Maa's Broom Story (for my House Blessing Scrapbook...not a real "book")

[Guest guest]

One of the great lessons Maa remembers from her childhood was

learned after sweeping the house. "When I was a young child, even from

the age of about five years old, I used to help my grandmother

[Abhamayi Gupta] in the household chores. One day I was sweeping the

floor, and when I had finished cleaning the rooms, I threw the broom

into the corner where it was kept. Immediately I heard the voice of

Shree Ramakrishna calling to me from within, `Hey there! That broom is

your very good friend. Why do you treat it with such disrespect? If

it weren't for his loving service, how would you clean your house?'

 

"Quickly I went over to the corner, picked up the broom, and

said, `Namaskar, I bow to your divine essence.' Gently I placed it

back in its proper place, and from that time on I tried to regard each

and every thing as a manifestation of divine grace. Every atom of

creation deserves respect. All are reflections of the Divine Purpose,

so that all must be attended to with divine respect."

 

Quoted from Shree Maa The Life of a Saint by Swami Satyananda

Saraswati, pages 18-19.