We do not commit any sins, then why should we be in remembrance of God? What benefits do prayers and worship of God bring?

 

Question: Some people say that worshipping God and Satsang (association with Truth) etc. is for those who commit sins. We do not commit any sins, then why should we be in remembrance of God? The mind should be pure. What benefits do prayers and worship of God bring?

Swami Ramsukhdasji: The root cause of all sins is "desires" which you have - "Kaamesh Krodhesh... " (Gita 3:37), then how can you consider yourself free of sins? True sins are indulgence in enjoyment of pleasures and accumulation of possessions. Besides these two things, what are you doing?  Besides desires what else is there in your mind? If there are desires in your mind, then how is your mind pure? The one who does not pray, does not read scriptures, does not pay homage to God, how is he any different from other animals? Impurities come daily, therefore one has to take a bath, wash up every day. Daily one has to clean their dishes, pots and pans. Those activities that human beings perform daily, they are bound to have faults and bring sins "Sarvaa rambhahi doshena dhumenagniri vaavrutaah." (Gita 18:47). For the purification from these faults and sins, it is essential to do daily prayers, reading of scriptures, worshipful remembrance of God, and Meditation.

Thoughts such as - "The mind should be pure, what benefits do prayers, worship of God, and reading the scriptures bring?" come to mind, only when the mind is impure. If the mind is pure, then those actions prohibited by the scriptures could never be performed. If the mind is engaging in activities prohibited by the scriptures, then this is the indicator of impurities within the mind.

Source: Prashno Uttermanimala by Swami Ramsukhdasji.

Question: Why is purity of mind essential? 

Swami Ramsukhdasji: Purity of the mind is very essential. When mind is purified, then all the agitations of the mind will very easily disappear. When the mind is pure, it is easy to engage in anything.

Source: Art of Living by Swami Ramsukhdasji.

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Why shouldn't one be able to realize God in this world?

"Why shouldn't one be able to realize God in this world? King Janaka had such realization. Ramprasad described the world as a mere 'framework of illusion'. But if one loves God's hallowed feet, then —

This very world is a mansion of mirth;
Here I can eat, here drink and make merry.
Janaka's might was unsurpassed;
What did he lack of the world or the Spirit?
Holding to one as well as the other,
He drank his milk from a brimming cup!

(All laugh.)

"But one cannot be a King Janaka all of a sudden. Janaka at first practised much austerity in solitude.

"Even if one lives in the world, one must go into solitude now and then. It will be of great help to a man if he goes away from his family, lives alone, and weeps for God even for three days. Even if he thinks of God for one day in solitude, when he has the leisure, that too will do him good. People shed a whole jug of tears for wife and children. But who cries for the Lord? Now and then one must go into solitude and practise spiritual discipline to realize God. Living in the world and entangled in many of its duties, the aspirant, during the first stage of spiritual life, finds many obstacles in the path of concentration. While the trees on the foot-path are young, they must be fenced around; otherwise they will be destroyed by cattle. The fence is necessary when the tree is young, but it can be taken away when the trunk is thick and strong. Then the tree won't be hurt even if an elephant is tied to it.

"The disease of worldliness is like typhoid. And there are a huge jug of water and a jar of savoury pickles in the typhoid patient's room. If you want to cure him of his illness, you must remove him from that room. The worldly man is like the typhoid patient. The various objects of enjoyment are the huge jug of water, and the craving for their enjoyment is his thirst. The very thought of pickles makes the mouth water; you don't have to bring them near. And he is surrounded with them. The companionship of woman is the pickles. Hence treatment in solitude is necessary.

"One may enter the world after attaining discrimination and dispassion. In the ocean of the world there are six alligators: lust, anger, and so forth. But you need not fear the alligators if you smear your body with turmeric before you go into the water. Discrimination and dispassion are the turmeric. Discrimination is the knowledge of what is real and what is unreal. It is the realization that God alone is the real and eternal Substance and that all else is unreal, transitory, impermanent. And you must cultivate intense zeal for God. You must feel love for Him and be attracted to Him. The gopis of Vrindavan felt the attraction of Krishna. Let me sing you a song:

Listen! The flute has sounded in yonder wood.
There I must fly, for Krishna waits on the path.
Tell me, friends, will you come along or no?
To you my Krishna is merely an empty name;
To me He is the anguish of my heart.
You hear His flute-notes only with your ears,
But, oh, I hear them in my deepest soul.
I hear His flute calling: 'Radha, come out!
Without you the grove is shorn of its loveliness.'"

The Master sang the song with tears in his eyes, and said to Keshab and the other Brahmo devotees: "Whether you accept Radha and Krishna, or not, please do accept their attraction for each other. Try to create that same yearning in your heart for God. Yearning is all you need in order to realize Him."

Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

 

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Can't we realize God without complete renunciation?"

 

Brahmo Devotee: "Sir, can't we realize God without complete renunciation?"

Sri Ramakrishna (with a laugh): "Of course you can! Why should you renounce everything? You are all right as you are, following the middle path — like molasses partly solid and partly liquid. Do you know the game of nax?* Having scored the maximum number of points, I am out of the game. I can't enjoy it. But you are very clever. Some of you have scored ten points, some six, and some five. You have scored just the right number; so you are not out of the game like me. The game can go on. Why, that's fine! (All laugh.)

"I tell you the truth: there is nothing wrong in your being in the world. But you must direct your mind toward God; otherwise you will not succeed.

Do your duty with one hand and with the other hold to God. After the duty is over, you will hold to God with both hands.

"It is all a question of the mind. Bondage and liberation are of the mind alone. The mind will take the colour you dye it with. It is like white clothes just returned from the laundry. If you dip them in red dye, they will be red. If you dip them in blue or green, they will be blue or green. They will take only the colour you dip them in, whatever it may be. Haven't you noticed that, if you read a little English, you at once begin to utter English words: Foot fut it wit? (The Master was merely mimicking the sound of English.) Then you put on boots and whistle a tune, and so on. It all goes together. Or, if a scholar studies Sanskrit, he will at once rattle off Sanskrit verses. If you are in bad company, then you will talk and think like your companions. On the other hand, when you are in the company of devotees, you will think and talk only of God.
"The mind is everything. A man has his wife on one side and his daughter on the other. He shows his affection to them in different ways. But his mind is one and the same.

"Bondage is of the mind, and freedom is also of the mind. A man is free if he constantly thinks: 'I am a free soul. How can I be bound, whether I live in the world or in the forest? I am a child of God, the King of Kings. Who can bind me?' If bitten by a snake, a man may get rid of its venom by saying emphatically, There is no poison in me.' In the same way, by repeating with grit and determination, 'I am not bound, I am free', one really becomes so — one really becomes free.

"Once someone gave me a book of the Christians. I asked him to read it to me. It talked about nothing but sin. (To Keshab) Sin is the only thing one hears of at your Brahmo Samaj, too. The wretch who constantly says, 'I am bound, I am bound' only succeeds in being bound. He who says day and night, 'I am a sinner, I am a sinner' verily becomes a sinner.

"One should have such burning faith in God that one can say: 'What? I have repeated 'the name of God, and can sin still cling to me? How can I be a sinner any more? How can I be in bondage any more?'

"If a man repeats the name of God, his body, mind, and everything become pure. Why should one talk only about sin and hell, and such things? Say but once, 'O Lord, I have undoubtedly done wicked things, but I won't repeat them.' And have faith in His name."

Sri Ramakrishna became intoxicated with divine love and sang and then he said:

"To my Divine Mother I prayed only for pure love. I offered flowers at Her Lotus Feet and prayed to Her: 'Mother, here is Thy virtue, here is Thy vice. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy knowledge, here is Thy ignorance. Take them both and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy purity, here is Thy impurity. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee. Here is Thy dharma, here is Thy adharma. Take them both, Mother, and grant me only pure love for Thee.'

Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

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Sri Ramakrishna explains different forms of Maa Kali - 2

Sri Ramakrishna continued: "Bondage and liberation are both of Her making. By Her maya worldly people become entangled in 'woman and gold', and again, through Her grace they attain their liberation. She is called the Saviour, and the Remover of the bondage that binds one to the world."

Then Sri Ramakrishna sang the following song* in his melodious voice:

In the world's busy market-place, O Syama, Thou art Hying kites;
High up they soar on the wind of hope, held fast by maya's string.
Their frames are human skeletons, their sails of the three gunas made;

But all their curious workmanship is merely for ornament.
Upon the kite-strings Thou hast rubbed the manja-paste* of worldliness,

So as to make each straining strand all the more sharp and strong.

Out of a hundred thousand kites, at best but one or two break free;
And Thou dost laugh and clap Thy hands, O Mother, watching them!
On favouring winds, says Ramprasad, the kites set loose will speedily
Be borne away to the Infinite, across the sea of the world.

Sri Ramakrishna said: "The Divine Mother is always playful and sportive. This universe is Her play. She is self-willed and must always have Her own way. She is full of bliss. She gives freedom to one out of a hundred thousand."

A Brahmo Devotee: "But, sir, if She likes, She can give freedom to all. Why, then, has She kept us bound to the world?"

Sri Ramakrishna: "That is Her will. She wants to continue playing with Her created beings. In a game of hide-and-seek* the running about soon stops if in the beginning all the players touch the 'granny'. If all touch her, then how can the game go on? That displeases her. Her pleasure is in continuing the game. Therefore the poet said:

Out of a hundred thousand kites, at best nut one or two break free;
And Thou dost laugh and clap Thy hands, O Mother, watching them!

"It is as if the Divine Mother said to the human mind in confidence, with a sign from Her eye, 'Go and enjoy the world.' How can one blame the mind? The mind can disentangle itself from worldliness if, through Her grace, She makes it turn toward Herself. Only then does it become devoted to the Lotus Feet of the Divine Mother."

 

Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

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Sri Ramakrishna explains different forms of Maa Kali

 

Keshab (with a smile): "Describe to us, sir, in how many ways Kali, the Divine Mother, sports in this world."

Sri Ramakrishna (with a smile): "Oh, She plays in different ways. It is She alone who is known as Maha-Kali, Nitya-Kali, Smasana-Kali, Raksha-Kali, and Syama-Kali. Maha-Kali and Nitya-Kali are mentioned in the Tantra philosophy. When there were neither the creation, nor the sun, the moon, the planets, and the earth, and when darkness was enveloped in darkness, then the Mother, the Formless One, Maha-Kali, the Great Power, was one with Maha-Kala, the Absolute.
"Syama-Kali has a somewhat tender aspect and is worshipped in the Hindu households. She is the Dispenser of boons and the Dispeller of fear. People worship Raksha-Kali, the Protectress, in times of epidemic, famine, earthquake, drought, and flood. Smasana-Kali is the embodiment of the power of destruction. She resides in the cremation ground, surrounded by corpses, jackals, and terrible female spirits. From Her mouth flows a stream of blood, from Her neck hangs a garland of human heads, and around Her waist is a girdle made of human hands.
"After the destruction of the universe, at the end of a great cycle, the Divine Mother garners the seeds for the next creation: She is like the elderly mistress of the house, who has a hotchpotch-pot in which she keeps different articles for household use. (All laugh.)
"Oh, yes! Housewives have pots like that, where they keep 'sea-foam', (The Master perhaps referred to the cuttlefish bone found on the seashore. The popular belief is that it is hardened sea-foam.) blue pills, small bundles of seeds of cucumber, pumpkin, and gourd, and so on. They take them out when they want them. In the same way, after the destruction of the universe, my Divine Mother, the Embodiment of Brahman, gathers together the seeds for the next creation. After the creation the Primal Power dwells in the universe itself. She brings forth this phenomenal world and then pervades it. In the Vedas creation is likened to the spider and its web. The spider brings the web out of itself and then remains in it. God is the container of the universe and also what is contained in it.
"Is Kali, my Divine Mother, of a black complexion? She appears black because She is viewed from a distance; but when intimately known She is no longer so. The sky appears blue at a distance; but look at it close by and you will find that it has no colour. The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance, but when you go near and take it in your hand, you find that it is colourless."

Source: The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

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Inspirational Quotes (Index) – Updated May 7, 2010

 

 

Update (May 7, 2010): All links now point to INDIASPIRITUALITY Lite

Quotes by Sri Ramakrishna

Quotes by Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa - 2

Quotes by Sri Ramana Maharshi

Quotes by Swami Vivekananda

Quotes By Lord Buddha

Quotes by Meher Baba

Quotes by Swami Ramsukhdasji Maharaj

Quotes by Swami Tadrupanand

Quotes by Paramhamsa Hariharananda

Quotes by Paramhansa Hariharananda - New

Quotes by Swami Rama

Quotes by Nisargadatta Maharaj

Quotes by Sant Jnaneshwar

Quotes by Sri Shirdi Sai Baba

Quotes by Sri Yukteswar

Quotes by Paramhansa Yogananda

Quotes by Jaggi Vasudev

Quotes by Swami Sivananda

Quotes by Swami Chinmaya

Quotes by Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi, the 68th Sankaracharya

Quotes from Bhagawat Gita

Quotes on Bhakti - Swami Sivananda

Quotes about Vairagya (Dispassion in society) - Sri Ramakrishna

 

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A Slideshow on Faith and Surrender.

Namaste,

Please find a slideshow on Faith and Surrender.

Faith And Surrender

View more presentations from Indiaspirituality Blog.

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If you do not wish to setup and account, here is a direct link on esnips

Hope you will find this presentation useful.

Aum

INDIASPIRITUALITY

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Prayers

This is an e-book in pdf format published by Vishva Hindu Parishad.

It contains very good collection of prayers. It contains Sanskrit Slokas with English translation/pronunciation and its meaning.

Table of Contents of this book:

Prayer to Lord Ganesh

Guru Mantra

Prathah Smarna

Daily Prayers

Surya Namaskar

Bhojan Mantra

Prayers to Gods/Goddeses

Gayatri Mantra

Peace Invocation

Saraswati Prarthana

Prayer at Dawn

Ishvandana

Atheshwar Stuti

Deeksha -- Valedictory Address

Bharatvarsha

Ekta Mantra

Sangathan Mantra

Prarthna

Vande Mataram

Subhashitam

Selected Aartis and Bhajans

Selected Bhavgeets and Songs

----

Direct Link

Check more books. See ebooks

 

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Mp3 downloads

Three new mp3 downloads are added. They can be downloaded from sound cloud.

1. Om Namoh Narayana: This is a slow group chanting in male voice. There a stuti for 1:53 mins. After that the chanting begins immediately. Since this was converted from an audio tape, so the voice quality is not very good. But it is worth listening.

2. Ashcharya Hai: This is a classic advaita bhajan based on Ajata Vada of Ashtavakra Gita. The sound quality is not good.

Ajata means

A + Jata

i.e. A + janma 

Janma = birth.

Ajata means “one which is not born”

This is the highest advaita principle in which nothing except Atman or Brahman exits. No world, no God, only pure Atman.

3. Chandramauli: This is also very old and classical song which sings in the praise of Lord Shiva. The sound quality is not very good, but worth listening.

Hope this music fills you with bliss.

Aum

INDIASPIRITUALITY.

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