Satsang Times May-June, 2015 Let’S Welcome Chaturmaas
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Swami Shreeji! Volume 5, Issue 5-6 Satsang Times May-June, 2015 Let’s Welcome Chaturmaas In this issue: Though He was totally detached from the worldly affairs, Shreeji Maharaj always liked festivals. He celebrated many festivals with grandeur and Let’s Welcome religious fervor and infused new excitement in people who were frustrated Chaturmaas due to the terror of kings, oppression of dacoits, bad customs, etc. He How Do We overcome reformed the celebration of festivals, to be devoid of any vices and bad Maya? customs. It was a new way of celebrating festivals, where fatanaas (songs with swearing and illicit words) were replaced by devotional songs; Kakaji Where Faith Conquers Logic bhaand-bhavais (illicit dramas and dances) were replaced by traditional dances such as raas; gambling, drinking, and other vices were replaced Festivals During by acts of kindness, donation, fasting, and good deeds. Maharaj Chaturmaas incorporated spiritual discourses into these festivals to guide people towards more divine activities. The atmosphere was fun-filled, and the main highlight of these festivals was the divine knowledge Bhagwan would impart. As a result, these festivals became a pathway to liberation and were referred to as samaiyaas. Divine Days: Chaturmaas is a period of four auspicious months in the Indian calendar, July 31: GuruPoornima and was eagerly awaited by devotees because of the many festivals August 29: celebrated within this period (see full list below). It begins with the month Rakshabandhan of Ashaadh, in which we celebrate Guru Poornima and Hindola Parva. In September 1: Pappaji’s Birthday the month of Shravan, we celebrate Lord Krishna’s birthday, September 5: Lord Rakshabandhan, and Ganesh Chaturthi in the month of Bhadarvo. We Krishna’s Birthday have Navratri and Diwali in the month of Aso. Chaturmas begins with Devpodhi Ekadashi—the eleventh day of the first bright half, Shukla paksha, of Ashadh —until Prabodhini Ekadashi, the eleventh day of the first bright half of Kartik. Devpodhi Ekadashi is also called the “Niyamani Ekadashi.” On this day, devotees perform one extra Note from the Editor: spiritual observance to please Lord Vishnu, who is at the doorstep of King Please contact us at Bali in the paataal (nether regions). To continuously remember Him in [email protected], hopes that He returns early, devotees perform various spiritual activities. or [email protected] This tradition was continued by Shreeji Maharaj Himself by giving vows to with any feedback. His devotees. In verses 76-78 of Shikshapatri, Shreeji Maharaj has mentioned some observances for devotees during these four months. From Chicago, Parixit and Richa’s Once, during Shreeji Maharaj’s stay in Mangrol, this Ekadashi was being Jay SwamiNarayan celebrated. Devotees from various places came for Maharaj’s darshan and took a vow according to their capacity, such as listening or reading stories of God, singing God’s glory, offering mahapooja by bathing the image of God in panchamrut [milk, butter, yogurt, sugar, and honey], chanting God’s name, reciting stotra, doing pradikshina [circling clockwise around the image of God], and offering prostrations. Pleased with their devotion and wanting to elevate them, Shreeji Maharaj graciously commanded the devotees to take one more vow: To meditate upon the manifest form of God by thoroughly understanding His greatness (HariCharitramutSagar 3/20). Satsang Times, Volume 5, Issue 5-6 This year, Chaturmaas begins from July 27. Understanding the inner wish of Shreeji Maharaj to worship the manifest form of God, let’s remember the gunatit saints, the manifest form of God, in all our actions, and all the time. In addition, let’s partake in at least one spiritual observances to reap the full benefit of these four months. How Do We Overcome Maya? Continuation of previous article… Let’s say we are locked in a room with a latch closed from outside. Only a person on the outside can unlock us. Our task is to find a person on the outside, who will release us from the closed room. The first person who is above the realm of Maya is the Lord Himself. Let’s suppose an ingenious software engineer created a computer virus that can affect millions of computers. No antivirus software has been found yet. The computer virus is very deceptive and potent, and only a few people, besides him, can understand it. No one else except him can develop an antivirus to stop it. No matter how powerful the virus is, only the engineer has the ultimate power to stop it from victimizing others. We can assure that his members and friends are not his targets. Similarly, since the Lord has created maya, He completely controls it (Vachanamrut Gadhada First 51). Only He can decide who should be affected by it and who should not be affected by it (Vachanamrut Gadhada Middle 21). If we are in the beads of His rosary, maya would not be able to create bondage for us. By offering single-minded devotion to Him with the understanding of His magnanimity, accepting Him as the All-doer and with a form, and following His commands, one can find a place in His rosary. The second person above maya is Aksharbrahm Gunatitanand Swami, the divine abode of Lord SwamiNarayan, or Brahm. Let’s assume our software engineer developed an antivirus that required a secret activation code. Without the code, the antivirus software is useless. Besides Him, only His secretary has the activation code. Due to his/her proximity, the secretary also learned of the complexity of the virus and methods to prevent it. We can assume that whomever is in close association with His secretary also may not feel threatened by this virus. Similarly, Lord SwamiNarayan has given the key of Akshardham to his chosen devotee Gunatitanand Swami. Whomever pleases Gunatitanand Swami also gets liberated from the shackles of maya, while the ultimate controller remains Lord SwamiNarayan (Vachanamrut Gadhada First 73). The Shrimad Bhagvat Puran states, “God dispels the ignorance of maya through His dham.” It is only through Aksharbrahm that a soul can associate itself with God and understand Him well enough to seek complete refuge in Him. Due to maya, the soul is clouded and distracted from its association with God. By associating with Aksharbrahm, the soul becomes divine by default because Aksharbrahm is eternally divine. All of the actions and experiences of the soul become divine, thereby bringing the soul out of the darkness of maya. So far we learned that Brahm and Parabrahm are above the shackles of maya. What if our programmer decided to give out the secret code for the antivirus to other qualified individuals in their close association? As a result, there are now many individuals who can remove the virus from our computers. Similarly, saints who have developed unity with Brahm can elevate souls from the bondage of maya. In Vachanamrut Gadhada First 54, Lord Swaminarayan cites the Shrimad Bhagavat Puran and says that the 2 Satsang Times, Volume 5, Issue 5-6 gunatit saint is the only pathway to God and to liberation. Like Aksharbrahm, he is responsible for helping the souls get free from maya. In fact, the gunatit saints are the manifestations of God on this earth, as described by Nishkulanand Swami in Purushottam Prakash, 41. In Vachanamrut Sarangpur 10, Maharaj also states the darshan of such saints is equal to the darshan of God. Thus, Lord SwamiNarayan, Gunatitanand Swami, and the Gunatit saints are above maya, who can release us from the shackles of maya. Just as fishes near the fisherman are not caught by his net, souls who are near these 3 entities will not be affected by maya. After physically departing from the world, God forever remains on the earth through gunatit saints and helps souls to elevate from the tangle of maya (Vachanamrut Vardtal 10). However, the challenge remains how do we recognize a gunatit saint? What are the qualifications of such saints? To be continued… Kakaji Where Faith Conquers Logic A few days ago, I received a very unique text message. It was a conversation between a pregnant mother and her daughter. Testing her daughter’s morals, she lovingly asked her daughter, “What do you want – a brother or a sister?” “Brother,” replied her daughter. Mom asked, “Like whom? Ram or Ravan.” “Ravan,” said the daughter. She became angry upon hearing this and tersely asked, “Why?” “Why not?” the daughter replied, “Ravan risked all his royal ship and kingdom, all because his sister was disrespected. Even after kidnapping Sita, he didn’t ever touch her. On the other hand, Ram left his pregnant wife after listening to a washer man, though His wife always stood by His side.” The mother was in tears. This is the power of logic. By logical arguments, we can change the perspective of the situation. By logical arguments, we can prove a dacoit to be a sadhu, and vice versa. Logic can prove that the act of stealing is as good as the act of donation. We live in a society, where by logic, genuine people suffer and fakes are worshipped. In 1975, several years before his death, Chaplin entered a look-alike contest of himself in France. At the time of the competition, he was in France. As a joke, he entered the contest incognito. The competition ended and he placed 3rd! When asked, Chaplin attributed his third place to logic of judges, but his faith made him a first-place winner in the real life. Intellect is a gift and it is normal to apply logic. It is appropriate in many situations, such as buying a car. We need to use our intellect and logic to choose the car that best fits our needs and budget.