IVY Swadhyay - July 2016

This IVY swadhyay started with the importance of Father’s Day which we all celebrated in the month of June. We have been taught that we need to bow down, with all our heart, before our biological father and our sadgurus - Param Pujya Bhaishree, Param Pujya Bapuji, Param Pujya Krupaludev and Lord Mahavir Swami - our spiritual fathers.

Why do we say “Maa /Mummy” when in pain or in some difficulty? That is because she is there beside us in every circumstance whether happy or sad. That shows how much trust we have in her. Similarly, we should also have utmost faith in our Sadguru. Everything is temporary, people are going to come and go, situations will be favourable or adverse, but no matter what, our Guru is always going to be there for us, he will always love us, accept us with our good and bad qualities. He is going to take care of all our problems. He is always going to help us.  He is always there to give us strength.

Minal Aunty also continued explanation of last 8 points mentioned in letter 84 of Vachnamrutji. Her language being simple and understandable reaches out to each and every person sitting in the room. It taught us to give our best, live in the moment and feel the joy by sharing and giving. That is because, there are 4 unchanging characteristics of a soul – tendency to give love, stay submerged in happiness, and stay calm and be compassionate.

Since the significant occasion of Guru purnima was coming soon, Minal Aunty urged all of us to express our gratitude and love for our Guru in whichever capacity we can.

After that, Minal Aunty told us a short yet inspirational story. The story reminded the importance of unconditional surrender at Guru’s/ Lord’s sacred feet. Our Guru is ready to protect us all the time, in all the difficulties. If we surrender ourselves completely, whole-heartedly, there will remain nothing to doubt, nothing to fear and nothing to lose. We shall become happy, satisfied and peaceful. We must always thank Tirthankar Bhagwans for blessing our lives by giving us such a divine gift in the form of our Guru.  What more do we ask for?

In the end, we had an interactive session, a beautiful platform to share our thoughts, experiences, feelings; sing a bhajan, say a poem or anything the vibrant youth wants to make most of the opportunity. These sessions make us confident, expressive and bring us closer to Pujya Bhaishree, just like all these swadhayas do for us.

“We are not ordinary. We are extraordinary. We are born to do something different.”

- Mitanshi (13 years)

Gurupurnima Celebrations 2016

Gurupurnima

19th July 2016

“It is an incomparable journey,
Where the Guru leads you from the visible to the invisible;
From the material to the divine;
From the ephemeral to the eternal.”

Gurupurnima is day to celebrate our teachers. 'Guru' means darkness (gu) to light (ru). A guru is one who guides us from our dark ignorance to the light of knowledge, truth and reality. The enlightened teacher is a living example of his teachings. He manifests the truth and teaches through example. Those true disciples develop the vision to see the inner enlightened soul and recognise its shining virtues. Today we sing and celebrate those virtues. We bow down to the compassion of our Guru who illuminates the path of liberation.

In our living teacher, Param Pujya Bhaishree, remains a living path, a thread of truth, a lineage of enlightened souls. As we celebrate him today we celebrate all those teachers of the lineage of truth.

Below you can watch Param Pujya Bhaishee's swadhyays on Gurupurnima day in Shree Raj Saubhag Ashram. Two poems, composed by Shree Gangasati, were sung and and explained.

Gangasati poem 'Gupt Ras'. Duration 23 mins.

Gangasati poem 'Jya lagi laagya bhaagya'. Duration 13 mins.

During the course of the 3 day celebration alongside the swadhyays, a Panch Kalyanak Maha Pujan was conducted, a Parshwa Padmavati Pujan took place, Bhruhad Alochana was recited, the newly renovated Bapuji's Kutir was unveiled, vocational work kits were donated on behalf of Ashirvad Trust and a cultural programme took place.

The cultural programme

With overflowing devotion, all mumukshus gathered outside Pujya Bhaishree's kutir to welcome him and be blessed by his grace. Enthusiastic chants and devotional singing added to the divinity of the morning.

The day culminated with a grand finale - The Cultural Program.

Along with Sufi songs and dances, a play on the life of King Janak, came the crowning glory: Life of Devotee - Rajjab. Words are insufficient to describe the performance of the main actors Guru Dadu Dayal (played by Nayan Doshi) and disciple Rajjab (played by Mehul Mehta). The enitre act, dialogues and the message delivered through the play captivated the audience, holding them spellbound. It was an act par excellence.

One day in ‘Dev-Lali’!

Being able to meaningfully spend time with our dearest Param Pujya Bhaishree has an incomparable value to it. Spiritual expeditions with him always uplift our enthusiasm and re-kindle our spirits.

The dawn of 26th June 2016, Sunday, brought a bundle of excitement and eagerness for us, since we were going to Deolali with Pujya Bhaishree. A cloudy day dawned and all of us embarked on the journey, ready to revitalize our positive energies.

Enroute to Deolali, we stopped at Dharmachakra Prabhav Tirth, 12 kms from Nashik. This three-floor temple with its glorious architecture and spiritual aura was a beautiful start to our day.

At the first level, in the centre of the temple was the Choumkhji – four idols of Lord Parshvanath. There were also replicas of holy pilgrimage shrines – magnificient sculptures of Siddhacahal, Aabu, Girnar and Samet Shikhar, ensuring that wherever we turn our eyes, we could see the Almighty.

A 12-foot high idol of Lord Mahavir was placed in the basement.  Looking at the serene eyes of Vitraag Bhagwan, we could sense his equanimity and detachment, and made us forget the outside world and help come closer to our own peaceful nature. By truly being present in the moment, we felt alive, energized and filled with devotion for not only Vitraag Bhagwan, but also our Guru standing right beside us, because of whom we are more aware of the Lord’s virtues.

To the stunning view of green landscapes, our journey towards Deolali continued. On entering the premises of C. U. Shah Sanatorium, we felt welcomed by its vastness, soothing ambiance and cleanliness. These are just a few of the many extraordinary characteristics of this place. This sanatorium is not only equipped to cater to needs of its guests, but also has infused spiritual elements like the swadhaya hall and arrangements for Mahasatijis and Sadhvijis to reside.

The graced presence of learned Mahasatijis – Pritisudha MS, Madhusmita MS and 3 others, who most eagerly awaited Pujya Bhaishree’s arrival added to the divinity of the experience. The happiness of their souls and the joy in their hearts could be clearly seen in their eyes and their devotion towards Pujya Bhaishree could be heard in their voices.

We have heard Pujya Bhaishree’s words countless times; we have also believed that we have understood him and his teachings extensively and we take pride in that. However, we have never been more mistaken. We haven’t achieved a bit of what we are striving to achieve. Our Sadguru knows our state better than we can ever do. This is the truth which Gangasati explains to Paanbai in the poignant bhajan – ‘છૂટા છૂટા તીર રે અમને ’, taken as the topic for first swadhyay

Teachings of a Sadguru are not meant to be tantalizing; rather they will be plain and forthright, meant to penetrate our hearts like a purposefully targeted arrow. There is one and only one thing to know, to learn – ‘The Soul’ – the true jewel. Instead of doing what had to be rightfully done, we have meaninglessly spent time on gathering ineffectual pieces of information.

“જાગો  મારા  પ્યારા  પ્રાણ , નયન  ખોલો  નામના ,
          સુતા  રેહશો  ક્યાં  સુધી, જાગો  મારા પ્યારા  પ્રાણ ”

The swadhyay was followed by bhajans, resonating in the room and in the chambers of our minds and hearts.

Having equal proficiency in 5 languages, Mahasatiji Pritisudha sang bhajans that she had composed herself and she was accompanied by the sweet voice of  Mahasatiji Madhusmita.  The divine words of her bhajans filled us all with joy, and seeing their reverence and devotion for Pujya Bhaishree, increased our bhakti-bhaav further. Every word spoken in that room reflected the importance of a guru, bitter truths of this world and the pre-requisites for learning the ultimate truth.

“સાર  આ  સંસાર  માં  ના  જોયો  રે , બધી  રીતે  તપાસતા ,
         મૃગજળ  પીવા  કામ  ના  આવે , વ્યર્થ  ઇંદ્રજાળ  માં  હું  મોહ્યો  રે"

After relishing lunch, we gathered for the second spiritual feast that included explanation of Letter Number 816 from the Vachanamrut  and another round of Kirtan-Bhakti.

This particular letter from Vachanamrutji, addressed to Ambalalbhai after the demise of Saubhagbhai, sheds light on the 4 pre-requisites to reach the desired goal: this human birth, detachment, shelter of an enlightened master.

"કેવળ અંતર્મુખ થવાનો સત્પુરુષનો માર્ગ સર્વદુખક્ષયનો ઉપાય છે, પણ તે કોઈક જીવને સમજાય છે. 

1) મહત્ પુણ્યના યોગથી 

2) વિશુદ્ધ મતિથી 

૩) તીવ્ર વૈરાગ્યથી 

૪) સત્પુરુષના સમાગમથી 

તે ઉપાય સમજવા યોગ્ય છે. તે સમજવાનો અવસર એકમાત્ર આ મનુષ્યદેહ છે. તે પણ અનિયત કાળના ભયથી ગ્રહિત છે; ત્યાં પ્રમાદ થાય છે, એ ખેદ અને આશ્ચર્ય છે."

When the compassionate words of a Guru truly reaches our core, our sense of discrimination and our ray of concentration undoubtedly becomes pretense-less and increases manifold with each waking moment.

So, each moment, we have a choice to make: either continue living an illusion of grandeur or we can be humble and persist to lead our lives with ever-increasing devotion for our Sadguru and his words of wisdom.

 “કોડિયું  નાનું  ભલે  ને  હું , સદાયે  રાહુ  છું  ઝગમગતું ,
           સૂરજ  પાસેથી  શીખ બધાને  મળે  છે ,
           પથદર્શક  બનનારે  બળવું  પડે  છે,
            સામે  આવેને  ભલે  જુગ  નું  અંધારું,

   તોયે  હૈયા  ની  હું  હિમ્મત   ના  હારું ”

IVY Swadhyay - May 2016

During IVY Swadhyay in May, Brahmnisht Minalben continued to instruct young mumukshus from Shrimad Rajchandra’s Vachnamrut.

Giving a discourse from letter number 84, Minalben said, at the age of 23, Shrimadji was still in search of a Guru and the path to enlightenment, while also living his worldly life as a husband, son and businessman.  It was at this time that he laid down 8 points that would help him strive a balance between his worldly and spiritual life.  These same tasks can prove to be beneficial to mumukshus as well, said Minalben, and we should strive to indoctrinate them in our lives.

1. Remember our body and mind are separate entities, and what powers them is a third entity, our atma.  Our powerful mind is the creator to our thoughts, and this mind functions in the presence of our Atma (Soul).

We must use this concept when we are caged in worldly thoughts, whether good or bad. We can also use our thoughts to test if we are happy or sad and what is important here is that we are trying to find out if our atma is happy and not the mind.

2. Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. We can control what affects us or bothers us, and no one else.  As long as we continue to be born in this sansar, pain in the form of karmas, will continue to torment us.  Many people do not understand this due to the lack of a Guru in their lives. The only way to escape this suffering is to rid ourselves of all attachments and to surrender to the holy trinity (SatDev, SatGuru, SatShastra).

3. This total surrender may seem impossible to attain but it isn’t so. That state exists and it can be experienced.  One can reach his goal of eternal happiness not by wishing away the sadness, but by inculcating detachment within, so that sorrow is incapable of upsetting us.

4. This state can be achieved by renouncing worldly attachments, and taking the shelter of an Enlightened Master.

5. Shrimadji compassionately instructs us that if renunciation is not possible immediately, one can still achieve self-realization by taking the refuge of a Sadguru.  Faith and following Guru Agna are the 2 master keys that will unlock the door and help us to move ahead on the spiritual path.

6. Every activity should be given its due importance. Just as we plan our diet to remain healthy, our day should be planned in such a way that we constantly feed and nurture the spirituality within us. A preset number of hours should be allocated each day to follow Guru Agna.

7. Recognize that our wants and desires are like a bottomless pit. What we have today, does not give us any pleasure tomorrow.  But if we wish to rescue our atma from the never-ending cycle of births and deaths, we must give up our attachments to transitory objects.

8. Life is very short and this human birth is all we have to save our soul.  But humans are surrounded by and immersed in their problems, such that they are not able to pursue their goals single-mindedly. And when one feels overwhelmed, one must remember the points below:

• Just as a lotus grows in muddy waters, we must also thrive spiritually in this transient, materialistic world. Above the dirt is sunshine and fresh air. We must learn to reside in the body but live in the soul.
• The nine-fold bhakti marg will help us reach higher and higher.  This bhakti marg (path of devotion) will help us connect to our Guru in different ways.

Narrating a thought provoking story, Minalben said:

Intending to get his daughter married, a king invited many princes and suitors to his palace and organized a competition to find the strongest man in his kingdom.  He said "I have a dangerous task for you. This river is full of crocodiles, whoever swims across the river, wins my daughter’s hand in marriage!”

No one was willing to take the risk. Suddenly, there was a loud splash. A prince had jumped in and started swimming. He swam as fast as he could and reached the other side!  The king was delighted to see him succeed and sent a boat to get him back.

The king congratulated the prince and asked him to address the people. The prince asked: "I would like to know who pushed me in?”

Sometimes circumstances force us into deep waters. We must bear with grace. For it is those challenging times that uncover the true potential within us.

We are all as strong as God from within! But that power remains unexploited.  We constantly try to live worldly lives comfortably – this is our biggest mistake.  Our goal and objective is wrong. Caged in the body we can never be truly happy.  Without our spiritual goal, our life will be derailed.

Worldly and spiritual evaluation is important.