Baba
Story: selfless service
Namaskar,In His below story from Shabda Cayanika part 2, Baba recounts a dramatic and remarkable experience where someone unexpectedly came forward to help in some unique and unusual ways.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
Baba sits on hilltop for sadhana
Here begins the account from Baba’s discourse:
Reminds me of something that happened long ago. At that time I used to go and sit nearly every evening on the highest peak of the hills east of my town. I may have told a few people how I met Vireshavijay Vasumallik while sitting on the top of that peak. After sitting alone on the top of the hill for some time I would return home about nine o'clock. I used to climb down from the hills not long after the sun had gone down behind them.
On this day, however, I was a little late coming down from the hills. By the time I reached the bottom it had grown completely dark in all directions. After sunset, a little light would still remain at the top, though it would be completely dark at the bottom of the hills. That day it had become quite dark even in the hilltops so when I reached the bottom it was pitch black. Not only was it a dark night but there was a blackout on in town at that time.
...
Blackouts were in force from city to city. In most places there were careful preparations taken against air attacks. Naturally, moving on the roads after dark had become extremely troublesome, so people used to finish work quite early and go home and close their doors and windows. Yes, even the windows had to be shut, otherwise the light from inside the houses would leak out into the streets and make it easy for the enemy to locate the site. People would be back home by dark and crowd together in one room to listen secretly to the radio news about the Indian National Army. Those who didn't have a radio in their house would go to the house of someone who did, making for quite a crowd, but it wasn't considered proper to hear the news in this way.
In my town there was a daily blackout. Low-power bulbs had been fitted in the street lights and the lamp covers had been painted black so that the light would not be diffused very far.
Unusual encounter
Here the story continues:
Yes, as I was saying, on that day I came down from the hills rather late and started heading for the city. On the way was a huge banyan tree which at that time was extremely tall. Later, the large head of the tree was cut down to make it easier for planes to land. At any rate, I had to pass the banyan tree on my return. On my little finger I was wearing a solid gold ring which had been loose for the past few days. As I was passing the banyan tree the ring slipped off my finger. I couldn't use a torch to find it because first, it was prohibited and secondly, it would bring the military people rushing to the spot when they saw the torchlight in the distance. Apart from that, I was one of the people responsible for the arrangements against air attacks. Why should I break the rules just to save a ring? So I searched the ground with my hands for some time and then started walking home again.
After I had taken a few steps I noticed a gigantic creature climbing down from the huge head of that enormous banyan tree. His face didn't look like a man's but rather more like a forest gorilla. The fellow approached quite close to me. Although he wasn't touching me, I felt all the while as if he was, and this annoyed me. After walking for a little while, the man started talking to me in Angika. “You are quite angry with me, aren't you?” he said.
“No, I am not angry,” I replied. “But I am feeling somewhat uneasy. Why are you walking so close to me? You could keep a little distance.”
“No, no. Whether or not you get angry, I cannot let you walk completely alone tonight. For one night I will bear your anger; I am doing so and I will continue to do so.”
What could I do? I kept my mouth closed and kept on walking. The man continued talking. “You are telling yourself that I am certainly not a man. True enough. One cannot think of me as a man. But still, what can I be other than a man? Rather, you should think of me as your shadow. Shadows are very long, aren't they?”
I didn't like it, but there was a logic to what he was saying, so I kept quiet and listened as I walked.
Danger in the darkness
Here again we pick up the account:
“You are thinking that such a stout face cannot belong to a man. True indeed, but oftentimes a shadow becomes quite stout. Isn't it so? Perhaps you are asking yourself why I am so jet-black. Are fair-complexioned people's shadows also fair? Milk's shadow is as dark as a new-moon night. Whatever the case may be, I am walking with you and I will continue to do so. I simply will not let you walk alone, especially tonight.”
“Such a bizarre entity like yourself – I cannot call you a man, nor can I call you a shadow or a ghost, so I call you an entity – what will people think if they see me walking with such a huge entity?”
The fellow kept silent for a while and then said: “You are researching the Vedas, studying the Vedas. Today you were explaining the word úta. Úta means ‘that which is woven’ or ‘that whose movement is towards hell’. Úta means ‘a creature of hell’. What is the problem if you let that creature of hell that you were talking about walk beside you for a little while? I will not let you go now, not even for a moment.”
Those days there was a blackout nearly every night. Here and there around the city were trenches dug for the people to take shelter in case of air attack. Some of these trenches were very deep. Suddenly, while walking along the road, my left leg fell into one of those deep trenches and my right leg became twisted. Just as I was falling headlong into the ditch in unbearable pain, that huge entity caught me and pulled me out. Then he said: “The bone of your right leg has become dislocated. It must be extremely painful. The reason I was walking so close to you was so that you wouldn't fall into any danger; otherwise I would never have been so impertinent or ungentlemanly as to walk so close to you. Yet it is my great misfortune that despite having done so, your leg has still been injured. Anyhow, I cannot let you walk any further. You are in my care now; I will carry you to your house on my shoulders. No objections now! You are not able to walk properly, and I can't let any more troubles be added to those you already have.” Saying this, he lifted me onto his shoulders.
He carries Baba on his shoulders
Here the story continues:
“What will people on the road think?” I said. “How they will gossip!”
“I will put you down whenever we get to any place in town that is crowded, and we will cross that place with me holding on to you very carefully. Afterwards I'll put you back on my shoulders.”
“Okay,” I replied. The fellow hoisted me up on his shoulders and started walking.
It was a dark night and a blackout as well, but lo and behold! It was only nine o'clock but there was not a soul to be seen on the road, not even a dog.
“A few miles east of here is one of the Buddhist era centres of Angadesh, Parsando village. There is a very pious man who lives there; his name is Ramjii Singh. The skill to set dislocated bones has been passed down in Ramjii Singh's family for generations. In olden times his forefathers used to set the dislocated leg bones of the king's elephants. Ramjii Singh himself once set the leg bone of the elephant of the king of Monghyr. It will be very good if this Ramjii Singh comes early tomorrow morning and sets your leg bone.”
What could I say! There was nothing to say so I kept quiet. When we arrived at my door this huge entity set me down gently and said in a very modest and gentlemanly way: “I will go now. If you ever need me again, call me mentally and I'll rush right over.”
“What is your name?” I asked.
“I am your shadow.”
“Where do you live?”
“Near you. But usually I remain on the peak of that mountain or at the top of that huge banyan tree where the ring slipped off your little finger today.” Saying this he put the same ring back on my little finger.
“This is the ring, isn't it?”
“Yes,” I replied.
How the doctor found Baba
Here the story goes on:
I passed the night in great pain. Finally dawn arrived. The pain had increased a little and the area had become swollen also. After breakfast I pulled up a deck chair in front of the house and sat down to read the newspaper; as I was doing so a man hurried up to the house and stopped and stood there. He was staring at me and seemed to be thinking something over. I asked him in Angika: “What are you looking for? Do you want someone?”
“Mr. Sarkar,” he replied in Angika. “I came looking for you.”
I called him over. The gist of what he had to tell me was this: At about 10:00 the night before, after he had finished his evening meal, and just as he was getting ready to go to bed, something strange happened in his bedroom. He saw a huge gorilla standing in front of his cot, a monstrous creature, as black as ink.
“When I saw him I bolted upright in fear,” he said. “The gorilla told me very politely and gentlemanly not to be afraid. ‘I have come about an urgent matter,’ the gorilla said. ‘Mr. Sarkar has just fallen in a trench and his right leg has been badly dislocated. Go right now and set his leg. If you find him sleeping then wait until he wakes up. Don't wake him up.’ I started right then and there, Mr. Sarkar.
“Before leaving I asked the gorilla: ‘Where is Mr. Sarkar's house? How will I recognize him?’ ‘You don't have to worry about that,’ the gorilla replied. ‘When you come to a house and you find that you have stopped walking, then you will know that you are at the right place. You will find Mr. Sarkar in front of that house.’ And just like that, sir, I stopped walking in front of this house. And here I find you sitting and reading the newspaper. I already knew you so I had no difficulty recognizing you.”
“How is it that you already knew me?” I asked.
“I will tell you in a moment,” he replied.
Omnipresent Baba
Here the story concludes:
Ramjii Singh took hold of my right leg and very carefully jerked it two or three times. There was a low, indistinct sound, and the bone went back into its proper place. The pain subsided immediately and even stranger, the swelling went down right in front of my eyes.
When I offered him some remuneration he said: “Mr. Sarkar, I walked all night, and for that also you have already given me a reward.”
“How is that?”
“When I was passing that huge banyan tree on the way here a gentleman stepped out from behind it. He looked exactly like you. He was wearing exactly the same glasses, the same kind of blue shirt and a ring on the little finger of his right hand. This gentleman gave me a gold coin and told me: ‘Go quickly. Mr. Sarkar is in a lot of pain. Don't take any payment from him. I am giving this payment on his behalf.’
“Mr. Sarkar, I don't understand how you could have been standing under that banyan tree when your leg is in so much pain. How did you go there? My brain just isn't working. I immediately resolved to give you the gold coin and ask you to use it for flood relief in Monghyr District.”
Ramjii Singh bid me farewell and started back on the footpath towards Parsando village while I remained there, gazing at him as he went.
(Shabda Cayanika - 2, Úk/Uk to Úd́ha (Discourse 10))
This inspirational account shows that regardless of whatever perceived qualities or deficits we may have, we should always aim to use cent per cent of our strength and intellect in serving others and exemplifying His divine teachings.
https://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/
In Him,
Sevasadan
* * *
The below sections are entirely different topics, unrelated to the above material.
They stand on their own as points of interest.
* * *
== Section 2: Important Teaching ==
For digestive health
Namaskar,
Ananda Marga Yogic Treatments, “Digestive organs and livers in particular become very weak, and such children [and adults] normally turn out emaciated.” (1)
Here following is the reply on easily digestible sources of protein.
#1: These two are the top most as they are very digestible:
(a) spirulina: this is grown in South India, as well as in many other parts of the world.
(b) nutritional yeast (not brewer's yeast): this is available here in various health / organic food stores, as well as online.
For maximum absorption, best is to mix with water and drink alone. Do not mix with any other food and do not mix the spirulina with the yeast.
#2: The next tier down is flax seed:
Flax seed is excellent for easy digestion, brings energy, and is good for the brain and sadhana. Plus it is very cheap. Just grind and soak overnight and eat alone or with vegetable. It will bring a big energy boost. But do not eat more than 3 or 4 spoons of flax seed powder at one time. One other benefit is that this is also very good to carry, i.e. easy to have while touring.
#3a: Soaking beans and nuts for 48hrs (tossing the water multiple times during the soaking period and then boiling the end), makes them a lot easier to digest.
#3b: Peanut milk, sesame milk, or soy milk can also be made. Just soak and blend, then strain it and give away the fiber for animals. You can drink a lot of protein in this way.
#4: Eating with proper food combinations. Take protein alone or with greens / leafy vegetables, but not with carbohydrates.
#5: Fermented foods (you can use special jars to ferment without rotting).
#6: Sprouted beans. Soak initially for 12 hours or more, and then rinse twice daily.
#7: Using spices like dill, ajwain, cumin, black cumin, anise, black pepper, and chicory root for bile.
#8a: Eat a minimal quantity in one sitting but eat frequently, even many times per day. Sick persons can take food multiple times as needed. Eat little then when hungry eat more.
#8b: Always have food prepared ahead of time so the moment hunger comes one can eat without delay.
#8c: But do not eat if one is not hungry.
#9: By following this then digestion will not be an issue.
#10: In old age, there is a shortage of digestive juice in the stomach. To overcome this, take apple cider vinegar which helps produce stomach digestive juices.
Regarding protein, staple foods (rice, roti etc) also contain small to moderate amounts of protein.
The above points will help anyone suffering from digestive issues; and, these above guidelines are borne out of the experience of various sadhakas.
In Him,
Vidya’
With regards to the number of times a patient may eat, here Baba talks about treatment of two different diseases. The basic idea is that when the system is weak then one should just eat small amounts of food at a time.
Ananda Marga Yogic Treatments says, "It is also desirable to take a small quantity of food a greater number of times, rather than to eat a large amount at one time." (2)
Ananda Marga Yogic Treatments says, "The patient should never eat much at a time. Instead, food should be eaten several times a day, eating only a small quantity each time." (3)
In the same spirit, you can eat as many times as needed a small quantity of food in order to maintain your health. Because that is the medical need. By taking a small amount many times during the day, the body will be able to digest and assimilate food in a more efficient and health-supportive manner.
It is just like how a weak person cannot carry 100 lbs at a time but can carry 10 lbs ten times. Or it is similar to how a car cannot be started in high gear, a lower gear is needed. That is why Baba guides us that those suffering from a digestive disorder or weak stomach should only eat a small amount of food at a time.
References
1. Yogic Treatments, Emaciation
2. Yogic Treatments, Hernia
3. Yogic Treatments, Gastric and Duodenal Ulcer
== Section 3: Links ==
Other topics of interest
