Faith You should cultivate shraddha (faith), bhava (feeling) and devotion. You should have ruchi, a taste for Gods name. You should have knowledge of the science of upasana, japa yoga, mantra yoga and bhakti yoga. You should have a clear idea of the goal and nature of God. You should have vairagya, non-attachment to the sensory experiences. You should know how mantra japa produces its purifying effects on the mind, destroys rajas and tamas, fills the mind with sattwa, and changes human nature into divine nature. Only then will you will be highly benefited and have quick progress in the spiritual path. The Bhagavad Gita is an authority on the nine modes of worship. Lord Krishna illustrates that the various modes of devotion all lead to the Supreme. In the Srimad Bhagavat and the Vishnu Purana, the nine forms of worship are given as follows: 1. Shravana - hearing of Gods lilas (divine plays and stories) 2. Kirtan - singing His glories 3. Smarana - constant remembrance of His name and presence 4. Padasevana - service to His feet 5. Archana - ritual worship of God with or without form 6. Vandana - prostration, prayer to the Lord 7. Dasya - cultivating the inner attitude of a servant of God 8. Sakhya - cultivation the attitude of friendship with God 9. Atma nivedana - complete surrender of the self. - - Swami Sivananda A human being has two things – intelligence and faith. It was through intelligence that he learnt about God, but it was through faith that he experienced God. Not knowledge, but experience comes about through faith. Just as love, enmity, jealousy, joy and sorrow are not the stuff of the intellect, but of experience, faith is also a matter of experience. Shraddha, faith, is the brahmastra, the ultimate weapon of spirituality. It is the ultimate power of spiritual life. If ones faith remains intact in spite of the assaults and challenges, then one has real unwavering faith. A disciple of such deep faith can even have the darshan of God. The gurus place is thus considered to be the highest. To experience God, faith and belief are prime necessities, and the beginning of faith and belief is through the guru. In this faith, he sees the shadow, the reflection and splendor of God. Let not that guru be forgotten Who has lit the lamp of jnana. It was only with the grace of the Lord That the guru came and met me. - Swami Satyananda rikhiapeeth.net/
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 15:56:12 +0000
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