2012 Guru Poornima
Philosophy
Emblem of Blessed LifeThe key to making one's own life full of all goodness
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Kids Story
Bhakt Vatsal - BhootabhritA story of how much God cares about His devotees
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Philosophy
धनि तन मन धन गोविंद राधे । जो हरि अरु गुरु सेवा में लगा दे ॥
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dhani tana mana dhana goviṃda rādhe । jo hari aru guru sevā meṃ lagā de ॥
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The wise people always wish to attain blessings of God to make their life most successful. They dedicate themselves at the lotus feet of God and Guru for the accomplishment of this purpose. Only the human beings possess three things that can be dedicated towards the service of God and Guru: body, mind, and wealth.
Yet all our scriptures give the maximum importance to the allegiance of mind and then to the body and wealth. Total sacrifice of all these three is essential for complete surrender. However if, despite your willingness, you are unable to donate money, you will not be punished. But if you are waiting to get more than sufficient money for your household needs, then even millions of dollars will be insufficient.
Our scriptures advise us, spending money on multiple dresses, shoes, matching purses and outing etc. is sheer madness. One should spend money wisely only for basic necessities and donate the rest. It is injudicious to waste money on showing off material prosperity to compete with others, while on the other hand pretending dearth for the spiritual sublime causes. As per the law of God, you will never be excused for this negligence. If truth be told, others do not admire your fancy clothes and other expensive things, rather they get jealous and criticize, behind your back. But their flowery words of admiration deceive you and coddle you. Our material mind always inspires us “to be called good” versus “being good”. The desire, to be “called good” (or the false pride) is so strong that we cannot tolerate even a scolding of our Guru. Although we do not utter any word out of respect, yet we feel He could have scolded us in private rather than in public. But, when we examine ourselves our intellect denies accepting being haughty. How can the intellect give a verdict against itself?
Unnecessary expenditure on shoes, clothing, jewelry etc. spoils the mind and runs the risk of going into depression if you are not able to buy new dresses due to tight financial conditions. We are so naive that we waste our time and money on maintaining our position in society but do not care about being banished into lower forms of life like insects and worms!
Shri Maharaj Ji added a joke here. ‘Once I was going somewhere. My car stopped at the red light. As I looked out of the window, I saw a seventy-year-old lady, sitting in the car in the next lane, take out her makeup kit and start applying lipstick and powder. I could not control my laughter.
A seventy-year-old is so concerned about looking good! Think! how much you spend on your body and decorating your house and car etc.; yet you make excuses to come to satsang, just so you do not have to spend money on gas and on aarti.
Our ego is so high that even if a saint casts his graceful glance on a young girl, she, instead of being grateful, calls him a rogue.
Once it so happened that a girl was standing on the side of the road. A demi-god from the celestial abodes passed by and asked, “Would you like me to turn you into a beautiful maiden?” The girl slapped the demi-god saying, “Do you think that I am ugly?” The demi-god was taken aback. He could not imagine that an ordinary looking girl on earth would consider herself no less than a celestial nymph!
The scriptures assert that there are four things that have been considered the cause of one’s destruction: youthfulness, money, power, ignorance. Just one of these is sufficient to ruin you completely then imagine how much harm having all of these can bring!
Once, a beggar donated One rupee and 75 paisa to Shri Madan Mohan Malviya towards the construction of Banaras Hindu University. Shri Malviya was overwhelmed with this donation and considered it as the biggest donation. Since the beggar donated his entire income of the day, and slept without food that night.
Everybody has money. How much, varies from person to person. One must surrender the mind to God. And according to one’s ability one should donate as well. One may live far away, or have a family to support and hence cannot perform physical service. Those hindrances may exist in serving with body and wealth, but there is no excuse for not serving with the mind .Everyone must serve God and Guru with the mind.
If a saint hugs a foreigner, who has come after a long time, others start thinking, O when I came from Mumbai, he did not give me a hug. Guru Ji embraced him just because he lives abroad. Instead of admiring your fortune that a saint, who is always engrossed in divine pastimes of God, looked at me! He gave me a smile. He is not supposed to look at the sinner like me. Still He is doing so many favors just to deliver me. Instead you apply your insignificant material intellect even in the unintelligible actions of a saint!
Ramakrishna Parmahans once took a lump of mud in one hand and put a gold coin in the other hand and said taaka maati, taaka maati. So others asked him, “what are you doing?” He replied, I am training my mind to think that there is no difference between mud and gold.
Swami Ram Tirth was a saint. He was very fond of apples. Once he kept an apple in front of him and resolved not to eat it. The apple became rotten. Still he did not eat it to control his desire for worldly things.
The saints freely distribute divine knowledge to us. Donating the entire wealth of the entire world cannot absolve one from the debt of a saint, who gives us divine knowledge.
There was a servant Palu Ram, in the house of a wealthy person Karori Mal. Palu Ram forged all the property in own name and made Karori Mal his servant. Our mind is like Palu for us.
So here the saint is saying that person is blessed who dedicates his body, mind and wealth in the service of God and Guru.
If one thinks so and works towards it then it will happen.
Yet all our scriptures give the maximum importance to the allegiance of mind and then to the body and wealth. Total sacrifice of all these three is essential for complete surrender. However if, despite your willingness, you are unable to donate money, you will not be punished. But if you are waiting to get more than sufficient money for your household needs, then even millions of dollars will be insufficient.
Our scriptures advise us, spending money on multiple dresses, shoes, matching purses and outing etc. is sheer madness. One should spend money wisely only for basic necessities and donate the rest. It is injudicious to waste money on showing off material prosperity to compete with others, while on the other hand pretending dearth for the spiritual sublime causes. As per the law of God, you will never be excused for this negligence. If truth be told, others do not admire your fancy clothes and other expensive things, rather they get jealous and criticize, behind your back. But their flowery words of admiration deceive you and coddle you. Our material mind always inspires us “to be called good” versus “being good”. The desire, to be “called good” (or the false pride) is so strong that we cannot tolerate even a scolding of our Guru. Although we do not utter any word out of respect, yet we feel He could have scolded us in private rather than in public. But, when we examine ourselves our intellect denies accepting being haughty. How can the intellect give a verdict against itself?
Unnecessary expenditure on shoes, clothing, jewelry etc. spoils the mind and runs the risk of going into depression if you are not able to buy new dresses due to tight financial conditions. We are so naive that we waste our time and money on maintaining our position in society but do not care about being banished into lower forms of life like insects and worms!
Shri Maharaj Ji added a joke here. ‘Once I was going somewhere. My car stopped at the red light. As I looked out of the window, I saw a seventy-year-old lady, sitting in the car in the next lane, take out her makeup kit and start applying lipstick and powder. I could not control my laughter.
A seventy-year-old is so concerned about looking good! Think! how much you spend on your body and decorating your house and car etc.; yet you make excuses to come to satsang, just so you do not have to spend money on gas and on aarti.
Our ego is so high that even if a saint casts his graceful glance on a young girl, she, instead of being grateful, calls him a rogue.
Once it so happened that a girl was standing on the side of the road. A demi-god from the celestial abodes passed by and asked, “Would you like me to turn you into a beautiful maiden?” The girl slapped the demi-god saying, “Do you think that I am ugly?” The demi-god was taken aback. He could not imagine that an ordinary looking girl on earth would consider herself no less than a celestial nymph!
The scriptures assert that there are four things that have been considered the cause of one’s destruction: youthfulness, money, power, ignorance. Just one of these is sufficient to ruin you completely then imagine how much harm having all of these can bring!
Once, a beggar donated One rupee and 75 paisa to Shri Madan Mohan Malviya towards the construction of Banaras Hindu University. Shri Malviya was overwhelmed with this donation and considered it as the biggest donation. Since the beggar donated his entire income of the day, and slept without food that night.
Everybody has money. How much, varies from person to person. One must surrender the mind to God. And according to one’s ability one should donate as well. One may live far away, or have a family to support and hence cannot perform physical service. Those hindrances may exist in serving with body and wealth, but there is no excuse for not serving with the mind .Everyone must serve God and Guru with the mind.
If a saint hugs a foreigner, who has come after a long time, others start thinking, O when I came from Mumbai, he did not give me a hug. Guru Ji embraced him just because he lives abroad. Instead of admiring your fortune that a saint, who is always engrossed in divine pastimes of God, looked at me! He gave me a smile. He is not supposed to look at the sinner like me. Still He is doing so many favors just to deliver me. Instead you apply your insignificant material intellect even in the unintelligible actions of a saint!
Ramakrishna Parmahans once took a lump of mud in one hand and put a gold coin in the other hand and said taaka maati, taaka maati. So others asked him, “what are you doing?” He replied, I am training my mind to think that there is no difference between mud and gold.
Swami Ram Tirth was a saint. He was very fond of apples. Once he kept an apple in front of him and resolved not to eat it. The apple became rotten. Still he did not eat it to control his desire for worldly things.
The saints freely distribute divine knowledge to us. Donating the entire wealth of the entire world cannot absolve one from the debt of a saint, who gives us divine knowledge.
There was a servant Palu Ram, in the house of a wealthy person Karori Mal. Palu Ram forged all the property in own name and made Karori Mal his servant. Our mind is like Palu for us.
So here the saint is saying that person is blessed who dedicates his body, mind and wealth in the service of God and Guru.
If one thinks so and works towards it then it will happen.
सुनहु करहु जो तुमहिं सुहाई ।
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sunahu karahu jo tumahiṃ suhāī ।
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Listen to what I said, now do whatever you like.
Bibliography - Learn more
Kid's Story
Long ago, there lived a poor Brahmin. He was always engrossed in singing the glories of God and in doing so, often forgot all about eating, sleeping, and performing other household duties. People in the village used to stop by his cottage to give him something to eat, but that was never enough. Often his wife and children had to go to bed hungry. His wife was upset by the fact that he did not pay any attention to her or the children. One day, as he was performing worship to Lord Vishnu and chanting His glorious names, his wife barged into his temple and started complaining about the children not having a proper meal for days. She started cursing him for not performing his duty as a father and not earning a living. Hearing his wife's complaints, the Brahmin was very distressed. He told her to look after the kids while he went to get some food to eat. But before leaving the temple, he put a cross on Lord Vishnu's face using a piece of charcoal saying, “From today onwards you are no longer called Bhootabhrit (provider of food). Instead of Vishnu Sahastra Naam (1000 names), I will chant only 999 names.
In Baikunth, Lord Vishnu was resting on Sheshnaag and Goddess Lakshmi was pressing His feet when she suddenly started laughing. Seeing her laugh, Lord Vishnu asked, “What is the matter Lakshmi, what makes you laugh like that?” Goddess Lakshmi could not control her laughter and simply pointed towards His face. Bhagavan Vishnu touched His face and saw black charcoal marks on His fingers. He immediately understood that it was a gift from one of His dear devotees.
He took leave of mother Lakshmi and headed straight to the poor Brahmin's house dressed as a trader. He carried lots of delicious food and expensive clothing and jewelry with Him. When the Brahmin's wife answered the door, He gave her everything he was carrying and told her that Her husband had sent all the stuff. When the wife inquired about Him, He replied saying, “Your husband knows me. Please ask him to remove the black mark he had placed on my face this morning.” Saying this, the stranger left. But before leaving, he turned their modest dwelling into a magnificent palace.
The wife and the kids were delighted with the gifts they had received and dressed themselves up in fineries. After a while, the Brahmin came back with the small amount of food that he got as alms. Seeing a huge mansion, he thought he had lost the way and started retracing his steps. Seeing him, his wife came running out to greet him. Seeing her in such fine clothes and jewelry, he did not recognize her, but she caught his arm, dragged him inside the house, and narrated the whole story. She said the kind trader who came said that, “You know Him. He also requested you to remove the black mark that you put on His face this morning.”
The Brahmin, who was always absorbed in the thoughts of Lord Vishnu, took no time to understand that God himself had come to satisfy his family's needs. This realization filled him with remorse. He ran out of the house shouting, “Oh my dear Lord, you gave your darshan to my wife who curses you day and night, and I who always sings your glories and praises, did not get a chance to behold your divine vision. Lord, please give me your darshan. I will myself clean up the mark on your face. You are indeed Bhootabhrit. Please let me behold your divine vision. I am sorry for accusing you of not being Bhootabhrit.” Saying so, he kept running hither and thither, looking for Lord Vishnu and soon fell unconscious on the ground.
In his trance, he heard Lord Vishnu's sweet voice asking him to rise. He woke up with a start and saw His beloved Lord Vishnu smiling at him. Seeing his dear Lord standing in front of Him, he fell at His feet and started begging for forgiveness. Lord Vishnu said, “Now that you have beheld my vision, go back home and look after your wife and kids.” Having achieved the objective of his life, he was contented and did not want to go back to his family. He pleaded to Lord Vishnu saying, “My Lord, if I go back, Maya will again take control over me and I will forget you. I don't want to go back to the world of misery. Please take me with you.” Lord Vishnu smiled and said, “Maya controls those who are not surrendered to me. Maya cannot touch those who attain me. Now that you have attained me, Maya can never touch you again. Go chant My names and you will never have to work for food ever again”.
Purport: In Geeta Lord Shri Krishn says
In Baikunth, Lord Vishnu was resting on Sheshnaag and Goddess Lakshmi was pressing His feet when she suddenly started laughing. Seeing her laugh, Lord Vishnu asked, “What is the matter Lakshmi, what makes you laugh like that?” Goddess Lakshmi could not control her laughter and simply pointed towards His face. Bhagavan Vishnu touched His face and saw black charcoal marks on His fingers. He immediately understood that it was a gift from one of His dear devotees.
He took leave of mother Lakshmi and headed straight to the poor Brahmin's house dressed as a trader. He carried lots of delicious food and expensive clothing and jewelry with Him. When the Brahmin's wife answered the door, He gave her everything he was carrying and told her that Her husband had sent all the stuff. When the wife inquired about Him, He replied saying, “Your husband knows me. Please ask him to remove the black mark he had placed on my face this morning.” Saying this, the stranger left. But before leaving, he turned their modest dwelling into a magnificent palace.
The wife and the kids were delighted with the gifts they had received and dressed themselves up in fineries. After a while, the Brahmin came back with the small amount of food that he got as alms. Seeing a huge mansion, he thought he had lost the way and started retracing his steps. Seeing him, his wife came running out to greet him. Seeing her in such fine clothes and jewelry, he did not recognize her, but she caught his arm, dragged him inside the house, and narrated the whole story. She said the kind trader who came said that, “You know Him. He also requested you to remove the black mark that you put on His face this morning.”
The Brahmin, who was always absorbed in the thoughts of Lord Vishnu, took no time to understand that God himself had come to satisfy his family's needs. This realization filled him with remorse. He ran out of the house shouting, “Oh my dear Lord, you gave your darshan to my wife who curses you day and night, and I who always sings your glories and praises, did not get a chance to behold your divine vision. Lord, please give me your darshan. I will myself clean up the mark on your face. You are indeed Bhootabhrit. Please let me behold your divine vision. I am sorry for accusing you of not being Bhootabhrit.” Saying so, he kept running hither and thither, looking for Lord Vishnu and soon fell unconscious on the ground.
In his trance, he heard Lord Vishnu's sweet voice asking him to rise. He woke up with a start and saw His beloved Lord Vishnu smiling at him. Seeing his dear Lord standing in front of Him, he fell at His feet and started begging for forgiveness. Lord Vishnu said, “Now that you have beheld my vision, go back home and look after your wife and kids.” Having achieved the objective of his life, he was contented and did not want to go back to his family. He pleaded to Lord Vishnu saying, “My Lord, if I go back, Maya will again take control over me and I will forget you. I don't want to go back to the world of misery. Please take me with you.” Lord Vishnu smiled and said, “Maya controls those who are not surrendered to me. Maya cannot touch those who attain me. Now that you have attained me, Maya can never touch you again. Go chant My names and you will never have to work for food ever again”.
Purport: In Geeta Lord Shri Krishn says
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते । तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥
गीता 9.22 |
ananyāścintayanto māṃ ye janāḥ paryupāsate ।
teṣāṃ nityābhiyuktānāṃ yogakṣemaṃ vahāmyaham ॥ Gita 9.22 |
“I myself take care of those fully surrendered unto Me”.
God Himself takes care of His fully surrendered devotees.
God Himself takes care of His fully surrendered devotees.
Bibliography - Learn more
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