Jalwa-e-Mashuq

The devotees in Vrindavan pray to Goddess Radha for making them purely devout because Shree Radha embodies intimate dedication to Lord Krishna that enables us to secure His perpetual hold. I found a similar sentiment for Mother Mary in Mother Teresa’s writings –

“Please ask our lady to keep me close to herself that I may not miss the way in darkness.”

“Please ask our Lady to give me her heart – so that I may with greater ease fulfill His desire in me.”

“Please pray for me that I be only all for Jesus through Mary.”

“I want to become a real slave of Our Lady- to drink only from His chalice of pain.”

The end note 49 of Chapter 7 in the book ‘Come be My light’ draws its reference to Saint Louis de Monfort’s ‘The secret of Mary’- “surrendering oneself in the manner of a slave to Mary, and to Jesus through her, and then performing all our actions with Mary, in Mary, through Mary and for Mary.”

Further, she used to encouraging her associates to unfailingly cling to Mary for everything and sought blessings from her spiritual directors as-

“Pray for us, Father- that our hearts may be the crib Our Lady chooses for her baby.”

As I tried to search more about this concept, I was led to read the following Catholic belief –

“A person is consecrated to Mary’s Immaculate Heart as a way of being completely devoted to God. This involves a total gift of self, something only ultimately possible with reference to God; but Mary is our intermediary in this process of consecration.”

Source-(www.catholicnewsagency.com/amp/resources/mary/popular-marian-devotions/the-immaculate-heart-of-mary)

This made me draw an analogy between the two sets of beliefs- As Jesus, son of God appeared on Earth through Virgin Mary, Braj Rasiks too seek appearance of Lord Krishna in their hearts through the grace of His eternal consort, Kishori ju –

– Shri Vinod ji Agarwal

Jalwa-e-Mashuq is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/

Paulo Coelho’s book, By the river Piedra I sat down and wept, puts up a fact-

“But love is always new. Regardless of whether we love once, twice, or a dozen times in our life, we always face a brand-new situation. Love can consign us to hell or to paradise, but it always takes us somewhere. We simply have to accept it, because it is what nourishes our existence.  …… We have to take love where we find it, even if that means hours, days, weeks of disappointment and sadness.

And the relatable Sufi expression sounds like

इक मस्त ए नज़र ने छेड़ा है,
अब दर्द ए जिगर का क्या होगा।
जो ज़ख्म बना हो मरहम से,
उस ज़ख्म का मरहम क्या होगा।
यह दिल की लगी कोई खेल नहीं,
इस आग का बुझना मुश्किल है।
जो आग लगाई हो आंसुओं ने,
उस आग का हश्र फिर क्या होगा।

It is the 21st Feast day of Mother Teresa today and so I quote her words here (said to her spiritual director)-

“Father, I wanted to tell you – how my soul longs for God – for Him alone… – Can you explain to me – when you have time- how to grow in the “deep personal union of the human heart with the heart of Christ.” From childhood the Heart of Jesus has been my first love.”

– (Come be My Light, Ch 11)

A relatable audio clip- 

https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/1260s_to_1440s_meerabai_episode_7.mp3

– Extracted from Meerabai Serial (Episode 7)

Jalwa-e-Mashuq is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/

अगर प्यार तेरे से पाया न होता

तुमने जो अपना बनाया न होता,

न होती तमन्ना ही तेरे मिलन की

अगर तूंने अरमान जगाया न होता।

न फिरती मैं तेरे लिए मारी मारी

अगर तुमने खुद ही रुलाया न होता।

मैं भी निराशा में आशा न रखती

किसी के लिए अगर तूं आया न होता।

यह बेदर्द दुनिया मुझे कुछ तो कहती

अगर मेरे दिल में तूं समाया न होता।

Source- Unknown

Had You not loved me O Lord

I would have never longed for You

Had You not made me feel Your absence

I would have not cried for You

Had You never ever come

I would not have waited for You

Had You not detached me from the mirage

I would have never forsaken it for You.

A related audio clip from a Pakistani serial ‘Meri Zaat Zarra-e-Benishan’

https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/allah-ki-mohabbat-n.mp3

– Extracted from Episode 18 (6:06)

Jalwa-e-Mashuq is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/

‘As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.’

Swami Vivekananda referred to this hymn at the World’s Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 11 September 1893 and the concluding words of his speech were-

“I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.”

Jahnavi Harrison from London conveys it through the words of Shri Guru Nanak Dev ji-

https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/jahnavi-harrison_london.mp3

(Extracted from the video – https://youtu.be/1C6Fsvy21cg)

As Shri Guru Granth Sahib ji is a pious composition of the priceless pearls collected from all Divine sources, a renowned Sikh scholar, Sant Singh Maskeen ji calls It ‘Sarv Dharm Sammelan’-

https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/vision-1.mp3

Extracted from the video- https://youtu.be/bmr-qNGk9z0 (19:02)

Jalwa-e-Mashuq is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/

Closer we are drawn in love with Lord, Farther we get from our ‘self.’

This is to share the Sufi ideas of Shehzada Dara Sukhoh, who just missed out to rule over the Mughal Empire in India. Realizing that the essential attributes of both Islam and Hinduism were identical, he sincerely promoted religious pluralism. Sirr-e-Akbar (The Greatest secret), compiles the Upanishads which the Prince translated into Persian. His book ‘Majma-ul-Bahrain’ (The confluence of seas) elaborates upon the syncretism between Sufism and Vedic philosophies.

https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/dara.mp3

(Extracted from the video- https://youtu.be/qUV71PL–Zc)

Jalwa-e-Mashuq is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/

“That I may live in one Act of perfect Love, I OFFER MYSELF AS A VICTIM OF HOLOCAUST TO THY MERCIFUL LOVE, imploring Thee to consume me without ceasing, and to let the tide of infinite tenderness pent up in Thee, overflow into my soul, that so I may become a very martyr of Thy Love, O my God!

May this martyrdom, having first prepared me to appear before Thee, break life’s thread at last, and may my soul take its flight, unretarded, into the eternal embrace of Thy Merciful Love.

I desire, O Well-Beloved, at every heartbeat to renew this Oblation an infinite number of times, till the shadows retire (Cant. 4:6) and I can tell Thee my love eternally face to face!”

– Story of a Soul, St Therese of Lisieux

The little Flower of Jesus wrote in a letter, addressed to her Missionary Brothers –

This little prayer which includes all my desires I ask you to say for me each day:

“Merciful Father, in the name of Thy sweet Jesus, of the Blessed Virgin and of the Saints, I pray Thee that my sister be fired with Thy spirit of love, and that Thou wilt grant her the grace to make Thee greatly loved.”

If God should take me soon to Himself, I ask you to continue each day this same prayer, for in Heaven my desire will be the same as upon earth; to love Jesus and to make Him loved.

Once she interrupted a sister speaking to her of the happiness of Heaven:

“It is not that which attracts me…”

“What is it then?”

“Oh! it is LOVE! To love, to be loved, and to come back to earth to make LOVE loved.”

-Story of A Soul, Chapter XII

Source-  https://www.littleflower.org/therese/words-of-st-therese/love-of-god

Sufi words for such a commitment in Divine love –

https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/beiraada.mp3

-Shri Vinod ji Agarwal

Jalwa-e-Mashuq is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/

The previous post  Elevator to God would remain incomplete without mentioning the Sufi concept of ‘Dying before you die’. It is well explained through the following lines written by a Persian mystic, Mansoor Al-Hallaj-

अगर है शौक मिलने का तो हर दम लौ लगाता जा;

पकड़ कर इश्क़ की झाड़ू, सफा कर हिज्र -ए -दिल  को;

मुसल्लेह छोड़, तस्बीह तोड़, किताबें डाल पानी में;

न मर भूखा न रख रोज़ा, ना जा मस्जिद ना कर सजदा;

हमेशा खा, हमेशा पी, ना गफलत से रहो एक दम

ना हो मुल्ला ना हो ब्राह्मण, दुई की छोड़ के पूजा

कहे मंसूर मस्ताना, मैंने हक़ -ए – दिल में पहचाना

It is said that God’s mercy lets the Individual feel passionate love for Him. It may come through pure devotion to one’s spiritual mentor and leads us straight to Him. As love itself implies absolute dissolution of ‘self’ into the beloved, the union with Supreme is subtly experienced regardless of the ritualistic adoration. After savoring the divine love, the devotee loses taste for everything else and hence dies to the physical ties.

Being disinterested in the formalism of the world, he looks to be acting in a way which goes against the public approval. The devout lover welcomes this criticism as it helps in spiritual purification by annihilating his false ego. A point of indifference is progressively reached as he believes in staunch dedication to God and not people pleasing. This is the real state of ‘masti’ i.e. spiritual rejoicement which led Hussain bin Mansoor Al-Hallaj to shout Anā al-Ḥaqq, Anā al-Ḥaqq (I am the Truth, I am the Truth). The orthodox understood this to mean that he was claiming to be God himself, whereas he had proclaimed in his sublime spiritual ecstasy, simply signifying a total annihilation of himself as Upnishads talk about ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ (I am the Brahm). Another way to put it up-

https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/pare-shaan-n-masti-2.mp3

– Shri Vinod ji Agarwal

Jalwa-e-Mashuq is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/

I trust Your grace

So I am not scared of the dark lanes.

My part was to start off

You have to carry me on.

My part was to lit your lamp

You have to be my light.

My part was to turn towards you

You have to accept my submission.

My part was to be desirous of  seeing You

You have to remove the veil in between.

Its time to take my last breath

And it is Your sweet will Oh Lord

to take hold of me or not.

Translated lines of Fakir Chand Azad-

तूं है ठाकुर मेरा मैं दिवाना तेरा

मेरीबि गड़ी बनाना तेरा काम है।

मुझे तेरी इनायत पे काबिल यकीन

इन तारीक राहों की परवाह नहीं;

काम मेरा था चलना सो मैं चल दिया,

आगे रस्ता दिखाना तेरा काम है।।

काम मेरा था ज्योति जगाना तेरी,

सोई किस्मत जगाना तेरा काम है।

काम मेरा था द्वारे पे आना तेरे

मुझे अंदर बुलाना तेरा काम है।

काम मेरा था चाहत करूं दीद की,

रुख से पर्दा हटाना तेरा काम है।

अब तो तूं आजा घड़ी दो घड़ी के लिए

कि मेरा ‘आज़ाद’ वक्त ए सफर आ गया;

काम मेरा था आवाज़ देना तुझे,

आगे आना न आना तेरा काम है।।

https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/telling-d.mp3

–  Shri Vinod ji Agarwal

Jalwa-e-Mashuq is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/

In Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna makes an open declaration –

सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज ।

अहं त्वा सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुचः ॥

Abandon all kinds of religious process and just surrender unto me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not worry. 

Despite the clear assurance given by Lord that a surrendered being does not need to bother for anything, we often miss out on being free with the Gracious one.

https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/god-loving-1.mp3

-Shri Vinod ji Agarwal

St. Therese of Leisux too vouches for God’s mercy through her words-

“Ah! since that day love penetrates me and surrounds me; this Merciful Love each moment renews and purifies me, leaving in my heart no trace of sin. No, I cannot fear Purgatory; I know that I do not merit even to enter with the Holy Souls into that place of expiation, but I know too that the fire of Love is more sanctifying than the fire of Purgatory, I know that Jesus cannot will needless suffering for us, and that He would not inspire me with the desires I feel if He were unwilling to fulfill them.”

– Story of A Soul, Chapter VIII

The saint believed that the people of her time lived in too great fear of God’s judgment. The fear was stifling and did not allow people to experience the freedom of the children of God. She once wrote that she could not understand how anyone could be afraid of a God who became a child. St. Therese felt that she would never be perfect. Therefore, she went to God as a child approaches a parent with open arms and a profound trust.

This was her ‘Little way’, based on two fundamental convictions:

Saint Therese never had an easy life, but she did live with a great sense of peace and joy. What made such joy possible? Fundamentally, she found that love could only be captivating when a person trusts completely in a loving God. That trust has to be stated every day in the way we pray and live out the responsibilities and demands of our lives. She found the power of love in her relationship to Jesus Christ.

So she adopted simplicity – talking to God and Jesus in direct, personal and heartfelt ways. She did not like long prayers and rosary. She fell asleep during community prayer about which she noted that just as parents love their children as much while asleep as awake, God loved her even though she often slept during the time for prayers. She prayed from her heart as a child speaks honestly and trustingly to a parent they love. God calls us to respond to Divine Love in a childlike relationship of love, trust and bold confidence to “Abba” (which literally means ‘Dad’), and by doing the simple things for others, well and with love. In fact, St. Therese wrote that often enough a word from God, an insight, a sense of direction, a response to a situation came to her not during the hour of prayer but when she was about her daily work.

– Fr. John F. Russell, O.Carm. Seton Hall University

Source – https://www.littleflower.org

Jalwa-e-Mashuq is made with Jetpack Podcast. Full show notes and every episode at https://forbeingalive.wordpress.com/