Divine Moments with Maa!
Session with Yuvasatya Students
Hari Aum!
Prostrations to Sree Guruparampara!
We Yuvasatya students had the most auspicious opportunity to meet H.H. Maa Purnananda ji, in Dubai. At the Yuvasatya session on 11.09.22, Maaji guided us all on the correct posture, Mantras, the right way to chant with attention to the annotations, the importance of discipline, attendance in class, and regular prayers. Under Maaji's instructions, doing Shaashtaang Pranaam to the Lord and Gurudev, we all took the pledge taking jal in our hands, to stay away from smoking, drinking, and substance abuse, forever from now. We all are now very aware of the negative impacts of such temptations and have Maaji's confidence in us for abiding by the vow we took.
During the question-answer session with Maaji, we discussed various topics. Our individual notes on clarification to some of our doubts discussed with Maaji, are listed below, individually by each one of us:
"I wanted to know what can be done to attain better control over my mind and sense organs. Maaji said that the first step is being aware of the mind’s distractions and knowing its cause. Only with such awareness can I gain back control of the mind. This, Maa said, can be done by performing Japa of a short Mantra, such as "Om Namah Shivaya". I strongly believe that having good control over my mind is a crucial advantage, as it will help me remain focused and make intelligent decisions free from emotions and vasanas. I will try to put these lessons into practice by remaining alert when my thoughts wander."
-Ayush
"I asked Maaji, how do we overcome the problem of actions prompted by desires? I understand that Nitya-karmas and Naimittika-karmas must be performed, but Kaamya-karm becomes a barrier. Maaji advised that I must always analyse my desires to check if they are good or bad. Accordingly, with the help of my discriminating faculty, I can let my good desires prompt my actions which ultimately help to achieve my goals, rather than hinder them. I will be mindful of this.”
-Jash
"Lord Krishna says that we should dedicate all actions unto Him, but then I wanted to know if there are any kind of actions that cannot be surrendered to the Lord. Maa ji explained that we must always offer positive actions, or else we will have to face the negative consequences. "Selection of desire" is not to be encouraged. For example, I cannot just choose good oranges from Prasadam. If I offer stale oranges in Naivedyam, I must eat the stale oranges (i.e, face the consequences of the actions I did). Learning from Maaji, every day before praying and sleeping, I would contemplate how my day went; thank the Lord for where I am; and offer all the positive actions that I undertook throughout the day to the Lord. For any negative actions, I wouldn't offer them to the Lord, but would seek forgiveness and humbly bear the consequences of it and learn.”
-Jishan
"Based on the idea of detachment (from objects, emotions, and thoughts) prescribed by our Shastras, my question was whether I should be detaching myself from healthy positive emotions, like happiness, as well? Having contemplated upon Maaji's answer, I now understand that desires will always be there, and if I do not use my intellect carefully, these can affect my actions, in a negative way. Therefore, I will use my intellect to discriminate between positive and negative goals and thereby will let go of my negative vasanas. By doing positive actions, what I will get out of it will be positive results and healthy emotions."
-Mihika
"Isn’t our desire to exhaust vasanas for attaining self-actualization in itself, an egocentric desire? To clarify this doubt of mine, Maaji explained that everyone is born into this world with a set of vasanas that they are supposed to exhaust during this lifetime. For this, one must act without any selfish desires. Selfless action to exhaust existing vasanas, Maaji said, is also an ego-centric desire, but it is better than performing action guided by selfish motives. It is now clear to me that, I must perform all actions with the spirit of service and work for the welfare of everyone around us. I shall therefore try to perform good actions, as vasanas formed by good actions are easy to get rid of."
-Naman
"I understand that the only way to end the cycle of vasanas and karmas is to pursue the spiritual path, and that itself is an action. My doubt, therefore, was that, if all actions are motivated by vasanas, then how will this help? Maaji answered that vasana for spiritual learning being dynamic rather than passionate, would be helpful. Passion is to be discarded and dynamism is to be adopted. With this simple clarification my doubts are cleared, and I will work on purifying my vasanas."
-Suhrit
AUM TAT SAT!
Pranaams from the Yuvasatya class (Ayush, Jash, Jishan, Mihika, Naman, & Suhrit)