Jump to content
IndiaDivine.org

Curses or Grace?

Rate this topic


Guest guest

Recommended Posts

Namaste. Your prayers remind of what someone told me once about Maa.

If She's not that moved by your prayers She will answer them. But if

She LOVES the sound of your ever so sweet voice why should She answer

so quickly when she so enjoy's to hear the sweet prayers of Her child?

The idea is that God likes to hear our prayers and if all desires are

fulfilled, will God ever hear your prayers? If God gives us

everything we want, will we want God?

I used to think at times when nothing was going my way spiritually or

materially was bad karma....it wasn't it was grace in disguise, God

was making me want Her more. There was no curse at all, but I

thought there was. Maa NEVER turns her back to us. When She is done

listening to our prayers She will enlighten us. Remember Ramakrishna

with his Guru teaching him to mediate on ajna chakra? He kept seeing

the Divine Mother. When He was ready to renounce Her, She gave in,

"Ok, Ramakrishna, here is Nirvikalpi Samadhi" and by Her grace she

let him toggle between Being That and Loving Her. In order for

Nirvikalpi to happen all thoughts even devotion to a Divine Form is

renouced if only for a moment. The mind must be ready to rest in

what is beyond the Form. Sadhana's is Maa's game with the yogi the

more I see and experience it. Most think that if Maa is pleased she

will give you everything.... maybe, maybe not.

Just idea's....Jai Maa!

Kellykaliananda_saraswati <kaliananda_saraswati > wrote:

Namaste All,Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful experiences.

As I sit here reading and re-reading these experiences ... tears

flowing uncontrollably, I cannot help but recall the story of the Vow

of Worship for 16 Mondays which was shared by Sarada earlier in this

forum and explained at #953 by Parvati. For me the pain of "leprosy"

refeferred to in the story is physical distance from the Guru. And so

this child asks :"Beloved Maa, for what karma have I received such a

curse from the Divine Mother? What is it that this child needs to

do to be physically with you?"Jai Maa--- In

, "aseemananda2003" <aseemananda2003>

wrote:> Sarada and Latha,> > I have a couple of stories myself to add

to where Sarada left off.

If > we would only learn to trust the Guru life would be simpler.

However, > for many of us reaching complete surrender is slow and

often painful > process. There are two particularly notable events in

my life that > come to mind. > > Back in 1994 when I was still a

struggling graduate student, I owned > a '89 Ford Tracer. At the

time, I was staying at the asharam while in > the writing stage of

the dissertation. Sometime in early 1995, Maa > said you should get

rid of your car. I thought it was odd. Why should > I get rid of the

car when I can barely afford to maintain myself on > my limited

budget. I explained to Maa that financially I could not do > it and

continued to drive the car as usual. Again some weeks later > she

advised me to find another car, but intellectually it made no > sense

to me and I did not take her counsel. > > Just a

couple of months later the car was totalled when I had serious >

accident in Davis. It was the after Valentines Day when I was rushed

> to emergency room in an ambulance. The accident left me cuts,

bruises > and a fractured bone in the lower spine. With blessings of

Maa and > Swamiji and back therapy I healed in a short time. Inspite

of this > incident, I was still not wiser.> > Now it's 2002 and I've

graduated and landed what might be a career > position at a college

in New England. This high profile, high > salaried job is why I

sweated all those years in school I thought and > declared proudly

that I was moving to the east coast. Maa and Swamiji > offered their

blessings and wished me luck. Till the last days Maa > cautioned me,

"I don't have a good feeling about this job." Again I > rationalized

why I was going and instead took the position. > > As you may

have guessed, this job turned out to be a living nightmare > and I

slowly felt myself dying emotionally and spiritually. I was cut > off

from all of my support system in a very foreign and remote place. > If

not for the communication with my family and Maa and Swamiji, I >

don't think I could have survived. Sometimes, I think I came close to

> having a nervous breakdown. Maa came to the rescue and demanded that

> I call her every night after reaching home from work. I maintained >

that routine for the rest of my 8-9 month stay in Maine. I shared >

with Maa and Swamiji all my frustrations and pain. Swamiji even >

helped me on the legal front by writing letters for me in grievances

> I filed. > > Presently I have returned to California and live in

close vicinity to > Napa. I am so blessed to have a Divine Mother and

Divine Father. I am > grateful for all of

their patience, understanding and unconditional > love. I pray to be

fully surrendered. > > Jai Maa, > Aseemananda> > > > > > > > > >

, "Sarada" <sarada_saraswati>

> wrote:> > Latha, I have a similar story but the result was a bit

different. > A > > few years ago the wooden bridge that leads to our

Mandir needed to > > be replaced. It was starting to rot away and

every time a car > passed > > over it there was a good chance that it

would be the end of the > > bridge. One day when we finally decided to

rebuild it, I was > > starting the first stage of the demolition of

the old bridge in a > > very light rain, and Maa walked by and said

that I should go inside > > because the wet weather conditions would

make me sick. I has lived > > in some pretty extreme climates in my

life and to me this light > rain > > posed no threat at all to my

health especially because I had a very > > strong immune system and

had been used to working in freezing rain > > and snow during the

previous five years in Boston. So I considered > > the advice to be

nothing but Maa just being the sweet mother to her > > children and

kept right on doing what I was doing.> > > > The next day I woke up

with the worst flu that I can remember > > having in my life and I

was in bed for a week. I couldn't believe > > it, I hadn't been sick

at all for years and now this. I then > > remembered Maa's advice.

Sometimes the Guru sees thing that we just > > can't perceive and

give advice according to that intuition. As > > devotees, we have to

have faith that they

know what is best for us > > even when we think that we know better.

Sometimes they are just > > testing us. Ma told me a story once of

one of Her Gurus telling Her > > to eat a rock. When She put it in

Her mouth and began to chew it > > turned into a delicious sweet. > >

> > There is another story that happened when we were building Maa's >

> house. There was a big oak tree in the front yard that Maa decided >

> one day that it needed to come down. She was afraid that one day >

the > > tree would fall on Her house. This was a difficult

proposition for > > us because the angle of the tree put the house at

risk of being > > toppled when we would cut it, so we tried to talk

Her out of it. > The > > tree appeared to be perfectly healthy to us

so we felt confident > > taking responsibility for letting the tree

stay. "Of course it

> won't > > fall down," we thought, "What does She know about trees

anyways and > > besides, the tree shows no signs decay at all. This

tree will be > > here for another hundred years easily." Well, after

a few days of > > debate we decided to listen to the Divine Mother

and we cut down > the > > tree. To our surprise, the entire center of

the tree was rotten and > > it would have only been a matter of time

before Maa would have been > > surprised by a crashing tree falling

into Her kitchen.> > > > Even though from the outside the tree

showed no signs at all of > > danger, Maa saw inside the tree and was

giving Her advice from that > > perspective. I would imagine that all

of Her words come from this > > same intuition. > > > > > > --- In

, "kamalama_2002" >

> <kamalama_2002> wrote:> > > As we purify more and more, I pray

that our will comes into > > harmony > > > with the Divine Will. Not

only that, but that we intuit, and > know > > > without uncertainty,

and yield to that Divine Will! Is the > Guru's > > > desire also the

Divine Will? You surrendered! Jai Maa!To from this

group, send an email to:Your

use of is subject to the

 

Protect your identity with Mail AddressGuard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kelly,

How much wisdom you share!

Ramakrishna is such a strong example of the true devotee of God. His

whole life was centered on Her. He never gave up. He learned from

all who came to him. He shared with all who came to him.

Maa is as close as our Breath. She never leaves us. She knows us

better than we know ourselves. She knows what we need to experience

Her.

Thank you, Kelly. I love you.

Ardis

Kelly Leeper <blissnout >

Fri, 14 Nov 2003 00:14:17 -0800 (PST)

Curses or Grace?

Kaliananda,

Namaste. Your prayers remind of what someone told me once about Maa.

If She's not that moved by your prayers She will answer them. But if

She LOVES the sound of your ever so sweet voice why should She answer

so quickly when she so enjoy's to hear the sweet prayers of Her child?

The idea is that God likes to hear our prayers and if all desires are

fulfilled, will God ever hear your prayers? If God gives us

everything we want, will we want God?

I used to think at times when nothing was going my way spiritually or

materially was bad karma....it wasn't it was grace in disguise, God

was making me want Her more. There was no curse at all, but I

thought there was. Maa NEVER turns her back to us. When She is done

listening to our prayers She will enlighten us. Remember Ramakrishna

with his Guru teaching him to mediate on ajna chakra? He kept seeing

the Divine Mother. When He was ready to renounce Her, She gave in,

"Ok, Ramakrishna, here is Nirvikalpi Samadhi" and by Her grace she

let him toggle between Being That and Loving Her. In order for

Nirvikalpi to happen all thoughts even devotion to a Divine Form is

renouced if only for a moment. The mind must be ready to rest in

what is beyond the Form. Sadhana's is Maa's game with the yogi the

more I see and experience it. Most think that if Maa is pleased she

will give you everything.... maybe, maybe not.

Just idea's....Jai Maa!

Kelly

kaliananda_saraswati <kaliananda_saraswati > wrote:

Namaste All,

Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful experiences. As I sit

here reading and re-reading these experiences ... tears flowing

uncontrollably, I cannot help but recall the story of the Vow of

Worship for 16 Mondays which was shared by Sarada earlier in this

forum and explained at #953 by Parvati. For me the pain of "leprosy"

refeferred to in the story is physical distance from the Guru. And

so this child asks :

"Beloved Maa, for what karma have I received such a curse from the

Divine Mother?

What is it that this child needs to do to be physically with you?"

Jai Maa

, "aseemananda2003"

<aseemananda2003> wrote:

> Sarada and Latha,

>

> I have a couple of stories myself to add to where Sarada left off.

If

> we would only learn to trust the Guru life would be simpler.

However,

> for many of us reaching complete surrender is slow and often

painful

> process. There are two particularly notable events in my life that

> come to mind.

>

> Back in 1994 when I was still a struggling graduate student, I

owned

> a '89 Ford Tracer. At the time, I was staying at the asharam while

in

> the writing stage of the dissertation. Sometime in early 1995, Maa

> said you should get rid of your car. I thought it was odd. Why

should

> I get rid of the car when I can barely afford to maintain myself on

> my limited budget. I explained to Maa that financially I could not

do

> it and continued to drive the car as usual. Again some weeks later

> she advised me to find another car, but intellectually it made no

> sense to me and I did not take her counsel.

>

> Just a couple of months later the car was totalled when I had

serious

> accident in Davis. It was the after Valentines Day when I was

rushed

> to emergency room in an ambulance. The accident left me cuts,

bruises

> and a fractured bone in the lower spine. With blessings of Maa and

> Swamiji and back therapy I healed in a short time. Inspite of this

> incident, I was still not wiser.

>

> Now it's 2002 and I've graduated and landed what might be a career

> position at a college in New England. This high profile, high

> salaried job is why I sweated all those years in school I thought

and

> declared proudly that I was moving to the east coast. Maa and

Swamiji

> offered their blessings and wished me luck. Till the last days Maa

> cautioned me, "I don't have a good feeling about this job." Again I

> rationalized why I was going and instead took the position.

>

> As you may have guessed, this job turned out to be a living

nightmare

> and I slowly felt myself dying emotionally and spiritually. I was

cut

> off from all of my support system in a very foreign and remote

place.

> If not for the communication with my family and Maa and Swamiji, I

> don't think I could have survived. Sometimes, I think I came close

to

> having a nervous breakdown. Maa came to the rescue and demanded

that

> I call her every night after reaching home from work. I maintained

> that routine for the rest of my 8-9 month stay in Maine. I shared

> with Maa and Swamiji all my frustrations and pain. Swamiji even

> helped me on the legal front by writing letters for me in

grievances

> I filed.

>

> Presently I have returned to California and live in close vicinity

to

> Napa. I am so blessed to have a Divine Mother and Divine Father. I

am

> grateful for all of their patience, understanding and unconditional

> love. I pray to be fully surrendered.

>

> Jai Maa,

> Aseemananda

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> , "Sarada"

<sarada_saraswati>

> wrote:

> > Latha, I have a similar story but the result was a bit

different.

> A

> > few years ago the wooden bridge that leads to our Mandir needed

to

> > be replaced. It was starting to rot away and every time a car

> passed

> > over it there was a good chance that it would be the end of the

> > bridge. One day when we finally decided to rebuild it, I was

> > starting the first stage of the demolition of the old bridge in a

> > very light rain, and Maa walked by and said that I should go

inside

> > because the wet weather conditions would make me sick. I has

lived

> > in some pretty extreme climates in my life and to me this light

> rain

> > posed no threat at all to my health especially because I had a

very

> > strong immune system and had been used to working in freezing

rain

> > and snow during the previous five years in Boston. So I

considered

> > the advice to be nothing but Maa just being the sweet mother to

her

> > children and kept right on doing what I was doing.

> >

> > The next day I woke up with the worst flu that I can remember

> > having in my life and I was in bed for a week. I couldn't believe

> > it, I hadn't been sick at all for years and now this. I then

> > remembered Maa's advice. Sometimes the Guru sees thing that we

just

> > can't perceive and give advice according to that intuition. As

> > devotees, we have to have faith that they know what is best for

us

> > even when we think that we know better. Sometimes they are just

> > testing us. Ma told me a story once of one of Her Gurus telling

Her

> > to eat a rock. When She put it in Her mouth and began to chew it

> > turned into a delicious sweet.

> >

> > There is another story that happened when we were building Maa's

> > house. There was a big oak tree in the front yard that Maa

decided

> > one day that it needed to come down. She was afraid that one day

> the

> > tree would fall on Her house. This was a difficult proposition

for

> > us because the angle of the tree put the house at risk of being

> > toppled when we would cut it, so we tried to talk Her out of it.

> The

> > tree appeared to be perfectly healthy to us so we felt confident

> > taking responsibility for letting the tree stay. "Of course it

> won't

> > fall down," we thought, "What does She know about trees anyways

and

> > besides, the tree shows no signs decay at all. This tree will be

> > here for another hundred years easily." Well, after a few days of

> > debate we decided to listen to the Divine Mother and we cut down

> the

> > tree. To our surprise, the entire center of the tree was rotten

and

> > it would have only been a matter of time before Maa would have

been

> > surprised by a crashing tree falling into Her kitchen.

> >

> > Even though from the outside the tree showed no signs at all of

> > danger, Maa saw inside the tree and was giving Her advice from

that

> > perspective. I would imagine that all of Her words come from this

> > same intuition.

> >

> >

> > , "kamalama_2002"

> > <kamalama_2002> wrote:

> > > As we purify more and more, I pray that our will comes into

> > harmony

> > > with the Divine Will. Not only that, but that we intuit, and

> know

> > > without uncertainty, and yield to that Divine Will! Is the

> Guru's

> > > desire also the Divine Will? You surrendered! Jai Maa!

 

Terms of Service

<> .

 

Protect your identity with Mail AddressGuard <http://antispam./whatsnewfree>

Sponsor

 

Terms of Service

<> .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Namaste Kelly,

 

Thanks so much for your ideas. Great food for thought.

 

Jai Maa

 

 

, Kelly Leeper <blissnout>

wrote:

> Kaliananda,

>

> Namaste. Your prayers remind of what someone told me once about

Maa. If She's not that moved by your prayers She will answer them.

But if She LOVES the sound of your ever so sweet voice why should She

answer so quickly when she so enjoy's to hear the sweet prayers of

Her child? The idea is that God likes to hear our prayers and if all

desires are fulfilled, will God ever hear your prayers? If God gives

us everything we want, will we want God?

>

> I used to think at times when nothing was going my way spiritually

or materially was bad karma....it wasn't it was grace in disguise,

God was making me want Her more. There was no curse at all, but I

thought there was. Maa NEVER turns her back to us. When She is done

listening to our prayers She will enlighten us. Remember Ramakrishna

with his Guru teaching him to mediate on ajna chakra? He kept seeing

the Divine Mother. When He was ready to renounce Her, She gave

in, "Ok, Ramakrishna, here is Nirvikalpi Samadhi" and by Her grace

she let him toggle between Being That and Loving Her. In order for

Nirvikalpi to happen all thoughts even devotion to a Divine Form is

renouced if only for a moment. The mind must be ready to rest in

what is beyond the Form. Sadhana's is Maa's game with the yogi the

more I see and experience it. Most think that if Maa is pleased she

will give you everything.... maybe, maybe not.

>

> Just idea's....Jai Maa!

> Kelly

> kaliananda_saraswati <kaliananda_saraswati> wrote:

> Namaste All,

>

> Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful experiences. As I sit

> here reading and re-reading these experiences ... tears flowing

> uncontrollably, I cannot help but recall the story of the Vow of

> Worship for 16 Mondays which was shared by Sarada earlier in this

> forum and explained at #953 by Parvati. For me the pain

of "leprosy"

> refeferred to in the story is physical distance from the Guru. And

> so this child asks :

>

> "Beloved Maa, for what karma have I received such a curse from the

> Divine Mother?

> What is it that this child needs to do to be physically with you?"

>

> Jai Maa

>

>

>

>

> , "aseemananda2003"

> <aseemananda2003> wrote:

> > Sarada and Latha,

> >

> > I have a couple of stories myself to add to where Sarada left

off.

> If

> > we would only learn to trust the Guru life would be simpler.

> However,

> > for many of us reaching complete surrender is slow and often

> painful

> > process. There are two particularly notable events in my life

that

> > come to mind.

> >

> > Back in 1994 when I was still a struggling graduate student, I

> owned

> > a '89 Ford Tracer. At the time, I was staying at the asharam

while

> in

> > the writing stage of the dissertation. Sometime in early 1995,

Maa

> > said you should get rid of your car. I thought it was odd. Why

> should

> > I get rid of the car when I can barely afford to maintain myself

on

> > my limited budget. I explained to Maa that financially I could

not

> do

> > it and continued to drive the car as usual. Again some weeks

later

> > she advised me to find another car, but intellectually it made no

> > sense to me and I did not take her counsel.

> >

> > Just a couple of months later the car was totalled when I had

> serious

> > accident in Davis. It was the after Valentines Day when I was

> rushed

> > to emergency room in an ambulance. The accident left me cuts,

> bruises

> > and a fractured bone in the lower spine. With blessings of Maa

and

> > Swamiji and back therapy I healed in a short time. Inspite of

this

> > incident, I was still not wiser.

> >

> > Now it's 2002 and I've graduated and landed what might be a

career

> > position at a college in New England. This high profile, high

> > salaried job is why I sweated all those years in school I thought

> and

> > declared proudly that I was moving to the east coast. Maa and

> Swamiji

> > offered their blessings and wished me luck. Till the last days

Maa

> > cautioned me, "I don't have a good feeling about this job." Again

I

> > rationalized why I was going and instead took the position.

> >

> > As you may have guessed, this job turned out to be a living

> nightmare

> > and I slowly felt myself dying emotionally and spiritually. I was

> cut

> > off from all of my support system in a very foreign and remote

> place.

> > If not for the communication with my family and Maa and Swamiji,

I

> > don't think I could have survived. Sometimes, I think I came

close

> to

> > having a nervous breakdown. Maa came to the rescue and demanded

> that

> > I call her every night after reaching home from work. I

maintained

> > that routine for the rest of my 8-9 month stay in Maine. I shared

> > with Maa and Swamiji all my frustrations and pain. Swamiji even

> > helped me on the legal front by writing letters for me in

> grievances

> > I filed.

> >

> > Presently I have returned to California and live in close

vicinity

> to

> > Napa. I am so blessed to have a Divine Mother and Divine Father.

I

> am

> > grateful for all of their patience, understanding and

unconditional

> > love. I pray to be fully surrendered.

> >

> > Jai Maa,

> > Aseemananda

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > , "Sarada"

> <sarada_saraswati>

> > wrote:

> > > Latha, I have a similar story but the result was a bit

> different.

> > A

> > > few years ago the wooden bridge that leads to our Mandir needed

> to

> > > be replaced. It was starting to rot away and every time a car

> > passed

> > > over it there was a good chance that it would be the end of the

> > > bridge. One day when we finally decided to rebuild it, I was

> > > starting the first stage of the demolition of the old bridge in

a

> > > very light rain, and Maa walked by and said that I should go

> inside

> > > because the wet weather conditions would make me sick. I has

> lived

> > > in some pretty extreme climates in my life and to me this light

> > rain

> > > posed no threat at all to my health especially because I had a

> very

> > > strong immune system and had been used to working in freezing

> rain

> > > and snow during the previous five years in Boston. So I

> considered

> > > the advice to be nothing but Maa just being the sweet mother to

> her

> > > children and kept right on doing what I was doing.

> > >

> > > The next day I woke up with the worst flu that I can remember

> > > having in my life and I was in bed for a week. I couldn't

believe

> > > it, I hadn't been sick at all for years and now this. I then

> > > remembered Maa's advice. Sometimes the Guru sees thing that we

> just

> > > can't perceive and give advice according to that intuition. As

> > > devotees, we have to have faith that they know what is best for

> us

> > > even when we think that we know better. Sometimes they are just

> > > testing us. Ma told me a story once of one of Her Gurus telling

> Her

> > > to eat a rock. When She put it in Her mouth and began to chew

it

> > > turned into a delicious sweet.

> > >

> > > There is another story that happened when we were building

Maa's

> > > house. There was a big oak tree in the front yard that Maa

> decided

> > > one day that it needed to come down. She was afraid that one

day

> > the

> > > tree would fall on Her house. This was a difficult proposition

> for

> > > us because the angle of the tree put the house at risk of being

> > > toppled when we would cut it, so we tried to talk Her out of

it.

> > The

> > > tree appeared to be perfectly healthy to us so we felt

confident

> > > taking responsibility for letting the tree stay. "Of course it

> > won't

> > > fall down," we thought, "What does She know about trees anyways

> and

> > > besides, the tree shows no signs decay at all. This tree will

be

> > > here for another hundred years easily." Well, after a few days

of

> > > debate we decided to listen to the Divine Mother and we cut

down

> > the

> > > tree. To our surprise, the entire center of the tree was rotten

> and

> > > it would have only been a matter of time before Maa would have

> been

> > > surprised by a crashing tree falling into Her kitchen.

> > >

> > > Even though from the outside the tree showed no signs at all

of

> > > danger, Maa saw inside the tree and was giving Her advice from

> that

> > > perspective. I would imagine that all of Her words come from

this

> > > same intuition.

> > >

> > >

> > > , "kamalama_2002"

> > > <kamalama_2002> wrote:

> > > > As we purify more and more, I pray that our will comes into

> > > harmony

> > > > with the Divine Will. Not only that, but that we intuit, and

> > know

> > > > without uncertainty, and yield to that Divine Will! Is the

> > Guru's

> > > > desire also the Divine Will? You surrendered! Jai Maa!

>

>

>

> Sponsor

>

>

>

>

>

> Terms of

Service.

>

>

>

>

> Protect your identity with Mail AddressGuard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello! Namaste:) I logged on and saw all my emails. I had no idea I

was writing so much. Usually in a group I'm quiet watching, but on

email I'm not I guess. I suppose if we were in a group with

eachother talking, we wouldn't even know who was doing alot of

talking, but on email - wow, very vivid. So sorry if I'm too long

winded sometimes.

There were times in my sadhana I had to trust Kali to take me where

She wanted me. I was never around scripture then so stories of

Ramakrishna or anyone else but the few stories of Babaji were all I

had. At times when I wanted to go beyond Her form, I hesitated and

then just surrendered as much as I could to Her and trusted if she

wanted to take me beyond form She would. But then there were times

Her form was a bother and I had to go with it. What? My Mothers

beautiful form a bother? Uh Oh... is this a curse or grace? Well,

it was Her will as it lead me into a different approach of sadhana

for a while and that was what I needed. Then later, it was all Her

again.

So when I read of Ramakrishna having a hard time getting her out of

his mind, a part of me understood the hesitation, but very glad for

him in the end that he did.

It's interesting how differently devotee's can see the same star. I'm glad you see

wisdom, because I often hesitate before I speak boldly. I'm glad I haven't offended.

Ramakrishna is an excellent example, I agree wholeheartedly. What he

went thru is for all of us to experience. He was quite the joker

too:)

Love you too! Thanks for loving me:) Feels good:) Jai Maa!

Kelly

Ardis Jackson <anandamama (AT) earthlink (DOT) net> wrote:

Kelly,How much wisdom you share! Ramakrishna is such a strong example

of the true devotee of God. His whole life was centered on Her. He

never gave up. He learned from all who came to him. He shared with

all who came to him.Maa is as close as our Breath. She never leaves

us. She knows us better than we know ourselves. She knows what we

need to experience Her.Thank you, Kelly. I love you.Ardis

Kelly Leeper <blissnout >

Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2003 00:14:17 -0800

(PST)Subject: Curses or

Grace?

Kaliananda,Namaste. Your prayers remind of what someone told me once

about Maa. If She's not that moved by your prayers She will answer

them. But if She LOVES the sound of your ever so sweet voice why

should She answer so quickly when she so enjoy's to hear the sweet

prayers of Her child? The idea is that God likes to hear our prayers

and if all desires are fulfilled, will God ever hear your prayers? If

God gives us everything we want, will we want God?I used to think at

times when nothing was going my way spiritually or materially was bad

karma....it wasn't it was grace in disguise, God was making me want

Her more. There was no curse at all, but I thought there was. Maa

NEVER turns her back to us. When She is done listening to our

prayers She will enlighten us. Remember Ramakrishna with his Guru

teaching him to mediate on ajna chakra? He kept seeing the Divine

Mother. When He was ready to

renounce Her, She gave in, "Ok, Ramakrishna, here is Nirvikalpi

Samadhi" and by Her grace she let him toggle between Being That and

Loving Her. In order for Nirvikalpi to happen all thoughts even

devotion to a Divine Form is renouced if only for a moment. The mind

must be ready to rest in what is beyond the Form. Sadhana's is Maa's

game with the yogi the more I see and experience it. Most think

that if Maa is pleased she will give you everything.... maybe, maybe

not. Just idea's....Jai Maa!Kellykaliananda_saraswati

<kaliananda_saraswati > wrote:

Namaste All,Thanks so much for sharing these wonderful experiences.

As I sit here reading and re-reading these experiences ... tears

flowing uncontrollably, I cannot help but recall the story of the Vow

of Worship for 16 Mondays which was shared by Sarada earlier in this

forum and explained at #953 by Parvati. For me the pain of "leprosy"

refeferred to in the story is physical distance from the Guru. And so

this child asks :"Beloved Maa, for what karma have I received such a

curse from the Divine Mother? What is it that this child needs to

do to be physically with you?"Jai Maa--- In

, "aseemananda2003" <aseemananda2003>

wrote:> Sarada and Latha,> > I have a couple of stories myself to add

to where Sarada left off. If > we would only learn to trust the Guru

life would be simpler. However,

> for many of us reaching complete surrender is slow and often painful

> process. There are two particularly notable events in my life that >

come to mind. > > Back in 1994 when I was still a struggling graduate

student, I owned > a '89 Ford Tracer. At the time, I was staying at

the asharam while in > the writing stage of the dissertation.

Sometime in early 1995, Maa > said you should get rid of your car. I

thought it was odd. Why should > I get rid of the car when I can

barely afford to maintain myself on > my limited budget. I explained

to Maa that financially I could not do > it and continued to drive

the car as usual. Again some weeks later > she advised me to find

another car, but intellectually it made no > sense to me and I did

not take her counsel. > > Just a couple of months later the car was

totalled when I had serious > accident in Davis.

It was the after Valentines Day when I was rushed > to emergency room

in an ambulance. The accident left me cuts, bruises > and a fractured

bone in the lower spine. With blessings of Maa and > Swamiji and back

therapy I healed in a short time. Inspite of this > incident, I was

still not wiser.> > Now it's 2002 and I've graduated and landed what

might be a career > position at a college in New England. This high

profile, high > salaried job is why I sweated all those years in

school I thought and > declared proudly that I was moving to the east

coast. Maa and Swamiji > offered their blessings and wished me luck.

Till the last days Maa > cautioned me, "I don't have a good feeling

about this job." Again I > rationalized why I was going and instead

took the position. > > As you may have guessed, this job turned out

to be a living nightmare > and I slowly felt

myself dying emotionally and spiritually. I was cut > off from all of

my support system in a very foreign and remote place. > If not for

the communication with my family and Maa and Swamiji, I > don't think

I could have survived. Sometimes, I think I came close to > having a

nervous breakdown. Maa came to the rescue and demanded that > I call

her every night after reaching home from work. I maintained > that

routine for the rest of my 8-9 month stay in Maine. I shared > with

Maa and Swamiji all my frustrations and pain. Swamiji even > helped

me on the legal front by writing letters for me in grievances > I

filed. > > Presently I have returned to California and live in close

vicinity to > Napa. I am so blessed to have a Divine Mother and

Divine Father. I am > grateful for all of their patience,

understanding and unconditional > love. I pray to be fully

surrendered. > > Jai Maa, > Aseemananda> > > > > > > > > > --- In

, "Sarada" <sarada_saraswati> >

wrote:> > Latha, I have a similar story but the result was a bit

different. > A > > few years ago the wooden bridge that leads to our

Mandir needed to > > be replaced. It was starting to rot away and

every time a car > passed > > over it there was a good chance that it

would be the end of the > > bridge. One day when we finally decided to

rebuild it, I was > > starting the first stage of the demolition of

the old bridge in a > > very light rain, and Maa walked by and said

that I should go inside > > because the wet weather conditions would

make me sick. I has lived > > in some pretty extreme climates in my

life and to me this light > rain > > posed no threat at all to my

health especially because I had a very > > strong immune system and

had been used to working in freezing rain > > and snow during the

previous five years in Boston. So I considered > > the advice to be

nothing but Maa just being the sweet mother to her > > children and

kept right on doing what I was doing.> > > > The next day I woke up

with the worst flu that I can remember > > having in my life and I

was in bed for a week. I couldn't believe > > it, I hadn't been sick

at all for years and now this. I then > > remembered Maa's advice.

Sometimes the Guru sees thing that we just > > can't perceive and

give advice according to that intuition. As > > devotees, we have to

have faith that they know what is best for us > > even when we think

that we know

better. Sometimes they are just > > testing us. Ma told me a story

once of one of Her Gurus telling Her > > to eat a rock. When She put

it in Her mouth and began to chew it > > turned into a delicious

sweet. > > > > There is another story that happened when we were

building Maa's > > house. There was a big oak tree in the front yard

that Maa decided > > one day that it needed to come down. She was

afraid that one day > the > > tree would fall on Her house. This was

a difficult proposition for > > us because the angle of the tree put

the house at risk of being > > toppled when we would cut it, so we

tried to talk Her out of it. > The > > tree appeared to be perfectly

healthy to us so we felt confident > > taking responsibility for

letting the tree stay. "Of course it > won't > > fall down," we

thought, "What does She know

about trees anyways and > > besides, the tree shows no signs decay at

all. This tree will be > > here for another hundred years easily."

Well, after a few days of > > debate we decided to listen to the

Divine Mother and we cut down > the > > tree. To our surprise, the

entire center of the tree was rotten and > > it would have only been

a matter of time before Maa would have been > > surprised by a

crashing tree falling into Her kitchen.> > > > Even though from the

outside the tree showed no signs at all of > > danger, Maa saw inside

the tree and was giving Her advice from that > > perspective. I would

imagine that all of Her words come from this > > same intuition. > > >

> > > , "kamalama_2002" > >

<kamalama_2002> wrote:> > > As we purify more

and more, I pray that our will comes into > > harmony > > > with the

Divine Will. Not only that, but that we intuit, and > know > > >

without uncertainty, and yield to that Divine Will! Is the > Guru's

> > > desire also the Divine Will? You surrendered! Jai Maa!To

from this group, send an email

to:Your use of

is subject to the Terms of Service

<> .

Protect your identity with Mail AddressGuard

<http://antispam./whatsnewfree> Sponsor

To from this group, send an email

to:Your use of

is subject to the Terms of Service

<> . To from this group,

send an email to:Your use of

is subject to the

 

Protect your identity with Mail AddressGuard

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...