To Parvati about gardening tip from Shree Maa

[Guest guest]

Parvati wrote:

....Some of you may be gardeners and even if you are not here is

something Maa said recently while working in the garden with one

devotee.The devotee was digging some holes with a shovel. Maa said to

him,"Do with mantra. Your LOVE will be there! "...

Dear Parvati ~ thank you so very much for sharing this ... again the

profound abiding within the seemingly simple. I love it, and of

course, we could apply this to everything ... digging a hole to plant

a flower, washing some dishes, cleaning one's altar, walking the

dog... I have had to struggle with myself to hold onto the beauty of

simple tasks because even something so easy (for most people) as

making the bed can for me be a struggle, and often the bed wins. :

)

 

Long before I became ill, I held a belief that everything a person did

could be imbued with the energy of the Sacred, and again, if I

remember back to the thought process that was involved in this

belief, it had very much to do with the kind of respect and attention

that Shree Maa and Swamiji talk about. I was in art school at the

time, and I strongly believed that art was sacred (of course,

depending on what art and how it was used); I also strongly believed

that life was, in a sense, art, that making a lovely pot of soup was

as aesthetic and sacred as creating a beautiful painting...chopping

wood, carrying water.

 

After I became so ill that even the simplest tasks became too much for

me, it was more difficult to hold onto this ideal, and I believe that

so much of my feeling drawn to Shree Maa and Swamiji was that they

not only spoke about but embodied this idea that every action could

be a sacred action. And as I write this, I think of the wonderful

picture of Shree Maa cooking in the kitchen, which is on the cover of

the book, "Shree Maa's Favorite Recipes, Collected by Devotees," or

the picture of Swamiji on the cover of the book "Sahib Sadhu," which,

I think would give almost anyone looking at it a feeling that living a

spiritual life is the greatest thing on Earth.

 

Some of my struggle with my illness has been to hold onto this belief

that the Sacred permeates all of reality, and that, with an attitude

of respect and attention (and even, sacred play), It may permeate the

smallest action. My desire is to have this respect and attention for

everything I say, do, think and see. Jai Maa , Jai Swamiji ~ Linda