to forall about Can you help me find a post? Yes!! :))

[Guest guest]

forall asked:

> Are you perhaps referring to this gem of a post by Tanmaya> >

/message/17629

Dear forall ~ thank you so much for posting the digest link so I

didn't have to go looking for it. I read it, and it was beautiful to

read, and I even got a "picture" in my mind to go along with the

words. Because my illness has restricted me so much, where I used to

be able to go through an entire house and spiff it up, or take more

time and really thoroughly clean a room, now pretty much what I can

do is wash the dishes, set the table, and sweep the floor. As I write

this, I get a grin because washing dishes and setting the table takes

me back to the post I just wrote about my grandmother, Bertie.

So I feel bad about myself, which isn't helpful (Self-deprecation and

Too Little). I used to pay someone to come and clean, and that was

nice because then my little trailer was clean again, but this person

is no longer available. It amazes me that in a place so small, I am

unable to keep up with cleaning. If I contemplated the entire

trailer, and then decided, so, okay, I will start with the kitchen

counter. Just cleaning off the kitchen counter (which is really

pretty small), dusting pictures and others items I keep there ...

etc., it would take me two hours to get to the other side of the

sink, and then my body would "crash." This has made me feel so bad,

that most of the time, I just give up. But, thanks to Bertie, I have

always like my surroundings to be clean ... I have learned to be

comfortable with a certain amount of disarray, but I am like Mr. Monk

~ I could never be entirely satisfied if it wasn't really clean. So

then, I don't look.

I would like to take my situation, my own words about how much my

Grandmother inspired me, and the wonderful story of Shree Maa in the

Mandir kitchen, and turn my quandry into a sadhana opportunity. I

will just start with the kitchen area, partly because this is always

my favorite place wherever I live and partly because of the wonderful

associations with my grandmother. If it takes me an entire week just

to clean the counter and the outside of the wooden cabinets, then let

it be so. My sankalpa is that I will do something every day, devote

some time to the seva of cleaning my kitchen. Even if it is only 15

minutes, I will not be discouraged, nor thwarted from completing my

task.

In an earlier digest, we talked about constancy in spiritual practice,

and there was some discussion, I believe about the fact that the EMS

sankalpa is helping some of us to learn constancy and consistency of

worship. I have already said this is huge for me ... and now see how

it spills over into what I would consider my "ordinary" life. But

remembering my Grandmother, and thinking of Shree Maa in the kitchen

and Swami on the tractor, I will not be daunted. I will persist until

it is done, and I will do this as part of my worship...starting today.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion, for all

your thoughts helped to give me the inspiration and devotion I

desire. Devotion in dishes, or cleaning, I believe is not different

from worship devotion. I will bring to this activity, to the highest

extent possible, respect, attention and worship (even the simplest

untensils are still an aspect of the One). Then cleaning becomes a

prayer, a celebration ... enough words.

Jai Maa , Jai Swamiji ~ Linda

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/21/2006 9:15:33 A.M. Mountain Standard Time, nierika (AT) aol (DOT) com writes:

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this discussion, for all

your thoughts helped to give me the inspiration and devotion I

desire. Devotion in dishes, or cleaning, I believe is not different

from worship devotion. I will bring to this activity, to the highest

extent possible, respect, attention and worship (even the simplest

untensils are still an aspect of the One). Then cleaning becomes a

prayer, a celebration ... enough words.

Jai Maa , Jai Swamiji ~ Linda

Namaste Dear Linda,

It is a prayer that the devine sees us in all we do.

Love

Kanda