Meditation on Divine Weapons - Bow of Determination

[Guest guest]

Dear Kali,

 

The bow of determination - to me determination is synonymous to

perseverance and as Swamiji says there is no sankalpa without this

quality.

 

I wanted to share an excerpt from Swami Krishnananda's talk on this

topic ..

 

Jai Maa

Latha

 

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The control of the mind needs great persistence, great

understanding and capacity to discriminate . Ancient masters and

seekers of truth, had their own way of solution. Sometimes the

solutions seem to be very humorous, but very practical. The mind has

to be handled in an intelligent manner, but persistently.

 

Several methods have to be adopted in a continuous determination to

achieve a purpose. This determination takes various phases of

expression. It is not that everyone can manifest this determination

in the same way. There is a world under every hat, they say, and

there is a different type of solution within every individual. My

solution is not yours, and yours is not somebody else's.

Peculiarity, novelty, and a kaleidoscopic character of the method to

be adopted, -- all these are some of the features of spiritual

determination. There are some stories of humorous instances adopted

by great saints and sages. We will be inclined to laugh at these

analogies, but they are very practical and prove very useful.

 

There was a great saint called Swami Narayana. His followers

are very large in the area of Gujarat, though he hailed from Uttar

Pradesh. One day he observed some villagers struggling with a cow.

They were unable to milk it because it was giving a kick the moment

anybody approached it. They could not go near the cow. Whenever it

felt that somebody was coming near it, it would kick with its foot.

 

Swami Narayana was not only a saint but also a seeker in

himself. He told these villagers, "I shall find a way of stopping

this kicking." He took a long stick and, sitting a little away from

the cow, slowly touched the cow's leg with that stick; it gave a

kick immediately. After a few seconds he again touched it; it gave

another kick. He sat there for the whole day, without taking food

from morning to evening, doing only one work, -- touching the leg of

the cow with the stick. To the surprise of all the people who were

witnessing this phenomenon, for a continuous twelve hours, this

touching went on. How long will the cow give a kick? It is also a

living being. It got fed up, tired, and stopped kicking. Then he

told them to milk the cow; it never kicked afterwards.

 

The mind is turbulent in some way of this kind. It has to be

treated in the same way as the swami treated the cow. Whatever we

say, the mind will not agree. It has its own voice and something

else to say, quite different from what we are wanting it to do. If

we say, "Do this," it will say, "No, I will do another thing."

 

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[Guest guest]

The bow of determination - to me determination is synonymous to

perseverance and as Swamiji says there is no sankalpa without this

quality.

 

Yes Lathaji, this is a quality of the Great Lord Siva,

 

ya idam sivasamkalpam

sadadhiyanti brahmanah

te param moksamapsyanti

tanme manah sivasamkalpamastu

 

This (siva sankalpa strotram) is that firm determination of Siva, the

Consciousness of Infinite Goodness which is always contemplated by

knowers of divinity and those who seek supreme liberation. May my

mind be filled with the firm determination of Siva, the Consciousness

of Infinite Consciousness.

 

Om Namah ShivaDo You

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