What Atma

I have no schedule today. Nothing doing. My sister had a luncheon, Mickey Mouse has to go to the vet but I am unschelued. Well actually the vet is a neighbour so he came and picked up Mickey who has bad teeth.

Schedule or no schedule Swami woke me up at 3. but my large staring eyes wouldn’t cooperate so I sat for my haha meditation. About an hour later I glanced out the window to see my sister’s light on. I stumbled over in the dark to find her at the computer. She’s taking something for asthma which has speed in it. I went back home, did my prayers, had coffee and went back to sleep.

It’s really hard to be unscheduled. My sister says….”We don’t have to do anything. We celebrate our victories not our loses. She said that right after she said I should get organized.

I woke up and put my oatmeal in the microwave and put all my papers and things in the breakfast room so that I could, “get organized.”

Trouble is I still don’t feel organized so I returned to my garage apartment. On the way I noticed the orange butterflies. It seems that one of the trees in the back yard is called a ‘butterfly tree’ and true to it’s name there are always a few large orange butterflies flying here and there. I notice them everytime I am in the back yard. And they are ORANGE BUTTERFLIES ATMIC BUTTERFLIES. But is the Atma orange just because our Swami wears an orange robe. My dear programmer say’s atma is like water, clear and white but we know that God takes whatever form we want to see, don’t we. And Atma is God. I stretched out on my bed and looked at the butterfly tree. There were some little birds singing somewhere and I had a moment of real bliss…just before I fell asleep again. Perhaps it wasn’t aas profound as the Mandir bliss but it was lovely.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have even tried to write a blog about nothing. Butterflies are pretty ordinary, even if they are orange.

I got permission from my friend to use an article she wrote for her blog. I sort of thing it is badly needed here.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Forgiving Brutish Actions

Forgiving Brutish Actions

Used with permission from terryreiskennedy.blogspot.com

I was furious. I intended to rename British Airways, Brutish Airways, after a recent trip from the US to India.

We boarded flight 0214 out of Boston on schedule. Customers needing assistance, those traveling with children, and a few big spenders swept through the open doors. Then, the rest of us were herded into the skinny end, passing a nearly empty first class, on through a fairly vacant business class.

Stuffed into our mini seats, where most of us would definitely suffer circulation restrictions, I wondered how we would endure the hours to London’s Heathrow, and on to India.

Being a short woman, I could at least move my feet. Luckily, I had booked my seat on the aisle. I had done the preliminaries on-line, including issuing my own boarding pass which was the suggested method —to save time. Theirs!

My mind really was justifying my angst. Humph! Such a fuss made about the weight of our luggage, while some crew members are more than hefty. And where are they when you need help loading overhead luggage in shoebox-size compartments?

Jammed in like chickens going to slaughter we prepared for take off. But just as the sweat began to drench our faces, due to the extreme heat, the captain announced that wouldn’t fly. We had a failed communication system, not allowing contact with London, he said.

Outrage erased my dregs of inner peace. Don’t they check these details out before they load us on? I tried to calm myself, remembering my years of spiritual teachings. Babies fussed, reminding me that even the sinless were uncomfortable. Obviously, they were not karma free, either.

I roamed up to first class hoping I might find an open door to catch a breeze. When I saw the two passengers there drinking champagne and being served snacks by chatty flight attendants my Ego triumphed. I thought, how unjust! Back in the stinky steerage tail of the malfunctioning aircraft we had begged for drinks. Eventually, we were served dismal-looking lukewarm water—in plastic.

After about two hours, we took off in spite of our over-loaded tail end and the popping champagne corks up front.

At Heathrow, things got less brutish and more bratish for those of us heading home to Bharat. We were delayed over five hours while the damaged engine of flight 0119 was repaired. De-planed we waited in the pricey innards of Terminal 5.

Soon, serious complaints began. As compensation for our troubles we were issued food vouchers worth five pounds each. Meanwhile, it costs nearly five pounds for a cappuccino there. However, we found a relatively affordable sandwich shop that let us use the vouchers combined with our own money to purchase what we could. I had dry feta cheese on brown bread with chlorinated water.

After much investigation, we located the duty manager, Mr. Michael Clok. He was a charming and well-coiffed young man who looked like a teenager. He said he was sorry but he could not do more than issue us food vouchers. The company rule was a five-pound voucher per passenger per two-hour wait. We could be issued another one if we stayed another two hours, he said. We could claim it at Bangalore.

We arrived at Bangaluru too tired to ask for the second voucher. And there we were accosted by hospital-masked workers who collected our health forms, filled out earlier. The masked men took our temperatures, checking us for Swine Flu symptoms—which I’m sure they hoped we weren’t carrying.

Obviously, we were delayed even more. Where is the justice in this story? I had to dredge it up from deep within. I had to forgive everyone involved. Love all; serve all, I had been taught this for too many years to count.

Soon I was laughing. We are One: the tired, over-worked British Airways crews, the masked workers afraid of being contaminated by germs, the travelers who had to endure the delays. Nobody escapes their humanness; yet the divine shines within each of us.

And putting the experience in a spiritual perspective, I could see how blessed I really am—able to fly from one place to the other, able to complain without fear of losing a job, able to meet new friends in cramped quarters.

God, forgive me for not remembering the millions who would have been thrilled just to have my dry feta cheese sandwich and my luke-warm water. I am sorry for my brutish ways.

Posted at 8:52 PM 0 comments

Labels: Forgiveness

OH I almost forgot that we have been doing our Preciou Lord’s 1000 names. So here’s another bunch

You are the most powerful being who has ever walked on the earth. You have manifold forms, such as the indweller of the atom, Formless, You are the the origin, and the creator. Oh Lord, Please increase our sacred knowledge. You are chaste, pure consciousness, and absolute happiness. Embodiment of the creator, You are the protector and the transformer, Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. Salutations to Lord Sathya Sai Baba, You are the embodiment of sacred knowledge, fond of devotees, and fond of the mandara flower.

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You like those possessing knowledge of divinity. Lord Sai, You created the newsletter, Sanathana Sarathy for Your devotees. You play in devotees hearts, You reside in devotees hearts, have Your abode in devotees hearts, and You are dependant on Your devotees. Lord Sai, You are dear to devotees, the destroyer of devotee’s distress. You are the strength of devotees, You grant liberation, fulfil the desires of Your devotees, giving exactly what each needs, granting them boons. You manifest as the form desired by devotees. Sathya Sai is the bestower of grace.

Lord Sathya Sai, You satisfy Your devotees.

You have taken an oath to protect us and to grant our wishes. You created the Sathya Sai Schools in many countries besides India. You bestow devotion and knowledge and You promote our devotion. You are indeed divine and You destroy the cycle of birth and death. Lord Sai, You grant us a dwelling place. You destroy worldly diseases and You are well acquainted with worldly diseases. Lord, You remove worldly afflictions, and You shatter our fear of the world by removing the afflictions of the world.

Lord Sathya Sai Baba, You destroy our apprehension of the world in Your gracious, manner. You are the One who encourages bhajans, and You give holy ash, which You create from Your Divine hands. Your holy body is sometimes fully covered with holy ash. Bhagavan, You were born in the gotra of Sage Bharadwaja, and You appreciate the epic Krishna Purana, the Bhagavatha, Although You promote fortunes, You are in reality pure existence and You are the only doer. You are the Sun God, the divine physician, and the Lord of all the universes.

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Salutations to Lord Sathya Sai Baba, the giver of devotion, liberation, and heavenly happiness, You are also the spiritual abode of all creatures. Sai, You are devoid of past and future states, splendid, and You destroy illusion. You give objects of delusion and You give rewards. Bhagavan, You are the form of the syllable “ma”. Destroyer of ego, You are pleasant and speak melodiously. Though You are the destroyer of worldly pleasure, You steal our hearts and grant the fruit of the heart’s desires. You are beyond thought and word.

Lord Sathya Sai, You enlighten us with a gentle smile, or even a beaming smile, You have such loving looks and You are certainly proficient in music. You know all mantras, yantras and tantras and You are their essence. Lord Sai You created the Vedas and Vedic commands to keep us on the right path. You embody the sastras, slokas, and holy mantras. Sathya Sai Maheswara, You are endowed with glorious virtues just as the great God Lord Shiva, You are the essence of the great principles of living, most brilliant, with unbounded capacity.

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You are the One with the greatest heart, majestic, the great monarch, the supreme Maharaja, the sovereign, and the Almighty. Dearest Lord, You are the form of our mother and father and our teacher. The dearest benefactor of humanity, You destroy the bad quality of jealousy. You are our very best companion on the journey of life. Lord Sai Krishna, You personify the same principle

and You create the divine principles followed by all of humanity, Lord of maya, You are the protector of self respect, and most worthy of worship, You are beyond maya, and dualism.

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You keep the jivas on the path. You are the supporter of virtuous women. Salutations to Lord Sai who is supernatural, and the creator of Divine love. You like ascetics, are served by sages, and grant knowledge of the Self. You are the trimurties, the basic principles of the three worlds, and know our basic nature. Lord Sathya Sai is fond of the deer and the elephant. You are the conqueror of death. With a charming image, You destroy delusion, and give moksha, and ananda, which gives the greatest joy. You give the marriage thread for successful marriages 47

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai is the embodiment of the Shirdi form. You retrieve punishments. Oh Lord, You move about on the Yamuna river banks, and You are praised by the yakshas, kannares and gandhavas. Lord of sacrifice and Master of tapas, You are the treasury of yoga, the protector of sacrifices. You are the bliss of yoga. Blessed Lord, You are our caretaker, and grant welfare. Lord of the yogins, You are worshipped by Saints, the able and the disabled. Born in the lineage of Ratnakara, You are ever delightful and most vivacious.

Most precious Lord Sai, You are delightful, charming, and You have lovely hair. You seem to possess rajasic and satwic tendances. You are Lord Ranganatha. Lord Sai, You are the destroyer of passion and hatred. Eternally blissful, You are the form of Rama, Krishna and Lord Shiva. Sri Sathya Sai, You were born into the Raju family. Oh Lotus eyed One, You were the sons of Rama. and You were the the Ramalinga. You remove the pain and sorrow from samsara, and You give the Rudraksha. Oh Lord, You have a beautiful and elegant form.

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Destroyer of diseases, You have the dress of a renunciate, and give beautiful sarees. You are our dearest friend and have such a charming figure. You are the One who has lingams inside Your body. Your words and deeds are always the same. You have the speech of Saraswati and yet Your words are entertaining and reflect the highest wisdom. Oh Lord of all universes, You are the benefactor of mankind, and the protector of universes, destroying worldly and supernatural miseries. Salutations to Lord Sathya Sai who is respected and worshipped in all the worlds.

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