Connection – Raja Janak in Bhakti Prakash and Pravachan

In Bhakti Prakash and in all his granths Shree Swamiji Maharaj’s probably touches hearts of many sadhaks.

In Janak Gyan:

When Guru Yagavalkaya asks Raja Janak to give him his mind as dakshina he agrees. Then Raja Janak says that Vaasanas are still there in the mind and his mind is unstable, etc.

Guru replies,”This daan/dakshina is not complete – now that mind is mine …. be careful of any paap karam and do your duties”

This also is mentioned by our gurujans in their pravachans that we do not fully surrender our mind to Shree Ram, once the mind is surrendered totally, there is not much else left to surrender.

Shudh atma and Shudh Vichar, Shudh karma

Shree Swami Ji Maharaj in Pravachan Piyush mentions that we need to remind ourselves by saying, “Mai… shudh atma hoon” and also in Bhakti Prakash he has described Pavitra Bhavana.

We may remind ourselves of this and surely that helps. Listening to Pujya Dr. Vishwa Mitter Ji Maharaj’s pravachan it really strikes a cord that we also have to have shudh karma in our life and shudh vichar. This is not an easy practice to do in life but as advised by our loving Gurujans we must do it. We also need to remember that they have given us their blessings and Ram Naam, so we need to stay alert in all our thoughts and actions and keep them pure and honest.

We may make mistakes, not be alert all the time, but that is the whole point of sadhana. Making effort over and over again and as Pujya Maharaj Ji says, “When we make a mistake we say sorry to people in our lives … do we say sorry to Ram Ji?” We can ask Shree Ram to forgive us our mistakes and remember that our Gurujans are always with us helping us and protecting us.

Sab par Ram Kripa sada bani rahe – Guru Kripa tau bin maange hi milti rahti hai.

Try adding this in the beginning of the dhun to light up your mind

To light up your mind try adding the three verses from Bhakti Prakash in the chapter Jagriti – verses 17, 18, 19 may go well followed by the dhun written below:

17 – Re man soya kya kare, jaag japo Bhagwan !

Aalasya nidra tyag de, maan maan re maan!!

18 – Re man so kar kya kare, jug kar jap le Ram!

Param Purush ke naam se, hove puran kaam!!

19 – Hey man soye kyon vritha, jug kar simar sunaam!

Ek ek tav saans ka , teeno lok na daam !!

Dhun - Man mandir mein goojante, tere Jai Jai kaare Ram

Man mandir mein goojante, tere Jai Jai kaare Ram

Tere Jai Jai kaare Ram – Tere Jai Jai Kaare Ram

Tere Jai Jai kaare Ram – Tere Jai Jai Kaare Ram

Two ways for Sadhaks to progress spiritually

One way for us, the sadhaks, to progress on the spiritual path is to remember the truth about ourselves or our essence or our authentic self. That is to remind ourselves again and again that,”Mai satya, nitya, shudh, chaitanaya, shaktimayi atma hoon” as mentioned in the Pravachan-Piyush by Shree Swami Ji Maharaj. It also helps to read the twelve Aatmic Bhavanain from the Bhakti Prakash in order to really understand our essence or the truth about ourselves.

Another way for the sadhaks to progress is to practice letting go of Mai or “I”. In one of story Pujya Maharaj JI tells us in his discourse about two Sant Mahatmas who are great friends …. one of them goes to the other’s home and asks him to open the door.

Mahatma inside – “Who is there?”.

The Mahatma outside – “I am here friend, open the door!”

Mahatma inside – “Kaun Murakh hai jo apne aap ko mai keh raha hai?” (Who is the stupid person who is calling himself “I”?)

Letting go of Mai or “I” is what Pujya Maharaj Ji has told us in one of his discourses, “Apna astitva hi mita do”. The more we let go of the “I” or Mai the lesser we will be concerned with small problems we face in the material life and more we will be inclined to do our sadhana.

This morning Shree Ram, the Param Guru, inspired this mind with the following three thoughts:

1. “Whenever the word “I” keeps coming up – I should think, ” Kaun hai murakh …. Who is the stupid person who is saying “I”?
2. Whenever the mind or intellect says,” Yeh maine kiya hai , ya yeh mai kar raha hoon…. I have done this or I am doing this – immeditately think, “Kaun hain murakh … or who is the stupid person who is saying I have done this or doing this?” (“Lord is the sole doer” – Pujya Maharaj Ji)
3. Same thing goes for “yeh mera hai or this is mine”

Anyone who can practice the above two ways is very likely to grow spiritually with Shree Ram’s Kripa which one can experience by doing “adhik se adhik simran … More and more simran or loving Jap of Ram Naam while keeping its meaning in mind”

Of course, needless to say, the best way for each one of us to progress spiritually is to follow the instructions given by our loving Gurujans.

This may be of help to Sadhaks – Lessons and inspirations

As Pujya Vishwa Mitter Ji Maharaj (Pujya Maharaj JI) says that Sab Ram Karta Hai – Lord is the sole doer, keeping that in mind Shree Ram made it clear this morning to this child that Satsangati and Sankirtan are very important for every Sadhak. As mentioned by Pujya Maharaj JI in one of his discourses of Naarad Bhakti that to have Sanyam, Sadaachar, Seva, and Simran in our lives we must have Satsangati – or association of Sant Mahatma, Satpurush, Sadguru, etc.

Sadhaks must have faith that the Satsangati and Sankirtan will definitely help us lead a life of self-discipline and self-control over our negative habits and behaviors, in addition to that we will have the opportunity to serve others with nishkam bhav or desiring no fruit of our actions, and last but not least the Simran …. Ram Naam Jap with love, devotion, and feeling of connectedness to Paramatma Shree Ram.

In Bhakti Prakash reading yesterday, a message from Swami Ji Maharaj was crystal clear – that is to simply surrender to Shree Ram and even forget about Sakaam or Nishkam Karma. That is the same thing mentioned in his Gita Saar and also Pujya Maharaj Ji mentions that in one of his discourse … Lord Krishna telling Arjuna that Chhor sab ye Karmyog, Gyanyog, Bhaktiyog, aur sab yog, meri sharan mein aa ja, Arjun tera aur mera ghar ek hai. (Lord Krishna,”Arjun, leave all the paths of yoga such as Karma Yoga, Gyan Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, simply surrender to me and know that your home/abode and my home/abode is one and the same”)

For those of us who can’t be with our Sant Mahatmas in person for any reason, distance or lack of physical health, we can simply remember what Pujya Maharaj Ji told us at the time of diksha that our Gurujans are always protecting us and helping us in our sadhana. So we can simply choose to do Sankirtan and Simran while feeling that our Gurujans are with us, I believe this will help us become better human beings and our sadhana will progress with Ram Kripa and with Guru Kripa.

Please let others Sadahaks know of your understanding, experiences, and thoughts about same or similar subjects. It will also help me if you add a comment below.

Jai Jai Ram.

Guru Purnima – Connecting several readings

Reading this morning from Pujya Dr. Vishwa Mitter Ji Maharaj’s message of July 11, 2006, he mentions that there a strong connection between our Adi Guru Maharshi Vyasdev’s teachings (of four vedas, Puranas, and Adhyatmic Ramayan), and Shree Swami Satyanand Ji Maharaj’s teachings.

Pujya Maharaj Ji encourages us to:

1. Implement what we have heard or read so that we can serve others and live a life of a true devotee.
2. To devote our every moment to the teachings of Shree Swami Ji Maharaj while giving up our ego, need for praise, fame, etc.
3. We should live a life of peace and bliss with the help of Ram Naam which acts like spiritual fire that cleanses our mind, purifies our heart, and gets rid of ignorance.
4. To keep our promise to Shree Swami Ji Maharaj to do Jaap, Simran, and dhyan as our guru-dakshina.
5. To lead a pure life and become a good sadhak who wil make Shree Swami Ji Maharaj proud.

He asks to join each other and promise to lead a pure, truthful, and spiritual life once again on this day of Guru Purnima.

Reading about Satsangati in Bhakti Prakash about the signs of Sant and the benefits of associating with Sants/Mahatmas it convinces me once again about how lucky and blessed we are having our gurujans in our lives. I am taking a vow once again to be true to our gurujans at Shreeramsharnam, Maharashi Vyasdev JI, and Param Guru Shree Ram.

We may not succeed at living the life (at first or every day) they ask us to lead but we can be like a little child who fails to walk at first attempt and falls many times but never gives up. Shree Swami Ji Maharaj Ji in Pravachan Piyush reminds us that spiritual practice is a long journey but we need to do our practice until our last breath – even at that time if we have realization of Supreme Truth or we get a glimpse of spiritual bliss, etc. – I think our journey will be worth much more than the effort put in because it will be due to Ram Kripa and Guru Kripa we will be blessed to have any spiritual experiences or transformations.