Purascharana.

[Guest guest]

Dear Jairam,

 

Namasakar. What an effort !!! What tremendous determination !!! You have done a great job dear brother.

 

Let me share a Buddhist percept about purascharana. As you know Buddhists are also required to say their mantras in lakhs. They have a small trick up their sleeves as I learnt from a Tibetan Buddhist.

 

While sitting in meditation they slowly "expand" and "bifurcate" into innumberable bodies. This is a visualisation exercise. Then they imagine that "all the bodies they have bifurcated into" are reciting the mantra. So if they can imagine theselves to have bifurcated into 500 bodies, one repetation of the mantra implies 500 repetations.

 

This exercise also helps in gaining a sense of brotherhood with the world. However it should be done in all sincerety and reverence, not just as a devise to reduce the load of repeating the mantra.

 

Moreover they also have other equations like having darshan of a venerable Lama would get them 10,000 repetations (as an example), visiting a sacred site and perambulating it could give them another 10,000 and so on. Even visiting a site that a Master has visited adds to their repetation numbers.

 

I think someone else on this list has also tried this purascharana. Was it RD?

 

Regards,

Jagannath.

Check out the new Front Page. www.

[Guest guest]

Dear Jagannath and Sunder

 

I did not mean to elicit such praise and you dont even know how miserably i

failed in my effort. But thank you nevertheless and i have gained from your

email and Sunder's email about transcending such thoughts and looking at it

from another perspective--those of the Realized Souls. It takes one to point

it out. I suppose i should not be so rational when faith is concerned

 

thank you and Sunder for this

j

[Guest guest]

dear jairam, sunder, jagannath,

 

i really enjoyed the postings on the purscharana. it

is quite illuminating.

 

i jsut have a small ques. we have come across

utterings in various mythological texts as well as in

stories like Gajendra Moksham that even once one

utters the lord's name with total surrender and

devotion, it is enough. how does this adage go with

the aspiring for naam japam millions and trillions of

times.

 

i mean i just want to be enlightened.

 

also, perhaps related somewhat is a story connected

with Sri Ramakrishna.

 

soemone approached Sri Ramakrishna and asked what is

the way to salvation. He is supposed to have simply

stated that, if you utter the name of the Lord at the

time of death, it will suffice.

 

how do all these go and to what extent there are

inconsistencies in the things that i ahve

quoted/raised ?

 

would be thankful for your educated views for my

learning.

 

thanks.

 

chellamani

 

--- jairam seshadri <jairamseshadri

wrote:

 

>

>

> Dear Jagannath and Sunder

>

> I did not mean to elicit such praise and you dont

> even know how miserably i

> failed in my effort. But thank you nevertheless and

> i have gained from your

> email and Sunder's email about transcending such

> thoughts and looking at it

> from another perspective--those of the Realized

> Souls. It takes one to point

> it out. I suppose i should not be so rational when

> faith is concerned

>

> thank you and Sunder for this

> j

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the new Front Page.

www.

[Guest guest]

Namaste,

 

The 'inconsistencies' can be resolved in different ways.

One that strikes me is: the shloka in the Gita [8:5] states , the last

thought at the time of death determines the state attained

there-after. Krishna, the Yogeshvara, leaves no doubt about this.

 

antakaale cha maameva smaranmuktvaa kalevaram.h .

yaH prayaati sa madbhaavaM yaati naastyatra sa.nshayaH .. 8\-5..

 

In what condition a manifested being is, cannot be

judged by other unenlightened beings; eg story of Ashtavakra and Janaka.

 

Thakur also emphasized the factor of 'Grace'; the wind

of Grace is always blowing, it is we who have to set our sails in the

right direction! Also, Paramatma enjoys playing like a child,

distributing or witholding the Grace like a child shares or refuses

its store of sweets; eg Thakur and Girish, or Mother and Ahmed.

 

For the majority, Krishna says conduct yourself

according to the scriptures:

 

yaH shaastravidhimutsR^ijya vartate kaamakaarataH .

na sa siddhimavaapnoti na sukhaM na paraaM gatim.h .. 16\-23..

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ramakrishna , gayatri chellamani <gayat52>

wrote:

>

>

>

> dear jairam, sunder, jagannath,

>

> i really enjoyed the postings on the purscharana. it

> is quite illuminating.

>

> i jsut have a small ques. we have come across

> utterings in various mythological texts as well as in

> stories like Gajendra Moksham that even once one

> utters the lord's name with total surrender and

> devotion, it is enough. how does this adage go with

> the aspiring for naam japam millions and trillions of

> times.

>

> i mean i just want to be enlightened.

>

> also, perhaps related somewhat is a story connected

> with Sri Ramakrishna.

>

> soemone approached Sri Ramakrishna and asked what is

> the way to salvation. He is supposed to have simply

> stated that, if you utter the name of the Lord at the

> time of death, it will suffice.

>

> how do all these go and to what extent there are

> inconsistencies in the things that i ahve

> quoted/raised ?

>

> would be thankful for your educated views for my

> learning.

>

> thanks.

>

> chellamani

>

> --- jairam seshadri <jairamseshadri@h...>

> wrote:

>

> >

> >

> > Dear Jagannath and Sunder

> >

> > I did not mean to elicit such praise and you dont

> > even know how miserably i

> > failed in my effort. But thank you nevertheless and

> > i have gained from your

> > email and Sunder's email about transcending such

> > thoughts and looking at it

> > from another perspective--those of the Realized

> > Souls. It takes one to point

> > it out. I suppose i should not be so rational when

> > faith is concerned

> >

> > thank you and Sunder for this

> > j

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Check out the new Front Page.

> www.

[Guest guest]

Dear Gayatri

 

knowing full well that Jagannath and Sunder will have more wisdom to add,

let me try and address your question since you did adress us directly. i

know there are several Swamis of the Order and others who are more

knowledgeable who regularly read this LIST and i write all this knowing that

I will be corrected in case i am wrong

 

In Sw Yogeshananda's book the Six Lighted Windows, Sw Yogeshananda writes of

how once he was mowing the lawn at the Hollywood centre. Swami Prabhavananda

came behind him, unawares, surprising him and looking right into his eyes

asked " Are you saying japa? "

 

I found that amusing and quite telling. For after all, we dont know WHEN we

are going to die! It could be for me, right now as i type this message out (

and so i should be doing my Japa!)

 

But it also brought to mind the story of the parrot that Sri Ramakrishna

used to illustrate how we should change our nature and not merely repeat the

name of the Lord continuously. The Parrot was taught to repeat the name of

God all the time and it dutifully did so. But when one day the cat caught it

in its jaw, all it could do was " Squawk " .

 

Sad for the parrot but an apt illustration

 

And of the father who never prayed but named his sons with names of GOD so

that on his death bed even if he called his son's names, without thinking of

GOD he would attain salvation...and so it happened that on his deathbed,

with his sons about him he did not remember to call them by name, but found

the need to enquire about how his business was doing rather than remember

them by their names.

 

And so it was and so it is . Sad for the father!

 

So we do not know when death for each one of us will come. At the moment of

death our inner nature manifests in true light. For us to remember God at

that moment in time we need to get close to GOD now and change our inner

nature through renunciation.

 

If on the other hand, we are blessed in being able to remember GOD at that

moment of departing this world, without Japa, then we are already so

blessed....But that is a rare state indeed.

To paraphrase from Sw. Yogeshananda's book again...

Swami Prabhavananda once said that remembering God all the time is the sure

way to salvation. And a lady interjected " But Swami what if i do remember

God all the time? "

 

Swami P replied

" Madam if you remember God continuously - then you are either an illumined

soul or a fool. And i know you are not an illumined soul "

 

Funny how what one is reading is always relevant to the questions that crop

up - either from within or from without!

 

(And to those who enquired about Swami Yogeshananda's book, according to

him, it is available through the San Francisco bookstore )

 

with pranaams

jairam

[Guest guest]

++++++++++++++++

Dear Gayatri

 

knowing full well that Jagannath and Sunder will have more wisdom to add,

let me try and address your question since you did adress us directly. i

know there are several Swamis of the Order and others who are more

knowledgeable who regularly read this LIST and i write all this knowing that

I will be corrected in case i am wrong

 

In Sw Yogeshananda's book the Six Lighted Windows, Sw Yogeshananda writes of

how once he was mowing the lawn at the Hollywood centre. Swami Prabhavananda

came behind him, unawares, surprising him and looking right into his eyes

asked " Are you saying japa? "

 

I found that amusing and quite telling. For after all, we dont know WHEN we

are going to die! It could be for me, right now as i type this message out (

and so i should be doing my Japa!)

 

But it also brought to mind the story of the parrot that Sri Ramakrishna

used to illustrate how we should change our nature and not merely repeat the

name of the Lord continuously. The Parrot was taught to repeat the name of

God all the time and it dutifully did so. But when one day the cat caught it

in its jaw, all it could do was " Squawk " .

 

Sad for the parrot but an apt illustration

 

And of the father who never prayed but named his sons with names of GOD so

that on his death bed even if he called his son's names, without thinking of

GOD he would attain salvation...and so it happened that on his deathbed,

with his sons about him he did not remember to call them by name, but found

the need to enquire about how his business was doing rather than remember

them by their names.

 

And so it was and so it is . Sad for the father!

 

So we do not know when death for each one of us will come. At the moment of

death our inner nature manifests in true light. For us to remember God at

that moment in time we need to get close to GOD now and change our inner

nature through renunciation.

 

If on the other hand, we are blessed in being able to remember GOD at that

moment of departing this world, without Japa, then we are already so

blessed....But that is a rare state indeed.

To paraphrase from Sw. Yogeshananda's book again...

Swami Prabhavananda once said that remembering God all the time is the sure

way to salvation. And a lady interjected " But Swami what if i do remember

God all the time? "

 

Swami P replied

" Madam if you remember God continuously - then you are either an illumined

soul or a fool. And i know you are not an illumined soul "

 

Funny how what one is reading is always relevant to the questions that crop

up - either from within or from without!

 

(And to those who enquired about Swami Yogeshananda's book, according to

him, it is available through the San Francisco bookstore )

 

with pranaams

jairam