A Flower Maker

A bird once told Rampriya

There's a Flower Maker in your house
Who strings her garlands on the breath
Adoring a hidden man

When fire, sun, and moon go black
Her flowers light one's vision
And in that garden
He beholds all things

In Vain
Rampriya tries to catch that bird
So he can learn directions

But one must laugh at his attempt
To need a map of his own house

Bird

Words desperately try and reach around that feeling which is sacred

Who can understand?

Not even my own mind.

The pain of silence falls away when one surrenders and sleeps in the forest of stars...

Rampriya Says

Wisdom is a lone bird 

Reading from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna P. 94

Another day the Master was seated on the small couch in his room, with his usual beaming countenance. M. arrived with Kalikrishna, who did not know where his friend M. was taking him. He had only been told : "If you want to see a grog-shop, then come with me. You will see a huge jar of wine there." M. related this to Sri Ramakrishna, who laughed about it. The Master said: "The bliss of worship and communion with God is the true wine, the wine of ecstatic love. The goal of human life is to love God. Bhakti is the one essential thing. To know God through jnana and reasoning is extremely difficult."

The Master sang:

"Who is there that can understand what Mother Kali is?
Even the six darsanas are powerless to reveal Her..."

The Master said, again: "The one goal of life is to cultivate love for God, the love that the milkmaids, the milkmen, and the cowherd boys of Vrindavan felt for Krishna. When Krishna went away to Mathura, the cowherds roamed about weeping bitterly because of their separation from Him."

Saying this the Master sang, with eyes turned upward:

"Just now I saw a youthful cowherd
With a young calf in his arms;
There he stood, by one hand holding
The branch of a young tree.
"Where are You, Brother Kanai?" he cried;
But "Kanai" scarcely could he utter;
"Ka" was as much as he could say.
He cried, "Where are You, Brother?"
And his eyes were filled with tears."

When M. heard this song of the Master's, laden with love, his eyes were moist with tears. 

Nectar from the Guru's Lips ...

These words of our Beloved Gurudev Swami Omananda Saraswati were recorded at the Holy Triveni Sangam in Prayag, Allahabad over the course of the month of Magh (Jan/Feb). Jai Guru Dev ...

If you want to love everyone, 

You must the love the One who is everywhere.
All is in the One and One is in the All. 

...

Everything is in maya and maya is in everything.

By observing sexual energy, you can observe subtle energy. 

By observing subtle energy, you can observe mental energy. 

By observing mental energy, you gain knowledge. 

...

If the world accepts you, but the Mother does not accept you ... it is failure. 

If the Mother accepts you, but the world does not accept ... it is success. 

If the Mother and the world both accept you ... it is ultimate success. 

...

Your mind is your own individuality,

But behind the mind shines the Supreme Self. 

...

Start early, drive slowly, reach safely. 

...

To believe or not to believe in God,

It is no problem for him.
It is only our problem.

...

There is only one problem for Almighty Mother. 

Because She is everywhere, 

She cannot throw you from Her heart. 

...

That Almighty provides if we use properly. 

Mother will provide according to quality, qualification, knowledge, and capacity. 

...

While talking about trying to find a cook for the ashram, Guruji said,

"There are many persons in the world, but we have no link with them.

But Mother has a link with everyone so She will provide accordingly."

...

If you are going to Benares, 

It is better to not reach there than to go too fast and crash and die on the way.

...

Even if you don't worship God,

As soon as you open your eyes ...

Remember God

Awake in God

Live in God

Go to sleep in God

...

If you pay homage to the earth,

You pay homage to all avatars. 

...

Your happiness is my daksina (payment). 

...

If you live a truthful life you will face difficulties,

But your life will be full of peace. 

If you live an untruthful life, 

It will be easy but you will only face misery. 

...

A blind person has never experienced light. 

Therefore, he has never experienced darkness.
How can he ever know what darkness is if he has never experienced light?

... 

Belief is relief

...

One child has only learned 'A,B,C'. 

The father gives a book on philosophy. 

The child happily reads but of course doesn't understand.
The father calls him a fool, 

But really the father is a fool because the child is working to his full capacity. 

...

We walk over so many stones to worship one stone

...

You are from America. Your mother tongue is english. 

You can read so many books and study so much literature,

But can you tell me the meaning of the letter 'D' or 'K'?

...

Don't react immediately.

Be still and calm.

Watch your mind before making a decision. 

...

Be firm in your inner stance and keep your balance.
If this is done, you can mix with everyone. 

...

Be brave and know that the Guru's Grace is always with you.

...

Always remember the Mother.

Maa Achen Aar Ami Achi

Mother is here and I am here, there are not worries.

Ma's hands feed and clothe me. She is the one that takes care of me.

After falling into the traps of samsara, I could see only darkness. 

Even amidst that darkness Ma spoke to me about the Light, again and again. 

When worldly people came to take me down the wrong path again and again...

From that path Ma took me by the hand and rescued me.

Though I forget Ma, She does not forget me.

Where else is there an embodiment of such love? 

Ma is mine, and I am Ma's

-Author Unknown

Four Fruits

Taking the Name

And wrapping it in clothe

Man walked across black water

Departing to the forest

Father took one last breath

Woman trapped in stone

Found redemption in His touch

Many are the stories of the Ever Blissful One

The One with bow and quiver

Is the One Rampriya follows

Bathing in His glories

The Four Fruits are within reach

From Ayodhya-Kanda Verses 89 - 93

When Laksmana perceived that his lord had fallen asleep, he rose and asked the minister in soft accents to retire. As for himself he got ready his bow and arrows and sitting at some distance in the posture of a hero he kept watch. Guha called his trusted watchmen and stationed them at different points with great love; while he himself went and took his seat beside Laksmana with a quiver fastened to his waist and an arrow fitted to his bow. When the Nishada Chief (Guha) saw his lord lying on a bed of grass and leaves, he felt great sorrow in his heart due to excess of love; the hair on his body bristled, tears flowed from his eyes and he addressed the following affectionate words to Laksmana:

"The king's palace is naturally charming; even Indra's residence can hardly stand comparison with it. Its beautiful attics are built of precious gems and are so lovely as though the god of love has constructed them with his own hands. Free from impurities, exceedingly marvelous of design, abounding in exquisite luxuries and scented with the fragrance of flowers, they are furnished with lovely beds and lighted with gems and are full of amenities of every description. Again they are equipped with coverlets and sheets, pillows and cushions of various kinds - all soft, white and charming as the froth of milk. It is in such attics that Sita and Rama used to sleep at night and humbled by their beauty the pride of Rati and her consort, the god of love. Those very Sita and Rama are now lying on a pallet, exhausted and uncovered, a sight one cannot bear to see. The same Lord Rama whom his father and mother, his own family and the people of the city, his good-natured companions, men-servants and maid-servants, all cherished as their own life, sleeps on the ground! Nay, Sita, whose father Janaka is famed throughout the world, whose father and whose spouse is Ramacandra, is lying on the ground! An adverse fate spares none. Do Sita and the Hero of Raghu's race deserve to be exiled to the woods? They rightly say: 'Fate is supreme.' The foolish daughter of Kekaya has wrought a cruel mischief in that she has brought trouble on Sita and the Delighter of Raghu's race at a time of enjoyment. The wicked woman has played the axe in felling the tree of the solar race and plunged the whole universe in woe."

The Nishada chief was sore distressed to see Rama and Sita sleeping on the ground. Laksmana spoke to him sweet and gentle words imbued with the nectar of wisdom, dispassion and devotion:

"No one is a source of delight or pain to another; everyone reaps the fruit of one's own actions, brother. Union and separation, pleasurable and painful experiences, friends, foes and neutrals - snares of delusion are these. Even so birth and death, prosperity and adversity, destiny and time and all the illusion of the world; lands, houses, wealth, town and family, heaven and hell, and all the phenomena of the world; nay, whatever is seen, heard or thought of with the mind has its root in ignorance: nothing exists in reality. Suppose in a dream a beggar is crowned king or the lord of paradise is reduced to the state of a pauper; on waking, the one does not gain nor does the other lose anything. So must you look upon this world. Reasoning thus be not angry nor blame anyone in vain. Everyone is slumbering in the night of delusion, and while asleep one sees dreams of various kinds. In this night of mundane existence it is Yogis (mystics) alone who keep awake - Yogis who are in quest of the highest truth and remain aloof from the world. A soul should be deemed as having awoke from the night of the world only when he develops an aversion for the enjoyments of the world of sense. It is only when right understanding comes that the error of delusion disappears and then alone one develops love for the feet of Sri Rama, the Lord of Raghus. O friend, the highest spiritual goal is this: to be devoted to the feet of Sri Rama in thought, word and deed. Sri Rama is no other than Brahma (God), the supreme Reality, unknown, imperceptible, beginningless, incomparable, free from all change and beyond all diversity. The Vedas ever speak of Him in negative terms (not this). For the sake of His devotees, Earth, the Brahmanas, cows and gods, the gracious Lord takes the form of a man and performs actions by hearing of which the snares of the world are broken asunder. Realizing this, O friend, shed all infatuation and be devoted to the feet of Sita and the Hero of Raghu's race."

While Laksmana was yet recounting Sri Rama's virtues, the day dawned and the Joy and Delighter of the world woke up. After finishing all purificatory acts Sri Rama, who was all pure and wise, performed His ablutions and sent for some milk of the banyan tree. He as well as His brother then matted the hair on their heads, a sight which filled the eyes of Sumantra with tears.