4. SATSANGAM

[Guest guest]

4. SATSANGAM

(Read, Understand, Appreciate, Internalise and Assimilate to reach

the Ultimate)

Moko Kahan Dhoonde Re (Where do you search Me? - Kabir Doha)

 

Where do you search me?

I am with you

Not in pilgrimage, nor in icons

Neither in solitudes

Not in temples, nor in mosques

Neither in Kaba nor in Kailash

I am with you o man I am with you

 

Not in prayers, nor in meditation

Neither in fasting, not in yogic exercises

 

Neither in renunciation

Neither in the vital force nor in the body

Not even in the ethereal space

Neither in the womb of Nature

Not in the breath of the breath

Seek earnestly and discover

In but a moment of search

 

Says Kabir, Listen with care

Where your faith is, I am there.

 

 

Mukti or liberation is our nature. It is another name for us. Our

wanting mukti is a very funny thing. It is like a man who is in the

shade, voluntarily leaving the shade, going into the sun, feeling

the severity of the heat there, making great efforts to get back to

the shade and then rejoicing, " How sweet is the shade! I have

reached the shade at last! " We are all doing exactly the same. We

are not different from the reality. We imagine we are different,

that is we create the bheda bhava [the feeling of difference] and

then undergo great sadhana [spiritual practices] to get rid of the

bheda bhava and realise the oneness. Why imagine or create bheda

bhava and then destroy it?

.... Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

" Never complain against bad environments. Create your own mental

world wherever you remain, wherever you go. The mind deludes you, at

every moment, at every step. Try to overcome the obstacles and

difficulties by suitable means. Do not try to run from bad,

unfavourable environments. God has placed you there to make you grow

quickly. "

.... Swami Sivananda

 

The mind turned inwards is the Self; turned outwards, it becomes the

ego and all the world. Cotton made into various clothes we call by

various names. Gold made into various ornaments, we call by various

names. But all the clothes are cotton and all the ornaments gold.

The one is real, the many are mere names and forms

.... Sri Ramana Maharshi

 

The person is a very small thing. Actually it is a composite, it

cannot be said to exist by itself. Unperceived, it is just not

there. It is but the shadow of the mind, the sum total of memories.

Pure being is reflected in the mirror of the mind, as knowing. What

is known takes the shape of a person, based on memory and habit. It

is but a shadow, or a projection of the knower onto the screen of

the mind.

 

.... Nisargadatta Maharaj

In speech, in thought,

In gestures of the body,

In perceptions of mind,

May the devotion to the Lord,

Always be your companion,

At all times and at all places.

.... A DevoteeAn Excellent Story

 

It was an unusually cold day for the month of May. Spring had

arrived and everything was alive with colour. But a cold front from

the North had brought winter's chill back to Indiana. I sat with two

friends in the picture window of a quaint restaurant just off the

corner of the town square. The food and the company were both

especially good that day.

 

As we talked, my attention was drawn outside, across the street.

There, walking into town, was a man who appeared to be carrying all

his worldly goods on his back. He was carrying, a well?worn sign

that read, " I will work for food. " My heart sank. I brought him to

the attention of my friends and noticed that others around us had

stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture of sadness

and disbelief. We continued with our meal, but his image lingered in

my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had

errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced

toward the town square, looking somewhat halfheartedly for the

strange visitor. I was fearful, knowing that seeing him again would

call some response. I drove through town and saw nothing of him.

 

I made some purchases at a store and got back in my car. Deep within

me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me " Don't go back to the

office until you've at least driven once more around the square. "

And so, with some hesitancy, I headed back into town. As I turned

the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the steps

of the storefront church, going through his sack. I stopped and

looked, feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet wanting to drive

on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign from

God: an invitation to park. I pulled in, got out and approached the

town's newest visitor. " Looking for the pastor? " I asked. " Not

really, " he replied, " just resting. " " Have you eaten today? " " Oh, I

ate something early this morning. " " Would you like to have lunch

with me? " " Do you have some work I could do for you? " " No work, " I

replied. " I commute here to work from the city, but would like to

take you to lunch. " " Sure, " he replied with a smile. As he began to

gather his things. I asked some surface questions. " Where you

headed? " " St. Louis. " " Where you from? " " Oh, all over; mostly

Florida. " " How long you been walking? " " Fourteen years, " came the

reply. I knew I had met someone unusual.

 

We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left

earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His

eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and

articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a

bright red T?shirt that said, " Jesus is The Never Ending Story. "

Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early

in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences.

Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had

stopped on the beach in Daytona. He tried to hire on with some men

who were putting up large tent and some equipment. A concert, he

thought. He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but

revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly.

 

He gave his life over to God. " Nothing's been the same since, " he

said, " I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did,

some 14 years now. " " Ever think of stopping? " I asked. " Oh, once in

a while, when it seems to get the best of me. But God has given me

this calling. I give out Bibles. That's what's in my sack. I work to

buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads. " I

sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission

and lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a

moment and then I asked: " What's it like? " " What? " " To walk into a

town carrying all your things on your back and to show your

sign? " " Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would stare and make

comments.

 

Once someone tossed a piece of half?eaten bread and made a gesture

that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became

humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change

people's concepts of other folks like me. " My concept was changing,

too. We finished our dessert and gathered his things. Just outside

the door, he paused. He turned to me and said, " Come ye blessed of

my Father and inherit the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I

was hungry you gave me food, and when I was thirsty you gave me

drink, a stranger and you took me in. " I felt as if we were on holy

ground. " Could you use another Bible? " I asked. He said he preferred

a certain translation. It traveled well and was not too heavy. It

was also his personal favorite. " I've read through it 14 times, " he

said. " I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's stop by our

church and see. " I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would

do well, and he seemed very grateful. " Where you headed from

here? " " Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement

park coupon. " " Are you hoping to hire on there for a while? " " No, I

just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star

right there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next. " He

smiled, and the warmth of his spirit radiated the sincerity of his

mission.

 

I drove him back to the town square where we'd met two hours

earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We parked and unloaded

his things. " Would you sign my autograph book? " he asked. " I like to

keep messages from folks I meet. " I wrote in his little book that

his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I encouraged him

to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from

Jeremiah, " I know the plans I have for you, " declared the

Lord, " plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a

future and a hope. " " Thanks, man, " he said. " I know we just met and

we're really just strangers, but I love you. " " I know, " I said, " I

love you, too. " " The Lord is good. " " Yes, He is. How long has it

been since someone hugged you? " I asked. " A long time, " he replied.

And so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new

friend and I embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been

changed. He put his things on his back, smiled his winning smile and

said, " See you in the New Jerusalem. " " I'll be there! " was my reply.

He began his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling

his bed roll and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, " When

you see something that makes you think of me, will you pray for

me? " You bet, " I shouted back, " God bless. " " God bless. " And that

was the last I saw of him. Late that evening as I left my office,

the wind blew strong. The cold front had settled hard upon the town.

I bundled up and hurried to my car.

 

As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them... a

pair of well?worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of

the handle. I picked them up and thought of my friend, wondered if

his hands would stay warm that night without them. I remembered his

words " If you see something that makes you think of me, will you

pray for me? " Today his gloves lie on my desk in my office. They

help me to see the world and its people in a new way, and they help

me remember those two hours with my unique friend and to pray for

his ministry. " See you in the New Jerusalem, " he said. Yes, Daniel,

I know I will... If this story touched you, forward it to a

friend! " I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I

can do or any kindness that I can show let me do it now, for I shall

not pass this way again. "

[Guest guest]

Excellent compilation..

 

But the stages in the path of liberation may also be spelled.. Constant

Integrated Awareness of being One (Atman) with pure devotion of Hanuman

(He practised Divine 'Work is Worship') and obedience of Arjuna (He

practised Divine command 'Duty is God') would certainly lead one

towards

getting Atma Jnana which can also be called Liberation, merging in

Paramatha, etc.

 

P.Vijaya Sarathi

Puttaparthi, India

" vijaya_sarathi_p " <pvijayasarathi