Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Welcoming Rama
    Welcoming Rama
    Welcoming Rama
    Ebook79 pages1 hour

    Welcoming Rama

    By Krishna's Mercy

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    “Those great saints, who are knowers of dharma and greatly fortunate, spoke these words to me: ‘Rama will visit your very pious ashrama. Along with Saumitra [Lakshmana], you should offer Rama the greatest hospitality as your guest. Thus after seeing Him, as a benediction, you will ascend to the eternal realm.’” (Shabari speaking to Lord Rama, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 74.15-16)

    “Welcoming Rama” is a collection of nine essays discussing the verses in the Ramayana which describe the time when Rama and Lakshmana visited the female ascetic Shabari in the forest.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKrishna's Mercy
    Release dateMay 25, 2012
    ISBN9781476259703
    Welcoming Rama
    Author

    Krishna's Mercy

    Krishna’s Mercy is a nonprofit organization established to serve Lord Krishna. Our primary activity is to serve Lord Krishna with our thoughts, words and deeds as much as we can. Though He may be referred to by different names such as Jesus, Allah, or Krishna, God is one. Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, as mentioned in the ancient Vedic texts of India. Mankind can attribute all of its suffering due to forgetfulness of his relationship to God. We are all constitutionally spirit souls, but from time immemorial we are associating ourselves with our physical bodies in this material world. Thus the soul has been transmigrating from one body to another through the laws of karma. This human form of life is our opportunity to break out of this cycle of birth and death and return to our original home, with Krishna, or God.

    Read more from Krishna's Mercy

    Related to Welcoming Rama

    Related ebooks

    Hinduism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Spiritual Benefits Of Hanuman Jayanti

      Apr 25, 2021

      TO MARK the birth of Lord Hanuman, Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated all over India in the month of Chaitra in the Hindu calendar. Hanumanji has always held a special place in my heart and I am sure this is true for all Hindus as well. Lord Hanuman is kn

      3 min read

    • Article

      Beginning The Teaching Journey

      May 21, 2021

      Beginning The Teaching Journey
      2 min read

    • Article

      Power in Venom

      Apr 8, 2022

      Power in Venom
      6 min read

    • Article

      Words & Beyond Words

      May 21, 2019

      THERE ARE MANY WAYS to engage with Buddhist teachings. You can read books on the dharma and take classes in person or online. You can meditate on your own or attend retreats. You can engage with Buddhism as an academic or translator, or relate to it

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Treasure Of The Teacher

      Dec 5, 2023

      The Treasure Of The Teacher
      5 min read

    • Article

      Beginner’s Mind

      Jan 22, 2019

      THE BRAHMAVIHARAS are four prized emotions or mindstates that give us a framework to cultivate positive behaviors and minimize harmful ones. They are called the “divine abodes” because they are the mindstates in which all the enlightened ones reside.

      4 min read

    • Article

      Forum: Is the Guru Model Broken?

      Nov 6, 2018

      Forum: Is the Guru Model Broken?
      18 min read

    • Article

      Why Meditation Isn’t Enough

      May 21, 2019

      IN THE TIBETAN tradition, the study of Buddhist philosophy is known as “learning and reflecting on the view.” Through a process of sustained inquiry, we can become free from all doubts about the true nature of reality as described by the Buddhist tea

      4 min read

    • Article

      Positive Practice

      Aug 30, 2022

      Positive Practice
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Meeting of Minds

      Dec 5, 2023

      A Meeting of Minds
      8 min read

    • Article

      It Comes Down to Character

      Nov 3, 2020

      WHEN I WAS A YOUNG MONK in Thailand, I knew a woman whose father had been the chief musician for the royal Thai court in the early years of the twentieth century. The family was never wealthy, but they lived in the palace compound, and that was where

      11 min read

    • Article

      Panelists

      Dec 6, 2022

      Panelists
      16 min read

    • Article

      Inspiration from Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha

      Feb 28, 2019

      Hermann Hesse’s timeless book, Siddhartha, should be required reading for any spiritual seeker. The book is about Siddhartha’s journey as a respected son of a Brahmin. Everyone expects that he will follow in his father’s footsteps. He enjoys an idyll

      3 min read

    • Article

      Does Your Life Light You Up?

      Apr 28, 2020

      Does Your Life Light You Up?
      4 min read

    • Article

      Looking Into Vajrayana Buddhism’s Future

      Mar 11, 2024

      Looking Into Vajrayana Buddhism’s Future
      20 min read

    • Article

      More From Lion’s Roar

      Jul 20, 2021

      More From Lion’s Roar
      4 min read

    • Article

      Touch the Infinite

      Nov 19, 2019

      Touch the Infinite
      3 min read

    • Article

      One Path

      Nov 22, 2022

      One Path
      3 min read

    • Article

      Power & You

      Jun 13, 2023

      WELCOME TO THE Summer 2023 Buddhadharma. The theme of this issue is “Power and the Practitioner.” Now, just what do we mean by that? Let’s define our terms. Power of course has many aspects, many meanings. We might think, for example, of power dynami

      3 min read

    • Article

      Relationship As Teacher

      Dec 5, 2023

      WHEN YOU MEET your future spouse at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the foothills of the Himalayas, your relationship and spiritual journeys are intertwined right from the start. Twenty years later, this remains our path, paved choice by choice. As f

      3 min read

    • Article

      Ram Jain

      Mar 17, 2022

      Founder director of the Arhanta Yoga ashrams, Ram Jain was born into a Jain family in India and went to a vedic school for formal education, where he was taught yoga and scriptures from traditional priest caste teachers. Even though he was raised wit

      2 min read

    • Article

      Always a Student

      Dec 5, 2023

      If there is anyone whom I naturally think of when I cultivate guru yoga or read about devotion to the guru as the path, I think of two teachers. When I first met Khenchen Konchog Gyaltshen Rinpoche more than thirty years ago, he said to me, “I don’t

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Freedom of Emptiness

      Mar 8, 2022

      The Freedom of Emptiness
      6 min read

    • Article

      “When You Are Ready…”

      Dec 5, 2023

      “When You Are Ready…”
      8 min read

    • Article

      Advice For Schoolchildren

      Feb 21, 2021

      Q: I hope you are well during these trying times. I require advice on my career path. I studied analytical chemistry and had a few employments thus far, but nothing in the field that I studied. I recently decided to change my career path to teaching.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Mantra For mums

      May 1, 2023

      Mantra For mums
      4 min read

    • Article

      59 Ways to Turn Your Mind Around

      Mar 2, 2021

      59 Ways to Turn Your Mind Around
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Welcoming Rama

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Welcoming Rama - Krishna's Mercy

      Welcoming Rama

      Krishna’s Mercy

      Published by Krishna’s Mercy at Smashwords

      Copyright © 2012 Krishna’s Mercy

      www.krishnasmercy.org

      www.facebook.com/KrishnasMercy

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      INTRODUCTION

      "Dearest Shabari, who to attain spiritual abode do strive,

      Welcome Rama and His brother Lakshmana when they arrive."

      A good disciple follows the guru’s lead,

      The instructions without question they heed.

      So the female ascetic who lived near Pampa Lake,

      Accepting counsel, best fruits of forest to take.

      Offered them to Rama when the brothers to her place came,

      Though just berries, were accepted as nectar all the same.

      Never mind she was a woman living renounced,

      For her devotion, Rama gave her stature pronounced.

      CHAPTER 1 - A TRANSCENDENTALIST’S CHECKLIST PART 1

      Have you conquered all the obstacles in the way of your practice of austerities? Has your practice of austerity and penance steadily increased? O lady who possesses asceticism for wealth [tapodhane], have you been able to control your anger and your eating? (Lord Rama speaking to Shabari, Valmiki Ramayana, Aranya Kand, 74.8)

      By associating with devotees or reading the classic Vedic scriptures, one may ultimately decide to take up bhakti-yoga, or devotional service. The seeds of spirituality certainly can vary. Some are looking for ways to be more religious, while others are looking for that one thing that provides true happiness. Either way, simply taking the initial step and having a sincere desire for success are enough to guarantee the ultimate reward of practicing the ultimate spiritual discipline. But success doesn’t necessarily come overnight. Having the desire for self-realization is certainly nice, but perfection only comes through steady practice. Along the way, it is nice to measure our progress to see how we are doing in relation to our end-goal. In this regard, it is nice to have a series of questions we can ask ourselves, a way to tell if we are on the right path or if we are headed in the wrong direction. Thankfully, Lord Rama, an incarnation of the Supreme Godhead, through a series of questions posed to the great female sage Shabari, gave us precisely the checklist we are looking for.

      Before going any further, it would be helpful to perform a quick review of how progress is measured in other areas of life. For students, progress is measured through homework assignments, term papers, and examinations. The exams carry the most weight, so it is important to perform well on them. Exams are important not only for elementary school students, but also for adults in the real world. If a person wants to become a lawyer, doctor, or certified accountant, they must pass a series of examinations which are quite difficult. Moreover, many vocations require professionals to keep taking exams every few years or so in order to demonstrate their proficiency.

      These exams consist of questions relating to the subject matter that the examinees are supposed to know. For example, doctors are asked questions pertaining to medicine, lawyers are asked questions pertaining to logic and established law, and accountants are tested on their ability to audit financial statements and their ability to apply tax laws in the appropriate circumstances. Not only are students supposed to know the answers to these questions, but they also must understand the underlying concepts and how to apply them. This is where the exams take on their difficulty. Passing an important exam isn’t all about memorizing facts and regurgitating them on command.

      In order to gauge progress in spiritual life, exams are also required. But who will administer these tests? In the Vedic tradition, the spiritual master, or guru, is very important. In fact, Lord Krishna Himself states that without approaching a spiritual master, there is no chance of success. This logically makes sense, for without taking instruction from a qualified teacher of a particular subject, we would be unable to learn anything. One may argue that you could just as easily learn medicine or law by reading books, but even this method involves submission to a higher authority. After all, the books didn’t write themselves. Professors and other highly learned professionals of their field write these books for the benefit of future practitioners.

      Vedic wisdom is best acquired through aural reception. The hearing process is the most effective for taking in any information; hence the Vedas were originally passed down through an oral tradition. The Vedas are also known as the shrutis, meaning that which is heard. Based on these facts, we can deduce that the best way to take up spiritual life is to hear from a spiritual master. In this past, young students would live at the gurukula, or the school run by the guru. In today’s world, gurukulas are hard to find, thus making it more difficult to find a bona fide spiritual master who can teach us. Therefore less conventional means have to be adopted, such as approaching a guru by consulting their written instruction or recorded words. In reality, this method can be just as effective as personal contact, for there is no difference between a guru and their instructions.

      So let’s assume that we have approached a spiritual master by reading their books or listening to their recorded lectures. The most famous Vaishnava saint of the recent past is His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He authored over fifty books and left behind hours and hours of recorded lectures and speeches. One can focus exclusively on Prabhupada’s teachings and have enough information to gain a perfect understanding of God and one’s relationship to Him. Prabhupada’s primary recommendation for aspiring transcendentalists was that they take up the process of regularly chanting God’s names, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This is the most important recommendation, for it is the most effective process of

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1