Flying Currency Note

Date: 17 Sep 2011 19:14:26 -0000
From: "Ram Chandra Deva"
To: am-global@earthlink.net
Subject: Flying Currency Note

Baba

"Maneri gahane tumi a'cho, a'cho prabhu sada' jege a'cho..."  (4380)

Purport:

Baba, You always remain in the depths of my mind-- You never leave me. You always remain awake. You work day and night, across time & space. You never stop. Baba, whatever You want to do, You go on doing. Your liila is constantly unfolding.   

Baba, this whole expressed universe is Your eternal game. You are ever-present: Beginningless and endless. You are ever-intoxicated in Your divine flow. You are the Goal of everyone-- everyone wants You. You remain with one and all, always.    

Baba, those trying to come close to You by their virtuous deeds, those involved in shravan, manan, nididhyasana, & dhyana, only they are able to come to You.  Only they are able to realise You and have Your grace and proximity.

Baba,  You are grace-Personified...

BABA STORY:

FLYING CURRENCY NOTE

Preview: This is the story of how I found a 100 rupee note floating in the air and that was the exact amount needed for my urgent work.

Namaskar,
The program was arranged that on 30 March 1984 Baba would come to Medininagar (Daltonganj).

Baba also gave the condition that if there is no Marga Guru quarters, there will not be DMC. Hearing this, all the margiis became committed to construct an MG quarters, complete with a place for Baba to stay and a meeting hall. My duty was to collect the requisite funds, arrange the labour, and supervise the construction.

The work was going on "full-steam ahead."

SERIOUS PROBLEM ARISES

But on 28 March, just two days before Baba's intended arrival, we ran out of building materials, like cement. All along I had been getting the materials on credit from one shop. This time, however, when I went to get more cement for that day's work, the shop owner would not give me more supplies on credit. He demanded that I first give him RS1000 and then and only then would he consider giving me more building materials on credit.

I was in a fix - the situation was not good. I had only a little time before Baba's arrival; in two days Baba would come. And the MG quarters was not completed; plus I did not have the materials to finish that day's job. The situation was dire.

I needed to gather 1,000 rupees - fast.

GOING DOOR-TO-DOOR:

NO HOPE IN SIGHT

After paincajanya, I got on my bicycle and went door to door to margiis' houses to collect money. I spent the entire morning and I got 900 rupees, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not collect the full amount needed. I was 100 rupees short. It was around 11:30am and it was very hot.

I reviewed the situation in my mind: The labourers were waiting on-site; the shopkeeper was not giving me the cement. I was short RS100 and my financial sources had dried up. Plus since morning I had not had anything to eat or drink and my health was not good. All morning I was bicycling everywhere in order to collect funds for the materials and I was exhausted as well as hungry and thirsty.

I was suffering from terrible anxiety: (a) I was short on money; (b) I could not get the building materials;  (c) the MG quarters would not be finished; and (d), Baba would not conduct DMC. Thinking all this, I felt very sad.

SURRENDERING TO BABA

While I was bicycling along Panki road, I began reflecting mentally: "Baba, without Your grace this is impossible for me; I cannot complete Your job; if You wish then it will be done; if You choose not to shower Your grace, I am going to give this money and duty to the bhukti pradhan and let him do it - it is impossible for me without Your grace."

I surrendered fully to Baba thinking, "This is only possible by Your grace; I am helpless."

I went on thinking how nobody is giving me RS100 and the shopkeeper is not going to give me the cement and the laborers are sitting there unable to work. I thought: "I cannot go on like this." I was very disturbed psychically. All these thoughts were arising in my mind as I was slowly bicycling along. It was broad daylight, but all around me it was dark. I was in a quandary as to what to do. Chanting Baba's name I was moving along slowly.

BABA SHOWERS HIS GRACE

Suddenly, what's this I see! A 100 rupee note is floating towards me from the opposite direction. Although the road is a quite crowded, I see that the note is coming directly towards me. When it came closer, I loudly cried out to the money, "Stop I need you. Stop, I need you."

By Baba's grace the rupee note fell to the ground and I got down from my bicycle and I picked up the money.

I became so happy that tears began rolling down my face. I quickly pedaled to the shopkeeper's store and gave him the 100 rupee note along with the other RS900 and I got the cement. I told him my purchase was delayed because there was shortage of money - to resolve the matter I had to ask my Gurudeva for a contribution.

I do not know what the shopkeeper understood by my words. But when I reached the ashram I told everybody that I was 100 rupees short when Baba made the final contribution Himself. I then filled out the donation receipt in Baba's name and handed over the cement to the laborers. They did the job. And ultimately Baba came: He was very happy and conducted DMC

And it all happened solely because of Baba's grace.

Namaskar,
Vishvanath

p.s. Some may be thinking that 100 rupees is not a lot of money. But you must recall this was 1984. But even then that does not explain the matter fully. Think of it this way:
If you are very hungry and you do not have any food then even one bite of food is very tasty and rejuvenating. Similarly, if you need to buy something but are a little bit short of funds, then that amount of money is very precious, regardless of how little it may be.

There are two essential factors contributing to the intensity of my experience: The urgency of the work (i.e. Baba's impending arrival) and the materials needed to to the work. The solution to both of these matters was RS100. So you can imagine how I felt.

Note: ABOUT THE ABOVE STORY

The above story, narrated by brother Vishvanathji of Medininagar (Daltonganj), teaches us that when one surrenders fully to Guru and feels helpless, then Guru will certainly shower His grace. When Vishvanathji was thinking that he could manage the situation by his own doing then he was not successful. But when he surrendered to Baba then everything changed and the work was beautifully managed. So surrender is the key point.

Following are some of Baba's many teachings on surrender. As we know this is a deeply spiritual concept far beyond the realm of any selfishness. I find reviewing Baba's teachings on this topic is always helpful and inspiring.

First is one of Baba's famous guidelines from the Mahabharata era when the Pandava Queen Draopadi was being disrobed in the Kaurava court for all to see. Yet because she surrendered fully, she was saved.

Baba says, "The story goes [in the Mahábhárata] that so long as Draopadi kept even a grain of dependence on her own strength, she remained constantly under the threat of being exposed before the congregation. The moment she found herself completely helpless and reposed all faith in the Lord, Náráyańa, she got the divine help. So one who feels this attraction and surrenders oneself completely to Him is bound to get His help. One, on the other hand, who keeps even one paisa with oneself, fails to get that help." (Ananda Vacanamrtam - 23, Mysticism and Spirituality)

Here we should keep in mind that surrender to Guru is unconditional. If one thinks, "I am surrendering to You Baba and by this way I will get the money" etc, then that so-called surrender is totally useless. As we know, in surrender we are surrendering our petty egoistic feelings to Baba. Then and only then we can become His medium, otherwise not.

Baba says, "One needs to surrender oneself completely. Until and unless there is cent percent surrender, it is naive to think in terms of accomplishing the task." (AV-23, Mysticism and Spirituality)

Baba says, "What you must do is simply surrender to the Lord and leave everything else to Him and Him alone. Your ideal should be the Lord, and your effort should be towards a complete self-surrender. You should ask the Lord to make you what He wants. You should ask the Lord to take that work from You which He desires." (AV-31)

Baba says, "Prapatti means complete surrender. The inner spirit of prapatti is that whatever is taking place in the universe is all due to the Cosmic will. Had Parama Puruśa willed otherwise, things would have been different. Hence the Cosmic will is at the root of each and every action. Thus we should say, “O Lord, Thy will be done. I am but a machine. Utilize this machine in any way You like. I am nothing but a mere tool in your hands.” This is the spirit of prapattiváda." (NKS, Disc: 4)

Baba says, "However little one's capacity might be, if one constantly remembers that Parama Purus'a is always with him, that they are in the closest contact with Parama Purus'a, they will be able to do everything. They are not as small as they think themselves to be. And as long as they remember this closest association with Him, they can do much more than ordinary human beings. When this idea becomes permanently established in their minds, they become great. This is why no one should be disappointed or depressed in any circumstances; let everyone constantly perform great deeds, remembering that the flow of their capacity is coming from Parama Purus'a, and thus they can do everything." (AFPS-3, p. 62)

Namaskar,
Ram Chandra