Graceful Gangaji at Kaudiyala ~*~ The Tent Retreat ~*~

 

Sri Suneet Joshiji

                                            See the Divine Being in the Fire!! Shaktanand!!

...Just a ten min. walk down the mountain to this quiet beach by the Ganga.
Om!

Bal Yogi Sripadji and Alice Boner

 

                            ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ

      To prepare one for any future stories, unusual tales if you 
will, of Baba Sripadji this one event shared with me very 
recently by Swami Jnananandaji must be kept in mind. 
      Swamiji said, ' Once when Sripadji was a very young Sadhu 
we were in Banaras sitting with Alice Boner, (Alice Boner,1889-1981,
was a Swiss artist and scholar of Indian art who had made Varanasi her home
from 1936 to 1978.) She asked Sripadji, 'What kind of Sadhu are you?"
 He casually pointed down the street and said, "See that dog there
walking with his master, he is a 'regular dog'. Now see that one 
over there, the street-dog, moving here and there, wherever and
whenever he likes.  He is an irregular dog! 
                                               I am an irregular sadhu!!"

      And this is what actually made Baba Sripadji so specially 
unique, heartfelt, inspiring and intense!   No matter which
form of God one adored he could connect with that individual
in a miraculous way touching the Soul!

                      ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ


     

Swami Jnanananda Giri ~*~ Om ~*~ and...'The Book of Mirdad'

     "Yes, I walk daily into the nearby forest and back, it's about 10 kms, very
beautiful! There is a security guard at the entrance. I talk to the trees and
steal flowers that fall from them on the ground. People must think I'm mad!
( and he laughs!) One has to be a little mad otherwise it's a bit tough.  I'm
also a security guard, a spiritual security guard!"
    "I always remember the words of Mikhail Naimy in

         'The Book of Mirdad':

'Forgetting the world makes you a pilgrim.
Forgetting the next world makes you a saint.
Forgetting forgetting makes you complete.'

Om Om Om!"

 ~ Some words of yesterdays talk with Swamiji.

                                                                        ~*~

   And here is my favorite quote from Mikhail Naimy's ~

The Book of Mirdad :
The strange story of a monastery
which was once called the Ark

"So think as if your every thought were to be etched in fire across the
sky for all and everything to see. For so, in truth, it is.
So speak as if the world entire were but a single ear intent on hearing
what you say. And so, in truth, it is.
Do as if your every deed were to recoil upon your heads.
                                                                                 And so, in truth it does.
So, wish as if you were the wish.  And so, in truth, you are.
So live as if your God Himself had need of you His life to live.
                                                                                 And so, in truth, He does."

                                                                    ~*~

Vashishtha Gufa Along the Ganges *ღ*¸.•°*♥ हरीॐ♥*°•.¸*ღ*

            Swami Purushottamanandaji Maharaj, the renowned grand disciple
of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and disciple of Swami Brahmanandaji
arrived at this Vashishtha Gufa in 1928. Since then he had been performing
'tapas' (austerities) occupying this cave for more than 25 yrs. 'til a small
Kutia was made for him near the cave's entrance.  Still he is the amazing
inspired Gurudevji to several brilliant yogis like Swami Bhumananda Puri,
and Swami Nirvedananda Puri. It was in 1955 that Swami Jnanananda Giri
came to this ashram at Vashishtha Gufa and was to spend much time there
among other young swamis receiving the discourses of Maharajji from the
"Yoga Vashishtha Maha Puran" and many blessings. These stories one has
heard and discussed again and again with Swamiji over the years.
          When Swami Purushottamanandji Maharaj first arrived at the Gufa
it was actually all surrounded with tall trees and jungle! And even now
there are wonderful huge trees at the Gufa's entrance.
         For over 30 years he occupied this cave up to his Mahasamadhi on
Feb.13, 1961~ It was Maha Shivratri.

       In the earliest years when Maharajji started staying in the Gufa, it is said
that a lion used to come daily at sunset from across the river and sleep at the
entrance of the cave while Maharajji used to stay inside at the  farthest end
of the cave.  This went on for about a year and then the lion stopped coming.
    

                                                    The majestic beauty of Gangaji

         In the words of Swami Jnananandaji, "The charm of this forest retreat
was due to it's natural setting.  Living there was in itself an austerity.  One
slept on the river sand that cushioned the floor of the large cave.  Cooking
was done on a wood fire, in the open, with only a sheet of canvas overhead
to give shelter from the rain and wind.  Every sadhu knows only too well
that the fires of divine aspiration burn brightest when life is simple,
independent, and in touch with nature..."

                                                                   Vashishtha Gufa

         Maharishi Vashishtha is one of the Saptrishis ( 7 great sages ) a Brahm
Rishi and manasputra of Lord Brahma, the Sadguru of his time possessing
20 kala's,(divine arts) with perfect knowledge of the full cosmos and of God!
         After the death of his 100 sons he, along with his wife Arundhati, came
down  from his Gurukul at the banks of the river Beas to journey South and
passed this way by the Ganga banks to perform tapas ( austerities) for a few
hundred years.
          The Gufa itself is situated over 20 kms. North of Rishikesh and 10 kms.
South of Byasi on the main road to Devprayag.  The cave itself is said to have
been sealed only in the last few years, that it went on for several kms. and that
Siddhas (divine beings) have been coming here to do tapas in their subtle
bodies since thousands of years. It is one of my favorite places in the India,
there is such beauty and a wondrous powerful energy here!!

                                     "Those who have the eyes to see, let them see!"

            One has only to follow the small light at the end of this long dark cave,
and sit silently before the great Shivlingam and white image of  Vashishthaji,
and in moments one is swept up and away in the ecstatic vibrations and most
mystical experience of That Inner Depth which is beyond words!! It is a Pure
Grace that lifts one out of oneself and into the soul presence of the Divine.
And even if once this has happened,  it is never forgotten and the way here
has been mapped-out in the heart forever!
                                        This is the Grace of a Realized Saint.

                                                The Spirit of Maharishi Vashishthaji ~
                                                        Swami Purushottamanandji Maharaj.
                                                                                               

            Just North of Vashishtha Gufa was this amazing sight
                                                 of great light flooding Heavenly Grace!

                                                   *ღ*¸.•°*♥ हरीॐ♥*°•.¸*ღ*

            *ღ*'.¸.•°*♥ हरीॐ♥*°•.¸.'*☆*

Sant Gulab Singhji & Sripad Babaji

                                                          « ҉ »  श्री   « ҉ »

Bring back the one who left.
Lure him with music
or any irresistible pretext.

If he says, I will be there in a little while,
that is part of his beguiling,
his art that can tie strands of water into knots
and make weavings of the wind.

Do not accept those.
Bring the presence!

Sit down within that and live inside
what is beyond physical beauty,
beyond the sun's extravagance
or the handsomeness of human beings.

Yemen has the most exquisite rubies,
but the one I want to see
coming through the door
is the one who lives here. ~

                               ~ RUMI ~
                         
                                          ~ Translated by Coleman Barks

                                                          « ҉ »  श्री   « ҉ »

Maharajshri Swami Akhandananda Saraswati ~ words on 'Grace and Sadhana'

       ..." the 'Jiva's Dharma' is 'Sadhana' and the Lord's 'Dharma' is 'Kripa'
(Grace).  It is only when the Jiva follows his own Dharma that he becomes
the recipient of the lord's Grace. Without following one's svadharma, one
cannot hope for the Lord's Grace.  It is true that the Lord's Grace is ever
partially raining down upon the moving and unmoving, the manifest and
unmanifest, and the sentient and the insenient.  It does not differentiate in
terms of time, place, or object. It has been raining down from the beginning
of time.  It will do so till the end of time, because raining down is its very
nature. In fact whatever is existent is because of only a fraction of the
Lord's Grace.
    This is the Truth. However it is not possible to realize this Truth of the
Lord's Grace without Sadhana.  It is the nature of the sun to spread its
rays of light far and wide to bring new life and energy to the whole universe.
However because of some problem with the eyes, if one is not able to enjoy
that light, one cannot blame the sun, saying it is being partial.  It is the
problem of the eyes.  In the same way, even though the Lord's Grace is
always present, we have to remove the incapacity to experience it.  It is
through Sadhana that we will gain the capacity to experience the Lord's
Grace.  Through Sadhana we will gain a sparkling and pure 'Antahkarna'
with which we will easily experience the Lord's Grace."

(Translated from Hindi by Ananda Saraswati.)

                 Just as I remember you, Maharajshri, in the boat on Holy Gangaji


                                                        •*¨`*•❤•*¨`*••☼♥❤☼••*¨`*•❤•*¨`*••

 

The Face of the Beloved Master ~ Sant Gulab Singhjio ~

                           Sant Gulab Singhjio ~ Beautiful  Beyond Imagination!!
Hazaaron Pranam ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Sant Gulab Singhjio and Guru Sant Teja Singhjio ~

           Sant Teja Singhji, the beloved Guru of Sant Gulab Singhji, was first
met by him outside his village of Thoa Khalsa, Pakistan. where he stayed

under a tree beside the Gurudwara. When anyone asked him in or tried to 

bring him food he refused saying that he had come all the way from Village

Mankapur, near Lucknow with his own food rashin. "I have not come of my 

own free will." 'Mere Nirankar ka hukam se aiya hun. Main yahan se ek 

jeeva lena hai!' "I've come by the will of God, to take one soul from here!"

          Actually Santji's grown-up son, Jeswant Singh was always fond of
meeting saints of every kind and it was he who first came to meet him, as
Santji had always told him to bring any visiting saints home to the house.
He first took with him his Chachaji Jesbir Singh. Santji said that his
younger brother was a real saint. That daily he would get up at 4 am, go
outside and melt the ice to have bath, and then sing prayers on every
step up to the top of the house where he did his morning 'path'.
   As they went along the pathway to meet the visiting Saint Teja Singhji, he
quietly recited to himself a favorite poem of Hafiz. How beautiful and
amazing that when Jasbir and Jeswant Singh  reach there, Sant Teja Singhji
first called out, " Jesbirji, let us also hear Hafiz :

                "Ba mai sajjda rangeen kun gar Pira ma gah goed,
                    ki salik bekhabar na bawad, rasmo rahe manzil!"

Later when Sant Gulab Singhji heard the event , he secretly knew that
he was the one the saint had come for! He immediately went to meet him,
this saint 30 years younger then himself. At first sight of Sant Teja Singhji,
Santji became totally unconscious and for days did not leave his sight.
He told me himself that Teja Singhji never slept at night, but only for 2 hrs.
in the afternoon. At that time Santji would lie on a mat on the ground.
At night devotees would come and he would hear them sing 'Soni Mehiwal'
or 'Heer Ranjha' and again go into samadhi!

          
                                                        ~*~*~*~*~Om!~*~*~*~*~

                   Beloved Sant Gulab Singhjio ~ ( The oldest photo I have!)

   Oh, no!! This is the oldest photo I have of  Beloved Sant  Gulab Singhjio.
It is a treasure!! ~*~ He is That jewel in the Lotus!!  ~*~

Sri Radha and Sri Krsna's Signs on Their Lotus Feet ~*~

Sri Krsna's foot signs (left)                        &                 Sri Radha's foot signs (right)

Sri Anandamayi Maji's Samadhi

                           ~~*~~   Samadhi Mandir!  Samadhi Kutir!  ~~*~~

Swami Akhandananda Saraswati Maharaj and Sri Anandamayi Ma

                      Swami Akhandananda Saraswati Maharajji holding the hands
                of Swami Vimalanandaji (left) and Swami Prabhodhanandaji (right)
                at Rishikesh, India with his devotees c.1975.

                ....and here they are with Swami Chidananda Saraswati Maharajji
                                     at the Shivananda Ashram.

             ...And even I am caught here by this camera with Swamiji Maharaj
             shown just above my head as the Divinity he is sitting in the shaded
            part of the boat as we crossed the splendorous Gangaji.

 

        Graceful Swamiji always welcomed us, Radhadasi, Asim krishnadas and
myself into his presence wherever he was sitting, we ran to meet him and to
hear his discourses on Brahma Gyan, a rear thing in most of Vrindavan.
        Once time I was staying in a room at his Vrindavan Ashram enjoying his 
discourses, even though my Hindi then was very little indeed! Somehow we
had no difficulty communicating and he always kept me sitting near him
whenever I came.Even after the evening satsang and meal was finished one
was allowed to stay with a very few devotees as he rested and spoke gently
into the evening hours always fanned and served by Swami Vimalanandaji and
Swami Prabhodhanandaji. It was then that he would tell interesting stories and
sometimes make us all laugh adding pure joy to the nights Bliss!!

                  (This picture is of the two saints, but at a different occasion.)


        It was during these days in Vrindavan, that he received an invitation from
Sri Sri Anandamayi Maji to come to her Kankhal Ashram with all his devotees
and give a Srimad Bhagavath Saptha. So, of course I was overjoyed to be one
of those invited to go. Swamiji travelled in his own conveyance with his cook,
and others dear to him. I came with his devotees  in the small tourist bus to
Hardwar and we all arrived in the afternoon and were settled into the Kankhal
Ashram rooms each with two or three beds. I was relaxing, happily with these
gentle ladies and someone came to the door and give a message from the
Ashram that foreigners were not allowed to eat in the dining area here, that I
would have to arrange my own meals!
      To my surprise the ladies in our room became very upset! They even
wondered why I also was not!   But, I had already learned in India that when
the unexpected things happen, that is the time to really watch and see what will
be the will of God! And it is actually when our own plans don't succeed that
the most amazing things happen! Anyway, since coming to India to find a
spiritual teacher, a true Yogi, a real saint, nothing else ever seemed to matter
very much, like food, clothes, or accommodation. I was just always concerned
with having the company and guidance of the saints! When my travellers
checks finished in 1970 I had decided I would stay in India, to be in the
company of saints even if it meant getting a job somewhere here. Strangely
enough being in the company of saints and devotees at that time I never
seemed to need any money!! When a desire came to go or do something
the money also just came!!  There are always more lovely places to go and
'sadhanas' to do then there is time to do them. God is truly marvelous and
honestly looks after those who put their full trust in Him/Her! But it has to
be completely faithful, like a child not as if testing God!!
        Within ten minutes another knock came to the door and there was another
boy with a message from Swami Akhandanandaji inviting me to have all my
meals with him!! More pure joy from God!! So all of the rest of the days and
nights of the Septha I visited Swamiji at his special cottage in the Ashram and
sat, after he had his food, I would have my meals along with Swami
Vimalanandaji and Swami Prabhodhanandaji.
        Actually, the first morning after arrival there I, too went early in the
morning to Maji's cottage, where many foreigners were already waiting to
meet her. They were all discussing how the rules of the Ashram had been
changed and that there was a foreigner staying there!! Some of them were
very upset and all.  Soon one of her girls came down and called them to
come forward and hear Ma's new message. It was that Maji, herself, had sent
the invitation to Swamiji and his devotees to come and stay in the Ashram for
the Septha, and that she didn't expect him to have any foreign devotees with
him. So now that I had come she said she would not take back the invite,
and that after I leave the restriction for foreigners would remain the same!

She met me very kindly that morning and remembered our first meeting as
well. She gave prasad always with her own hands graciously as the Divine
Mother.   Om Ma!
                                                                         ~*~

         It was an amazing Septha! The speaker being Swami Akhanandaji and
the listener being Sri Sri Anandamayi Maji!! Ah ho!!
       After this Swamiji went on to visit Rishikesh, as you see in the photos,
we all met Swami Chidanandaji of the Shivananda Ashram there.  But we all
stayed together in the Swarg Ashrama across the Ganga River. There he gave
discourses for a few days to all the sadhus on Gopi Bhava!
When later I remarked how interesting it was that he never gave that
wonderful talk on Bhakti in Vrindavan, but there he spoke always on Gyan.
He just smiled and nodded his head with a gleam in his eye.  Om! Hari Om!

           
                                                              ~*~ In Rishikesh ~*~

Hari! Govardhan Giridhari.mp4

~ Shri Yugal Kishore ~

                                                           Shri Radha Madhava

"Shri Radha Krishna is the most dear,
    and the most Graceful, and the most Beloved."

                                                                             ~~ Shripad Babaji

Sri Radhashtami ~*Sept 23,2012*~ Sri Barsana Dham

"Radha Rani ki Jai! Maha Rani ki Jai!

Shri Barsane Wali ki Jai! Jai! Jai!"

Sri Radhaji's birthday is tomorrow, 8th day of the waxing moon.

It is celebrated ecstatically every year in her birthplace of Shriji

Mandir in Barsana. In the wee hours before the break of day the

devotees and lovers of Sri Radha and Krsna begin coming into 

the village from all directions and even far far away places. They

first start the barefoot walk on the 'parikrama marg', on a sacred 

footpath that circumambulates  the entire area of the village of

Barsana including it's surrounding forest, hills, and holy bathing tanks,

Sankhari Khor, the Radha kund at Gahvarvan, Moor Kuti, Maan

Mandir, the Shri Vallabhacharya Batak, the Jaipur Mandir, and finally 

over these hills to the most amazing temple of Shriji Mandir itself. 

This special day becomes filled with Bhaktas, Saints, Sadhus, 

Vaishnavas, and joyful Vrijvasis all singing, dancing, and worshiping 

the glory that is Shri Radha and Shri Krsna!

                          " Vrajeshwari, Vrajadhipe, Shri Radhike Namastute!"

The Cosmic Dance (Sufi) & Rumi

 

           The Cosmic Dance (Sufi) 

                      c.1650 Isfahan

     An ecstatic union of dervishes, the Simurgh, birds, fish, insects, and animals
all swept up in the current of the Cosmic Dance!!

                            Maulana Jalal ud-Din  Muhammad Balkhi
                                                 (1207-1273)

                                                 ~*~  Rumi ~*~

      
از جمادی مُردم و نامی شدم — وز نما مُردم به حیوان سرزدم
مُردم از حیوانی و آدم شدم — پس چه ترسم؟ کی ز مردن کم شدم؟
حملهٔ دیگر بمیرم از بشر — تا برآرم از ملائک بال و پر
وز ملک هم بایدم جستن ز جو — کل شیء هالک الا وجهه
بار دیگر از ملک پران شوم — آنچه اندر وهم ناید آن شوم
  پس عدم گردم عدم چو ارغنون — گویدم کانا الیه راجعون


'I died as a mineral and became a plant,
I died as plant and rose to animal,
I died as animal and I was Man.
Why should I fear? When was I less by dying?
Yet once more I shall die as Man, to soar
With angels bless'd; but even from angelhood
I must pass on: all except God doth perish.
When I have sacrificed my angel-soul,
I shall become what no mind e'er conceived.
Oh, let me not exist! for Non-existence
Proclaims in organ tones,
To Him we shall return.' 

                                                           ~*~

Rumi's epitaph reads:
     'When we are dead,
           seek not our tomb in the earth,
                but find it in the hearts of men.'




                                               ~*~RUMI LIVES HERE ! ~*~



Eid Mubarak - Aug.2012 !

~ *Transcendent Journey * ~ Autobiography of Swami Jnanananda Giri .*.¸¸.*~ ☆~*.¸¸.•*`*•.✽

                              "Read the book and know the book is reading you."

    Swamiji said this when I spoke about the book and the people who asked
how they could get it...
    'Transcendent Journey', the Autobiography of Swami Jnanananda Giri 
may be had now only by Swamiji Himself when meeting him, as a prasad,
this too, at His own discretion.  ~*~

     Swamiji also said, "As a child I used to read the family Bible that had been in
our house for generations.  It was over 200 yrs. old and was the first printing
in Europe in German. It weighed 15 kgs!  It said that God first made the whole
creation of earth, plants, animals, etc. and then He made the Human beings.
When He made the Human Beings He put His own breath in them.
This astonished me very much.  I asked my mother why God didn't put His
breath in the animals and everything else also, why only in the human beings?
My mother said, 'Because He knew that the Humans would forget it!'
We would forget that the breath is God's, that all have the same breath, and
that it is God's property."


                                     ~*~*~Ananta Hari Om!~*~*~

 

ℳακє ฿ʀɨgհŧ ☼☼ ♥☼¥øʊʀ Krἶʂհɴα Jαɴαmαṧհŧαmἶ!✼♥

 
"Chaturbhujam Ghanshyamam
Lasanmakarkundalam.Sureshvanditam
Mathuresham Namamyaham"
                                                                 ✼

I ௰ɨʂн Ƒøʀ ¥øʊ Ѧℓℓ Ƭհɛ ฿ɛαʊŧɨғʊℓ Ƭհɨɴgs➸
Ƭհαŧ ℳακє ฿ʀɨgհŧ✼☆ ♥
¥øʊʀ Krἶʂհɴα Jαɴαmαṧհŧαmἶ * ~
௰ɨŧհ ₲ʀɛαŧ ἶnŧɛɴṧɨŧγ!


                                                  ☼✦Jai Sri Krsna!✦☼ 

Sankirtan Samrat Swami Mukund Hariji Maharaj, Delhi. 1973 ~

Swami Parvatikar - ANCIENT INDIAN STRINGS

Swami Parvatikar - ANCIENT INDIAN STRINGS

GREAT BEENKARS-Swami Parvatikar-raag pilu pahadi.

Badrinath ~ Dattatreya Rama Rao Parvatikarji Maharaj

 

  Swami Parvatikarji Maharaj  in Badrinath

Vina Maharajji

Vina Maharajji  Badrinath Dham

                      Swami Parvatikarji Maharaj and Baba Sripadji Sri Badrinathji c. 1975

    Swami Dattatreya Rama Rao Parvatikarji (1916-1990), is seen here
playing his 'Brahma Veena', as he called it, at the Badrinath Temple.
    He said it was the only one left in existence and that he had to help in the
making of it himself, getting several strings added to the lower side (like a
harp).  It had a truly mystical sound.  Swamiji would be here during the entire
season that the presiding deity resided in Badri Nath Dham. Because of an
 introduction letter from Babaji, I was able to stay as a guest with a family
of Swamiji's dear desciples, who succeeded in persuading me to stay on
one month instead of three days! He would daily sit in the temple compound
and would teach me the swaras, and when others would come we would all
sing kirtana lead by him. "Sriman Narayan, Narayan". Interesting was his
morning practice of first having bath in Tapt Kund, a natural hot mineral
spring, and then immediately having an ice cold bath in the grace-filled
river of Alakananda.  And after this he would do yogasanas in the sunshine
beside the river, ending them with Shishasana, headstand, and that alone for at
least 15 mins.
          
   Although Swamiji spent all his Spring and Summer days in Sri Badrinath
Dham, we were surprised to see that his own 'Ishtadev', form of worship
was Sri Narsinghji Bhagavan! That amazing image could be held in one
hand, and he was seated on a throne with the child Prahladji on one knee
and Sri Laxmi Devi on the other.
   Whenever I set with Swamiji in inside the temple area we would sing
and he would tell us amazing stories of the grace of Sri Badri Narayana,
and His devotees.  Only once did I see him in Sri Vrindavan, when there
was the special music festival there in Niddhi Van of Swami Hari Dasji
Samaro.
         Several times He has been on TV, the 'Door Darshan featured
 him playing his unique 'Brahma Veena' and singing beautiful bhajans.
          He is one of the very beautiful saints of India whose grace and
blessings I will always treasure.
                 
                                                          

                                                                Baba Sripadji in Badrinath
                                                                 

                                                                     Swami Vimalanandaji

                                                                               

                                                                               

                                                                             

Swami Vimalanandaji and Baba Sripadji at Badrinathji 

just before Deevali!!   

     

                                               
                                                                 
                                                        ~*~ Jai Jai Badri Vishal! ~*~