responding to the

> questions that I quoted from Sal in my reply to him?

>

> Best regards,

>

> Kalidas

>

> On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 12:30 AM, inspectionconnection108

> <inspectionconnection108 wrote:

> > Namaste: I would be happy to send your questions to Swami, but I am

> > not certain if you desire to ask a one.

> >

> > Jai Maa

> >

> > vishweshwar

> >

> > , " Thubten Namgyal "

> > <anandabhairav@> wrote:

> >>

> >> > 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

> >>

> >

> >

>