Jyoti

"Mahamaya fell into a great difficulty in trying to ensnare two persons. Naren (Vivekananda) and Nagmahashaya. As She tried to capture Naren, he became bigger and bigger and at last so big that all Her fetters fell short and She had to give up Her task as hopeless. And when She attempted Her trick on Nagmahashaya, he began to make himself smaller and smaller and at last reduced himself to such a degree of smallness that he easily escaped through the meshes of Her snares." -- Girish Chandra Ghosh.

#fetters #spiritual #vivekananda

The students requested the Swami to hold a religious conversation instead of the class. He acceded to the request and spoke on what must have been the uppermost feeling in his heart at that time – Love – Love for the Lord and His children. He said: "The Bhakta is prepared to take any number of births and undergo all kinds of sufferings in order that he may serve and enjoy the presence of the Lord within and without.' The same night Swamiji left for Calcutta via Bombay. Six days of continuous travel took him to Calcutta. When he reached the Udbodhan Office the Swamis received him, and offered him refreshments. Declining all offers and unmindful of any other thing he went straight way to his beloved Gurubhai, a mighty Karmayogin and heroic Jnanin, lying on his death bed, waiting for the arrival of his dear Tulasi, a Bheeshma lying on his bed of arrows waiting for Uttarayana. The Swami approached him and announced himself. Slowly Saradanandaji opened his eyes and beheld the form of his beloved brother. Tears rolled down the eyes of both. What unfathomable depths, what infinite love; what exquisite spiritual forms did they see in each others eyes?

#spiritual

Sri Ramakrishna was gradually becoming conscious of the outside world.  Nilmadhav of Ghazipur and a Brahmo devotee were talking about Pavhari Baba.  Another Brahmo devotee said to the Master: "Sir, these gentlemen visited Pavhari Baba.  He lives in Ghazipur.  He is a holy man like yourself." The Master could hardly talk; he only smiled.  The devotee continued, "Sir, Pavhari Baba keeps your photograph in his room." Pointing to his body the Master said with a smile, "Just a pillow-case."

The Master continued: "But you should remember that the heart of the devotee is the abode of God.  He dwells, no doubt, in all beings, but He especially manifests Himself in the heart of the devotee.  A landlord may at one time or another visit all parts of his estate, but people say he is generally to be found in a particular drawing-room.  The heart of the devotee is the drawing-room of God.

#spiritual

The Master had once said to her, 'One may beg food from others, but still one must not live at another's house. Don't pull down your humble cottage at Kamarpukur, however great might be the respect with which the devotees receive you in their homes.' And following the Master's advice, all through her life she bore the expenses of repairing and maintaining the cottage.

#spiritual

The magnet was pulling the iron to itself. Aghormani felt a strong desire to visit the Master at the earliest opportunity. A few days later she again visited Dakshineshwar with some stale sweets purchased from a wayside shop. With great hesitation, she offered the sweets to the Master who savored them and said, "Well, you need not spend money for sweets. Prepare sweetened coconut balls and vegetable curries cooked by your own hand." Aghormani’s visits to Dakshineshwar now became very frequent. Her fascination for the Master, however, was a little shadowed by the puzzle why the Master talked to her mostly about food and not on spiritual matters. Sometime, she resolved not to go to him again but every time she found herself automatically dragged in the direction of Dakshineshwar. Thus, during the next three or four months she regularly visited Sri Ramakrishna, always carrying some of her culinary preparations, and the Master ate them praising, "Ah, how deliciously cooked! It is, as it were, very nectar." She always returned to Kamarhati with a tingle of joy lingering in her heart with an irresistible yearning for the next visit.

#spiritual

Disciple: Mother, everybody says that one who approaches the Kalpataru(wish-fulfilling tree) has to ask for something. But I wonder, for what should children ask their Mother? A mother gives to every child according to its need. As Sri Ramakrishna used to say.. "A mother serves different dishes to suit the stomachs of her different children." Now please tell me which is the correct attitude.

Mother: How much intelligence does a man possess? He is likely to ask for something other than what he really needs. He may even end up creating a monkey in place of Siva. It is wise to take refuge in Him. He will always give you whatever is necessary. However, one should pray for devotion and desirelessness; for such a prayer does no harm.

#devotion #spiritual

I wanted to watch this for long. And I ordered it when I was traveling to america. It's a short thirty minute video. I liked it. The music is very nice! I have already watched it thrice!

#gratitude #spiritual

The day after her first visit to Sri Ramakrishna with Balaram Babu, Gauri Ma took an early morning bath in the Ganges and once again went to Dakshineswar, this time by herself.

Standing by the front door. Sri Ramakrishna was very happy to see her. "I was just thinking about you," he said.

Falteringly, Gauri Ma described her life of the preceding fifteen years to Sri Ramakrishna. She recounted her mysterious experience when she had seen his holy feet on the throne of Damodar. She then asked him, "That you are hiding here, at Dakshineswar, so close to Calcutta – could I not have known this earlier, Father?"

But Bhagavan Sri Ramakrishna only gave a little knowing smile and replied, "Then how would you have done so much sadhana?"

#spiritual

I watched this show in Hyderabad on 22 August. It was a captivating small play. If you haven’t watched a good play before you should go sometime and see one; it is not something you can compare with  movies.

The play showed the life of Srinivasa Ramanujan and a mathematician fascinated by his work in the present day and her struggle in today world. The play can be interpreted in several ways and it gives something to think over for everyone. For me it was the simplicity and brilliance of Ramanujan; his courage and dedication towards his work.

“Numbers are continuous and so is time and space… and If time and space are continuous we are connected to the absolute.”

#spiritual

Epicurus on Happiness

• Make good Friends.
• Develop Self-sufficiency. Freedom.
• Have time to analyze, to  reflect. Be free of other's opinions.

Montaigne on Self-Esteem

• Be comfortable with your body as are animals. That is a wisdom to be learnt from animals.
• To be wise: Humility, modesty and acceptance of one's intellectual limitation.

Nietzsche on Hardship

• Our worries are vital clues telling us what is wrong with our lives and pointing the way to our ultimate improvement.
• Dare to take challenges in manner similar to climbing a mountain overcoming hurdles.
• That which does not kill me makes me stronger.

Seneca on Anger

• Pre-meditation on something uncomforting that might happen lessens the surprise and can help control the anger.
• Anger and frustration are irrational responses to setbacks and the only rational strategy is to stay calm about the fact that things do go wrong.

Socrates on Self-Confidence (Plato was his student)

• We should not be too swayed by the opinion of the others. Sheepish.
• Five distinct steps that anyone who wants to develop distinct thoughts should follow:

1. Look around for common statements that is stated to be common sense... like "Best jobs are the highly paid jobs"...
2. Look around for an exception.
3. If an exception is found then the statement is incorrect or at least imprecise.
4. Try to nuance the statement to take the exception in the account.
5. Continue this process... try to find exceptions to the common sense statement.