Guest guest Posted October 4, 2008 Report Share Posted October 4, 2008 Namaste sir Really there are no words to say about the play of GOD and these incidents just make your heart melt away and really wonderful are saints like your guru who have no iota of ego WONDERFUL regards jitender , " Narasimha P.V.R. Rao " <pvr wrote: > > Namaste, > > You misunderstood me. The appearance was not " before me " . It was before my guru Dr Manish Pandit. The only other person present on the temple premises at that time was the gentleman I mentioned, who lost his job after starting Kaali mantra and went to India for pilgrimage. I was not there then. Though I was chanting with Manish on other days, I was sent away on that specific day to visit Kanchi and Tirunavannamalai (Ramana Maharshi's place). > > I understand it was Mahaakaali who gave a darshan and asked Manish to spread homam as a spiritual sadhana in the world. She told him that she would arrange all the resources needed and asked him to just start. She also apparently told him of a sequence of events that were to happen. > > Interestingly, the head priest of that temple had some books on homam gifted to Manish and me on the very next day. Neither Manish nor I asked him for such books. We never expressed interest in doing homam or learning homam. He himself got the inspiration. There was a book on different styles of homam for Ganesha and another book (by Ramakrishna Mutt, Chennai!) on the procedures for various types of homam. Manish and I were gifted one copy each. I perused those books to devise the short method described in the manuals. > > * * * > > Interestingly, how we met that priest and how this shata Chandi homam was arranged is based on interesting coincidences. The son of the guru of a local priest was visiting greater Boston temporarily. He was a famous sivacharya (a special group of priests) from Chennai and the head priest of Kaalikambal temple in Chennai. We merely went to take his blessings on a Thursday night. We chatted a little with him and then my wife asked him " what are you doing on this Saturday " . He immediately said with affection " we are doing on Saturday whatever Mrs Padmaja (my wife's name) tells us to do " . Please note that we met for the first time in this life and did not know each other at all. My wife said " well, we perform a Satya Narayana vratam on every Pournima night. You are most welcome to attend. " He said " we are coming " . Then he called up a few guys in Canada and told them to cancel some events in Canada. We learnt later that he was supposed to spend that weekend in Canada. Instead, he decided to stay back and come to our house. > > He came to our house on Saturday evening (Pournima) with two other senior priests. They stayed till the end of Satya Narayana vratam (almost midnight) and enjoyed it. As soon as he entered our house, he declared " I must do a Chandi homam at your house. The mother wants me to do a homam here. But I have one condition. I and other priests who come with me will not take even a cent. You buy the materials needed, but give no money. " Even though we were not excited about the condition, we said ok. > > During the navaratris of 2005, a few days after a solar eclipse on my lagna (when Sun, Moon, Mercury and Ketu were in Kanya - my lagna and 8th house from Moon), he came with 3 other priests and did a Chandi homam in really grand style. It was an amazing experience. It was actually the first time in my life that I heard Chandipath. I had never heard it before. Interestingly, I had my own biases. In the morning, I actually prayed to Mahalakshmi (my ishta devata), " O Mother, these priests want to do Chandi homam at my house and I consented. I don't know who Chandi is. Whichever deity they call, I will be thinking of you only. You please come and bless us. " It was partly innocent and partly foolish. > > This was my first exposure to Chandipath and the first Chandi homam at my house. To think that I have now done more than 320 Chandi homas at my house.. > > * * * > > Manish was concerned about the continued troubles faced by the Sankaracharya of Kanchi (the state government filed some cases against him) and he decided that we had to perform a Shata Chandi homam for his relief. He was not sure when and where it should happen. > > After the Chandi homam at our house, we became close to that priest and kept meeting him regularly (until he left Boston). When I mentioned Manish's wish to him, he said " Sir, we will do the Shata Chandi homam he wanted at our temple. I will arrange everything. You and Manish Pandit just come and sit for the event. We will take the sankalpa you want. I will do everything. " > > Finally, the shata Chandi homam was conducted March 1-7, 2006. Interestingly, on the 64th day from the poornahuti of that homam, the ruling government of that state was defeated in elections and a new government came. > > Manish put it this way later " Narasimha, who are we to help a great saint like Sankaracharya? We are not capable of helping him. We are really of no use. The idea was not that we would help him. The idea is that we would help *ourselves* because of the positive intention to help Sanakaracharya! It is all Her play. See, the Mother gave the thought of helping him and brought us to Chennai. Then she appeared and instructed to spread homam. Now so many people are doing homam and benefiting. In future, many many more will do. All this is happening because of a positive intention to help Sanakaracharya. " > > Though the dates for shata Chandi homam were picked almost arbitrarily, there was one interesting coincidence. The day on which the ritual was started (2006 March 1) was actually the lunar birthday (tithi pravesha) of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. In fact, the time when we took sankalpam formally and kicked off the 7-day-long ritual (in the morning of March 1) was interestingly within a couple of minutes from the *exact* Tithi Pravesha time (time at which the same fraction of same tithi is left as at birth) of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. This was not planned and was a mere coincidence. In fact, I noticed it after the fact! > > Some forces beyond the scope of the thinking of my mind are behind the homam movement that is slowly picking up. I am fortunate to be picked as an instrument in this spiritual movement. > > * * * > > Actually, I do not honestly consider the goddess and Sarada Mata (and, for that matter, my guru) to be really different. But that is a different thing. > > Best regards, > Narasimha > > Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/homam > Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAstrologer.org/tarpana > Spirituality: > Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net > Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org > Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org > > > - > Ashwin Rawal > > Thursday, October 02, 2008 7:44 AM > Re: Right deity and sadhana (Re: Yogananda) > > Dear Narsimhaji, You mentioned the appearance of mother before you. Can you kindly clarify which mother? you mean Sharda devi (Thakurain Ma) or Goddess Durga ? Kindly answer this immediately as I am excited to know this trutth about homa. > > Dr.Ashwin Rawal > > --- On Thu, 2/10/08, Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr wrote: > > Narasimha P.V.R. Rao <pvr > Right deity and sadhana (Re: Yogananda) > > Cc: sivacharya > Thursday, 2 October, 2008, 4:21 AM > > > Namaste, > > Choosing the right deity for sadhana is important. If you do not know the > right deity, just doing some sadhana is definitely better than waiting. Pick > whatever deity seems natural to you and do sadhana. > > Please remember that sadhana for spiritual progress is different from > sadhana for specific material benefits. No matter which deity you worship, > sadhana performed for spiritual progress never goes waste. However, > sometimes it may be necessary to experience the results of some bad karmas > before some good things happen. Imagine all your karmas lying in a pile in a > basket. Suppose some of the really good karmas that will enable you to do > serious sadhana and experience great things lie at the bottom or middle of > the pile. When you start sadhana, suppose god decides to give you the fruits > of those auspicious karmas. Imagine him reaching into the pile and > retrieving those karmas. In the process, some other karmas may spill over > and give their fruits. Some of those may be undesirable. So what? They had > to be experienced sometime or the other, anyway! > > A serious sadhaka should never be disheartened by a few seemingly > undesirable results after starting a spiritual sadhana. Just keep going. > > One gentleman I know received mantra for Kaali from a very good > priest-cum-yogi in late 2005. After he did the mantra for a few days, he was > laid off and lost his job. He was not perturbed. He continued his sadhana > and used the break to go on an extended trip to India and make a pilgrimage > to some nice places. He participated in the Shata Chandi homam we conducted > at the Kaalikambal temple in Chennai in March 2006. He met my guru and got > the opportunity to be his room mate for a week when we stayed at the house > of a priest during the homam. He could observe and interact with my guru > very closely. Most importantly, when my guru had a vision of the Mother on > 2006 March 3 afternoon, in which She told him to start the work on spreading > homam in the world, this gentleman was present there. Though he could not > see the Mother, he actually smelled something out of the world and was > baffled. He knew something was going on, but did not know what. The temple > was closed at the time and my guru and this gentlemen were the only people > on the premises when the Mother appeared. Even though he could not see the > Mother, it was most fortunate of him to be present there at *that* crucial > moment. That is enough to mould the rest of his life. > > You never know how, when and where the grace of god falls on you. > Calculations and logic are useless when it comes to the grace of god. Just > surrender and keep doing whatever sadhana you picked. If it needs > fine-tuning, somebody will appear to tell you that. Any bad things that > happen when doing a spiritual sadhana should be viewed as nature settling > some debts so that you are prepared to receive the fruits of some really > auspicious karmas. > > As Shirdi Sai Baba says, you should have " sraddha and saburi " . Have devotion > and patience. There is no limit to what you can get then. > > Best regards, > Narasimha > ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---- ----- - > Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homam > Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpana > Spirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdom > Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. net > Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.org > Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org > ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- ---- ----- - > > - > > Namaste Sir > > what you said makes a lot sense and it was marvellous > > but i have some small doubts > > > > Leaving astrology aside and those who do not have a guru > > how can they chooose a particular form of GOD > > bcoz in second part of AGHORA, Vimalanda, said choosing right deity > > is very important, as the analogy he gave of a person > > who is greedy and worships LAKSHMI , may increase his greed > > > > One thing more > > we have so many deities that on diwali i would like to worship > > Lakshmi and Kali > > in navaratri (nowadays) we would worship Durga > > on janmashtami we would fast for KRISHNA > > an on MAHASHIVARATRI for SHIVA > > like this > > with hte change in festival the deity changes > > > > though everybody knows GOD is ONE but it becomes difficult to get > > out of this > > mould and if i didnt worship her may be that GOD/GODDESS may become > > angry > > > > I Know,this is my foolishness but stiil this thing hangs in the mind > > > > One thing more > > > > Suppose if i choose a deity and something wrong happens > > (materiallistically ) > > > > what should i consider that my deity was helping me to clear my > > DEBTS/WRONG DEEDS > > or the NATURE was telling me to change the DEITY as I am not fit > > for that DEITY > > > > and sometimes you feel > > o what am i doing does this really works > > > > and one thing more > > > > what if we go on doing our pooja and someday > > something like what happened to Pt. GOPI KRISHNA JI > > happens to us also > > though he says in his book that he read a lot about yoga > > and stuff like this > > > > At any stage i do not want you people to get offended > > but these are my doubts which are there in my mind > > > > i will not say much now bcoz in > > Swami Sivananda's KUNDALINI YOGA on the last page he says > > > > " the shastras are endless and there is so much to be known > > turn the gaze. draw the indriyas.still the mind.then > > dive deep into the divine source and realise the infinite bliss " > > > > ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *** > > * > > i ll give one small personal example here > > > > around 26 or 27 dec.2007 i started chanting 2 mantras (one kar mala > > each) > > in morning and evening > > and on 9 january 2008 my parents met an accident > > though my father suffered small injuries my mother suffred fracture > > in shoulder and Leg > > > > and she is still undergoing treatment and will have to > > undergo one more operation in this month > > > > and in February and March i got placement in > > 2 companies (i m doing MCA in india) where most of my friends have > > not > > even got one and let me tell you i m not very intelligent > > > > so sometimes even now i consider whether my choosen deity is correct > > or not > > > > so everyday in the end of my pooja what i ask GOD is > > to help me find the right path > > ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *** > > ** > > > > regards > > jitender > > > > , " Narasimha P.V.R. Rao " > > <pvr@> wrote: > >> > >> Namaste, > >> > >> > Makes you wonder about the Divine connection between all these > >> > supremely elevated souls! > >> > >> Earlier, I was exerting discretion in sharing personal accounts, > > but She has > >> been making me drop guard of late, for whatever reason. I will > > continue in > >> the same vein for a little more time. > >> > >> I had a dream a couple of years ago early in the morning. In the > > dream, > >> there was a big ritual fire. My guru Manish Pandit and I were > > sitting in > >> front of the fire. He was teaching me some pranayama techniques in > > the > >> dream. Suddenly, he changed into somebody else that I could not > > recognize. > >> It was not anybody I had seen before. > >> > >> I mentioned this dream to my guru after a couple of weeks. First > > he said he > >> did not know who the other person was and said he would've > > probably known if > >> I had mentioned the dream soon after it had happened. I left it > > there. > >> However, when we talked in the next weekend, he referred to my > > dream and > >> said he had an idea who it was. He gave me a name and asked me to > > search on > >> the internet for his photo and see if he was the person I saw in > > my dream. > >> It was a guru from the lineage of Paramahamsa Yogananda (before > > him). Though > >> he is apparently well-known, I was not knowledegable about this > > lineage and > >> did not see his picture before. I searched on the internet and > > found a > >> photo. Interestingly, the photo was very close to the person I saw > > in my > >> dream. The person that Manish transformed into in my dream looked > > like a > >> slightly younger version of that photo. > >> > >> When I confirmed this to Manish, he only smiled and > > said, " Narasimha, there > >> are so many links between various lineages. Leave it for now. " > >> > >> Of course, I do not know much about kriya yoga or about the > > lineage of > >> Paramahamsa Yogananda. Our lineage of this life starts from > > Dattatreya. We > >> have a special attachment to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and his > > lineage and got > >> a lot of our knowledge, inspiration and perhaps experience from > > them. We do > >> not have any direct link to the lineage of Paramahamsa Yogananda. > > But, > >> Manish thought there were some other indirect links. Moreover, he > > guessed > >> who I saw, even though I myself had no idea who I saw, and he > > guessed > >> correctly. That should count for something! > >> > >> I will not be surprised if there are indeed subtle connections > > between > >> several lineages that seem disjoint today. > >> > >> By the way, Swami Vivekananda also appeared in the prison cell of > > Sri > >> Aurobindo (who wrote brilliant commentaries on Veda and Upanishad) > > and > >> imparted him some Adwaita knowledge to Sri Aurobindo. > >> > >> * * * > >> > >> An interesting coincidence is that a swamiji from Puri contacted > > me within a > >> few days after I saw that photo. His guru and Paramahamsa > > Yogananda were > >> co-disciples of the same guru (Yukteshwar Maharaj). He is the > > keeper of > >> some astrological knowledge that his guru received from Yukteshwar > > Maharaj. > >> He visited me after a month, discussed that knowledge and spent a > > day at my > >> house. Thus, some small connection was made with a representative > > of that > >> lineage soon after the dream. After all, some karmik debts may > > have been > >> there... > >> > >> * * * > >> > >> I want to make one thing clear. > >> > >> Some things I mention like this may give the impression that my > > guru has > >> some psychic abilities or siddhis. That may indeed be true. But he > > always > >> downplays those things and attaches no importance whatsoever. He > > says, > >> " Narasimha, I am a useless person and lower than dirt and capable > > of > >> nothing. It is all Her power. She is the connection between every > > entity in > >> this universe. She may choose an idiot like me as an instrument > > sometimes > >> and do something using me. I have no special abilities of any > > kind. Any > >> coincidences you find are just Her grace and not due to me. " > >> > >> I realized in time that this simplicity, humility and lack of ego > > is not > >> fake. I also realized that this lack of ego is what enabled him to > > do things > >> that sound impossible or difficult. In fact, I realized that many > > great > >> saints in the past were like this. Several magical things happened > > through > >> them, but they did not find any pride in them and retained their > > humility > >> and sense of surrender to their chosen form of god and believed > > that god > >> was the doer of all things and they were mere instruments. > >> > >> The day you also start believing that, not for the sake of > > lecturing or > >> posturing, but from the deep cores of your heart, your sadhana > > will bear > >> fruit. > >> > >> Best regards, > >> Narasimha > >> ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- - -------- - > >> Do a Short Homam Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ homam > >> Do Pitri Tarpanas Yourself: http://www.VedicAst rologer.org/ tarpana > >> Spirituality: http://groups. / group/vedic- wisdom > >> Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro. home.comcast. net > >> Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAst rologer.org > >> Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagan nath.org > >> ------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- - -------- - > >> > >> - > >> " Dinesh Nambisan " <dinesh@> > >> <> > >> Monday, September 29, 2008 5:54 PM > >> Yogananda (Re: Dharma) > >> > >> > >> , " Narasimha P.V.R. Rao " <pvr@> > >> wrote: > >> > > >> > Dear Lakshmi, > >> > > >> > The Yogananda I mentioned is different. Swami Yogananda is one of > >> the sixteen monastic disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, along > > with > >> Swami Vivekananda. He was forced to marry, but never slept with his > >> own wife. Swami Vivekananda once said " if any of us (disciples of > >> Ramakrishna) conquered lust completely and in all respects, it is > >> Joginder (Swami Yogananda) " . There is no question of Swami > > Yogananda > >> being accused of drinking and having women etc. > >> > > >> > Paramahamsa Yogananda is a sishya of Yukteshwar Maharaj and from > > the > >> lineage of Mahavatar Babaji. They practice kriya yoga. I do not > > know > >> much about him. > >> > >> > >> > >> For what it is worth, you can read more about Paramahamsa > > Yogananda in > >> his free+online autobiography, > >> here http://en.wikisourc e.org/wiki/ Autobiography_ of_a_Yogi > >> > >> There were interesting links between Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and > >> Paramahamsa Yogananda:- > >> For example, one of the top disciples of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa > > was > >> Mahendranath Gupta (not sure if he was one of the 16 monastic > >> disciples that Narasimhaji refers to) aka Master Mahasaya, who > > wrote > >> " The Gospel of Ramakrishna " > >> (http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki/ Mahendranath_ Gupta), and was the > >> sanskrit tutor to Paramahamsa Yogananda as well; the latter > > devoted an > >> entire chapter to him in his > >> book : > > http://en.wikisourc e.org/wiki/ Autobiography_ of_a_Yogi/ Chapter_9 > >> > >> Elsewhere in his autobiography Paramhamsa Yogananda also mentions > > an > >> anecdote of a disciple to whom he gifted a silver cup, who as a > > young > >> man was told by Swami Vivekandana that the Guru in his life would > >> present him with a silver cup in the future. > >> http://en.wikisourc e.org/wiki/ Autobiography_ of_a_Yogi/ Chapter_47 > >> > >> Makes you wonder about the Divine connection between all these > >> supremely elevated souls! > >> > >> Best. > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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