Vibhīṣaṇa Śaraṇāgati - 03 - Talk by Sw Aparajitananda (Talk given @ Chinmaya Mission Kansas City)

Hari Om !!
Vibhīṣaṇa Śaraṇāgati - 03 - Talk in English by Swami Aparajitananda, Chinmaya Mission Chicago - Yamunotr (Talk given @ Chinmaya Mission Kansas City)
After giving a synopsis of the previous day's talk, Swamiji says that though the Lord has promised that even the rank sinner becomes a dharmatma immediately after surrendering to the Lord, only a satvik mind has the capacity to surrender, while a tamasic mind doesn’t think about surrender. This is the reason that, although spirituality is the noblest path, very few can walk on this path.
The points to analyze and introspect for the spiritual seeker:
1. How does a devotee describe himself?
2. Why is only the Lord worthy of praising?
3. Why does the Lord become happy when we surrender our ego and praise Him?
4. Some tips to surrender our ego and to know the below realities of life:
a. I am nothing;
b. I know nothing;
c. I have nothing; and
d. I can do nothing.
If anyone praises you and you feel happy, then know for sure that it is a sinful tendency in you, and the punishment for this sinful act is punarapi jananam punarapi maranam.
5. What has Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi said about the egoless state?
6. Can one achieve the ‘ahaṃ brahmāsmi’ state through self-effort, or is it achieved through God’s grace? What does the Bhagavadgītā say about it?
7. What is a good choice for a devotee: to suffer in hell or to have the company of the wicked (Dusang)?
8. As long as a person lives a life divorced from the Lord, he is in the abode of sorrow.
9. Is spirituality a pessimistic or optimistic view of life?
10. How have we been born, and why are we suffering in this world? How does the BMI Chart analyze this?
11. Once the Lord comes into one’s life, one is safe.
12. Mother, father, brother, son, wife, body, money, emotions, friends, and relatives-this is all string-tie this rope to His feet.
13. One must have a primary relationship with God and all other relationships should be secondary.
14. Does the world have the capacity to make us happy? To become nirdvandva, does one need to love God or the world?
15. What are the five disciplines enumerated in this story to develop devotion towards the Lord?
16. Who are we in the Vibhīṣaṇa story?
17. Will the Lord say ‘Evam Astu’ to us, like He said to Vibhīṣaṇa?
18. Does the darshan of Bhagavan only benefit us spiritually or materially?
Symbolism in the Story Vibhīṣaṇa Śaraṇāgati:
Vibhīṣaṇa : Represents each individual soul (Jiva).
Rāvaṇa: Represents the ego, with his ten heads symbolizing the five karmendriyas (organs of action) and five jnanendriyas (organs of knowledge).
Ego (Lanka): Isolates us, causing separation from the divine. Lanka is island (symbolizing separation)
Sita (Mind): Cannot be happy in isolation (ego).
Hanuman: The spiritual guru who guides us to surrender.
Rama: The supreme self.
Choice: Between surrendering to God or remaining under ego's control is entirely our choice. This cannot be done by God.
Rama kills Rāvaṇa: Only divine grace can destroy the ego.
Vibhīṣaṇa becoming king of Lanka: Mastery over the mind and senses.
Sita united with the Lord: Represents the mind finding true happiness in union with the divine.

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Hari Om Swamiji

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Hari Om Swamiji.
Insight Into Sharnagati !!!
To experience God begin by worshipping Lord with form.
Hold on to righteous living with firm vows, saintly people will reform.
Make a rope of worldly attachments n offer at His divine feet.
Then take a royal path chosen by rare few to go for spiritual retreat.
Let go ,'Ego' before it raises its hood n in humility bend.
Choose the noblest goal,then apperceive God's grace descend.
In total ,'sharanagati' when one falls in front of Lord like a stick.
Lord runs forward towards His devotee, lifts n picks.
Any one who gives up crookedness, wickedness, deceit n fear.
Lord turns him from, शून्यअस्मि to ब्रह्मास्मि” ,this bhakta is very dear.
श्रद्धावान् लभते ज्ञानम्
विनश्यति श्रद्धाविहीन
"अहम् भक्ता पराधीन“ !
Regards n pranams Swamiji
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻