Tuesday, 28 April 2020

Shankara meets his Master

Shankara meets his Master.
One scorching day of summer, Adi Shankaracharya and his followers were going to bathe in the river Ganges at the Manikarna ghat. A Chandala (an untouchable and worker at the cremation ground, at the very bottom of the social scale) with four dogs held in leash, was approaching in a disorderly manner from the opposite direction. Finding no other way of avoiding a confrontation with him, Shankara addressed him and said, “Oh, you Chandala, step aside one side with your canine company, and let us pass”. The Chandala did not appear to have listened to his words at all, and did not tarry of deflect, but continued to advance. Shankara in a somewhat excited voice cried out again, “Stop, fellow, stop. Restrain and pacify your curs. Leave a passage free for us”. The terrible looking Chandala burst out into hideous guffaw and turning to Shankara, spoke out in Sanskrit verses, “Whom are you asking to move aside , Sir? Are you demanding the self to do so or the body to do so? The Self is omnipresent, non-active, ever pure by nature. If instead you ask the physical body to move aside, you know that the body is inert matter, how can it move aside at all? And moreover, in what respect is your body distinct and different from any other body? You say that you are firmly established and rooted in the Supreme Truth and there is but One non-dual entity, ‘One without a Second’. I see that your claim is all false, you are indulging in vain pride. Is there any difference between the Chandala and the Brahmin from the viewpoint of the knower of the Truth? Are the sun reflected in the water of Ganga and the sun reflected in the wine different and separate from each other? Is this your knowledge of the All-ness the
Absolute Reality, so circumscribed? “ Hearing these words of the Chandala, surcharged with wisdom, Shankara was both amazed and ashamed. That this was without a doubt the play of the Divine, he clearly perceived. Then and there he folded his palms in adoration and spoke prayerfully, “He who perceives all beings with an awareness of Same-sightedness, acts in consonance with that perception of sameness in all, he indeed is my Guru. You Chandala are my Guru. I bow down at his holy feet a million times”. All of a sudden the Chandala and his canine company disappeared. But Shankara beheld another sight. The Divine form of the eternal Lord and Father of the Universe, Sri Mahadeva, radiant and shining with the light of thousands of crores of suns and fire, stood before him in all glory holding in His hands the four Vedas.

Sunday, 19 April 2020

Ambu, the Mother’s Baby (part 1)

Ambu, the Mother’s Baby (part 1)
Learning the ABCs
Every month Ambu used to receive a complimentary copy of Mother India,
a cultural journal of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram edited by his friend
Amal Kiran, and every month Ambu would share with me his opinion of
the authors whose articles filled that journal. Flipping rapidly
through the pages, Ambu would furrow his forehead and exclaim, “These
educated donkeys! Always talking about the Supermind and the
transformation of the body. What do they know about them? They don’t
even know the ABCs of Yoga!”

I knew in a general way what Ambu meant by the ABCs of Yoga — he meant
the basics — but what exactly did he mean? One day I mustered courage
and said, “Ambu, what are the ABCs of Yoga?” He looked at me
scornfully — what a dumb question! — but then, seeing that I was
earnest, his face softened. Stepping closer, he held out his left hand
and spread his fingers wide. With his right thumb and forefinger he
gripped the tip of his little left finger, looked at me and said,
“Faith.” Gripping the ring finger he said, “Devotion.” The middle
finger, “Aspiration.” The forefinger, “Surrender.” And the thumb,
“Sincerity.”

There it was, and that was Ambu. Forget the big stuff. Go back to the
basics. Practise them. That is sadhana. And beware of teaching others.

Meeting Ambu
In the spring of 1972, a few months after I came to the Ashram, Steve
Webman introduced me to the Ashram’s hathayogi, Ambu. We met in his
large, high-ceilinged room on the ground floor of ‘Nanteuil’ House.
Ambu stood at the door, attired in an ochre loincloth wrapped about
his waist — and nothing else! Very fleshy he looked, but what lovely
skin, a smooth copper brown without lines or wrinkles. Short, but well
built, he stood gracefully, arms akimbo, resting his upper body on one
leg, as was his wont. His face was good, with a straight nose, large
ears, bright eyes and a big toothy smile. Its beauty was marred only
by the glasses he wore, thick glasses with minus 14-power lenses that
made his eyes look larger than they were.

Ambu and I hit it off right away. He loved to talk and I loved to
listen. He could talk all day. Unabashedly frank, he delighted in
cutting big shots down to size, but always without malice — he bore no
ill-will towards those he castigated! Ambu disliked sadhaks who
suffered from ambition and vanity. He scorned those who pretended to
know more than they really did. He abhorred boasters and show-offs.
How could these people be like that? What had they learned in all
these years? And his heartfelt tirades were touchingly sincere.
Transgressions of the dharma hurt his sensibilities. Again and again,
he cautioned me to beware of the danger of money, sex, power, name and
fame.

Two lessons
“Never compare yourself with others,” Ambu told me repeatedly. “Each
person is different and Mother treats each one in a different way.
Never think, ‘Oh, Mother is helping this person so much — why not me?’
Forget how she is treating others! Accept the way she is treating you.
She knows best!” Once he gave this example of her inexplicable ways:
There was a young man who treated material things roughly, but Mother
kept supplying him with the best of pens. Some he lost, some he broke,
and whenever he broke a pen, Mother would ask Pavitra to fix it. Now
Pavitra loved pens, but Mother rarely gave him anything new. Once,
when a pen refused to write, he asked her if he could buy a new nib
for it, but Mother said, “Oh, can’t you fix this one? Try to make it
work.” Ambu concluded: “Who knows why she treated Pavitra like that?
Don’t even try to fathom her ways.”

Another thing he stressed was the value of doing your sadhana quietly
instead of “broadcasting your ignorance” by publishing stupid
articles. Ambu knew all the top Ashram writers of the day, but their
learned ponderings left him cold. Actually, he rarely read them —
simply a waste of time. Moreover, he saw in those writings the
author’s ego, the puffed-up intellect. Now and then I thought about
writing something for Mother India, but then I quickly forgot about
it, imagining the look on Ambu’s face when he saw my article in print.
“Let others write what they want,” he would say; “you do your
sadhana.”

Childhood and Youth
Ambu was born Ambalal Devaji Desai on 14 June 1909 in the village of
Nadiad, Gujarat. A weak and sickly boy, he regained his health in his
teens by joining an Akhara or gymnasium; there he learned traditional
body-building exercises, such as dands and baithaks, as well as
asanas. Extremely flexible, he excelled in asanas and continued to
practise them the rest of his life. When he was seventeen, he left
home and travelled to Pondicherry to see his friend Krishnalal. There
he met the Mother, who accepted him in the Ashram. In his early years
the restless young Ambu ran about from dawn to dusk, working for the
Mother, and working for others as well. He loved to please people.
Early in the morning he would be found plucking flowers off creepers
or climbing trees to get them. Some were for the Mother, others were
for those who wanted special flowers to paint or to offer to Mother.
He also helped out in the Granary and he cleaned the Mother’s kitchen
vessels. His life was one of hectic service.

Stories of the Old Days
When I met Ambu he had been in the Ashram for forty-four years. What a
stock of stories he had about the old days. Though he rarely spoke of
Sri Aurobindo, for whom he had the highest reverence, he could not
stop talking about the Mother — he simply adored her. Mother on her
part called him her “Baby”. We find her addressing him that way in
their correspondence of the 1930’s. With a mother’s eye she watched
over him, guiding, protecting, consoling him. Once in a state of
depression, Ambu told her that he was tired of taking care of his
body. “It’s not your body,” Mother exclaimed, “it is my body!”

Most of Ambu’s yesteryear tales had as their theme the tragedy of lost
opportunity. Mother gave the sadhaks a golden chance to progress, but
most of them squandered it due to weakness of character, succumbing to
desire and ego. Some fell to the charms of sex (about which Ambu had a
number of tantalising tales), others to the desire for comfort, which
led them to gain advantages by lying and cheating. Many fell to
vanity, wounded pride, inflated self-esteem. Over the years many
people left — though most stayed because they knew that only Mother
could help them; then they sought refuge in her compassion and love.
Ambu’s tales of her rescue missions were touching, and they revealed
his deep love for her.

Mother’s Treatment of Ambu
In 1928, when Ambu arrived in the Ashram, there were less than fifty
people and life was intimate. Mother controlled every aspect of the
disciples’ lives. They were expected to obey her, but how hard it was
at times — the lower nature resisted. Ambu certainly found it hard and
often he violated her rules. Sometimes he took “outside food” without
asking her permission and sometimes he went to the cinemas in town —
strictly taboo. Whatever he did, Mother forgave his transgressions.
She was lenient towards her Baby because she knew his nature, good at
heart but weak in will.

Ambu suffered a lot in the early years. Easy to influence, his friends
misled him with wrong suggestions. Highly sensitive, he picked up
their discontents and depressions. Attracted to women, he ached when
the young lovelies played with him. Eager to please, he got wounded
when people misused his regard for them. Thus subjected to
psychological assaults, Ambu regularly got confused, depressed,
depleted, and often he fell ill. His only support, the Mother, helped
him up again and again.

Ambu’s Correspondence
When Ambu was in his mid-twenties, he began writing to the Mother and
this correspondence continued for several years. Unfortunately he
destroyed most of his letters to her, but at least he kept her
replies. From them emerges the portrait of a troubled young man, prone
to doubt, depression, weakness, illness and more. Mother’s remedy, her
repeated advice, was: Be happy. “Happy to hear that my dear Baby is
happy,” she once wrote. “Happier shall I be if he becomes still
happier.” She also asked him to have faith in her, to believe in her
love and care for him. Again she asked him to be faithful to her, for
then she could help him to gain the peace he needed. And finally she
asked him to stop running around.

“The doctor says you ought to lead a quieter life,” she wrote, “to
take more rest and more food. Will you not try to do so?” Mother urged
him to slow down because over and over he exhausted himself. One
morning he went ‘upstairs’ for work, as usual. Mother asked him to sit
down and tell her in detail what he did all day. Ambu told her that he
plucked flowers for this person, fetched food for that one, borrowed
library books for a third, and so on. When he finished his narration,
Mother took up his activities one by one. For each task she asked,
“Who gave you this work? Did I give this work to you?” Repeatedly he
replied, “No, Mother. I took up the work on my own.” Then she asked,
“And what work have I given you?” “Mother,” he said, “you have asked
me to clean the vessels.” “Voila!” she exclaimed. “That is your work
and I expect you to do it. As for those other works, you can stop some
of them. I don’t want you rushing around and wearing yourself out.”

Friday, 17 April 2020

Eight Forms of Goddess Lakshmi “Ashta Lakshmi”

Eight Forms of Goddess Lakshmi “Ashta Lakshmi”

Maha Lakshmi

She is also known as ‘Adi Lakshmi’ or the primeval Lakshmi she is regarded as the daughter of sage Bhrigu and wife of Lord Vishnu or Narayana.

Dhana Lakshmi

She signifies all things related to the world things, accomplishments, wealth and money. She is worshipped for her divine blessings in this regard.

Dhaanya Lakshmi

Dhaanya Lakhmi is the most fulfilling image of the goddess. Dhanya Lakshmi is the giver of agricultural wealth and, on the other, the all-important nourishment for human beings.

Gaja Lakshmi

She is believed to be, interestingly, churned out of the ocean. This fiery goddess is draped in red, surrounded by two elephants by her side, royally bathed in water as she resides on the lotus.

Santana Lakshmi

Santhana Lakshmi is the Goddess of Progeny, the treasure of the family life. Worshipers of Santana Lakshmi are bestowed with the wealth of good children possessing good health and long life.

Veera Lakshmi

Courage, strength, bravery and a heart of steel are her attributes. She is worshipped to overcome hardships and the struggles of life with a straight face.

Vidya Lakshmi

Vidya Lakshmi is all things education and knowledge. She is the provider of worldly knowledge, survival skills and a patron of fine artists.

Vijaya Lakshmi

Vijay Lakshmi is also known as Jaya Lakshmi, Vijaya means victory and this form of Goddess Lakshmi symbolizes victory in all aspects of life, not just in war, but also in life's major struggles and little battles. Vijaya-Lakshmi is worshiped to ensure all-around victory in every aspect of life.

#ashtalakshmi #goddesslakshmi #eightsforms #mahalakshmi #dhanalakshmi #dhaanyalakshmi #gajalakshmi #santanalakshmi #veeralakshmi #vidyalakshmi #vijayalakshmi #ashtalakshmipuja #onlinepuja #pujaservices #onlinelakshmipuja

Wednesday, 15 April 2020

The Power of Kali

The Power of Kali 

Behind all destructions, like the immense destructions of Nature, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, cyclones,
floods, etc., or the violent human destructions, wars, revolutions, revolts, I find the power of Kali, who is working in the earth-atmosphere, to hasten the progress of transformation.

All that is not only divine in essence but also divine in realization is by its very nature above these destructions and cannot be touched by them. Thus the extent of the disaster gives the measure of the imperfection.

The true way of preventing the repetition of these destructions is to learn their lesson and make the necessary progress.

The Mother - 29 september 1967

CWM 15, 17

Friday, 10 April 2020

Story of Shukadeva - The Divine Sage

Radha had no messages to send to Krishna. What was the need for messages when they were but one?! But the little green parrot was impatiently fluttering his wings time and again eager to begin his flight. There were many parrots who flew to Krishna every day, but he felt important and special when he went with a message from Radha. “Go tell him the butter is extra tasty today and is waiting for him!” said Radha. Filled with purpose, the little bird soared into the sky in the direction where his heart pulled him.
 
The messages were mundane. But it mattered in the least. The parrot’s life and mind oscillated between Radha and Krishna, between longing and love. As years went by and it was time for Radha to leave her body, she told the parrot that his purpose was to share the glories of her Lord with all. Having lived in her presence, every cell of his being was soaked with the sweet nectar of devotion. But he had only delivered Radha’s simple messages. He knew not the details of the stories of the Lord. 
 
One day, as he wandered into Parvati’s gardens in Kailasha, he saw that Shiva was about to tell her a story. He perched himself in a branch above to listen. As luck would have it, Shiva started sharing in great detail the incidents from the life of Lord Krishna and Parvati was listening and encouraging him from time to time with a gentle ‘hmm’. Shiva was so immersed in the tales that he did not notice that Parvati had dozed off. The parrot was worried that Shiva may stop his narration and imitated the gentle sound of Parvati. 
 
Eventually, she woke up, and once Shiva finished, she apologized to him for having slept in between. Now, Shiva’s brows came togmoonether, and his third eye looked ready to open. “if you were sleeping, then who was making the humming sound just like you?” He sensed the presence of the parrot. Before Shiva turned in his direction, the little parrot flew away as fast as his wings could carry him. He flew far and beyond without rest or respite. The ashram of Maharishi Veda Vyasa was ahead. He entered his kutir. His wife Vatika, daughter of the venerable Rishi Jabali, yawned at that very moment. Instantly the parrot entered her in his subtle form. Vyasa saw what happened. He saw Shiva approaching his kutir and rose to offer his salutations. “The parrot I seek has taken refuge in your abode great Rishi”, said Shiva, “he had the audacity to imitate Parvati!” Vyasa saw all that had transpired with his divyadhrusti (intuitive eye). “O Lord, is that gentle creature to be blamed for thirsting to hear the enchanting stories of Lord Krishna? And that too, when narrated by none other than you in the purest and most auspicious manner?” Shiva smiled on hearing the words of the Sage. “Further, he is liberated from any seeds of karma that he may have had after hearing your narration! He is now pure and free from the distortions of the mind. Let him be O Mahadeva! Bless him to bring this spark of devotion and wisdom to all of humanity in the coming age” Shiva knew that Vyasa spoke the truth for the parrot had absorbed with great devotion and sincerity all that he had shared. He blessed the parrot and returned. Vyasa reflected deeply and smiled to himself as he knew that the Sattvic anger of Shiva would only bring immense benefit to all. 
 
The parrot in his subtle form, stayed in deep samadhi for a period of sixteen years in Vatika’s womb. He refused to come out and told Vyasa that he was at peace inside. He said, “The moment the jiva comes out into the world, the mind is caught between cravings and aversions, the intellect thrown between judgements and doubts. I am fine here.” However, the time had come for him to fulfill his purpose. Vyasa promised him that he would be untouched by the veil of Maya and encouraged him to come out.
 
The story goes that as soon as the child was born, he instantly grew to be a sixteen-year old boy of unmatched radiance. He was named Shuka. Vyasa taught him all that he could, and he further studied with Brihaspati, the guru of the devas. The boy soaked in the wisdom with the ease of a sponge in water. In spite of all that he learnt, he still felt incomplete. Vyasa guided him to approach King Janaka to be his Guru and bestow the Supreme knowledge of the Self.
 
For seven days he waited at the palace gates completely ignored. He stood unphased and as radiant. He was then received with great pomp and for seven days offered all the pleasures of the senses. He remained unmoved. Seeing how centered Shuka was, Janaka was pleased and bestowed the highest knowledge of the Brahman to this young boy.
 
Shuka shone with the brilliance of a thousand suns. His very presence was so gentle, loving, pleasing and divine. When the right time neared, he was sought by King Parikshit to narrate the Srimad Bhagavatam in his assembly. Having offered his prayers to the benevolent Mahadeva, he started his narration. But whenever the story involved Radha, he would be unable to say her name. Just the thought of Radha was enough for Shuka to go into deep Samadhi. And when he would come out again, he would just continue the story after that.
 
And so, it is said that there is no mention of Radha in the Srimad Bhagavatam.
 
Gurudev says “the very meaning of the word ‘Radha’ means to return to your source.” It is no surprise that just the thought of Radha took Shuka deep within.
 
Gurudev further says, “Dhara’ means that which comes from the source, while ‘Radha’ means that which goes back to the source. Until we go to the source we cannot experience Lord Krishna. Lord Krishna is the source and Radha is the way or path to the source. Even if you are Rukmini or Satyabhama, till you become Radha, till you return to the source, you cannot attain Lord Krishna.”

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

Desires and mental formations

🌹 (3/4) People who have desires add to the mental formation a kind of small envelope, a vital shell which gives it a still greater reality. These people are usually surrounded by a number of tiny entities which are their own formations, their own mental formations clothed with vital force, which come all the time to strike them to try to make them realise materially the formations they have made.

You have perhaps read the books of Maurice Magre; there are some in the library. He describes this; he had come here, Maurice Magre, and we spoke and he told me that he had always noticed — he was highly sensitive — he had always noticed that people who have sexual desires are surrounded by a kind of small swarm of entities who are somewhat viscous and rather ugly and which torment them constantly, awakening desire in them. He said he had seen this around certain people. It was like being surrounded by a swarm of mosquitoes, yes! But it is more gross, and much uglier still, and it is viscous, it is horrible, and it turns round and round the person and gives him no peace, and it awakens in him the desire that has formed these entities and they batten on it. It is their food. This is absolutely true. His observation was quite correct. His vision was very true. It is like that.

But everyone carries around himself the atmosphere of his own desires. So you don’t at all require that people should tell you anything; you have only to look and you see around them exactly the state they are in. They may want to give themselves the airs of angels or saints but they can’t deceive you, because that thing is there, turning around them. So, just imagine! (Mother points to all those seated in front of her.) You see what you are like, how many of you there, all of you here, and each one has his own little world in this way, of mental formations of which some are clothed in vital substance, and all these crawl together, mix with each other, knock against each other. There is a struggle to see which is the strongest, which tries to realise itself, and all this creates an atmosphere indeed!...

When we come before you what do these things do?

When you come to me, it is all this I see. It is exactly this I see, and that is why your coming is useful. Because, to give you a flower is of course very nice, but that’s not anything much... there are things more important than that. But every time I see you, in a second — a flash is enough, a second — each one who comes appears with all his formations, and then I do just... I do just this... (gesture). The flower is an excuse, through the flower I give something.

And then, when sometimes, you know, I seem to go deep within, my eyes close, and then very slowly either I give some- thing or I don’t move for a moment — that’s when the work to be done is urgent. Sometimes it is necessary to intervene for one reason or another, to help or to demolish something, or to push you towards some progress which is beginning, or other things like that.... So I just catch hold of your hand sometimes, you see: “Don’t move!” So the person thinks: “Mother has gone into a trance.” I feel quite amused.... (Laughter) I am busy working, putting things in order; sometimes I am obliged to perform a surgical operation, I take away certain things which are there and should not be there. A second is enough, you see, I don’t need any time for this; sometimes the work takes a little longer, a few more seconds, a minute.... Otherwise, usually — in a general way — when things are as we would say “normal”, it is enough just to see, you understand, and... the response? I give the flower... even without the flower, like this... simply I put just the little flash or sometimes the little red-hot iron, or a light, anything, and just at the right moment and the right place where it is needed... and “Au revoir”!

🌸 The Mother ( Question and Answers, Volume-6, page no.279-280)

The Way To Raga-bhakti

The Way To Raga-bhakti

It isn't any and every kind of bhakti that enables one to realize God. One cannot realizes God without prema-bhakti. Another name for prema-bhakti is raga-bhakti. God cannot be realised without love and longing. Unless one has learnt to love God, one cannot realizes Him. There is another kind of bhakti, known as vaidhi-bhakti, according to which one must repeat the name of God a fixed number of times, fast, make pilgrimages, worship God  with prescribed offerings, make so many sacrifices, and so forth and do on. By continuing such practices a long time one gradually acquires raga-bhakti. God cannot be realized until one has raga-bhakti.  One must love God. In order to realize God one must be completely free from worldliness and direct all one's mind to Him.

-Sri Ramakrishna

Sunday, 5 April 2020

Meditation - Sri Ramakrishna

🧘🏽‍♂️ Sri Ramakrishna used to encourage everybody to practise meditation. A person falls from spiritual life, if he does not practise meditation regularly. The Master asked his guru Tota Puri: “You have attained perfection, so why do you still practise meditation?” Pointing to his shining brass pot, Tota Puri replied: “If you do not clean brass every day, it will be covered with stains”. The Master used to say: “The sign of true meditation is that one forgets one's surroundings and body. One will not feel even a crow sitting on one's head”. Sri Ramakrishna attained that state. Once while he was meditating in the natmandir, a crow sat on his head and he did not know it.

The temple garden of Dakshineswar, which Rani Rasmani had built, provided everything Sri Ramakrishna needed for practising sadhana. If you have true faith, love, and devotion, God will provide everything you need. …

The Master used to say that there should not be any theft [that is, hypocrisy] in the inner chamber of the heart. He had great affection for the simple-hearted. He used to say: “I don't care for flattery. I love the person, who calls on God sincerely”. The Master also said that all impurities of the mind disappear by calling on God with a sincere heart. 

The Master used to say: “Wherever there is extreme longing, God reveals Himself more”. He also said to some people, while pointing to himself: “Have love for this. That will do”. Oh! Such a wonderful play is over! 

(Swami Chetanananda “Ramakrishna: As We Saw Him”, Swami Brahmananda, The Master’s Spiritual Instructions)

Saturday, 4 April 2020

Sri Aurobindo on Pondicherry for sadhana

Disciple: Why did you choose Pondicherry as the place for your Sadhana?

Sri Aurobindo: Because it was by an Adesh — command from Above — I was asked to come here. When I was leaving Bombay for Calcutta I asked Lele what I should do regarding my Sadhana. He kept silent for some time [probably waiting to hear a voice from the heart] and replied, “Meditate at a fixed time and hear the voice in the heart.”
I did not hear the voice from the heart, but a different voice and I dropped meditation at a fixed time because meditation was going on all the time. When Lele came to Calcutta and heard about it, he said that the devil had caught hold of me. I said, “If it is the devil, I will follow him.”

EVENING TALKS WITH SRI AUROBINDO 
RECORDED BY A B PURANI (10-12-1938)

Swami Vivekananda heals miraculously

🏰 One day, in England, Swami Saradananda, who was suffering from malaria for a long time and was much reduced and weak, sat at the Swami's feet feeling like a child near him and in that calm and meek spirit of surrender to his brother-disciple — who to him was no other than Shri Ramakrishna in another body — asked for his blessings and the promise of Knowledge and Salvation in an inspiration of spiritual fervour. In a moment he was calm and at the will of the Swami he became healthy and strong. Swami Saradananda testified to this psychic power of Swami Vivekananda, never revealed to him before. There may be many others, a few yet living, who had the occasion of seeing this phase of the Swami, which revealed his great powers, the siddhis that came to him but remained suppressed as he hated to demonstrate them.

Swami Sadashivananda
(“Reminiscence of Swami Vivekananda” by Swami Sadashivananda, Vedanta Kesari, January-November 1954, July & August 1956)

Friday, 3 April 2020

Sri Aurobindo's arrival at Pondicherry

🕉 Today is the 110th anniversary of Lord Sri Aurobindo’s arrival in Pondicherry.

🌷 The journey to Pondicherry 🌷

🦋 Departure to Chandernagore 🦋

🌸 Facts of departure 🌸
These are the facts of that departure. I was in the Karmayogin office when I received word, on information given by a high-placed police official, that the office would be searched the next day and myself arrested. (The office was in fact searched but no warrant was produced against me; I heard nothing more of it till the [Karmayogin Sedition] case was started against the paper later on, but by then I had already left Chandernagore for Pondicherry.) While I was listening to animated comments from those around on the approaching event, I suddenly received a command from above in a Voice well known to me, in the three words; "Go to Chandernagore." In ten minutes or so I was in the boat for Chandernagore. Ramchandra Majumdar guided me to the Ghat and hailed a boat and I entered into it at once along with my relative Biren Ghosh and Mani (Suresh Chandra Chakrabarti) who accompanied me to Chandernagore, not turning aside to Bagbazar or anywhere else. We reached our destination while it was still dark and they returned in the morning to Calcutta. I remained in secret entirely engaged in Sadhana and my active connection with the two newspapers ceased from that time. Afterwards, under the same "sailing orders", I left Chandernagore and reached Pondicherry on April 4th 1910.

🕉 Divine 'Adesha' 🕉
I may add in explanation that from the time I left Lele at Bombay after the Surat Congress and my stay with him in Baroda, Poona and Bombay, I had accepted the rule of following the inner guidance implicitly and moving only as I was moved by the Divine. The spiritual development during the year in jail had turned this into an absolute law of the being. This accounts for my immediate action in obedience to the adeshreceived by me.
Extract from: CWSA > Autobiographical Notes > The Departure From Calcutta, 1910 > Pg 89

🐢 Journey to Chandernagore 🐢
Sri Aurobindo, Ramchandra Majumdar, Biren and Moni went straight to the Ganga Ghat. Ramchandra was their navigator. It took 10-15 minutes to reach the Ghat. 
Biren and Moni accompanied Sri Aurobindo to Chandernagore. 
Ramchandra Majumdar returned from the ghat.

🍃 Mysterious Absence of CID team 🍃

The absence of CID teams is an abiding mystery. After about a month, when the news became public, newspaper columnists pointedly asked questions of the CID and sought justification of monthly expense of four hundred rupees on Sri Aurobindo's surveillance. 

Chandernagore is approximately 30 kms up-river from Calcutta. 
They reached it before dawn, about 4 AM in the morning. 
It had taken the boat almost seven hours to reach Rani Ghat where it moored.

🌱 Arrival at Chandernagore 🌱

Sri Aurobindo first sent Biren to Charuchandra Roy of Chandernagore with a request for providing a secret residence. But he expressed his inability.
Subsequent to the testimony of the traitor, Narendranath Goswami, Charuchandra Roy had been charged in the Alipore Bomb Case and arrested. The few months he spent in detention in Jail and especially the time in solitary confinement had taken its toll on him. He had almost reached the breaking-point when the case was withdrawn against him at the instance of the French Government. The harrowing experience must have been weighing heavily on his mind at the time when he refused his help.

💧 Secret Residence at Chandernagore 

Motilal Roy
Motilal Roy, who had only heard Sri Aurobindo's Uttarpara speech, came to know of his presence in Chandernagore. He located the boat at 6:30 am and offered his services, which Sri Aurobindo accepted.
Motilal Roy led the party on the last leg of their journey. There was a short boat-ride to another ghat. They alighted and continued on foot, climbing a row of stairs, through a spinney until they finally reached Motilal's residence. At last the journey was complete. Sri Aurobindo's secret residence at Chandernagore had begun.
The two companions - Biren and Moni - assured by Sri Aurobindo, started on their return journey in the hired boat.

🏠 Motilal Roy's Residence 🏠
Sri Aurobindo, seated in an easy-chair in Motilal Roy's sitting room explained the need for complete secrecy to avoid detection of his presence by the British Governement, who would do all they could to find him.
One of the hideaways was a store room for furniture in that very house. A thick layer of dust covered everything in it. Bats, spiders and other insects were co-habitants. A small portion on the floor was cleaned for Sri Aurobindo to take his seat. As a proper meal would compromise secrecy, Motilal shared a portion of his own meal
💦 Changing Hideaway  💦

The hideaways had to be changed often: a thatched hut, a garden house, a dilapidated shed near a Jagannath temple and other less-frequented locations at the outskirts. The transfer of location was generally effected under the cover of darkness and only a handful of men knew of such matters.
Sri Aurobindo's secret residence at Chandernagore spanned a period of about six weeks. There was wild speculation in the local Media on his sudden absence and the following article appeared in 'Karmayogin' newspaper to set the record straight...

🌿 Rumour and Humour related to Sri Aurobindo's Absence 🌿
We are greatly astonished to learn from the local Press that Sj. Aurobindo Ghose has disappeared from Calcutta and is now interviewing the Mahatmas in Tibet. We are ourselves unaware of this mysterious disappearance. As a matter of fact Sj. Aurobindo is in our midst and, if he is doing any astral business with Kuthumi or any of the other great Rishis, the fact is unknown to his other Koshas. Only as he requires perfect solitude and freedom from disturbance for his Sadhana for some time, his address is being kept a strict secret. This is the only foundation for the remarkable rumour which the vigorous imagination of a local contemporary has set floating. For similar reasons he is unable to engage in journalistic works, and Dharma has been entrusted to other hands.
CWSA > Karmayogin (no. 37) > 'Sj. Aurobindo Ghose' - 19.March.1910

🌴 Intense Sadhana 🌴
Sri Aurobindo led a secluded life at Chandernagore where 'he plunged entirely into solitary meditation and ceased all other activities'. It was a period of intense sadhana. When he spoke it was as if somebody else were speaking through him. He would eat the food placed before him mechanically remaining deeply absorbed at all times. He meditated with his eyes open and saw various subtle forms and sights - a stream of letters or akasa lipi and the figures of three female energies: Ila, Saraswati and Sarama...

🐠 Vedic Thought 🐠
My first contact with Vedic thought came indirectly while pursuing certain lines of self-development in the way of Indian Yoga, which, without my knowing it, were spontaneously converging towards the ancient and now unfrequented paths followed by our forefathers. At this time there began to arise in my mind an arrangement of symbolic names attached to certain psychological experiences which had begun to regularise themselves; and among them there came the figures of three female energies, Ila, Saraswati, Sarama, representing severally three out of the four faculties of the intuitive reason, - revelation, inspiration and intuition. Two of these names were not well known to me as names of Vedic goddesses, but were connected rather with the current Hindu religion or with old Puranic legend, Saraswati, goddess of learning and Ila, mother of the Lunar dynasty. But Sarama was familiar enough.
CWSA > The Secret of the Veda > Page 36

🌱 "Sailing Orders for Pondicherry" 🌱
One day, Sri Aurobindo received "sailing orders for Pondicherry" in the same way as the 'Divine Adesha' which brought him to Chandernagore.

'As for Adesh, people speak of Adesh without making the necessary distinctions, but these distinctions have to be made. The Divine speaks to us in many ways and it is not always the imperative Adesh that comes. When it does it is clear and irresistible, the mind has to obey and there is no question possible, even if what comes is contrary to the preconceived ideas of the mental intelligence. It was such an Adesh that I had when I came away to Pondicherry.'

🍁 Plans for Departure 🍁
Plans for his departure to Pondicherry had to be made in great secrecy because of police surveillance. There were two stages of the journey. The first, and the shorter passage, was from Chandernagore to Calcutta. Sri Aurobindo relied on Motilal to make the arrangements. He also sent word to Amar Chatterji, the young revolutionary from Uttarpara, for assistance. The second part of the journey was longer and fraught with much greater risk. For this, Sri Aurobindo wrote to his maternal cousin Sukumar Mitra (Krishnakumar Mitra's son), to work out the details of the plan. Sukumar was also advised that Bijoy Nag, a young follower of Sri Aurobindo, would accompany him to Pondicherry. At the same time Sri Aurobindo sent a note to Suresh Chakravarty asking him to travel to Pondicherry and make arrangements for their stay.

🦈 Inspired Planning 🦈
In his reminiscences, Sukumar Mitra writes: 'It was 1910, around the end of March. Unexpectedly I received a letter from Sri Motilal Roy of Chandernagore. He informed me of Auro-da's desire to leave Chandernagore and go to Pondicherry. All the arrangements for his departure were to be made by me. And I had to be most careful in keeping all this a secret.... I resolved to work with the utmost care and circumspection at every step and in every detail. At that time half a dozen plain-clothes detectives used to sit near the tank in front of our house and keep watch. They shadowed me as soon as I came out of the house.... Since the police openly picked me up and followed me from the moment I left the house, I felt it better not to be directly involved in making the arrangements but instead to get the work done by giving instructions to two men I trusted. Even so what I told one I did not pass on to the other, and I did not allow the two to meet.... I decided to send Sri Aurobindo to Pondicherry by a French ship rather than by train, for to go by rail was, I decided, too dangerous. If he took the train he might be recognised during the long journey, for there were police spies on the alert at the stations. At that time a French shipping company called Messageries Maritimes operated from Calcutta. Ships of other companies also sailed from Calcutta to Colombo but they did not halt at Pondicherry. There was another advantage in travelling by a French ship, a political one. As soon as the ship went beyond the British Indian coast, the passengers would come under French jurisdiction. The security Sri Aurobindo sought by going to Pondicherry would be his once he had travelled eighty miles south of Calcutta.'

🐬 Assumed Names 🐬
Sukumar planned to make the travel bookings in the names of Jatindra Nath Mitter of Uluberia (a town not far from Calcutta), and Bankim Chandra Bhowmik of Nilphamari, in Rangpur district, names to be assumed by Sri Aurobindo and Bijoy for the journey. The names and addresses were not fictitious but taken from the subscribers' list of Sanjivani, the nationalist journal. The intent was to mislead the police in any subsequent investigations.

💐 Departure to Pondicherry  💐

On the morning of March 31, the day prior to the sailing of SS Dupleix , Motilal Roy saw Sri Aurobindo off from the Boraichanditola Ghat at Chandernagore. Motilal himself did not accompany Sri Aurobindo but deputed two of his trusted followers to be with him.. In accordance with the plan, the boat moved downstream and crossed the river to reach Agarpara on the eastern bank. In the meantime Amar Chatterjee had hired a boat at Uttarpara and, along with his right-hand man Manmath Biswas, set off for Agarpara. This journey was also uneventful and they had no trouble in making contact with Sri Aurobindo at Agarpara.

🐋 Missed Rendezvous 🐋

Around midday Nagen and Suren set off in a boat which went up the river with the object of meeting the other boat that carried Sri Aurobindo, Amar and Manmath. All had worked out well so far.But now fate, or an unseen Hand, intervened. The two boats failed to establish contact either at the appointed ghat or in mid-river.
Amar was now getting increasingly worried. He decided that he could wait no longer for Nagen to turn up and instructed the boatman to proceed towards Calcutta. He had concluded that he must meet Sukumar to find out what had gone wrong. Meanwhile Nagen and Suren, equally perturbed at having searched for and failed to find Sri Aurobindo, also decided that they must return to Calcutta and report to Sukumar.
🐟 Grave Danger 🐟

Alighting at a ghat near Chandpal Ghat where the Dupleix was berthed, they hired a carriage, put Sri Aurobindo inside and rushed towards Sukumar's house in the College Square area. Amar stopped the carriage some distance away from the house and sent Manmath to enquire at Sukumar's place.
There was grave danger in this. This was an area where plain-clothes policemen and informers were always on the look-out. Sri Aurobindo's face was well known. Amar recalling the events writes: 'My mind was restless as I sat with Aurobindo in the carriage worrying about where the others were. But he whose safety was causing me so much restlessness and agitation was himself untroubled, unshaken, motionless like a statue...'
In the meantime, contact was finally made with Sukumar. He was aghast to know that Sri Aurobindo was there and asked that they immediately go back to the vicinity of Chandpal Ghat and wait there.

🐿 Back on Track 🐿
Sukumar now instructed Naren to proceed to Chandpal Ghat and meet Sri Aurobindo and his companions. Naren recalls: 'Once again I took the two trunks from the mess and loaded them on a horse-carriage; taking the tickets along with me I rushed back to Chandpal Ghat. There I saw Aurobindo's carriage waiting by the roadside. Our coolie was sitting nearby. When he saw me he at once ran up and said, "Your babus have come. I've already told them of our arrangement. It's late. If you waste any more time, the doctor sahib won't carry out the examination - he will have gone to sleep..." The coolie put the two trunks on the roof of Aurobindo's carriage with some other things.... I climbed in and sat beside Amar-da. Aurobindo and Bijoy Nag were sitting behind us. The coolie got up and sat next to the coachman. I don't remember the name of the street on which the doctor's house was situated but I recollect that it was in the European quarter on the other side of Chowringhee.'
🌾 Medical Examination 🌾
'When we reached the doctor's residence, all four of us waited on the verandah... Before the doctor called in Aurobindo and Bijoy Nag, I gave them their tickets and told them the names and addresses under which they had been purchased... We had to stand and wait on the verandah for almost half-an-hour before the doctor called them in... They came out ten or fifteen minutes later with certificates.'

🌹 Boarding SS Dupleix 🌹
We climbed back into the carriage greatly relieved. It again sped towards Chandpal Ghat. We could not see the slightest trace of anxiety on Aurobindo's face. Later, we were to talk about this among ourselves and Amar-da rightly said: "The one for whom we were anxious was altogether calm like someone absorbed in the trance of samadhi." That Aurobindo was a man beyond anxiety or fear, that he was abhi [fearless] I had heard, but before this meeting I had not had the good fortune of seeing it for myself.'
It was almost eleven at night when the carriage reached Chandpal Ghat. After putting the luggage on the coolie's head the four of us boarded the Dupleix and entered the reserved cabin. The coolie arranged the luggage and then left. Bijoy Nag made Aurobindo's bed. Amar-da and I stood facing Aurobindo near the door. Amar-da took some currency notes from his shirt-pocket and gave them to Aurobindo saying that they were from Michhri-babu (Zamindar of Uttarpara). He accepted the notes without a word. Then Amar-da lowered his head, and touching his forehead with folded hands made namaskar to Aurobindo. I laid my forehead on Aurobindo's feet as an expression of my reverence, and in the touch of that divine body, I felt fulfilled.'

🍂 Master-stroke facilitated by Providence  
Late in the afternoon of March 31, Sri Aurobindo's safety seemed to be in great jeopardy, for the carefully prepared plans had gone awry. And yet, as we look back and reconstruct the events, it becomes clear that the delay in boarding the ship actually proved a blessing in disguise. It may have been catastrophic had Sri Aurobindo reached the ship in time to be examined by the doctor. The meticulous plan had failed to consider the police presence during medical examinations. The records show that the police report for that evening merely stated that two ticket-holders with Bengali names did not turn up at the ship for the medical examination. It was not until April 4 that the police made further enquiries and learnt that two passengers had in fact embarked at the last moment and sailed away the next day. The late hour at which Sri Aurobindo boarded the ship (it was about 11.00 p.m.) was an unplanned Master-stroke faciliated by Providence.
Early next morning, April 1, SS Dupleix steamed out of Calcutta carrying Sri Aurobindo into the safety of the open seas and, four days later, on April 4, 1910, he reached Pondicherry.

🎍Calve Sankar Chettiar House 🎍
"..There also I remained in secrecy in the house of a prominent citizen until the acquittal, after which I announced my presence in French India..."

CWSA > Autobiographical Notes > The departure from Calcutta,1910 > Page 101

🕊 I am and will remain in Pondicherry' 🕊
I shall be obliged if you will allow me to inform every one interested in my whereabouts through your journal that I am and will remain in Pondicherry. I left British India over a month before proceedings were taken against me and, as I had purposely retired here in order to pursue my Yogic sadhana undisturbed by political action or pursuit and had already severed connection with my political work, I did not feel called upon to surrender on the warrant for sedition, as might have been incumbent on me if I had remained in the political field. I have since lived here as a religious recluse, visited only by a few friends, French and Indian, but my whereabouts have been an open secret,.. I find myself now compelled, somewhat against my will, to give my presence here a wider publicity.
An open letter to the Editor of the 'Hindu'

42, Rue de Pavillon, Pondicherry - 7.Nov.1910

Tantra Sadhana - Sri Ramakrishna

Tantra Sadhana - Sri Ramakrishna 

'One night the Brahmani brought a beautiful young woman from somewhere and arranged the worship. She put the woman on Devi's seat, then instructed me, "My child, worship her as the goddess." When the worship was over, she said to me: "My child, think of her as the veritable Divine Mother. Sit on her lap and practice japa wholeheartedly." I was seized with fear, wept piteously, and said to the Divine Mother: "Mother why do You give this command to one who has taken refuge in You? Does Your weak child have the power to withstand such a severe trial?  As soon as I said that, my heart was filled with divine strength. Like a hypnotized person, not knowing what I was doing, I repeated the mantra, sat on the woman's lap and immediately went into samadhi. When I regained outer consciousness, the Brahmani said:  "You have completed the rite, my child. Under such circumstances, others restrain themselves with great difficulty and finish by repeating the mantra for a very short time. But you entered samadhi, loosing body-consciousness completely!" When I heard this I was reassured. With a grateful heart I bowed down to the Divine Mother again and again for enabling me to withstand the ordeal. 

-Approaching Ramakrishna

Proof of the Divine

🌴 Is there an experience which proves that one is living in the presence of the Divine?

Once one begins to live in the presence of the Divine, one does not question any longer. It carries its own certitude — one feels, one knows, and it becomes impossible to question. One lives in the presence of the Divine and it is for you an absolute fact. Till then you ask, because you do not have the experience, but once you have the experience, it has such an authority that it is indisputable. One who says, “I think I live in the presence of the  Divine but I am not sure”, has not had the true experience, for as soon as one has the inner shock of this experience, no more questioning is possible. It is like those who ask, “What is the divine Will?” As long as you have not glimpsed this Will, you cannot know. One may have an idea of it through deduction, inference, etc., but once you have felt the precise contact with the divine Will, this too is not disputable any longer — you know.

I add, so that there may not be any misunderstanding: all experience has its worth only in the measure of the sincerity of the one who has it. Some are not sincere and fabricate wonderful experiences, and they imagine they have them. I put all that aside, it is not interesting. But for sincere people who have a sincere experience, once you have the experience of the divine presence, the whole world may tell you it is not true, and you will not budge.

If you are not sincere, you may have wonderful experiences, but these have no value either for you or for others. You should distrust your thought a good deal, for the mind is a wonderful constructor and it can give you wonderful experiences solely by its work of formation; but these experiences have no value. It is hence preferable not to know beforehand what is going to happen. For even with a great will to be sincere, the mind fabricates so much and so well that it can present to you a won- derful picture or even play for you a splendid comedy without your being aware of it, by its sheer power of formation, and it is very difficult to find out. Hence one essential condition for having true experiences: leave this machine in quietness; the less it moves, the better it is, and beware of everything it imagines for you.

  🌸 The Mother ( Question and Answers, Volume-4, page no.134-135)

Human effort limitations

Everyone who is turned to the Mother is doing my Yoga. 

It is a great mistake to suppose that one can "do" the Purna Yoga ― i.e. carry out and fulfil all the sides of the Yoga by one's own effort. 

No human being can do that. 

What one has to do is to put oneself in the Mother's hands and open oneself to her by service, by bhakti, by aspiration; then the Mother by her light and force works in him so that the sadhana is done. 

It is a mistake also to have the ambition to be a big Puma Yogi or a supramental being and ask oneself how far have I got towards that. 

The right attitude is to be devoted and given to the Mother and to wish to be whatever she wants you to be. 

The rest is for the Mother to decide and do in you.

Sri Aurobindo, April 1935.

Thursday, 2 April 2020

The Delight of Being - Sri Aurobindo

The Delight of Being

If Brahman were only an impersonal abstraction eternally contradicting the apparent fact of our concrete existence, cessation would be the right end of matter; but love and delight and self-awareness have also to be reckoned.
The universe is not merely a mathematical formula for working out the relation of certain mental abstractions called numbers and principles to arrive in the end at a zero or a void unit, neither is it merely a  physical operation embodying certain equations of forces. It is the delight of a Self-lover, the play of a Child, the endless self-multiplication of a Poet intoxicated with the rapture of His own power of endless creation.
We may speak of the Supreme as if He were a mathematician working out a cosmic sum in numbers or a thinker resolving by experiment a problem in relations of principles and balance of forces: but also we should speak of Him as if He were a lover, a musician of universal and particular harmonies, a child, a poet. The side of thought is not enough; the side of delight too must be entirely grasped:  Ideas, Forces, Existences, Principles are hollow moulds unless they are filled with the breath of God's delight.
These things are images, but all is an image. Abstractions give us the pure conception of God's truths; images give us their living reality.
If Idea embracing Force begot the worlds, Delight of Being begot the Idea. Because the Infinite conceived an innumerable delight in itself, therefore worlds and universes came into existence.
Consciousness of being and Delight of being are the first parents. Also, they are the last transcendences. Unconsciousness is only an intermediate swoon of the conscious or its obscure sleep; pain and self-extinction are only delight of being running away from itself in order to find itself elsewhere or otherwise.
Delight of being is not limited in Time; it is without end or beginning. God comes out from one form of things only to enter into another.
What is God after all? An eternal child playing an eternal game in an eternal garden.

CWSA 13 : 201-202.              Sri Aurobindo

Sri Ramakrishna as Sri Ramachandra


Sri Ramakrishna as Sri Ramachandra

One day Kshudiram, Ramakrishna's father, travelled to another village on an errand. On his way home he became exhausted, so he rested awhile under a tree by the side of the road. He felt an urge to lie down, and as soon as he did so, he fell asleep. After a while, he began to dream: His choosen deity, Ramachandra, with a complexion like that of a blade of young grass, appeared before him as a divine boy. Pointing to a particular spot, Ramachandra said: "Unnoticed and uncared for, I have been starving here for many days. Take me to your home. I am eager to accept your service." Kshudiram went there and found a stolen emblem of Vishnu; he carried it to his home and installed it in his shrine.

Kshudiram called that image Raghuvir (an epithet of Ramachandra) and worshipped him daily with great love. Once, when Gadadhar was a child, Kshudiram had a desire to make a garland, for the Lord. He picked flowers made a garland, and sat down to worship Raghuvir. Meanwhile, the little Gadadhar wanted to put on that garland. Kshudiram bathed the deity and then  closed his eyes to meditate. Gadadhar took this opportunity to put on the garland. He then called to his father and said: "Look, Father, I am Raghuvir. See how I am dressed with a garland and sandal paste like him."
                  *******************
Nistarini, the wife of Navagopal Ghosh, was a devout woman. After her marriage, she went with her husband to see the Master at Dakshineswar. A temple cat had some kittens. The guards had been hitting them and the mother cat had taken shelter in the Master's room with her kittens. One day the Master asked Nistarini to take them to her home. She agreed. Pleased, the Master blessed her, saying: " You saved me from a great responsibility. By Mother's grace, may all good attend you and may you have the vision of your Chosen Deity." Her Chosen Deity was Ramachandra. One day while repeating the mantra, she had a vision of Lord Rama. Immediately she bowed down. And when she was talking the dust of his feet, she saw the form of Ramakrishna in place of Ramachandra. The Master smiled and said: "Now you know Who I am."
               ***********************
The Master's nephew Ramlal told the following story:

A young Ramait monk in Ayodhya had a vision that Lord Rama had again incarnated on earth, somewhere in the East. In order to see him, the monk started on foot eastward from Ayodhya. When he reached Bengal he heard that there was a great saint named Sri Ramakrishna near Calcutta. He finally found Dakshineswar after a long search and asked someone, "Where is Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa?" The people of the Kali temple told him that the Master had just passed away a few days before. Hearing this heartbreaking news, the monk exclaimed: "What! He passed away? I have come from Ayodhya on foot [nearly 1000 miles] just to see him. I went through so much hardship to get here and he has left the body!" The young monk began to sob.

The manager of the Kali temple offered him some food from the temple store, but he refused it. He went to the Panchavati and stayed there for two or three days without eating. One night Sri Ramakrishna appeared before him and said: "You have not eaten anything for several days. I have brought this pudding for you. Please eat it." He fed the monk and disappeared.
The next morning I [Ramlal] went to the Panchavati and found the monk full of joy. I asked: "What happened?" Then he told me everything. He even showed me the clay bowl in which the Master had brought the pudding. [Ramlal preserved the bowl for a long time, but later on it was somehow destroyed.]

-How to Live With God

अफजल खां का वध

20 नवम्बर, 1659 ई. - अफजल खां का वध :- बीजापुर की तरफ से अफजल खां को छत्रपति शिवाजी महाराज के खिलाफ भेजा गया। अफजल खां 10 हज़ार क...