Astyevamevam (20)
This is in this way only. To meditate upon the Divine is the first step; then to invite the Divine into the idol is the next step; then to offer seat, water, flowers, eatables and light comes one by one. The same that are offered to the ego pull down us to the senses; when they are offered to the Divine, throw us to the no-mind state. According to A Satyanarayana Shastry, we should not only concentrate upon puja while we perform puja, but also observe what is going on in the mind? How the sincere puja activation work in the mental system and how the mental being is calmed down for a few minutes or hours? With this observation of calmness and relaxation one has to do any sadhana according to A Satyanarayana Shastry. Ramakrsna was thrown to samadhi for several times when he performed puja of Kali. Whenever he felt the motherhood, whenever he felt the presence of Divine mother he was thrown to the various layers of silence and samadhi. It is told that Nammalvar, a great saint in Tamilnadu, went to deep samadhi for six months, when he sung and felt the simplicity
Krishna. Krishna Caitanya used to go to samadhi whenever he visualized the blue sky or the blue ocean or the peacock feather.
Ramakrishna's heart was so pure that he could go to different layers of samadhi quickly by practicing
any kind of sadhana. He made his body and mind a spiritual laboratory in which he tested each and every sadhana prescribed in the sacred texts. |