Our body is a combination of insentience, animalistic nature, and divinity. The more we succeed in reducing the feelings of „I‟ and „mine‟ in our gross and insentient body, the more our slavery to beastly desires wanes, and the more the divine element increases, the greater the manifestation of yogic and spiritual powers.Many saints, devotees and yogis of India have been seen and heard to possess such divine powers. People have had first hand experience of their divine powers. Blessed are the people who live on this pious land of India…who believe in the Indian culture… and who enga ge themselves in sevÍ and sÍdhanÍ to awaken their divinity!Swami Vishuddhanandaji was one of those numerous saints of India who pursued sÍdhanÍ in solitude whileserving his Guru for years and years together. He thereby got rid of the false identification with his body as wellas his animalistic desires, which in turn helped him develop his divine potential. Many other supernaturalincidents have been ascribed to him. By reading the biographies of such saints or listening to select anecdotes of their lives, we too get encouraged to rise above our insentience and animalistic tendencies and rekindle our lost divinity. It is a Herculean task… it requires a great deal of faith, wisdom and patience to develop our divine element fully. The River Had to Change Its Course Adi Shankaracharya‟s mother, Vishishta Devi, would regularly go to her presiding deity, Keshava‟s temple for worship. She would first take a bath in the river and then go to the temple to perform worship. One day sheleft for the temple early in the morning, but did not return even by the evening.Shankaracharya was only about 7 to 8 years old at that time. He was an ardent devotee of the Lord and hadsteadfast faith in Him. When his mother did not return in the evening, he was quite worried and set out in searchof her. On finding his mother lying unconscious on the way, he treated her for a long time, and only then she regained consciousness. The river was at a long distance. Shankaracharya‟s mother used to face great difficulty in reaching it. So Shankaracharya mentally prayed to God, “O Lord! Please change the course of the river so thatmy mother can take her bath nearby.” He would repeat this prayer daily. One day the river started eroding the embankment and within a few days it was flowing near the house of Shankaracharya. This incident madeShankaracharya famous for having supernatural powers. Glory of the Satguru „ No one can cross the ocean of mundane existence without a Guru, though one may be an equal of Lord Brahma or Lord Shankara. ‟ - Sant Tulsidasa „ All that are venerable in this world, including Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva and others, are automaticallyworshipped upon worshipping the Satguru. ‟ - Nishchaldasa Maharaj „ Even the simple tasks of this world cannot be performed without the aid and guidance of a teacher. How isit possible then to attain the Lord without the Guru? This is simple to understand. ‟ - Sant Kabir „ One, who takes refuge in a saint, is redeemed. One who slanders the saint is condemned to innumerablebirths. ‟ - Guru Nanak “Selfless service to the Guru is the fountainhead of all good fortune. It endows the grief -stricken oneswith Brahmic Bliss. The Guru destroys ignorance like the Sun destroys the night. With the rise of the Sun, stars vanish and the day breaks. Once the Guru comes into one‟s life, he obliterates the twinkling stars of bothimperfect knowledge and nescience, and bestows enlightenment on those with a discerning intellect.” - Sant Jnaneshwara “On the thorny path of Truth to guide you there is none but Guru.” - Swami Sivananda Saraswati “There have been so many kings and emperors, and many more will come hereafter; but none can bestowthe sayujya mukti . The saints alone are the real emperors, and only those who take refuge in their tutelage, attainreal happiness and sayujya mukti .” -Samartha Sri Ramdas Swami “One may perform innumerable japa and penances, observe yamas and niyamas , but until one is blessed with the grace of the Guru, all these are but futile.” - Swami Rama Tirtha Plato says, “I am blessed having a Guru as great as Socrates.” Thoreau would get overwhelmed with sublime emotions while recounting the glory of what he hadattained from his Guru, Emerson. * Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa would never get tired of praising his Satguru ,Who helped him realize his True Self. * His Holiness Swami Sri Lilashahji Maharaj‟s voice would become choked with emotion while His eyes would be filled with tears of love whenever He remembered His Satguru. * How Pujya Bapuji is overwhelmed with affection in the fond memory of His Satguru , has only to be seen to be believed. Now, how do we react to His memory is a question for us to ponder. The extrovert uninitiated onesmay say whatever they want to say, the aspirants alone know what they are blessed with, by the Satguru . Lord Shiva Appears in Afghanistan to Protect Lady Martin’s Husband In the year 1879, India was under the British regime which had attacked Afghanistan. Lieutenant ColonelMartin was entrusted with the overall command of the operations in this war.Colonel Martin would send messages of his wellbeing from the battlefield to his wife. The war dragged onfor a long time, and then even the messages ceased to come. Lady Martin was worried thinki ng, „My husbandmight have been killed in the battle, and if that is true, of what use is my life without him?‟ One day, she went out riding a horse. On the way she was attracted towards the sounds of a conch and the chanting of mantrascoming from a templ e. She went into that temple of Lord „Baijanatha Mahadeva‟ and asked the priests, engagedin the worship of Lord Shiva, “What are you doing?” An old Brahmin said, “We are worshipping Lord Shiva.” Lady Martin further enquired, “What is the significance of worshipping Lord Shiva?” The Brahmin replied, “Lord Shiva is a generous donor known for His supreme simplicity as „Bholenath‟. He does not delay even for a moment when it comes to relieving His devotees of their troubles. He immediatelygrants the wish of His devotees with which they come to Him. But dear daughter! Why do you appear so worried?” Tears moistened her eyes as she explained the matter to the priest. The Brahmin consoled her, “Don‟t worry dear daughter! Worship Lord Shiva and pray to Him! Perform a Laghurudri also. Lord Shiva will definitely protect your husband.” On the advice of the priests, she started an eleven day long Laghurudri anusthÍna . Each day she would pray to Lord Shiva for the protection of her husband, “O Lord Shiva! O Baijanatha M ahadeva! If my husband comes back safe from the battle, I will build a domed temple for You.” On the last day of the anushthÍna , a messenger came running to the temple and delivered an envelope toLady Martin. The letter was from her husband, who wrote, “W hile engaged in battle I continued to send messages to you, but then suddenly we were surrounded bythe Afghan forces from all sides. The British forces including myself were facing imminent death. The conditionwas so precarious that it was almost impossible to escape. But just then there appeared an Indian yogi with longmatted hair holding a triple pointed weapon (trident) in his hand. The lustrous yogi started wielding his weaponwith great might. The frightful sight of His weapon moving with lightning speed sent the Afghan forces running for their lives. “By His sheer grace, we escaped the siege of the Afghan forces and got an opportunity to mount a counter attack on them. This converted a definite defeat into a victory. Then that supreme yogi encouraged me saying, „Don‟t worry! I am Lord Shiva and having been pleased with your wife‟s worship, I have come here to protect you.‟ Tears rolled down from Lady Martin‟s eyes as she felt overwhelmed with gratitude. She placed her head in front of Lord Shiva‟s id ol and prayed while weeping intensely.After a few weeks, Colonel Martin came back to Aagar cantonment. His wife related to him all that had happened. Then, both of them started worshipping Lord Shiva regularly in the „Baijan Ítha MahÍ deva‟ temple. At his w ife‟s request, Colonel Martin refurbished the temple of „Baijanatha Mahadeva‟ in 1883 at a cost of Rs.15000. A plaque near this temple bears testimony to this historical fact. Incidentally, this is the only Hindutemple built by the English in India.It is the same Divinity that manifests itself in Lord Shiva… Lord Krishna… The Divine Mother or in the enlightened Satgurus … All it needs is an unflinching faith. Ekalavya, through his unflinching faith in the Guru‟s idol, went on to attain that which left even Arjuna astounded. Aaruni, Upamanyu, Dhruva, Prahlada… there are hundreds of examples before us. Even today, such divine help is provided to thousands of devotees and aspirants by God and Self-realized Satgurus . The one and only thing it requires is complete and unflinching faith. Mantra for Easy Delivery „ aiÒ hrÐÒ bhagavati bhagamÍlini cala calabhrÍmaya bhrÍmaya puÙpaÒ vÐkÍsaya vikÍsaya svÍhÍ .‟ Give the milk consecrated by this mantra to a pregnantwoman, and it will ensure a smooth delivery. The second option is that the pregnant woman may herself do japa of the mantra „ JaÒbhalÍ-JaÒbhalÍ ‟ during labour. The third is to sip 12 to 15 ml. of cow-dung extract after doing japa of the mantra „ namonÍrÍyaÔÍya ‟ 21 times. This will remove a ll troubles in delivery, thus avoiding surgical operation. If there is any cause of apprehension regarding the delivery, do japa of the following mantra: „ sarvamaÕgala mÍÕgalye Úive sarvÍrtha sÍdhike | saraÕye tryambake gaurÐ nÍrÍyaÔÐ namostute || ‟ (T he Durgasaptashati) To Beget a Strong and Fair-complexioned Baby Boy : The paste of a tender leaf of DhÍk or PalÍsh ( Butea frondosa ), when taken mixed with cow‟s milk daily during pregnancy, ensures the birth of a strong and fair-complexioned baby boy. Even if the parents are dark-complexioned, the infant will nevertheless be a fair one. KEYS TO ALL ROUND DEVELOPMENT For Improving Memory: (1) Prepare a mixture by mixing 15-20ml Tulsi juice with one spoonful of Chayavanprash and raisins. Drink it daily after chanting the Sarasvatya-mantra or Guru Mantra . Within 40 days,you will experience miraculous benefits. (2). After meals, chew thoroughly a laddu prepared from sesame seeds.(3) Grind and mix 100gms each of aniseed and almond and 200 gms of sugar candy. Chew 3-4gms of thismixture thoroughly every morning followed by milk. You can also take milk along with this mixture. Thisimproves memory. For Retentive Memory: (1) Before starting your studies, sit in an erect posture facing either east or north. (2) Do japa of „ Sarasvatya’ mantra for some time. Then touch the tip of your tongue to the palate andattentively set yourself in studies. (3) At regular intervals and at the end of studies, be quiet and try to recap what you have studied. Contemplate „ Peace… Rama Rama… ‟ or the Guru -mantra and be quiet. For Increasing Height: (1) Every morning run for some time. Do pull- ups and also perform „ TÍdÍsana ‟. (2) Crush two seeds of black pepper, mix them with butter and swallow it. (3) Chew 6 leaves of bael with 2 to 4seeds of black pepper while remembering Hanumanji. You can also have it by making a paste of it by addingwater to it. (The milk of an I ndian cow specifically helps in increasing one‟s height) For Robustness: (1) Suck harad ( chebulic myrobalan ) before taking meals. You can also take it alongwith meals. (2) Squeeze one lemon in a glass of water and soak two raisins in it overnight. Drink the water in themorning after sieving it and chew the raisins. To Improve Eye-sight: Mix together one spoonful each of aniseeds and sugar candy and consume itwhile going to bed in the night. Follow this regimen regularly for 5 to 6 months. Protection Against Eye-diseases: (1) Massage the big-toes and soles of the feet with mustard oil. (2)Wash the eyes by splashing water into them lightly while doing japa of the mantra „ aruÔÍya huÒ phat svÍhÍ .‟ This relieves severe eye pains. Prevention of Nightmares: Do japa of „ haraye namaÏ ‟ while going to sleep. Keep the„Griha -dosha-bÍdhÍ nivarak yantra‟ (a mystic diagram for alleviating harmful planetary influences and distributed free of cost as prasÍda by the ashram) towards the head. Remedy for Troubles, Miseries and Harmful Planetary Influences: Offer oblations of a mixture of ghee, milk, honey and durvÍ grass to the sacred fire while chanting the Mahamrityunjaya mantra on a birthday.This will decrease the influence of problems and infuse new enthusiasm in life. For Happiness, Health and Peace in the House: Burn a small piece of cowdung stick in the morningand evening everyday. Put a few grains of rice mixed with ghee of the desi cow on it so that they are burnt withit. This will maintain health and peace in the house and eradicate the evil influences of architectural flaws (vÍstudosha). For Spiritual Advancement: Mental repetition of the divine name throughout one‟s routine activities, beholding God in all, momentary repose in between two consecutive activities, to see one‟s own good in thegood of others, to keep a watch over one‟s thoughts, reverentially taking recourse to satsang and study of thescriptures, etc. are quick means to spiritual advancement.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 05:39:32 +0000
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