Devi Mandir

Temple of Divine Mother

Story of Gautam Muni and the Pot

~~OM~~

I’m going to tell you a story about a time where there was a great drought in all of India. Everyone was wanting for water. Except for Gautam Muni. Gautam Muni was worshipping Gayatri Devi and he had established a pot. And every day he would chant the mantras, and while every day the rest of India was crying for water, a cloud came right over his ashram and poured down rain. And there was abundance in Gautam’s ashram.

Some of the Brahmins were suffering – they were wanting for food, their livestock was dying, their crops were withering. They said, “There is no recourse for us, who could save us, lets go take refuge with Gautam Muni.” And the Brahmins went to Gautam’s Ashram, they knocked on the door, and they said, “Gautam! Please give us refuge.” Gautam opened up the door and he said, “Oh, the Brahmins have come to bless me! Please come in!” And he went to the altar and he prayed to the Pot, “Please help me provide what is necessary to make these people comfortable. Let me honor my guests.” And then he lifted up the coconut and he reached into the pot and he pulled out asans for all the Brahmins, and said, “Please sit down.” And he then took some water from his samanyarghya – from the kosha, with the koshi, he poured water over their feet. And he said, “I offer you padyam”, and gave them an arghyam, an object of value. Then he gave them food and clothes and then he gave them wood and masala and said, “Please join me in the Yajna. Everybody make your own Yajna, please worship the Goddess!”

So every day the cloud would come over and pour rain on Gautam’s ashram and Gautam’s ashram continued to expand. And everybody started worshipping the Goddess in the form of the pot. And there was never lack in his ashram.

Gauri Mata on the Divine Mother

On one such occasion Gauri Mata said to the devotees, “In Durga Saptashati, the Divine Mother is described as “the most beneficent among the beneficent, the fulfiller of wishes.” The Divine Mother fulfills all the wishes of Her devotees. …read more
 

Devotee Shares About 2008 Sharanagata Sankalpa Mantra

Updating the numbers after a two week gap. We have had three people complete this sankalpa in the meantime. Congratulations to Vasantha, Rick Veda and Usha !!!

Here is what Ushaji had to say "I’ll miss doing this sankalpa. Do you think Shree Maa would give us a new one – or should we just keep going on this one ?"… Well, Ushaji, there is another sankalpa in the air, this time given to us by Swamiji … Stay tuned.. and thank you for your enthusiasm and participation !

Rick had this to say "All victory to the Mother of All Beings! I have completed my sankalpa. I am going to celebrate with some friends" Thank you Rick Veda !

Vasantha sent in a moving account of her experiences with chanting this mantra.

She says, " This year has been a very challenging one healthwise. I started it with a major surgery . The sankalpa mantra became my refuge during the slow and painful recovery process. Being restricted in movement , this became a perfect opportunity to keep at the mantra. I was gifted a clicker, and this became my constant companion. I used to go to sleep with the clicker in one hand and the mantra on my lips. It took away the physical pain, kept me focussed on the higher good, and made me at peace with my situation. My pranams again and again to Shree Maa and Swamiji for providing this opportunity to stay on track with my sadhana even during my illness. Their blessings make it all possible." Thank you Vasanthaji.
Here are the numbers for those of us that preferred to chant the mantra at the fire (Week ending April 8th 2007)

Name
Number of Mantras
Swamiji & Mandir Residents
Priceless
Michael
12,960
Janitri
6,048
Mousumi
10,908
Parvati
3,240
Total
33,156

And for those of us that chanted without the fire

Name
Number of Mantras
Arati
20,000
Babu
1,296
Bharata
81,000
Bharati
13,068
Brendan
3,843
Carie
2,732
Chocatane
33,048
Chris K
26,352
Chris W
34,765
Debi
111,111
Donna
32,490
Durga
9,396
Egyirba
9,180
Eric
94,824
Gauri
10,044
Georgiann
7,891
Henny
34,020
Janitri
19,196
Jayadeva
35,640
Julia
27,360
Kalachandra
20,736
Kaliananda
25,164
Kamalaji
31,861
Kanda
28,080
Karen
28,000
Kathy
26,920
Linda
824
Marsha
22,572
Maruthi
63,111
Mausumi
22,680
Michael
21,600
Michele
5,710
Morningsong
35,640
Muktimaa
15,120
Nickolas
2,300
Nirmal
5,184
Nirmalananda
15,700
Nanda
16,115
Papia
32,400
Patty
27,784
Prasana
10,840
Prathibha
20,422
Raghu
34,128
Rebeca
23,020
Rick Veda
103,140
Robin
24,500
Rolf
25,056
Rukmani
7,560
Sadhu Maa
11,261
Shubal
23,760
Sitara
7,424
Sundari
30,240
Shankari
11,880
Surya
111,111
Susan
51,732
Usha
105,732
Vasantha
108,000
Wendel
25,800
Wendy
31,860
Vinay
2,160
Visveshwar
34,236
Yogini
76,680
Total
1,915,299


Satsang on Guru Gita


~~OM~~

Guru Gita: Satsang with Shree Maa and Swamiji

In the following profound and elevating conversation, Shree Maa and Swamiji translate and discuss a Bengali commentary on the Guru Gita.

Mother is translating from a book by Nirmalananda, who is a disciple of Swami Pranavanandaji from Bharat Seva Ashram.

Who is the Respected Guru and what kind of behavior does the Guru exemplify? What is the Guru’s intrinsic nature and what is the principle of the Guru?

Who is able to take refuge in the Guru and what is the effect of taking refuge in Guru?

What is seva to the Guru, what is an offering to the Guru, what is the song of the Guru, and what is the discipline of a disciple?

What is the highest fruit of devotion to Guru?

The answers to all these questions are found in the scripture called Guru Gita.

Commentaries on Sri Guru Gita come from the Vishvasaara Tantra. These are expansions of the Guru Gita. Also people speak of Rudrayamal Tantra. All Tantras speak of the highest principle of the Guru.

In both the Vedas and Vedanta, the position of the Guru is held in very high regard. But in the Tantra scriptures, they speak of the Guru’s position as being the very highest. In the path of Tantra, the principle of Guru is the highest principle of all.

Guru is both the Supreme Divinity with form and without form.

The Guru is Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswar. The Respected Guru is both the motivation for the highest truth and the attainment and realization of the highest truth. These are illuminated in all of the verses contained in the Guru Gita.

The foremost principle and discussion of the highest importance has been given by Sada Shiva. His first student was Parvati.

Guru Gita informs us by which sadhana, by what means, can someone who wears a body attain success.

Without a doubt, Shiva has illuminated these questions in this scripture. The path of the Guru is the king of all dharmas (king of all ideals of perfection – the Supreme). In order to attain prasad (consecrated offering) from the Guru, your birth, your past, your karma (what kind of activities you perform) are not required subjects. The ignorant, the lazy and those steeped in darkness (tamas) will not proceed in this path. They are not capable of achieving the understanding of the wisdom of the principles. They don’t have wisdom or desire knowledge of liberation.

It is incumbent upon all those who take refuge in the Guru to do so with their body, mind and speech.

Seva (selfless service as an expression of love) to the Guru, Puja, aaradhana is a disciple’s sadhana. Giving pleasure to the Guru is your sadhana, your worship.

Whoever is able to do atma samarpan (surrender of his or her own soul in equilibrium) to the Sri Guru’s Feet – giving up all their attachment – this is samadhi and siddhi (attainment of perfection). This is the path of the Guru.

The Guru is not a human being. The Guru is the Supreme Divinity made manifest. Because of this, we cannot look at our Guru as just a human being. This Guru principle is united with all pure qualities, beautiful attributes, the greatness of all purity. This is the authority that comes through the Guru.

If you can perceive these qualities in your Guru, you will not think of your Guru as a mere human being. The Guru is Bhagavan (Supreme Divinity).

All the qualities and all the attitudes, all the energies and all that is Infinite or eternal, all the wisdom that is inculcated – all these qualities are only reflected in God. That Godliness is reflected in the Guru. So we should not think of the Guru as a human being. We would think of the Guru as the emblem or representative of Supreme Divinity.

Where there is atma samarpan, the disciple becomes a mirror and there is union between Guru and disciple in a great radiant light. When there is a transfer of energy from Guru to disciple and surrender, there is a light that is incomparable to anything you can see with worldly eyes.

Trailinga Swami once locked himself in His room for three days. His disciple was very worried and wanted to see Swamiji. He went to the door and banged and banged and banged. Trailinga Swamiji said ‘Who are you?”

The disciple was full of his own ego self, and replied, “I am so and so”. He felt he was a real disciple, but he was not at that moment. There was no response from within. On the second day, the disciple went again and banged on the door and received the same question. Again he answered, “I am so and so”. Nothing happened. On third day, the disciple thought deeply and cried, “Why is the Guru doing this to me?”

Again he knocked on the door with reverence. Trailinga Swami asked, “Who are you?” The disciple replied, “You.” Trailinga Swamji opened the door.

The Guru-disciple relationship is very subtle. Atma samarpan has become a big market nowadays. The relationship between Guru and Disciple is truth. A truthful relationship means surrender. You will get everything with surrender.

Where is the individual form of God? Ishwara, God, the Supreme Soul, is everywhere, in every place. He is in the gross body, the subtle body, the modifications of the mind and unmanifest as well. How can the individual wearing a body grasp Supreme Divinity, find Him, touch Him with sensory knowledge? With our current perception, this is a very difficult issue.

There is a solution to this issue in Hindu Dharma. Scriptures say that He who understands Supreme Divinity, becomes Supreme Divinity. Who has refined the discipline of sadhana, becomes united with all the tendencies of sadhana, he understands the nature of the Supreme Divinity. That individual becomes a representative of Supreme Divinity.

A great example of that is Swamiji!!! This moment Swamiji does not need sadhana. He can go to the Himalayas and be by Himself. But to show the world, He is doing sadhana.

We are born, we learn how to walk, first we learn from our parents – how to walk, how to eat – step by step, our whole life is sadhana. In childhood we are learning how to be human. Now we are learning how to be with the soul. Without sadhana, we will never know.

The Supreme Divinity, the teacher, and the yogi who has attained divinity are all one.

The Yogi is actually a murti – the perceivable form of Supreme Divinity. All the true qualities of a Yogi are illuminated in reality.

We believe that according to the needs of the age, God Himself comes in an embodied form. That Supreme Divinity which is Infinite beyond conception takes a human form and takes birth in the mortal world.

He is undefeatable and that is the Supreme Divinity manifested amongst all the elements of existence.

When we do surrender our soul in equilibrium (atma samarpana), we receive Diksha. The first chapter of this experience is to receive a mantra in the ear, but that is only the first chapter. Om