Sabaris Love for Lord Rama

Swami starts to sing: Jūṭhe phala sabarī ke khāye.
Sabari was a great devotee of Rama.
In the time of Rama, Sabari everyday would collect fruits from the jungle and she would wait for Rama, since her youth.
Rama is one aspect of the Divine.
She would wait till Rama came to eat the fruit.
So every day, she would bring fresh flowers and she would bring fresh fruit and wait for Rama.
And she would chant all day: Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram. Eventually she grew old; she became a very old lady.
All her teeth fell out, you know.
She became so old that Rama finally came.
When Rama and Lakshman were on the way to Lanka, they came and they passed by the cottage of Sabari and there this old lady without teeth, just two teeth in her mouth, was waiting for Rama.
When Rama came, she was really joyfully welcoming Him.
She put Rama on the seat there, because every day she would write with fresh flowers the name of Rama.
So when Rama was there, she opened up her heart so much.
Her heart was so full with Love. Of course Rama was with Lakshman, who is His brother, His small brother.
Jūṭhe phala sabarī–jūṭhe is jujube, a fruit.
I don’t know whether you have it here.
So, she would first taste the fruit, whether it’s sour or sweet.
She gave Rama only the sweet ones to eat and then Lakshman said “Oh, my goodness, how can you eat this?”
And Ram said to Lakshman “You would not understand that.
This is between the bhakta and the Beloved, the Lover and the Beloved one.”
It’s the Love, you know, that the soul has, the soul connection and this is the Love that Sabari had for Rama.
So Rama would eat it, because of that Love.
That’s why we say: Jūṭhe phala sabarī ke khāye | bahu vidhi prema lagāī. That means: But he would feel great joy by eating that fruit.

More Hindu stories can be found in this book Just Love

Here you can watch the really beautiful scene of Sabari meating her beloved Rama: click here

Happy Sita Navami!

Today is Sita Navami- the appearance day of Goddess Sita...So have a wonderful and auspicious day!
Sri Swami Vishwananda: Take the name of Ram: we were singing before Jai Raghunandana Jai Siya Ram, Janaki Vallabha Sita Ram.
It is said that through the mere chanting of Ram Naam, one can attain Moksha - liberation.
One will be free from all karmic influences.
Such is the power of Ram Naam!
Such is the power of the Name of the Lord that it can instantly liberate you.

This is a fragment of Just Love

Remind yourself of Mother Sita- the consort of Lord Rama and listen to this beautiful Kirtan Sita Ram

Ram Navami/ The sweetness of Lord Rama's name

Today is Ram Navami- the Appearance day of Lord Rama. So last year Sri Swami Vishwananda celebrated Ram Navami on March 24th 2010 with his devotees in Springen. This is an excerpt of his speech, in which he is speaking about the sweetness of the name of Lord Rama: All the Divine names are very powerful, but the name of Rama is very special.
It is said that just by the mere chanting of the name of Rama, if one, at the end of life chants this Divine name, one gets liberated from the cycle of birth and death.
That’s why this name is called Taraka Mantra, which is a mantra that can liberate someone.
That’s why you see in Hindu tradition, when somebody dies, they always chant the name of Ram: Sri Ram,
Sri Ram, Sri Ram.

The text above is a fragment of Sri Swami Vishwananda's book Just Love

Today we should just concentrate on Rama and also on our Ishta Dev. We should chant Lord Rama's name or the name of our Ishta Dev. Here is a nice video with Sri Rama's name: Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram
Also we should fast today till 1 pm and remain silent.
During his last Darshan Sri Swami Vishwananda explained more about Ram Navami. To listen to this speech, please click here: Sri Swami Vishwananda Podcast

The Power of the name of Rama

Sri Swami Vishwananda: There is another story that shows again the power of the name of Rama: There was once a king who did lots of sin in his life. He knew that he would die soon.
So he went to see a guru in one ashram. But when he went there, the guru was in deep meditation. So he waited, and waited, and waited, but the guru didn't come out of his samadhi. The king saw that the son of the guru was there, so he called him, ”Please, your father is in deep samadhi, and I can't wake him up, I can't tell him to come out, so you tell me... Look, I have spent my whole life in hurting people and doing bad things, but now I realize that I have to change certain things in my life. Tell me how would I forgive myself for all this?”
The son thought for a while, and said, “Chant three times the name of Rama, and all your sins will be forgiven but of course you have to chant it with faith, you can’t just chant it with the mere mouth.” The king was very happy. When the guru came back to himself, the son was very excited and said, “Father, father, you know, the king came here!” And he explained everything about why the king had been there. Then the father asked him, “What did you tell him?” The son said, “I told him to chant three times the name of Rama, with faith, and that all his sins would be forgiven.” The father got very angry at that moment, and said: “My son, I curse you, because you don't even know how powerful the name of Rama is. You didn't need to tell him to chant it three times; even one time would have been enough!”

And here a Video with a Bhajan about Lord Rama. Jai Shree Ram!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBypB3DsMwA

How can we remove the illusion?

Sri Swami Vishwananda:

An egocentric mind, a mind which has fear, a mind full of negativity still can think, still is under the control of the atma, the true self, but one can only listen to the atma when one’s mind is cleared completely.
But when the mind is egocentric it's difficult.
In the life of Rama, Rama wanted to cross over the ocean to go to Lanka to get Sita.
So He fasted for many days, prayed to Varuna, the Ocean God and said “Clear the way, that we can pass.”
But after three days still the Sea God has not appeared.
This angered Lakshmana, the brother of Rama.
He was short-tempered.
And the same Lakshmana has incarnated as Balarama.
So he took his arrow and said to the Ocean “Ocean, I will dry you up.”
Rama saw that and rushed to His brother, saying“Brother what are you doing? My dear brother, I will tell you something, what you are trying to do right now is to kill Maya by Maya, but it’s impossible.
You can’t remove illusion by illusion.
What you see here is an illusion and how would you kill illusion by illusion?”
So how to remove illusion is only by God’s name and spiritual practices.

So if you wanna start to recite the Divine Name or just continue your pratice, you will find here a nice Bhajan "Hey Ram." Guruji also sings this Bhajan quite often.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0s0anVD104


Hey Ram, Hey Ram, (Chorus)
Jag Mein Sachu Tera Naam,
Tu Hi Mata, Tu Hi Pita Hai,
Tu Hi To Hai Radha Ka Shyam,
(Chorus)
Tu Antaryami, Sabka Swami,
Tere Charno Mein Charo Dham,
(Chorus)
Tu Hi Bigade, Tu Hi Saware,
Is Jaag Ke Sare Kaam,
(Chorus)
Tu Hi Jagra Data Vishv Vidhata,
Tu Hi Subah, Tu Hi Shaam
(Chorus)

The meaning of this Bhajan is:

O Ram, Your name is the true name in this world
You are Mother, Father, and You are Shyam of Radha
You are knower of what is inside the heart, Lord of all, the four abodes are in Your feet
You destroy as well create all the works of this world
You are the creator of this world, you are the morning and evening
O Ram, Your name is the true name in this world

Story about Rama and Lakshmana

Once Rama and Laksamana were passing by a lake and as they passed by the lake, they noticed a crow.

This crow always flew to the lake, trying to drink water, but the moment it came nearer to the lake, it looked at the water and flew back again.

Lakshmana asked Rama “Tell me my Lord why does this bird always go to the lake to try to drink water, but it doesn’t drink any water?

So Rama said to Lakshmana “This crow is a great devotee- It doesn’t drink any water, because it is scared of not reciting the name of God.

So even it’s throat is very thirsty and drying, but yet it would not let go of the name of God. So if a bird can do that human can do also better, isn’t it?