actions and unintended consequences

[Guest guest]

OM NAMAH SIVAYA

 

the lesson of carefullness when performing actions has many levels.

for example, one may make an off-handed remark in jest, or a

sarcastic remark, and your joke may result in a misinterpretation

which can have unintended consequences. i guess this is why

continually refining our discrimination and awareness is so

important. Mary Ma's bday yesterday, what a blessing Ma is.

 

JAI MA

 

, "Karen Borak" <karenborak@e...>

wrote:

> Namaste ALL esp Srini,

>

> Imagine--a satsang with Maa and only 5 people in the room. What a

blessing for you and your family...and what a huge blessing for this

cyber satsang that you were kind enough to share your story. The

big lesson as you said, "So we should be very careful when we

perform our actions; she (Maa) also said that we should do every

action with great respect. Also, we should not be judgmental of

others.

>

> Dhanyavaada (thanks)!

> and especially kind of you to include meanings for words that

might be unfamiliar to some of us readers!!!

>

>

> -

> ammasmkd

>

> Sunday, September 19, 2004 3:10 AM

> Jai Maa!

>

>

> Dear brothers and sisters,

>

> My worshipful prayers at the lotus feet of our most beloved Maa

and

> Swamiji!

>

> A few months ago, my wife and I had the great good fortune to be

at

> Devi Mandir. One evening, when we were there, we had a beautiful

> treat when Maa gave a satsang about Lord Ganesha. She told us

the

> story of how Lord Ganesha was created and came to have the head

of an

> elephant. Latha already has related that story. One thing I

remember

> from Maa's telling was the following:

>

> When Goddess Parvathi became angry with Lord Shiva for cutting

of the

> head of their son, She became "Kaala Raathri", one of the nine

names

> of Goddess Durga. So fierce was Her anger.

>

> The other story that she related, that I had not heard about,

was how

> Lord Ganesha came to have a little mouse as his Vaahana. The

story

> had a moral that Maa shared with us and I wish to share that

moral

> with you.

>

> The story first (as my feeble mind recalls it):

>

> Ages ago, there lived a wise sage named Vamadeva. He performed a

lot

> of sadhana in his ashram. One day, another sage visited him and

asked

> if he would be interested in going for a dance in Devaloka where

Lord

> Indra and other celestials lived. Vamadeva was not interested in

> watching the celestials dance, as he was more interested in his

> sadhana and initially refused the invitation. But his sage

brother

> persuaded him and Vamadeva reluctantly went to Devaloka.

>

> In Devaloka, the dance had begun and the Gandharvas (celestial

> beings) were dancing with Apsaras (female celestials). Vamadeva

> noticed that one Gandharva was looking at another Apsara in a

impure

> way (Maa described this as a "silly attraction"). The

Gandharva's

> name was Kraunch. Vamadeva became furious with Kraunch and

cursed him

> that the latter would be born as a mouse on earth. Now, Kraunch

also

> became furious and said that "OK, I will be a mouse", but I will

> visit the ashrams of all the sages and create trouble there.

>

> And so it came to be. Kraunch as a mouse went around different

> ashrams and caused trouble for the sadhana of the wise sages.

>

> Once Kraunch was in the ashram of the sage Parasara. The latter

out

> of desperation prayed to Lord Siva to relieve him of

> this "difficulty". Lord Siva appeared and seeing what was going

on,

> said, "This is a problem for Lord Ganesha". So Lord Ganesh

appeared

> in Sage Parasara's Ashram and addressed the Mouse"Hey Mouse! Why

are

> you causing so much trouble". To which, Krauncha related the

whole

> story. Hearing this, Lord Ganesha asked Kraunch if he wished to

> become his "vaahana", or vehicle on which Ganesh could travel.

The

> mouse readily agreed. What a divine blessing to be Lord

Ganesha's

> vehicle.

>

> End of story.

>

> From the web, I dicovered that this story can be found in the

Ganesha

> Purana, an upa purana that is 400 verses long.

>

> Moral: Maa said, "Karma is very subtle. Because of that single

impure

> thought/look that Kraunch had/gave he had to face so much

trouble. So

> we should be very careful when we perform our actions. She also

said

> that we should do every action with great respect. Also, we

should

> not be judgmental of others.

>

> There were just five of us in the room, so it almost felt like

> personal advice for me. Work and family are my two big problems

and

> here was Maa telling (a) how to do my work - with respect, and

how to

> relate to my family members - not judge them. What a great

blessing!

>

> Privately, Maa told my wife in a separate conversation that "She

> (Maa) loves Ganesha".

>

> I bow down again and again to our beloved Gurus. What Glorious

lives

> they lead! Infinite is their compassion. I seek their blessings

that

> this life becomes pure and beautiful.

>

> with love and prayers,

> srini

>

>

>

>

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