Kālī Sahasranāma (talk 43) ”She Who Worthy of Praise” by Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati

Discourse by Pujya (Revered) Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati on names 251 & 257 of verse 33 of the "Thousand Names of Kali" given at Kali Mandir Ramakrishna Ashram on 16 December 2023, followed by arati and kirtan. 
सुनन्दा नन्दिनी स्तुत्या स्तवनीयस्वभाविनी | रण्किणी भण्किनी चित्रा विचित्रा चित्ररूपिणी |३३|sunandā nandinī stutyā stavanīya-svabhāvinī | raṇkiṇī bhaṇkinī citrā vicitrā citra-rūpiṇī |33|
251. स्तुत्या  stutyā252. स्तवनीयस्वभाविनी  stavanīya-svabhāvinī 253. रण्किणी  raṇkiṇī254. भण्किनी  bhaṇkinī255. चित्रा  citrā256. विचित्रा  vicitrā257. चित्ररूपिणी  citra-rūpiṇī

Kali Sahasranama (talk 42): ”She Who is Delightful” by Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati

Discourse by Pujya (Revered) Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati on names 249 & 250 of verse 33 of the "Thousand Names of Kali" given at Kali Mandir Ramakrishna Ashram on 2 December 2023, followed by arati and kirtan.
सुनन्दा नन्दिनी स्तुत्या स्तवनीयस्वभाविनी |
 रण्किणी भण्किनी चित्रा विचित्रा चित्ररूपिणी |३३|sunandā nandinī stutyā stavanīya-svabhāvinī |
 raṇkiṇī bhaṇkinī citrā vicitrā citra-rūpiṇī |33|
249. सुनन्दा sunandā 250. नन्दिनी nandinī
 

Amavasya Kali Puja (14 September 2023)

New moon worship of Ma Dakshineswari Kali performed by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati

Devi Gita (class 21) RELOADED: ”We bow the Goddess” by Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati

Reposted scripture class on Devi Gita, chapter 1, verse 44, given by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati to students of Ramakrishna Seminary via Zoom on 7 September 2022.
नमो देव्यै महादेव्यै शिवायै सत्तं नमः |नमः प्रकृत्यै भद्रायै नियताः प्रणताः स्म ताम् || ४४ ||
namo devyai mahā-devyai śivāyai sattaṃ namaḥ |namaḥ prakṛtyai bhadrāyai niyatāḥ praṇatāḥ sma tām || 44 ||
44. "Hail to the Goddess, to the Great Goddess; to the Auspicious One always hail! Hail to Nature, to the Propitious One; we humble ourselves attentively before Her."
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Short Reading: ”Dance in Ecstasy” by Swami Vishnudevanand Saraswati

Two Poems by His Holiness Guruji Swami Vishnudevanand Saraswati of Prayagraj~Allahabad (1904-1997), read by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati. Guruji wrote these poems in 1978 sitting on a bench in Central Park in response to a devotee's question: "What is vairagya?"
 
ADMONITION I
Oh Son of Immortality!
You are the Divine Dweller
You have come here as a stranger and a traveler
 
It is a domain of diversity and endless dilemma
Life is perpetually puzzling in its phenomena and panorama
 
Here there is always attractive and repulsive illusion
You may play or struggle but be detached from delusion
 
The life of sensuality is confused, deviated, and fallacious slavery
The habit of mundane greediness is temptation and bad beggary
 
Be free from this changing farce and absurdity of duality
Don't be blindly absorbed in this transitory sensuality
 
This mysterious dramatic stage is not your final goal
Play dispassionately and finish your ordained role
 
Go to the background of plurality, quality, and quantity
Know that Unity, Self-identity, and Inconceivable Divinity
 
There is neither darkness or light or nothingness
But Plenum, Superconsciousness, and Full Awareness
 
It is not a mental conception, imagination or hallucination
But Supersensuous Perception and Self-Realization
 
It is the culmination of culture and the consummation of wisdom
It is the life of emancipation and the Divine Freedom
 
ADMONITION II
Oh Dearest Soul,
Rise from animality; cross the realm of humanity
Taste the Immortality and realize the Eternal Divinity
 
Refrain from ignorant sensuality; know your Self-Identity
Dance in ecstasy in the the innermost field of felicity
 
Go beyond the changing pleasure and pain, timidity, and knavery
Control the stubborn mind and be free from empirical slavery
 
Through the inner senses enjoy the innermost Light and Sound
Transcend this profane world; recognize the Provident Profound
 
Internal Existence is the embodiment of Peach, Bliss, and Wisdom
External perception is hallucination, delusion, and bad boredom
 
The external force is the field of mysterious phantasmagoria
It is a tantalizing puzzle spreading like infectious bacteria
 
How wonderful is the Perennial Peace of Celestial Scenery
Is the fruit of Yogic Meditation and Spiritual Discovery
 
Be heedful and free from the live of corruption and pollution
Realize the Self and attain Everlasting Joy of Blissful Liberation
 
Go beyond good and evil, mind and speech, and the sensual bound
Dive deep into the River of Rapture; reach the Divine Ground
 
If you be desireless, in the nothingness you may find
The Ubiquitous, All-knowing, the Superconscious mind
 
The Self knows no anger, hate, nor enmity
Self remains unchanged from infancy to maturity
 
He is beyond space and time; He has no form or hue
He is you whom you seek; He seeks all of you
 
He is the Creator, Destroyer, and Inner Ruler
He is the All-sustainer and Cosmic Controller
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Short reading: ”Our Thoughts are Filled With the Divine Mother” by Swami Chidananda Saraswati

A short exert from "Advice for Spiritual Living" by His Holiness Gurudev Swami Chidananda Saraswati (1916-2008), read by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati. 
"Blessed Immortal Atman!
"It is now the holy period of Navaratri as I write this. The atmosphere is surcharged with deep devotion to Maha-Devi and vibrant with the fervor of worshipfulness, adoration and prayer. Our thoughts are filled with the glorious Divine Mother, and Her Blessed and wondrous manifestation as Durga-Lakshmi-Saraswati. She is the great Mystery, the inscrutable Power of the Supreme Brahman, who holds in Her Hands both bondage and Liberation.
"The grace of the Divine Mother it is, that enables you to walk the path of Divine Life. Through Her benign blessings you are able to shine as a sincere spiritual seeker and a man of dharma. To worship the Mother with devotion is to be immediately uplifted by Her strength and power. She works within your inner being as the triple force of destruction, evolution and illumination. Destroying the impure and vicious aspects of one’s lower nature, the unworthy, base, and bestial in the individual personality, and helping evolve the human nature into sublime heights of goodness, nobility and the purity of beauteous virtue. She illumines the jiva with supreme divine wisdom. Thus the Divine Mother is the very life and support of the aspirant’s spiritual sadhana. She makes your quest fruitful with attainment. The Divine Mother grants kaivalya moksha or eternal release and immortality.
"To worship and to adore the Blessed Mother is to welcome Her divine help in working out your highest good and everlasting welfare. When you thus seek Her divine aid, Her compassionate response is immediate. She sets to redeem you in Her own way. She sends experiences both pleasant and painful, through trials and difficulties. She molds and strengthens you, through sorrow and suffering, She refines and purifies your nature. She enriches and blesses you with spiritual experience and raises you to exalted heights. She makes use of your very life and its experiences to make you perfect and bestow upon you divine peace and joy and the Illimitable splendor of Self-realization. Therefore, O beloved seeker! learn to accept the joys and sorrows, the temptations and the trials of your life with wisdom and understanding. Seek to recognize their hidden meaning and purpose for your own evolution and supreme good. Find Her divine hand behind all occurrences and see the Mother’s will working through them. Then will you behold your entire life as the expression of the Mother’s immeasurable love for you.
"Resolutely overcome all defects, faults and wrong tendencies in your nature and behavior. Develop noble character. Grow in virtue. Ever walk upon the path of perfect righteousness. Seek the immortal, Be thou an embodiment of Divine Life. Let the sacred name of Gurudev Sivananda be glorified by thy true discipleship into him. Personify his ethical and spiritual teachings. May the world find in you a source of inspiration. Let thy presence elevate all. May the Divine Mother shower Blessings upon you! Jai Sivananda!

Short Reading: ”Claim Your Birthright Now” by Swami Sivananda Saraswati

A short exert from "Sadhana, a Textbook of the Psychology and Practice of the Techniques to Spiritual Perfection", pg 365-367 by His Holiness Gurudev Swami Sivananda Saraswati (1887-1963), read by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati. 
 
"Why should you prolong your bondage unnecessarily? Why should you not claim your birthright right now? Do it now. Stand up. Gird your loins. Do rigorous and vigorous sadhana and attain freedom, immortality and eternal bliss. Make the lower nature the servant of the higher through discipline, tapas, self-restraint and meditation. This is the beginning of your freedom. Build your character. Purify the heart. Develop divine virtues. Eradicate evil traits. Conquer all that is base within you. Endeavor to attain all that is worthy and noble. Only when you have purified the heart, silenced the mind, stilled the thoughts and surging emotions, withdrawn the outgoing senses, thinned out the vasanas, can you behold the glorious Atman during deep meditation. Even a ray of inner light during meditation will lighten your path. It will give you you encouragement and inner strength. It will goad you to do more sadhana. You will experience this ray of light when the meditation becomes deeper and when you rise above body-consciousness. Meditation and worship are the means of evolving your potentialities and seeking a higher level of consciousness. Life is the unfolding of the latent capacities of the soul. Lead the divine life. Generate sublime divine thoughts through meditation, japa, kirtan and study of sacred scriptures. Bask the body in physical sunlight. Bask the soul in the sunlight of the Eternal. You will have good health and everlasting life. Sit down with a compose mind. Assert your mastery over body and mind. Plunge deep into the chambers of the heart and enter into the stupendous ocean of silence. Listen to the voice which is soundless. Build your spiritual life upon a sure foundation, upon the rock of divine grace and strength of character. Take refuge in the Lord and His law. There is no power in heaven or on earth that can bar your march now. Success in Self-realization is certain. There is light on your path. All is brilliant."

Devi Gita (Class 35): ”The Many Views of Maya” by Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati

Scripture class by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati on Devi Gita, chapter 2, verses 9 & 10 given to students of the Ramakrishna Seminary at Kali Mandir via Zoom on 14 June 2023.
केचित् तां तप इत्याहुस्तमः केचिज्जडं परे |ज्ञानं मायां प्रधानं च प्रकृतिं शक्तिमप्यजाम् || ९ ||kecit tāṃ tapa ityāhus-tamaḥ kecij-jaḍaṃ pare |jñānaṃ māyāṃ pradhānaṃ ca prakṛtiṃ śakti-mapyajām || 9 ||9. "Some call this Maya the power of austerity; others call it darkness; still others, dullness, or knowledge, illusion, matter, nature, energy, or the unborn."
विमर्श इति तां प्राहुः शैवशास्त्रविशारदाः |अविद्यामितरे प्राहुर्वेदतत्त्वार्थचिन्तकाः || १० ||vimarśa iti tāṃ prāhuḥ śaiva-śāstra-viśāradāḥ |avidyāmitare prāhur-veda-tattvārtha-cintakāḥ || 10 ||10. "Those versed in Shaiva works call it intelligence (vimarśa), while the Vedantins call it ignorance (avidya)."

Short Readings: ”God’s Name is the Path” by Swami Ramdas

A short selection from "Ramdas Speaks, Vol. V", page 142-143 by His Holiness Papa Swami Ramdas (1884-1963), read by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati
 
"The easiest way to attain this beatific vision, Ramdas can tell you, is the repetition of God's holy name. Ramdas has read in the teachings of all the great sages and saints of India, about the glory of the Divine Name. Sri Ramakrishna and the Holy Mother also have been telling us to repeat God's name and do japa, because it is so very easy. We need not have any paraphernalia to repeat God's name. We can utter it all all times and at all places. After practicing various types of discipline, Sri Ramakrishna found the repetition of God's name most efficacious and suitable. Saint Tulsidas says that God's name is like a light that you keep on the doorstep. You can get light inside as well as outside. So if you have the name on your tongue, you will have the divine light within you and also everywhere about you. Such is the power of the Divine Name. He who has uttered the Divine Name  constantly can alone know its sweetness and power. Ramdas can vouch for the power of the Name, but you should repeat it without desiring anything from God. As soon as you repeat the Name, you start getting bliss. It is not that anything can be attained after repeating the Name for some time. The attainment is immediate. This is what Ramdas felt. The sweetness of the Name is such that it will not leave you. Ramdas went on drinking the sweetness of the Name until the drink and Ramdas became one. After that, the repetition automatically stopped and he was filled with ecstasy. There is nothing but joy and this joy has been with him for the last thirty years. He has been going about telling everybody to repeat the name of God constantly.
"All the names of God are equally powerful. You may repeat the name Shiva, Rama, Krishna or any other Name you like with full faith and devotion, and you will see that the Name will purify you and free you from all desires and attachments. When you sit for meditation, you find the mind wandering here and there. This is because the mind is not pure. Purity comes only when you repeat God's name constantly. When the min d is restless and agitated, you cannot know who you are. You think you are only a bundle of flesh and bones. But when your mind has been purified and made still by the practice of meditation you come to realize that you are the immortal Spirit. 
"Now you have all been singing God's name. The vibrations created thereby were merging our mind in them. By hearing the sound of the Name, the mind gets absorbed in it. It forgets to run about because it is imbued or intoxicated with the sweetness of the Name. All the vasanas and desires within us are uprooted, and so the mind becomes calm. For progress on the spiritual path, satsang or contact of great souls is an important thing. You must see them, hear their nectarian words, follow their advice and take God's name. This will liberate us from all desires, elevate us and give us the joy of the Eternal. This is possible only by contact of saints, and by taking God's holy name. If these two things are done, you are saved. The object of all sadhanas is only to keep God's name continuously on our lips. No sadhana can itself take us to God. It is only a means so that we may repeat the Name continuously and have unbroken remembrance of God. When remembrance leaves us, the ego-sense takes hold of us and the mind becomes restless. As soon as there is remembrance the ego-sense disappears and we are in tune with God. 
"Ramdas will stop this talk by invoking Sri Ramakrishna's blessings to help you all attain this supreme goal. May he grant you continuous remembrance of God and may he bless you with the supreme vision, experience, and realization!"
 

Devi Gita (Class 34): ”The Cosmic Seed” by Swami Bhajanananda Saraswatiss

Scripture class by Rev. Dr. Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati on Devi Gita, chapter 2, verses 7 & 8 given to students of the Ramakrishna Seminary at Kali Mandir via Zoom on 7 June 2023.
स्वाशक्तेश्च समायोगादहं बीजात्मतां गता |स्वाधारावरणात् तस्या दोषत्वं च समागतम् || ७ ||svāśakteśca samā-yogād-ahaṃ bījātmatāṃ gatā |svādhārā-varaṇāt tasyā doṣatvaṃ ca samāgatam || 7 ||7. "By uniting with this inherent power of mine, I become the cosmic seed. By obscuring Me, its own basis, this power is prone to defects."
चैतन्यस्य समायोगान्निमित्तत्वं च कथ्यते |प्रपञ्चपरिणामाच्च समवायित्वमुच्यते || ८ ||caitanyasya samāyogān-nimittatvaṃ ca kathyate |prapañca-pariṇāmāc-ca sama-vāyitvam-ucyate || 8 ||8. "Through its association with consciousness, Maya is called the efficient cause of the world. Through its evolution into the visible realm, it is said to be the material cause."