Contd....
Me, My Guru – On Narada and Vishnu – The Greatest devotee of all!
When the Lord and Narada washed
their feet, he handed them a towel to wipe their feet saying “Narayana”.
Like this, as he gave them a seat
to sit (aasan), food to eat, or a cot to lie on, he would utter “Narayana”
once!
The Lord would listen to this
with a smile. They slept under the sky on the cot given by that farmer that
night. Narada was not comfortable on the cot. He had disturbed sleep. Early morning,
they found the farmer tending to his cows. You see, in villages, farmers get up
at around 4-4.30 am and tend to cows and leave for the fields early in the
morning!
At the start of every work, he
would utter “Narayana” once. So, he would at the end of every job too!
The Lord requested to accompany
him to his fields. The farmer agreed immediately! So, the Lord and Narada
accompanied him to his fields. The farmer as he entered his fields, as he yoked
his ox to his plough, as he tended his fields, as he gave water to his cattle,
as he sat under the tree to rest, as he sowed, as he tilled the field – he would
utter “Narayana” once. In short, at the start and end of every act, he would
take the Lord’s name once. He was cheerful throughout the day!
Around noon, the Lord and the
Narada took leave and went their way. When they crossed the village Narada
asked the Lord Vishnu “How can you call him your greatest devotee? He says “Narayana”
once in a while, while I utter it all through the day!!?”Contd....
# me my Guru stories, Narada and Lord Vishnu, who's the greatest bhaktha of all, devotee, upanishad stories, Vedic stories, Vedic itihaasa, Land called India and its scriptures, stories from Indian Scriptures, attitude of devotion, devotion, devotee, loving God, Prayer, rituals and love,
also read https://kantipadam.blogspot.com/2018/12/on-prayers-unanswered-and-desires-kept.html
Pointers to understand the post:
"They slept under the sky on the cot given by that farmer that night. Narada was not comfortable on the cot. He had disturbed sleep. " - Notice this scenario carefully!
Narada was not comfortable and had disturbed sleep. When the mind is agitated, disturbed by emotions no person can have peaceful sleep.
Here, the Narada was disturbed that he was not called or given the credit of being the "greatest bhakta of the Lord". When we desire something or expect something from anyone and if that expectation is not met, the mind becomes disturbed. Our emotions run amok. We lose our peace of mind! The problem is not in the person who didn't fulfill our wish or desire. It is not because of our desire either. It is in our conditioning that our desire be fulfilled a certain way and that too immediately (manytimes).
So, whenever we are feeling restless or uncomfortable in any scenario, know it is time to check our expectations and conditions that we have with regard to our desires!
"“How can you call him your greatest devotee? He says “Narayana” once in a while, while I utter it all through the day!!?” " - Most of us are like this Narada. We assume we are highly advanced in spirituality because -
1.We do "Reiki" for set number of hours
2.We do "mantra chanting - japam" the set number of malas (rosaries)
3.We are Reiki channels
4.We have completed higher degrees/become a Reiki Master/Grand Master
How foolish of us! We put all the importance on the rituals that need to be followed and forget the "spirit" of the ritual completely!
We miss out on working on our attitudes.
We miss out on noticing if we are totally "with sadhan" or mechanically doing it?!
We become arrogant with our sadhan. That itself contradicts the purpose of being in sadhan. One who is doing it right develops humility - not arrogance that "I am doing sadhan"!
Sadhan is the way of life. Every act of our life should become the expression of our state of mind - that of yog with the Divine - that is sadhan!
If we are with Reiki/Divine only for a couple of hours and behave as ever during other waking hours, well, you think about it! What does that say about us????
