I remember to narrate a small miracle performed by Swami.It was the time when there was no bus stand and no water in Prashanthi Nilayam. Very few devotees used to come to come to parthi and have swami's darshan.We were fortunate enough to be one among them.
There were very few rooms built inside Prashanthi Nilayam.Swami called my grandparents and gave us a room inside the Patshala Block.
One day after the evening Darshan, all of us retired to our respective rooms.My granny(grams from now on) and my mom started preparing dinner.My mom was making rotis and I sat besides her.Playfully, I inserted my finger inside the kitchen door latch hole.My mom warned me repeatedly not to play with the latch hole as it might have some wooden pieces that can injure me.But, I did not listen and again playfully inserted my finger and this time i twisted my finger to find out if there were any wooden pieces.Suddenly, I started crying..grams and my mom turned around only to see my right hand index finger profusely bleeding.It was 8:00 pm and my grandpa said that no doctors would be there in the hospital at that hour.My finger was hurting very badly.. it was swollen and the bleeding did not stop.My mom took out a safety pin and said that she would remove the wooden piece.But, I was very scared and so refused to give my hand to her.Now everybody started to pray for me and then after sometime all of them fell asleep.I was awake because of the pain..At that moment, my mom said 'Pray to swami... say sai ram till you get sleep and he will take care of everthing.. you wont feel any pain'. I firmly believed her words and started praying to swami and chanted Sairam continuously till the time I was conscious.
That night as I was drifting off into sleep, a bright light suddenly filled the room. There a few feet away stood Swami in his magnificent orange robe.. He spoke to me in Tamil..
Swami: Valikkida ( Is it paining?)
Me: Yes Swami
Swami: Naan valikkama edukkaren.. Kai kaami(I will take it out...give me your hand)
Me: (with my eyes shut tightly ...Stretched my hand)
Swami then took out the wooden piece and there was absolutely no pain
Swami: Nalaikki pakkaren (I will see you tomorrow).Swami smiled at me and then was gone.
The next morning when I woke up, I went to my mom and showed her my finger.What a miracle... NOt a trace of that wound was found. My mom was thinking that she had to miss swami's darshan and take me to hospital..But to her surprise the wound had just vanished..she the asked me what happened.. Then I told her that swami came in my dream and that he had taken the wooden piece out and I could feel no pain..Immediately, all of us rushed to join the lines of devotees waiting for darshan.We were eagerly waiting for swami... Swami came straight to us...and said 'chesko' ( Take it)..Then all of us took padanamaskar...He looked at me and with a wave of his hand he materialized Vibhutti into my mom's hand. She sat there motionless with tears flowing down her face, holding the precious gift, trying hard to control her joyful tears.
The Lord comes to our rescue when we pray incessantly and with devotion.
“Dreams are nothing but the reflection of the subconscious mind. Swami appearing in dreams is very auspicious…Dreams are the reflection, reaction and resound of that which is within you. The same does not apply to dreams in which Swami appears. Swami appears in dreams only when He will it and not when you want.” (Sanathana Sarathi, April 1999, p. 98)
Tuesday 30 September 2008
Friday 26 September 2008
Excerpts from Prof. K Anil Kumar's book "Satyopanishad"
Question: Swami! Kindly instruct us in the main principles making for progress in spheres such as Science, Politics, Ethics, Religion, and Spirituality.
Bhagawan: If you follow three main principles, all round progress is ensured. You will undoubtedly progress in all fields of activity, individual and collective. The first principle is daivapriti, Love of God. The second is papabhiti, Fear of Sin.The third is sanghaniti, Morality in Society.Unless you love God immensely, you cannot fear sin. With fear of sin, morality gets automatically established in society. Thus, the three principles are interdependent and interrelated.
I often tell my students, "Before you do anything, just put this question to yourself: Will Swami approve this action? Is this going to please Swami?" Your intense love for Swami will not allow you to do anything wrong. Evidently, love of God leads to fear of sin.We find turbulent and raging waves in the sea dashing against boulders that stand steady and unshaken. In the same way your faith should be steady, strong, unshakeable, and unwavering, irrespective of losses, failures, defeats, troubles, difficulties, and problems. For instance, if anyone says to you, 'There is no God," what reply should you give? You should reply in this way, "All right, you don't have your God, but what right do you have to deny my God?" Never forget God, remember pancaksari, the five lettered mantra - 'devudunnadu ' - (1) de, (2) vu, (3) du, (4) nna, (5) du, (Telugu sentence with five letters meaning 'God exists'). In order to see that you don't doubt this, repeat astaksari, the eight lettered Sanskrit mantra, sams'ayatma vinas'yati, (1) sam, (2) sa, 3) ya, (4) tma, (5) vi, 6) na, 7) sya, 8) ti which means 'doubt is death'. Never doubt God.
In a sentence like this, "God is nowhere" reflects your pitiable plight of being denied His presence. Now, take out 'w' from the beginning of the fourth word 'where', and join it at the end of the third word 'no'. Then the sentence reads, 'God is now here'. Man most unfortunately commits sins but is not prepared to face their consequences. He expects punyam, merit, the result of good actions, but does not refrain from doing papam, sin. Nor would he do any meritorious deeds to get good results.
Is there any logic or rationale for him to get good results? How foolish are such expectations? How do you expect one kind of result from an altogether different and opposite kind of action? Always bear in mind the whole thing comes back to you in the form of reaction, reflection, and resound. You cannot escape them. When you fully realise this, you will not commit sins or involve yourself in harmful deeds. So you should 'Love God' and 'Fear Sin'. With these two, there will be 'Morality in Society'.
Question: Swami! Many speak of culture? What is the value of culture?
Bhagawan: Culture is very important because your life and its value depend on it. Culture is a way of life. Culture enables you to experience divinity in your life. Culture helps one to know unity in diversity. Without culture, man becomes a demon. He falls down in stature and ultimately ruins himself.
You know that sea water is saline or salty. Human life is like a vast sea. God's grace is like sunlight that falls on the sea. The seawater because of the heat of the sun becomes vaporised. This is the vapour of bliss that settles as clouds in the sky to fall down to the earth as rain. It is the rain of love. The seawater is salty but the rainwater is sweet. Why? Where does the difference lie? Seawater is refined by sunlight. So also, our life must be cultured and refined. The value of life will then go up.
A piece of iron worth less than a rupee can be made into a beautiful costly watch after it is processed and refined. This is due to the culture it has undergone. So long as a boulder remains itself, it is bound to be neglected. But, once it is in the hands of a sculptor, chiseled and hammered, and shaped into a beautiful Krishna idol, it starts receiving respect and worship. Why? It is only culture that makes all the difference.
A boulder, once trodden by everyone underfoot and now in the form of an idol, occupies a place at the altar in a temple and is worshipped everyday. This is the value that culture confers. Without culture, one develops a foolish view of life finding diversity in unity. For example, take a needle. It stitches pieces of cloth into a garment. The needle stands for culture. But scissors cut the cloth into pieces. This is the condition in the absence of culture.
Bhagawan: If you follow three main principles, all round progress is ensured. You will undoubtedly progress in all fields of activity, individual and collective. The first principle is daivapriti, Love of God. The second is papabhiti, Fear of Sin.The third is sanghaniti, Morality in Society.Unless you love God immensely, you cannot fear sin. With fear of sin, morality gets automatically established in society. Thus, the three principles are interdependent and interrelated.
I often tell my students, "Before you do anything, just put this question to yourself: Will Swami approve this action? Is this going to please Swami?" Your intense love for Swami will not allow you to do anything wrong. Evidently, love of God leads to fear of sin.We find turbulent and raging waves in the sea dashing against boulders that stand steady and unshaken. In the same way your faith should be steady, strong, unshakeable, and unwavering, irrespective of losses, failures, defeats, troubles, difficulties, and problems. For instance, if anyone says to you, 'There is no God," what reply should you give? You should reply in this way, "All right, you don't have your God, but what right do you have to deny my God?" Never forget God, remember pancaksari, the five lettered mantra - 'devudunnadu ' - (1) de, (2) vu, (3) du, (4) nna, (5) du, (Telugu sentence with five letters meaning 'God exists'). In order to see that you don't doubt this, repeat astaksari, the eight lettered Sanskrit mantra, sams'ayatma vinas'yati, (1) sam, (2) sa, 3) ya, (4) tma, (5) vi, 6) na, 7) sya, 8) ti which means 'doubt is death'. Never doubt God.
In a sentence like this, "God is nowhere" reflects your pitiable plight of being denied His presence. Now, take out 'w' from the beginning of the fourth word 'where', and join it at the end of the third word 'no'. Then the sentence reads, 'God is now here'. Man most unfortunately commits sins but is not prepared to face their consequences. He expects punyam, merit, the result of good actions, but does not refrain from doing papam, sin. Nor would he do any meritorious deeds to get good results.
Is there any logic or rationale for him to get good results? How foolish are such expectations? How do you expect one kind of result from an altogether different and opposite kind of action? Always bear in mind the whole thing comes back to you in the form of reaction, reflection, and resound. You cannot escape them. When you fully realise this, you will not commit sins or involve yourself in harmful deeds. So you should 'Love God' and 'Fear Sin'. With these two, there will be 'Morality in Society'.
Question: Swami! Many speak of culture? What is the value of culture?
Bhagawan: Culture is very important because your life and its value depend on it. Culture is a way of life. Culture enables you to experience divinity in your life. Culture helps one to know unity in diversity. Without culture, man becomes a demon. He falls down in stature and ultimately ruins himself.
You know that sea water is saline or salty. Human life is like a vast sea. God's grace is like sunlight that falls on the sea. The seawater because of the heat of the sun becomes vaporised. This is the vapour of bliss that settles as clouds in the sky to fall down to the earth as rain. It is the rain of love. The seawater is salty but the rainwater is sweet. Why? Where does the difference lie? Seawater is refined by sunlight. So also, our life must be cultured and refined. The value of life will then go up.
A piece of iron worth less than a rupee can be made into a beautiful costly watch after it is processed and refined. This is due to the culture it has undergone. So long as a boulder remains itself, it is bound to be neglected. But, once it is in the hands of a sculptor, chiseled and hammered, and shaped into a beautiful Krishna idol, it starts receiving respect and worship. Why? It is only culture that makes all the difference.
A boulder, once trodden by everyone underfoot and now in the form of an idol, occupies a place at the altar in a temple and is worshipped everyday. This is the value that culture confers. Without culture, one develops a foolish view of life finding diversity in unity. For example, take a needle. It stitches pieces of cloth into a garment. The needle stands for culture. But scissors cut the cloth into pieces. This is the condition in the absence of culture.
Thursday 25 September 2008
God pinged me...
This is an excellent conversation between 'God' and the unknown 'Me'. I don't know as to who has been the composer of such an interesting and captivating conversation; but he/she has definitely put in good thoughts crafting the same.
God: Hello. Did you call me?
Me: Called you? No... Who is this?
God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.
Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something.
God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.
Me: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.
God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.
Me: I understand. But I still can't figure out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.
God: Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.
Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?
God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.
Me: why are we then constantly unhappy?
God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy.
Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?
God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.
Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty.
God: Pain is inevitable able, but suffering is optional.
Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?
God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life become better not bitter.
Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?
God: Yes. In every term, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.
Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?
God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.
Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading...
God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.
Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?
God: Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you road ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock.
Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?
God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.
Me: What surprises you about people?
God: When they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me". Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.
Me: Sometimes I ask, who I am, why am I here. I can't get the answer.
God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not merely a process of discovery but a process of co-creation. You are my co-creator.
Me: How can I get the best out of life?
God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.
Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.
God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.
Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat.
God: Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve not a problem to resolve. Trust me.
Life is wonderful if you know how to live. "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that took our breath away!
God: Hello. Did you call me?
Me: Called you? No... Who is this?
God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat.
Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something.
God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.
Me: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.
God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.
Me: I understand. But I still can't figure out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.
God: Well I wanted to resolve your fight for time, by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.
Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?
God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.
Me: why are we then constantly unhappy?
God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy.
Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?
God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.
Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty.
God: Pain is inevitable able, but suffering is optional.
Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?
God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life become better not bitter.
Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?
God: Yes. In every term, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.
Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?
God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons (to) Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.
Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading...
God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.
Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?
God: Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you road ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock.
Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?
God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.
Me: What surprises you about people?
God: When they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me". Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.
Me: Sometimes I ask, who I am, why am I here. I can't get the answer.
God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not merely a process of discovery but a process of co-creation. You are my co-creator.
Me: How can I get the best out of life?
God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.
Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered.
God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.
Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat.
God: Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve not a problem to resolve. Trust me.
Life is wonderful if you know how to live. "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that took our breath away!
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