Celebration of Sri Ramakrishna's Birthday

[Guest guest]

Sunday Feb 22nd 5pm - Here's a gist of the evenings satsangha to

celebrate Sri Ramakrishna's birthday.

 

We started with one of the disciples doing puja to Sri Ramakrishna

(the picture on the home page) using the Shiva Puja Beginner book,

replacing the Om Namah Shiva mantra for the offerings with Om Sri

Guruve Namah.

 

Then Swamiji led the chanting of the Guru Gita. Such a beautiful

scripture ...we sang to the Guru in the presence of Guru's. Swamiji

infuses so much energy into every word. It was magical...We were in

Swarga Lok!

 

We sang arati to Sri Ramakrishna "Khandan bhava bandhan ..." and

thereafter sat in meditation for a while.

 

Maa asked an ardent devotee to read their favorite story from Sri

Ramakrishna's life. He selected the one that Sri Ramakrishna talked

about in his early days when he was so crazed in the love for the

divine Mother and wanted Her Darshan. Swamiji added that was the

kind of intensity and longing we must have for the Divine Mother.

Describing it as "Vyakulata" ..total absorbption to the exclusion of

everything else. He said "It's not just about chanting the mantras,

that was just the discipline".

 

Another devotee asked Swamiji about how his relationship with Sri

Ramakrishna began.... He said it was around the 70's when he used to

live outside the verandah of Sri Ramakrishna's room in

Dakshineswar. Also, he described the time when he first heard Maa

chant the Chandi... he would climb the walls of the women's living

quarters in the Ramakrishna Math and listen to her voice until the

early hours of the morning. Sometimes the kind women devotees would

invite him for chai (tea). When he was not able to do worship at the

fire, he would substitute by placing a large cloth on the ground and

offered puffed rice with every swaha of the Chandi. For Purnahuti

(completion of worship) he would offer Dal Moth (sweet n'salty

snack) over the puffed rice and offer it as prasad to the children

and visitors.

 

Here's an Interesting fact... ( I love hearing this stuff.. thought

that the group members would too!)

Swamiji and Maa both used to worship the same picture image of

Chandi which is on the cover of Chandi Path and each had established

them separately in homes of several hundred devotees in India, even

before they had met.

 

As if the chanting and the beautiful stories from Swamiji was not

enough.... Maa sang in her joyous, melodious voice."prem bhore man

re gaao......sri ramakrishna naam, sri ramakrishna naam" and

another favorite " Ramakrishna ki manav lila, adbhut aur mahaan, aao

hum sab mila kar gaye Jai Jai Ramakrishna... ".

 

For prasad, Maa prepared Sri Ramakrishna's favorite foods...luchis

(pooris made with while flour), fried eggplant, mixed vegetables,

kichidi (rice, lentils,vegetables & spices cooked together), a sweet

chutney made with yams. Along with that there were jelebis (pretzel

shaped orange colored sweets), brownies and laddus. A perfect ending

to a wonderful satsangha.

 

Om Namo Bhagavate Sri Ramakrishnaaya Namo Namah!

Jai Sri Ramakrishna!