THE VISION (Vol. 80, No. 11)

Rs. 40/- ANNUAL

The Vision

A monthly journal started by HH Swami Ramdas in 1933

DEDICATED TO UNIVERSAL LOVE AND SERVICE

AUGUST 2013 VOL. 80 NO. 11 ANANDASHRAM, P.O. ANANDASHRAM - 671 531, INDIA

VOL. 80

No.11

AUGUST 2013

TRUTH SUBLIME IN the mysterious silence of the soul The void is full — of a calm repose — a joy of peace.

There thoughts are still and words are dumb, It is neither yea nor nay, Worlds like shadows flit and pass through it.

In it light and darkness lose distinction, Sounds waft over it-like distant echoes of its own being, A Truth sublime in which is blended strangely Eternal motion and eternal rest.

- Swami Ramdas

VOL.80

AUGUST 2013

No.11

CONTENTS Your Beloved Everywhere

- Swami Ramdas

323

Words Of Beloved Papa Swami Ramdas-

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Words Of Pujya Mataji Krishnabai

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329

Words Of Pujya Swami Satchidanandaji -

331

Dear Children

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334

- Esther Hicks

339

- Swami Sivananda

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Positive Feelings Connect Us To The Source Cultivate And Intensify The Spirit Of Oneness

From The Leaves Of The Back Issues -

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Epistles Of Swami Ramdas

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349

Anandashram News

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351

From The Editor

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THE VISION A Monthly Magazine

Anandashram PO Anandashram 671531, Kanhangad, Kerala, India Phone: (0467) 2203036, 2209477, 2207403 Web: www.anandashram.org Email: anandashram@gmail.com papa@anandashram.org For free edition of “THE VISION” on the web, please visit: www.anandashram.org

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YOUR BELOVED EVERYWHERE

By Swami Ramdas (We observe Beloved Papa’s 50th Maha Samadhi Day on the 11th of this month.

Only

because

of

the

transformation of Vittal Rao to Swami Ramdas who is endearingly called as Beloved Papa, Anandashram came into being and also THE VISION. On this sacred occasion, THE VISION offers its humble homage to Beloved Papa with a prayer for the speedy spiritual progress of all culminating in eternal happiness.)

The mind which constantly contemplates upon God, imbibes into its being His immortality, love and joy. The saying: “As a man thinketh, so he becometh,” is eminently true. The individuality conceived of by the mind as a stable and real existence, must, by means of meditation, merge in the universality of God’s existence. It is the experience of every aspirant on the spiritual path that the more he devotes the mind to the exalted thought of God, the more he is absolved from its impurities.

The principle is: take in brilliant and elevating ideas, and automatically the low and grovelling thoughts

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will be purged off. Just as the application of soap removes the dirt off the cloth turning it clean and white, or just as light dispels darkness and illumines space, so also a sustained recollection of God, destroying all the distempers of the mind, purifies and ennobles life. It is rightly said that one should not unnecessarily exert oneself for subduing the mind, but what one has to do is to dwell in the contemplation of God, and by this method not only purify the heart but also simultaneously fill it with the light, love and joy of God. Verily, there is no peace for man until his mind is liberated from the clutches of passion, until the wisdom of the Eternal enlightens him.

Therefore, raise your heart, mind, soul and body to the throne of the almighty Lord within you in concentrated adoration and worship. Let the harassing complexity of life be substituted by harmonious simplicity. So regulate your life as to attain to a vision which enables you to be naturally friendly towards all creatures and beings in the world. Let humility be your shield, love your weapon, and a blissful life of service the aim and mark. Don’t be satisfied with anything less than the universalisation of your outlook

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upon life. This is the Atma Darshan sung of by the sages of yore. It is a supreme state in which the notion of the body, the sense of apparent diversity and the erroneous consciousness of the ego have no place. It is the vision of the pure, resplendent spirit that pervades all beings in the universe. It is a vision of yourself as the indwelling Reality in all the forms and existences. It is a vision of indescribable ecstasy born of the knowledge of one eternal substratum or Soul that fills and overflows to infinity the world phenomena.

How do you reach the summit of this transcendental Reality? By recollection, contemplation and meditation. Give your thought entirely to God and you are bound to realise that you are God Himself.

Before the glory of this attainment, all other aspirations of man are flat and childish. When you can tune your mind with the all-powerful Master of the universe and realise deathless peace, liberation and bliss, is it worth while for you to pursue the ephemeral prizes and achievements of the world, however great and glossy they might seem? What a tremendous privilege this human birth is! Human life can have the full value set on it only when it is utilised for achieving the loftiest purpose for which it is meant.

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Hence, turn your mind, day-by-day, towards the immortal source of your life - God. Let your life be more and more filled with Divine effulgence and love.

Let your actions flow like a gentle stream singing the melodious song of Divine service. Be gifted with the sight of the sage, and behold your Beloved everywhere - aye, your Beloved everywhere.

WORDS OF BELOVED PAPA SWAMI RAMDAS Guiding Children To Develop Faith In God: God is within and without. It is to that God they must pray. There are no two Gods, one transcendent and one inherent. The same God who is immanent is also transcendent — immanent, in the sense that He is omni-present, pervading the entire universe and also seated in the hearts of every one of us. Being this, He is at the same time beyond the universe, extending to infinity. He is the Spirit, He is Consciousness, He is Truth which has no name, form or change. He is infinite and eternal Presence, vibrant with pure knowledge, light, power, and love. It is to this God we have to pray. By remembering Him through prayer,

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we infuse into ourselves His power and glory by which we can dispel from the mind all thoughts which are selfish, which seek to gain for ourselves something at the expense of our fellow-beings. Selfishness makes our life erratic, restless and agitated, and therefore, unhappy and miserable.

For children it may not be possible to concentrate on the impersonal God. But they can pray and surrender themselves to the personal forms of God. There are so many great incarnations and prophets in the world, who are embodiments of this omnipotent Spirit. These Teachers are the personal aspects of the Divine. The children may be brought into contact with them, so that by praying to these great personalities, they may derive the strength, light and peace essential for their true happiness. For Christians, Jesus is the very embodiment of God; for the Hindus, Rama, Krishna and Shiva; and for the Muslims, Prophet Mohammed.

In every faith they have their own great Masters who founded their religion, and such Masters may be taken as the very incarnations of Divinity. In this way the children can, by praying to their respective Teachers, invoke their blessings and live in perfect righteousness, truthfulness, honesty and self-sacrifice. They can

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develop these qualities only by tuning themselves with God, who is represented on earth by these great Teachers. By loving God they can draw from Him the strength to walk always on the path of truth and drive out of their minds all evil thoughts that lead them astray.

This is perfectly true and has been verified by so many teachers who are training children in schools and who have brought them in contact with God and enabled them to draw inspiration from Him. The lives of such children have become blessed. God seems to have entered in their daily life and purified them in every way, because they are so loving and helpful to all around them. The other day we saw a child walking on the street. He found a small worm crawling on the road, slowly took it up with a stick and laid it aside fearing that it might otherwise be trampled upon.

This kind of love is so ennobling and shows the heart of the child and how it feels for the suffering of others.

So, if each one of us can teach children to commune with God, have a relationship with Him, look upon Him as Mother or Master, we shall make them fit to receive His grace.

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WORDS OF PUJYA MATAJI KRISHNABAI If your child does anything wrong, speak to him gently and, above all, firm in your conviction that the child is but the form of your Guru, mentally pray to your Guru who is in your heart as also in your child, not to commit any more wrong. Such an approach will accelerate your spiritual progress. You will also then see for yourself what a remarkable change takes place in your child’s behaviour. *** (To a European devotee) You can attain peace and knowledge wherever you are - in your own country or in any other country. Real peace and knowledge is realised within and does not depend upon external environment. Christ is seated in your own heart. He is the source of everlasting peace and true knowledge.

When you remember Him intensely, He grants you all that you aspire for. *** If you aspire intensely for a Guru, either the Guru will come to you or you will be taken to him or you will mysteriously get guidance from books etc. The

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sensation of being like a blind man, groping in the dark, is experienced by all aspirants till they meet their Guru. I too used to have the same sensation until I came to Papa. *** When I wanted to concentrate on Papa during my Sadhana days, I would bring to my mind Papa’s divine attributes - “Papa, Thou art Eternal, Thou art Infinite” and so on - while chanting Ram Nam with my lips.

When I found that my mind was still wandering and thoughts kept pressing in, I earnestly prayed to Papa not to allow any thoughts to come into my mind and to let me concentrate on His Eternal Swaroop. Only Papa can give us stillness of the mind because His main quality is absolute stillness and void. When I had prayed like this to Papa, Papa shut my mind to all thoughts coming from outside and made it still. *** My complaint about you all is that none of you are even praying to Papa for granting you stillness of the mind. Then, how can you hope to make progress?

Yet, you say that you want Sakshatkar! *** There isn’t much time at my disposal. I am anxious that you should shed your petty clingings and race towards

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Papa. But, you shroud yourselves with deha-abhiman (body consciousness) so that my pleas fall on deaf ears.

Unless you reform yourselves and cure yourselves of the habit of doing the same mistakes over and over again, how are you going to develop love for Papa, how is Papa ever going to find room for Himself in your heart. *** Remember to carry on Naam, Dhyana and Seva by chanting His Name with your lips, meditating on His attributes and keeping your hands busy in His service. When you do all this together, it does not take any time for you to attain Sakshatkar. When we pray to Papa earnestly, Papa, who is seated within us, only grants us our wishes.

WORDS OF PUJYA SWAMI SATCHIDANANDAJI Be Free From Worry And Tension: It is the attitude of the mind that colour an incident as positive or negative.

If you fervently hammer on your brain that everything happens only by the will of God and that He always means well, the so-called colouration will not be there at all and therefore, will be free from worries and tension.

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Real Love: It is true that all the trouble in the world is caused by attachment. The so-called love is not real love.

Real love begins only when we start seeing the Divine in everybody and there will be no attachment then.

Instead of depending upon friends and relations, we should depend only on God, who will come in some form or other when we need help.

Realising Oneness With The Guru:

When you want God, nothing else should matter to you. Try to

The Guru awakens the

remember Him

disciple to the Reality and

constantly and

guides him step by step but it

pray to Him to

is up to the disciple to do the

make you feel His

spiritual

practices

and

presence

surrender his little ‘I’ (ego) so

constantly and to

as to realise that he and his

guide you in your

Guru are one. Actually, the

Sadhana. This

Guru and disciple are one but practice itself will that has to be realised by the

give you the

disciple by spiritual practice.

necessary

Guru or God does not replace

strength.

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the individuality of a devotee. Guru shows the way and the devotee, by intense Sadhana, has to erase his ego and then realise the oneness.

Feeling Of Separation: You are not separate from God. The feeling of separation comes because of ignorance, followed by the sense of doership. Consequently you suffer the good and bad results respectively of the actions done.

When ignorance is removed by Sadhana, it will be realised that you have been ever one with God and it was only a ‘feeling’ of separation. So, carry on with your Sadhana and you will realise who you are.

Don’t Hurt Others’ Feelings: When you are doing Sadhana, you have to be careful to see that you do not hurt the feelings of others; instead you must be so loving that all others feel the warmth of it when they come near you or even think of you. There is no need to get angry at all for any reason. When you want God, nothing else should matter to you. Try to remember Him constantly and pray to Him to make you feel His presence constantly and to guide you in your Sadhana. This practice itself will give you the necessary strength.

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DEAR CHILDREN Sparrows In The Snow

By Yoginder Sikand Grandpa Jigme hobbled through the dark corridors of the house as fast as he could on his one leg, shouting out orders. “Yeshe, rush up to the roof with a spade and begin shoveling the snow off. Dolma, bring in the yaks before they freeze. Thubten, start the fire in the kitchen right away or we’ll all soon turn into blocks of ice. And you, Pema, shake the snow from off the apple trees before they collapse.”

It was the middle of June, the height of the short summer high up in the Himalayas, along the border with Tibet. The weather had been glorious for several weeks—a mild sun and a cloudless peacock-blue sky— and just a few days earlier the villagers had all got together to celebrate the end of an almost six-monthlong harsh spell of winter. But then, all of a sudden, a deadly snowstorm had struck.

No one could remember it snowing so heavily at that time of the year ever before. The snow showed no sign of stopping even after a week, and in a short while the land was buried under a thick white blanket that stretched as far as one could see. Grandpa Jigme’s

DEAR CHILDREN

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neighbour said that he had heard on the radio that this abnormal weather had to do with ‘global warming’, though no one in Grandpa Jigme’s house knew what that term meant.

As everyone else in the house hurried about doing as Grandpa Jigme ordered them, little Tsewang, the youngest member of the family (he had just turned seven) sat by the window of the living room watching the snow pile up outside.

“The apple trees are ruined,” Tsewang heard his grandfather moan. “And the peas, which were just about to flower, have all been destroyed. How on earth am I going to feed this family this year?”

Tsewang listened carefully as his father Yeshe said to Grandpa Jigme, “Father, we won’t be able to pay the children’s school fees this year. We were relying on the apples and peas for that.”

“The roads are all blocked, and our stock of food’s fast running out. It won’t last for more than two days, and then what are we going to eat?” Tsewang heard his mother Dolma add.

“Why! We might starve!” cried Tsewang’s sister Pema.

Tsewang began to quake with fear. What if Pema were right and they were all going to starve to death?

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“There’s nothing we can do if that happens, child,” Tsewang heard Dolma tell Pema. “Just don’t lose faith.

Recite your prayers and the protection mantras.”

Saying that, Dolma burst out sobbing. “We’re done for! We’re doomed! This is the end! We are all going to starve to death! What a way to go!”

Tsewang huddled deeper into the mountain of blankets, staring at the falling snow, whispering his prayers while warm tears rolled down his frozen face.

“You won’t let us starve, I know,” he sobbed as spoke with God. “You will never let us down, I know.” Tsewang lifted his head and peered out of the window, expecting his prayers to have wrought an immediate and miraculous halt to the snow. But, the snow showed no sign whatsoever of abating. He felt that his heart would burst any moment now. “It’s useless praying. God doesn’t seem to want to listen,” he said to himself. He had almost lost all hope.

Just then, Tsewang’s attention was attracted by a battalion of sparrows squatting on the clothesline outside. The little brown birds seemed to be having the time of their life, merrily chattering away even as snowflakes fell on their heads. It was bitterly cold outside, but that didn’t seem to matter to them at all. The fact that they probably hadn’t eaten for days — every bit of the earth being under several feet of snow, which

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covered up everything that they considered edible — did nothing to dampen their joy. They busily gossiped away and chased each other and played silly games as only sparrows do as the snow tumbled down from the grey sky and the cold wind angrily whirled around.

For a moment, Tsewang forgot his fear of impending starvation. He let out a loud laugh that seemed to echo through the entire house. It did seem very funny to him: how wholly indifferent to the storm the birds were — they didn’t seem to notice it and refused to let it spoil their fun — while human beings frantically rushed about doing whatever they could to save themselves and feared the worst.

“What are you laughing at, boy?” Yeshe asked Tsewang, “This is no time for fun. Get up and go about help me bring in the potatoes from the field before they rot and we starve.”

Tsewang jumped to his feet. But instead of heading to the potato field to help his father, he rushed into the kitchen and grabbed as many loaves of bread that he could find, stuffing them into the folds of his shawl.

“Where on earth are you taking the bread?” his mother Dolma called out. “That’s all we have left!”

But before Dolma could stop him, Tsewang flew out of the house and ran as fast as his little legs would

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carry him, till he came to the clothesline, where the birds were having their party. Dolma came running after him, but by the time she arrived Tsewang had already scattered the loaves on the ground and the birds were happily hopping around, munching on them. A pack of hungry village dogs, who hadn’t eaten for a week, soon joined them, gobbling up the remaining bread in no time.

Dolma shrieked at the top of her voice as she grabbed Tsewang by the ear and kicked and beat him.

“What have you done, you idiot? We’ve not a scrap of bread left. We’re bound to starve to death now, and all because of your foolishness. You’ve fed these miserable dumb animals and starved your own family!”

“Mumma! I promise you we won’t starve,” Tsewang stuttered. “God helps people who help others.

I know He’ll help us now because I helped these famished birds and dogs. I know He will. He won’t ever let us starve. Believe me!”

And just then, as Dolma looked about, she discovered, to her great surprise, that the snow had stopped, the clouds were beginning to part, revealing an unsullied blue sky, and the sun was shyly peeping out.

Yes, as Tsewang had assured her, God just wouldn’t let them starve.

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POSITIVE FEELINGS CONNECT US TO THE SOURCE

By Esther Hicks The greatest gift that you could ever give to another is your own happiness, for when you are in a state of joy, happiness or appreciation, you are fully connected to the Stream of pure, positive Source Energy that is truly who you are. And when you are in that state of connection, anything or anyone that you are holding as your object of attention benefits from your attention. No one else needs you to be or do things for them in order for them to be fulfilled — for all of them have the same access to the Stream of Well-Being that you do.

Your happiness does not depend on what others do, but only upon your own vibrational balance. And the happiness of others does not depend on you, but only on their own vibrational balance, for the way anyone feels, in any moment, is only about their own mix of Energies. The way you feel is simply, clearly, and always the indicator of the vibrational balance between your desires and your vibrational offering, which, from your vantage point, you have launched.

Every good feeling; every positive creation; all

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your abundance, clarity, health, vitality, and Well-Being — and all the things that you consider to be good, are dependent upon the way you are feeling right now and on the relationship that that feeling-vibration has to the vibration of who you really are and what you really desire.

Your emotions indicate the degree of your alignment with Source. Although you can never achieve such a complete misalignment with Source that you disconnect from it altogether, the thoughts that you choose to give your attention to do give you a substantial range in alignment or misalignment with the Non-Physical Energy that is truly who you are.

And so, with time and practice, you will come to know, in every moment, your degree of alignment with who you really are, for when you are in full allowance of the Energy of your Source, you thrive, and to the degree that you do not allow this alignment, you do not thrive.

You are empowered Beings; you are utterly free to create, and when you know that, and are focused upon things that are in vibrational harmony with that, you feel absolute joy. But when you think thoughts that are contrary to that truth, you feel the opposite

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emotions of disempowerment and bondage. And all emotions fall somewhere within that range, from joy to disempowerment.

When you think a thought that rings true with who you really are, you feel harmony coursing through your physical body: Joy, love, and a sense of freedom are examples of that alignment. And when you think thoughts that do not ring true with who you really are, you feel the disharmony in your physical body.

Depression, fear, and feelings of bondage are examples of that misalignment. In the same way that sculptors mould clay into the creation that pleases them, you create by moulding Energy. You mould it through your power of focus — by thinking about things, remembering things, and imagining things.

You focus the Energy when you speak, when you write, when you listen, when you are silent, when you remember, and when you imagine — you focus it through the projection of thought. Like the sculptors who, with time and practice, learn to mould the clay into the precise desired creation, you can learn to mould the Energy that creates worlds through the focus of your own mind. And, like the sculptors who, with their hands, feel their way as they recreate their

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vision — you will use your emotions to feel your way to Well-Being.

Source: http://www.healyourlife.com CULTIVATE & INTENSIFY THE SPIRIT OF ONENESS

By Swami Sivananda There is nowadays, everywhere, a cry for peace and abundance, for union and brotherhood, for cultural revival, social welfare and world-uplift. The world has experienced several crisis, tried many a method for peace, used the best resources of its intelligence, but has not yet succeeded in achieving its ends. The reason may be: either it is itself not clear about the nature of its aims and their implementation, or its instruments for action are not strong enough and capable of action, or its methods of procedure are not very wisely chosen. And, above all, there is that conspicuous absence of the pivot of all endeavours – God. Our young men and women are led away by the veneer of a spurious civilization and blinded by the glamour of material prosperity. They are unable to understand what actually is meant by God and religion.

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God is the never-dying and never-diseased Being. That is the support of this ever-dying and ever-diseased shallow world! How can this constantly changing universe have ever any values except on the assumption of a permanent unchanging Substance? How do you account for this ceaseless aspiration of a man for perfection, if that perfection does not exist? The transient nature of the world and all bodies and the unceasing inner aspiration for perfection and peace show that there must be that unending perfection which is Peace and Joy, and which must be underlying this perishable, objective world. This Eternal Conscious Perfection of God, and the method of reaching Him is through selfpurification and spiritual perfection. Hatred for religion is nothing but pure puerility rooted in ignorance and lack of proper sense.

The true meaning of God and religion should be infused into the hearts of all who have got mistaken notions about them. People should abandon the idea of thinking that God is some big anthropomorphic being sitting on a throne in a far-off heaven above the clouds, and that religion is praying to Him for personal gains or for punishing the enemy or bowing to His images in temples. A universal joy-infusing power of absolute religion should take possession of

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the hearts of all in its real and essential meaning.

There is no other purpose in life if it is not to attain this absolute Perfection, this absolute Peace and this absolute Joy of the Eternal Being, which all, directly or indirectly seek, and which can be possible only when people understand that all conceptions of God are aspects of the One Supreme, Immortal, Infinite, Eternal, Divine Presence, and that all forms of religion are aspects of the Gateway to that One Truth. The proper knowledge of this fact shall correct all errors of life and show the method of bringing peace to the world, of making humanity perfect.

(To be Continued...)

Courtesy: Divine Life Society, Ahmedabad FROM THE LEAVES OF THE BACK ISSUES The Vision Vol. 2, No: 4 LOVE OF GOD

By J N Chaudhuri (From Amrit Bazar Patrika) Love of God connotes the love of all His created beings. Without loving all living beings, there can be no true love of God. Suppose I do always profess my love and affection for A but bear grudge against his children, in such a case, is it likely that A will be lovingly disposed towards me? Not at all. I shall be

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called a hypocrite by A and he turns an enemy to me in no time. All living beings are so many children of God and if some of them be inimically disposed towards some others, then the former can never expect to win the divine grace. As the King bears equal affection for all his subjects — high and low, rich and poor — so the Almighty King loves equally all living beings. He is the same to all.

Nityananda, the great Vaishnava Saint and associate of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was one day struck on the head with the edge of a broken pitcher

by Madhai the lewd Brahman youth, totally spoiled like his brother by riches in unworthy hands and high office held by them under the then ruler of Bengal.

Nityananda was out on his preaching mission with some of his followers on the public road of Nawadwip, and when the party singing the name of Hari was passing by the house of Jagai and Madhai, Madhai came out and wounded Nityananda as stated above.

On this the followers of Nityananda grew excited, but he pacified them with entreaties and supplications quite unheard of; and with a smiling countenance and a heart full of compassion for his assailant said to him, “Never mind, friend, what you have done, but I would ask you to take the name of Hari at least once.

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I can very well bear the wound inflicted upon me by you just now, but hardly can I afford to bear the sight of your ungodliness.”

Kuresh, a disciple of Ramanuja, was, as a result of some misunderstanding, deprived of his eye-sight by some people of Chaturgram, a village in Southern India. Ramanuja advised him to go to Kanchipur village and pray for his eye-sight before the image of God there. Accordingly, Kuresh went there and appeared before the deity, but instead of praying for being restored to his eye-sight, he prayed for the welfare of his assailants. tiiit

DIVINE WILL

By P Narayana Menon “God sleeps in the stone, dreams in the plant, moves in the animal, and wakes up in man.” Sleeping, dreaming, moving and waking up are symptoms of life. Of all the streams of vitality on life, He is the one perennial source whose genial radiations alone give life to the countless lives. That grand source is His will or Shakti, from whose bosom of unfathomed depth all the worlds come into being with all the lives contained in them.

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“Living verily is His activity in the world.” Activity is motion and motion is due to the play of force. All forces have their rise in Eternal Force or immortal Shakti. Shakti moves and all become active. She withdraws and “all the air a solemn stillness holds.”

She is always under the guidance of Her Lord. She does everything for the consummation of a scheme whose mystery is known best to Him and Him alone.

God works and as He works, He impels His system ever to reveal more and more of His wondrous nature as the cycles pass, patiently waiting for the lay when the life of the system which has come forth from Him shall return to Him conscious of its revealed glory.

Coming forth is a downward movement and going back is an upward one. A movement upward is towards elevation and elevation is always a joy. All lives search for joy, and absolute joy is the condition of Godhead alone. “Soar up into the regions of your transcendent being. Aspire, aspire, aspire, until the highest goal is reached.” That is the command of the Lord to all.

“God's will is ever done.” All the lives are to obey His will. He is engaged ever in work that knows the fulfilment of no personal or selfish aim. He is all love and it is always a joy for Him to work. “Thy business

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is with action only, never with its fruits; so let not the fruit of action be thy motive, nor be thou to inaction attached. Perform action, O Dhananjaya, established in Yoga, free from attachment.” That is the work He exacts from all. That alone will be the work discharged in obedience to His will, in conformity with the dictates of His Shakti.

There is today a tired world. It is declared that terrible days loom upon mankind. It is even feared that the war-god Mars is not yet nailed in His coffin.

The mighty law in obedience to which the Founder of Christianity died on the Cross of loving sacrifice has entirely been infringed. “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal,” says the Christ. Those sweet words do really sound the keynote of all true and unselfish work. Only as we submit ourselves unreservedly to the performance of selfless work, will we be able to understand the working of the will Divine. Only as we become a working tool in the hands of His Shakti do we all realise all joy, the joy that gushes simultaneously with perfect peace. That is the goal, the vision, the vision of Almighty Truth, eternal bliss and everlasting life.

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EPISTLES OF SWAMI RAMDAS Beloved Ram, …Your letters are always brilliant. They offer a beautiful commentary upon the words of Arjuna in the discourse between him and Sri Krishna. Arjuna was confronted with a problem similar to the one you are facing. The same reply briefly explained will suit the present purpose.

Arjuna, disgusted with the action he was engaged in, proposes to renounce it. But the Lord says, "Not so. Exchange of activity or inactivity or, for that matter, even substitution of one kind of activity for another kind is not the remedy." As regards inactivity, the Lord declares, "This is impossible, because Prakriti is always at work. Even for the support of the body, some sort of activity is absolutely necessary." Now a change in the form of activity is no solution, so long as one's mentality remains unchanged; for, action in itself, whatever it is, is neither good nor evil. When the mind is free from the dual throng born of ignorance or Maya, no activity can fetter it, in whatever light ignorance may view it. So change of activity is not at all necessary. What is required is the renunciation of attachment from the mind.

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Prakriti will force you to fight. So, fight you must.

But, be in tune with the stainless Purusha and let Shakti or Para-Prakriti handle you as Her tool to do Her work. Then you act as though you do not act. As Purusha, the witness, you are non-doer, and as Prakriti or Shakti, you are the doer. "Behold action in inaction, and inaction in action."

It is entirely true that, even after his realisation of Truth, a man may continue in the same vocation or form of activity as the one in which he was engaged previous to it. Then why seek or wish for an external change? It may come spontaneously by His will, or it may not. He knows best. All action, in whatever field, is the outcome of His Shakti. Let us realise that we live from moment to moment in the blissful union with Him, His Shakti doing all things in us and through us.

He is the peace of our soul, the joy of our being. Every movement of ours is a thrill of His love and joy‌ Your prayer has a crystalline ring of truth about it. You have been always an instrument in His hands, whether you know it or not. Know, now, once for all, that you have been so, and that at all times you will be so. Love and Namaskars to yourself‌

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ANANDASHRAM NEWS 15,500-CRORE NAMA JAPA YAGNA FOR WORLD PEACE: The total Nama Japa for world peace received in the month of June 2013 is 210 crores. The grand total of the Japa done so far now stands at 4516 crores.

FROM THE EDITOR Sixty-six years back India gained political freedom.

Over the years the country has progressed in many fields but many a time it is felt that the country has not prospered to the extent it should have, and it is on these occasions all concerned should do some soulsearching and try to initiate steps to offset the imbalance.

While urban areas have received the bulk share of the attention, villages have been relegated and it is really a painful fact to know that many villages are suffering even for drinking water not to speak of other basic infrastructures. It is true that both the Central and State Governments should address these problems with all earnestness. At the same time along with whatever the Government can do in this sector, it would be beneficual to all if the general populace

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put in their mite in this direction. In this connection it will be appropriate to remember Beloved Papa’s words, “It does not behove you as a Sadhaka to detach yourself completely from the world. Unselfish service rendered to humanity helps you in developing an universal consciousness. Love and sympathy, selfsacrifice and service, softens the heart and purifies it. Tune your mind to the Divine within you, and beholding all beings and creatures as His expression, love and serve them. In this way you will be able to realize God within and without. To serve your fellowbeings is verily to serve God.” Let this year’s independence day impel us to hasten our move towards translating the above words into reality.

—MUKTANANDA Constant repetition of Ram Nam will still the waves of the mind, and thoughts, as they come, will dissolve by themselves. Finally, you will attain a state of consciousness which is unchanging and eternal. The Name stands for Atman. To be in tune with the Name is to merge in the Atmic consciousness. In the ultimate realisation, the mind ceases to exist, all thoughts disappear and you are filled with divine bliss and peace.

This is the goal.

- Swami Ramdas

ENGLISH Arati Book At the Feet of God* Call of the Devotee Cherished Memories Dive Deep Soar High Gospel of Swami Ramdas I & II* Gita Sandesh Glimpses of Divine Vision God Experience I & II Set Guru’s Grace Hanuman Chalisa Hints to Aspirants In Quest of God In the Vision of God Krishnabai Mundane to Spiritual* Passage to Divinity * Poems Points to Ponder* Ramdas Speaks I* to V Set Shraddhanjali Stories as told by Ramdas* Swami Ramdas on Himself Swami Ramdas' Talks * Swami Satchidananda* The Divine Life I & II* Set The Pathless Path * The Sayings of Ramdas Thus Speaks Ramdas Viswamata Krishnabai With my Master With Divine Mother I to III Set World is God * Srimad Bhagavata * GUJARATI Glimpses of Divine Vision * In Quest of God*

KANNADA Anandashram Bhajanamrutha Arati Book At the Feet of God Gita Sandesh God Experience Vol 1 Gospel of Swami Ramdas * Guidelines Guru’s Grace In Quest of God In the Vision of God I Ramdas Speaks I to V Set Stories as told by Ramdas Swami Ramdas’ Talks Swami Satchidananda * The Pathless Path * Viswamata Krishnabai World is God *

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HINDI At the Feet of God Gita Sandesh Guru’s Grace In Quest of God* Swami Ramdas on Himself Swami Satchidananda The Pathless Path * Thus Speaks Ramdas Vishwamata Krishnabai* Call of the Devotee God Experience Vol 1

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ORIYA In Quest of God FRENCH Thus Speaks Ramdas* Guru’s Grace

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TELUGU Arati* At the Feet of God Call of the Devotee Dive Deep & Soar High Gita Sandesh Glimpses of Divine Vision God Experience I & II Set Guidelines* Guru’s Grace Hints to Aspirants In Quest of God In the Vision of God * Mundane to Spiritual Passage to Divinity * Ramdas Speaks Vol I & V Set Stories by Swami Ramdas Swami Ramdas on Himself Swami Ramdas’ Talks Swami Satchidananda The Sayings of Ramdas Thus Speaks Ramdas Vishwamata Krishnabai

(*) denotes books out of print.

NOTE: 1. Packing and Postage Extra; Payments may be made by MO or DD favouring “ANANDASHRAM PUBLICATIONS” payable at Anandashram PO 671531, Kanhangad, Kerala 2. GUJARATI books are available with Shri Ramkrishna Seva Samiti, Shri Ramkrishna Kendra, L G Hospital Road, Maninagar, Ahmedabad 380008.

(Telephone Number 079 25430031)

TAMIL Arati Book At the Feet of God* Gita Sandesh Glimpses of Divine Vision Guru's Grace In Quest of God In the Vision of God The Sayings of Ramdas Viswamata Krishnabai Hints to Aspirants

MARATHI Guru Krupa* In Quest of God Prem Sudha Prem Sudha (with English) Swami Satchidananda Thus Speaks Ramdas

MALAYALAM Arati Book Bhagavad Gita Dive Deep Soar High* Guru’s Grace * In Quest of God Jnaneswari Swami Satchidananda Viswamata Krishnabai At the Feet of God Gita Sandesh*

LIST OF ASHRAM PUBLICATIONS

In The Cave* In the Vision of God Swami Satchidananda The Sayings of Ramdas* Thus Speaks Ramdas* World is God*

R.N.: 3047/57 (August 2013 issue) Registered: KL/KSZ/8/2012-14 Lic. No. KL/PMG/NR/WPP/1-1/KSZ/12-14 Licensed to post without prepayment

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

“Freedom is of the Atman within. Freedom relating to external conditions is no freedom. Realise that you are the immortal, ever free and all blissful Truth. ” — Swami Ramdas Edited and published by : Swami Muktananda and printed by him through : Latha Unlimited, Mangalore.