Gandhiji and Rama Nama

[Guest guest]

Radhe Krishna To all,On

the occasion of Gandhi Jayanthi yesterday, Namadwaar would like to

bring here some of the quotes of Gandhi from the book "Rama Nama" by

M.K. Gandhi. RepetitionTo

a question by a Missionary friend whether he followed any spiritual

practices, Gandhiji said: "I am a stranger to yogic practices. The

practice I follow is a practice I learnt in my childhood from my nurse.

I was afraid of ghosts. She used to say to me, "There are no ghosts,

but if you are afraid, repeat Rama Nama." What I learnt in my childhood

has become a huge thing in my mental firmament. It is a sun that has

brightened my darkest hour. A Christian may find the same solace from

the repetition of the name of Jesus, and a Muslim form the name of

Allah. All these things have the same implications and they produce

identical results under identical circumstances. Only the repetition

must not be a lip expression, but part of your very being.â€(Harijan, 5-12-1946)------------------------Rama Nama in Nature cureIn

the armoury of the nature curist, Rama Nama is the most potent weapon.

Let no one wonder at it. A noted ayurvedic physician told me the other

day: 'all my life I have been administering drugs. But since you have

prescribed Rama Nama as a cure for physical ailments, it has occurred

to me that what you say has, too, the authority of Vagbhata and

Charaka.'The

recitation of Rama Nama as a remedy for spiritual ailments is as old as

the hills. But the greater includes the less. And my claim is that the

recitation of Rama Nama is a sovereign remedy for our physical ailments

also. A Nature-Cure man won't tell the patient: 'Invite me and I shall

cure you of your ailment.' He will only tell about the all healing

principle that is in every being and how one can cure oneself by

evoking it and making it an active force in his life. If India could

realize the power of that principle, not only would we be free but we

would be a land of healthy individuals, too – not the land of epidemics

and ill-health that we are today.The potency of Rama Nama is,

however, subject to certain conditions and limitations. Rama Nama is

not like black magic. If some one suffers from surfeit and wants to be

cured of its after-effects so that he can again indulge himself at the

table, Rama Nama is not for him. Rama Nama can be used only for a good,

never for an evil end, or else thieves and robbers would be the

greatest devotees. Rama Nama is for the pure in heart and for those who

want to attain purity, and remain pure. It can never be a means for

self-indulgence. The remedy for surfeit is fasting, not prayer. Prayer

can come in only when fasting has done its work. It can make fasting

easy and bearable. Similarly, the taking of Rama Nama will be a

meaningless farce when at the same time you are drugging your system

with medicines. A doctor who uses his talent to pander to the vices of

his patient degrades himself and his patient. What worse degradation

can there be for man that instead of regarding his body as an

instrument of worshipping his Maker, he should make it the object of

adoration and waste money like water to keep it going anyhow? Rama

Nama, on the other hand, purifies while it cures, and, therefore, it

elevates. Therein lies its use as well as its limitation.(Harijan, 7.4.1946)-------------We

want healers of souls rather than of bodies. The multiplicity of

hospitals and medical men is no sign of civilization. The less we and

others pamper our body the better for us and the world – Young India 29.9.1927--------------- RamadhunGandhiji

said that those who had some experience knew the power what the

Ramadhun, meaning recital of God's name from the heart, meant. He knew

the power what lakhs of soldiers marching in step to the tune of their

band meant. The desolation that the military prowess had wrought in the

world, he who ran could see. Though the war was said to have ended, the

aftermath was worse than actual warfare. Such was the bankruptcy of

military power.Without

the slightest hesitation he was there to content that the power exerted

by the Ramadhun recited by millions of mankind with true beat of time,

was different in kind from and infinitely superior to the display of

military strength. And this recital of God's name from the heart, would

produce lasting peace and happiness in the place of the present

desolation, they witnessed.(Harijan, 31.8.1947)--------------- "RAMA! RAMA!"As

Gandhiji passed through the cordoned lane through the prayer

congregation, he took his hands off the shoulders of the two girls to

answer the namaskars of the prayer congregation. All of a sudden some

one from the crowd roughly elbowed his way into the cordon from the

right. Little Manu thinking that he was coming forward to touch his

feet, remonstrated saying something about it being already late for the

prayer and tried to stop the intruder by holding his hand. He violently

jerked her off, causing the Ashram Bhajanavali and Bapu's spittoon and

mala, which she was carrying in her hands, to fall down. As she stooped

down to pick up the scattered things, he planted himself in front of

Bapu at less than point blank range – so close, indeed, that one of the

ejected shells was afterwards found caught among the folds of Bapu's

clothes. Three shots rang out in quick succession from the

seven-chambered automatic pistol, the first shot entering the abdomen

on the right side two and a half inches above the umbilicus and three

and a half inches to the right of the mid line, the second penetrating

the seventh intercostal space one inch to the right of the mid line and

the third on the right side of the chest one inch above the nipple and

four inches from the mid line. The first and the second shots passed

right through and came out at the back. The third remained embedded in

the lung. At the first shot the foot that was in motion, when he was

hit, came down. He still stood on his legs when the second shot rang

out and then collapsed. The last words he uttered were "Rama Rama". (Harijan, 15.2.1948) --------------------Special! Sri Sri Swamiji's lecture video: New -- 'Ajamila Charitra'Namadwaar

is pleased to bring to you the video of Sri Sri Swamiji's lecture on

'Ajamila Charitra' in connection with Navaratri Celebrations.Click the link below and enjoy & also share this beautiful discourse with your friends and relatives.http://namadwaar.org/videos/internal/navaratri2009.php -------------------Regards & Chant The Maha mantra:Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare HareSource: http://namadwaar.org/home.php