My nazar is on you - Meher Baba

Meher Baba often told us that suffering brought the individual closer to Him.

One day we were all sitting in the Mandali Hall enjoying a music programme in progress with a large number of people in attendance and in the gathering was a woman holding a small baby in her arms.

Suddenly at one point the baby started to cry, tugging at the mother in its efforts to be free. This greatly embarrassed the mother who kept her hold, but the more she tried to restrain and silence the child, the louder its cries became.

Baba of course noticed the mother's discomfiture and asked that the baby be allowed to crawl on the floor and as soon as this was done the cries were silenced and the baby gurgled happily in its new found freedom.

After the music stopped, Baba began to give a discourse and everyone's attention was focussed on what He was saying. Halfway through the discourse, Baba stopped and pointing to the baby who was close to falling over the threshold of the door, signalled that the mother should retrieve it and let it crawl near her.

Baba then interrupted His discourse to explain the following in these words: "When I say My nazar (grace) is on you, it means I allow you to play with your own little games just as you saw this baby do, and when you are about to fall and hurt yourself, I pick you up and put you in a safe place and let you continue with your game. However, when I pick you up, like the baby you throw a tantrum, for My act of picking you up appears in a form of suffering for you, but I know what is good for you. It is only your suffering that will bring you close to Me and when you suffer, know that My nazar is on you."

Meher Baba
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Reading too many books? Quote from Yogananda.

Yogananda : Don't waste time on distractions: reading too much, and so on.  Reading can be good if it is instructive or inspiring, but if you let it interfere with meditation it becomes an evil.  Read only a little bit, to find inspiration, but spend most of the time in meditative Silence.

No one can give you desire for God. You must cultivate that desire in yourselves.

Yogananda : No one can give you the desire for God.  You must cultivate that desire in yourselves.  God Himself couldn't give it to you.  For when He created human beings, He didn't make them puppets.  You must desire Him, yourselves.

"Be wary of developing too keen an intelligence.  Many people use their power of reasoning cleverly to justify their delusion.  Concentrate more, on developing heart quality.  Devote as much time as you can, daily, to meditation; to actually experiencing God.

"Don't sleep too much.  Sleep is the unconcious way of contacting God.  Sleep is counterfeit ecstasy."

"Don't joke too much.  I myself, as you know, like a good laugh, but if I make up my mind to be serious, no one can make me even smile.  Be happy and cheerful - above all inwardly.  Be outwardly grave, but inwardly cheerful."

"Don't waste the perception of God's presence, acquired in meditation, by useless chatting.  Idle words are like bullets: they riddle the milk pace of peace.  In devoting time unnecessarily to conversation and exuberant laughter, you'll find you have nothing left inside.  Fill the pail of your conciousness with the milk of meditative peace, then keep it filled.  Joking is false happiness.  Too much laughter riddles the mind and lets the peace in the bucket flow out, wasting it.

"Wine, sex and money: These are the three great delusions.  Don't be trapped by them.  Some of you are weak, I know, but don't be discouraged.  Meditate regularly, and you will find the joy inside that is real.  You will then have something to compare to sense pleasures. 

This shift to a total carbohydrate diet that has happened in the last twenty-five or thirty years needs to be reversed because a person’s long-term health will be seriously affected if they just eat lots of carbohydrate and very little of other things. - Sadhguru.

Sadhguru on one of the major reasons of our ill-health.

Sadhguru : “Today, doctors are saying that 40% of the Indian population is heading to be diabetic. One of the reasons for this is most Indian people are on a single-cereal diet. People are eating either only rice or only wheat. This can definitely cause health problems. It is important to bring in a multigrain diet in one’s life.


In the last fifty years, they say eighty-seven varieties of pulses, grains, legumes and cereals have been lost for good in India. If you walked into a shop even thirty years ago in South India, there would be so many kinds of lentils. Today, it is either tuvar dhal, urad dhal or green gram dhal, that’s it. Even in Arab countries today – where half the land is desert – you find fifteen different types of cereals. India has only three or four left because we are wiping them out so effectively.


Traditionally, people always ate lots of grams, pulses, legumes and other things. But slowly those things have gone away, and if you look at a South Indian’s plate today, there will be so much rice and just a little bit of vegetable. This is a serious problem. This shift to a total carbohydrate diet that has happened in the last twenty-five or thirty years needs to be reversed because a person’s long-term health will be seriously affected if they just eat lots of carbohydrate and very little of other things. This is a basic conceptual change which needs to happen in people’s minds. The majority of the diet should not be rice but all the other things. Rice is your choice – whether you want to eat or not, you decide according to your hunger levels.”
– Sadhguru

Those who meditate on Self, with utmost faith and trust, the help from God will come automatically.

BHAGAVAN RAMANA TELLS THE STORY OF THE SPARROW

When a sparrow was flying, holding its egg in its beak, the egg slipped and fell into the ocean. The sparrow, anxious to retrieve it, repeatedly dipped itself in the ocean, sucked some water through its beak, came to the shore, released the water and fanned its wings. The sage Narada who was passing that way saw this action of the sparrow, enquired, and came to know the reason.

‘You stupid sparrow! Is this something you can accomplish?’ said Narada.
The sparrow replied, ‘I don’t care whether it is possible or not. If I persevere tenaciously, beyond that it is in God’s hands.’

Narada, delighted with its faith, went to Garuda and told him everything.

Then he said, ‘A creature belonging to your bird tribe is exerting itself with so much faith. Is it proper for you to keep quiet? Can you not help?’
After hearing this story Garuda flew quickly to the sparrow. As soon as he flapped his wings there, all the waters of the ocean separated into two, leaving the egg of the sparrow visible. The sparrow immediately picked it up in its beak and flew away.

Similarly, those who meditate on the Self and do good deeds, if they labour hard without feeling ‘This is a mammoth task! There is no one to help! Is this possible for me?’ then the help of God will come automatically.

Will the waters of the ocean get diminished by the sparrow sucking water through its beak and by its releasing it on the shore? The sparrow performed its task with faith [sraddha] and perseverance. Similarly, if anyone makes an effort, it will not fail to bear fruit at some time or other. For all things faith alone is important. For those who engage in good deeds, if they work with faith, the help of God will come, just as it did through Garuda.
Until it comes one should stay with one's sadhana without any faltering of faith, and with utmost exertion and steadfastness.

Letters from Ramanasramam

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This is democracy - Video, to watch.

When seeking God-realization becomes the sole purpose of life............

Swami Kriyananda narrates incident from Yogananda's life

When it came for living for God, the Master could be quite austere. Heber Kimball, a tall, dignified young man, visited Mount Washington with the intention of joining the monastery. The Master had put me in charge of the monks, so I mentioned Heber's interest to him.

"Tell him from me," the Master replied, "that if he stays here he can find salvation in this lifetime." This was no mean promise!

I encouraged Heber to remain, therefore. The next day, he said to me, "Please ask the Master what I should do about this problem: My parents are growing old. Is it better that I go back, find a job, and take care of them? Or should I remain here?"

I reported the question to Master, who replied very sternly: "That is for him to decide. We want only those here who are hundred percent for God!"

Did Heber stay? Yes, but he didn't remain very long.

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A young woman once addressed a similar question to the Master.  "My mother needs support,"  she said, "Ought I to leave here for her sake, and take a job?"

 

"Leave at once!" the Master ordered her peremptorily. "Get out! You aren't needed here!"

 

So dismissive was he that she burst into tears.  "Master" she pleaded "my place is with you.  I don't want to leave!  I will just practice faith in God, that He will attend to her needs."

 

"That is the right attitude," he replied with a kindly smile.  "When a person gives his life to God, the Lord takes care of every aspect of his life."  The mother came, later on, to Mount Washington, and lived there happily until her death many years later.


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They all laughed and they all said, "You don't know the beauty of movement. When the river is flowing, it is alive. But a tank is dead - it is stable.

Osho : "Life is unsafe, insecure - you can die any moment - so why be worried about it? All that you need is to live as totally as possible while you are living.

There are people on the earth - gypsies. That is a strange group that never makes a home. It is always on the move, lives only in tents, and absolutely free. Whenever it wants to change the city, it starts moving its tents, bullock carts.

In my village many gypsies used to pass, and I had asked many of them.... You may be surprised that gypsies are Indians; eighty percent of their language is Hindi, so it was not difficult to talk with them. They became known as gypsies because first they went to Egypt, and from Egypt they spread into Europe. From "Egypt" they got the name "gypsies."

I used to ask them, "Why don't you stay in one place? What is the point of troubling yourself by continuously moving?"

They all laughed and they all said, "You don't know the beauty of movement. When the river is flowing, it is alive. But a tank is dead - it is stable. The river does not know where it is going - that is its surprise... moment to moment the new. Why get caught up with the old?"

All the governments have been trying to provide them with houses so they can stay in one place, so there is no need for this constant movement. But they are not willing. It seems that, in this movement, they have known a certain beauty, a certain freedom.

And I was surprised: they are the most strong people. Their women are so strong, you cannot believe it. All their business is done by their women - their women will sell things on the market.

And if you even ask the price of a knife, you get into trouble!

The gypsy will say, "Five rupees." Naturally, you have to give some offer. You say, "Two rupees." She says, "Okay, take the knife." And if you don't give her the money, she will take hold of your hand - and the gypsy woman is so strong that even a man will not be able to get rid of her.

And they are so beautiful! I have seen so many women, but no comparison with gypsy women. They are beautiful, they are strong; and the men are beautiful, they are strong. Perhaps their continuous wandering, facing new difficulties, new challenges, has created a certain stamina which people living in houses in one place - being a clerk in the office - have lost. These gypsies don't want to lose it, and they can see the difference.

Losing the home... it is a beautiful experience to be homeless, because all the animals are homeless, all that exists is homeless. Only man has created out of his cunning mind some safety measures, which don't help - they simply make him weak, they make him ugly. He is in constant paranoia; and to get rid of that paranoia brings a new upsurge of energy.

So I am in favor of going around the world, moving, so you forget the whole idea of a home. You start having the freedom of a homeless person, and you drop the idea of safety and security... because they don't exist: they are just fictions."

~ Osho, https://www.facebook.com/GloriousSilence

Southern Sacred Walks

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

When Maa was a little four-year old child, She was cleaning a room and upon finishing, she threw the broom to a corner.

Then She heard the voice of Sri Ramakrishna say, “Hega, you threw that broom? See how beautifully you cleaned the room with that very broom and now you threw it? You must respect your tools as well as your actions. Cleanliness is next to Godliness?”

The four-year-old Little Mother bowed down to the broom. From then on She would bow down to it everyday. Maa said that Thakur Ramakrishna told Her, “If you respect each and every one of your actions, you will get me.”

Shree Maa, https://www.facebook.com/GloriousSilence

Shivanga - Becoming a Limb of Shiva

If somebody criticizes your Guru...................

I live in this world as She wishes.

Manomohan (a devotee of Sri Ramakrishna) was normally a quiet, peace-loving person, but he could sometimes be very outspoken, as it was unbearable for him to see or hear anything unjust or improper. One day on his way to Dakshineswar a man made some false and disrespectful remarks about Sri Ramakrishna in front of him. Manomohan became furious and told the man, "One more word and I'll knock you to the ground."

As soon as Manomohan arrived at Dakshineswar, Sri Ramakrishna said to him: "Everyone thinks that his faith is the greatest. If anyone says a word against his faith, he first argues, then becomes angry, and at last loses control and becomes violent."

Manomohan understood that the Master knew everything and that it was impossible to hide anything from him. He humbly explained, "Sir, I cannot bear to hear anyone criticize you." The Master replied: "Whether somebody criticizes me or praises me, that is no one else's business. I am a most insignificant person, so what will that man gain by criticizing me? I have neither the power to give ten jars of gold coins to a person who praises me, nor the power to give ten lashes to a person who censures me. I am a child of the Divine Mother. I live in this world as She wishes."

Sometimes I have given away my last dollar..................................Paramhansa Yogananda

"I own nothing, yet I have everything. Sometimes I have given away my last dollar. But I was never left out. God has always provided for me. I am very rich in that respect, even though poor outside--poor, not by compulsion, but of my own willingness. If I have my Father with me, what riches more can I want? This is the teaching of the East. This is what all Americans need to remember. Behind the dollar, behind all your efforts, is that great Power. And if that Power wishes you have the right job, the right anything, you will have it tomorrow, if you are in tune with God."

Paramahansa Yogananda

In yoga, you don’t chase experience, you only prepare. - Sadhguru.

Sadhguru : If Grace has to transmit itself, you need to have an appropriate body. If you do not have an appropriate body and Grace descends on you big time, you will only fuse out. Many people want big experiences but they are not willing to transform their body to be able to conduct those experiences. So many in the world have lost their minds or broken their bodies because they went experience-hunting.

In yoga, you don’t chase experience, you only prepare. That is how it was with the Saptarishis – the first seven disciples of Adiyogi. They simply prepared and prepared. They never asked for anything. They simply prepared for eighty-four years and when Adiyogi saw that they were so prepared, he couldn’t hold back anything. He had to give it all. But today’s world has become like this – “Sadhguru, I am here for two days, can you enlighten me?”

The yogic systems always focused on the muladhara. It is only in recent times that non-practicing “yogis” have written books and say you must focus on higher chakras. This high and low business is too entrenched in book-reading minds but that is not how life works. Some years ago, I used to conduct two or three-day programs in Hata Yoga. Just doing asanas, people would burst out laughing and crying. Most yogis just use a few simple postures to break the limitations of who they are. That is how Hata Yoga is. Hata Yoga means balance. Balance does not mean sanity. If you want your life to be exuberant, you need to have some madness in you. But if you become compulsively insane, you lost it.

Full article : http://blog.ishafoundation.org/yoga-meditation/demystifying-yoga/muladhara-the-most-important-chakra/

Don't lead the aimless life - Paramhansa Yogananda

Be alone within. Don't lead the aimless life that so many persons follow. Meditate and read good books more.... Once in a while it is all right to go to the movies and have a little social life, but mostly remain apart and live within yourself.... Enjoy solitude; but when you want to mix with others, do so with all your love and friendship, so that those persons cannot forget you, but remember always that they met someone who inspired them and turned their minds toward God.
Paramahansa Yogananda

Mystic Eye - Sadhguru in Singapore - 12 Jan 2014