☆°•. ★¸.•*¨Sri Radha Ashtami ~ Sept.13,2013¸.•°☆°•. ★¸.•*¨

I think of my Sri Radha in my deepest inmost thoughts.
I know she is there, unmoving, forever mine ~
I am conscious of her presence...

Beautiful one, your face is lovely as the moon,
and the nightingales singing in wild abandon
wrench at my heart and are driving me distracted!

Speak to me, my love, speak such words to me
that I shall be anointed by them; as a king is anointed
by sacred holy oil, let me be anointed by the honeyed
sweetness of your words.

My love, my love, you are my all -
my secret wealth, my jewel, my gem
in a vast ocean that contains all loveliness.

My Radha, there is in my heart one idea,
in my mind one thought ~ My love,
it is you held by my encircling love.

                            ~ Gita Govind ~
                                  Jaya Dev

                                                     "Shree Radhey"

Blessed One,         
       In the Grace, ever since merging in the ecstasy of the uttermost Grace of Divinity, the silent communication of the heart is inscrutable as He Himself and His Lila.
       On the occasion of Sri Radha Ashtami we visit Sri Barsana, the blissful realm of Sri Radha.  All devotees gather at Sri Ji's Mandir at the break of dawn to witness the Mangala Arti then kirtan, and the Samaj continues singing throughout the night, to the Abhishek, the auspicious bathing of Sri Radha with curds and milk.  The sacred Samaj of Sri Radha's Advent is sung with great devotion as the sun rises over Sri Ji's Dham.
       Each day following Radha Ashtami special Raslilas are performed at the sacred sites where Sri Thakurji and His Beloved perform even to this day, their Lilas.  At Sri Prem Srovar, a sacred tank filled with the tears of the Divine Couple Sri Gopal Chandra Dev is taken out on a gorgeously decorated barge and afterward He and Sri Ji watch fireworks from a beautiful throne in front of their temple. At Mur Kuti, site of the Peacock Dance this Lila is performed. Jhulan (swing) Lila is done at Vilas Ghar, where Sri Ji and Shyam Sunder pass their time in Divine Love Dalliance and again repeat their Lila in the forest of Ghaverban.  At Priya Kund the deities of Jaipur Raj Mandir also go boating to the delight of all, and a glorious samaj is sung while carrying the Divinities back to the temple, and end at Sri Ji's Temple.  At Sankrikor, the narrow ravine where Sri Thakurji demanded a 'tax' of curd and milk from Sri Radha and the Gopis going to market, the Lila and Samaj are re-enacted.  The ecstasy of these occasions cannot be easily communicated!
      Kadam Kandi is a very beautiful green forest between dry brown hills, where Sri Naga Baba did his sadhana.  Once while walking in the forest his long hair was caught in a tree and he refused to allow anyone to disentangle it. He wanted the Jugal Kishore (Sri Radha and Krishna) to free him.  When Sri Thakurji Himself appeared, Naga Baba told Him to go away and come back with Sri Radhika - and he did so to free His bhakta!  A grand mela (festival) and Lila happens in this holy place in the valley and atop the hill at the Samadhi of Sri Naga Baba.  All the Gopis of the very caste who once played with Sri Gopal come in the same colorful dress they have worn for centuries - filling the lovely tree-shaded kund amidst the forest with a flood of orange, red, gold and green, as well as old traditional kirtans.  Thence all the devotees go on to Kama for darshan.  Kama is a 'second Vrindavan', a city of many, many temples...  There is also an ancient ruined temple atop the hill with 84 mystic pillars, one for every 'kos' (2 miles) of the 84 kos of Vraj Dham,  (the 84 sacred sites of Vraj).

       From Kama the Mela moves to Karehla, where Maha Ras Lila is performed but once a year, on Purnima (full-moon).  Here, at the site of the original Ras Lila, a masterly crafted golden mukhet (crown) 500 years old, is worn by Thakurji, a once a year darshan.  One then proceeds to Pashia, a supremely holy forest, unchanged from the time of the Mahabharat, when Sri Krishna graced this earth.  Ashwatthama, son of Dronacharya, killed the children of the Pandavas by treachery. Arjuna did not kill him because he was the son of his Guru, but shaved his head and beard, a sign of disgrace.  Ashwatthama retired to Pashia, where he did great penance to please Lord Shankara.  The inhabitants of the surrounding villages believe he still dwells in this woods and it has not been touched by profane hands.  Only sadhus living within the forest will take the dead wood to burn, within the forest itself, otherwise each tree, plant and animal lives and dies according to its Karma in its own place.  Each Saturday the people of the neighboring villages do parikrama of the forest to obtain the blessings of Ashwatthama, who is very kind, they say, who cures illnesses and grants boons.  The forest remains today just as the woods and hermitages, which Sri Ram Chandra passed through when He was exiled, are discribed by Goswami Tulsidasji in his Ram Charitmanasa.
       Since then, Shanji has been going on in Vraj.  Shanjis are mystical diagrams of sacred places in Vraj.  Just as they were made by Sri Radhika and Her Sakhis, the girls of Vraj make them today at their homes, on the walls, with cow dung and flowers.  At Sri Ji Mandir the Samaj of how Sri Radhika and Her friends made Shanjis is sung daily, and a beautiful Shanji, made with colored sand is prepared.  Uchogam, the village of Lalita Sakhi, was made showing the temples, sacred kund, Gopis and Gopas, animals; then Prem Sarover, Sanket (where Radha and Krishna met for the first time), Nandagaon, Kokilban, and Sheshshai - the bed of the snake Shesha, on which Sri Narayan lies on the ocean of milk (khir, according to Vrajavasis...), served by Sri Lakshmi, with the Lotus of the 14 worlds, the seat of Brahma, sprouting from His Naval.

             How to describe the eternal bliss of Sri Vraj Dham?  ☆°•. ★¸.•*¨


☆°•. ★¸.•*¨An unsigned letter written in the handwriting of Baba Asim Krishna Das in 1972, and addressed to me in the handwriting of Baba Sripadji. 

                                     ☆°•. ★¸.•*¨  Jai Jai Sri Radhey!  ☆°•. ★¸.•*¨

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Bhai Sahib Lakshvir Singhji ~ Muztar Nabhawi ~ *ღ☆¸.•°*♥

                                             Beloved Bhai Sahib Lakshvir Singhji
                                                   Dec.25,1918 ~ Feb.14,2008

       Here is a note I made during study of the Persian language 
with the mystic poet-saint 'Muztar' of Nabha.
He is Bhai Sahib Lakshvir Singhji and lived at his home,
'Vir Nivas', in the beautiful Chail forest of Himanchal Pradesh.
      I had first met him in the early 70's when he came to Saproon,
Solan to meet Sant Gulab Singhji, his dear friend, who joyfully rose up
from the lunch table to embrace him. Bhai Sahibji was a very
beautiful and impressive man of around 50 years at that time, he wore a
khakhi color salvar-kameez with a small warm cap and draped himself
with a woolen shawl. He was astonishing with his own Urdu and Persian
Poetry (and English), all present there were totally swept away in the
timeless ecstasy of the graceful company of the meeting of these
two beloved masters!
       Later I was to accompany Santjeo in a friends jeep as we
rode up the mountains to the gorgeous Christmas tree forest
of Chail to visit Bhai Sahibji. The spiritual mood of the Love of
God, the Bhava, pervading his wonderful home is beyond words
to describe! Only I can still feel it today, along with his constant
presence. At that time, there with Santji, I remember how we sat
in the rose garden that Summer day, refreshed by cool sharbat
served by his sons as Bhai Sahibji's own Persian self written books
were brought out and shared with us. This was a kind of engrossing
hospitality I have never known before! The love, beauty, charm and
joy spread in all directions from these two saints!
       In the years to come I was often to visit this wonderful inspiring
saint and his loving family. He had 10 sons, and said that he actually
had to pray that the next child be a girl! No wonder that people
used to hear about him and come asking his advice on how to have
a son! And though it sounds odd, he actually did tell them several
things on the subject and they attained their purpose.
       Outside in the front garden he had built a single room mandir (temple),
up a few steps and one can walk completely around it on the small
veranda that has an absolutely magnificent view of  the sunrise over the
distant mountain ranges appearing like waves in the ocean!  Here he
entered daily, after bath, at the crack of dawn. this was done
on a very regular basis with the most extreme love for God. And he
would come out from the mandir after the Arti, having offered the
morning food and everything to God. At this time any guest or family
member was also welcome to join. We still smell the fragrance of the
unique morning meal, it was a special roti cooked over a wood fire!
The food was always happily brought upstairs and served smilingly by one of the boys, always with music and wonderful conversation. Meals ever ended in our laughter from the charm and whit of Bhai Sahib's stories.

        By around 4:00 pm we would be called from our rest for tea in the garden and from this beautiful tradition we all would have a unique walk in the fairyland forest where Bhai Sahibji would reveal many secrets of the great Himalayas and the saints of this area.
       When one visited for longer stays it was usually in the evenings after a light dinner that we would sit in the grand room upstairs and he would share with me tales of Sufi Mystics and the secrets of  the lovers of God.
It was here that tears of grace would flow in an ecstasy beyond words and the heart would leap up with the soul to be merged with him into a space beyond time itself!!
         The years have passed in such a grand friendship and reverence, I can only hope that there is the time and opportunity to be able to share the tales and this magnificent grace as it should be in time to come.

                                                                 *ღ☆¸.•°*♥

                           1994 more...unforgetable times with Lord's Beloveds!

                                                                   *ღ☆¸.•°*♥

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Sri Krsna Janamashtami! ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿

 ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿

✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿

        Ah Ho! He came over the other night
and into my Mandir playing His flute,
ringing my bells, singing, dancing, laughing,
and just smiling at me, THAT smile of His!!
Ah Ho!! Shree Krishna Madhusudana!!
       All this happened like just a little bit more of His Divine Magic!!Hey! Hari Sundar!! And this world starts to reveal its hidden sweetness!
  Jai Jai Nanda kishore!!

                             ~ ॐ ॐ ॐ ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿♆ॐ✿ॐ ॐ ॐ ~

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Haridwar Kumbha Mela ☀*1974☼ Baba Sripadji, Sri Anandamayi Ma, Sadhus and Friends

                                 

                                          .¸¸.•*`*•.✽(¯`••´¯)
                                                           .*•.¸.•*★•.¸¸.•*`*• ☆
                                                   Haridwar Khumbh Mela 1974
                

                                           Maji at Kumbha Mela Haridwar 1974

 

Baba Sripadji

                                                           Babaji with Sant Dasji

L to R:  Vishnu Das, 'Russi Radha' (Prof. Natalya Sazanova), Bhanu Bhai,
Sri Radha Mohan and Asim Krishna Das beside the Ganga at the Kumbha Mela  1974

                                                                   

                                             Swami Vishnu Dasji of Maharashtra

                                            Baba Sripadji with That mystical smile!
                                                     
                                              ☀*Haridwar Kumbha Mela 1974☼

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Sri Radha Dasi's Letter

                                                                                                          Vrindavan,
                                                                                                          15 Dec. 1979
                                                                 "Shri Hari"

My dear Radheshwari,
                                                             Jai Sri Radhey!

            Thank you for your letter which came some days ago now. Ellen continues to be sick - though recovering slowly - and Baba comes and goes with his urgent works. So I am kept busy and don't get round to reply to all the letters that come as soon as I should. No other reason that I didn't write sooner.

            I'm sorry if you misunderstood me and thought that I was testing you in any way. No, I asked you the question seriously- as a serious inquiry from a serious sadhaka. I had been noticing over the last couple of years that so many of those who were with us before also in search of That seem to have thrown away the quest and settled for mediocrity instead. Up to the time I wrote you last I had again heard about another couple of friends falling away. So my mind was very occupied with this situation and I was wanting to understand the reason, to find some explanation why those who had seemed so sincere, so dedicated, could yet change their minds. Perhaps because of my deep feeling, my words might have sounded to direct to you, but believe me, they were as much directed to myself if not more so. In fact when I wrote you, I told Ellen who was sitting here that I had just written a letter to myself.  After that, I even had second thoughts about posting it!

          Anyway, concerning my enquiry which I think was also called for since who knows that the next to go may not be myself, I came to certain conclusions.  Firstly, that it's very hard to give up the desire for sense gratification; in most cases of my friends, I think this has been the basic reason. Secondly, in some who even seemed a little more advanced in their inquiry of Truth and sadhana, it has been due to a basic error in judgement that they have felt the need for no further sadhana.  And that error arises from their having caught a glimpse of the universality of the soul.  However, instead of the jivatma identifying itself with the Paramatma, they have identified with the lower aspect of their nature and thus been deceived into thinking that the free reign of the desires is the highest reality.  that is why I kept thinking about Krishna's dissertation on various aspects of sadhana even after Arjuna had enjoyed the divine vision.  It seemed to me that there is a very important idea behind this; that the vision in itself is not enough unless we can incorporate it in our consciousness in the right way.  Sadhana prepares the mind and intelligence for this.  Again I remember the story of Indra and Virochana ( I think that was the name of the demon chief) who went to Brahma to enquire the highest Truth.  He told them 'Brahmasmi' was the highest. Virochana was content to look in the mirror and to understand that what he found reflected there was the Supreme Brahman; and Indra too would have been content with this answer had his wife not sent him again and again back to Brahma to do sadhana and to learn, after long, long years and repeated failures that Brahman is not the body, not the mind, not the intellect, but something even more than consciousness itself though it may be reflected through the purified consciousness.  It means, as the Sufis say, "Go still further!"

      You said, why should I be worried about falling into a material life?  Now you might understand. Since I have seen it happen so many times in the last year or so, I am always aware that I might be the next to deceive myself if I don't understand the causes clearly. Of course, I always feel there is a certain amount of Grace with me but I believe if I also don't make some effort to deserve this grace, rather to be worthy of it, it might be withdrawn from me any time.  Then certainly, there is no chance of experiencing that Ocean of Bliss.. 

        As far as the ego goes,you said you would, for one, be sorry to see it go.  Actually I don't think it really disintegrates until death and even then, if we look at reality at the perspective of its always manifesting itself, we must accept reincarnation.  This means that even in death the ego does not disintegrate but continues to exist in subtle form until it remanifests itself in an appropriate body.  So there is not much chance of my losing the ego so soon it seems!  Still, from what I have learned through the words of the saints, the ego must be reconstituted.  The ego of a saint is not the same as that of an ordinary man.  And I am sure that until that time when we are truly reborn as devotees through the sacrifices of love, all our worship is not really worth much.  I sincerely feel that it is only when the ego has been totally transformed that true worship begins.  Until then, we are just imitating the outward forms of worship - not altogether useless in itself since it is by this means that we should be purified; but still, not altogether meaningful either.

        Anyway, perhaps I should not burden you with all these thoughts though it would seem to me that it is the exchange of such views that is the true reason for having any friends on this path.  In a way, I have even come to see that friendship too is a kind of illusion since we all ultimately have to face death alone and even our friends cannot protect us then. Still, it is a sweet illusion and even sometimes too, a great solace, a great awakening, and even the great sacrifice on Love's alter.

        My pranams to Santji and Swamiji if he is there too.
...

                                                                                       With all love in Him as ever,
                                                                                                   Radha Dasi
       

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The Divine 'Hariali Tij' *ღ☆¸.•°*♥

             Sri Shyamsunder and Sri Radhaji seated on the holy swing, 'Jhula'!

    The blissful mysterious, sacred rainy month of Sravan is observed in the incessent pouring forth of nectarean showers, filling the waters of Sri Jamunaji to overflowing ~ like the shower of Divine Grace!
     Ah, the bountiful clouds roaming in the vast heavens murmur their secret rejoicing in the resplendent beauty of the lush green groves amidst which Sri Radha & Sri Krishna are seated in a swing attended by their Sakhis.  The climax of this bhav merges in that occasion called 'Hariali Tij' when everywhere seems clothed in an immense and wonderful green robe, enhancing the enchanting sight of the Divine Couple swinging in the clustered retreats.
    On this day of 'Hariali Tij', Sri Bankey Bihari in the mood of enjoying this blissful month of showers bestows His gracious 'darshan' upon His devotees from His swing in the superbly decorated shrine.  His swinging into the heart of His devotees resembles the infinite eternity, beginningless, endless.  All thoughts leave the mind but that one which seeks to become His playmate on His swing.  In this way He transcends one across the limitations of the phenomenal world perception, beyond the three-fold veil of waking, dreaming and deep sleep states to behold His blissful swing, revolutionizing the life to its complete dedication to His sweet Divine will.
    In these days, the Ras Lila reaches its climax to the accompaniment of the songs composed by the saints and sung in the same harmony of the swing.
    And at present, as the life of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhuji unfolds day by day before the crowd of ardent devotees, the resounding cry of "Hari bol!" is pervading the hearts of all with the sublime ecstasy of Lord Gauranga.  Observing the ecstatic dance showers the fervour of Sri Chaitanya's consciousness, merging one in the bliss of his divine mood. The life of Mahaprabhuji increases the devotion to Sri Krishna who, accompanied by Sri Radha, has incarnated in this form as Sri Chaitanya.  From time to time to establish God-consciousness, He Himself incarnates on this earth, and the perennial inspiration of His Divine incarnations ceaselessly beckons the world unto His eternal Divinity.


From the letters of Baba Sripadji
Vrindavan,
August 1974

 

 

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First Time Seeing Baba Sripadji

    Sripadji had said he would come and there was a lot of anticipation of that
coming. In these days of July 1971 my first visit I would simply sleep on a mat 
and Swamiji would stay upon his wooden bed. There was an Akhanda Jyot,
a small oil lamp, which was always lit inside his kutia. After lying down at
night to sleep the first time I vaguely woke-up, I saw Swamiji in that glowing
light sitting up in blissful meditation. I quickly sat up also to meditate, not to
miss an opportunity in this saint's presence. And it was so good!! When again
I opened my eyes I saw him lying flat on his back. I immediately lied down to
rest. This would happen four or five times a night  and my night sleep became
very subtle. I was extremely happy to have all these moments of silent
meditation with Swamiji. On about the 4th night suddenly Swamiji rose up
and in three steps was out of the kutia chanting Om! Om! I sat up and
waited, in the dim light I saw it was 5:00 am! After 10 mins. or so Swamiji
returned with a very beautiful and radiantly silent young sadhu. Swamiji said
that Balyogiji Sripad had been meditating outside for 2 and a half hours! I
vividly remember first seeing his feet, then he also sat on the floor in an even
more intense, vibrant silence. Yet there was so much communication! I never
had such an experience of energy and light before!! Swamiji was aglow
making tea.  But I was so ecstatic that tears ran down my cheeks! Words
all disappeared from the mind that seemed itself dizzily enchanted. Fully
charmed by the One totally in the Sublime Bhava of Sri Radha Krishna!! 
This state was always the case for me whenever I was in his company!



                                     'Vibhor, Vichitr, Vimohit Sri Krishna!'

                                                         Sri Sripad Babaji
                                                       Mussoorie July1971

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