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.

How to move forward in our devotion to God

We must keep on moving forward in our devotion to God inspite of our weakness, our sins, and our repeated mistakes.

Q.  How to do that?  The question comes to our mind, how to do that when we have so many weaknesses and we keep on making same mistakes over and over.

A.  According to our beloved Pujya Maharajji is to ask Lord Ram to forgive all our sins until now (Kshma Karo mere Ram Raghunath, Ab Tak ke Saare Apraadh – dhun sung by him in USA Open Satsang).  He adds in his pravachan elsewhere: Another way is to again and again go sit at the feet of loving devotees (Sant Mahatmas – our Gurujans are definitely them) and lose yourself in their devotion and love of God.  We are surely to come back with a positive difference and move forward in our devotion and in our life with Guru Kripa.

Listen to audio

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

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.

Kis Ram ka hum jap aur dhyan karte hain

I remember one time reading in Pravachan Piyush that Shree Swamiji Maharaj ne haath upar kar ke ghuma kar kaha (something to the effect) “Ram-Naam teeno lok mein gunj raha hai, aur spashat dikhayi de raha hai ki kalyaan kar raha hai” .

Ham uss Ram ka jap aur dhyaan karte hain jisk gun Shree Swamiji Mharaj aur bahut Sant logo ne gaaye hain. Vakyaa hi Shree Swamiji Maharaj apne grantho mein rahate hain aur jaise ki Gurujan bataate hain weh hamare saath hamesha hain – hamari sahayata aur suraksha kar rahe hain.

Kayee logo ne jin-hone Ram Naam ki diksha abhi tak nahin lee, woh bhi bataate hain ki kaise unka jeevan sudhar raha hai Ram-Ram karne se. Ek ne kaha ki uski tension kam ho rahi hai aur thori thori shanti ka anubahav ho raha hai…. ek aur ne kaha ki usko Ram ki dhwani sunayi di aur woh apne aap hi Ram-Ram bolne lag gaya. Yeh hai Ram ki mahima !

Hum tau bahut bhagyashaali hain ki hamein Ram-Naam ka daan mila hai. Hum bhi isska adhik se adhik laabh le, apna jeevan sudharane mein aur Ram Kripa ka maange Ram-Naam ka maha daan.

The connection between the above messages are clear. Now each one of us has to have more faith and do our practice as shown by our Gurujans.

Reading from Amrit Vaani today and SwamiJi Maharaj’s Pravachan Piyush long ago

Mohak Mantra Ati Madhur,

Ram – Ram Jap Dhyan.

Hotaa Teeno Lok Men,

Ram – Naam Gun – Gaan. …48

Today while reading the above (and nearly every time I read) in Amrit Vaani, it reminds me of reading Pravachan Piyush long-time ago in which I vaguely remember:

Swamiji Maharaj saying,”Ram-Naam teeno lok men gunj raha hai, aur mujhe spashat dikhayee de raha hai ki veh kalyaan kar rahaa hai”

(Swamiji Maharaj meri galation ko kshama kareien)

Aap tau Paramaatmaa se taar milaane ka kam karte hain, hamari bhi taar milayiye taaki hamein bhi jo aap ne kaha hai usska anubhav hove.

Sab Par Ram Kripa aur Sadguru Maharaj Kripa bani rahe.

Baar Baar Sant-Mahatma ke paas jayen

Jahan se hamein paise ki kamaai hoti hai, chaahe naukri se ya vyapaar se, wahan hum baar baar jaate hain.  Hamein jahan se Ram-Naam ki kamaai milne ka mauka mila hai, Sant-Mahatma se wahan hum baar baar kyon nahin jaate.

Sant-Mahatma ke paas baar baar jaayiye aur satsang aur sankirtan kariye, aur iss ka pura laabh uthaiye.   Sab Sant-Mahatma kehte hai aur hamare Pujya Gurujano ne bhi kai bar kaha hai ki Ram Naam se bar kar aur koi kamaai nahin hai.

Hamein paise ki kamaai ke saath saath jahan jaana hai uski bhi kamai karni chaahiye.  Pujya Dr. Vishwa Mitter JI Maharaj kehte hai – Khubh paisa kamayo magar, saath saath utna hi Ram Naam bhi japo – adhik se adhik japo.

Sab par Ram Kripa bani rahe.

Ram Kripa – Kab Hoti Hai

Pujya Dr. Viswamitter Ji Maharaj says we just keep on saying, Paramatma ki kripa hai, but we really don’t mean it. He adds if we really meant it, we will be constantly remembering Ram through Ram Naam Jap, simran, dhyan, etc.

Ram Kripa Kab Hoti Hai? – Ram Kripa tab hoti hai jab ham Ram main mast ho jaaye. It seems that Shree Swami Ji Maharaj has mentioned about in a dhun, “Teri buti ne masti keeti, Ram! Teri Buti ne masti keeti”. In Amritvani, Ram Kripa is mentioned several times with clarity and authority.

Pujya Maharaj JI tells us not to think of Ram Kripa when we are getting more income or some other material gains but think of Ram Kripa when our mind turns toward God. Some sadhaks report of Ram Kripa when our Gurujans appear in our dreams or in our dhyan giving us guidance and encouragement. Others report of Ram Kripa when we get inspiration to do more sadhana or get an insight on how to do serve others while taking care of our present responsibilities.

In Pravachan Piyush, Shree Swami Ji Maharaj has mentioned about appearing in a sadhaks dream and helping remove some obstacles from that sadhak’s life.

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.