What now… after Deepawali? 5 Steps to keep the lights on

What a great festival Deepawali is – festival of lights, celebration, and much more. Hopefully everyone had a chance to celebrate in the traditional ways.

WHAT NOW?  – What  happens now, with our lives … does the celebration stop, do the lights go out?  In the material sense we may not celebrate as much now, we may not light many lamps but….

do we need to stop celebrating who we truly are,  our chaitnnaya swarup, our connection to Satchidananda Parmatma?

We light up lamps and turn all the lights in our homes on Deepawali day.  The darkness of night is hardly noticed with these lights.

How about the darkness our mind – does that go away with exterior lighting?  Not a chance, only “Parmaatma Sri Ram, Param-Satya Prakaash Roop ..” [The Supreme Soul,  Sri Ram, is the matchless radiant and non-dual apotheosis (divine elevation) of Absolute Truth], as stated in Amritvani, can do that.

Can we know Him easily?  According to Saint-souls (Sant Mahatmas), for a vast majority of people it is not easy, rather it is extremely difficult.

5 STEPS TO KEEP THE LIGHTS ON AND GROWING SPIRITUALLY:

The following steps we need to take for our spiritual growth and to continue celebrating our connection to Sri Ram.   (The following 5 steps are based on/adapted from Maharajji’s pravachan: Deepawali Ke Shubh Awsar Par):

1. Pray to Sri Ram that with the glory and power of His Name, may our inner darkness may be removed.
2. May our material possessions not prevent us from our spiritual progress.
3. Take a pledge that one day at a time, we will not not speak ill of anyone, not think negative about anyone, and do no physical harm to anyone.
4. To do the step #3 above we will need the blessings of our Gurujans.
5. Lead a simple and pure life.

Let us all continue to celebrate the essence of Deepawali every day.   May Lord Ram and our Gurujans lead our path.

A saadhak who has a Satguru in life is very fortunate

According to Sant Mahatmas:

To be born as a human being is a blessing which is very difficult to obtain.  Much more difficult is to have God’s blessing and to start a journey as a saadhak (devotee).  And it is extremely, extremely, extremely difficult to have a Satguru in life.

So my beloved brothers and sisters, we the saadhaks are most fortunate to have a loving Sadguru in our lives.  We are not able to live our daily lives as shown by Maharajji in Sadhana Satsang and as in Pravachan Piyush by Swamiji Maharaj.  It helps to cry in front of Ma (Divine Mother – Lord Ma) and talk to God about our weaknesses and ask for mercy and grace (kripa).

Each one of us need to wake up to the fact that, “Main shaktimayi atma hoon” (I am a powerful soul), powerful to walk on the path as shown in Sadhna Satsang and discourses given delivered by our Gurujans.  No matter how many times we get off the path we simply need to get back on it and know that our Gurujans and Shree Ram are always with us,  helping, and protecting us.

Dhanya Huva Main Satguru Paake (dhun) – watch video clip

uva Main Satguru Paake

Rome Rome Shree Ram Pukare – Happy Mahatma Gandhiji’s and PremJi Maharaj’s Birthday

Mahatma Gandhiji and PremJi Maharaj not only share the same birthday (October 2nd) – both of them were devotees of Lord Ram.  So many of Sant Mahatmas like them must have bhavana, attitude and feelings such as ” Rome Rome Shree Ram Pukare ..,” that most of us can’t even imagine.

Hum par bhi aisi kripa karo mere Ram.  Hamara rome rome bhi Shree Ram Pukare ..aisi kripa karo mere Ram.  (Bless me Lord Ram so that every atom of my being calls for Shree Ram.. yearns for Shree Ram).

Our Gurujans tell us that for this to happen we must do our practice consistently and also attend Satsangs (where Sant Mahatmas  and true devotees are present).  We need to and must go again and again and learn from Sant Mahatmas how they lead a life of selfless service, express love and devotion to God, and impart knowledge in spiritual discourses, etc.

According to Shree Swamiji Maharaj, Mahatma Gandhiji used to recite Sthitpragya Ke Lakshan (Shreemad Bhagvad Gita – second chapter) with heart at both times of his daily prayers.

We can learn from the lives of Mahatma Gandhiji and our Gurujans by following their advice and may be one day with Ram Kripa we will also be blessed with similar bhavana and bhakti.

May the following dhun sung by Maharajji evoke similar devotional feelings in us.

VIDEO CLIP – Rome Rome Shree Ram Pukare

Power of Ram Naam and blessings of our Gurujans

Through the grace of our Pujya Gurudev we have been blessed with Ram Naam.  While we read in Amritvani that Parmaatma Sri Ram is all powerful .. omnipotent. We are connected to the source and reservoir of all powers through Ram Naam.

Then why do we have a weak mind?  Why are we not able to use our intellect to take care of our responsibilites and do benevolent actions?

Is it because we do not have total faith in God or do we not yet totally believe what our Gurujans have said? … or is it something else?

Regardless of whether we know the answers to these questions or not, we can at least pay close attention to what Maharajji says,”We have Ram in us but it is lying dormant”  – so  we must wake up this power in us by Jap, Simran, and Dhyan. And with the strength we gain from our practice we can follow the path shown to us with renewed determination and resolve.

Maharajji explains (in USA Open Satsang) that in Amritvani it is mentioned:

Ram-Ram Bhaj Kar Sri Ram

Kariye Nitya Hee Uttam Kaam

(and not …. Kariye Nitya Hee Uttam Kaam,  Ram-Ram Bhaj Kar Sri Ram)

So as he is guiding us, let us keep Ram Naam in the forefront and do the benevolent actions and take care of our duties and responsibilities and be ready to recieve maximum benefit of Ram Kripa.

Once again Maharajji says be patient and never lose hope.

Jai Jai Ram

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.

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.

Sab Ram mein hai – All is in Ram

An inspiring thought! Remember all day long that “Sab Ram mein hai” – All is in Ram. No matter what we think about, no matter who we think about, it’s all in Ram. When all is in Ram, then why does the question of us wanting something other than Ram arises in our mind. When we have received Ram Naam from Sadguru then we should only think about Ram.

Pujya Shree Vishwa Mitter Ji Maharaj in his discourse says that Ram Kripa descends upon the one who realizes that there is no separate existence without God. We have a body but the consciousness is of God. When the consciousness is there, body has existence. We should lose our ego or aham and exist only in Ram. All is in Ram. Swami Satyanand Ji Maharaj says “Sanoo milaya naam pyara, assi hor ki mangana” (We have receive the most beloved Naam, what else can we ask for). Jai Shree Ram.

Jai Jai Ram.

In Meditation – Seeking help from guru

Pujya Maharaj Ji told us at the time of initiation that Swami Ji Maharaj and Prem Ji Maharaj are always with us helping us in our spiritual practice and protecting us.

The other day in meditation I asked for their help and Pujya Maharaj JI’s voice was heard saying “Galat kaam karna band kar do – kitna dukh hota hoga Swami Ji Maharaj ko” (Stop doing things that are not conducive to spiritual life – Swami Ji Maharaj must be feeling the pain seeing me do that). Every day I pray that I only do righteous actions and when I am not able to do so I ask for forgiveness.

The lesson here is that we must make an effort to control our actions, speech, and thoughts.

Pujya Maharaj Ji says in one of his discourse: we may not succeed in our efforts to do that but we must not lose hope.

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.