God Will Always Guide Us...

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Mayaa tatamidam sarvam jagadavyaktamoortinaa;

Matsthaani sarvabhootaani na chaaham teshvavasthitah.

 

4. All this world is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest aspect;

all beings exist in Me, but I do not dwell in them.

 

Na cha matsthaani bhootaani pashya me yogamaishwaram;

Bhootabhrinna cha bhootastho mamaatmaa bhootabhaavanah.

 

5. Nor do beings exist in Me (in reality): behold

My divine Yoga, supporting all beings, but not

dwelling in them, is My Self, the efficient cause of beings.

 

Yathaakaashasthito nityam vaayuh sarvatrago mahaan;

Tathaa sarvaani bhootaani matsthaaneetyupadhaaraya.

 

6. As the mighty wind, moving everywhere, rests always

in the ether, even so, know thou that all beings rest in Me.

 

Gita, ...Chapter 9, (4 to 6)

 

 

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Hari OM!

 

A number of years ago, I spent my Christmas day

writing a post called " Mine is to Serve. "

Basically, in the end, the most important point of it to

me for what I need to say, was my very specific

request for offlist guidance from list members here.

It was a painful post for me to author and tears

streamed down my face as I pressed the computer

key to send it. It had dredged up painful emotions

and it contained personal information that I really

did not care to share. I am a private person.

Yet, I felt moved and guided to do it and to

do it then...on my own volition, it would not

have been my first choice of how to spend

my Christmas day. #15497

advaitin/message/15497

 

 

The next day, like the lightning bolts I discussed in

the post, Shri Ram-ji Chandran's post hit me when

it appeared on my computer screen... he had

forwarded an article just published in the Hindu

Times, the article was called " God Will Always

Guide Us. " It was the only answer I received to

my specific request for guidance and the only

one I was meant to Receive. When I falter,

I think of it and know that if I slow my mind

and open my heart to His will, I will do what

He asks of me and accept what comes my way.

advaitin/message/15501

 

Everything which led up to my post that day was for the

purpose of teaching me and anyone else who wanted to

learn it, that God Will Always Guide Us. That one short

promise in the title of Shri Ram-ji's post has indeed

been my guiding light since then. It was the last

thing I was asking for or expecting to get in answer

to my online request, but it was exactly what He

intended for me to Receive. Even as I have been

writing today and for the past few days as I have

reviewed my posts and His, my tears have been

flowing, much the same as they did six years ago.

Although He asked me to come to Him in complete

surrender, I only knew what that meant to the flow

of Grace. I did not understand yet what it meant

in everyday life. Because He made this clear to

me from the beginning that this was my path,

my sadhana has been one of saranagati, surrender

to that guidance and to His will, whatever may

come my way. And, contrary to popular belief,

surrender is NOT always easy. While it may not

require the philosophical evaluation of the world

through the eye of advaita, what it does require

is the mental and emotional abandonment of the

need for that evaluation, giving way instead to the

need for Divine sustenance.

 

Surrender is its own path or process of self enquiry.

To maintain an attitude of surrender requires that you

constantly enquire into the source of your actions.

Who wills this moment?

Who is He that is the Eternal Source of all causes

and all effects? And is my action in worship of His

will or is it in worship of my desires? But it is the

daily puja of the bhakta, and so it becomes easier

as you go along and you begin to understand and

see when your ego is flying high. The answers are

not to be found in the books, although they can

indeed point to the moon for you. But only grace

can take you can there, into the embrace of what

Kabir called the Breath inside the breath.

 

Although my request in the post for advice had to

do with a book I thought I was writing, I now know

I was only discharging demons, not writing a book.

I just did not know it then because I was too in the

middle of it all. That manuscript is stashed away

somewhere in a drawer now, like an empty

prescription bottle that you did not throw away.

It is incomplete as to the intentions I set for it.

My stated purpose for writing the book and

why I thought I wrote it remain in the ethers

of my past. But as to His purpose, it is

Pari Poornam. What He knew I needed to know,

not in my head, where mithya reigns supreme,

but in my Heart, where Hari reigns Supreme,

is that He was there for guidance. I guess He

knew I needed to see it in print, too...must

be the lawyer in me. What does that guidance mean?

 

It is there everywhere in every moment, in the synchronicity

of events meant especially for you. It is there in the phone

call of support that comes from a friend at the moment

that you need it. It is there in the innocent eyes of a child

smiling at you. It is there in the flower that blooms to

hearken the opening of Spring in your backyard garden.

It is there in the hummingbird which appears in front

of your camera while you were waiting for the chickadees.

It is there in the zephyr of the air when the fledging

spreads his little wings and flies for the first time.

It is there in the love that you feel in His embrace.

This is from Him. He would like you to listen and

know it to be so...

 

 

In His Service,

Joyce

---------------------------

 

Jaya Radha-Madhava Written by Shrila Bhaktinoda Thakura

The first set of words are those which appear on

Shri Jagjit Singh's website and are those which he

sings in the bhajan. The second set below, with

translation, appears on most Bhaktivedanta

sponsored webpages:

 

Jai Radha Madhav, Jai Kunj Bihari,

Jai Gopi Jan Walabh, Jai Girdhar Hari,

Murli Manohar Karuna Sagar,

Jai Govardhan Hari,

Yashoda Nandan,

Brij Jan Ranjan,

Jamuna Teer Ban Chari

 

 

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

 

Translation

" Oh Lord Krishna, Oh energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your devotional

service. "

 

jaya radha-madhava kunja-bihari

gopi-jana-vallabha giri-vara-dhari

yashoda-nandana braja-jana-ranjana

jamuna-tira-vana-chari

 

Translation

 

Krishna is the lover of Radha. He displays

many amorous pastimes in the groves of

Vrindavana, He is the lover of the cowherd

maidens of Vraja, the holder of the great hill

named Govardhana, the beloved son of

Mother Yashoda, the delighter of the inhabitants

of Vraja, and He wanders in the forests

along the banks of the River Yamuna.