Possessiveness about one's deity

[Poeticus]

...same as if God was their baby...

Namaste,

While your intention was noble, this is just scary...

 

[Viraja]

You know that we may view our relationship with God in different lights. Some people may be protective about God as the feelings evident in a parent and child relationship, that tender feeling of protecting ones deity may be same as if God was their baby. Or possesiveness over God like one has with their love, realizing that all stems from a love for that deva.

one should not wish that others not know that deva, but just be aware that their feelings are perhaps related to self importance or ego or something which is very human and normal, sweet friend- thanks for sharing!

Love what you have written, Maija! It is absolutely true that 'one should not wish that others not know that deva'. Though it somewhat describes my possessiveness, I atleast know I am not doing it out of arrogance or egotism, my possessiveness or jealousy stems from my own internal struggles and/or lack of balance. Having shared it with you all was embarrassing to some extent because I am discussing my personality problem openly, but look at what I gained in return! - knowing a whole bunch of genuine, wonderful people who really do not feel like me, giving me that exposure into goodness and non-possessiveness that will serve me for a good lesson! I feel truly blessed. It feels very positive like having let down a burden. Thanks.

 

[Maija]

Namaste,

While your intention was noble, this is just scary...

This was explained once to me on the board, i could be explaining poorly. hah

maybe i should have written child, still scary! i will find where it was explained, gimme a min

 

[Ashoka]

You know that we may view our relationship with God in different lights. Some people may be protective about God as the feelings evident in a parent and child relationship, that tender feeling of protecting ones deity may be same as if God was their baby. Or possesiveness over God like one has with their love, realizing that all stems from a love for that deva.

Hmm. I disagree with the protecting. God doesn't need protecting, He protects. Even when we see pictures of Balakrishna or Balamurugan, they are still strong and powerful, and will be the ones protecting their devotees.

 

[Maija]

Hmm. I disagree with the protecting. God doesn't need protecting, He protects. Even when we see pictures of Balakrishna or Balamurugan, they are still strong and powerful, and will be the ones protecting their devotees.

yes I was helping OP explore what they could possibly be feeling. We do not always have sentiments based in logic. God is available to all but, as indicated some have a desire to protect this relationship or feel possesive over it. they are able to healthily explore why and reason behind it. no God requires no protection

 

[ratikala]

No, do tell of it!

how well I remember it I do not know , .... it is the story of krsna and sudama ,

are you sitting comfortably , .......

when young krsna and sudama studied to gether at the ashram of the preist sandipni krsna and sudama loved each other dearly , but as they grew up they became seperated sudama returned to his village and lived a simple life but never forgot his childhood friend krsna . sudama and his family were desperately poor and his wife worried that she could not even properly feed their family , one day she beged sudama to visit his old freind krsna and ask for some assistance , sudama said that he could not go to dwarka as he had nothing to offer to krsna , his wife beged him to go and sent him with the only gift they had to share , ...some chiped rice ,... this dear readers is the most inferior rice on account of it being broken grains , but it was all they had , feeling desperatly sad that he had so little to offer his friend sudama took the rice wraped by his wife and set of for dwarka.
reaching the gates of the palace sudama was stoped by the guards who saw only a poor brahmin so they refused him entry , but krsna in his palace heard sudamas voice and ran from the palace to greet him , the guards all stood in silent amasement as krsna ran towards sudama , and as sudama fell at krsnas feet krsna raised him up and greeted him with a warm embrace . krsna then welcomed sudama into the palace and offering him a seat sent for water and began to wash sudamas feet such was the exchange of true freindship . sudama looking around at the opulance and spendor of krsnas palace felt ashamed to offer his gift of rice but krsna having senced his freinds dilema asked sudama what gift have you brought for me ? ...has your wife not sent me a gift ? sudama feeling even more ashamed offered his small portion of chiped rice appologising that he had nothing finer to offer , but krsna took the rice and infront of the entire court began to eat the plain rice exclaiming to all what wonderfull rice this was , how wonderfully fragrant and tasty , whilst krsna ate the rice he asked sudama how he and his family were , but sudama would not complain , sudama could say nothing . when sudama left the palace he walked home empty handed knowing that he had nothing to offer his wife as he could not admit his need to krsna as he would not abuse their freindship , he felt sad and ashamed . but as he neared his village his wife and children rushed out to greet him , sudama did not recognise them they were not dressed in their usual rags but wore fine clothes and the village looked somhow different everyone was happy and their poor houses were transformed it seems that in sudamas absence krsna had sent sri lakshmi devi to bless the entire village , without sudamas saying krsna had known the sad situation of his family and granted this boon to his dear freind .

thus ends the beautifull story of krsna and sudama :namaste

 

[Maija]

I was thinking of the 5 bhavas: shanta, dasya, sakhya, vatsaya and gopi! thats where i remember this from, more later..

 

[Jainarayan]

Yes, yes! Now I remember that story. It brings tears to the eyes. This is why I always say that God knows what we need before we ask, and even if we don't ask. I believe that we get more when we don't ask.

 

[Maija]

Yes, yes! Now I remember that story. It brings tears to the eyes. This is why I always say that God knows what we need before we ask, and even if we don't ask. I believe that we get more when we don't ask.

This is my theory and why i find it hard to pray for myself..unless health related. it also usually feels odd to advise God, so much he knows my heart! it shows faith that you don't ask

 

[ratikala]

jai aji maija ji :namaste

This was explained once to me on the board, i could be explaining poorly. hah

Oh is not such an esay one to explain

the bhava , or mood of ones relationship with krsna , it is something which one understands more deeply with time ,

and can sound scary if taken too literaly !!!

it is ones devotional attitude :namaste


santabhava , the meditive mood of siants and rishis , those devoted and absorbed ,

dasyabava , the devotion of a servant , the mood expressed by sri hanuman ji ,

sakhyabhava , the devotion of a friend , the mood of arjuna towards krsna ,

vatsalyabhava , the devotion of a mother to her child , the adoration of yashoda mata for krsna ,....

madurabhava , (the most missunderstood) the devotion of a woman for a man , the love of radha for krsna , .... please I stress the devotional aspect , .....

tanmayabhava , the devotion to the presence of the lord in all things .

maybe i should have written child, still scary! i will find where it was explained, gimme a min

it is said that a mother knows the selfless devotion one gives unconditionaly to a child , it is this pure love that is given here :namaste

but yes it is hard to describe , but you will understand it when you see all the mataji's wanting to cook sweet rice for gopal ji

 

[Maija]

jai aji maija ji :namaste



Oh is not such an esay one to explain

the bhava , or mood of ones relationship with krsna , it is something which one understands more deeply with time ,

and can sound scary if taken too literaly !!!

it is ones devotional attitude :namaste


santabhava , the meditive mood of siants and rishis , those devoted and absorbed ,

dasyabava , the devotion of a servant , the mood expressed by sri hanuman ji ,

sakhyabhava , the devotion of a friend , the mood of arjuna towards krsna ,

vatsalyabhava , the devotion of a mother to her child , the adoration of yashoda mata for krsna ,....

madurabhava , (the most missunderstood) the devotion of a woman for a man , the love of radha for krsna , .... please I stress the devotional aspect , .....

tanmayabhava , the devotion to the presence of the lord in all things .



it is said that a mother knows the selfless devotion one gives unconditionaly to a child , it is this pure love that is given here :namaste

but yes it is hard to describe , but you will understand it when you see all the mataji's wanting to cook sweet rice for gopal ji

You are right, all of this is very scary if taken too literally. I generally don't tend to view my relationship in a categorical sense, but if I did..There are times my heart melts because of the closeness and hurts due to distance, there are times I clean the house, imagining I am cleaning for my Lord, I cook as if I am cooking for Him. I confide in Him without speaking or praying in my heart, the way I am honest with a best friend. All of these moods add depth to my connection to Sri Krishna and could have elements of many rasas.

I read this exert on a paper titled "The Bhakti Traditions" and I felt it was described rather well.

...Another devotional relationship in The Ramayana is apparent in the relationship between Hanuman and Rama. Hanuman treats Rama as a servant would treat a master. From the moment he meets Rama, Hanuman is willing to do anything commanded of him. Both the relationship between Hanuman and Rama and the relationship between Rama and his parents parallel devotional relationships in Hinduism. Flood describes the relationship of worshiper to God as "servant to master, of parent to child, friend to friend, or lover to beloved" (Flood 134). I believe the human incarnation of Vishnu as Rama and his relationships with other human beings in The Ramayana is the author’s way of enforcing the idea that "the relationship between the devotee and the Lord is modeled on human relationships and that the Lord can be perceived and approached in a variety of ways" (Flood 135).

There's something to learn, especially if Hanuman is the model of a perfect devotee.

There is also those that may be a small minority but view Sringara (eroticism) as a rasa and way to relate to the divine. I remember the first time I read about this, maybe not mainstream or common.

Without hijacking the thread...read more...
http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...abt-gaudiya-vaishnavism-many-questions-6.html

http://www.religiousforums.com/foru...abt-gaudiya-vaishnavism-many-questions-7.html


Taking me back to my first post at RF

 

[arpankhandelwal]

Hello,

Does anyone here feel possessive about one's deity (ishta)? As in, for example, a Krishna bhakta exclaiming over comments of another Krishna bhakta and feeling 'Hey, leave Sri Krishna to me! I am the Krishna bhakta here...!'. Does anyone feel an affinity akin to possessiveness towards one's ishta here?

Is that a negative emotion or a positive emotion?

Cheers!

My sister, this possessiveness binds you in the circle of your own ! So cross the boundary of this circle and keep your heart open to accept that like you there can be other devotees as well.

As written in Bhagwad Gita 3.30 :
"O Arjuna, Surrender all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to ownership, and free from lethargy, do your duty of fighting the war."


Truly there is in this world nothing so purifying as knowledge.- (Bhagvad Gita [4.38])

 

[Viraja]

My sister, this possessiveness binds you in the circle of your own ! So cross the boundary of this circle and keep your heart open to accept that like you there can be other devotees as well.

As written in Bhagwad Gita 3.30 :
"O Arjuna, Surrender all your works unto Me, with full knowledge of Me, without desires for profit, with no claims to ownership, and free from lethargy, do your duty of fighting the war."


Truly there is in this world nothing so purifying as knowledge.- (Bhagvad Gita [4.38])

Very true! Thank you.

 

[ratikala]

namaskaram maija ji :namaste

You are right, all of this is very scary if taken too literally. I generally don't tend to view my relationship in a categorical sense, but if I did..There are times my heart melts because of the closeness and hurts due to distance, there are times I clean the house, imagining I am cleaning for my Lord, I cook as if I am cooking for Him. I confide in Him without speaking or praying in my heart, the way I am honest with a best friend. All of these moods add depth to my connection to Sri Krishna and could have elements of many rasas.

yes I think this is the correct way to look at it , just observing how your devotion feels at any point , the thing that worries me is that some people do take this litteraly as meaning you can have a relationship with the lord then you hear them talking about the lord as their friend or as their lover .... ...No , no , .... it is better to think in terms of 'devoted as a friend' , devoted in the way that a friend will care for another giving up anything for that friend , and devoted as one might be to ones beloved ,wanting to make that beloved happy , we must not be thinking to do this because it makes us happy , we must be doing this to make krsna happy .

the example yo give of hanuman is a perfect example , hanuman is never thinking of him self he is constantly thinking of his beloved sita rama :namaste

There's something to learn, especially if Hanuman is the model of a perfect devotee.

jai jai , yes hanuman storis are so beautifull , do you know the story of hanuman and the kum kum ?

There is also those that may be a small minority but view Sringara (eroticism) as a rasa and way to relate to the divine. I remember the first time I read about this, maybe not mainstream or common.

yes it is not mainstream because to understand this one must be the most highly elevated devotee . there is much controvercy about this , at one time it was considered the most private bhava only entered into by the most rare souls , but now people are writing books about it which to me is wrong as it brings it out in to the realms where by those not ready to understand this position are suddenly thinking that they can share in this bhava .....as devotees we are much better to serve radhakrsna with love and devotion and leve them to enjoy this bhava , even as gopis our position is like that of hanuman , to be there to bring about the happiness of the divine couple :namaste

 

[Viraja]

jai jai , yes hanuman storis are so beautifull , do you know the story of hanuman and the kum kum ?

Ratikala ji, I'm curious to know the story of Hanuman and the kumkum - can you please tell it?

 

[ratikala]

namaskaram viraja ji :namaste

Ratikala ji, I'm curious to know the story of Hanuman and the kumkum - can you please tell it?

it is a sweet story and only short .....

one day hanuman ji asked sita mata why she aplied the red kum kum powder to her in the parting of her hair , used to hanuman ji's questions sita mata replied sweetly to hanuman ji , explaining to him that a wife wears the kum kum (Sindoor)in the parting of her hair to honour her husband and pray for his long life , hapiness and well being .

hanuman thought about this , and thinking how wonderfull it was and that if sita mata to wore this vermilion paste to make lord rama happy , then he decided that he also wished to wear some . ...so when sita mata had gone hanuman ji took the kum kum and smothering himself with ghee to make sure that it stuck he covered his entire body with the powder .
hanuman ji was so happy with what he had done and walked proudly in to the court to greet rama , when everyone saw hanuman ji covered from head to foot in red kum kum they all laughed and said hanuman ji what have you done ? ...hanuman explained that he had seen sita mata wearing the kum kum to show her love for lord rama so he thought that he too would like to show his love ...... lord rama understood what had happened and was very pleased with hanuman ji's devotion , so lord rama anounced that from this day on who ever worships lord hanuman by offering sindoor will certainly receive the blessing of sucess in his endeavors :namaste


thus ends the wery wonderfull story of hanuman ji and the kum kum

 

[Viraja]

What a lovely story, Ratikala ji! Thank you for posting it..

It stands to clarify why sometimes I see Hanuman ji covered in all red sindoor at the temples, especially the North Indian ones... good to know.

 

[Maija]

namaskaram viraja ji :namaste



it is a sweet story and only short .....

one day hanuman ji asked sita mata why she aplied the red kum kum powder to her in the parting of her hair , used to hanuman ji's questions sita mata replied sweetly to hanuman ji , explaining to him that a wife wears the kum kum (Sindoor)in the parting of her hair to honour her husband and pray for his long life , hapiness and well being .

hanuman thought about this , and thinking how wonderfull it was and that if sita mata to wore this vermilion paste to make lord rama happy , then he decided that he also wished to wear some . ...so when sita mata had gone hanuman ji took the kum kum and smothering himself with ghee to make sure that it stuck he covered his entire body with the powder .
hanuman ji was so happy with what he had done and walked proudly in to the court to greet rama , when everyone saw hanuman ji covered from head to foot in red kum kum they all laughed and said hanuman ji what have you done ? ...hanuman explained that he had seen sita mata wearing the kum kum to show her love for lord rama so he thought that he too would like to show his love ...... lord rama understood what had happened and was very pleased with hanuman ji's devotion , so lord rama anounced that from this day on who ever worships lord hanuman by offering sindoor will certainly receive the blessing of sucess in his endeavors :namaste


thus ends the wery wonderfull story of hanuman ji and the kum kum

This makes me want to buy kumkum powder! and tilak

This story does exemplify Hanuman's devotion to Sita Mata, what an adorable story is that. how wonderful these stories are, we need another thread for puranas!

 

[ratikala]

jai jai hanuman ji :namaste

 

[ratikala]

namaskaram maija ji :namaste

This makes me want to buy kumkum powder! and tilak

be carefull with kum kum , some cheep stuff is a little toxic , make sure what you buy is good quality . but yes you must buy tilak to visit this good shop we must go to dwarka