Grandmas, was : To Temba about advanced spiritual seeker

[Guest guest]

Namah Shivaya Linda,

Your Grandma does indeed sound like a wonderful person, very aptly named

by you.

I was super lucky in the Grandma department. After my mother died when I

was 3 my great grandmother took care of me for a couple of years. She

was very much a presence in my life until her death when I was 22. Both

of my grandmothers were wonderful also, and I don't know what I would

have done without them. I had a wonderful step grandfather too.

I also had a wonderful "almost mother-in-law" who was my best friend and

mentor. It took me 10 years after she passed away to get used to the

fact that she was no longer on this earthly plane.

I think we were lucky to have known and to have been loved by such

incredible beings. Grandmas and grandpas are really special and have a

special place in our hearts and souls.

Jai Ma! and Grandmas!

Prasadini

 

 

 

nierika wrote:

>

> Temba wrote:

>

> >> AMMAs son has a question.would one of his BELOVED brothers and

> sisters

> >> please be so kind to tell him what an "ADVANCED SPIRITUAL SEEKER"

> is? I

> AM

> >> LOVE YOU.

>

>

>

>

> Dearest Temba ~ I'm sure you'll get a lot of answers to this question,

> and

> it is likely everyone will have a unique view about it. A person might

> use this

> term or the way someone previously posted, "spiritually oriented." My

> first

> thought is that if the person him or herself is saying they are an

> "advanced

> spiritual seeker" or a very "spiritually oriented" person, whatever

> little

> red flag device you have in your heart should go up right up ...

> Warning, Will

> Robinson, Warning. (Sorry, if you don't get the reference its from an

> old tv

> scifi series called Lost in Space, and there was this robot which,

> anytime

> danger approached in any form, would wave its arms about, meander this

> way and

> that and say "Warning...etc.)

>

> An advanced spiritual seeker will be touched with humility so that

> you might

> even not notice him/her. But if you did, then they might be like some

> of the

> bramacharis, bramacharinis, swamis and swaminis that surround Amma.

> And even

> these people, who I see as way, way, way, way ahead of me, "running

> along the

> razor's edge," as one of the swami's book titles said, readily admit to

> their own shortcomings. But they do so with clarity and not as if

> they are

> bludgeoning themselves over the head with sticks. I don't think an

> advanced seeker

> would be puffed up over his/her accomplishments (i.e., can meditate

> for 6

> hours a day; fast for a week; stand on his/her head, etc.). I am

> being a little

> tongue in cheek here, and the truth is some advanced seekers do

> actually do

> these things ... it's just that they wouldn't make a big deal about it.

>

> I always thought of my grandmother as an advanced spiritual seeker,

> though

> the term I used in my head was "Zen Master of Tuckerhill Virginia."

> She was

> small and unassuming; she lived her life simply; she prayed and went

> to church;

> she smiled a lot, even when she was doing "chores," and she taught me

> a lot

> of what I believe is character and the characteristics of a really

> "good"

> person, though she never sat me down and said, "Now, Linda, a really

> good person

> wouldn't come home with pokeberry juice all over her legs, screaming

> to high

> heaven, just to give everyone a bit of a scary tease.) (Yes, I

> actually did

> that.)

>

> She didn't know she was teaching, but she herself was the example. She

> was

> never mean spirited towards anyone, and whoever came to visit,

> depending on the

> time of day, would get invited to "sit and have some dinner with us or to

> "come in for a cup of tea." (In the South, back then, everybody ate

> dinner

> early in the day, and then had "supper" at dinner time. So, because my

> grandfather would get up at 3:00 am everyday to go fishing and

> crabbing, we'd all be

> eating our big meal of the day at 10 or 11 o'clock.) She went about

> her chores

> pleasantly, cheerfully ... you'd never think she was actually

> "working." And

> she would sit and visit with anyone and everyone who knocked on her door.

>

> She encouraged me a lot ... her way of putting it was to go "swing and

> sing," but she was encouraging my natural love of music. And if I

> actually did get

> hurt, like once when I was digging for potatoes at a neighbor's

> garden and

> ran right into a hornets nest, she'd sit me down and put some witch

> hazel (or

> some other tried and true home remedy); she'd empathize, but by not

> getting

> all in an uproar herself, she taught me that you could just deal with

> things

> without getting derailed emotionally by them. (Unfortunately, since I

> spent

> most of my time with my abusive father and my terrified mother, who

> were

> exampling the exact opposite ... everything was a HUGE issue ... with

> screaming,

> threats, sometimes hitting, all that craziness.)

>

> My grandmother loved birds and flowers and had the most lovely gardens

> around her little painted white house with its green roof. I didn't

> know how much

> I loved her until she died.

> I grieved for three years, I missed her so much. And for those who

> believe

> in such things, after I got through with my grieving, she used to come

> and

> visit me, usually if something unpleasant, like going to the dentist,

> was being

> done to my body. She would kind of float in the air, to the left

> front of my

> visual range, smile at me and radiate love and support and

> protection. I have

> gotten through a lot with her help, even after she crossed over. Even

> from

> the other side, she still was there for me, and ever herself, teaching

> patience, friendliness, tolerance, courage, and love. I don't see her

> anymore, so I

> feel she may have taken a new body, but I had many years of her

> spiritual

> presence around me, even after she left this earthly realm.

>

> I couldn't think of a better example of an "advanced spiritual seeker"

> than

> my Grandma Bertie. Jai Ma ~ Linda

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Aum Amriteswarayai Namaha!

>

>

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