Guest guest Posted February 25, 2005 Report Share Posted February 25, 2005 Agree with Yogaman ~ Japa( 10,000 ) + Amma’s Guidance + Optional Suggestions + “Pray Without Ceasing” Christian Connection Yogaman wrote : Dear Snehalataji, When we take a few buckets out of infinity, infinity still remains infinity. Amma's grace to the tsunami victims is not in any way prevented or lessened if Amma graces you as well. So we will keep you in our prayers. In the meantime if you are disposed to doing it, please chant your Amma given mantra for at least 10,000 times a day(I know it sounds very hard, but once you get past the first few thousand, the rest come automatically). With best wishes, -yogaman Thank you yogaman for keeping our focus on Snehalata. I too would like to encourage( if it seems right ) not only for Snehalata but others to chant their mantras at least 10,000 times. It is quite a coincidence that a few weeks ago the same number( 10,000 ) came to me. I will expand on this below including the Christian Connection after some more Optional Suggestions for Snehalata to consider. 1) First of all, pray, talk and write letters to Amma for Inner Guidance. How to do this? See Part III of “The Path of the Mother” by Savitri Bess a strong devotee of our Amma. If you don’t have the book, just try ~ look at Amma’s Picture and tell everything ~ also, write letter including as much as you can ~ your life, your concerns, your doubts, your problems, your gratitude ~ you don’t have to send the letter ~ writing it is good enough. 2) Once at a program, after giving my concerns to Dayamritaji, he said he spoke to Amma and She said we have Her Blessings. Wow! ~ then a concern “but how will we know what to do?” “Amma will guide you.” he answered. Wow! my partner and I must be really special to have Amma’s Blessings and Guidance. Took some time to realize ~ to Mother we are all special and the Blessings and Guidance are there without limit. So, don’t limit your receptivity. Yogaman is right about Amma’s infinity because Amma says there is the External Mother( body ) with seeming limitations and there is the Internal Mother with no limitations. Amma is both. 3) I’m assuming you have a mantra from Amma. Please remember when Amma gives mantra, Amma plants a Seed of Her Own Divine Essence into you. That Seed needs to be watered by repeating the mantra as much as possible. Goal of 10,000 /day is quite reachable. Should be able to do about 1,000 /hour when no interruptions. Initially, Amma says it’s like using a rope to climb a mountain ~ it may require some effort initially. 4) Some of the time, look at Amma’s Picture especially Her eyes while saying your mantra. Then, close your eyes and bring the image within. I like to pause videos of Amma in Devi Bhava where She seems to look directly at me. 5) Amma says: “With the chanting of Lalitha Sahasranama, the energy in every nerve of our body will be awakened.” This is also true for your mantra and other mantras. She also said that in general it’s wrong to think that one mantra is better than another. You can either chant or listen. If not enough energy to chant or pronunciation is a problem, better to listen in a very relaxed way ~ perhaps flat on the floor in a corpse position and feel the vibrations flow through your body. 6) Besides your mantra, it’s quite all right to have access to other chants ~ 1) Lalitha Sahasranama 2) there is an Amma CD “CHANTS” with Guru Stotram, Dhyana Sloka, 108 names of Amma, Mahisasuramardini, and Shanti Mantras 3) Mrtyunjaya Mantra is to Lord Siva ) 4) Om Namah Sivaya ~ Siva is the destroyer of ignorance, illness and negativity 5) Yogaman’s suggested mantra 6) Amma, Amma, Amma 7) I like to chant “Ayiye Guru Maharani Mata Amritanandamayi” ~ either the whole bhajan or mostly just this first line ~ I used to chant it quite a lot and it imbibed an attitude in me that with my finest feeling I am calling for Mother to come to me and sometimes She does in a dream ~ 7) There are quite a few stories of Amma appearing to devotees in various ways ~ I must confess I am obsessed with this since I cannot be with Mother physically all the time 8) Yogananda said if we call out to God uninterruptedly for three days straight, God has no choice but to reveal Herself. Amma also recommends we call out “Dear God( or Amma ) Reveal Yourself_Reveal Yourself_Reveal Yourself_” 9) Do not get overwhelmed with all these suggestions ~ take what is helpful and discard the rest. Depending on your disposition, one mantra is quite enough if done continuously. Pray to Amma to guide you. 10) Sometimes, it is not possible for me to chant anything with more than one syllable ~ I resort to “God_God_God_God_” or “Ma_Ma_Ma_Ma_” ~~~ Pray Without Ceasing Christian Connection ~~~ Watching accounts on www.amritapuri.org of Amma and thousands of volunteers doing so much made me feel very inadequate. So, I prayed to Amma for guidance “what can I do?” Meanwhile, a catholic friend who has a “Jesus Mantra” from Amma admitted his laxity in saying his mantra. I remembered a Christian Classic ““The Way of the Pilgrim.” This is a beautiful story of a poor Christian pilgrim who heard at a church sermon “Pray without ceasing.” He became obsessed ~ how to do it? He asked many. Finally, he found a monk who said he could help him. First the monk explained that this is best done with the heart and not the head and gave him some instructions. But apparently the pilgrim was not ripe for this yet. Then the monk told him to repeat the Jesus Prayer 3,000 per day first with the lips, then mentally. After some time, he was told to do it 6,000 per day; then later 12,000 per day. The pilgrim stopped at monasteries and churches and shared his experiences. Sometimes being criticized for his gullibility and “vain repetition” the pilgrim replied that repeating the Jesus Prayer continuously finally allowed the mind to surrender and sink into the heart where God’s Love is indescribable ~ it has to be experienced. Obviously, the biblical “vain repetition” objection must be addressing the “vain” not the “repetition.” Advising my Christian friend to do his mantra at least 10,000 times I felt Amma was advising both of us. Amma’s Guidance is there, let us chant our mantras, stay alert and receptive. Oh, almost forgot. I feel Amma’s answer to my q “what can I do?” was “Son, chant your mantra at least 10,000 per day and Amma will take care of the rest.” Om Amriteswaryai Namah, Amarnath PS ~ there is a file recently uploaded “DearAmmaQuotes335to399.doc” which contains beautiful quotes of Amma on prayer, crying, love, meditation, silence, intellect, heart, ego, surrender, etc. ~ enjoy ~ it is a word .doc file ~ 16 pages which can be printed in “booklet format” on 4 sheets ~ fold them and there are beautiful pictures of Amma on front and back. Take Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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