further to: and you wonder why all those guys are after your hide???

[Guest guest]

Ammachi , " tom " <tomgull wrote:

>

> If the hard knocks are so well-deserved, then why aid Tsunami victims,

> etc.? Amma has clearly said that if it's someone's karma to suffer,

> it's our karma to help them. This is what I do. I NEVER see

> anyone's 'knocks' as being well-deserved unless it's instant karma in

> which I know ALL the facts (rare). Otherwise, I know that both the

> Good and Bad karma they experience, they were a completely different

> person when they earned it, many lives ago, and therefore don't judge

> them on it.

 

 

..........my apologies if you construed my writing as a commentary on

others " deserving " the hard knocks they may or may not get. in reality

i was NOT referring to ANYONE ELSE, through those comments, than

MYSELF, and the " hard knocks " that i have gotten at various times

throughout my life, including recently....i make no judgements in that

writing on other's karmas, and i am sorry if it appeared that way to

you...i was speaking from my OWN experience of my OWN life ONLY.........

 

of course we help other folks in trouble, after all, tom. i work in

the human services field in a " group home " for people with

disabilities mental and physical, for the last 18 years...so i DO put

my hands where my mouth is in that regard. the idea of helping others

who have difficulties is therefore not foreign to my ignorant mind. so

please do not think that i'm busy blaming others for their own bad

karmas....more likely i am blaming MYSELF for MY OWN bad karmas and

their results....such as migraines and so on.

 

 

 

>>>>>>>> The part about surrendering more and getting Amma's Grace is

clearly

> refutable according to the principles of Karma. People get the

> chance to spend tons of time with Amma because of MONEY and bumming

> off others. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

 

..........i'm not sure WHO you are talking to with this one, it's

certainly not me, since i never made such a statement in that

letter....Mother HAS said many times, that Divine Grace is ALWAYS

flowing towards Her children, and that we have only to tune into Her

to receive it, to tune into the Grace through our loving surrender to

the Divine...Sri Ramakrishna used to say that the " wind of God's grace

is always blowing; we have only to raise the sail of devotion.

 

it is true that the principles of dry mechanical Karmas and the ideas

of Divine Grace do not necessarily sound like they work together, and

the idea of Divine Grace might be refutable by the " principles of

Karma " ....but the Mahatmas over and over state that DIVINE GRACE IS

there for the devotees.....it even shows up in one's Jyotish

Chart...the chart which is a map at your birth of the karmas that one

has brought into this world....but even in that very chart of one's

karmas, one can find bestowers of DIVINE GRACE....Ninth house for

example, 5th house also....the idea of Ishta Devata, and GURU.....all

of these are pointing clearly to the blessings of Divine Grace DESPITE

what one's birth karmas (as delineated in one's chart) might

indicate...dependent of course upon the course of action which the

native undertakes, ALSO with the blessings of DIVINE GRACE...as in my

mind one does not even have the next heartbeat, the next breath,

without the blessing of Divine Grace....what to say walking or working

or any other " actions " ....

 

i personally don't get to spend hardly ANY time with Amma because i

DON'T have tons of money, if i am lucky i get to see Amma for ONE

retreat in Toronto and that's it....the way airplane fares and the

cost of fuels are going, it may become even LESS common than once a

year. between 2001 and 2006 i was unable to go at all due to lack of

funds......

 

however in my mind, the short time that i spend with Amma in person is

wonderful, and recharging and so on, and i wouldn't pass it up for

anything, but really we are supposed to be working on our inner

connection with the " inner Amma " daily, all the time, when Amma is

away...to realise that Amma is ALWAYS with us, looking after her

little ugly ducklings....keeping us firmly under Her wings.

 

for me this is not just a pious little " belief " , but rather my

EXPERIENCE, a daily experience, even when that Grace is bringing me

some rather difficult things to absorb.....for me all of these karmas,

good and bad which come my way, are really nothing but my Guru's

GRACE, a manifestation of Her Loving Compassion and evidence of Her

loving little brown fingers, stirring up the stew of my life, adding a

little spice here, a little sweetening there...a little sourness

elsewhere, all of which are necessary for the full and complete

experience of this life............

 

 

>

>>>>>>>> Please, I'll just shut up. You're ignorant because you want

to keep

> your beliefs, only leaving Experience to change it. And that

> Experience will only come through the ups and downs of Karma. When

> you're receiving Good Karma those experiences don't come.<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

 

............thanks for the vote of confidence in my ignorance...i agree

with that at least........i basically know nothing....can blabber a

lot but know nothing....however, i wouldn't claim that i'm on the

receiving end of exclusively " good karmas " at this time, as in my view

it's a really mixed bag....this that and the other...some ok, some

good, some really rotten....a mixed bag....

 

actually i CAME to my So-called " beliefs " THROUGH experience, not

through book reading and hearsay....i have found that most of what i

have said to be true for me in my living experience, as i had stated

earlier in a previous message to you about my ignorance.....i was not

an INSTANT convert to Sanatana Dharma the moment i met Amma....it took

some explorations and experiences. originally i would say that i had a

more positive orientation towards Buddhism, particularly Zen and

Tibetan Buddhism, than i did towards Hinduism....nor did i sign up to

be a student immediately, as i wasn't looking for a Guru....

 

However, the Guru FOUND ME and i had not so much choice in that

department as i had thought...

through various statements by Amma at various times, i came to

understand that i was one of Her slower students from at least one

previous life, and that She had graciously picked me up once again

from the gutter of my own despairs and delusions, and

depressions...came back and picked me carefully out of all that filth,

and cleaned me up a little with Her love.......

 

i am definitely one of Mother's ignorant little ones, but at least i

DO have a Mother, and SHE takes care of Her Own, and unlike you, does

not demand that i have to be perfectly knowledgeable right now or the

perfect devotee even....She appears to accept me where i am, and be

willing to work with that. that's good enough for me. Just knowing

that i am AMMA'S own little child removes some of the dread and

heaviness from my daily life, not all of it, but it definitely helps.

 

really, i just babble away here in my little sandbox, and Mother,

having my Power of Attorney takes very good care of business.......i

do what i can in my ignorant way to help Her, but it is always too

little, too late.....

 

She is just so kind that even so, She never ceases to help....whatever

i do understand is due entirely to Amma's Grace in providing what was

needed to this unworthy child of Hers...but She has never stinted in

Her kindness and compassion, helping me many times over the years...

 

 

finally i came to see Amma's Divine Hands in all the events that

transpired in my entire life and to trust that as i am in Her loving

arms and hands anyways, i could relax a little bit and enjoy the view,

trying like Girish Chandra Ghosh, to at least Think of my Guru, my

Beloved Amma, my ALL, whenever possible..............

 

 

>>>>>>> I could've avoided plenty of problems in life, like many

devotees do,

> by " selling out " Dharma and letting Good Karma protect me from false

> beliefs and bad actions. But selling out is worse in the long run,

> and only Experience will teach that to certain people.

>

> tom<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

>>>>>>>

..............i really don't understand just what you are getting at

(because i'm so ignorant i guess) when you write of " selling out

Dharma " ...... what does that mean to you??

 

to me what is important is to try to live in the manner that Amma

teaches us to live. We try not to hurt anyone in any way...we try to

be kindly and loving and compassionate at least offering a smile to

everyone we meet...even when we don't really FEEL like smiling....but

then i guess these are just the activities of an ignorant

person....stumbling around in the dark....relying on " good karmas " to

solve all my troubles....still in my ignorant view this is the way to

be with people....even with you tom....even as you heap your scornful

words upon my ignorant head....May Amma bless you and protect you always.

 

in Her Divine Love,

and in Her Service,

as ever,

your own ignorant Self,

 

visvanathan

 

Om Amrtesvaryai Namah!