MY SPIRITUAL DIARY ...2

[vijay nikore]

                           MY  SPIRITUAL  DIARY ...2

This is the second article based on recent meetings with Swami Sarvdevananda ji, a senior monk of Ramakrishna Mission. His style is one of simplicity and hands-on down to earth approach. To him every act is a service of God ... and therefore, we were not surprised to see him in the kitchen after dinner, joining hands to clean the dishes.

No body's life is problem-free, but spirituality gives us the support, the courage we need.

Think that God is behind me... all the time... taking care of me. Call on Him.

 

Accept life as a journey. Life is changing, we are always changing, just like every minute our hair is growing, ... nails are growing.

Head and heart both need to be reconciled. In case of a conflict, per Swami Vivekanada ji, go by your heart, for, going by the mind our ego will play. ( This can be subject to the individual problem at hand... and it does not mean that we should not use our intellect ... but, in case of a conflict, we should do a self-check to see that our decisions/our thoughts about others are not guided by our ego).

Pray ... let the force of prayer guide us. (This is where the importance of the intensity in prayer comes in).

Modern psychology is to bring out the suppressed. Our philosophy is

"FEEL  IT  WITH  GOD". I am the child of God. Give everything to God...both our good feelings and our negative feelings.

Just as in case of a physical ailment we go to a doctor, in case of any confusion in mind, let us go to God, or to our Guru, or to our scriptures.

Just like thoughts, feelings and emotions also come from the mind. Joy as well sorrow, they both are in our mind. Happiness is mind's happiness, similarly.. sorrow is our mind's sorrow, and not ours.

Experience them both as a witness.

We think our hand is moving, our eyes are seeing. Hand cannot move, eyes cannot see ... our Consciousness is percolating, and therefore, the hand moves, and the eyes see ( this thought is beautifully expounded at length in several of our Upanishads).

We are stainless ... we are never in trouble, our machine ( ego, body, mind) is in trouble.

Same electricity gives us heat, light, cooks food on the stove. God is like that ... His innate effulgence is making things happen.

Per Vivekananda ji, each soul is potentially divine. 'Potential' means that the power is there, but it is not manifested. We have to manifest it.

Our whole life's goal is to manifest that power... to manifest our divinity.

Whatever work we do, do it for God. Any worship, do it for God. This is whole of religion.

Feel that our child is God's child, and that we are only the child's caretaker. Keep this constant awareness .. everything is His.

Temples, church's and mosques are only secondary details. They can be helpful, but not till our attitude is changed.

Spiritual life is not a straight line ... not for anyone. Through all our failures, we all go toward God. Everything is pushing you higher towards God. Have compassion ... do not criticize others' spirituality .. help others on the way.

Do not think of suffering as 'suffering'.. think of it as a debt being paid off.

 

                                                         --  Vijay Nikore

 

(original and unpublished)

[Vindu Babu]

Venerable sir...
How should i pay the thanks for guiding us(our souls)!
Sir you always write in very graspable way and easy language though topics are hard to explain this article is not exception.
I am heartly grateful to you for providing THIS matter,based on the preachings of a such great Saint Swami servdevanand ji.
Sometime i feel heavy to think that why the machines(as You mentioned above) are dictator in the present age,why there are leats exhistence of OURS(divine)...need to give time ourselves but...
As I am geting sir ''FEEL IT WITH GOD'' is the medicine of all worldly pains...right?
Thank You sir with
heartfelt regards!

[vijay nikore]

Respected Vandana ji:

Thank you for your interest in my humble attempt of sharing my experience with the readers here.

 

Actually, the items I highlighted in the blue above are like Sutras, each needing a whole lot of "mananam",

in an atmosphere of inner quietude.

 

Slowly and slowly, these spiritual thoughts start percolating within us, becoming our own. 

 

We start experiencing the true meaning of these thoughts, and they become a part of "our being" in different measures. The key word here is "experience", and the measure of experience here will be different for different seekers, depending on the effort put in, as well as depending on ones individual propensities.

 

Vandana ji, you asked about "Feel it with God". Thanks for picking up on it. Like any Adhyatmik topic, this is an exhaustive subject in itself. For now, in brief, I will say that it is:

 

" GIVING  GODWARD  TURN  TO  OUR  EVERY  ACTION,  TO  OUR EVERY  FEELING,  TO  EVERY  EXPERIENCE,  TO  OUR  EVERY  THOUGHT ".

 

This means feeling truly thankful to God for both the "good" and (what we call ) "bad" that happens to us.

 

To give this level of Godward turn to everything requires a very special state of mind, that comes after a long practice in self-surrender to God. Nevertheless, with effort, this state of mind is within our reach (much more than many other spiritual practices).

If you are interested, I can make my humble attempt at writing steps towards achieving this GODWARD  TURN.

 

You have shown a very keen interest, and I am sure you will have more questions. Feel free to ask any more questions that may come to your mind.

 

Regards,

Vijay

[Vindu Babu]

Ji sir I am really much interested to know the steps that are helpful to achieve the higher point/condition (I don't know what should the proper word for GODWARD) of spirituality. Sir Your each word leads to MANAN...then this topic is supreme in itself. 

So sir please I request you to chennelize us towards THAT PATH/GODWARD by your didactic write-up, because here keyword is 'experience' not knowing or reading only.

Thanks with grateful heart

-Vandana