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1. THE MIRACLE CALLED TMS
The coffers of TMS was running dry and we were down to our last penny.
The last issue we managed to bring out , but we realised there was no more
money in the TMS account for the next. The printers had to be paid, the
paper had to be bought, the postage had to be done . When I learnt the bank
balance was nil I wondered aloud whether we need to change the format and
perhaps make it only an online version. As these thoughts came to my head
I happened to visit this wonderful place called Carmel Haven, a home for
senior citizens run by Carmelite nuns near Pune. The place was run with so
much love and affection. Built to modern specifications, spotlessly clean
the sisters and staff who worked in front office, admin, housekeeping and
kitchen were full of love and cheer. It was heart warming. The place was
serene with beautiful vibrations. We delivered some new and old issues of
TMS to the nuns. Then it struck me that over 50 percent of the TMS readers
were the elderly. They must be looking forward to this little journal which
is full of hope, faith and inspiring stories. An e -version would totally deny
them the access to the journal as most of us are not comfortable reading on
the computer. Many may not even have regular access to one. So when I
returned to office I discussed with my core editorial team and we decided to
continue as is. I thought to myself the Lord will provide. The beginning of
the week dawned and we got a cheque of Rs. 20,000 the approximate
amount we need to bring out one issue including postage. The Lord did not
want any of us to fund His work. I basked in the wow of the moment.
A miracle indeed. I would like to thank the generous donor who will be
blessed in abundance for this kind gesture.
Let's all pray to keep TMS going.
Kiran Bhat
Aug-Sept-Oct 2014 Vol 23- No.7
MAILBOX
DearEditor,
At the outset I say Hats Off to all the members of The Mustard Seed. Thanks
for your great job from which many are getting benefitted. Some time back
some where I read your journal and I enjoyed reading it.I request you to
send one copy of TMS to me. I would like to receive by post from this month
onward.
With a grateful heart & God's blessings.
Yours sincerely,
Sr. SangitaFMM
(Edit: We will send TMS to you).
DearEditor,
A close friend in Bangalore gave me May – June – July issue of Mustard
Seed, you are doing a great service and contents are not only interesting but
also educative.
I am an old man of 83 years and privileged to share my birthday with Lord
Jesus Christ. At this advanced age I need lot of religious and spiritual
inputs for peaceful life. Mustard Seed is the right publication for these
inputs. I am enclosing herewith my humble contribution.Kindly enroll me
as a subscriber and regularly send me the wonderful Mustard Seed.
Warm Regards, Truly,
D.V.Singh
(Edit: Sincerely appreciate)
DearEditor,
I have been truly blessed to be receiving the Mustard seed for many years
now. I am glad that you are offering an online issue and I feel I would like to
contribute to your effort to save paper and make the reach of TMS spread
further than it has ever before. Thanking you and wishing you all the very
best for your future endeavors.
As your consciousness, refinement and pureness of heart expands you
will become less judgmental, less corrective, less reactive, less black-and-
white, less critical, less apt to blame and less tormented by others
and their faults and views
Bryant Gill
SPIRITUALITY FOR DUMMIES. Desert Father stories
Keith
When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by 'accidie' -
lethargy - , and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, 'Lord, I
want to be saved, but these thoughts will not leave me alone. What shall I do
in my affliction? How can I be saved?' A short while afterwards, when he
got up to go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work, getting
up from his work to pray, then sitting down and plaiting a rope, then getting
up again to pray. It was an angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him.
He heard the angel saying to him, "Do this and you will be saved." At these
words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He did this, and he was
saved.
When the same Abba Anthony thought about the depth of the judgments of
God, he asked, "Lord, how is it that some die when they are young, while
others drag on to extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and
those who are rich? Why do wicked men prosper and why are the just in
need?" He heard a voice answering him, "Anthony, keep your attention on
yourself; these things are according to the judgment of God, and it is not to
your advantage to know anything about them.'
Someone asked Abba Anthony, "What must one do in order to please God?"
The old man replied, "Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be,
always have God before your eyes, whatever you do, do it according to the
testimony of the Holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live do not easily
leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.”
Reflection – We have here some basic spiritual principles laid down by
Abba Anthony, who was one of the first and the greatest of the fathers, one
of the few of them who is a canonized saint on the universal calendar of the
Roman church.
These three stories taken together clear up an awful lot about the spiritual
life, it seems to me. They are like a kind of ‘spiritual life for dummies’, and
aren’t we all a little dumb when it comes to these things?
‘Accidie’, usually rendered in English as acedia, is that horrible drag that
comes upon all of us when spiritual life and spiritual effort just don’t seem
worth bothering about, when it all just seems kind of pointless and useless.
There are no lives entirely free of acedia; the greatest of saints battle with it,
the worst of sinners are wholly lost in it, but everyone has it. And so the first
lesson of these stories is the fundamental way of the Christian in the world,
the monk in his cell, everyone.
Ora et labora—pray and work, work and pray. Attend to the tasks and
duties of your state of life, and then say some prayers, and then work some
more, and then say some more prayers. The monastic schedule, which of
course is very rigorous in its long offices and not suitable in its details for lay
life, is nonetheless a sort of pattern for all Christian spiritual life. We have to
alternate prayer and work, work and prayer, and this is the way to live
simply and humbly in the presence of God. It has been thus from the
beginning, and has not changed in our times. We tend, we moderns, to be so
sure that everything is different now and that these old stories don’t apply to
us. They do, they always will.
And this prayer and work is what is meant by ‘keeping one’s attention on
oneself’, the attitude recommended. It is not self-centeredness that is being
recommended here, but basically minding one’s own spiritual business.
This is a good bit of advice for us in the social media age, when it seems to
be the norm to pry one’s nose into the details of everyone else’s spiritual and
moral life without much regard at all for the privacy of conscience and the
simple fact that we know very little indeed about the lives of other people,
and particularly their innermost life with God.
I do an awful lot of spiritual direction, you know (it’s more or less my
principal work in MH), and even when a person has spent hours and hours
pouring out to me the most intimate details of their lives and hearts, I am
verrrrrry slow to give counsel, to say that such and such a choice was wrong
or that they should definitely go this way or that way or not. So I’m always a
bit bemused when I see people on a Facebook thread or combox issuing
rather sweeping statements about total strangers, based on next to nothing.
No, keep your mind on yourself and your own journey to God and be very
slow to get involved in the spiritual affairs of another, and if they happen to
invite you into their affairs, go in on your knees and with fear and trembling.
And the final story is such a good summary of spiritual wisdom—keep God
before your eyes, take the Scriptures as a guide in all things, and be very
slow to leave a place you are in. This latter may strike us as odd and ‘one of
these things is not like the other’-ish. But the desert fathers knew very well
the phenomenon of itchy feet and restlessness, and that human beings can
easily think that if they just change things around, move here, move there,
leave their spouse, leave their community, change their job… it will all be
better.
It is a terrible spiritual trap, one that many are in these days, which causes us
to waste years and even decades of life trying to make all the externals of our
life just so, when what needs to happen is interior purification and
transformation. Commitment to a vocation, to a marriage, a community, a
way of life, stability in a single place and occupation is vital so that the real
work of life, the growth into freedom and joy, can happen without
distractions.
And that’s quite enough for one day—but you can see how these wild
monks from the deserts of the Middle East have laid down the path of
holiness for all Christians, and how the study of these men and women is
vital for our own walking of that path in confidence and security.
THE SQUIRREL.......LESSONS
As I walked, my head bowed down,
With the weight of all worldly matters,
I saw this squirrel merrily running around the whole garden as if it
belonged to him.
But it did belong to him. As he scampered, climbed tress, ran down
again. Performing in his own little theatre as if he was the actor and also
the audience. I saw him going about his task most joyfully without a
care in the world.
He was performing the most mundane task of searching for something to
eat. Or perhaps playing around after he had his fill.
But he, just like me is God's creature. I marvelled at the difference
between him and me.
He lived on trust, knowing he will be taken care of. He knew the secret
of the universe and practiced it,
Whereas I, despite knowing the secret of the universe still believed it was
I, who was doing everything,
And instead of joyfully walking without a care in the world,
was dragging my feet as if it was in chains.
Oh, to take some life lessons from a squirrel; for he is as much His
creation as I am.
KB
PERSEVERANCE
An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All
she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money left. They were
moving to a smaller house because they could not afford to stay in the
present house after paying the doctor's bills. Only a very costly surgery
could save him now and there was no one to loan them the money.
When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother with whispered
desperation, 'Only a miracle can save him now', the little girl went to her
bedroom and pulled her piggy bank from its hiding place in the closet. She
poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully.
Clutching the precious piggy bank tightly, she slipped out the back door and
made her way six blocks to the local drugstore. She took a quarter from her
bank and placed it on the glass counter.
"And what do you want?" asked the pharmacist.
"It's for my little brother," the girl answered back. "He's really very sick and
I want to buy a miracle."
"I beg your pardon?" said the p h a rmacist.
"His name is Andrew and he has something bad
growing inside his head and my daddy says only a
miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle
cost?"
"We don't sell miracles here, child. I'm sorry,"
the pharmacist said, smiling sadly at the
little girl.
"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't
enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me
how much it costs."
In the shop was a well- dressed customer. He
stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of a
miracle does your brother need?"
"I don't know," she replied with her eyes welling up.
"He's really sick and mommy says he needs an
operation. But my daddy can't pay for it, so I have
brought my savings".
"How much do you have?" asked the man.
"One dollar and eleven cents; but I can try and get some more",
she answered barely audibly.
"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man, "A dollar and eleven
cents - the exact price of a miracle for little brothers."
He took her money in one hand and held her hand with the other. He said,
"Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your
parents. Let's see if I have the kind of miracle you need."
That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specialising
in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't
long before Andrew was home again and doing well.
"That surgery," her mom whispered, "was a real miracle. I wonder how
much it would have cost."
The little girl smiled. She knew exactly how much the miracle cost ... one
dollar and eleven cents ... plus the faith of a little child.
Perseverance can make miracles happen!
And very nice line: Ariver cuts d rock not bcoz of its power, but bcoz of its
consistency. Never lose ur hope & keep walking towards ur vision..
Prayer carries us half way to God, fasting brings us to the door of His
palace and alms giving procures us admission.
Quran
REACHING OUT..........IN LOVE
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning
disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would
never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its
dedicated staff, he offered a question:
'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is
done with perfection.Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children
do. He cannot understand things as other children do.Where is the natural
order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Shay, who was
mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an
opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the
way other people treat that child. ‘Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were
playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that
most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a
father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give
him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted
by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if
Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're
losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on
our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a
team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart.
The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was
still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right
field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be
in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from
the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on
base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the
game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but
impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly,
much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the
plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside
for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly
so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards
Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right
back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the
ball to the first baseman.
Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of
reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!'
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!'
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and
struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the
ball, the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the
hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball
high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled
the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay'
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by
turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third!
Shay, run to third!'
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were
on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!'
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit
the grand slam and won the game for his team
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, ‘The
boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into
this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never
forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and
seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
SHARING STREAMS
The revelation awaits an appointed time. . . .Though it lingers? wait for it; it
will certainly come and will not delay.
In the captivating booklet Expectation Corner, one of the characters, Adam
Slowman, was led into the Lord’s treasure-house.
Among the many wonders revealed to him there was the “Delayed Blessing
Office,” where God stored the answers to certain prayers until it was wise to
send them.
For some who pray expecting an answer, it takes a long time to learn
that delays of answers are not denials. In fact, in the
“De l a y e d Bl e s s i n g Office,” there are
deep secrets of love and wisdom that we
have never imagined! We tend to want to
pick our blessings from the tree while they
are still green, yet God wants us to wait
until they are fully ripe.
“The Lord longs to be gracious to
you. . . .
Blessed are all who wait for him!”
(Isa. 30:18). The Lord watches over us
in all the difficult places, and He will
not allow even one trial that is too much for
us. He will use His refining fire to burn
away our impurities and w i l l then gloriously come to our
rescue.
Do not grieve Him by doubting His love. Instead, lift up your eyes and begin
praising Him right now for the deliverance that is on its way to you. Then
you will be abundantly rewarded for the delay that has tried your faith. O
you of little faith,
God has not failed you yet!
When all looks dark and gloomy,
You do so soon forget—Forget that He has led you, And gently cleared your
way; On clouds has poured His sunshine, And turned your night to day. And
if He’s helped you to this point, He will not fail you now;
How it must wound His loving heart
To see your anxious brow!
Oh! doubt not any longer,
To Him commit your way,
Whom in the past you trusted,
And is just the same today.
We need to find God and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness.
God is the friend of silence, see how nature – trees, flowers, grass grow in
silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence.
We need silence to be able to touch souls.
Mother Teresa
ATEACHING WHICH OFTEN EARNS ONE THE REPROACH AND
REBUKE OF FRIEND AND FOE ALIKE!!! PRAISE THE LORD...
A woman who had made rapid progress in her understanding of the Lord
was once asked the secret of her seemingly easy growth. Her brief response
was,
“Mind the checks.” The reason many of us do not know and understand God
better is that we do not heed His gentle “checks”—His delicate restraints
and constraints. His voice is “a gentle whisper.” A whisper can hardly be
heard, so it must be felt as a faint and steady pressure upon the heart and
mind, like the touch of a morning breeze calmly moving across the soul.
And when it is heeded, it quietly grows clearer in the inner ear of the heart.
God’s voice is directed to the ear of love, and true love is intent upon hearing
even the faintest whisper. Yet there comes a time when His love ceases to
speak, when we do not respond to or believe His message.“God is love” (1
John 4:8), and if you want to know Him and His voice, you must continually
listen to His gentle touches.
So when you are about to say something in conversation with others, and
you sense a gentle restraint from His quiet whisper,
heed the restraint and refrain from speaking. And when you are about to
pursue some course of action that seems perfectly clear and right, yet you
sense in your spirit another path being suggested with the force of quiet
conviction, heed that conviction.
Follow the alternate course, even if the change of plans appears to be
absolute folly from the perspective of human wisdom.
Also learn to wait on God until He unfolds His will before you. Allow Him
to develop all the plans of your heart and mind, and then let Him accomplish
them. Do not possess any wisdom of your own, for often His performance
will appear to contradict the plan He gave you. God will seem to work
against Himself, so simply listen, obey, and trust Him, even when it appears
to be the greatest absurdity to do so. Ultimately, “we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him” (Rom. 8:28), but many
times, in the initial stages of the performance of His plans: In His own world
He is content To play a losing game.
Therefore if you desire to know God’s voice, never consider the final
outcome or the possible results. Obey Him even when He asks you to move
while you still see only darkness, for He Himself will be a glorious light
within you. Then there will quickly spring up within your heart a
knowledge of God and a fellowship with Him, which will be overpowering
enough in themselves to hold you and Him together, even in the most severe
tests and under the strongest pressures of life.
from Way of Faith
ENRICHING CORN STORY!
A farmer grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the
state fair where it won a blue ribbon.
One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something
interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer
shared his seed corn with his neighbors. “How can you
afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors
when they are entering corn in competition with yours
each year?” the reporter asked. “Why sir,” said the
farmer, “didn’t you know?
The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn
and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbours
grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will
steadily degrade the quality of my corn.
If I am to grow good corn, I must
help my neighbours grow good corn.”
So it is with our lives. Those who want to
live meaningfully and well must help
enrich the lives of others, for the
value of a life is
measured by the lives
it touches. And those who choose to be
happy must help others find h a p p i n e s s , f o r t h e
welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all.
Call it power of collectivity. Call it a principle of success. Call it a law of
life. The fact is, none of us truly wins, until we all win!!
Our prime purpose in life is to help others. And if you can not help them, at
least do not hurt them.
Dalai Lama
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates
profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.
Lao Tzu
Dear believer, can you answer the above question? Can you find any reason
why you are so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why do you allow
your mind to dwell on gloomy thoughts? Who told you that night will never
end in day? Who told you that the winter of your discontent would continue
from frost to frost and from snow, ice, and hail to even deeper snow and
stronger storms of despair?
Don’t you know that day dawns after night, showers displace drought, and
spring and summer follow winter? Then, have hope!
Hope forever, for God will not fail you!
Charles H. Spurgeon
WHY MUST I GO ABOUT MOURNING?
This question has been debated with great passion for centuries. In
desperation people have fought each other over its answer. Have we found
the answer?
A Brazilian theologist, Leonardo Boff, has shared this dialogue with the
Dalai Lama: Both were participating at a round table discussion about
religion and freedom. During the recess Boff maliciously and also with
interest asked him: “Your Holiness, what is the best
religion?”
He thought he would say: “The Tibetan Buddhism” or “The
oriental religions, much older than Christianity”
Dalai Lama paused, smiled and looked him in the
eyes….this surprised Boff because he knew of the
malice contained in his question.
The Dalai Lama answered: “The best religion is the one
that gets you closest to God. It is the one that
makes you a better person.”
To get out of his embarrassment
with such a wise answe r, Boff
asked: “What is it that makes me
a b e t t e r person?”
Th e Da l a i L a m a
responded:
“Whatever makes you more compassionate more sensible more detached
more loving, more humanitarian, more responsible more ethical. The
religion that will do that for you is the best religion.”
Contributed by
Yvonne Extross
WHAT IS THE BEST RELIGION?
HAVE A HAPPINESS-FILLED DAY!
Once a group of about 100 people were attending a seminar. Suddenly the
speaker stopped and started giving each one a balloon. Each one was asked
to write his/her name on it using a marker pen. Then all the balloons were
collected and put in another room.
Now these delegates w e re let in that room and asked to find the
balloon which had t h e ir name written,
within 5 minutes.
Everyone was f r a n t i c a l l y
searching for their name, colliding
with eachother, pushing around
others and there was utter chaos.
At the end of 5 minutes no one could find
their own balloon.
Now each one was asked to randomaly collect
a balloon and give it to the the person whose
name was written on it.
Within minutes everyone had t h e i r own balloon.
The speaker began--- Exactly this is happening in our lives.
Everyone is frantically looking for happiness all around, not knowing
where it is.
Our happiness lies in the happiness of other people. Give them their
happiness, you will get your own happiness.
And this is the purpose of human life. Is this not what you are looking for?
Happiness is not about getting what I want all the time. It is about loving
what I have and being grateful for it, and generously sharing myself with
others, all the time.
Cedric Prakash sj
MASTER IS YOUR MIRROR.
Not the one which you go to see when you want to but the one which follows
you and even shows yourself to you even if you do not want to see or even
not choose to see.
The normal mirror you choose to see only when you are dressed up.
Or when you know you are looking good yourself.
At such time mirror is merely your ego and not a mirror,
as it is not showing everything about you.
Master shows you your own self every moment,
even when you know you are not looking good
and do not want to see your own self.
Sanjay Thakker
LORD I’M GETTING OLDER
Lord, you knew better than I know myself that I am getting older and will
someday be really old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say
something on every subject and on every occasion.
Release me from the craving to straighten out every body’s affairs. Make
me thoughtful and not moody, helpful but not bossy. With my vast store of
wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it at all, but you know,
Lord, that I want a few friends at the end. Keep my mind
from the endless recital of details give me the wings
to come to the point.
Seal my lips on my aches and pains.
They are increasing and my love for
rehearsing then is becoming sweeter.
I do not ask for the grace to enjoy the
tales of others pains, but help me to
endure them with patience. I dare not
ask for improved memory but for a growing humility
and a lessening cocksureness, when my memory seems to clash with the
memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be
mistaken. Keep me reasonable sweet. I so not want to be a saint – some of
them are so hard to live with – but a sour old woman is one of the crowning
works of the devil. Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected
places and the talents in people, and give me he grace to tell them so.
By
17 th century Nun
THE ART OF GIVING
Sages have told us that, we as humans can give, only when He is the Giver.
What that really means is that, unless we are open to receive His Divine
Grace, we cannot become a channel of His Giving. Hence, the concept that
we are givers is falsely located in our minds. Just like, we are able to see the
world, because there is “Light” which must first shine on the objects, before
we can see them, similarly, unless there is Grace we are open to from Him,
we are not vessels of His Giving.
On my recent visit to Rishikesh, I saw a line of people headed towards the
Laxman Jhula, a very famous bridge that connects one side of the Ganga to
its other bank. These people of Viashnav Bhakt from rural Bengal sit there
near the Jhula every day in a line. Beside them, they may have a bowl but
they do not ask for alms. I took the opportunity to stand around them,
listening, without disturbing them, to what they were talking about amongst
them.
“Let us see, what He has to give us today.” I heard one say. Already my
anxiety was rising. What if they receive nothing today, what will they eat, I
thought to myself?
“He provides, whatever is our need today, He will provide.” I heard another
man say, in reply to the first.
“It is a good test for us,’ said the lady in white sari, with a red border,
‘otherwise, even we do not know what our need is every day.”
The group sat silently as I pondered on.
It is a test of faith, an openness to receive, without asking for what we may
think we need at this moment, which is the key to receiving His Grace. I
thought, perhaps I should also join them and sit around a bit, but soon my
eyes went to my watch and I knew I had to hurry along to ParmatmaNiketan,
where the enlightened Master Dandi Swami was coming to give a lecture
for half an hour. I raced there and caught the sight and Presence of a man,
who is really unaware of what he wears on His body but His Lips have said
words, my ears have heard and my heart, which cared not so much for His
Words, did open to catch His Presence.
I could have continued to sit at Laxman Jhula, but my instinct took me to
Dandi Swami. The Lesson to learn was this:
“What is Form and Formless in God?” And He answered,
“When the God is outside you, and you recognize Him outside yourself, He
is in the form of Paramatma; when you see God inside yourself, it is
Antaratma. Both are the same – in waking, you see Paramatma, in dream
state, in sleep and in deep meditation, you see Antaratma, but in a state of
dreamless sleep, you see neither, the Form nor the Formless. Because, the
distinction has dissolved, you are Him.”
It really is a Divine Gift, when a Master comes to earth and helps us receive
the Gifts from God, because they help us open our hearts to Him and receive
His Grace – and pass it on to others.
Julia Dutta
GOD MUST HAVE KNOWN
God must have known our hearts would need a reassuring touch.
When he made the friendly handclasp that warms our hearts so much.
He must have known that skies of blue would often turn to gray.
He put the sunshine in a smile to brighten up our day.
God knew, I am sure that you and I would need a helping hand.
Akindly word to let us know that others understand.
God must have known our hearts would need a special kind of cheer.
I’m sure that’s why he sent dear friends to journey with us here.
Kay Hoffman
JUST ONE THOUGHT
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of
trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and
success achieved.
Helen Keller
There is no better exercise for the heart than reaching down and lifting
people up.
John Anderson Holmes
Everyone thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing
himself.
Leo Tolstoy
Sometimes we get so caught up in the future we forget to take pleasure in
what we have, We become so obsessed with, “I want, I want, I want”, there is
no room left to notice that we are already standing neck-deep in grace.
C. Moss
Joy makes the longest journey too short.
John Wooden
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