Throw your burdens on God

Whatever burdens are thrown on God, He bears them ...

Nothing happens except that which is divinely ordained.

Prophet Muhammad - compassion, love, non-violence

Today, we present some inspiring snippets from the life of Prophet Muhammad.

The Islamic Prophet led a life of simplicity and poverty. His house, built of mud walls and thatched with date-palm leaves, often remained dark for want of oil for the lamp. At times he did not even have the flour with which to prepare bread.

When he grew up he earned a great reputation for his honesty and integrity. He always fulfilled his promises. Because he was extremely trustworthy, he became known as Al-Amin.

While Mohammed was serving a sick slave, the latter asked, "Has my master sent you to look after me ?"
"Yes," said Mohammed, "the master of masters has sent me to serve you."

One day, a dying dog approached a follower of Mohammed. The man had no means with which to procure water for the dog, for wells in the desert dry up quickly. He noticed a small pool of muddy water in the vicinity. He tore his shirt, soaked it in the water, placed the dog in his lap and moistened its mouth with the wet cloth. Another Arab who saw this went to the Prophet and said, "One of your followers has touched a filthy animal, a dog, and should therefore not be allowed back here again."

Mohammed questioned, "What was he doing to the dog ?"

"I do not know, but I saw him moistening its mouth with a torn piece of cloth dipped in muddy water," replied the man.

"He is a better Muslim than you are, because he is kind to animals," said the Prophet.

When Mohammed was in Mecca once, a poor shepherd from the hills came to worship in the mosque. He worshipped in his own simple way, performing the necessary ablution, kissing the stone and bowing before the sacred spot. Tears flowed from his eyes as he prayed:

 "O adorable Lord of love, show me Thy face. Let me be thy servant. Let me mend Thy shoes, apply oil to Thy hair, wash Thy soiled clothes and bring Thee daily the milk of my goat. Let me kiss Thy hand and shampoo Thy sacred Feet. Let me sweep Thy room."

Such simple words of the honest and straightforward shepherd offended the priests who stood near him. They said to him, "What blasphemy is this ? There is no need of such gifts for the omnipotent Lord."

They were ready to drive him out of the temple, when the Prophet called them to him and asked, "When you are in distant lands, in which direction do you turn your faces ?"

"We turn our faces to Mecca," they answered in reply.

He further asked, "When you are within this sacred walls, in which direction do you turn your faces ?"

"All is holy here," they replied. "It does not matter which way we turn."

The Prophet then said, "Your answer is beautiful indeed. Within the mosque it does not matter how you pray, as long as you have love and reverence. This poor shepherd's simple prayer entered directly into the ears of Allah more clearly than yours, as it was uttered from his heart with intense love, faith, sincerity and reverence. Make room for God's poor lover near me. Let no one be ashamed to have his company. He is humble, pure and an exalted soul."

Mohammed had great compassion and love. He served the widows and orphans, the poor, sick, aged and homeless. Once, he met an old, impoverished widow. Mohammed said to his wife, "My beloved, give food to this old woman first and then you may eat."

When the Prophet saw a blind woman stumbling in the street in Mecca, he led her gently home and thereafter took meals to her daily.

One day, he saw a woman with a heavy load on her head. At once he relieved her of her burden and carried it on his own head to her house.

Mohammed was humble and simple. Although he was a Prophet with a large following he worked along with others like an ordinary labourer during the construction of the first mosque at Medina. He mended his own shoes, milked the cows, swept the house, purchased provisions, tethered and fed the camels. He never laughed loudly but simply smiled. He had an attractive face and a charming smile. He respected the poor and restored freedom to many slaves.

The holy Koran, divided into more than one hundred chapters, opens and ends with the subject of the unity of God. The religion of Islam is essentially a religion of peace, for Mohammed was a lover of peace and non-violence. (Complete article)

God erupts, God flowers, God happens

God erupts, God flowers, God happens

Excerpted from Osho's The Great Nothing. The real religion starts the day one comes to understand that this mind is the root cause of separation. God i is herenow. It is already the case. You are not to achieve it and you are not to produce it; it has not to be manufactured. It is already the case... it has already happened. He is and He has always been, and He will always be.

Somehow we have got involved in dreams. That dream I call the world. And in that world we are all strangers and outsiders because our real home is somewhere else. But if you try it, in the beginning you will have to pass through a transitory period of tremendous hopelessness. You will miss your mind very much because that has been your whole life. For many lives that has been your whole occupation. You will miss it terribly. Those are the days of austerity. Those are the days of real sadhanai -- to accept it, to remain empty.

Even if it feels as if one is dropping into nothingness, one goes on dropping into that abyss. One makes no effort to come out of it, because that effort will mean bringing in the mind again. One simply goes on drowning in that emptiness. And one day when you are completely drowned, you will find that emptiness is not emptiness. It was just a wrong interpretation of the old mind. That nothingness was not nothingness.

That's what Buddha calls nirvana -- the great nothing. Tremendous is its beauty and immense is its grandeur... infinite is its benediction. But one has to prepare to go into that nothingness.

That's my message for you. Drop seeking. Drop searching. Drop mentation. Dropping mentation is meditation. And accept nothingness. Be nobody. And in that very nobodiness, something will sprout. Be nothing and in that very nothingness, God flowers.

All that we can do is to be nothing. Then the continuity happens on its own accord. What we are doing is just the opposite. We are trying to become somebody. And that becoming somebody is the cause of discontinuity. Only God is, so we cannot become somebody. If we are trying to become somebody, we are fighting with God. All ego is a fight against God, because only He can have the authentic 'I'. He is the centre of existence. All small 'i's' are just competitive -- competing with the ultimate 'I'.

So the moment you become nobody, the moment you are ready to become a nothing, suddenly God erupts in you; your continuity is there again. And then you laugh, a great humour arises, because then you see the whole ridiculousness. This is what you were searching for -- and it was because of the search that you were not getting it! The whole drama seems to be a great joke.

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This page will be updated with quotations and other teachings on Godi.

TSRM refers to Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, available online

In this entry, Ramana Maharshi quotes Nammalvar.

Nammalvar, the Vaishnavite saint, has said: “Only my Self is you”.

Bhagavan explains: What does it mean? “Before I realised my Self, I was wandering looking out for You; having now realised my Self I see that you are my Self”.
(TSRM, p304)

Ramana Maharshi speaks:

Q: How is God to be seen?

Within. If the mind is turned inward God manifests as inner consciousness.

God is in all and in the seer. Where else can God be seen? He cannot be found outside. He should be felt within. To see the objects, mind is necessary. To conceive God in them is a mental operation. But that is not real. The consciousness within, purged of the mind, is felt as God.

From Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi, Page 204

God as a mental conception

M.: Soul and God are only mental conceptions.
D.: Is God only a mental conception?
M.: Yes. Do you think of God in sleep?
D.: But sleep is a state of dullness.
M.: If God be real He must remain always. You remain in sleep and in wakefulness - just the same. If God be as true as your Self, God must be in sleep as well as the Self. This thought of God arises only in the wakeful state. Who thinks now?

People interested in God and Divine Union should find the following links inspiring:
The life and message of Tukaram a great Indian saint who lived in the 17th century.
Yogi Ram Surat Kumar's message for all - this realized soul lived in Tiruvannamalai, his sayings are very inspiring to those who love God
How to realize God
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhakti_movement

Mirabai's love for Krishna is epitomized by the popular belief about her final disappearance in the temple of Krishna in Dwarka. She is believed to have entered the sanctum of the temple in a state of singing ecstacy.
The sanctum doors are believed to have closed on their own and when later opened, the sari of Mirabai was seen enwrapped around the idol of lord Krishna, symbolizing the culmination of her union with her lord.

Mirabai
Life of Manikkavachagar
Unity

You are a future Buddha, you are a flower of love.
You are divine and beautiful, you are in God in love.

---

That dark Dweller in Braj
Is my only refuge.
O my companion,
Worldly comfort is an illusion,
As soon you get it, it goes.
I have chosen the Indestructible for my refuge,
Him whom the snake of death
Will not devour.

My Beloved dwells in my heart,
I have actually seen that Abode of Joy.
Mira's Lord is Hari, the Indestructible.
My Lord, I have taken refuge with Thee,
Thy slave.
-- Mirabai

See Isha Upanishad

siva – bhakti – Information

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