Greatest charity!

 

After the grand finale of the 10 day long Krishna Jayanthi Utsav at Madhurapuri Ashram, an ashram devotee remarked very enthusiastically to Guru Maharaj " How wonderful these 10 days have been! We have done annadhanam to thousands of sadhus.. We have honored and paid respects to so many great vedic scholars and bhagavathas... We have played host to so many . Isn't it great! Would not Bhagavan be very pleased!.." Guru Maharaj replied smilingly, " Yes indeed, Bhagavan would definitely be very pleased if we are also able to give up the thought that we did all of this.... Along with all the dhaanams, let's also give dhaanam of the feeling that ' I did it!' "

Source : http://www.namadwaar.org/cherishedmemoirs/?action=entry&id=1345665639

 

Out of sheer compassion a Mahan who is in out-of-the-world state comes down to this physical plane and speaks to us. While this in itself is due to compassion one cannot expect any other kindness from him. Neither can He understand our (low) state nor can we comprehend his (high) state.

HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji

Thus Spake Guruji

More than worrying that we uttered a wrong word, we should really be more concerned that we have in us the underlying vasana (tendency) that made us utter such a word.

 HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji

History and Mystery

Sri Swamiji while speaking of how modern science sometimes tends to label incidents that it is unable to comprehend -
'If scientists understand and accept something it becomes history. If they cannot understand they label it as mystery'

We like to wear dresses of varied colors; we like to eat different cuisines. The Lord being a ‘rasika’ also sports different forms and names in the same way. What is wrong with that?

HH Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji

Goodness and Godliness

 

‘G’ stands for Generator, ‘O’ for Operator and ‘D’ for Destroyer. GOOD has two ‘O’s ; When you think there are two Operators – one being the Almighty and the other being you, that is GOODNESS. When you realize that there is one and only one Operator – the Almighty, that is the state of GODLINESS.

--- SRI SRI MURALIDHARA SWAMIJI

Guruvayoorappan's own wish!

 

Sri Ramanujam, the pracharak and speaker of our Kendra thus writes:
During the recently concluded Udayastamana Saptaham at Guruvayoor, Hari and myself had the fortune of accompanying Sri Sri Swamiji to the temple to have the Lord's darshan.  The temple was heavily crowded on that particular day and we felt that having darshan was close to impossible. We stood in the outer 'Prakara' and were continuously chanting the Maha Mantra.
Hari and I told Sri Sri Swamiji that we shall talk to some officials to get special entry into the temple.  Sri Sri Swamiji replied that it was not necessary.  We tried to convince Him as the thronging temple crowd wouldn't let us take a further step.
Sri Sri Swamiji persisted his denial, saying that the Lord knew that Sri Sri Swamiji performed Nama Kirtan always and it is purely Guruvayoorappan's wish to either let us have darshan or not.
Just then to our surprise, out of nowhere, someone approached us and asked Swamiji 'darshanam aayo?' (did You have darsanam already?).
This person did not even wait for a response from Sri Sri Swamiji!  He took along Sri Sri Swamiji in for darshan through the special side entrance and let Him stay in the sanctorum as long as He wished!
The Lord Guruvayoorappan indeed chose to meet Sri Sri Swamiji, even as there were so many other thousands of devotees wishing to have Guruvayoorappan's Darshan!

You can chant the ‘Rama’ mantra to any deity

 

During Sivaratri, Abhisheka is done in all Siva temples. Why did Sri Sri Swamiji choose to perform Abhisheka to Lord Panduranga at Vittalapuram?

Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji:

It is believed that Lord Panduranga has the 'amsa' (divine aspects) of Lord Siva. Adi Sankara, in his 'Panduranga Ashtakam' ends every verse with the word 'lingam' signifying the same ('Parabrahma lingam Bhaje Pandurangam!')

In general, both Hanuman and Panduranga are considered to have 'Shiva amsa' in them.

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You can chant the 'Rama' mantra to any deity. In fact, Lord Siva Himself chants the 'Rama' mantra all the time. Hence you are absolutely right in chanting the Rama mantra.

'Mine' is special!

 

When a child is beautiful or does something wonderful we enjoy and appreciate it. But appreciation of someone else's child can never come even close to the appreciation and adoration of a child that we consider 'mine'. Our adoration and appreciation is truly huge for even a small act by our own child! This is because of the strong idea we hold that the child is 'mine'.
Similarly in Bhakti, only this same idea that the Lord is 'mine' can nurture and nourish bhakti towards the Lord. Without this idea, the devotion still remains within banal limits.

-- Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji 

Ego–the culprit

 

Once our Guru Maharaj said, "While describing the Ashrams of the great Rishis who personified universal love, it is said that all creatures in the vicinity reflected love. Tigers and deers, snake and frogs were friends. Why has the same not been said of humans who lived there?"
With a smile, our Guru Maharaj continued, "May be its because animals do not resist inflow of Divine Grace from the Mahatma, where as, humans do on account of their sense of ego!"