| 29. SATSANGAM GOD’S Name "Repetition of God's Name enables the devotee to feel the divine presence, the divine glory and the divine consciousness within himself and also everywhere. How powerful is God's Name! When one sings His Name and hears His sound, he is unconsciously raised to sublime spiritual heights. He loses his body-consciousness. He is immersed in joy and drinks deep the divine nectar of Immortality. Sankirtana brings Darsana of God or attainment of divine consciousness easily in this Kali Yuga." Garlic and Onions A professor put a query to the Master, "I suppose that besides meat, spices also should be avoided." "You can take a little of it," said the Master. "It will help digestion. You should avoid garlic, onions and too much of pungent foods. They disturb tranquillity and serenity of mind. Meditation then becomes difficult. Garlic and onions are equal to meat." ... Swami Sivananda "Once we were all listening to the radio in the Jubilee Hall. At the end of the program, the names of all the artistes were announced. Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi said, 'See, the radio sings and gives speeches. It even announces the names of the performers. But there is nobody inside the radio. Our existence is also like that. The body might appear to walk and talk and perform a number of functions. But in fact, there is no individual inside the body. Everything is God. He alone exists."' Be Vigilant!! "Be vigilant about small things; the myriad little things that you indulge in every moment harden into habits and warp character and personality. They shape your intelligence outlook, ideals, and aspirations. Challenge your evil propensities even before they enslave you. If you make a sincere effort, you will certainly succeed." "Develop courage, confidence, hope and enthusiasm. Learn rather to spread a smile from face to face. Perform contemplation until your mind comes firmly into your control.” True Feelings "When Swami Vivekananda introduced a new
form of address, instead of addressing them as ‘‘Ladies and
Gentleman’’, he addressed them as ‘‘Brothers and
Sisters. It was quite new to the foreigners and they applauded incessantly
for 15 minutes. Of course, now a days too, we are addressing the audience
as sisters and brothers, but that feeling is not there in our heart even
for the time we are on the platform. What we do not feel in our heart
should not be expressed outwardly. We must give place to true feelings
from our heart and we must try to practice good things in out life." A child was seen chasing his shadow. The shadow kept running away. The child became frantic and desperate and started to cry. A wise man saw his predicament and advised, "Do not chase your shadow - just keep walking ahead and see what happens." The child took his advise, and lo, he found that as he moved about his shadow seemed to be chasing after him everywhere. He found the whole thing highly amusing and started to clap his hands and run around watching his shadow trying to catch up with him. Vedanta gives the same advise, "Do not run after worldly things, they are shadows cast by us. When we chase after them we turn into slaves ... We need to reposition ourselves and learn to be masters and not slaves of what we observe.” Ashtavakra Gita 15:8 (From "The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita," by Thomas Byrom, 1990.) Have faith, my Child, have faith. Shvetashvatara Upanishad Tirukkural 4: 38-39 Sri P Gopi Krishna |