Guest guest Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Namaste! Om Sam Saraswatyai Namaha! I am happy to begin our discussion of Chapter 4 of Chandi Path. At the end of Chapter 3, Divine Mother kills the Ego and Gods and Goddesses (that's us) are filled with delight. And so they sing in praise of Divine Mother. She is the energy of all and She is everywhere. She is the Goddess of Wealth in the homes of virtuous souls and misery of those perform evil. Once after Swamiji chanted the Chandi he was telling us that he felt an excruciating pain running all the way from His feet to the top of His head. And do you know what His response to the pain was? He said, " I thanked the Goddess for giving Her darshan in the form of the shooting pain " . And of course, he completed His recitation without getting up. This really helped me and sometimes when I feel pain I remind myself of this story and it helps me sit and complete the recitation. How can we recognize Her in all the different ways She comes to us? How can we implement this lesson from Swamiji in our lives? I look forward to hearing your thoughts! respectfully, Srini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 The thing that strikes me about this story is that we must follow our dharma even though there may be pain associated with it, because in not completing that duty, there is even worse pain on all levels and the joy of doing it is so much greater than the pain. Kumari , " srini_sadhu " <srini_sadhu wrote: > > Namaste! > > Om Sam Saraswatyai Namaha! > > I am happy to begin our discussion of Chapter 4 of Chandi Path. > > At the end of Chapter 3, Divine Mother kills the Ego and Gods and > Goddesses (that's us) are filled with delight. > > And so they sing in praise of Divine Mother. > > She is the energy of all and She is everywhere. > > She is the Goddess of Wealth in the homes of virtuous souls and misery > of those perform evil. > > > Once after Swamiji chanted the Chandi he was telling us that he felt > an excruciating pain running all the way from His feet to the top of > His head. And do you know what His response to the pain was? > > He said, " I thanked the Goddess for giving Her darshan in the form of > the shooting pain " . > > And of course, he completed His recitation without getting up. > > This really helped me and sometimes when I feel pain I remind myself > of this story and it helps me sit and complete the recitation. > > How can we recognize Her in all the different ways She comes to us? > How can we implement this lesson from Swamiji in our lives? > > I look forward to hearing your thoughts! > > respectfully, > Srini > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 20, 2008 Report Share Posted September 20, 2008 Namaste Srini and all, reading these verses, what strikes me most is the emphasis on the indescribability and the incomprehensibility of Divine Mother; She cannot be 'grasped' or comprehended by the mind. And yet, this is what my mind tries to do: to fashion a comfortable and safe idea out of Divine Mother which will accomodate my idea of goodness and divinity, and which in no way forms a threat to the ego. Not really. So, that mind thinks: 'surely Mother would not want me to suffer pain, I think She won't mind if I move my leg a little'. As long as 'I' am confortable, I don't mind reciting the verses describing the demise of the Great Ego:) To learn to accept that She will come as She will come, whether 'I' like it or not, is not so easy. To acknowledge that Her ways are other than 'my' ways, and that 'I' am supported by Her and not the other way around,is something to be remembered constantly. In vs.5 it is said that She is 'faith to the truthful'; to me, this means that if we are honest enough to admit that we 'don't know Her path very well', She will fill our hearts with trust in Her in whatever guise She may choose, with love, Henny , " srini_sadhu " <srini_sadhu wrote: > > Namaste! > > Om Sam Saraswatyai Namaha! > > I am happy to begin our discussion of Chapter 4 of Chandi Path. > > At the end of Chapter 3, Divine Mother kills the Ego and Gods and > Goddesses (that's us) are filled with delight. > > And so they sing in praise of Divine Mother. > > She is the energy of all and She is everywhere. > > She is the Goddess of Wealth in the homes of virtuous souls and misery > of those perform evil. > > > Once after Swamiji chanted the Chandi he was telling us that he felt > an excruciating pain running all the way from His feet to the top of > His head. And do you know what His response to the pain was? > > He said, " I thanked the Goddess for giving Her darshan in the form of > the shooting pain " . > > And of course, he completed His recitation without getting up. > > This really helped me and sometimes when I feel pain I remind myself > of this story and it helps me sit and complete the recitation. > > How can we recognize Her in all the different ways She comes to us? > How can we implement this lesson from Swamiji in our lives? > > I look forward to hearing your thoughts! > > respectfully, > Srini > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 Dear Kumari, Thank you for your post! Maa and Swamiji emphasize this teaching a lot. And they exemplify this teaching in many ways. Complete your karma even if there is a lot of difficulty. This has been my main teaching. When I lived in the world, I would let things slide. But in the ashram the emphasis is on completing all your tasks for the day. Love srini , " mjfisher2005 " <mjfisher2005 wrote: > > The thing that strikes me about this story is that we must follow our > dharma even though there may be pain associated with it, because in > not completing that duty, there is even worse pain on all levels and > the joy of doing it is so much greater than the pain. > > Kumari > > , " srini_sadhu " <srini_sadhu@> > wrote: > > > > Namaste! > > > > Om Sam Saraswatyai Namaha! > > > > I am happy to begin our discussion of Chapter 4 of Chandi Path. > > > > At the end of Chapter 3, Divine Mother kills the Ego and Gods and > > Goddesses (that's us) are filled with delight. > > > > And so they sing in praise of Divine Mother. > > > > She is the energy of all and She is everywhere. > > > > She is the Goddess of Wealth in the homes of virtuous souls and > misery > > of those perform evil. > > > > > > Once after Swamiji chanted the Chandi he was telling us that he felt > > an excruciating pain running all the way from His feet to the top of > > His head. And do you know what His response to the pain was? > > > > He said, " I thanked the Goddess for giving Her darshan in the form > of > > the shooting pain " . > > > > And of course, he completed His recitation without getting up. > > > > This really helped me and sometimes when I feel pain I remind myself > > of this story and it helps me sit and complete the recitation. > > > > How can we recognize Her in all the different ways She comes to us? > > How can we implement this lesson from Swamiji in our lives? > > > > I look forward to hearing your thoughts! > > > > respectfully, > > Srini > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 22, 2008 Report Share Posted September 22, 2008 Dear Henny, It is true that She is infinite. But no one can grasp the infinite. So we all create a for that is most appealing to us and strive to offer our devotion to that form. The saints say that the form can take us to the doorstep of Akhanda Satchidananda. The form, the murti will give you everything you need. The life of Sri Ramakrishna, for me, is an example of how His devotion to the murti of Kali gave him everything. Even today during the Chandi I was moving (for some reason) and so He asked me to focus on the scripture (instead of moving). After the Homa, Swamiji emphasized to me the every thought other than Her means that Self-Conceit gets a portion of the sacrifice. The goal is to focus on God to exclusion of other thoughts. Thanks for sharing! Love Srini , " jaisanatanimaa " <jaisanatanimaa wrote: > > Namaste Srini and all, > > reading these verses, what strikes me most is the emphasis on the > indescribability and the incomprehensibility of Divine Mother; She > cannot be 'grasped' or comprehended by the mind. And yet, this is > what my mind tries to do: to fashion a comfortable and safe idea out > of Divine Mother which will accomodate my idea of goodness and > divinity, and which in no way forms a threat to the ego. Not really. > So, that mind thinks: 'surely Mother would not want me to suffer > pain, I think She won't mind if I move my leg a little'. As long as > 'I' am confortable, I don't mind reciting the verses describing the > demise of the Great Ego:) > > To learn to accept that She will come as She will come, whether 'I' > like it or not, is not so easy. To acknowledge that Her ways are > other than 'my' ways, and that 'I' am supported by Her and not the > other way around,is something to be remembered constantly. In vs.5 it > is said that She is 'faith to the truthful'; to me, this means that > if we are honest enough to admit that we 'don't know Her path very > well', She will fill our hearts with trust in Her in whatever guise > She may choose, > > with love, > Henny > > , " srini_sadhu " <srini_sadhu@> > wrote: > > > > Namaste! > > > > Om Sam Saraswatyai Namaha! > > > > I am happy to begin our discussion of Chapter 4 of Chandi Path. > > > > At the end of Chapter 3, Divine Mother kills the Ego and Gods and > > Goddesses (that's us) are filled with delight. > > > > And so they sing in praise of Divine Mother. > > > > She is the energy of all and She is everywhere. > > > > She is the Goddess of Wealth in the homes of virtuous souls and > misery > > of those perform evil. > > > > > > Once after Swamiji chanted the Chandi he was telling us that he felt > > an excruciating pain running all the way from His feet to the top of > > His head. And do you know what His response to the pain was? > > > > He said, " I thanked the Goddess for giving Her darshan in the form > of > > the shooting pain " . > > > > And of course, he completed His recitation without getting up. > > > > This really helped me and sometimes when I feel pain I remind myself > > of this story and it helps me sit and complete the recitation. > > > > How can we recognize Her in all the different ways She comes to us? > > How can we implement this lesson from Swamiji in our lives? > > > > I look forward to hearing your thoughts! > > > > respectfully, > > Srini > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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