Prayer

God, our Creator, has stored within our minds and personalities, great potential strength and ability. Prayer helps us tap and develop these powers. -Abdul Kalam

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan.

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

The Supreme Entity is the vastest entity; the ultimate source of all cosmic emanations. The Supreme Entity, which is difficult to conceive, is the subtlest of the subtle. He is farther away than any other entity, but again He is nearer than the nearest. Only the one who looks into the innermost recesses of himself can realize the Supreme Entity.

Human society is one and indivisible. Don’t try to divide it. Each and every individual should be looked upon as the manifestation of the Cosmic Entity.

He is infinite. He has no beginning and no end. He is the unbroken flow of pure and serene bliss, stretching from beginninglessness to endlessness.

 

Shrii Shrii Anandamurti

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan.

Yudhishthira

Yudhishthira descended into the pool,
in his turn drawn to the water by a consuming thirst.
At once the voice without form (Yaksa) warned as before:
"Your brothers died because they did not heed my
words. Do not follow them.( all his four brothers were
sent to fetch water one after the other..all died
as they did not heed the warning of the yaksa)
Answer my questions first and then quench your thirst.
This pool is mine."

Yudhishthira knew that these could be none other
than the words of a Yaksha and guessed what had
happened to his brothers. He saw a possible way
of redeeming the situation.
He said to the bodiless voice: "Please ask your
questions."
The voice put questions rapidly one
after another.
The Yaksha asked: "What makes sun shine every day?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The power of Brahman.(God)"
The Yaksha asked: "What rescues man in danger?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Courage is man’s salvation in danger."
The Yaksha asked: "By the study of which science does man become wise?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Not by studying any sastra(scriptures)
does man become wise. It is by association with
those great in wisdom that he gets wisdom."
The Yaksha asked: "What is more nobly sustaining than the earth?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The mother who brings up
the children she has borne is nobler and more sustaining than the earth."
The Yaksha asked: "What is higher than the sky?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The father."
The Yaksha asked: "What is fleeter than wind?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Mind."
The Yaksha asked: "What is more blighted than withered straw?"
Yudhishthira replied: "A sorrow-stricken heart."
The Yaksha asked: "What befriends a traveller?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Learning."
The Yaksha asked: "Who is the friend of one who stays at home?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The wife."
The Yaksha asked: "Who accompanies a man in death?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Dharma. That alone
accompanies the soul in its solitary journey
after death."
The Yaksha asked: "Which is the biggest vessel?"
Yudhishthira replied: "The earth, which contains all within itself is the greatest vessel."
The Yaksha asked: "What is happiness?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Happiness is the result of
good conduct."
The Yaksha asked: "What is that, abandoning which
man becomes loved by all?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Pride, for abandoning that
man will be loved by all."
The Yaksha asked: "What is the loss which yields
joy and not sorrow?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Anger, giving it up, we will no longer subject to sorrow."
The Yaksha asked: "What is that, by giving up which, man becomes rich?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Desire, getting rid of it, man becomes wealthy."
The Yaksha asked: "What makes one a real brahmana(realized soul)? Is it birth, good conduct or learning? Answer decisively."
Yudhishthira replied: "Birth and learning do not make one a brahmana. Good conduct alone does. However learned a person may be he will not be a
brahmana if he is a slave to bad habits. Even though he may be learned in the four Vedas(hindu scriptures) , a man of bad conduct falls to a lower class."
The Yaksha asked: "What is the greatest wonder in
the world?"
Yudhishthira replied: "Every day, men see
creatures depart to Yama’s(God of death) abode and yet,
those who remain seek to live forever. This verily is
the greatest wonder."
Thus, the Yaksha posed many questions and
Yudhishthira answered them all.
In the end the Yaksha asked: "O king, one of your
dead brothers can now be revived. Whom do you
want revived? He shall come back to life."
Yudhishthira thought for a moment and then
replied: "May the cloud-complexioned, lotus-eyed,
broad-chested and long-armed Nakula, lying like a
fallen ebony tree, arise."
The Yaksha was pleased at this and asked
Yudhishthira: "Why did you choose Nakula in
preference to Bhima who has the strength of
sixteen thousand elephants? I have heard that
Bhima is most dear to you. And why not Arjuna,
whose prowess in arms is your protection? Tell me
why you chose Nakula rather than either of these
two."
Yudhishthira replied: "O Yaksha, dharma is the
only shield of man and not Bhima or Arjuna. If
dharma is set at naught, man will be ruined.
Kunti and Madri were the two wives of my father.
I am surviving, a son of Kunti, and so, she is
not completely bereaved. In order that the scales
of justice may be even, I ask that Madri’s son
Nakula may revive." The Yaksha was pleased with
Yudhishthira’s impartiality and granted that all
his brothers would come back to life.
It was Yama, the Lord of Death, who had taken the
form of the deer and the Yaksha so that he might
see his son Yudhishthira and test him. He
embraced Yudhishthira and blessed him.

Contributed by Bro.Raghu ( California,USA)

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan

Dada Cidananda –Story about his Guru

Dada Cidananda, a very senior monk in Ananda Marga shared some interesting stories with us about his Guru, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. He calls his Guru, Ba’ba’. Below are two short ones.

1) Once in Jamalpur during a gathering with some monks and devotees.
In this group there were 2 devotees who had plenty of mental
clashes. Ba’ba’ called a vey young monk and asked him to close his
eyes to see what was going on in the mind of one of these two
devotees.
The monk responded that he wasn’t seeing anything. Then
Ba’ba’touched a point behind the monk’s neck. The monk then started
narrating what he was seeing. He saw that the devotee as a very
elevated yogi in his previous life. Ba’ba’ told him to go back
further then that. The monk saw that previous to that, he was a
temple assistant where where he was in constant touch with many
monks and saintly people. And previous to that he was a hunter. In
that life (as a hunter), while he was hunting he met a saint who was
thirsty. The saint requested for water. And the hunter sacrificed
the little water he had for his own consumption and gave it to the
saint.

Ba’ba’ then went on to explain that as a result of having done that
little service through his sacrifice, the hunter, in his next life
become a temple assistant. Finally in the life previous to this one,
he achieved spiritual elevation.
In this life he was born into a very successful business family. He
was able to successfully launch profitable businesses. But he would
also suddenly lose interest in business and start diving into his
spiritual practices.His family relationship soured and he was always
in mental turmoil. When asked by Ba’ba’ to ascertain the veracity of
the story, the devotee confirmed that it was true.
Turning to the second devotee Ba’ba’ said,
" You are thinking that I have been a very old devotee, practicing
spiritual disciplines and meditation for many years. But Ba’ba’ uses
a young boy( monk) for his demonstrations. Why not me?". The second
devotee confirmed Ba’ba’s statement.
Ba’ba’ explained that this young boy, for the past seven hundred
years, had been practicing and perfecting his mind and body
spiritually. As a result he was able to tolerate high spiritual
vibrations which Ba’ba’ transmitted. Ba’ba’ also mentioned that the
devotee’s mind would have burst if He had done the same
demonstration on him.
______________________________________________________
Dada Cidananda then encouraged all of us to be serious about our practices if we wanted to attain higher states of spiritual realizations.

_________________________________________________________

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan.

GURU

From his transcendent station, the Lord in the form of the Guru
frees one from all bondages.
… The Guru is the means to enlightenment.
… Initiation by the Guru is the first ladder to the terrace of
Liberation.
… The touch of the hand of the Guru destroys the impurities of
the world and converts the base metal of the disciple into gold.

Kularnava Tantra

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan.

Kindness

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates
profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao-Tzu

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan

Clear Mind

Clear mind is like the full moon in the sky. Sometimes clouds come and
cover it, but the moon is always behind them. Clouds go away, then the
moon shines brightly. So don’t worry about clear mind: it is always
there. When thinking comes, behind it is clear mind. When thinking
goes, there is only clear mind. Thinking comes and goes, comes and
goes, You must not be attached to the coming or the going.

Zen Master Seung Sahn

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan.

Satsaunga or Good Company

The Priceless Value of Satsaunga or Good Company Or Dharma Chakra or Magnetic touch of the Great  Sat+Saunga: Sat means Good, Saunga means association..Das  The great devotee Narada asked Krsna, "What is the value of  satsaunga?"

Krsna replied: "Go to the forest, find a particular tree, and in the
tree there is an insect. Ask that insect."  So Narada went to the forest and found the tree. And in the hollow  of the branch, found an insect. He asked: "What is the value of satsuanga?"
But instead of answering, the insect suddenly died. So Narada went back to Krsna, asking the same question. This time Krsna Said, "Near that tree is a lizard. Ask the lizard." Narada found the lizard sunning itself on a rock. He sat down next to it and asked, "What is the value of satsuanga?" But to his dismay, the lizard’s eyes rolled back in his head, his body shuddered,
and the lizard died.

Narada told Krsna his misfortune and again asked his question. Krsna
said, "At the edge of the forest is a pasture, and in the pasture is
a cow. Go ask the cow." Narada said, "Oh I can’t possibly do that.
To add to my sins of killing an insect and a lizard, it would be even
more serious to kill a cow. Please don’t ask that!" But Krsna
insisted that this was the only way to find the answer to
Narada’s question, so obediently Narada set off.

When he got to the pasture he found a lovely white cow. Coming close
he stroked her head and looked in her large brown eyes. And then he
asked, "What is the value of satsuanga?" To Narada’s dismay, the
cow looked back at him, then her eyes rolled back in her head, her body
shuddered, and she died.
Narada went back to Krsna saying, "Now I have killed three creatures,
and I still don’t know the answer to my question!" Krsna said, "If
you really want to know the answer to your question, there is only
one way to find out. The pasture is at the edge of a kingdom. That
kingdom now is having a grand celebration and the palace is in the
midst of great festivities. They are celebrating because after twenty
years of sadness, the childless queen has finally given birth to a
son. The wise people say that this son is especially spiritual and
wise and everyone is rejoicing at their great fortune. You must go to
the palace and ask this question to the newborn baby."
Narada was shocked at this idea! "If I kill their baby, the entire
town will attack me! Surely I can’t do this!" Still he was ever
obedient to his Lord. He came to the palace and was invited in with
open arms by the King and Queen. They were honored that such a
special guest had come to welcome their new son. They washed his feet
and fed him a sumptuous dinner. Then Narada asked if he might spend
time alone with the new baby. The King and Queen showed him to the
baby’s room.
Narada held the tiny child in his arms and stroked its head. The
child looked back at him with large eyes. Narada tenderly
asked, "What is the value of satsuanga?" Suddenly the child’s eyes
turned back in his head, and he shuddered and died in Narada’s arms.
Narada ran from the palace narrowly escaping the palace guards and
hoards of furious townspeople. Finally safe with Krsna, he
implored, "Lord, how could you ask me to do such a vile act! What a
cruel thing I ‘ve done! And I still don’t know the answer to my
question!"
Krsna replied, " Now you have seen the value of satsaunga. When you
visited the insect, your spiritual vibration was so strong; the
insect lost physico-psychic parallelism, and took a higher life to
become the lizard. When you visited the lizard, you also elevated its
mind to such an extent, that it right away took rebirth as a cow. And
when you visited the cow, again just the vibration of your devotional
presence so affected the cow, that it right away took birth in a
human body. And when you visited that tiny baby, it attained
Final enlightenment right there in your arms!"

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan

BABA JOKES

One day while Baba was sitting with all avadhutas and giving classes. Baba was talking about the Planets & Galaxies and Baba mentioned that right now only this earth planet is ready for human beings to live and to develop their mental spiritual capacities".

Baba said " But in future there may be other planets too which will be ready to allow many living beings and also to accommodate human beings.

Then BABA continued….. when that happens we will have more work to do in the other planet too. And I will also go to the other planet…. and which one of you is ready to come along with me to the other planet to give your service ?

Instantly all dadas and didis shouted yes BABA I am ready while raising their hand …!

But out of them all only one dada ( Nityasatyananda ) did not raise his hand.

Baba asked…. Nityasatyananda…. how come you alone not raising your hand.  Don’t you like to be with me in the other planet too ?

Dada Nityasatyanandaji :  Yes… Baba I would like to come,  BUT…… first I wish to know how many MOONS does that planet has ? Only then I can tell if I want to come with you to that planet …!!!

Baba :  Why do you want to know how many MOONS that planet has…?

Dada Nityasatyanandaji : "Baba…. this earth planet has only ONE MOON….. yet we are asked to fast 4 times a month…!!

If the other planet has 12 moons…… then…I may have to continuously be fasting….!!

Everyone in the room burst in to laughter and Baba too was laughing….

 

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan

Present

Tomorrow is a mystery

Yesterday is history

Today is a gift; and that is why we call it the Present.

Namaskar

BABA NAM KEVALAM

Ragavan