This is the story of Mrs. Nirmala Honap who performed spiritual healing on others at the age of 60, despite severe illness.

In our day-to-day life, we often come across people who have to endure illness in their old age. Some illnesses leave people paralyzed, bedridden and even unconscious. Quite often for the aged there is a fear of undergoing such destiny. The kind of thoughts that could plague their minds are, “How will I function in old age?”, “Will I be a burden to others?”, “My life will become totally useless if I fall severely ill and become bedridden”, etc.

To counteract these fears, some people try to take maximum care of their health to the point of being obsessed about it. They continually talk about their high blood pressure, sugar levels or cholesterol highs. Those who are healthier in their old age make every effort to save a lot of money to be able to perhaps one day pay a nurse to take care of them should they become bedridden. For some perhaps the money would be used to assure a comfortable life in an old age home. Their faith clearly rests in their bank account, shares and savings.

For the past 3 years, I have had the unique opportunity of being in the presence of an evolved seeker, Mrs. Nirmala Honap, who at the age of 60 had attained the spiritual level of 66%. Her physical state though, has been deteriorating rapidly due to many illnesses such as diabetes, brain strokes and overall body paralysis. She has been bedridden for the past 2 years. Despite all this, just her presence was radiating so much Divine Consciousness (Chaitanya) that spiritual healing occurred on seekers who would gather in her room, daily, for a couple of hours.

Seekers had various spiritual experiences in her presence. Some felt Bliss, lightness, calmness, seeing a subtle blue and yellow aura around her, an awakening of spiritual emotion, spiritual healing being done on them, etc.

Having been fulfilled by similar spiritual experiences in her presence, a thought came to my mind, that only the spiritually evolved have this limitless potential to help others. Due to their spiritual level acquired by continual spiritual practice, they become beacons of light for us with their spiritual energy and love regardless of their physical disabilities.

I felt that Mrs. Nirmala Honap (fondly called Honap Kaku – Aunty) had truly fulfilled the aim of her life. Instead of feeling useless in her old age, she was able to assist so many seekers by healing them spiritually and thereby removing any obstacles in their spiritual journey. In stark contrast to most people, her faith rested in God and not in her bank balance and she was able to help others far more than the help she needed while being bedridden.

These thoughts left me in a state of gratitude as I felt fortunate to have been guided to make the right choices along life’s path that have enabled me to practice spirituality for the past few years.

I made a fervent prayer that I too be graced to progress spiritually so that when the woes of old age engulf me at a physical level, I would still be of service to others at a spiritual level.

Sharon Clarke Sequeira

SSRF team member

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States affected by the Gulf oil spill have made a call to their citizens to pray to God for help in averting the disaster. Need we really experience peril in order to call on God?

A few days ago CNN reported that state senators in Louisiana had proposed a day for prayer against the oil spill that has devastated the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster on 20 April 2010. “Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail, it is clearly time for a miracle for us,” one of the state senators said.

The Louisiana senators designated 27th June as a day for citizens to ask for God’s help dealing with the oil spill. Their resolution calls on people of all religions throughout the Gulf Coast “to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood.”

Gulf oil spill as on 25th June 2010

This appeal for prayer has followed almost 2 months of struggles to control the leakage, as described by BBC.

The very fact that lawmakers in Louisiana have resorted to prayer after other attempts to overcome the dire situation have so far failed, shows us that man is far from being in control of the underwater technology used in this energy field. Modern science keeps broadening the spectrum of new technological possibilities, the implications of which are not evident till a tragedy like this occurs.

What actually went wrong? Scientists, workers and analysts are now busy trying to establish the facts that led to the eventual pollution of thousands of square miles or an entire region. But will their fact-finding mission include the underlying cause, that of the polluted human mind?

When the internal mind of man is impure then the external actions easily take a wrong course and make the external environment impure. This is especially evident in the case of man-made disasters such as the Gulf oil spill where selfishness and a race for consuming natural sources of wealth dictate the industry’s actions. But global warming is also an example of it, due to the cumulative effect of man’s incorrect actions, as nature in itself does not work to the detriment of humanity but only supports and enhances humanity.

Only spiritual practice can truly purify the internal mind. However people generally look for spiritual solutions only when they experience grave situations that leave them fraught with tension. But why wait for so much trauma and turmoil such as the oil spill to begin spiritual practice? Why not do it on a daily basis and enjoy happy fruitful lives? It would also help us deal with the spiritual aftermath of events such as these, that lead to a rise in the impure subtle raja-tama components and pressure in the atmosphere which affect humanity at large.

Read more:

• Spirituality prepares us for natural disasters and unexpected events
• The real pollution
• Climate change and natural disasters
• Sattva, Raja and Tama the three subtle basic components of the Universe

How could it? Every time one was at the sink and trying to wash the dishes for a span of two hours or so, someone or the other would gently intervene and request to either fill a small container of water to clean the counter with, or rinse their hands between cooking, or they needed the sink as they felt like a cup of tea, the seeker about to chop cilantro would bring her colander to rinse the leaves and the one who wanted to churn buttermilk would require the sink as well … and so the flow of users remained uninterrupted!

So the heap of dishes would get washed at a staggered but even pace that took into account all the interruptions.  No one ever questioned the absence of another sink. One kitchen sink was accepted as a way of life. Everyone was content.

I tried hard to align myself with everyone, always thinking that a couple more sinks would have been the more efficient way to go.

Suddenly, only a couple days ago a new understanding suddenly slid into my consciousness.  This sink was nothing but God’s ‘Divine Design’!  I had been using my limited intellect all this while. But Spirituality is beyond the intellect. So I had to look beyond the illogical scenario and see the real purpose that this kitchen sink was fulfilling. I realized that God did not merely want dishes to be washed. He wanted to create divinity within seekers.

This sink put one on the spot as it had the potential to precipitate the flaws within one – the slightest bit of irritation could easily be perceived by the interrupting seeker who now stood right beside one. So one’s patience had to develop and one’s love had to develop too, so that each interaction was gentle and friendly and even sublime.

The kitchen sink interruptions have served as a time to nudge the other and say something uplifting, share some advice or correct a mistake like ‘you have the tap open too wide, you‘re wasting water’.  Washing dishes for those two hours was really merely an excuse for the big picture which was that each of us was getting a chance to be washed up and sorted out on the inside.

Our Kitchen Sink has given us practical lessons on how to be in complete acceptance mode and has even got me to learn how to go beyond my intellect. Without this divinely orchestrated discomfort, where would we have got this almost laboratory like situation that induces internal transformation?

by

Sharon Clarke Sequeira

SSRF team member

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Read more:

• The concept of Swechchaa, Parechchaa and Ishwarechchaa in spiritual practice and growth
• Gratitude and spiritual closeness among seekers experienced in the āshram
• If the student is willing, the Guru is always teaching

Our role in this life should be that of a guest

His Holiness Bhaktaraj Maharaj

We should be aware that we are guests only and have to go back to our home again. Howsoever be the food prepared by the lady of the house, the guest always appreciates it. Whatever be the arrangements made for him, he accepts gracefully. Similarly, we have to happily accept the joys and sorrows in our lives. ‘Accept joys and sorrows equally’, because this embodied soul is a guest in this life; our permanent dwelling place is at the feet of the Lord. Chanting is a means to remember Him continuously. At home, just as we get angry, act stubbornly or show our displeasure, so must one quarrel, argue, be stubborn with God.

On completing his stay, a guest bids farewell to everyone and happily goes back home. Similarly, the embodied soul should be overjoyed while leaving the body, because it is going back home.

- His Holiness Bhaktaraj Maharaj

[From "The Teachings of Saint Bhaktaraj", compiled by Dr. Jayant B. Athavale and Dr. (Mrs.) Kunda J. Athavale]

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Read more quotes:

• Keep trying
• Take care to chant

What does spiritual science tell us about the phenomenon of capturing ghosts in a bottle? Is it possible?

Recently the news of two ghosts captured in glass vials with stoppers and soaked in holy water captured the curiosity of world media. The ghosts were reported to have been not only captured, but also sold at an auction in New Zealand for almost $2000. There has been subsequent debate on whether the captured ghosts were for real.

This is not the first time that sale of ghosts in a bottle has caused a bit of a stir. A few years ago a mill-worker from North Ireland set up a similar sale on eBay, and one man in Florida has even set up a business of selling ghosts in bottles which are captured by professional ‘ghost catchers’ around the US.

What does spiritual science tell us about this phenomenon of capturing ghosts in a bottle? Is it possible to capture a ghost?

(Photo: courtesy of luzdesigns)

Spiritual science tells us that the world we live in, our bodies, the things we use, including glass vials are all gross things. On the other hand, our thoughts, ego, etc. are all subtle things. We all have a subtle body comprising of the subconscious mind, intellect, ego and soul. When someone passes away the gross body is left behind but the subtle body moves on to the other regions of the universe. A subtle body becomes a ghost if they have many unfulfilled desires, personality defects, such as anger, fear, greed, negative impressions in the mind, etc. and haven’t done spiritual practice with the intention of God realisation.

So ghosts are subtle bodies, who are steeped in the basic subtle tama component. Being subtle, they cannot be ‘captured’ and ‘stored’ in things that are gross as the laws that apply to the gross world, do not apply to them.

We can take the example of air, which is also subtle. If there was air in a glass vial, it could also simultaneously exist outside the vial. A ghost, who is more subtle than air, can certainly be inside a vial but at the same time be outside and going through the vial and then be somewhere else. So while the ghosts could have been in the vials at some point, it is due to not understanding spiritual science that people both claim and believe that ghosts could be stored or captured in there.

by

Rajal Joshi

SSRF team member

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Read more:

• Where do ghosts exist?
• Fear of ghosts
• How ghosts tried to stop society from access to knowledge about ancestral problems