Miracles Do Still Happen!!!!

Everyday we read about how miracles changed people's lives overnight.We sometimes wonder and even laugh off miracles as mere coincidences or may be even blind beliefs.
Today's world is filled with so many guru's and swamiji's who have brought changes to many many people,be it their health,happiness or mental peace.
Though our mind rubbishes the idea of miracles I for one do firmly believe that "Miracles Do Still Happen". Let me affirm my belief with some incidences that have happened in my life which I believe are Miracles.I have a really beautiful book written by Dadaji Dilip Kumar Roy&Indira Ma titled "Miracles Do Still Happen.Go here to learn more about them.Today while writing this blog I am reminded of Indra ma and Dadaji.I used to be a regular visitor to "Hare Krishna Mandir",at Deep Bungalow Chowkh Pune, during my college days.However I must admit here that back then I hardly realised the good fortune I had of having the blessings of these Great Souls.I remember now Indra Ma blessed me with a beautiful orange colour silk saree on my wedding day(I went to the mandir soon after marriage).Indeed I for sure did not have the maturity then that I should preserve that precious gift which probably may not have come to many. I many times also feel I have missed out on great opportunities Life showed me and gave me purely because of my IGNORANCE and lack of AWARENESS.Of course needless to add that I do not repent the way life has been taking turns and twists.Maybe it was all for some good for sure.
Now coming back to miracles.The last few years I have had the good fortune of having Sri Shirdi Saibaba's Darshan at Shirdi.You can see this for more on shirdi. It is said that Shirdi is one place which one cannot visit unless HE wants you to.It was during one of these visits only, I am not very sure if it was November or December 2006.My dear friend and I planned a shirdi trip to have Baba's Darshan and blesings.We had some special passes for the darshan.We reached shirdi as per our plan.We wanted to be in for the arti.Being a Sunday there was too much crowd and because we had passes we were permitted to join the queque at the final entry point.Before us a senior citizen group of about 35 people were allowed in too.Seeing us all join the queue this way people waiting in the general queue were upset and some of them started shouting, abusing and pushing.We were standing at the foot of the staircase and I was so very scared as to what was going to happen the next moment,but kept saying 'sai ram, sai ram' and hoping he will sure solve the tense situation here.All of us tsnading there were helpless and just waiting.,when suddenly all the commotion quietened down and all those shouting, abusing and pushing us started saying 'Sadguru Sainath Maharaj Ki Jai!!!'In a moment the atmosphere there changed and now was charged with Love and Bhakti.I had tears in my eyes,we had a very good arti darshan and came out so happy and pleased.We were just out of the Samadhi Mandir darshan and walking towards collecting Udi when my phone rang.It was my DH calling to tell me that he could get a confirmed ticket for me for 5th jan 07 to travel to Abudhabi with him.(The flash back story of this ticket is that we had both been trying for a long time to get my ticket for 5th jan which we never did manage with any airline since it was Dubai festival time it was all booked).Indeed I do consider this a miracle and leela of Sai.
Another one which I am sure is a miracle (though may be something else for others)I would love to share here.
I had gone to US last year to be with my DD.She was having a very important exam (the qualifiers for her Phd).She had put in a great deal of effort and hard work preparing for the exam.The night before the exams she just switched on her lap top to check if all was set when to her dismay the lap top just would not start.The adaptor failed to start.Needless to mention the panic that followed and with not many options left.It was late night and so going out to buy a new adaptor was out of question.Her friend had assured her that she would lend hers and so leaving the rest to GOD we went to bed.Morning I got up as usual had coffee and all the while this was working on my mind.I quietly took her lap top out of her bag and said a small prayer to myself switched it on,wonder of wonders it started with out a problem.I was so so happy that my prayer had been answered spot on.Needless to say that her exam went off well.
These small incidents that happen in our lives reaffirm our faith in GOD and for sure they keep reminding me "Miracles Do Still Happen".
This blog has inspired to fish out my copy of "Miracles Do Still Happen" and start reading it again after sooooooooooooo many years.

Faith Can Move Mountains!!

This morning I got up from bed thinking about how when you want something with utmost sincerity and earnestness it does happen.I recently took the Art Of Living Basic Course.It was indeed a wonderful and joyous experience.There were about 10 others who took the course with me then.One of them was a very, very shy and quiet person Subbu.

Subbu hardly ever spoke and just had mono syllabic answers(someone always translated what he had to say) whenever our teacher asked him a question.One day during the session our teacher was asking each one of us what wish we wished for.When it was Subbu' s turn he said he wished a couple of things,he had a baby girl who had some congenital defects,he wished she will get ok,he wanted to buy a house &also get his sister married. The last day of the course it was pretty amazing to see Subbu come up in front and actually take the mike and say a few things.I was so moved when he said that his sisters marriage was fixed and also house booked.Truly Awesome I thought.The most amazing thing that all observed was Subbu coming up in front and actually talking.

Later on the last day of the course our teacher had something even more beautiful to share with us.She was telling us how Subbu came to do the AOL basic course.Subbu works as a labourer here in Abudhabi.Every Saturday he would join another friend of his (who has done the basic course and also asking Subbu to take the course) and distribute AOL flyers,(he knew nothing about AOL),just sincerely handing out flyers to people. (Subbu thought that hewould never be able to take the course because it meant paying dirhams550 which was beyond his reach for sure).One Saturday his friend introduced him to our teacher and said that he has no money to do the AOL course but he would like to do it.She asked him to enroll for the course and said let's see, about the fees.Wonder of wonders,that same night she said she had two volunteers who called her and said that they want to sponsor fees for two people who earnestly want to do the course and have no money.Subbu's fees was taken care of this way.I was indeed touched to hear this.I believe this is probably what faith is.

The last time I met Subbu at the follow up session and enquired about his baby girl, he sounded so positively happy and told me she is now able to stand with support and in fact is reassuring him over phone that she will very soon start walking and he should not worry about her.Isn't that great!!!See what sincerity and faith can do,simply amazing stuff.

The most important thing about faith is, if you don't have it you can't understand it. And if you do, no explanation is necessary.

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

I just happened to read a few quotes on faith by some renowned people and thought should put it down here.

"Love is faith, and one faith leads to another."

Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.--Bible

Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into. -- Mahatama Gandhi.

Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.--Rabindranath Tagore

Let me conclude this with a quote from the Baghwad Gita:

In the Baghwad Gita chapter XVII Sri Krishna says: the faith of each is in accordance with one's own natural disposition (based on Karmic impressions). A person is known by the faith. One can become whatever one wants to be (if one constantly contemplates on the object of desire with faith). (17.03)
One can attain success in any endeavor if one perseveres with firm determination (MB 12.153.116). Whatever a person of purified mind desires, one obtains those objects (MuU 3.01.10). The doer of good acts becomes good, and the doer of evil becomes evil. One becomes virtuous by virtuous deeds and vicious by vicious acts (BrU 4.04.05). One becomes what one constantly and intensely thinks of; irrespective of the reasons that may be reverence, fear, jealousy, love, or even hatred (BP 11.09.22).
We are the product of our own thoughts and desires, and our own architects. Where there is a will there is a way. We should harbor noble thoughts, because thoughts precede deeds. Thoughts control our physical, mental, financial, as well as spiritual well-being.

Whatever is done without faith; whether it is sacrifice, charity, austerity, or any other act; is called "Asat." It has no value here or hereafter, O Arjuna..

Anger

Many of us have read or heard the story of Sant Eknath.His story is always quoted as an example for any one and everyone who wants to conquer his temper.Some vagabonds from his village decided to test his patience.One of them waited at the banks of the Godavari river for Eknath.Sant Eknath after a dip in the Godavari walked towards the temple for his regular prayer when the vagabond waiting for him at the banks spat out on the saint.Without a sign of anger Eknath went and had another dip in the Godavari.This continued all daytill dusk and the guy spitting on Sant Eknath got tired and restless but not the saint.Sant Eknath very patiently walked backed to the Godavari and had a dip everytime the fellow spat on him.Finally the vagabond was surprised to see that Sant Eknath was as fresh and smiling as he was in the morning,whereas his mouth was aching stiff due to spitting.He came and fell at Sant Eknath's feet and the saint blessed him with so much love and compassion.The vagabond asked the saint how it was possible for him to be so calm and composed,Eknath replied ,"brother if you can stick so stubbornly to this vice of harrassing a sadhu,then it is isn't the least surprising that I should on my part stick to my virtue of not losing my temper".He goes on to say the dirt in the body can be cleansed by taking a dip in water but if anger enters the mind it defiles the mind and no amount of bathing in any river can cleanse one of that impurity.

It is of course not very easy to attain the level of Sant Eknath but surely we can make an attempt control our temper.There are bound to be instances when we are unhappy or angry with someone or for something.In fact this situation comes in front of us all the time in our lives.

When we are angry we blame everyone except ourselves and so express our anger by loud outbursts,little realising what the outburst has done to the other person.Self awareness is one important way of gaining control over our emotions.

If we just take a few minutes to think about some common reasons we get angry with others:
We get angry when others disagree with us,when they do not understand us,when they do not respect us ,when they obstruct us from doing what we want....,when they control us,(these are I think some of the reasons why we get angry).If we try to replace the word they with 'I' we will realise that the anger we feel towards others is actually a projection of the anger we feel towards ourselves.If we are able to understand and accept ourselves in those situations then we might understand and accept others too.We need to accept and agree that we all have faults.It is important to divert our energy towards correcting or changing that which makes us angry.We need to learn to forgive and forget and love others as we love ourselves,and accept everyone the way they are and not for what we want them to be.

We need to learn to look within ourselves and realise that we are responsible for whatever happens to us,we are the author of our life.


Let us become aware of ourselves and lead a happy and harmonious life.Let us realise that life is short and is not meant to be wasted.Let us try and lead a life of happiness,cheer and joy!!!!
Thinking negatively and indulging in negative acts will only put negative forces in our life.Thinking positively can certainly attract positive forces in our life and we will be able to enjoy abundance of happiness,peaceand prosperity.

Ghost in the building!!!!

Our society was made up of 14 flats .Nine, two bedroom flats and six, three bedroom flats. My DH was the secretary of the society then.There was a tamil family staying in one of the three bedroom flats.They had moved in recently.Let us call them Mr&Mrs S for our convenience.

I used to take tutions for a few primary& secondary school kids in those days just to keep myself busy and enjoyed my tuition sessions a great deal.'A' was a Marwadi kid who used to come.He was in class iv then.One day class was going on as usual when Mrs.S (the new tenant in the three bedroom flat )came over and had an anxious look.Mrs.S by the way is a teacher too in one of the schools close by.After the usual greetings and customary enquiries Mrs.S had something weird to narrate.She was sure something unusual had been going on in the terrace of the building, the last few days.On enquiry she started narrating her experience which goes like this:
'The last ten days,I have been hearing someone dragging furniture and then dancing away rythmically'or maybe skipping at a very unearthly hour of 4 am..She went on to say that this was happening at the same time each day.Do you think there is a ghost or something in the building'??Mrs.S added??I was pretty amused at this observation and just brushed aside the idea of ghosts as funny.Then after some discussion we decided(mrs.S&me)we will catch the culprit the next morning by going to the terrace before 4 a.m.& hide and wait till we catch them red handed.

I went back to my tutions after the break with Mrs.S, thinking what could possibly be the cause for the noise coming at unearthly hours. "A (the marwadi kid)was observing me and very quietly and with a great deal of hesitation said: 'teacher .... from tomorrow they will not hear the noise'....
I gave him a surprised look(the first surprise being, he had been listening to our conversation) and asked him how he knows about the noise???
"With a very sheepish and shy smile A said .... teacher...... 'my mummy was making papad last ten ,twelve days (making papad involves beating the dough with an iron boulder ('irumbu ulakkai' in Tamil) to make the dough pliable and soft to roll papads.This usually involves two women who rythmically beat the dough and that is what was causing the rythmic beats!!)and today is the last day..... so you will not hear the noise from tomorrow'.
I could not control my laughter and had a hearty laugh.
After class I rushed to Mrs S. and explained to her the source of all the noise she was hearing was just papads being made in the flat below hers, and nothing beyond.No ghosts involved for sure!!!Mrs.S&I shared a hearty laugh and dispersed.

Problem Of Plenty!!!

I remember my childhood days when we would very eagerly look forward to festivals.Festivals those days meant so much of enjoyment& happiness.The new clothes,the sweetmeats, good food,meeting relatives and friends were all a definite part of every festival.

Every festival had it own specifics.Let us start from the tamil new year or 'Vishu'.

New Year in tamil families generally referred to as"Varusha Pirappu"was ushered in, in a beautiful way.Early morning after decorating the main entrance or vasal with a nice big Kolam or rangoli as it is known and tying 'maavilai' on the door, it is 'Kani Kanaradu'.A tray with betel leaves,supari, turmeric,coconut, fruit variety,flowers,raw bananas,raw rice, gold or silver coin &sandal&kumkum, a'Ramayanambook' is arranged& a mirror is kept on the tray where you can see the reflection of all that is in the tray.A Kuthivilakku is also placed alongside.This is generally called 'Vishu Kani'. All of us begin the day by going to the pujai room first and opening our eyes there, so that Kani is the first thing you see that day.This ofcourse is not a practise in all tamil households.(used to be a practise in my house though!)It is also a belief that the page that one opens on the Ramayanam book that day will have a beariing on one's life in the coming year.New clothes was certainly a part of the celebration.Doing namaskaram to all elders at home and taking their blessings was mandatory for all festivals.Then followed the good New Year grand lunch.The New year lunch involves all types of vegetables,bitter, sweet sour etc.the idea is probably that life is made up of sweet, sour& bitter stuff.A typical new year lunch in aTamil household as I remember would be:

mango (raw mango) sweet pachidi with neem flowers seasoning,thair pachidi,poriyal,aviyal,bittergourd pitlai, tomato rasam, appalam vadai, payasam,if 'mapillai'(son in law) is visting then poli.I remember as a kid I used to truly enjoy everything.

Like this every festival had its own specific charm and enjoyment.Modakams, (I remember my mother used to make five types of Kozhyakattai's) for Pillayar chathurthi,Cheedai, tattai therattipal etc for janmashtami,different types of sundal during navarathri and mixture, halwa, thenguyal, mysore pak, legiyam for Diwali.(I remember my mother never skipped the Halwa during Diwali for so many, many years).

Today I observe that none of all this can be of any enjoyment to most kids.Getting up early and taking a bath is a major task. The new year by itself is probably no big deal today (in fact may be a bore for quite a few of the younger generation),the food does not interest them,nor does anything else accompanying.I many times wonder what the reason could be, why none of those hold any charm for present day kids.

Is it because today there is always some sweet at home all through the year, new clothes are always there in the cupboard,we tend to always make food that they like,is it becasue we have pampered and spoilt tham no end???Is it that we have failed somewhere as parents to teach our children to enjoy the little things of life ??Is it aproblem of plenty???

Is it that we have not been able to explain the importance of all our festivals because we were busy with our own search in life???Is it that we ourselves are not convinced about the way festivals are celebrated???

Our elders did not have as much of financial freedom as we do, but inspite of it all festivals were celebrated with full enthusiasm and happiness.They enjoyed the smile in their children's faces.A new dress and some sweets were enough to make a kid feel happy and be thrilled.Today probably only expensive gifts could bring that smile I suppose.I am driven to think that the reason for this is the problem of plenty!!!

It is very important to teach kids to enjoy the small things in LIFE!!!!

Wishing Everyone

"INIYA SARVATHARI VARUSHA VAZHTHUKKAL!!!!"