I’ve been reading up about Neem Karoli Baba for sometime now and the more I read about him ……………the more I seem to get drawn to him.
For one – I was never a Vishnu devotee. Throughout my adult life – I have avoided almost all forms of Vishnu – Krishna, Rama, Venkateshwara et al. Although my family deity is Anjaneya – Vishnu never seem to have stuck to me. Shiva was my go to God.
But now after I got around to reading about Neem Karoli Baba – there seems to be a big drawing towards the word “Rama” . Although its quite a different thing that I absolutely don’t support the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya – the word and the devotion to Rama seems to be reverberating in me. Rama, Narayana, Govinda, Vasudeva, Vittala et al.
Coming back to Bhagavan Das – he was the original western devotee of Neem Karoli Baba and he was the one who introduced Ram Das to Baba.
So I went out and bought both ‘Be Here Now’ by Ram Das (which I still haven’t fully finished yet) and “Its Here Now (Are You?) ” by Bhagavan Das.
I finished Bhagavan Das’s book and his life is really fascinating. His return to America after being intensely touched by Neem Karoli Baba and many other Hindu and Buddhist saints in India and Nepal. His return to the material world and his return to Christianity in America. His journey of disillusionment with the material world and his rejection of Churchianity ………..while still holding on to Christ.
His journey is amazing. What comes through eventually is his total surrender to Neem Karoli Baba and Kali.
For me – what comes through is that on the spiritual path – it doesn’t help judging people. People could be doing drugs, x-e-s and crazy things – but on the spiritual path it is not for us to judge others. Each of us have our own path and we must take to our path with great sincerity and humility. We also need a Guru. Eventually once you are sincere and have humility on your path ………….are are touched by the grace of a Guru : what has to drop will drop. Preaching morals from a high perch won’t help.
Some interesting things that reinforced :
THE MANTRA IS completely liberating because it helps us focus from “I am the body” to “I am”. The “I” turns in on itself. In effect the ego becomes transmuted into the form of the diety. Your own purified mind becomes the guru, which means that you’re always in direct connection with your inner guide. Staying on the mantra while you’re having sex, while you’re eating, while you’re working, while you’re doing anything will keep you in touch with yourself and your true purpose.
Constantly be connected with the initiated mantra
When you feel dry, uninspired with your spiritual journey …………….that’s where satsand comes in. We need to gather together and celebrate. We keep celebrating the puja, intoning the mantras, and each person’s inspiration infuses every other person. We share our longing and our process of awakening. This carries us to the next leve.
some interesting Tantric stuff:
Barren Indian women worship Kali to get pregnant. Four times a year the priests carry water pots coered in flowers and red cloth to symbolize the Mother. As they chant “Kali Ma,” they travel from village to village. The women line up along the path with their chickens and goats. The priests lop off the heads of the animals with a sword and spray the water pot with blood. The women make their request and one month later get pregnant. This is the death-to-give-birth cycle of Kali
This just reminded me of my own visit to the Dakshin Kali temple in Kathmandu and the Amba Bhavani temple in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Both places were reverberating with intense, raw energy. It was very palpable.
There’s no riding on merit, cruising on good karma. We each need to develop a personal relationship with a personal God, who is a form. Then spiritual practices become real. It takes off when it’s fueled with devotion.
That hit spot on. Doing ‘good’ doesn’t take you anywhere. Counting on good karma is absolutely futile. For one who is on the true spiritual path – social mores, merits and “good” karma is really no good. Don’t try to be a good person. Be sincere with the process and let it transform you naturally. Don’t “try” to be anything – good or bad.
PRAYERS WORK. IT’S very important to pray for people. It’s really powerful. You can seal the prayer with the God of your choice. God doesn’t care what name you call him. He’s still God whether you call him Mary or Jesus or Allah or Buddha or Kali or Ram. It doesn’t make any difference – God is God. What’s behind it is the love and sincerity. The love carries the prayer to its fruition when you really care about people.
That was a revelation. I am really not a person given to prayer. I rarely pray or ask something for myself ………… leave alone someone else. But this left me thinking.
A little more around devotion below:
Ask him to show you his face. But when he looks at you, you must look back. It just like when you fall in love and flirt. You need to flirt with God, get into a relationship with him. It’s like a date. It’s the deepest romance of the soul, and the soul is the love of our life.
We’ve got to flirt and fall in love and come forward with her. We get to that place where the image of God or the photograph looks back at us and the eyes start to move. This is a very important moment. The tendency is to swoon back and not look because it’s looking at us. It’s important that we look into it. It’s like flirting with someone. We catch the stranger’s eye. Now what? The tendency is to look away. But the way to make the flirtation go into the love affair is to meet the gaze
Some more tidbits – before I go into some major stuff later down
An attitude of sincerity and humility is the first prerequisite on the spiritual path. We’ve got to know that we don’t know.
and this…
Nurture the inner, and the outer will take care of itself. The outer is always a reflection of the inner. Animals and young children can tell when you lie. Other people can fake it, but children know, they feel the vibe, they feel that fun, and so do animals, they feel the love. So does all life around us. We are what our experience is, all the time.
The last sentence above – reverberated with my own life experiences so powerfully. And now for some major stuff
Again and again it keeps coming back to letting go of our own will to have a plan about where we’re going and a goal. It seems that we spontaneously align with Plan of God for us. I think that’s the whole “follow your bliss” thing. It’s really Thy will be done, not mine.
And if we can just put God first, Om first – offer the food up, offer the day up, become conscious the first moment you wake up, think of God – then there is peace.
The next one is a practical life tip from Swara Yoga. Seems useful and simple
Notice which nostril you’re breathing out of, right or left. If you’re breathing out of the left nostril, then get out of bed with the left foot. If you’re breathing out of your right nostril, then get out of bed with the right foot. Start the day right. Start it with God. Give it to God. God seems to take it. An ordinary life turns into an incredible, delightful adventure. You don’t bump into any edges anymore.
Nirvana Shatakam 