A sage had many followers and there always used to be someone with him at all times. Among his followers was a young disciple. This young man was not very educated and he never spoke much. Everyone would bathe daily and on time. But this young man never took his bath on time. But he chanted the holy name all the time.
One day he had a really bad case of the cold. The sage advised that in order to take care of his health, he should just take a single dip in the nearby river and not take long baths. The young man agreed and kept quiet. None of the others present could make out what the conversation had been about.
Every morning after waking up, the young man would visualize himself in the holy city of ‘Kashi’ taking dips in the holy river ‘Ganges’. After this he would visualize himself offering prayers to his Gurudev. His visualization was so vivid and accurate that he gave himself a cold because of the cold waters of the ‘Ganges’.
Worship of the Lord in visualization is greatly loved by the Lord himself. Every devotee must regularly offer prayers this way. Even the Lord gets used to this form of worship and if the devotee happens to forget, the Lord will arrange for the devotee to be reminded. It is effective in awakening the feeling that the Lord resides in our heart. Thinking of the Lord in a living form always would firmly seat him in our heart and then one day he would appear to us in person. This is the best king of association with the Lord.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
The ‘Prasad’
A man named Chintamani Bhat lived in Karnataka. He was a Brahmin by caste, an authority on ten scriptures (Dasha-Granthi) and would officiate at religious rituals as a priest.
Chintamani suffered from a terrible illness. Anytime he would eat something, a horrendous pain would erupt from his stomach. At times it would be so unbearable that he felt that he would die and would eventually pass out. To get himself treated he had traveled to far off places and met many physicians but no medicine could cure him of his strange ailment. He lived on only milk, that too, just once a day.
One fine day he happened to learn about Shri Maharaj from an acquaintance of his. He thought to himself that maybe this holy man, this saint, could relieve him of this suffering. He at once decided to leave for Gondavle, where he would find Shri Maharaj. The journey from his town to Gondavle took many days, but he finally reached there at around two in the afternoon.
It is usually a practice that some offering is made to Lord Ramachandra everyday and sometimes, the same food is offered as a meal to all his devotees provided it is made in such quantities. This is known as ‘Prasad’ .On that afternoon; someone had offered huge quantities of food to Lord Ramachandra which was to be distributed to the devotees. This had caused some delay in lunch being served.
As always, Shri Maharaj was supervising the seating arrangements for such a large number of people. This was when Chintamani approached him and introduced himself. Shri Maharaj invited him to sit beside him during lunch and mentioned that Chintamani was indeed fortunate to have come just in time for lunch. Chintamani said that food was like poison to him. When Shri Maharaj enquired further, he went on to explain the nature of his illness and the reason for his visit to Gondavle to meet Shri Maharaj.
Shri Maharaj explained to him that any food that had been offered to Lord Ramachandra, and then eaten, was to be considered as remnants of his plate. Any remnants from God’s plate were full of spiritual potency and hence, it would be advisable if Chintamani ate the ‘Prasad’ without worrying about the punishment his stomach would met out later.
At first, Chintamani was reluctant. But seeing everyone relish the delicacies and the assurance from Shri Maharaj and his faith in Lord Ramachandras’ Prasad, he decided that what would happen after having what the Lord desired would be what the Lord desires. He then ate to his hearts content, for he had not eaten a proper meal in many years. After lunch, he began expecting the stomach pains to begin. But they never came that day. In fact, he never had stomach pains for the rest of his life.
Chintamani suffered from a terrible illness. Anytime he would eat something, a horrendous pain would erupt from his stomach. At times it would be so unbearable that he felt that he would die and would eventually pass out. To get himself treated he had traveled to far off places and met many physicians but no medicine could cure him of his strange ailment. He lived on only milk, that too, just once a day.
One fine day he happened to learn about Shri Maharaj from an acquaintance of his. He thought to himself that maybe this holy man, this saint, could relieve him of this suffering. He at once decided to leave for Gondavle, where he would find Shri Maharaj. The journey from his town to Gondavle took many days, but he finally reached there at around two in the afternoon.
It is usually a practice that some offering is made to Lord Ramachandra everyday and sometimes, the same food is offered as a meal to all his devotees provided it is made in such quantities. This is known as ‘Prasad’ .On that afternoon; someone had offered huge quantities of food to Lord Ramachandra which was to be distributed to the devotees. This had caused some delay in lunch being served.
As always, Shri Maharaj was supervising the seating arrangements for such a large number of people. This was when Chintamani approached him and introduced himself. Shri Maharaj invited him to sit beside him during lunch and mentioned that Chintamani was indeed fortunate to have come just in time for lunch. Chintamani said that food was like poison to him. When Shri Maharaj enquired further, he went on to explain the nature of his illness and the reason for his visit to Gondavle to meet Shri Maharaj.
Shri Maharaj explained to him that any food that had been offered to Lord Ramachandra, and then eaten, was to be considered as remnants of his plate. Any remnants from God’s plate were full of spiritual potency and hence, it would be advisable if Chintamani ate the ‘Prasad’ without worrying about the punishment his stomach would met out later.
At first, Chintamani was reluctant. But seeing everyone relish the delicacies and the assurance from Shri Maharaj and his faith in Lord Ramachandras’ Prasad, he decided that what would happen after having what the Lord desired would be what the Lord desires. He then ate to his hearts content, for he had not eaten a proper meal in many years. After lunch, he began expecting the stomach pains to begin. But they never came that day. In fact, he never had stomach pains for the rest of his life.
Material Happiness
A man was making his way through a dense forest. He heard the roar of a tiger and was frightened. He started to run away from that spot. After running for some time, he came in front of a huge bear. He decided to take a small road to his left and ran for his life again. The grass in the forest had grown tall and he was not able to see the path on which he was running. He fell into a deep well. Neither did he die nor did any of his limbs break. But a large cobra in the well frightened him again. He managed to get out of the well somehow and clung on to a large bush which had grown well above his height. He noticed that a forest mouse was nibbling his way through the bush. Because of all this commotion, all the honey bees in the honeycomb just above his head on a nearby tree were disturbed and began bussing violently. Out of all this a drop of honey fell on the man’s nose. He licked it and was very satisfied.
In this world, death is present at every step. Every second, time is eroding this world. But even then a second of material pleasure gives us immense enjoyment. One must always try to remember the temporary nature of our existence and is necessary for those practicing spirituality. Once a person realizes that the body through which material pleasures are to be enjoyed is itself not permanent, material pleasures won’t seem so tempting.
In this world, death is present at every step. Every second, time is eroding this world. But even then a second of material pleasure gives us immense enjoyment. One must always try to remember the temporary nature of our existence and is necessary for those practicing spirituality. Once a person realizes that the body through which material pleasures are to be enjoyed is itself not permanent, material pleasures won’t seem so tempting.
Food Influences Thought
Once upon a time there lived a kind and gentle Brahmin in a small village. He always thought of others before himself and led an exemplary life. Everyone considered him no less than a sage living among them. It happened that for some work, he had to travel to a nearby city. In the city, he was to be the guest of a wealthy merchant at his mansion.
After the merchant had treated the Brahmin to a sumptuous meal, they sat down in the veranda of the mansion. On the table in front of them were two silver cups which were used to serve them fruit juices. The silver cups were very beautiful and were studded with some precious stones and carved with beautiful artwork. The Brahmin thought of stealing one of those cups before he left. He suddenly felt ashamed of himself for thinking like that. Why was he having such sinful thoughts of stealing?
On leaving the merchants home, the Brahmin asked people in the village about the merchant and the nature of his business and the source of his affluence. He was given the same answer everywhere he went. The merchant had earned his riches through cheating and stealing from others. He had wrecked many lives to get this far. The Brahmin realized that by eating the food served at the merchants place, he had been influenced by the same thoughts the merchant had.
By eating the food that is offered by people with wicked thoughts, we too are influenced by wicked thoughts.
After the merchant had treated the Brahmin to a sumptuous meal, they sat down in the veranda of the mansion. On the table in front of them were two silver cups which were used to serve them fruit juices. The silver cups were very beautiful and were studded with some precious stones and carved with beautiful artwork. The Brahmin thought of stealing one of those cups before he left. He suddenly felt ashamed of himself for thinking like that. Why was he having such sinful thoughts of stealing?
On leaving the merchants home, the Brahmin asked people in the village about the merchant and the nature of his business and the source of his affluence. He was given the same answer everywhere he went. The merchant had earned his riches through cheating and stealing from others. He had wrecked many lives to get this far. The Brahmin realized that by eating the food served at the merchants place, he had been influenced by the same thoughts the merchant had.
By eating the food that is offered by people with wicked thoughts, we too are influenced by wicked thoughts.
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