Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind. It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl... from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily. My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains... So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry? but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok? i'm really confused....... can somebody guide me pls? i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp..... TIA, Jyothi. Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Hi Jyothi, IMHO, there is no right answer to this question as I think it depends on what each person wants out of their lives. IMHO, external situations change - and getting married or not is purely a personal choice , but what is more important is to keep the focus of God as Number One in our lives ALL THE TIME. So you will want to do what keeps you focussed all the time. And conversely, you will want to keep away from whatever detracts your focus. I am curious to know what others think. Namaste Latha , Jyothi Gunturu <realizegod> wrote: > Hi All, > > I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind. > > It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl... > > from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily. > > My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains... > > So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry? > > but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok? > > i'm really confused....... > > can somebody guide me pls? > > i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp..... > > TIA, > Jyothi. > > > > > > Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 "....My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains... So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry?...." Dear Jyothi, Here is my experience: one of the greatest "traps" on the spiritual path is wanting to "escape" from the world. To be clear about what I am saying, I mean, using spiritual practice to simply avoid life. In my years involved with sadhana, I have met many many people who did alot of practice and, at the same time, were not able to bring what they learned through practice into their lives. It's very challenging to do this but every teacher or guru will encourage you eventually to find a way to bridge the gap that seems to get naturally created between what you perceive as your "spiritual life" and what you perceive of as "the world". They are not TWO;they are ONE. The underlying truth of the teachings is that THIS WORLD is the embodied form of Divine Consciousness. Well, then we have the task of learning how to live IN the world but not be OF the world. Each one of us here is discovering how to do this in our own way...some are drawn much more to puja and formal practice, others are in the "householder" stage of life and so are trying to find ways of understanding that their life in the world can be a "sacred practice" as well as the time they spend on a meditation cushion. The great gift of Swamiji and Shree Maa is that they offer the practices in a pure and generous way and that they are fountains of sustaining grace and support for us as we "struggle" with the questions you are bringing up. i think it's like Latha Nanda said, the whole thing is where you have your FOCUS. There is a saying, "easy enough to attain something in a cave in the Himalayas, much harder to hold onto it in the marketplace". You can marry or you can choose not to marry...sometimes our spouses are our greatest teachers. But a question you might want to ask yourself is what you think "spiritual advancement" really means to you? Your questions are really very valuable; thanks for asking them. best regards, sadhvi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 OM NAMA SIVAYA personally i have found that if you marry the right person it is not only OK but he/she can be your path to GOD. SIVA is nothing without SHAKTI and vice versa. make your sex part of your spiritual practice, a form of puja. the yoni/lingam together is creation (GOD). worship her/him as the divine, use your mantra, and soon you will be able to feel the flow of energy between you. strive to see your lover as GOD. worship your lover as GOD and you will soon feel the enegy of GOD flowing thru both of you as one. JAI MA!!! don't judge just love each other. and then the next step is to be able to apply that pure love to everyone and everything else. to marry is not only OK but one of the countless number of paths that can lead to the one and only TRUTH. JAI MA KALI MA , Jyothi Gunturu <realizegod> wrote: > Hi All, > > I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind. > > It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl... > > from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily. > > My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains... > > So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry? > > but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok? > > i'm really confused....... > > can somebody guide me pls? > > i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp..... > > TIA, > Jyothi. > > > > > > Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Good points! Jai Maa! - nityashakti Friday, March 26, 2004 8:49 AM re: doubt "....My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains...So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry?...."Dear Jyothi, Here is my experience: one of the greatest "traps" on the spiritual path is wanting to "escape" from the world. To be clear about what I am saying, I mean, using spiritual practice to simply avoid life. In my years involved with sadhana, I have met many many people who did alot of practice and, at the same time, were not able to bring what they learned through practice into their lives. It's very challenging to do this but every teacher or guru will encourage you eventually to find a way to bridge the gap that seems to get naturally created between what you perceive as your "spiritual life" and what you perceive of as "the world". They are not TWO;they are ONE. The underlying truth of the teachings is that THIS WORLD is the embodied form of Divine Consciousness. Well, then we have the task of learning how to live IN the world but not be OF the world. Each one of us here is discovering how to do this in our own way...some are drawn much more to puja and formal practice, others are in the "householder" stage of life and so are trying to find ways of understanding that their life in the world can be a "sacred practice" as well as the time they spend on a meditation cushion. The great gift of Swamiji and Shree Maa is that they offer the practices in a pure and generous way and that they are fountains of sustaining grace and support for us as we "struggle" with the questions you are bringing up. i think it's like Latha Nanda said, the whole thing is where you have your FOCUS. There is a saying, "easy enough to attain something in a cave in the Himalayas, much harder to hold onto it in the marketplace". You can marry or you can choose not to marry...sometimes our spouses are our greatest teachers. But a question you might want to ask yourself is what you think "spiritual advancement" really means to you? Your questions are really very valuable; thanks for asking them.best regards,sadhvi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 IMHO, even more importantly it depends on how each person looks at things in their lives and how they approach things. I mean is God outside us, outside our partner, etc? A single person can waste as much time as a householder and can possibly be even worse off if their mind is constantly dwelling on the things they supposedly have renounced. The path of renunciation (compared to the path of the householder) is for very few as most are natually inclined of the path of the householder, though they may complain about it. If you go against your natural instincts there is a great chance you can become perverted. Just look at the Catholic Church to see this example in action. This is why Ramakrsna said that the householder path was like being in a fort, protected on 3 sides while only having to fight the battle at the front. The renunciate is out in the open and attacks can and do come from all sides. But if one is truly naturally inclined towards renunciation then one can take it, of course. Shankararcharya showed this by his example which is why sannyasa can now be taken before the fourth stage of Vedic life (after age 75) as it was tranditionally done. Also to keep in mind is that there are again various ways of approaching sex inside one's marriage, relationship, etc. The main crux is to learn how to control/conserve the energy and send it upwards, allowing it to transmute into something else (Ojas). There are different ways of learning to do this and there is no one right way. Also the practice can be somewhat physically different for males than females. I mean to really do this and not pretend we are doing this or say we are doing this while just enjoying ourselves the same as everyone else. There is a nice talk with Shree Maa and Swamiji about this topic on their website. Bom Shiva Shakti! - Latha Nanda Friday, March 26, 2004 7:35 AM Re: Doubt Hi Jyothi,IMHO, there is no right answer to this question as I think it depends on what each person wants out of their lives.IMHO, external situations change - and getting married or not is purely a personal choice , but what is more important is to keep the focus of God as Number One in our lives ALL THE TIME.So you will want to do what keeps you focussed all the time.And conversely, you will want to keep away from whatever detracts your focus.I am curious to know what others think.NamasteLatha, Jyothi Gunturu <realizegod> wrote:> Hi All,> > I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind.> > It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl...> > from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily.> > My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains...> > So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry?> > but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok?> > i'm really confused.......> > can somebody guide me pls?> > i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp.....> > TIA,> Jyothi.> > > > > > Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 According to shastras, one has to marry whether one is spiritual or not. It is a duty. The dharma sutras mention that all women should take up Grihastasrama. One can opt not to marry if on a personal level they strongly feel that marriage is a hindrance to their spiritual progress in her/his case, and after consulting their guru. Marriage will never hinder one's spiritual progress. A good number of 88000 rishis are married. Vishvamitra, Vashishta...and many of them. Rgds. , Jyothi Gunturu <realizegod> wrote: > Hi All, > > I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind. > > It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl... > > from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily. > > My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains... > > So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry? > > but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok? > > i'm really confused....... > > can somebody guide me pls? > > i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp..... > > TIA, > Jyothi. > > > > > > Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 ram.--- On Fri 03/26, Jyothi Gunturu < realizegod > wrote:Jyothi Gunturu [ realizegod ]To: Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 23:58:11 -0800 (PST) DoubtHi All, I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind. It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl... from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily. My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains... So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry? but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok? i'm really confused....... can somebody guide me pls? i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp..... TIA,Jyothi. Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.Introducing My Way - http://www.myway.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Thank you Brian. Very well put. "Brian McKee" <brian (AT) soulspark (DOT) org> Fri, 26 Mar 2004 16:49:05 -0500 (EST) RE: Doubt Swamiji can give you all the details, I'm a newbie myself. In my opinion, there is no such thing as getting away from worldly duties. Heck you look at Swamiji. He lived in the Himalayas for 22 years. He was sadhu living by himself for much of that time, performing daily sadhana. But did he get to stay there? No. He had worldly duties to perform, and to inspire him to do that he met a living embodiment of the goddess he had been worshiping for all those years. He met Shree Maa. Now he has a family, a bank account, a car, a home (even if it is a temple) and mouths to feed. Is this Maya? Yes it is, but maya is what this place is all about and you can't get away from it. You can't run to the hills to escape it, the hills are part of it. It is here to teach us and to learn from us. She is here to test our consciousness, to test how much we want to be aware. Reality exists to show us how to evolve and grow in these circumstances. Next time around everything will be different, even if just slightly, to see how consciousness deals with that form of Maya. It is absolutely not necessary to stop doing anything in the world. When the Rishis talk about giving up the world, then mean giving it up on the inside. You still do things in the world, but you don't own what you do, you give it to Mother as a service to her as a flower offered to consciousness as a wish to be aware. As the westerners say, "you are in the world but not of it." I am a householder who is on a deeply spiritual path and mission. I do not have to give up my new Subaru (which I haven't bought yet) but I do have to give up being attached to it as I had to give up being attached to my Honda Prelude when it was struck by a Taxi cab two weeks ago. Just like I had to give up my fear, my anger, and my anguish at the loss of my car and the wounding of my body. It is not about running away from reality, its about letting reality go and loving everything as if it were yourself -- your true self. (which ironically, from goddess perspective, it is) When you give up the world you do not sacrifice anything but your attachements to the world. There are as many joys found in the gifts of reality as there is in any cave in Tibet or India. Its not about spiritual attainment. Its not about worldly attainment. Its not about identification with spirit or with flesh and bone. Its about discovering who we are, and that is a process given to us by mother so that we learn how to grow into ourselves, become king of the three worlds and then seek to attain even higher, to capture that goddess -- or more aptly to let her capture us and infuse us with her wisdom, her love, and her strength. Everyone has an unique path on which to walk. Every spark of consciousness wants a different experience. And every spark wants to experience EVERYTHING. So lifetime after lifetime we encarnate to learn how to be a cab driver who makes a mistake and hurts someone, how to be an engineer who likes computers, to be a man who feels the presence of god, to be a woman who is the goddess herself, to be the king pin of the mafia, to be a cop, to be in the FBI, to be a terrorist, or to be everything imaginable from the smallest single celled life form to a planet or a star. We are the encarnation of goddess acting in her divine play, a spark of individualized identity seeking to know itself through space and time and the five senses. You can be anything you want to be, and be spiritual. Spirituality, to me, is simply wanting to know your true self and accepting the process that unfolds through that desire. Welcome to the group. May mother bless you with self understanding. Love, Brian "In the begining, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Radio Prog ram. --- On Fri 03/26, Jyothi Gunturu < realizegod > wrote: Jyothi Gunturu [ realizegod ] Thu, 25 Mar 2004 23:58:11 -0800 (PST) Doubt Hi All, I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind. It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl... from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily. My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains... So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry? but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok? i'm really confused....... can somebody guide me pls? i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp..... TIA, Jyothi. Finance Tax Center <http://taxes./filing.html> - File online. File on time. No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding. Introducing My Way - http://www.myway.com Sponsor / <?subject=Un> Terms of Service <> . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 26, 2004 Report Share Posted March 26, 2004 Very deep question, If you want to get more confused, then go ahead and ask it on :-) As Latha said, there is no real answer. Many "Grahasts" have reached the highest state and many ascetics have sunk deep into spiritual desert. -s --- Jyothi Gunturu <realizegod wrote: > Hi All, > > I joined the group recently and am very happy about > it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking > you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind. > > It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself > from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read > few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i > dont do much pooja like u ppl... > > from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha > sahastraparayana daily. > > My doubt is i have read in most books that we must > be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual > gains... > > So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to > attain spiritual advancement shud not marry? > > but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is > it ok? > > i'm really confused....... > > can somebody guide me pls? > > i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out > of place in the grp..... > > TIA, > Jyothi. > > > > > > Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. http://taxes./filing.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Thank you very much for your time in answering me. Now another one I wanted to know where do u all stay? I stay in Chennai,India. Is anybody in India? And can anybody tell me the abt the programmes ur doing(according to what i read from recent mails of this grp) Most of u reffered swamiji and Shree Ma.... Who is Swamiji? And Is Shree Ma the divine mother Lalithambika? Best Regards, Jyothi.Ardis Jackson <anandamama (AT) earthlink (DOT) net> wrote: Thank you Brian. Very well put. "Brian McKee" <brian (AT) soulspark (DOT) org> Date: Fri, 26 Mar 2004 16:49:05 -0500 (EST)Subject: RE: Doubt Swamiji can give you all the details, I'm a newbie myself.In my opinion, there is no such thing as getting away from worldly duties. Heck you look at Swamiji. He lived in the Himalayas for 22 years. He was sadhu living by himself for much of that time, performing daily sadhana. But did he get to stay there? No. He had worldly duties to perform, and to inspire him to do that he met a living embodiment of the goddess he had been worshiping for all those years. He met Shree Maa.Now he has a family, a bank account, a car, a home (even if it is a temple) and mouths to feed. Is this Maya? Yes it is, but maya is what this place is all about and you can't get away from it. You can't run to the hills to escape it, the hills are part of it. It is here to teach us and to learn from us. She is here to test our consciousness, to test how much we want to be aware. Reality exists to show us how to evolve and grow in these circumstances. Next time around everything will be different, even if just slightly, to see how consciousness deals with that form of Maya.It is absolutely not necessary to stop doing anything in the world. When the Rishis talk about giving up the world, then mean giving it up on the inside. You still do things in the world, but you don't own what you do, you give it to Mother as a service to her as a flower offered to consciousness as a wish to be aware. As the westerners say, "you are in the world but not of it."I am a householder who is on a deeply spiritual path and mission. I do not have to give up my new Subaru (which I haven't bought yet) but I do have to give up being attached to it as I had to give up being attached to my Honda Prelude when it was struck by a Taxi cab two weeks ago. Just like I had to give up my fear, my anger, and my anguish at the loss of my car and the wounding of my body. It is not about running away from reality, its about letting reality go and loving everything as if it were yourself -- your true self. (which ironically, from goddess perspective, it is)When you give up the world you do not sacrifice anything but your attachements to the world.There are as many joys found in the gifts of reality as there is in any cave in Tibet or India. Its not about spiritual attainment. Its not about worldly attainment. Its not about identification with spirit or with flesh and bone. Its about discovering who we are, and that is a process given to us by mother so that we learn how to grow into ourselves, become king of the three worlds and then seek to attain even higher, to capture that goddess -- or more aptly to let her capture us and infuse us with her wisdom, her love, and her strength.Everyone has an unique path on which to walk. Every spark of consciousness wants a different experience. And every spark wants to experience EVERYTHING. So lifetime after lifetime we encarnate to learn how to be a cab driver who makes a mistake and hurts someone, how to be an engineer who likes computers, to be a man who feels the presence of god, to be a woman who is the goddess herself, to be the king pin of the mafia, to be a cop, to be in the FBI, to be a terrorist, or to be everything imaginable from the smallest single celled life form to a planet or a star.We are the encarnation of goddess acting in her divine play, a spark of individualized identity seeking to know itself through space and time and the five senses.You can be anything you want to be, and be spiritual. Spirituality, to me, is simply wanting to know your true self and accepting the process that unfolds through that desire.Welcome to the group.May mother bless you with self understanding.Love,Brian"In the begining, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Radio Prog ram.--- On Fri 03/26, Jyothi Gunturu < realizegod > wrote: Jyothi Gunturu [ realizegod ]To: Date: Thu, 25 Mar 2004 23:58:11 -0800 (PST) DoubtHi All,I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind.It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl...from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily.My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains...So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry?but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok?i'm really confused.......can somebody guide me pls?i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp.....TIA,Jyothi. Finance Tax Center <http://taxes./filing.html> - File online. File on time. No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.Introducing My Way - http://www.myway.com Sponsor / <?subject=Un> Terms of Service <> . Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Hi Jyothi this sanju i am from U.K, any body from U;K in the group? --- Jyothi Gunturu <realizegod wrote: > Hi All, > > Thank you very much for your time in answering me. > > Now another one > > I wanted to know where do u all stay? I stay in > Chennai,India. Is anybody in India? > And can anybody tell me the abt the programmes ur > doing(according to what i read from recent mails of > this grp) > > Most of u reffered swamiji and Shree Ma.... > > Who is Swamiji? And Is Shree Ma the divine mother > Lalithambika? > > Best Regards, > Jyothi. > > Ardis Jackson <anandamama wrote: > Thank you Brian. Very well put. > > "Brian McKee" <brian > > Fri, 26 Mar 2004 16:49:05 -0500 (EST) > > RE: Doubt > > > Swamiji can give you all the details, I'm a newbie > myself. > > In my opinion, there is no such thing as getting > away from worldly duties. Heck you look at Swamiji. > He lived in the Himalayas for 22 years. He was sadhu > living by himself for much of that time, performing > daily sadhana. But did he get to stay there? No. He > had worldly duties to perform, and to inspire him to > do that he met a living embodiment of the goddess he > had been worshiping for all those years. He met > Shree Maa. > > Now he has a family, a bank account, a car, a home > (even if it is a temple) and mouths to feed. Is this > Maya? Yes it is, but maya is what this place is all > about and you can't get away from it. You can't run > to the hills to escape it, the hills are part of it. > It is here to teach us and to learn from us. She is > here to test our consciousness, to test how much we > want to be aware. Reality exists to show us how to > evolve and grow in these circumstances. Next time > around everything will be different, even if just > slightly, to see how consciousness deals with that > form of Maya. > > It is absolutely not necessary to stop doing > anything in the world. When the Rishis talk about > giving up the world, then mean giving it up on the > inside. You still do things in the world, but you > don't own what you do, you give it to Mother as a > service to her as a flower offered to consciousness > as a wish to be aware. As the westerners say, "you > are in the world but not of it." > > I am a householder who is on a deeply spiritual path > and mission. I do not have to give up my new Subaru > (which I haven't bought yet) but I do have to give > up being attached to it as I had to give up being > attached to my Honda Prelude when it was struck by a > Taxi cab two weeks ago. Just like I had to give up > my fear, my anger, and my anguish at the loss of my > car and the wounding of my body. It is not about > running away from reality, its about letting reality > go and loving everything as if it were yourself -- > your true self. (which ironically, from goddess > perspective, it is) > > When you give up the world you do not sacrifice > anything but your attachements to the world. > > There are as many joys found in the gifts of reality > as there is in any cave in Tibet or India. Its not > about spiritual attainment. Its not about worldly > attainment. Its not about identification with spirit > or with flesh and bone. Its about discovering who we > are, and that is a process given to us by mother so > that we learn how to grow into ourselves, become > king of the three worlds and then seek to attain > even higher, to capture that goddess -- or more > aptly to let her capture us and infuse us with her > wisdom, her love, and her strength. > > Everyone has an unique path on which to walk. Every > spark of consciousness wants a different experience. > And every spark wants to experience EVERYTHING. So > lifetime after lifetime we encarnate to learn how to > be a cab driver who makes a mistake and hurts > someone, how to be an engineer who likes computers, > to be a man who feels the presence of god, to be a > woman who is the goddess herself, to be the king pin > of the mafia, to be a cop, to be in the FBI, to be a > terrorist, or to be everything imaginable from the > smallest single celled life form to a planet or a > star. > > We are the encarnation of goddess acting in her > divine play, a spark of individualized identity > seeking to know itself through space and time and > the five senses. > > You can be anything you want to be, and be > spiritual. Spirituality, to me, is simply wanting to > know your true self and accepting the process that > unfolds through that desire. > > Welcome to the group. > > May mother bless you with self understanding. > > Love, > > Brian > > > > > "In the begining, the universe was created. This has > made a lot of people very angry and been widely > regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch > Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Radio Prog ram. > > --- On Fri 03/26, Jyothi Gunturu < > realizegod > wrote: > > Jyothi Gunturu [ realizegod] > > Thu, 25 Mar 2004 23:58:11 -0800 (PST) > Doubt > > Hi All, > > I joined the group recently and am very happy about > it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking > you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind. > > It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself > from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read > few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i > dont do much pooja like u ppl... > > from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha > sahastraparayana daily. > > My doubt is i have read in most books that we must > be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual > gains... > > So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to > attain spiritual advancement shud not marry? > > but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is > it ok? > > i'm really confused....... > > can somebody guide me pls? > > i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out > of place in the grp..... > > TIA, > Jyothi. > > > > > > > Finance Tax Center > <http://taxes./filing.html> - File online. > File on time. > > > > > No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding. > Introducing My Way - http://www.myway.com > Sponsor > > > > > Links > > > / > > > > > <?subject=Un> === message truncated === _________ WIN FREE WORLDWIDE FLIGHTS - nominate a cafe in the Mail Internet Cafe Awards www..co.uk/internetcafes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Am in Chennai India too. Check out shreemaa.org for more info. Most of the members here are located in the US. Few of em are from UK. And I think I will get to know more thru this question that u asked:-) Are you a South Indian? JyotiSanjay Dhokiya <sdhokiya > wrote: Hi Jyothi this sanju i am from U.K, any body from U;K in thegroup? --- Jyothi Gunturu <realizegod > wrote: > HiAll,> > Thank you very much for your time in answering me. > > Now another one > > I wanted to know where do u all stay? I stay in> Chennai,India. Is anybody in India?> And can anybody tell me the abt the programmes ur> doing(according to what i read from recent mails of> this grp)> > Most of u reffered swamiji and Shree Ma....> > Who is Swamiji? And Is Shree Ma the divine mother> Lalithambika?> > Best Regards,> Jyothi.> > Ardis Jackson <anandamama (AT) earthlink (DOT) net> wrote:> Thank you Brian. Very well put.> > "Brian McKee" <brian (AT) soulspark (DOT) org>> > Fri, 26 Mar 2004 16:49:05 -0500 (EST)> > RE: Doubt> > > Swamiji can give you all the details, I'm a newbie> myself.> > In my opinion, there is no such thing as getting> away from worldly duties. Heck you look at Swamiji.> He lived in the Himalayas for 22 years. He was sadhu> living by himself for much of that time, performing> daily sadhana. But did he get to stay there? No. He> had worldly duties to perform, and to inspire him to> do that he met a living embodiment of the goddess he> had been worshiping for all those years. He met> Shree Maa.> > Now he has a family, a bank account, a car, a home> (even if it is a temple) and mouths to feed. Is this> Maya? Yes it is, but maya is what this place is all> about and you can't get away from it. You can't run> to the hills to escape it, the hills are part of it.> It is here to teach us and to learn from us. She is> here to test our consciousness, to test how much we> want to be aware. Reality exists to show us how to> evolve and grow in these circumstances. Next time> around everything will be different, even if just> slightly, to see how consciousness deals with that> form of Maya.> > It is absolutely not necessary to stop doing> anything in the world. When the Rishis talk about> giving up the world, then mean giving it up on the> inside. You still do things in the world, but you> don't own what you do, you give it to Mother as a> service to her as a flower offered to consciousness> as a wish to be aware. As the westerners say, "you> are in the world but not of it."> > I am a householder who is on a deeply spiritual path> and mission. I do not have to give up my new Subaru> (which I haven't bought yet) but I do have to give> up being attached to it as I had to give up being> attached to my Honda Prelude when it was struck by a> Taxi cab two weeks ago. Just like I had to give up> my fear, my anger, and my anguish at the loss of my> car and the wounding of my body. It is not about> running away from reality, its about letting reality> go and loving everything as if it were yourself --> your true self. (which ironically, from goddess> perspective, it is)> > When you give up the world you do not sacrifice> anything but your attachements to the world.> > There are as many joys found in the gifts of reality> as there is in any cave in Tibet or India. Its not> about spiritual attainment. Its not about worldly> attainment. Its not about identification with spirit> or with flesh and bone. Its about discovering who we> are, and that is a process given to us by mother so> that we learn how to grow into ourselves, become> king of the three worlds and then seek to attain> even higher, to capture that goddess -- or more> aptly to let her capture us and infuse us with her> wisdom, her love, and her strength.> > Everyone has an unique path on which to walk. Every> spark of consciousness wants a different experience.> And every spark wants to experience EVERYTHING. So> lifetime after lifetime we encarnate to learn how to> be a cab driver who makes a mistake and hurts> someone, how to be an engineer who likes computers,> to be a man who feels the presence of god, to be a> woman who is the goddess herself, to be the king pin> of the mafia, to be a cop, to be in the FBI, to be a> terrorist, or to be everything imaginable from the> smallest single celled life form to a planet or a> star.> > We are the encarnation of goddess acting in her> divine play, a spark of individualized identity> seeking to know itself through space and time and> the five senses.> > You can be anything you want to be, and be> spiritual. Spirituality, to me, is simply wanting to> know your true self and accepting the process that> unfolds through that desire.> > Welcome to the group.> > May mother bless you with self understanding.> > Love,> > Brian> > > > > "In the begining, the universe was created. This has> made a lot of people very angry and been widely> regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch> Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Radio Prog ram.> > --- On Fri 03/26, Jyothi Gunturu <> realizegod > wrote:> > Jyothi Gunturu [ realizegod ]> To: > Thu, 25 Mar 2004 23:58:11 -0800 (PST)> Doubt> > Hi All,> > I joined the group recently and am very happy about> it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking> you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind.> > It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself> from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read> few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i> dont do much pooja like u ppl...> > from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha> sahastraparayana daily.> > My doubt is i have read in most books that we must> be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual> gains...> > So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to> attain spiritual advancement shud not marry?> > but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is> it ok?> > i'm really confused.......> > can somebody guide me pls?> > i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out> of place in the grp.....> > TIA,> Jyothi.> > > > > > > Finance Tax Center> <http://taxes./filing.html> - File online.> File on time. > > > > > No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.> Introducing My Way - http://www.myway.com > Sponsor > > > > > Links> > > / > > To from this group, send an email to:> > ><?subject=Un>=== message truncated === _________WIN FREE WORLDWIDE FLIGHTS - nominate a cafe in the Mail Internet Cafe Awards www..co.uk/internetcafes Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 27, 2004 Report Share Posted March 27, 2004 Many of us are in the US. You can learn about Swami Satyananda Saraswati and Shree Maa at: http://www.shreemaa.org If you have no experience with worship (which I doubt, being that you are from India) I suggest you start with the Beginner Durga Puja. When worshiping the goddess there are a couple of things that are good to focus on. 1. Goddess is consciousness. Durga is specifically the consciousness that illuminates confusion, who removes confusion. (she illuminates it, we let it go, its a team effort) 2. When worshipping goddess, it is not so much how you say what you say or how accurately you recite the verses. What matters is your intent. And your intent should be to acknowledge her sacredness. 3. If you don't desire consciousness yet, its only because you have not seen her or felt her yet. If you do not desire her yet, then don't fool yourself into thinking you comprehend what she is about. Be honest and say, "I've heard about you and I want you to teach me about you, personally." Make that attitude your underlying feeling during the puja. She will respond. She has to. 4. Don't classify anything that you feel, think, or desire while performing the puja. When we worship her, she worships us, and our experiences are brought about by her. If we allow our minds to classify, then we are doing the goddess a disservice. We can't stop ourselves from thinking (only she can do that) but we can stop ourselves from reacting to our thoughts and feelings. That is the first step toward self awareness. That is how the ego becomes king of the three worlds in preparation for the receiving of goddess. 5. The purpose of Durga's Mantra, "OM HRIM SRIM DUM DURGAYAI NAMAH" is three fold: one it gives the mind at least one task to do. Its not that the mind won't learn to do that and other things at the same time -- it will and that's OKAY -- don't worry about it. The second purpose is to invoke her energy. The sound vibrations are as close to her energy as is transmittable by the human vocal chords. The third purpose is to create a momentum. We are deliberately creating karma for ourselves, my making invocation of her name a habit. The more we do it, the more she is compelled to manifest for us. If we become masters, like Swami Satyananda, then she will manifest physically, because she has to, because we have been granted that boon. 6. The key to accepting goddess into our hearts is surrender. Don't give up on anything, but offer up your self to her. Ask her to inhabit your being and become one with you. If you are well intentioned you will find a partner (if that is your path) who will become goddess for you, as you become god for her. When you offer flowers to the goddess, or whatever you can offer to her, make sure that you attempt to give her your confusion, your duplicity, your fear, and your reactions. She is most impressed by us giving up our identity. It is our devotion to her that brings her closer, and we show that devotion best by surrendering to her and her various forms. 7. Maha Maya is yet another form of goddess and she has plans for us that are completely out of our control. Surrender to fate is healthy and as long as we keep doing what we feel is right and we have our experiences without attachment. That is another way to get her attention, to call her down from that mountainside, and to pay attention to us. This is what I have learned in my short time on my path. I hope it helps. Jai Durga Maa Ki Jai. Brian At 01:26 AM 3/27/2004, you wrote: Hi All, Thank you very much for your time in answering me. Now another one I wanted to know where do u all stay? I stay in Chennai,India. Is anybody in India? And can anybody tell me the abt the programmes ur doing(according to what i read from recent mails of this grp) Most of u reffered swamiji and Shree Ma.... Who is Swamiji? And Is Shree Ma the divine mother Lalithambika? Best Regards, Jyothi. Ardis Jackson <anandamama (AT) earthlink (DOT) net> wrote: Thank you Brian. Very well put. "Brian McKee" <brian (AT) soulspark (DOT) org> Fri, 26 Mar 2004 16:49:05 -0500 (EST) RE: Doubt Swamiji can give you all the details, I'm a newbie myself. In my opinion, there is no such thing as getting away from worldly duties. Heck you look at Swamiji. He lived in the Himalayas for 22 years. He was sadhu living by himself for much of that time, performing daily sadhana. But did he get to stay there? No. He had worldly duties to perform, and to inspire him to do that he met a living embodiment of the goddess he had been worshiping for all those years. He met Shree Maa. Now he has a family, a bank account, a car, a home (even if it is a temple) and mouths to feed. Is this Maya? Yes it is, but maya is what this place is all about and you can't get away from it. You can't run to the hills to escape it, the hills are part of it. It is here to teach us and to learn from us. She is here to test our consciousness, to test how much we want to be aware. Reality exists to show us how to evolve and grow in these circumstances. Next time around everything will be different, even if just slightly, to see how consciousness deals with that form of Maya. It is absolutely not necessary to stop doing anything in the world. When the Rishis talk about giving up the world, then mean giving it up on the inside. You still do things in the world, but you don't own what you do, you give it to Mother as a service to her as a flower offered to consciousness as a wish to be aware. As the westerners say, "you are in the world but not of it." I am a householder who is on a deeply spiritual path and mission. I do not have to give up my new Subaru (which I haven't bought yet) but I do have to give up being attached to it as I had to give up being attached to my Honda Prelude when it was struck by a Taxi cab two weeks ago. Just like I had to give up my fear, my anger, and my anguish at the loss of my car and the wounding of my body. It is not about running away from reality, its about letting reality go and loving everything as if it were yourself -- your true self. (which ironically, from goddess perspective, it is) When you give up the world you do not sacrifice anything but your attachements to the world. There are as many joys found in the gifts of reality as there is in any cave in Tibet or India. Its not about spiritual attainment. Its not about worldly attainment. Its not about identification with spirit or with flesh and bone. Its about discovering who we are, and that is a process given to us by mother so that we learn how to grow into ourselves, become king of the three worlds and then seek to attain even higher, to capture that goddess -- or more aptly to let her capture us and infuse us with her wisdom, her love, and her strength. Everyone has an unique path on which to walk. Every spark of consciousness wants a different experience. And every spark wants to experience EVERYTHING. So lifetime after lifetime we encarnate to learn how to be a cab driver who makes a mistake and hurts someone, how to be an engineer who likes computers, to be a man who feels the presence of god, to be a woman who is the goddess herself, to be the king pin of the mafia, to be a cop, to be in the FBI, to be a terrorist, or to be everything imaginable from the smallest single celled life form to a planet or a star. We are the encarnation of goddess acting in her divine play, a spark of individualized identity seeking to know itself through space and time and the five senses. You can be anything you want to be, and be spiritual. Spirituality, to me, is simply wanting to know your true self and accepting the process that unfolds through that desire. Welcome to the group. May mother bless you with self understanding. Love, Brian "In the begining, the universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy Radio Prog ram. --- On Fri 03/26, Jyothi Gunturu < realizegod > wrote: Jyothi Gunturu [ realizegod ] Thu, 25 Mar 2004 23:58:11 -0800 (PST) Doubt Hi All, I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind. It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl... from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily. My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains... So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry? but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok? i'm really confused....... can somebody guide me pls? i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp..... TIA, Jyothi. Finance Tax Center <http://taxes./filing.html> - File online. File on time. No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding. Introducing My Way - http://www.myway.com Sponsor / To from this group, send an email to: <?subject=Un> Terms of Service <> . Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Sponsor / --- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.634 / Virus Database: 406 - Release 3/18/2004 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.634 / Virus Database: 406 - Release 3/18/2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 Well as usual I thought what could a fool like me say to add to what great minds here have said however Lathaji's request perhaps denoted Maa instructing me to share something............. You could tread spritual path which can be both as Neti ! Neti ! (Not this ! Not this !) or Iti ! Iti ! ( This is actually a manifestation of that ) Maya is both the illusion and reality and also beyond................. Some tradition clasify life as spritual and material (duality) perhaps it is helpful for their practioners whose mind gets easily agitated or influenced by the daily mundane matters that makes it difficult for focus on what matters the most for them -GOD. For this group of people it is better to practice in solitary under gurus guidance. Where else some tradition seems to dwell in the very material world saying all the experience that you go through are in essence towards your spritual upliftment .Again you need gurus assistance to share with you what is the spritual significance of each part of your life (as student, householder, wife ,husband etc.) and how to enhance further........ I think we beleive in essence there is only life (unity-without material or spiritual classifcation) we are going through and BEING is our goal.Well trying to "BEING HER " to be precise. I beleive you were able to gather vast literature of learning from the first tradition as this is easily available in the market. But I think it is more important to obtain guidance from a bonafide guru who understand you perspective in life and current condition so he could optimise your learning and enhance your spiritual upliftment.Guru Gita would be a good guidance to understand guru -disciple relationship first before embarking on this beatiful journey something like marriage too............ In Chandi Path various manifestation of Maa comes to overcome Mahishashura - the Great Ego. The Great Ego gets angry as the earlier boon given by Divine Mother stated he could only be killed by the Goddess alone and now various forms of deities are out there to kill him.Then all the forms merged and She stated it was always She alone manifesting to subdue him.This world , our relationship with others and even the duality of existence and feelings that we have in truth are to bring us closer to Her.You need darkness to identify light , you need cold to know hot and vice versa . Our puja bring this understanding to reality from the worshipper ,worshiping and being worship we move to worship alone-from duality to unity. If I may suggest you could take simple puja ,may be to cultivate infinite goodness( Simple Shiva Puja ) in your life or to remove the difficulties (Durga Puja) from the perception of marriage seems to have on you now. Rishis ,sages even great devotees have got married or stayed renunciate. Lathaji is right the question here is not whether mariage is right or wrong but whether it helps you on your focus or not . Swamiji says define what you WANT to achieve first -the goal then proceeed with only action that would help them. So what you really want my dear Jyothiji?That is the question you alone could answer. But if you would like to remove the darkness (ignorance of not knowing what actually marriage is or what to choose) before deciding than Kali Puja would be a good help and if you need to remove the obstacles before you decide what is your ultimate goal in life then you could do Ganesa Puja . But remember in all they are just Maa waitng for you to call on Her to overcome the forces of duality within. She waited for the devas long ago in Chandi Path, today she is waiting for us to call Her to subdue the forces of duality within. She would wait for you too...................... Jai Maa!!! Latha Nanda <lathananda > wrote: Hi Jyothi,IMHO, there is no right answer to this question as I think it depends on what each person wants out of their lives.IMHO, external situations change - and getting married or not is purely a personal choice , but what is more important is to keep the focus of God as Number One in our lives ALL THE TIME.So you will want to do what keeps you focussed all the time.And conversely, you will want to keep away from whatever detracts your focus.I am curious to know what others think.NamasteLatha, Jyothi Gunturu <realizegod> wrote:> Hi All,> > I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind.> > It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl...> > from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily.> > My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains...> > So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry?> > but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok?> > i'm really confused.......> > can somebody guide me pls?> > i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp.....> > TIA,> Jyothi.> > > > > > Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 29, 2004 Report Share Posted March 29, 2004 ion as I think it depends on what each person wants out of their lives.IMHO, external situations change - and getting married or not is purely a personal choice , but what is more important is to keep the focus of God as Number One in our lives ALL THE TIME.So you will want to do what keeps you focussed all the time.And conversely, you will want to keep away from whatever detracts your focus.I am curious to know what others think.NamasteLatha--- In , Jyothi Gunturu wrote:> Hi All,> > I joined the group recently and am very happy about it. I am a newbie in this area and i wud keep asking you ppl for some help. Hope u wont mind.> > It recently stuck to me that i shud raise myself from physical plane. I wanted to go beyond.I read few books on spiritual enlightenment. To be frank, i dont do much pooja like u ppl...> > from past 6 months i'm doing lalitha sahastraparayana daily.> > My doubt is i have read in most books that we must be away from worldly pleasures for spiritual gains...> > So is it wrong to marry? is it like ppl who want to attain spiritual advancement shud not marry?> > but if u marry u have to perform certain duties...is it ok?> > i'm really confused.......> > can somebody guide me pls?> > i'm really sorry if i asked something which is out of place in the grp.....> > TIA,> Jyothi.> > > > > Do you ?> Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time.Do you ? Finance Tax Center - File online. File on time. No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.Introducing My Way - http://www.myway.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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