Growth

An "intense" couple of days at Sumeru got me thinking on how Guruji makes us grow. When I look back over the last few years, there has been so much growth in myself, and the process itself is so beautiful: intense, sometimes joyful, sometimes painful, but always ultimately elevating and transforming!
It sometimes seems to me that Guruji is in a great hurry: to make us grow absolutely as much as possible in this lifetime. Which is why He often seems to keep us at the limit of what we can bear. I've noticed this especially after my TTC1: He often throws situations at me that tax me to my limit, cause anger, frustration, tears, letters to Guruji....and ultimately the lesson that He wants me to learn. When He wants us to learn a lesson, I guess we have no choice but to learn it!
I'm sure you must have heard that the stronger your sadhna, the faster your growth. I wonder if this is one part of it: the stronger your sadhna, the tougher the situations you can face and ultimately overcome, and therefore the faster your growth.
Hope the above doesn't seem too negative! This is certainly not the only way I've seen growth happen within me. Many a time, the growth has been gradual, joyful, and one doesn't even realize how much one has grown so easily. Often, I would realize it only when I'd be placed in a situation that would have thrown me off earlier, but doesn't bother me any more.
What I've slowly come to realize, though, is that even when I'm in a situation that's throwing me off completely, more often than not, it just means He has something planned for me very soon. He thinks I'm ready to learn how to handle the situation, and is putting me into it so that I can learn. And that's when I've seen the most rapid growth happen in myself.

Jai Gurudev!

Recent incident at the Ashram

Guruji's message of peace after the recent attack:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9PdMgb-J-U&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fartoflivingtv&feature=player_profilepage

What really struck me about the incident is that literally nothing has changed at the Ashram. It's almost impossible to imagine anywhere else: for an incident of this magnitude to have no impact at all. No one is taking this incident too seriously: people are still moving about as usual, chasing Guruji as usual, having His darshan as usual...

I was privileged to have His darshan at Badri Vishala today. He was moving freely as ever, laughing and joking with everyone: no additional security, no additional barriers for anyone to meet Him. I hope the free access to Him for everyone continues - of course, I'm sure He wouldn't have it any other way!

After all, as Guruji says: "The Divine is the only security."

Faith

Here's a beautiful quote from Guruji I read recently:

"The farmer sows his seeds with faith in existence. He loses what he has in his hand - but he gains much more."

The highest form of service

A lot of us are drawn towards doing some kind of seva (service). And in choosing what service to do: normally one would choose the "highest" i.e. most impactful level of service. The question then becomes, what is the highest level of service that I can do?

Many times, we have heard that the highest level of service is to spread this knowledge. Thinking over why that is so, the following came up. Any other form of service is inherently limited to a given situation. For instance, say you have a scheme to feed the poor. But once their stomach is full, the scheme doesn't help them any more. Or you run a school for underprivileged children. This has a slightly longer term impact: but it doesn't help if they fall sick, or have emotional problems, or are old and past earning age. The only form of service that is not limited by situations is giving someone spiritual knowledge: in fact, spiritual knowledge is all about becoming independent of the situation. No matter what the situation, it helps me keep my smile intact.

Further, any other form of service must lose its relevance at least when the person dies. But, as Guruji says, the seed of spiritual knowledge that has been planted is going to help them for lifetimes to come.

So spreading this divine knowledge is the only form of service that is unlimited, either by situation or by time. Perhaps this is why it is considered the highest form of service!

Bhaja Govindam

You would probably have heard the famous verses by Adi Sankaracharya:
"Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam, Bhaja Govindam Mudha Mati"
The story goes that Adi Sankara once saw an old Sanskrit teacher in Kashi teaching his students the rules of Sanskrit grammar by rote. On seeing this, he composed the above verse:
"Worship God, Praise God, Adore God, you fool!
These rules of Sanskrit grammar are not going to help you in tough times"
The verse then goes on to amplify on this - turn the mind away from lust, from wealth, or from other worldly pleasures, towards the Lord.

The word "Bhaja" is normally translated in this context as "Praise" - or "Adore" or "Worship". However, Guruji mentioned in a knowledge tape that one of the meanings of this word in Sanskrit is to "share". Hence, I wonder if there's another layer of meaning in the first line: "Share God!" In other words: Spread this knowledge. Do God's work. Spread the light of the Divine around you. And that is what would help us in tough times - and indeed, when the time to depart comes.

Not sure if this interpretation is correct :) but works for me!

Hello!

Here goes...finally got around to starting a blog! Will be using this space to share any interesting thoughts that come up. Mostly related to experiences on the spiritual path, and perhaps some other fun stuff as well. Have fun!