Guest guest Posted June 2, 2006 Report Share Posted June 2, 2006 OM NAMAH SIVAYA i know people are probably getting sick of me posting these tyro Sivananda daily emails but they have seemed applicable recently. i just pass them along in case anyone is interested or may benefit. SIVANANDA DAILY READING FOR 3 JUNE THE POWER OF PRAYER Prayer elevates the mind. It fills the mind with purity. It is associated with praise of God. It keeps the mind in tune with God. Prayer can reach a realm where reason dare not enter. Prayer can work miracles. Prayer frees the devotee from the fear of death. It makes him feel nearer to God; it makes him feel the divine presence everywhere. Prayer awakens the divine consciousness in him and makes him feel his essential immortal and blissful nature. Prayer has a tremendous influence. If the prayer is sincere and if it proceeds from the bottom of your heart (antarika) it will at once melt the heart of the Lord. Sri Krishna had to run bare-foot from Dwaraka on hearing the heart-felt prayer of Draupadi. You all know this. Lord Hari, the mighty ruler of this universe apologised before Prahlada for coming a little late, when the latter prayed. How merciful and loving is the Lord. Say even once, from the bottom of your heart: "O Lord, I am thine. Thy will be done. Have mercy on me. I am thy servant and devotee. Forgive. Guide. Protect. Enlighten." Have a meek, receptive attitude of mind. Have bhava in your heart. Your prayer is at once heard and responded to. Do this in the daily battle of life and realise for yourself the high efficacy of prayer. Prayer is the first important limb of yoga. Preliminary spiritual sadhana or practice is prayer. God helps even a dacoit (robber) when he prays. Pray to God for purity, devotion, light and knowledge. You will get all these things. Get up early in the morning and repeat some prayers for getting mental and physical brahmacarya (purity). Pray in any manner you like. Become as simple as a child. Freely open the chambers of your heart. Sincere devotees know well the high efficacy of prayers. Pray fervently, right now, from this very second. Do not delay friend; that 'tomorrow' may never come. "O Lord, I do not know what I should ask thee. Thou only knowest what I want. I surrender myself unto thee. I open my heart unto thee. Thou art merciful and omniscient. Thou knowest the interior of my heart. Let me accomplish thy will. Make me a fit instrument for thy unhampered play (lila). Prostrations unto thee. JAI MA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2006 Report Share Posted June 2, 2006 Ammachi, "ecjensen_us" <ecjensen_us> wrote: > > OM NAMAH SIVAYA > > i know people are probably getting sick of me posting these tyro > Sivananda daily emails but they have seemed applicable recently. i > just pass them along in case anyone is interested or may benefit. > Om Amrtesvaryai Namah!! Namaskarams!! i think it is perfectly wonderful if you post these Sivananda quotes on occasion because like Amma, He is a Satguru, and what advice He gives is not really any different from what Amma would give, only it has His flavour of writing....personally i LOVE Sri Swami Sivanandaji, and feel like i have been blessed by Him a lot...one of His chief western disciples Sri Swami Radha established her ashram here in the area where i live, and called it Yasodhara Ashram. It is dedicated to Divine Mother, and has a Divine Light Temple of all religions. Also i would NOT label His teachings "tyro" just because they appear "simple" and "easy" to understand. They have their own depths which even an "expert" could spend LIVES plumbing through for the essence of the teachings. at least that's my own beginner's opinion. we have many books by Sri Swami Sivanandaji, and also by Swami Radha...Sri Swami Sivanandaji was a GREAT devotee of Divine Mother, and in my humble opinion was a Mahatma...i was lucky enough to obtain from a used book store, one of his books that he had donated to the Yale library (i think), and which he had autographed and blessed...the book is called the Sivananda Upanishad, and consists of a collection of his letters to devotees on one side of the page, and a picture of him on the other...a different picture for every page...the book was beautifully produced in about 1954, so i feel particularly blessed that it came to rest with us.... also Easwari and i got married in a Hindu marriage ceremony at Yasodhara ashram back in 2002, so i feel another blessing from Sivanandaji for that...what a day that was!! it was March 24 2002, and had been snowing all the time...snow on the ground...but that day it was unexpectedly sunny....we had to leave really early to catch an early ferry to get there on time...however, as usual, we were behind schedule, and very late...in fact when i looked at my watch i was sure we couldn't make it on time...we had to travel for an hour and a half just to get to the ferry. easwari started chanting the Kanda shasti kavacam (a prayer to lord Murugan) and i started chanting a prayer to His brother Ganesha....we were chanting away silently to ourselves...when suddenly Easwari pointed out to me that the radio aerial was waving frantically back and forth...perpendicularly to direction of travel, almost bending double with each cycle...now we weren't going THAT fast...we were within the speed limit which is not too high...there appeared to be NO reason for the movement such as it was...we had NEVER seen such a movement before (nor have we since)...so we were wondering just WHAT was going on....Easwari, i believe, said that she thought that was a sign from Ganesha and His brother Murugan...i wasn't so sure...but we arrived at the ferry terminal just a MOMENT before the ferry pulled out...everyone else was there...saying..."what took you so long? we were going to have to try to delay the ferry...cause we couldn't have a wedding without you guys!" when i looked at my watch it was IMPOSSIBLE to have gotten there on time...and yet...we did. so we had the improbable thought that Ganesha and his Brother Murugan between them had put us in a "time warp" or slowed down the time or who knows what, such that we could get there on time, because we had been praying to them with innocent hearts....thus we arrived at Yasodhara on time to have our wedding ceremony, which was one of the most moving occasions that i have ever attended...thanks to the blessings of Lord Ganesha and His brother Lord Murugan...and to the wonderful support of our Nelson satsang brothers and sisters, who helped in the performance of the Puja and the Bhajans. later that day, back at Slocan (our home at the time), my mother presented us with two little Indian style stuffed pillows that she had gotten from Bridgehead (a fair trade organisation)...and guess what was embroidered on the little pillows? One pillow had an elephant embroidered on it and the other little pillow had a peacock embroidered on it!!! so we were CONVINCED that indeed Lord Ganesha (elephant) and Lord Murugan (peacock) really HAD helped us get to the ferry on time for our wedding!!! i know....you really think we're nuts now...but hey...we don't CARE...we know what works for us!! so i am very fond of Sri Swami Sivanandaji and his disciples too!! thanks again for posting his message... also the Sivananda folks occasionally send out little articles ABOUT Sri Swamiji, rather than BY Him...and they are also very inspiring and helpful to us devotees wanting to live the spiritual life. Like Amma He was noteable for His generosity, kindness, and large heartedness...as well as His practicality in giving teachings to His Students. He wrote voluminously upon almost all topics spiritual, and i have learned ever so much thanks to His kindness in sitting down every morning when He could to write His books and letters. it is Thanks to Mahatmas like Him and Amma that we have such shining examples of how we too should live. In Amma's Divine Love, and in Her Service, as ever, visvanathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 3, 2006 Report Share Posted June 3, 2006 Please keep it up, whoever you are ("ecjensen_us"). They are inspirational. Whatever tyro means... Max >i know people are probably getting sick of me posting these tyro >Sivananda daily emails but they have seemed applicable recently. -- Max Dashu Suppressed Histories Archives Women in Global Perspective http://www.suppressedhistories.net New poster: Our Reproductive Rights! http://www.maxdashu.net/shamanic/reprorights.html Beautiful, multi-issue, empowering 11 x 17 laser print Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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