Messages to Seekers

Messages for the week ending September 24, 2005

Carry out the following to get maximum benefit from the sacrificial fire (yadnya)

Keep all the windows and doors open in the premises where the sacrificial fire is going to be performed, so that the smoke of the sacrificial fire will spread everywhere and the premises will get purified.
If the sacrificial fire is going to be performed at home, keep the doors of the wardrobe open. Keep all the clothes, bed-sheets, bedspreads etc. outside so that the smoke of the fire purifies them as well. Remove the lid of the water containers so that the smoke purifies even the water.
The recitation of the incantation (mantra) works as a spiritual remedy for seekers having distressing energy troubles. As the atmosphere and surrounding areas become purified while the ‘yadnya’ is being performed, seekers should try to obtain maximum benefit by sitting there and concentrating when the incantation is going on.
The flowers used in the sacrificial fire also receive divine consciousness (chaitanya) through the ‘yadnya’. These flowers work as spiritual remedy when given to the people present there or to the seekers with spiritual emotion, or to those facing distressing energy troubles.

Express gratitude towards the deities and
sages while the sacrificial fire is performed

We receive benefit from sacrificial fire at the individual (vyashti) as well as collective (samashti) level. We owe this benefit to the sages who have created/invented the technique/practice of performing sacrificial fires using their spiritual knowledge. Even the deities are present when the sacrificial fire is performed, and due to their subtle blessings, the ‘yadnya’ can be performed without any obstacles. Therefore, do not forget to express gratitude towards the deities and sages whenever the ritual of sacrificial fire is performed.

- Miss Madhura Bhosale, Ramnathi ashram, Goa (India).

Seekers should offer prayers as per their spiritual emotion

A seeker facing severe spiritual problems asked a Subtle Department seeker whether he can pray to His Holiness (H.H.) Dr Jayant Athavale for removal of distressing energy problems through subtle means. The Subtle Department seeker advised against such prayers.

Getting the answers to prayers depends upon the spiritual emotion with which a person prays. Therefore, if seekers are praying in their own way as per their spiritual emotion, they need not be stopped from saying such prayers. Seekers can pray to the Guru or deities as per their spiritual emotion.

Seekers staying in the ashram must
try to become independent/ self-reliant

Mrs. Mangala Marathe is staying with her family and two other seekers at the Dhamse ashram (India) for performing various sevas (services). Another lady-seeker stays there to prepare food for them. During Ganesh Chathurthi, the lady-seeker went home. Ramnathi ashram was therefore informed to send another lady-seeker to Dhamse ashram to do the seva of cooking. Under such circumstances, Mrs. Marathe and the other four or five seekers should have allocated the seva of cooking among themselves for the reason that at Ramnathi ashram, six lady-seekers prepare food for 150 seekers staying at the ashram. That means one seeker prepares food for 25 people. Therefore, asking for the services of a seeker from Ramnathi ashram in order to cook food merely for four or five seekers at Dhamse was inappropriate. Seekers should remember that at times when a seeker is not available in the ashram or in the vicinity of the ashram for cooking food, or there are lady-seekers in the vicinity but it is not possible for them to cook food, then the male seekers should take up the responsibility of cooking. In a situation where a lady-seeker is available in the ashram and she can cook food with the help of other available seekers in the ashram, then it is inappropriate to engage another seeker. Every seeker must have minimum knowledge of cooking, that is, every seeker must be self-reliant.

Use the Sanatan organization’s ‘sattvik’ (spiritually pure)
incense sticks for removal of black covering

Seekers are performing the salt water remedy to remove any black covering. It has been observed that along with this remedy, if the Sanatan organization’s incense sticks are lit (the chameli fragrance as far as possible), then the black covering reduces quickly.

The remedy of lighting incense sticks can be done even while chanting*. If a particular part of the body is affected by the distressing energies, keep the lit incense stick in such a way that the smoke covers the affected part of the body, for example, in case of backache, keep the lit incense stick at the back.

Instruction for seekers and request to readers

Please note that the ‘sattvik’ idols kept for exhibition by the Sanatan organization are not painted and do not have the noose and a goad in the hands of the Ganesh idol. The ‘sattvik’ idols of Lord Ganesh, made by the Sanatan organization as per the science of Spirituality, have been sent to various places in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Goa (India). 28.3% of the deity’s divine consciousness (chaitanya) has been drawn into these idols. In other idols, it (chaitanya) is only 1-2 %. In Kaliyuga (era of strife), it is possible to attract only 30% of a deity’s divine consciousness into its idol.

Several questions are being raised as to why the idols are not painted or why the idol is without a mouse (the vehicle of Lord Ganesh). The answer to this is – It is the first time that the Sanatan organization has started such an activity. It was not possible to send painted idols due to the availability of only four to five sculptor-seekers. Therefore, the idols are not painted. For the same reason, the idols are without a noose or a goad or a mouse. Although these idols have not been consecrated or worshipped, the principle of Lord Ganesh present in these idols is no less due to the spiritual emotion of the sculptor-seeker Shri Gurudas Khandeparkar. Therefore, thousands of seekers are getting spiritual experiences of the saviour and destroyer forms of the Lord Ganesh principle through these idols.

Good governance is a kind of spiritual practice

It is necessary for seekers practising spirituality with the goal of establishing the divine kingdom, to learn about efficient management of the organization. For this to happen, the instructions on submission of monthly reports should be followed meticulously.

The significance of sending reports on time:

Perfection and punctuality are divine qualities. By submitting reports on time, we are trying to imbibe these divine qualities in us.
From the point of view of the organization, if reports are not received in time, the scrutiny/ analysis and decisions to be made based on such reports get delayed.

As life is limited, it is necessary to carry out every act on time to attain our goal in life.

To find the curious (jidnyasus) in society, apply the following yardsticks

Asks questions about spirituality that are reflective in nature.
Someone interested in purchasing a book or material and pursues the matter on the following day (until he gets it).
When given a copy of the daily, weekly or monthly publication, reads it with interest.
Asks for old (unread) issues.
Enquires with urge about spiritual matters like chanting, going to satsangs etc.
A person was interested in purchasing the CD on “Dharma-shikshan (training)” that was being shown at an exhibition in Goa. When seekers told him that the CD was not for sale, he gave them his address and wanted to watch the same at his home.

Seekers should realize that only such curious can make progress by performing spiritual practice. Note down the names and addresses of such people you come across while spreading spirituality in society and maintain good contacts with them.

Do not harbour a doubt about not obtaining knowledge through the subtle

Many Sanatan organization seekers are receiving knowledge through the subtle and some seekers who are not getting such knowledge feel depressed. Seekers must realize that it has already been decided through whom God is going to function. It is therefore not necessary that everyone receives knowledge through the subtle. Seekers like Dr. Durgesh Samant, Dr. Pandurang Marathe, Dr. Prakash Ghali are making spiritual progress although they are not receiving knowledge through the subtle. Considering them as examples, we should also strive to increase our spiritual practice. If we follow their footsteps, even we can progress spiritually. Many seekers receiving knowledge through the subtle are facing distressing energy troubles. Seekers should know that compared to them, other seekers are not affected much by the distressing energies.

Seekers should not feel ego while performing the seva of spreading Spirituality

We should feel grateful that we get an opportunity to reach to people by performing the seva of spreading spirituality; instead we feel ego, thinking that “we have started satsangs at many places.” However, you will realize the fallacy in such statements/claims from the following:

The Sanatan organization’s name has reached everywhere because of the ‘sattvik’ idols of Shri Ganesh kept on exhibit at various places during the short span of the 10 days of the Ganesh-festival and has helped to generate, among people, a kind of interest/ fondness about the Sanatan organization.
Several people got spiritual experiences after viewing the Ganesh idols.

Was all this possible due to us?

Do not have such doubts

Seekers' spiritual experiences are published in the Sanatan organization's newspapers and newsletters. Sometimes, some readers and seekers, who may have shared their spiritual experiences, may feel that mostly the spiritual experiences of seekers from certain Sanatan organization ashrams are published, while others' spiritual experiences are not published as often.

The following will explain the principle applied behind publishing various spiritual experiences:

Collection of spiritual experiences is done at Miraj ashram; but under the guidance of H.H. Dr. Athavale, selection of spiritual experiences to be published is done by the Chief Editorial department at Goa.
Some spiritual experiences are published directly in the books instead.
The following yardstick is applied for publishing spiritual experiences:
1. Many spiritual experiences have been published so far. Therefore, experiences with some special features and divergence are published.
2. Some spiritual experiences need to be published as per the occasion; for example, spiritual experiences related to Ganesh-festival are published during the festival time. If such experiences are received late from seekers, they are kept for the next year’s Ganesh-festival.
3. Since priority is given to publishing matters related to nation building and creating righteousness among people, the space available in the Sanatan Prabhat is not sufficient for printing experiences. As a result, the spiritual experiences are published later as per requirement.
4. Some experiences are incomplete or sent without the name of the sender or without the minimum necessary data like date and place etc. It therefore becomes difficult to follow up with the sender for getting complete information, or sometimes due to inadequate number of seekers and time, it is not possible to follow up and only experiences with some new and special features are followed up.
5. Many experiences are received with numerous grammatical or other errors. Then a lot of time has to be spent on checking and editing. In case the number of seekers doing this job is insufficient, then such experiences are also kept pending, and experiences in which many corrections or much editing is not required are published first, and others are published later after carrying out corrections. As seekers from the ashram are used to writing such experiences and are easily available for follow up in case of doubt, such experiences can be immediately edited and published.
6. Some experiences are related to the distressing energies problems and emit black energy. So in such cases, some time has to be given for reducing the negative effect and then the matter is published.

For a seeker, it is important to have a spiritually correct attitude/viewpoint. Feeling that there is "bias" in publishing ashram seekers' experiences is an incorrect attitude, as one can understand from the above principles/explanation.

Seekers should chant ‘Om Shri Gurudev Datta’
during ‘Pitru-paksha (fortnight to perform rituals to appease ancestors)

Seekers are chanting their individual chants during the prescribed time slot of 7.30 a.m. to 8.00 a.m. (Indian Standard Time—IST) and 4.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. Pitru-paksha has started from September 18, 2005. During this fortnight, seekers should chant ‘Om Shri Gurudev Datta’ during the above timings. However, give priority to urgent seva if any, during these timings.

Other Responsible seekers should also take a review
like the Responsible seeker from Miraj ashram did

Review of the process followed by seekers from Miraj ashram (India) for personality defect removal (PDR)

	Seekers doing seva in the ashram	Seekers doing seva of spreading spirituality
1. Those who are irregular in filling up the PDR chart and writing the chart without any study of their mistakes	7	2
2. Those writing PDR chart regularly; but without any study	6	4
3. Those who are writing PDR chart with proper study but are inconsistent	1	2
4. Those writing PDR chart regularly and with proper study	12	6
5. Others *	3	-
6. Sessions of auto-suggestions	3 to 5	3 to 5
7. Progress	**	**
Total (43)	29	14

* Three lady-seekers are quite old and illiterate so do not write the chart

** It has been observed that there is about a 40% increase in the efforts made for removal of PDs as per the review meeting held on August 30, 2005

Instructions for Responsible seekers

Train the seekers going for seva of spreading spirituality by taking regular study sessions

We have started the seva of spreading spirituality with new vigour since the Gurupurnima (GP) celebrations. In many districts, new seekers are doing the seva of spreading spirituality. New seekers have also been given other important responsibilities. In some places, seekers from ashrams are also spreading spirituality. The responsible seekers should conduct study sessions and train the new seekers since they do not have much experience in this area. They may be trained in various aspects of seva like how to study (understand) a person, how to contact advertisers, subscribers and the curious, what kind of information to give and how much time to be allotted to a particular person, the manner in which they should talk to people, judging a person by looking at his face or by understanding his background.

Seekers who can translate matter from Hindi to Marathi may send their names

At the Ramnathi ashram, Goa, (India) seva related to translation of the Hindi literature published on subject matters that are akin to the Sanatan organization’s activities such as national security, creating awareness among people about righteousness and spread of spirituality needs to be done. Seekers interested in the seva may give their names to Shri Pravin Kudalkar, Ramnathi ashram, Goa (phone - 0832- 2312664, mobile phone- 94224 37451). Information about their names along with address, contact number, email-id if any and the way in which material to be translated can be sent to them may also be conveyed.

*If one is not currently doing any spiritual practice, or to complement one's current spiritual practice, one can begin with the simple, but powerful spiritual practice of chanting or constantly remembering God's Name according to one's religion. Chanting also acts as a useful complement to any spiritual path one may be already following. It is a practice recommended for the current times by Holy texts and Saints of all religions.

Seekers in the initial stages of spiritual practice (less than one year) can repeat The Name of the Lord as per their religion (refer to Issue 3 Clarification of Doubts section for details).
Seekers who have been doing regular spiritual practice for over a year or so can determine the appropriate chant for them from the experiment given in Issue 124, Message to Seekers section.