Nanna was sitting in the middle room with devotees surrounding him and listening to the rasa secrets revealed by him.
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Why do we need Mother?
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'For everything.'
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We need Mother for Mother only.
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'To be near Her.'
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In what capacity do you want to be near Her?
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'Maybe as a sakhi. We don't know; we want to hear from you.'
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I will tell you the secret of sakhi tattwa. I am a confidential sakhi, not an ordinary sakhi. You are speaking to Mother's confidential sakhi.
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'Ah, we are in the presence of such a Nanna!'
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I sit near Her as Her confidential sakhi. Do you want to know all her secrets?
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'Yes Nanna.'
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We sakhis do activities that benefit mankind. Will do like that?
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'Yes Nanna.'
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How should youn listen to Mother's words? We must be positively receptive and yet fully aware. Only in this state, there is realization.
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When IAS results are published in the paper a person is seeing his results with anxiety, concentration and fully awareness.
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Somebody asked Nanna about mantra.
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I will first tell you about don'ts and then the do's.
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Normally in mantra sastra, they teach you mantras. And mantra has words associated with it like hrim, hrum etc. There is no mantra without sound. All the senses of hearing, touch, seeing, smell, taste are related to prakrithi. Even a trace of prakrithi will bring you down. That's why you must stay away from prakrithi. A single syllable is enough to bring you down. That is the real danger! You must realize how dangerous prakrithi is. There are eleven obstacles in prakrithi that can bring down. So many fell due to any one of these hurdles Lord Brahma, sage Vishwamitra, Lord Shiva, Sage Saubhari are few among the many who were pulled down by these hurdles as they could not overcome. We must overcome what they could not. You will face such hurdles in your dhyana.
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Saubhari was a great sage who had power almost matching those of Krishna. He thought 'if I do dhyana in this world of maya, I will face many hurdles. I will sit on the bed of River Yamuna and to do penance in solitude.' He began his penance in the water. One day he opened his eyes and saw a male and female fish in a state if intimacy. Desire arose in him and thus he fell. This desire and lust is one of the eleven hurdles in dhyana. This exists in gods, human beings, animals, insects and vegetables too!
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Male and female flowers unite in pollination. The pollen grains of male flowers adhere to the feet of the bee. When it sits on the female flowers, the pollen sticks to the stigma. Fertilization occurs and seed is formed. It grows and becomes a fruit. When the fruit ripens, we eat it. A small insect can trigger the whole cycle. Now when we eat the fruit, we take in the fruit and fall. This is exactly what happened to Saubhari. As he saw the male and female fish, his mind told him that they were in union. Though not visible to the eye, the mind gives the message and man becomes unstable. Then Saubhari came out of the water and saw the world with his aesetic powers. He saw the 50 daughters of the King Mandhata. He used his powers, took the form of Manmatha and married the 50 princesses...
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As soon as you sit fro dhyana, you will be flooded with thoughts about your attachments to others. Your body is formed with the three base gunas (models). Every atom of your body is filled with rajoguna. The Gita says 'Kama esha krodha esha rajoguna samudhbhavaha'. When rajoguna emerges, desire and anger are created. Both are present in a single atom. The body consists of innumerable atoms of this nature. When anger and desire rise, you cannot control them. You may think that by eating vegetarian food only, you can develop sattwa guna. Well! The buffalo that eats only grass and no meat also has desire and lust! That means desire is not the grass or foods. It is present in the body. When so many atoms of desire and anger present in your body, how can you do penance? There are eleven such hurdles in dhyana. When even one of them triggers, you cannot handle it and continue dhyana. Great yogeeswaras like Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva and Saubhari maharshi fell. This is the nature of prakrithi.
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Mantra is linked with words that belong to this prakrithi. When mantra is initiated to you, it becomes a part of prakrithi like your body. Prakrithi consists of male and female, mutual attraction... Unless you do serve dhyana and move highe, you cannot pregress. Your body is your enemy. How can you conquer it? Are you greater than Brahma, Shiva or Saubhari? They all fell, unable to conquer prakrithi.
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I have a Sanjeevani with me. I will tell you later you begin dhyana. I have crossed the hurdles. I reached the goal. All of you must reach the goal. That is the game. I reached the goal. Now it is your turn.
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'Nanna with your grace, we will also reach the goal one day...'
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You will always have my grace. You are all blessed ones! If you receive my grace, it is enough.
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Actually you are the soul. This body does not belong to you. Your body is named after your soul. Therefore, if you believe that you are the body, you have fallen down to prakrithi.
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Now I will narrate a mythological incident wherein Lord Krishna himself was shaken. He wondered how he could land in such a situation. Krishna who is acclaimed as Supreme God Krishnasthu Bhagawan Swayam became shaky!
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Nanna narrated the Madana Mohana Mohini bela in detail.
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Krishna did penance and Mother appeared before him. With folded hand, he narrated his state. 'Don't worry. I will take care', she assured him. When the Maha Rasa began, Manmatha hit Krishna with five arrows. Krishna prayed to Radha 'Radhe Radhe Radhe! You are the only one who can protect me in all the 14 worlds. You must come to my rescue. You assured me that you would take care'. Maharasa began, thousands of gopikas..only Radha processes a unique power - Hladini sakthi - the power of ecstasy. Krishna prayed to the Hladini Sakthi to protect him. Manmatha is the personification of the flames of desire. Therefore, when the flame of Hladini power permeated in the whole premises, Manmatha became powerless and distributed. He attained stree bhava (bhava of womanhood) and fell at the feet of Krishna. Since then, Krishna attained a new name, MadanMohan, because he was loved by Madana. Then Krishna came near Mother and said ' I am now Madana Mohana. From today You are Madana Mohini'. Radha is the Mohini of Madana Mohan! Her power of ecstasy can turn even Krishna topsy turvy. Will you do dhyana on such a Radha?
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Nanna spoke about Sri Radha dhyana thus:
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Dhyanayoga is very powerful. Both Krishna said in the Bhagawad Gita and Vsaya said in the Bhagawata that there is no other yoga that can match dhyana yoga. I will now tell you about dhyana yoga.
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There is no mantra in dhyana because mantra has sounds linked to prakrithi. Dhyana yoga has no name and form because both belong to prakrithi. Dhhyana yoga belong to prakrithi. Once you are linked to prakrithi, you are bound to fall. Hence, you must do dhyana without name and form.
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Just as you lay a bypass road when the straight road is damaged, we also must tread on the bypass road. The Vedas warned us not to move on the straight path. We must avoid the main road when there is an accident, no doubt, but we must take only the right path to move ahead.
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I will tell you the steps to follow in this path. First and foremost, you must maintain silence. The very first requirement of dhyana is silence. One who is in mouna(silence) is a muni. Sage Atri and Vasishta did penance in silence. No wonder his penance went haywire and he spent family life and fathered Sakuntala. One who realizes this fact will not go on the straight path of prakrithi. Nobody can fight with prakrithi and win. We must move only on the path of silence. One who maintains silence is a mahamuna.
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The path of Badarinarayana in the Himalayas is supreme silence. He has shown us what true silence is. He propagated that 'there must be only two entities within you - you and your Diety. As soon as the third entity enters, you will fall. Rama Devi, my consort, who is so very dear to me is the third entity in my dhyana. I told her that she must leave my heart because only I and my deity can reside in my heart during dhyana. She left from my heart.' Rama Devi transformed into berry bushes - Badari. That is why he is Badari Narayana.
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You too must ensure that there are only two entities in your dhyana - you and you deity. Otherwise, you will fall in the beginning itself. Hence, do not allow entry of any third entity. The next important point - our deity is Radha Devi. Mother, You are my Deity in dhyana. Even innumerable Manmathas cannot stand before Your power of ecstasy. You must come down as my Deity in dhyana. You must be mu Goddess in the Para. Even Krishna had Radhaji only as his Para Goddess in dhyana.
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Nanna then referred to excerpts from the Radhikopanishad.
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Radha is the deity of Sri Krishna's worship. Not just a deity but the Highest! The Vedas proclaim that She blesses and protects those who surrender to Her.
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'...The loving Lord and Ruler of the Universe, Krishna places the dust at Her holy feet on his head during Rasa.. He forgets all his possessions and aspects including his flute in Her love... In fact , he totally surrendered himself to Her..'
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See, how wonderfully the Vedas described Lord Krishna's state. He totally surrendered to Her with his free will. Then She entered into him. We too must surrendered to Her. That is the main purpose of this dhyana.
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'Nanna, first we must surrendered...' one devotee asked Nanna.
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It is not easy to control prakrithi, your human power is not enough. Prakrithi has much more power than a human being. Without surrendering to Mother, it is impossible to conquer this power.
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Therefore, the first principle in dhyana yoga is that you must maintain your mind in a state of silence. This deep silence is feeling awareness. You must get used to this awareness.
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The second step is timeliness. In Mother's kingdom, everything is new every moment. There is no place for terms like the day before yesterday, yesterday, today or tomorrow. The mind must be in a state of newness every moment'. You must be aware of Radhaji's presence. You must be in the bhava that 'Mother is near me'. This bhava must be deeply rooted in your heart. Do not forget that Radhaji means Hladini Sakthi - the power of ecstasy that can easily defeat prakrithi.
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The third point - you must be positively receptive. You must be in a mood to receive Her message with total concentration. Finally, 'yet fully aware'. You must develop the awareness that 'I am being watched. I must be carefull. Otherwise, I will face hurdles'.
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You must drink the potion containing the above four points. Let us recollect them again:
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Silence; ever newness (timelessness); alertness and awareness of Mother's presence; being positively receptive.
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Your mind must contain all the four aspects. Then your mind will be tuned gradually within a week.
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Then Nanna told about a lady lecturer, a qualified M.A., PHd earning a good salary.
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She used to suffer with unbearable headache on one side as she reached home from college. She took many medicines but no relief. She talked to me on phone and asked whether I could relive her pain. But for how long? The hurdle must be removed first; you must give up your ego. When the pain occurs you regret for your mistakes and get relief. When the pain reoccurs, again you regret. Is this right? Once gone in life, it should not reappear. That is the victory in your war with ego. That is sadhana! When she wins over het ego, I will accept and praise her, but not now.
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You must fight and win the war with your ego. Your effort is not enough. Unless you fight, how can you conquer ego? What is sadhana? It is your victory over ego.
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You belong to athma. But you feel you belong to this body. Are you this body? You must answer this question to yourself. As long as you identify yourself with the body, you feel the pain physically. Why are you suffering so much? You are not this body at all. Otherwise, your body must remain permanently.
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Your great grandmother is no more. That means her body does not exist anymore. This body is temporary in this world.
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When a relative dies, you are weeping though he is no more in pain (as the body is no longer there). What do you cry? When a child id born in the family, your rejoice and distribute sweets. Suppose the same child dies at an early age, you weep for him.You are not hurt, then why do you weep for somebody else?
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'Maybe because of attachment for the body.'
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Why can't you remove that attachment? Are you not strong enough to do so? Unless you fight, you can't win over your enemy.
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'Nanna, you must teach us to fight.'
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When you know your enemy, you must fight. There is no other way. Why did you wait for so many years? Will you not fight against the thief who enters your house? Ego is a thief; why are you not driving it away? Is it so easy? You cannot see it to strike it. Then how will you fight against ego? Your guru must teach you about it. Can you analyse what you did not achieve till now?
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'Nanna, maybe we did not have the eagerness to conquer our ego. If we had the determination, we would conquer it. Oueefforts were poor and not whole hearted. We were diverted by worldly matters.'
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You came near me to learn how to conquer your enemy, your ego. I find that you are not fighting at all.
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'Very true. We admit that we are not sincere in our efforts.'
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If you fight sincerely, you will easily win over your ego. I fought and won this war. One lady was weeping with some problem. How did I break through all the hurdles in her way? How Could I cure her? What was my weapon? How did that invisible enemy, her headache disappear?
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'By the grace of God and due to her profound faith in you.'(another devotee answered)
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Then why can't she cure herself with this faith in me? Why did she come to me?
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'You relieved me from headache only by your power.', she said.
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What kind of power?
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'Divine power.'
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How do you define divine power? If you do not have that power, how did you do sadhana? You have taken mantra and deeksha three years ago. It took me three minutes to provide relief to another devotee from his problems.
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'Please remove my headache also in two minutes.'
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The tape ended at this key point of conversation. We don't know what Nanna replied to her!
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That day a few devotees who took mantra deeksha from another guru came near Nanna. One of them was a lecturer who was suffering from spells of headache. She heard about Nanna and came to see him. In this conversation, Nanna emphasized on the enemy present in each one of us, our ego. He stressed that in order to conquer this enemy which is trying to pull us down every moment, we must do dhyana on Sri Radha, the embodiment of hladini sakthi. He repeated and made us repeat the essential steps to do this dhyana.
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Referring to the lecturer's headache, Nanna indirectly questioned the role of her guru. On one occasion earlier he said,'a real guru is one who looks after you even if you waver from the right path.' While we must wage war with our inner enemy, the guru must guide us in this sadhana. Nanna clearly stated that 'you must wage war with your ego and emrge victorious.'
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Whatever Nanna spoke to them about about life and death, sadhana or any topic may appear to be in a light vein but is indeed deep philosophy. That is his inimitable style. 'If you really fight, you must win over your enemy. But your ego did not leave you. I fought and won.' Nanna proved his victory over his inner inner enemy when he removed her headache within minutes without even moving from his chair. Yet again, Nanna showed who he is!
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Ahakaramunu thyagamu chesi
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Amma preethiye nee sukhambani nee sukhambani
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Anni roopamula Devini ganchaka
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Sarveswari krupa radu kada.
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Unless you give up your ego, consider Mother's happiness as your happiness and see only Her in every form; you cannot attain the Supreme Sovereign Mother's grace.
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