With Baba Ram Dasji in Maui

This was my third meeting with the amazingly beautiful Baba Ram Dasji after many years. On this perfect day in Maui. His lovely house was to be found in the North-West part of the island. And though we had an address there is something about the house that one recognized it on sight. Maybe it is the calm peacefulness and all that bliss! Surely enough, Dasi Ma was expecting us and immediately came to the door and invited us inside. And Baba Ram Dasji was also there with a most radiant smile, warm and welcoming. One just stood awhile and took in that wonderful moment of fullness and mutual recognition. It was like being finally face to face with Love itself! I offered him my gift from India, the Tibetan 'Yak Wool' shawl that he joyfully accepted. We then followed him into the spacious sitting room, that was also a shrine and full of light. Calmly he began speaking with us, sweetly inquiring and interested, listening to all our replies with a deep mood of underlying joy. And there appeared a most beautiful, and complete, rainbow right over his head that ended into the ocean itself, seemingly, since there were big windows behind him. It was most astonishing and inspiring!

He spoke of many things,of the beauty of life and the trails of ageing. He said that when he had become so ill, after his stroke and the paralysis,he spoke to Baba Neemkaroliji, and asked him why all this had happened to him. He said, "You promised me 'Grace'. What is this?" He answered, "This is the 'Grace' that you are in this most difficult state and yet you are in bliss and in my presence. That you have accepted all things in your life, this is 'Grace'!

This beautiful man of 82 yrs. now, gently shared with us many blessings. All his words fell on our ears like pure 'Grace'. He spoke of the rolls everyone plays in life, and how all of it was ever leading us towards a final goal, towards a sublime state of Pure Grace, where we can realize our actual True Self and find That One as our own Ultimate Being. How all of life is for this purpose of finding Oneself in This Very Moment,The Now,and staying finely tuned to the Presence as Present. " I am Infinite!", he said as if in a reverie, as if in an abstracted state of momentary absorption. And there spread a sublime state of bliss through all of us present there with him.

Then Ram Dass told us that his Guru once came close to him and said, "Love everyone!" and he came closer and repeated it. And then he came right up to him, face to face and again slowly and clearly said,"Love everyone! I'm telling you to love everybody in the world that's all!" "So, I'm a Democrat, and I put George Bush there." and he pointed to his shrine right in front of us, where his Guru, Neemkaroli Baba's photo was prominent among others. And he showed us that now there is the photo of the Head of the Senate placed there instead of Bush. And he continued,"So, I go,'Hello Anandamayi Ma!,Awe! Nityananda! and I said, 'Hello George!' And I said that I have to see his soul. All I'm doing is reacting to his incarnation. And then I felt sorry for his soul, that has got a lousy incarnation!! As I took leave of this most beautiful soul I said,"You are pure joy." He said, "I surrender to Him." About 'Darshan' he said, "You know this is interesting, in India I learned that you don't see the Guru, the Guru sees you. See, you stand there and wait, you put effort behind." I said," I didn't wait though, I came running to India, looking all around. But when you see that person it's as if you can't find on your own, but it's there." And he said, "Yeah, it's there."

BE HERE NOW BE HERE NOW BE HERE NOW BE HERE NOW BE HERE

BE HERE NOW BE HERE NOW BE HERE NOW BE HERE NOW BE HERE

Shri Govardhan Puja.¸.•´*´•*¨♥ ~ Specially Today ~

Sankirtan by Swami Mukund Hariji Maharaj ~ Part 1

What about Krishna's Flute? ♫*•*¨¨*•♫•♫ ♫*•*¨¨*•♫•♫

" To awaken their divine attachment
Hari entered Vrindavan playing His flute.
The Svanminis sang about the song of His flute
Whoever is attached to His attributes 
Ends up attached to Him."

"Separation is Krishna in the heart.
Union is Krishna in the world."
       ......
"They are His divine powers,
His shaktis,
They abide in the glades of Vrindavan
For His sheer enjoyment."

"Their love is to be emulated."
       ......  
"What is profound does not appear before all.
This lila is not openly revealed
because ras only flourishes in concealment."

"The Svaminis are intimate with Gopal.
And experience Him through every door of perception."
      .....
"The call of Shri Krishna's flute
Kindles in those women
Who live around the hills and waters of Braja
The spiritual conjugal mood.
         .....
"There are others who are nearby but cannot hear.
Lila is replete with purpose and Krishna
Awakens only those whose time has come.
Others simply will not respond to His calling."

"It is a Lila-Invitation.
Is Overwhelming!!"
                                ..............

               These are excerpts from ~

                     "Venu-Gita"
             (The Song of the Flute)

             presented by Shyamdas


Published by the International Pushthimargiya Vaishnav Parishad (U.K.)
#12 Old Oak Rd., London W37HL.


                       ★ • .　　♡　　　★　　 　　 　 • .　♡ • .　★　　　
                    •♥•´¯*!|!*¯`•♥•´¯*!|!*¯`•♥•¯*!|!*¯`•♥•´*!|!*¯

Sankirtan by Sri 1008 Swami Mukund Hariji Maharaj 2.

Questions, and Answers by Sri Ma Anandamayi at Nadiad in 1978

☆°•. ★¸.•*¨Sri Radha Ashtami ~ Sept.13,2013¸.•°☆°•. ★¸.•*¨

I think of my Sri Radha in my deepest inmost thoughts.
I know she is there, unmoving, forever mine ~
I am conscious of her presence...

Beautiful one, your face is lovely as the moon,
and the nightingales singing in wild abandon
wrench at my heart and are driving me distracted!

Speak to me, my love, speak such words to me
that I shall be anointed by them; as a king is anointed
by sacred holy oil, let me be anointed by the honeyed
sweetness of your words.

My love, my love, you are my all -
my secret wealth, my jewel, my gem
in a vast ocean that contains all loveliness.

My Radha, there is in my heart one idea,
in my mind one thought ~ My love,
it is you held by my encircling love.

                            ~ Gita Govind ~
                                  Jaya Dev

                                                     "Shree Radhey"

Blessed One,         
       In the Grace, ever since merging in the ecstasy of the uttermost Grace of Divinity, the silent communication of the heart is inscrutable as He Himself and His Lila.
       On the occasion of Sri Radha Ashtami we visit Sri Barsana, the blissful realm of Sri Radha.  All devotees gather at Sri Ji's Mandir at the break of dawn to witness the Mangala Arti then kirtan, and the Samaj continues singing throughout the night, to the Abhishek, the auspicious bathing of Sri Radha with curds and milk.  The sacred Samaj of Sri Radha's Advent is sung with great devotion as the sun rises over Sri Ji's Dham.
       Each day following Radha Ashtami special Raslilas are performed at the sacred sites where Sri Thakurji and His Beloved perform even to this day, their Lilas.  At Sri Prem Srovar, a sacred tank filled with the tears of the Divine Couple Sri Gopal Chandra Dev is taken out on a gorgeously decorated barge and afterward He and Sri Ji watch fireworks from a beautiful throne in front of their temple. At Mur Kuti, site of the Peacock Dance this Lila is performed. Jhulan (swing) Lila is done at Vilas Ghar, where Sri Ji and Shyam Sunder pass their time in Divine Love Dalliance and again repeat their Lila in the forest of Ghaverban.  At Priya Kund the deities of Jaipur Raj Mandir also go boating to the delight of all, and a glorious samaj is sung while carrying the Divinities back to the temple, and end at Sri Ji's Temple.  At Sankrikor, the narrow ravine where Sri Thakurji demanded a 'tax' of curd and milk from Sri Radha and the Gopis going to market, the Lila and Samaj are re-enacted.  The ecstasy of these occasions cannot be easily communicated!
      Kadam Kandi is a very beautiful green forest between dry brown hills, where Sri Naga Baba did his sadhana.  Once while walking in the forest his long hair was caught in a tree and he refused to allow anyone to disentangle it. He wanted the Jugal Kishore (Sri Radha and Krishna) to free him.  When Sri Thakurji Himself appeared, Naga Baba told Him to go away and come back with Sri Radhika - and he did so to free His bhakta!  A grand mela (festival) and Lila happens in this holy place in the valley and atop the hill at the Samadhi of Sri Naga Baba.  All the Gopis of the very caste who once played with Sri Gopal come in the same colorful dress they have worn for centuries - filling the lovely tree-shaded kund amidst the forest with a flood of orange, red, gold and green, as well as old traditional kirtans.  Thence all the devotees go on to Kama for darshan.  Kama is a 'second Vrindavan', a city of many, many temples...  There is also an ancient ruined temple atop the hill with 84 mystic pillars, one for every 'kos' (2 miles) of the 84 kos of Vraj Dham,  (the 84 sacred sites of Vraj).

       From Kama the Mela moves to Karehla, where Maha Ras Lila is performed but once a year, on Purnima (full-moon).  Here, at the site of the original Ras Lila, a masterly crafted golden mukhet (crown) 500 years old, is worn by Thakurji, a once a year darshan.  One then proceeds to Pashia, a supremely holy forest, unchanged from the time of the Mahabharat, when Sri Krishna graced this earth.  Ashwatthama, son of Dronacharya, killed the children of the Pandavas by treachery. Arjuna did not kill him because he was the son of his Guru, but shaved his head and beard, a sign of disgrace.  Ashwatthama retired to Pashia, where he did great penance to please Lord Shankara.  The inhabitants of the surrounding villages believe he still dwells in this woods and it has not been touched by profane hands.  Only sadhus living within the forest will take the dead wood to burn, within the forest itself, otherwise each tree, plant and animal lives and dies according to its Karma in its own place.  Each Saturday the people of the neighboring villages do parikrama of the forest to obtain the blessings of Ashwatthama, who is very kind, they say, who cures illnesses and grants boons.  The forest remains today just as the woods and hermitages, which Sri Ram Chandra passed through when He was exiled, are discribed by Goswami Tulsidasji in his Ram Charitmanasa.
       Since then, Shanji has been going on in Vraj.  Shanjis are mystical diagrams of sacred places in Vraj.  Just as they were made by Sri Radhika and Her Sakhis, the girls of Vraj make them today at their homes, on the walls, with cow dung and flowers.  At Sri Ji Mandir the Samaj of how Sri Radhika and Her friends made Shanjis is sung daily, and a beautiful Shanji, made with colored sand is prepared.  Uchogam, the village of Lalita Sakhi, was made showing the temples, sacred kund, Gopis and Gopas, animals; then Prem Sarover, Sanket (where Radha and Krishna met for the first time), Nandagaon, Kokilban, and Sheshshai - the bed of the snake Shesha, on which Sri Narayan lies on the ocean of milk (khir, according to Vrajavasis...), served by Sri Lakshmi, with the Lotus of the 14 worlds, the seat of Brahma, sprouting from His Naval.

             How to describe the eternal bliss of Sri Vraj Dham?  ☆°•. ★¸.•*¨


☆°•. ★¸.•*¨An unsigned letter written in the handwriting of Baba Asim Krishna Das in 1972, and addressed to me in the handwriting of Baba Sripadji. 

                                     ☆°•. ★¸.•*¨  Jai Jai Sri Radhey!  ☆°•. ★¸.•*¨

Bhai Sahib Lakshvir Singhji ~ Muztar Nabhawi ~ *ღ☆¸.•°*♥

                                             Beloved Bhai Sahib Lakshvir Singhji
                                                   Dec.25,1918 ~ Feb.14,2008

       Here is a note I made during study of the Persian language 
with the mystic poet-saint 'Muztar' of Nabha.
He is Bhai Sahib Lakshvir Singhji and lived at his home,
'Vir Nivas', in the beautiful Chail forest of Himanchal Pradesh.
      I had first met him in the early 70's when he came to Saproon,
Solan to meet Sant Gulab Singhji, his dear friend, who joyfully rose up
from the lunch table to embrace him. Bhai Sahibji was a very
beautiful and impressive man of around 50 years at that time, he wore a
khakhi color salvar-kameez with a small warm cap and draped himself
with a woolen shawl. He was astonishing with his own Urdu and Persian
Poetry (and English), all present there were totally swept away in the
timeless ecstasy of the graceful company of the meeting of these
two beloved masters!
       Later I was to accompany Santjeo in a friends jeep as we
rode up the mountains to the gorgeous Christmas tree forest
of Chail to visit Bhai Sahibji. The spiritual mood of the Love of
God, the Bhava, pervading his wonderful home is beyond words
to describe! Only I can still feel it today, along with his constant
presence. At that time, there with Santji, I remember how we sat
in the rose garden that Summer day, refreshed by cool sharbat
served by his sons as Bhai Sahibji's own Persian self written books
were brought out and shared with us. This was a kind of engrossing
hospitality I have never known before! The love, beauty, charm and
joy spread in all directions from these two saints!
       In the years to come I was often to visit this wonderful inspiring
saint and his loving family. He had 10 sons, and said that he actually
had to pray that the next child be a girl! No wonder that people
used to hear about him and come asking his advice on how to have
a son! And though it sounds odd, he actually did tell them several
things on the subject and they attained their purpose.
       Outside in the front garden he had built a single room mandir (temple),
up a few steps and one can walk completely around it on the small
veranda that has an absolutely magnificent view of  the sunrise over the
distant mountain ranges appearing like waves in the ocean!  Here he
entered daily, after bath, at the crack of dawn. this was done
on a very regular basis with the most extreme love for God. And he
would come out from the mandir after the Arti, having offered the
morning food and everything to God. At this time any guest or family
member was also welcome to join. We still smell the fragrance of the
unique morning meal, it was a special roti cooked over a wood fire!
The food was always happily brought upstairs and served smilingly by one of the boys, always with music and wonderful conversation. Meals ever ended in our laughter from the charm and whit of Bhai Sahib's stories.

        By around 4:00 pm we would be called from our rest for tea in the garden and from this beautiful tradition we all would have a unique walk in the fairyland forest where Bhai Sahibji would reveal many secrets of the great Himalayas and the saints of this area.
       When one visited for longer stays it was usually in the evenings after a light dinner that we would sit in the grand room upstairs and he would share with me tales of Sufi Mystics and the secrets of  the lovers of God.
It was here that tears of grace would flow in an ecstasy beyond words and the heart would leap up with the soul to be merged with him into a space beyond time itself!!
         The years have passed in such a grand friendship and reverence, I can only hope that there is the time and opportunity to be able to share the tales and this magnificent grace as it should be in time to come.

                                                                 *ღ☆¸.•°*♥

                           1994 more...unforgetable times with Lord's Beloveds!

                                                                   *ღ☆¸.•°*♥

Sri Krsna Janamashtami! ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿

 ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿

✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿

        Ah Ho! He came over the other night
and into my Mandir playing His flute,
ringing my bells, singing, dancing, laughing,
and just smiling at me, THAT smile of His!!
Ah Ho!! Shree Krishna Madhusudana!!
       All this happened like just a little bit more of His Divine Magic!!Hey! Hari Sundar!! And this world starts to reveal its hidden sweetness!
  Jai Jai Nanda kishore!!

                             ~ ॐ ॐ ॐ ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿ॐ ॐ ॐ ~

Haridwar Kumbha Mela ☀*1974☼ Baba Sripadji, Sri Anandamayi Ma, Sadhus and Friends

                                 

                                          .¸¸.•*`*•.✽(¯`••´¯)
                                                           .*•.¸.•*★•.¸¸.•*`*• ☆
                                                   Haridwar Khumbh Mela 1974
                

                                           Maji at Kumbha Mela Haridwar 1974

 

Baba Sripadji

                                                           Babaji with Sant Dasji

L to R:  Sri Vishnu Dasji, 'Russi Radha' (Prof. Natalya Sazanova), Sri Bhanu Bhai,
Sri Radha Mohan and Sri Asim Krishna Dasji beside the Ganga at the Kumbha Mela  1974

                                                                   

                                             Swami Vishnu Dasji of Maharashtra

                                            Baba Sripadji with That mystical smile!
                                                     
                                              ☀*Haridwar Kumbha Mela 1974☼

Sri Radha Dasi's Letter

                                                                                                          Vrindavan,
                                                                                                          15 Dec. 1979
                                                                 "Shri Hari"

My dear Radheshwari,
                                                             Jai Sri Radhey!

            Thank you for your letter which came some days ago now. Ellen continues to be sick - though recovering slowly - and Baba comes and goes with his urgent works. So I am kept busy and don't get round to reply to all the letters that come as soon as I should. No other reason that I didn't write sooner.

            I'm sorry if you misunderstood me and thought that I was testing you in any way. No, I asked you the question seriously- as a serious inquiry from a serious sadhaka. I had been noticing over the last couple of years that so many of those who were with us before also in search of That seem to have thrown away the quest and settled for mediocrity instead. Up to the time I wrote you last I had again heard about another couple of friends falling away. So my mind was very occupied with this situation and I was wanting to understand the reason, to find some explanation why those who had seemed so sincere, so dedicated, could yet change their minds. Perhaps because of my deep feeling, my words might have sounded to direct to you, but believe me, they were as much directed to myself if not more so. In fact when I wrote you, I told Ellen who was sitting here that I had just written a letter to myself.  After that, I even had second thoughts about posting it!

          Anyway, concerning my enquiry which I think was also called for since who knows that the next to go may not be myself, I came to certain conclusions.  Firstly, that it's very hard to give up the desire for sense gratification; in most cases of my friends, I think this has been the basic reason. Secondly, in some who even seemed a little more advanced in their inquiry of Truth and sadhana, it has been due to a basic error in judgement that they have felt the need for no further sadhana.  And that error arises from their having caught a glimpse of the universality of the soul.  However, instead of the jivatma identifying itself with the Paramatma, they have identified with the lower aspect of their nature and thus been deceived into thinking that the free reign of the desires is the highest reality.  that is why I kept thinking about Krishna's dissertation on various aspects of sadhana even after Arjuna had enjoyed the divine vision.  It seemed to me that there is a very important idea behind this; that the vision in itself is not enough unless we can incorporate it in our consciousness in the right way.  Sadhana prepares the mind and intelligence for this.  Again I remember the story of Indra and Virochana ( I think that was the name of the demon chief) who went to Brahma to enquire the highest Truth.  He told them 'Brahmasmi' was the highest. Virochana was content to look in the mirror and to understand that what he found reflected there was the Supreme Brahman; and Indra too would have been content with this answer had his wife not sent him again and again back to Brahma to do sadhana and to learn, after long, long years and repeated failures that Brahman is not the body, not the mind, not the intellect, but something even more than consciousness itself though it may be reflected through the purified consciousness.  It means, as the Sufis say, "Go still further!"

      You said, why should I be worried about falling into a material life?  Now you might understand. Since I have seen it happen so many times in the last year or so, I am always aware that I might be the next to deceive myself if I don't understand the causes clearly. Of course, I always feel there is a certain amount of Grace with me but I believe if I also don't make some effort to deserve this grace, rather to be worthy of it, it might be withdrawn from me any time.  Then certainly, there is no chance of experiencing that Ocean of Bliss.. 

        As far as the ego goes,you said you would, for one, be sorry to see it go.  Actually I don't think it really disintegrates until death and even then, if we look at reality at the perspective of its always manifesting itself, we must accept reincarnation.  This means that even in death the ego does not disintegrate but continues to exist in subtle form until it remanifests itself in an appropriate body.  So there is not much chance of my losing the ego so soon it seems!  Still, from what I have learned through the words of the saints, the ego must be reconstituted.  The ego of a saint is not the same as that of an ordinary man.  And I am sure that until that time when we are truly reborn as devotees through the sacrifices of love, all our worship is not really worth much.  I sincerely feel that it is only when the ego has been totally transformed that true worship begins.  Until then, we are just imitating the outward forms of worship - not altogether useless in itself since it is by this means that we should be purified; but still, not altogether meaningful either.

        Anyway, perhaps I should not burden you with all these thoughts though it would seem to me that it is the exchange of such views that is the true reason for having any friends on this path.  In a way, I have even come to see that friendship too is a kind of illusion since we all ultimately have to face death alone and even our friends cannot protect us then. Still, it is a sweet illusion and even sometimes too, a great solace, a great awakening, and even the great sacrifice on Love's alter.

        My pranams to Santji and Swamiji if he is there too.
...

                                                                                       With all love in Him as ever,
                                                                                                   Radha Dasi
       

The Divine 'Hariali Tij' *ღ☆¸.•°*♥

             Sri Shyamsunder and Sri Radhaji seated on the holy swing, 'Jhula'!

    The blissful mysterious, sacred rainy month of Sravan is observed in the incessent pouring forth of nectarean showers, filling the waters of Sri Jamunaji to overflowing ~ like the shower of Divine Grace!
     Ah, the bountiful clouds roaming in the vast heavens murmur their secret rejoicing in the resplendent beauty of the lush green groves amidst which Sri Radha & Sri Krishna are seated in a swing attended by their Sakhis.  The climax of this bhav merges in that occasion called 'Hariali Tij' when everywhere seems clothed in an immense and wonderful green robe, enhancing the enchanting sight of the Divine Couple swinging in the clustered retreats.
    On this day of 'Hariali Tij', Sri Bankey Bihari in the mood of enjoying this blissful month of showers bestows His gracious 'darshan' upon His devotees from His swing in the superbly decorated shrine.  His swinging into the heart of His devotees resembles the infinite eternity, beginningless, endless.  All thoughts leave the mind but that one which seeks to become His playmate on His swing.  In this way He transcends one across the limitations of the phenomenal world perception, beyond the three-fold veil of waking, dreaming and deep sleep states to behold His blissful swing, revolutionizing the life to its complete dedication to His sweet Divine will.
    In these days, the Ras Lila reaches its climax to the accompaniment of the songs composed by the saints and sung in the same harmony of the swing.
    And at present, as the life of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji unfolds day by day before the crowd of ardent devotees, the resounding cry of "Hari bol!" is pervading the hearts of all with the sublime ecstasy of Lord Gauranga.  Observing the ecstatic dance showers the fervour of Sri Chaitanya's consciousness, merging one in the bliss of his divine mood. The life of Mahaprabhuji increases the devotion to Sri Krishna who, accompanied by Sri Radha, has incarnated in this form as Sri Chaitanya.  From time to time to establish God-consciousness, He Himself incarnates on this earth, and the perennial inspiration of His Divine incarnations ceaselessly beckons the world unto His eternal Divinity.


From the letters of Baba Sripadji
Vrindavan,
August 1974

 

 

First Time Seeing Baba Sripadji

    Sripadji had said he would come and there was a lot of anticipation of that
coming. In these days of July 1971 my first visit I would simply sleep on a mat 
and Swamiji would stay upon his wooden bed. There was an Akhanda Jyot,
a small oil lamp, which was always lit inside his kutia. After lying down at
night to sleep the first time I vaguely woke-up, I saw Swamiji in that glowing
light sitting up in blissful meditation. I quickly sat up also to meditate, not to
miss an opportunity in this saint's presence. And it was so good!! When again
I opened my eyes I saw him lying flat on his back. I immediately lied down to
rest. This would happen four or five times a night  and my night sleep became
very subtle. I was extremely happy to have all these moments of silent
meditation with Swamiji. On about the 4th night suddenly Swamiji rose up
and in three steps was out of the kutia chanting Om! Om! I sat up and
waited, in the dim light I saw it was 5:00 am! After 10 mins. or so Swamiji
returned with a very beautiful and radiantly silent young sadhu. Swamiji said
that Balyogiji Sripad had been meditating outside for 2 and a half hours! I
vividly remember first seeing his feet, then he also sat on the floor in an even
more intense, vibrant silence. Yet there was so much communication! I never
had such an experience of energy and light before!! Swamiji was aglow
making tea.  But I was so ecstatic that tears ran down my cheeks! Words
all disappeared from the mind that seemed itself dizzily enchanted. Fully
charmed by the One totally in the Sublime Bhava of Sri Radha Krishna!! 
This state was always the case for me whenever I was in his company!



                                     'Vibhor, Vichitr, Vimohit Sri Krishna!'

                                                         Sri Sripad Babaji
                                                       Mussoorie July1971

.¸¸.•*Sri Yugal Ashtakam*•.¸¸. .¸¸.•*♥*•.¸¸.☼.¸¸.•*♥*•.¸¸.

                        .¸¸.•*♥*Shree Yugal Ashtakam*♥*•.¸¸.

Krshna Premamayi Radha, Radha Premamayo Hari!
Mam Jeevane Nidhne Nityam! Sri Radha Krshnau Gatirmam!

      Krshnasya Dravinam Radha, Radhaya Dravinam Hari!
      Mam Jeevane Nidhne Nityam! Sri Radha Krshnau Gatirmam!

Krshna Pranamayi Radha, Radha Pranamayo Hari!
Mam Jeevane Nidhne Nityam! Sri Radha Krshnau Gatirmam!

      Krshna Dravymayee Radha, Radha Dravymayo Hari!
      Mam Jeevane Nidhne Nityam! Sri Radha Krshnau Gatirmam!

Krshna Gruhastitha Radha, Radha Gruhastithau Hari!
Mam Jeevane Nidhne Nityam! Sri Radha Krshnau Gatirmam!

      Krshna Chitt Stitha Radha, Radha Chitt Stithau Hari!
      Mam Jeevane Nidhne Nityam! Sri Radha Krishnau Gatirmam!

Neelambar Dhara Radha, Pitambar Dharo Hari!
Mam Jeevane Nidhne Nityam! Sri Radha Krshnau Gatirmam!

      Vrindavaneshwari Radha, Krshno Vrindavaneshwarah!
     Mam Jeevane Nidhne Nityam! Sri Radha Krshno Gatirmam!  

                            .¸¸.•*♥*•.¸¸.☼.¸¸.•*♥*•.¸¸.

Baba Sripadji and I ~*~

At the Lotus Feet of the Master   .•*•. ♥                                          

 Shyama Gori, Nitya Kishori, Pritam Jori, Sri Radhe
Rasika Rasilo, Chaila Chabilo Guna Garbillo Sri Krishna

I will not come back
Oh mighty Excellence Thakurji
Whenever I meet you face to face
you prove my helplessness
                    
The ancient tales tell the story of your sweetness
The invitation to accept it
The compassionate relationship that heals wounds

What is the logic
That makes your every decision supreme
And my every prayer a helpless question

Have you seen the silvery  Himalayas
Making gestures of affection
Laughing at the life of the mundane world

Merging into that ambrosia I cannot invite you
You always prefer the river bank from where
You can cross over with Grace when the time comes

 You were so moody in Your  Excellence
When you believed to challenge the depths to surrender
You make your unseen beckoning hands

In this inner pondering whenever I  lost my consciousness
Sometimes I am so close to you to whom I might say Friend or Celestial
Ah! it is that state of merging

I could have returned to that wealth and affection the mundane world
But by the Grace of Your Transcendent Lila I am submerged
Slowly but surely It has bound me O long before


राधे●राधेराधे●राधेराधे●राधेराधे●राधेराधे●राधेराधे●राधेराधे●राधेराधे●राधेराधे●राधेराधे●राधेराधे●राधे
Poem in a letter from Baba
Sri Vrindavan 1971

Sravana Utsava ~ The Festival of the Rainy Season ♥ जय श्री राधे कृष्ण! ♥

The most wonderful Season of all seems to always come after the most difficult one. And it is this that makes Sravana Mas, the season of the fabulous Monsoons, so delicious and the most ecstatic event of the year!! After what seems so trying, the unbearable heat, finally we look forward to the rains, like the peacocks who start singing and actually dancing when they see the huge, heavy, dark rain clouds rolling in on the warm winds!!
No wonder it is a season like no other, with its lovers rushing out into the rains with shouts of joy, dancing!! It is the time of Sravana Utsava, the festival of the Rainy Season. And it is lushly celebrated in Vrindavan, in all of Vraj, and throughout all of India with song, dance, and swinging in the rain! The whole month of the rains, lovers of Sri Radha Krishna come to Vrindavan to celebrate. All the Ras Lila groups show up and perform their
Raslilas, the live plays of Sri Radha and Krsna enacted, to the delight of everyone that has come to this holy land. Many saints and Gurus come specially here with their devotees for this time of the beautiful Sravana Utsava.

"Sri Krishna prema mayi Radha, Radha prema mayo Hari!
Jivane nidhane Nityam! Sri Radha Krishno ghatirma mam!"

¸¸.•*`*•☆Baba Shripadji☆•*`*•.¸¸

  
      From the first day I met him, my life became a series of incredible events  The initial glimpse was classic; beneath a huge ancient tree that had been revered with a circular platform built up around it's base sat a lone man wrapped casually in hand loomed cloth, dread locks spread over his shoulders and he was surrounded by an air of deep contentment and peace.

      Shripad Babaji was a sadhu of the old school.  Once I had asked him what he had gotten from his Guru.  Without missing a beat he answered, "Vairag" ( total relinquishment).  This I found to be true.

      Until the day he left his mortal body, Babaji was true to himself and the sadhu tradition. He actually cared far too little for his own bodily existence.  He was full of care and also careless.  His own burning desire was to make anyone around him increase their love and complete attachment to God and nothing else.  Absolutely nothing else.  None were spared that came near.  It was not always easy, not ever initially easy to understand at the time, but his teachings by actual example and situation would unfold and their meaning would be revealed sometimes even several years later.  

      Babaji called it " the wholey man's workshop", (double meaning pun intended), the living teaching as handed down from preceptor to pupil for generations. Babaji's memorable teachings live on in his beloved's hearts.      

        Shantananda Bharti

        Dharamkot, Dharamsala
           June 3,2013

                                                        ☆¸.•°*♥ हरी ॐ *ღ☆¸.•°*

Bhagsu Naag Temple Darshan *ღ☆¸.•°*♥ हरी ॐ Holy Waterfall ~ Dharamkot ~

 

Just 2 km from McLeod Ganj, the lovely Headquarters
of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, is the ancient Bhagsunag Temple dedicated to 
Lord Shiva. There is a natural stream that continually fills the pools of this lovely 
mountain Temple!

      Bhagsu Nag Mandir is an ancient temple believed to be built in Treta Yug
(around 9,100 years ago) bu King Bhagsu of Rajasthan.  Once during his reign
there was a severe drought in his capital, Ajmer.  His subjects, represented by 
their local chiefs, threatened to abandon the kingdom if the situation persisted. 
Concerned for his people the king set out in pursuit of water.  Three days of his
quest lead him to the holy Naagdal Lake, situated at a height of approx. 18,000
ft.  This area was inhabited by the rulers of the Naag Dynasty.  The Naags are
powerful religio-mythical snakes of the King Cobra species that are considered
demi-gods and are companions, also adornments, of Lord Shiva. The lake is 
thought by the locals to be sacred and to have medicinal properties.  Being a 
wizard and adept in magic, King Bhagsu put all the water of Naag Dal Lake into
his kamandalu ( magic pot).  He then started a journey back to his province in
Rajasthan.  But it was late in the evening so he decided to stay for the night at 
the place where the Bhagsu Naag Temple is now situated.
       Meanwhile, the local King Naag Shankar and other locals were shocked
to see the lake empty within less than a few hours.  They followed his footprints
and reached the place where King Bhagsu was staying. There and then a battle
ensued between King Naag Shankar and King Bhagsu.  During the fight the
vessel containing the lake's water fell to the ground and turned into natural
streams and waterfalls.  Being a devotee and manifestation of Lord Shiva,
king Naag Shankar was a divine being and virtually invincible.  King Bhagsu
realized this after he was defeated.  he asked for forgiveness, grace, and
blessings from King Naag Shankar.  He also prayed that his kingdom be
granted water resources.  Naag Shankar gave him a boon that from henseforth
the place would be known and referred to by King Bhagsu's name first, and
subsequently by his name, Naag Shankar.  Thus, this place came to be called
Bhagsu Naag.
        In the beginning of Kali Yuga, approx. 5,100 years ago, King Dharam
Chand was directed in a dream by Lord Shiva to build a temple here to bring
prosperity to the region.  Both Dharamshala and Dharamkot have been named
after this king Dharam Chand.

A short distance from the Temple one reaches this entrance spot...and sees
that the Waterfall is at quite a distance!  It's actually this long but lovely walk
around this Himalayan mountain! Down below one can see people, among
them monks, having a holy bath in the flowing stream!!

                         Here, closer to the waterfall, are also these blue-covered huts.

When I told Swami Jnananandaji that I was 

staying this Summer at Dharamkot, just above 

McLeod Ganj, Swamiji said that he had been living

 here for some time very long ago, in his youth. 

He then told me that there was a holy waterfall 

where he used to bath and that many Tibetan monks

also used to come there for a holy bath.

  (`*•.¸(`*•.¸,♥,¸.•*´)¸.•*´) 

 ♥«•OM MANI PADME HUM•»♥
 (¸.•*´(¸.•*’´♥`’*•.¸)`*•.¸)

A Tribute to Swami Jnanananda Giri ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ ॐ

A Tribute to Sant Gulab Singhji

Sri Shunya Babaji, Emanual Sorensen ~ Viking Spirit!

                                                ... here with the cosmic dog, Sri Cho Chu Wuji!

      Sri Shunya Babaji, Sunyata Emanuel Sorensen, this is his story told to me,
over the years of his visits to us in Chandigarh in the 70's. That he was a Viking
child, of Denmark, born on Oct. 27, 1890, raised on a small farm. Little was
said about his childhood but sometimes came out in jests. And there were days
of joyous ease spent in silence near him in THAT divine consciousness.
He was always in a friendly mood and would happily answer any questions.
So one day he told of how he came to India. He said, "Before coming to
India I was a gardener communicating with plants and trees on a big estate in
England. I used to see Gurudev Tagore, the new guest there, walking alone in
the early morning before dawn.Both of us enjoying the silence we never spoke
until just near the end of his stay. He said to me, 'Why don't you come to India
and teach silence to the Indians!' So, we became friends and I begin to think of
coming to India. By the time I had reached India and Shantiniketan a year or
so later, Tagore was not there! So,I began to travel around India, alone~all one.
    I was to meet him later and he introduced me to Nehru, and the sister.
There I was a guest when I was offered some land to live on, 'The Immortal
Garden of Emptiness', at Kalimat. So, this house in the hills above Almora was
built by ones gathering all the stones from around there only! When people
ask how one lives there without electricity, I tell them that I live like the birds.
When the sun is out I come out and when it gets dark I go to bed. And there
is the dog, Sri Cho Chu Wuji!"
    After some time a friend of his, Paul Brunton, arranged for a trip to meet
Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi in Tiruvannamalai Ashram. This was his
"most significant spiritual encounter." He was to make three others trips there
also!
    One day Paul told Sunyata that Bhagavan Sri Ramana had referred to him
as a 'Janam Siddha', a born Mystic!
    He said," I used to sit daily in the back and just observe everything,
especially the Bhagavan Maharishi himself. And one day suddenly, out of the
pure akasha and living Silence, there sounded upon Emmanuel (his preferred
name for himself) these five words ‘We are always aware, Sunyata!’ So, you
see this is where the name came from and initiation and mantra!"

               "It is not what I say, but what 'I am' that sometimes gets across! "

         "You see, if God did not exist
                 then the whole business would have to be invented!"
                                                                            "Wu!"