Guest guest Posted February 27, 2007 Report Share Posted February 27, 2007 Dear DevSharmaji, My exams got over today. Let me answer your question by starting with a simple Prayer to my Amba Rajarejeshwari Whom I have been neglecting for the past few days with my head was reeling in the world of Financial options,CAPM analysis, Statistics regression model building and Accounting FASB stds!This vortex sucked my time day and night these days with just a few minutes of heart felt prayer to my Dear Mother. I miss my days in India when I used to be blissfully enveloped in Mantra and Puja Sadhana for hours together. But then this Maya too has to be worked out! Akhilaandeshwari Raajaraajeshwari Durgabhavaani Naaraayani Mahamaaya Shiva Shakthi Swaroopini Veda Vilaasini Naaraayani (Goddess of the Universe! The Queen of all Goddesses! Durga, Bhavaani and Naaraayanai are all different appellations for Parvathi, the Shakthi/feminine aspect of Godhead; You weave the web of Maya; You are the form of Shiva Shakthi; You are resplendent as the Vedas, Oh Naaraayani!) Amba Parameshwari Akhilaandeshwari Aadi Para Shakti Palayamaam Tribhuvaneshwari Raajaraajeshwari Ananda Roopini Paalayamaam (Oh Goddess Amba (Parvati) Oh Divine Mother of the entire creation! Oh Queen of the Universe! Thy form is bliss. Thou art the nourisher, sustainer and protector.) ---------------------- Lalitha Trishathi or Sahasranama is a Stotra and stotras must be chanted out either loudly or in a soft manner.This is because the Mantra-baddha-spandanas are created in the ether and surrounds you and forms an image of the Mantra-devata and later as your chants increase in power the very upasana deity emerges first in sookshma Roopa(Mantra roopam) and then if your Bhakthi becomes really mature in Sthula rupa(Saakshaatkaara swarupam). Thus Mantra Swaparoopini becomes Sthula Swaroopini. 1. The first thing you must do after getting initiated into the panchadasi mantra of mother (My gurunathar can help you get the initiation, His address and contact information is in the first file of our files section of our group)and before you chant is to read a good book on the meanings of Trishathi or Sahasranam. Though to understand the meaning (like many think these modern days) is not as important as to pronounce it properly and intone it correctly with Chandas(meter). Now one "Modern upasaka" argued with me "If I do not understand the meanings how can i reach Amba or enjoy the process of worship?" I reply " First,The very name of Amba is enough for me to enjoy. The meanings of the Stotra is very superficial. The joy one gets from knowing the meanings is very intellectual and might even give me an ego. Nevertheless, I try to understand the meaning, just for the joy of knowing about Amba more. This is what my Guru taught me and I try to implement with a good intention. Second,your enjoying the process of worship is merely a selfish desire. When you speak "Her language"(though She knows all languages) she will feel happy(not that she will feel unhappy with other languages). Third, Your quest for meanings must first be preceeded by proper pronunciation of the words and the chandas to create the Mantra swaroopam and the Sookshma,sthula swaroopa. When you follow this advice, as your dear friend here says, you will THEN ENJOY the process of worship because your bhakthi will grow. Bhakthi/Love starts by sacrifice not by intellectual pursuits or Shaastraic knowledge. The rest are just crutches or casts, they must be reomved and the Unmatto-purusha-Ananda be aspired for when your soul is free. Remember, Iam not your Guru, Iam just your good friend and guide.Iam also on the same path like you. Rest I leave it to you" He thanked me and placed the phone down contendedly and within a few days, he had a Divya-Anubhava in a dream and later when he was driving in a bike and chanting the strotra he heard a voice warning him not to drive in a particular direction, bu unfortunately he did not heed to Mother's words and he had an accident but was saved miraculously. He called me from Hospital!! and thanked me!! I did not know whether to feel sad for Him or praise the glory of Amba and feel joyous. 2. Recitation of Stotras must be loud(Or atleast soft) eventhough Trishati and Sahasranama is considered a mantra. This will bring in the weal of your fmaily and purify your surroundings. 3. Concentration is easy when you say something out with emotion rather than a sopoforic reading in mind. Just because one reads in mind does not mean one is spiritually advanced. This is a misconception among masses. One might get easily distracted when chanting in the mind and one might also commit mistakes while chanting in the mind. I had an elderly friend who used to boast to me about His Gayathri Sadhana. I asked him one day (after a session of listening to His trumpets)."Did you get any experiences sir? How many rounds do you chant daily and what is the count till now?" He replied back " Oh1 I have done many lakhs of times Gayathri Mantra but no experience has come to me till now. anyways , iam not behind miracles or experiences. I do everyday thousand eight times the Gayathri mantra and finish it off it fifteen minutes and rush to my office" I was taken aback! I then replied " It is good to hear that you are not behind miracles or experiences but then if you have done lakhs of times Gayiathri mantra, you must have had some experiences. Also, doing 1008 times in fifteen minutes is really remarkable. Have you gone into Turiya state and did the japa sir?" He asked me "What is Turiya?" I said "Never mind, Please tell me how you chant Gayathri Mnatra?" He said some gibberish fast and said this is how he chants in his "Mind". He was not a bhakthi-type of person too to do the mantra incorrectly and divine mother not minding it. He had neither Bhakthi-Balam nor Mantra-Balam! No wonder!!he had no experiences. I said "The correct way to chant the Gayathri mantra is ......(i chanted and told him)" He said " Awww,comeone,If I chant like this, it will take ages for me to complete my 1008, I can do maximum three rounds or so" I then diverted the topic and then excused myself from him. His mind was on a number not on Devi Gayathri. Will the Gayathri Mantra Pinda respond to him? Tell me? What is required again is Bhakthi. You might have a vrata lopa(lacunae in your ritual) but not a Bhakthi Lopa. "Tantra Lopam, Vrata Lopa sakhyathivaa Mathre' Bhakthi Lopa HiNam kuru kuru". 4. My gurunathar is quite liberal about certain rituals though He does encourage aspirants to go further into rituals. 5. The chants and rituals which we do for Amba collect and focus Mahaprana(cosmic astral energy) upon the "Prathima"(Symbolism),building the Prathima-Shakthi with every chant. Now, the "Prathima" is of two kinds--Antar and Bahir. Antar means visualizing in the mind or heart region or any other Naadi/Chakra region suggested by Gurunatha.This is the most powerful.Ofcours one also should go beyond this crutches. Bahir means external forms like Vugrahas,pictures or yantras.This is easy and in my opinion (with the exception of some "Karana-janmas" who have left their practice in their past birth and born this birth to continue this birth.) all must start with Bahir Prathima worship. In Lalitha Sahasranama there are two namas which I will elaborate later Antar-Yaga-Krama and Bahir-Yaga-Krama, which stand as Pramanam to what I said. "Real death" of all crutches is moksha. 6. As I stated in an earlier email. Rituals were made for man not man for rituals. However, the rituals do help focus a person better and faster to reach the goal(if there can be any spiritual goal in the first place, other than serving mother). Also, rituals laid down by elders and other spiritual persons and sadhakas based on their experience before us should not be scorned by us. The results might vary but the means of achieving the results might be construed to be the same. However, the rituals too can be detrmined by the sadhaka, but His spiritual level must be high, to do so. When Gadadhar Chatopadhyaya started worshipping the deity Bhavatarini, he began to question if he was worshipping a piece of stone or a living Goddess. If he was worshipping a living Goddess, why should she not respond to his worship? This question nagged him day and night. Then, he began to pray to Kali: "Mother, you've been gracious to many devotees in the past and have revealed yourself to them. Why would you not reveal yourself to me, also? Am I not also your son?" He is known to have wept bitterly and sometimes even cry out loudly while worshipping. He used to feed Kali Ma with his own hands, somtimes he used to taste it like Sabari and then give to Ma.Sometimes He used to fight with Ma and say "No food for you today' and then He used to again feel sad and then feed with His own hands. Sometimes he used to feed a cat which used to come and say "Oh MA YOU HAVE COME, Take this". This was considered a sacrilegous act by shastras.(No shastra pramanam to it!) At night, he would go into a nearby jungle and spend the whole night praying there sometimes in a naked fashion sometimes wearing clothes. One day,as the famous account goes, he was so impatient to see Mother Kali that he decided to end his life.(When will I get this impatience Ma Rajarajeshari ?) He seized a sword hanging on the wall and was about to strike himself with it, when he is reported to have seen light issuing from the deity in waves. He is said to have been soon overwhelmed by the waves and fell unconscious on the floor. Gadadhar, however, unsatiated, prayed to Mother Kali for more religious experiences. He especially wanted to know the truths that other religions taught. Strangely, these teachers came to him when necessary and he is said to have reached the ultimate goals of those religions with ease. Soon word spread about this remarkable man and people of all denominations and all stations of life began to come to him.He was soon called 'Ramakrishna Paramahamsa". (Close-up of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa during His samadhi) Christ said: "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." If we really want to love God, we will have to be pure, both on the physical and mental plane. Keep your shrine clean and decorate it with flowers and other beautiful artifacts. You don't want to bring your beloved to a dirty, disorderly place. Create a nice atmosphere using candles, incense and music. Always remember, you are a child of the Divine Mother. So treat others as Her children. Love all and serve all. Before you perform ritualistic worship, you should take a bath and use a fresh cloth. It will be nice if you have a separate set of clothes to wear only in the shrine. Rinse your mouth and wash your hands before you start your spiritual disciplines. Remember that your main shrine is your heart. It should be clean. Our desires and doubts make our hearts unclean. Do not harbor ill feelings for others - this type of tamasic (dark) meditation is self-destructive .7. Mantra Japa is of various kinds for Stotra Japa is just one kind.singing out the glories form the heart. 8. Remember, one should not be behind power, however, power, when infused should not be scorned. If you watch my emails at the end I put my signature as ..."Purity,Powers and Parabrahmam"...and then a rose....why?......First purity should be there., else the Patram(vessel) is not fit to receive the powers. A vessel which was filled with Onion juice(or garlic as Ramakrishna Paramahamsa said) even if cleaned many times will not lose its "smell" and even if you pour rose essence in it will have some strange smell. And this 'smell" exists in all of us even if we clean it with rituals. How then will this smell go? To put it in Ramakrishna's own words By heating the vessel with Bhakthi. The moment this heat touches our rituals and our bodies, the vessel loses its 'smell" (Vasana Kshayam happens) and then one cleans it further with rituals and then the power is infused by Bhagavthy Herself lovingly. Then a stage comes when the powers become "stale"... You then say to Amba Rajarajeshwari "Amma, this rose essence you have poured in my vessel is becoming stale. The fragrance is lost or is drying out fast Amma, please pour something which is not transient. Please pour your love which is Parabrahmam into it Amma" Then the Guru-shishya-sankalitham happens and then Guru leads to "Parabrahmam" This is the last stage. I put the rose in the end because the rose is atop a stem of thorns...to reach the rose you have to cross the thorns. But for me each thorn which bleeds blood out of my feet for Amba is a rose in itself.Even if every single drop of blood in my body has been drained out of my body and I fall exhausted on one such thorn without even seeing the Rose of Rajarajeshwari Amma, I would still feel blissed and blessed. And Maybe even these drops of my blood are also not suitable for Her worship....what more can I say, Dev Sharmaji? I surrender, I surrender, I surrender!! Purity, Powers, Parabrahmam... Yours Yogically, Shreeram Balijepalli Purity, Powers, Parabrahmam... Click to join Rajarajeshwari_Kalpataru 8:00? 8:25? 8:40? 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