Understanding Sitaram's teachings correctly - Japa is mandatory. Spiritual Effort is a must for every Sitarams disciple.

[Kishore Rao]

Jai Guru!
Wonderful messages.
 Fellow sadhaka's  attention is drawn to an innocous line that could be  misleading-
"now we have hardly any time to  do any spiritual activities.even a simple japa of 108 counts is far from time worthy for todays earthling, in this situation comes the param brahman yogiyogi..."
".this is what this india needs today.come lets put all our might and practice nam at the least fraction of second we are conscious,and we can,by his power.."

So does it mean a person does not have do japa?
Or just do it for a fraction of a time and we can by his power...

 No it is not, emphatically not.  We have to follow Sitaram's teachings and then by his grace get untold blessings. He has specially blessed us by giving us the mantra..and also given instructions on how we are to now proceed. 

As far as Sitaram's teachings go, Thakur has mandated the japa practice as compulsory for all categories of devotees who have taken diksha, these are mandatory:

• 464.p 135. Cloudburst of thousand suns: " Sadhus should carry out one lakh japa count daily and the householders must achieve a count of 25000 Nam japa everyday"
• 460 p 135- " be scruplous in doing the japa in the morning, midday, evening and midnight..Mantra is no ordinary thing. Mantra is god"
• Gurudeva hasnt bestowed mantra alone; he has gifted god in the shape of a mantra. If you chant that mantra  ten or twelve times or a 108 times how can you gain peace? At least for six months try and do a japa count of 21,600 daily and then see whether you get peace or not."
  
• " Offer prayers at appropriate hour every day.It is the bounden duty of every Brahmin to do trisandhya daily.Other castes should only  do japa, meditation and prayer". " " A brahmin must eat satvik food and every day complete 108 count of Ishta Gayatri Japa and 1008 count of Vedic Gayatri japa.."
  
• The first duty of the spiritual aspirant is to perform minimum of one hour of japa thrice daily- at dawn, noon and dusk.."
• " practice unbroken naam japa;that will give you supreme bliss. Those who can always chant naam standing or sitting, eating or resting, in pure or impure condition, are the only ones who will get the nectar of contentment and be blessed"
  
• Many people take diksha just for the sake of amusement.They give up the required practice in a month or two. What can even a sidhha guru do for this kind of disciple? " "Effort is a must.How can one expect fruit without any effort?
  

- Words of Sitaram.

It is very clear that there are two things here:

1. Practice of Japa is the beginning stage as a practice. A discipline, a sadhana. A count and a method is prescribed. It is mandatory.
2.This will flow into unbroken remembrance for an advanced practitioner. Unbroken remembrance is an advanced practice.It is very difficult.One may get mislead thinking-  by remembering god randomly at convenience one is having unbroken remembrance. 

 Sitaram's writing elsewhere is quoted for more clarity - Sri Sri Namamrita Lahiri, Vol -I, p33-34 where he makes it very very clear:

Q: I do not understand the significance of the saying that god gives "Mukti" liberation to one who utter Krishna or Ram even once.  I do not understand how one gets liberated from the sin of even killing a Brahman by uttering the word Jagganath once

A: If a man in the right  frame of mind, utters the name of Narayana even once, he attains Nirvana. Here the term, man with the 'right frame of mind" really applies to one who is full of "satwik gunas".

Sitaram says-" I appeal to you;come my dear men and women of the arya raace, return back to your dharma, to your karma, to your sadhana. show deference unto the shastras.Come brothers! Come children. Return to your kingdom of peace! ..

In this very life and this very body you will gain your divine identity- through satvik and pure food, worship at regular hours, swadhyaya and daily japa.


Your's humbly and affectionately  Sitaram's Servant.

On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 9:29 PM, hans <heman...@gmail.com> wrote:

Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnathdev says:

"There is nothing but ‘Naam’ in the whole universe,
God Himself comes down as his beloved ‘Naam’.
As the ‘Apara Prakriti’ [manifest nature],
He appears as everything visible or perceptible,
He is ‘Nirguna’, He is ‘Saguna’, He is the un-manifest ‘Purusha’.
He is also known as the ‘Apara’ [manifest] ‘Prakriti’ [nature]
and ‘Kshetra’ [body].
As the ‘Para’ [supreme] ‘Prakriti’ [life force or ‘Shakti’],
He is identical with ‘Omkar’.
By ‘Panchikaran’ [i.e. mixing in proper proportions],
the ‘Bhutas’ form the gross material world.
Without ‘Panchikaran’, they remain as fine bodies [not
perceptible by the senses]."


Visit Baba at: www.guravenamah.com / www.streamsofnectar.com



On Jul 24, 8:46 pm, soumyabrata das

<soumyabrata.dsoumyabr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> jai guru,
>            sitaram jai sitaram jai sitaram jai sitaram.the philosophy of
> sitaramji is that of the uddharmarg of kali.now we have hardly any time to
> do any spiritual activities.even a simple japa of 108 counts is far from
> time worthy for todays earthlings.in this situation comes the param brahman
> yogiyogi,the nath of omkar(shiv),the guru of paramguru,thakur sri sri
> sitaram bhagawan.he tells us-no need -you dont have to perform any
> rituals,you dont have to perform any special ceremony,you dont have to
> maintain any boundation of time and place,you dont have to allot a special
> time,yet you can see HIM,the almighty,yet you can find solace,yet you can be
> calm as the ether and become god himself by just uttering his name once.He
> says-when you walk-say him name,when you sleep,talk,sit,eat ,converse-utter
> his name,in whatevcer place and time-you will find and be HIM.this is what
> this india needs today.come lets put all our might and practice nam at the
> least fraction of second we are conscious,and we can,by his power and will
> we can one day spread the naam of naamavatar in every little corner of the
> earth.jai guru jai naam jai bhagawan
>                                                          jai guru jai guru
> jai guru.
>

>  sitaram's abhaya.jpg
> 53KViewDownload

[arka]

JAI GURU Kishoreji,
your comment is really very true... spiritual practice is
indispensable for any devotee.
i would like to share something which i heard from SRI Madhav Swamiji.
he was telling me that chanting NAM is only apparently easy, but is
actually very difficult. NAM is GOD, is holding onto GOD so easy?...
no, we can feel it in our lives. how much time do we remember to
chant?
one can hold onto NAM only as a consequence of spiritual practice and
HIS grace.
so,our religious practices are of utmost importance,,,,

On Jul 28, 10:58 pm, Kishore Rao <kishorera...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Jai Guru!
> Wonderful messages.
>  Fellow sadhaka's  attention is drawn to an innocous line that could be
> misleading-

> *"now we have hardly any time to  do any spiritual activities.even a simple

> japa of 108 counts is far from time worthy for todays earthling, in this

> situation comes the param brahman yogiyogi..*."*

> ".this is what this india needs today.come lets put all our might and
> practice nam at the least fraction of second we are conscious,and we can,by

> his power.."*
>
> *So does it mean a person does not have do japa?
> Or just do it for a fraction of a time and we can by his power...*
>
>  No it is not, *emphatically no*t.  We have to follow Sitaram's teachings

> and then by his grace get untold blessings. He has specially blessed us by

> giving us the mantra..*and also given instructions on how we are to now
> proceed.  *

>
> As far as Sitaram's teachings go, Thakur has mandated the japa practice as
> compulsory for all categories of devotees who have taken diksha, these are
> mandatory:
>

>    - 464.p 135. Cloudburst of thousand suns: " Sadhus should carry out one
>    lakh japa count daily and the *householders must achieve a count of 25000
>    Nam japa everyday*"
>    - 460 p 135- " be scruplous in doing the japa in the morning, midday,

>    evening and midnight..Mantra is no ordinary thing. Mantra is god"

>    - Gurudeva hasnt bestowed mantra alone; he has gifted god in the shape of

>    a mantra. If you chant that mantra  ten or twelve times or a 108 times how
>    can you gain peace? At least for six months try and do a japa count of
>    21,600 daily and then see whether you get peace or not."

>    - " Offer prayers at appropriate hour every day.*It is the bounden
> duty*of every Brahmin to do trisandhya daily.Other castes should only

> do japa,
>    meditation and prayer". " " A brahmin must eat satvik food and every day
>    complete 108 count of Ishta Gayatri Japa and 1008 count of Vedic Gayatri
>    japa.."

>    - The first duty of the spiritual aspirant is to perform minimum of one

>    hour of japa thrice daily- at dawn, noon and dusk.."

>    - " practice unbroken naam japa;that will give you supreme bliss. Those

>    who can always chant naam standing or sitting, eating or resting, in pure or
>    impure condition, are the only ones who will get the nectar of contentment
>    and be blessed"

>    - Many people take diksha just for the sake of amusement.They give up the

>    required practice in a month or two. What can even a sidhha guru do for this
>    kind of disciple? " "Effort is a must.How can one expect fruit without any
>    effort?
>

> *- Words of Sitaram.*

>
> It is very clear that there are two things here:
>
> 1. Practice of Japa is the beginning stage as a practice. A discipline, a
> sadhana. A count and a method is prescribed. It is mandatory.
> 2.This will flow into unbroken remembrance for an advanced practitioner.
> Unbroken remembrance is an advanced practice.It is very difficult.One may
> get mislead thinking-  by remembering god randomly at convenience one is
> having unbroken remembrance.
>
>  Sitaram's writing elsewhere is quoted for more clarity - Sri Sri Namamrita

> Lahiri, Vol -I, p33-34 where he makes it *very very* clear:
>
> *Q: *I do not understand the *significance of the saying that god gives
> "Mukti" liberation to one who utter Krishna or Ram even once.*  I do not

> understand how one gets liberated from the sin of even killing a Brahman by

> uttering the word Jagganath once*
>
> A:* If a man in the* right  frame of mind*, utters the name of Narayana even

> > > 53KViewDownload- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[soumyabrata das]

jai guru kishoreji,

                            thanks for saying what the mistakes were in my message but i would like to again emphasise that what i said was the fact and not what we should do or not.i assume through your comments that you thoroghly follow SRI SRI THAKUR'S teachings and yourself are either a self realised person or you yourself practice japa for minimum thousand and eight times daily and may be more than that.its good that you preach what you follow.yet the fact remains a little different.people like us,who are metrosexuals in every aspect never have hardly any time to count their beads and it is this place where thakur is all the more relevent.all the very close disciple of his,whom i was fortunate enough to meet,always says that Thakur himself said that if you cannot do japa just chant naam.naam is more powerful than japa.even his avaya bani assures that.it is the truth indeed that people waste a lot of time being a gadget maniac but we are not to judge what they do instead convince them that do whatever you are doing but just use the time you are idle.if i am to say iwould put it like if we want to spread thakur's preaching in the simplest manner we need to first be thorough with his philosophy.he says that naam itself reveals the path of dharma and takes one through the road which even the yogis try to attain throgh japa,tapa,brahmacharya and renunciation.so SRI SRI THAKUR Himself puts NAAM far ahead of japa.naam is even more easier than japa,yet i am never saying that one shouldn't do japa.still i am saying that if we are to reach to the common masses,to todays generation we are to atrract them by saying what is easy yet peace bestower,like maharavu said-atrract them with fish and the tenderness of a woman and when naam will work renunciation will follow automatically.so thanks for the interpretation or else these views wouldn't have surfaced.to end i must convince that my entire existence is SRI SRI SITARAMDAS OMKARNATH and i will like to devote my entire life to spead his teachings in every corner known to me.rest are his will and my karma.for this i shall be ever greatful to those who share such transparent ideas.

 jai guru jai naam jai bhagawan.

 

[soumyabrata das]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: soumyabrata das <soumyabrata....@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 12:32 AM
Subject: Re: Understanding Sitaram's teachings correctly - Japa is mandatory. Spiritual Effort is a must for every Sitarams disciple.
To: omkarnat...@googlegroups.com

jai guru kishoreji,

                            thanks for saying what the mistakes were in my message but i would like to again emphasise that what i said was the fact and not what we should do or not.i assume through your comments that you thoroghly follow SRI SRI THAKUR'S teachings and yourself are either a self realised person or you yourself practice japa for minimum thousand and eight times daily and may be more than that.its good that you preach what you follow.yet the fact remains a little different.people like us,who are metrosexuals in every aspect never have hardly any time to count their beads and it is this place where thakur is all the more relevent.all the very close disciple of his,whom i was fortunate enough to meet,always says that Thakur himself said that if you cannot do japa just chant naam.naam is more powerful than japa.even his avaya bani assures that.it is the truth indeed that people waste a lot of time being a gadget maniac but we are not to judge what they do instead convince them that do whatever you are doing but just use the time you are idle.if i am to say iwould put it like if we want to spread thakur's preaching in the simplest manner we need to first be thorough with his philosophy.he says that naam itself reveals the path of dharma and takes one through the road which even the yogis try to attain throgh japa,tapa,brahmacharya and renunciation.so SRI SRI THAKUR Himself puts NAAM far ahead of japa.naam is even more easier than japa,yet i am never saying that one shouldn't do japa.still i am saying that if we are to reach to the common masses,to todays generation we are to atrract them by saying what is easy yet peace bestower,like mahapravu said-atrract them with fish and the tenderness of a woman and when naam will work renunciation will follow automatically.so thanks for the interpretation or else these views wouldn't have surfaced.to end i must convince that my entire existence is SRI SRI SITARAMDAS OMKARNATH and i will like to devote my entire life to spead his teachings in every corner known to me.rest are his will and my karma.for this i shall be ever greatful to those who share such transparent ideas.

[hans]

Jai Guru, Thakur always emphasis on the following three subjects:

1. Timely Japa and Sandhya
2. Ahaar Shudhi
3. Chanting of Naam.

This is very painful that we have no time to do japa daily. We have a
lot of time for gossips, playing cards and games and going to cinema,
drama, jatra and hotels and to attend seminars and explore tourist
places but have no time to do japa and upasana. If we have taken
shelter with Thakur, this is our duty to obey His sayings. If we are
not able to spare a time of minimum two or three hours daily out of 24
hours for japa, worship and guruseva, our living is waste. We are
hectically running for earning a lot of money and enjoying
materialistic comforts but we have no time for japa, worship and
guruseva.

Our Thakur says, “I will act in whichever way may Guru, with whom I
have taken refuge, commands me” –this is the duty of a disciple. To
conduct oneself according to one’s own will is foolishness.

This is a very sad state of affairs, that we are doing this kind of
foolishness.Doing everything as per our comforts and convenience.
Thakur says,”There is no harm in performing mantra japa at any time or
any place. Ceaselessly engage in mantra japa, peace will dance inside
of you and on the outside; there will no even be a trace of unrest.”

If we do not have a lot of time then we can do manas japa and in this
context Thakur says, ”Contemplating upon the syllables of the mantra,
one after the other, and writing them mentally in the heart or in the
region of the third eye, and uttering them mentally, is called manas
japa.”

On neglecting Sandhya and Upasana Thakur says, “As one keeps doing
japa, the mind is purified. The tendencies of sattva, rajas and tamas
are transcended; trembling, tears, thrilling of hair, Naad-Jyoti etc.
appear, the soul is filled with joy, and there is tremendous eagerness
for vision of God.”

Thakur says, “O Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras and venerable
women, sandhya upasana is everyone’s duty. To avoid sandhya or upasana
is a great sin, by not doing Yathakaal Sandhya the sin of suicide
accrues.”



If we have no time for japa, upasana and sandhya and what about
Ahaar Shudhi? This act does not require a separate time, energy and
money. Why are we not adopting the saying of our Thakur in this
context. Regarding true nature of food, Thakur says, “Until the diet
is purified, the restlessness of the mind does not go away which is
why it is the necessary duty of those who desire health, longevity,
strength, and God, to eat sattvik food. Ahara basically means grasping
of object [sound, touch, smell etc.] through the sense organs. Once
the body is purified with sattvik food, the organs turn around and the
senses are able to grasp sound, touch, taste, sight and smell in form
of God. The body, which is created from consuming food such as onion,
garlic, carrots, hens, duck and the like, is not competent to do
virtuous deeds, it is indeed disposed to undertake evil deeds, and the
mind thus created is naturally inclined towards despicable ponderings,
it cannot undertake sattvik thinking.”

Thakur also says, “God resides in human body in the form of jatharagni
[gastric fire]; when fish, chicken, meat, egg, onion etc. are offered
to Him, by consuming these, He is obliged to digest these vicious,
impure, foul-odoured and toxic food potent for increasing the rajas
and tamas guna [attribute of ignorance and inertia]. The samana [life
sustaining energy of the smaller intestine; the fourth of the five
airs of Hindu philosophy; the life force governing side-to-side
motion] wind nourishes the body with this food and the toxins spread
all over the body and affect all the organs with its poison.”


This is true that Naam is a sure, easy and straight path to God and
Thakur says, “Every single letter of Naam is Jyotirmaya [effulgent
light], Jyotirbindu [effulgent dot]. Naam penetrates into us through
our eyes, nose, and from every pore of one’s body. It’s like an
injection; Naam helps pay off the debt owed to the Rishis.”

But this is my personal opinion that our Master has shown us the easy
and straight path to God and we have to follow the same word by word.
If Thakur emphasis on Timely Japa and Sandhya and Ahaar Shudhi and
chanting of Naam, we have to adopt these for our spiritual elevation.
If anyone is old, ailing and disabled and unable to do japa then the
ONLY REFUGE OF NAAM can be taken up otherwise the disciples of Thakur
have to put into action all above three subjects.




On Jul 29, 12:08 am, soumyabrata das

>  jai guru jai naam jai bhagawan.- Hide quoted text -

[jaiguru]

Purification and stabilizing of the mind
-----------------------------------------

The purpose of human life is to realize God. Gita states that without
purifying the chitta [mind] it is impossible to realize God and gain
the knowledge – “Everything is God.” Nishkam Karma [Working without
expectation and surrendering the fruits of action to God] is aimed at
purifying the chitta [mind].

Are you saying you cannot still the mind? How can it be stabilized?
Have you ever tried to still the mind? If not, how can you expect to
still it at once?

For a long time you whipped the mind to go after sounds, tastes,
forms, touches and smells. You have eaten everything indiscriminately,
kept the company of all kinds of people. You never observed any
restraint of thought or conduct, never called out to God; this is the
reason your mind is not able to calm down.

The ways to stabilize the mind are- ahara shuddhi [Scientific
purification of diet], living in pure mental state, and singing Naam
always, while standing, sitting, eating or lying down. Undertake
vaachik japa [oral] first, then the upaanshu japa [audible only to
one’s own ears] and finally manas japa [mental]; once initiation in
genuine japa is made, one does not have to wait too long to still the
mind.

Sitting on the banks of Ganga, stare at the water for half an hour or
forty-five minutes, continue to look at the water- your mind will very
quickly become one-pointed.

-Sri Sitaramdas Omkarnath

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[arka ghosh]

the message of Hansji is a vivid clarification of a famous couplet by our THAKUR--
SUDDHAHAR, SADACHAR, KALE UPASAN,
TATAEI LOVIBE PRIYO SAKSHAT DARSAN...
[pure food, holy act, worship in time,
only by this, you can see the Divine.]
Such spiritual discussion has to be enhanced to engross ourselves in Leela chinta, and to unravel the enigmas of our MASTER's life and words.
JAI GURU

--- On Wed, 29/7/09, hans <heman...@gmail.com> wrote:

See the Web&#39;s breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Yahoo! Buzz. http://in.buzz.yahoo.com/

[soumyabrata das]

jai guru,

          dear kishoreji with due respect i will like to clarify something.i am not against japa.i love the ideals of sri sri thakur more than anything in my life.i myself practice japa regularly inspite being a student doing masters.yet i would like to say something and that is that the body of thakur is no longer with us.the examples you are picking are very dear to my heart still the fact remains that it is now more than two decades that thakur has left us.from then a lot have changed.it is ground reality that from the year thakur entered mahasamadhi(i was born the year next) the world entered a new era-of modern television,of computer,gadgets and so on.it would been a different world if thakur would have been with us but its not the case(though he is within us in the form of his suksma rupa)we are no avatar that people will come to us and hear from us about SRI SRI SITARAMDAS OMKARNATH(as vivekananda came to spread thakur) it is not because of lack of persons as we have them like madhav swamiji,parankush maharajji or vitthalji yet the truth hides somewhere else.that is this world is so meterialistic.we cannot change time.it is beyond our reach.i think you wouldnt differ from me on one fact that is you like to spread the name of thakur and yet you have only handfuls to truely take thakur.i live in belur sharing the boundary wall of my flat with belurmath.let me tell you a difference -thousands of youngster come here to do research on sri ramakrishna and ask them who sitaram omkarnath was or is-the answer is silence.it hurts.there starts my work -to tell them who this great avatar was-a naamavatar.do you suppose sir that in such a condition i can tell them to know sitaram you have to be a strict follower of sastrs or shold i say them that call him by any name -kali krishna,durga ,shiv,omkar,ram.sita,ganga yamuna and even ramakrishna-you are actually calling upon him,becuse he is naamavatar.should i not say them that He is the bridge between the naamdhari and naamkari,who took birth to show the easiest way of todays world and that is to do naam and get salvation.SHOULD i say them sit in the bus,or while travelling just utter naam for a few minutes and that will give you peace.while saying that i know one thing in my heart that once he utters naam,naam will never leave him because i have myself saw the results-and that is my life.say me sir did you get me now or is there still a doubt,then i would certainly clarify,i would love to because more i say how much i love sitaram and how i love him,the merrier i am.i love my naamavatar more than anything,he is my shyam sundar.....and even more than that.

[hans]

Jai Guru, First of all, I have to clarify that I narrated “……

otherwise the disciples of Thakur have to put into action all above

three subjects.” Kindly note the word DISCIPLES.

I know that this is a materialistic era and most people are only after
making money and running behind comforts and if we will put all the
ideas of our Thakur on newcomers, they may run away immediately . I
stressed on the follow sayings of our Master, to be espoused and
followed by His DISCIPLES and this could not apply to beginners. I
know that for beginners Naam is the instant anchorage. Thakur also
says, “The Name is the quintessence of all mantras: this is the
purport of all the Shastras. There is no other way in this degenerate
Age.”

This is my view that after adopting Naam, it will take hold the prana
[vital energy linked to breath] of chanter and a new lease of energy
will be gained and after this mode of purity and goodness will
come.

Knowing all forthcoming situations, Thakur wrote a book “Sri Sri
Purushotam Lila” almost sixty years ago where He described (on that
day) the circumstances which are happening NOWADAYS.

How many people will come under the shelter of Thakur in these thorny
times is NOT a matter of worry or concern.

WE HAVE TO LEAVE THIS MATTER UPON THAKUR ONLY.

We all must try to spread Thakur’s ideas and rest is His will. Thakur
is the ocean of mercy and He has opened His umbrella of bliss for all
deprived persons. Persons in need will reach under this umbrella and
get Thakur’s unlimited grace and compassion positively.


On Jul 31, 11:44 pm, soumyabrata das

<soumyabrata.dsoumyabr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> jai guru,
>           dear kishoreji with due respect i will like to clarify something.i
> am not against japa.i love the ideals of sri sri thakur more than anything
> in my life.i myself practice japa regularly inspite being a student doing
> masters.yet i would like to say something and that is that the body of
> thakur is no longer with us.the examples you are picking are very dear to my
> heart still the fact remains that it is now more than two decades that
> thakur has left us.from then a lot have changed.it is ground reality that
> from the year thakur entered mahasamadhi(i was born the year next) the world
> entered a new era-of modern television,of computer,gadgets and so

> on.itwould been a different world if thakur would have been with us

[soumyabrata das]

[soumyabrata das]

jai guru,

           kishoreji thank you for understandanting my views.the NAAM works like magic and once naam works japa will follow and so will all aspescts of spiritual upliftment and thus controlling prana.your concent was overwhelming.always do suggest me what is right and wrong for which i shall be ever gratful to you.