A Divine Form

Understanding God to be sakar is a cornerstone of our upasana, and to say it any other way would be a grave understatement. Shriji Maharaj has repeated countless time just how pertinent this idea is to us achieving moksha, so let's take some time to strategize how we plan to present this topic to our sabha.

Step 1: Synthesize the simple statement.

• God possesses a divine form.
• God's divine form enhances our bhakti.
• A limited God lacks form.

Step 2: Start off with a shakeup.

• Play-Doh Time! - Refer to the syllabus for this activity. 
• Shape-Shifting Mobile Phone - Fabian Hemmert has prototyped a phone that changes shape, weight, and even "breathes" to give a more organic feel of the phone. God too gives us an organic feel when He assumes a form appropriate to our sense of perception.

• Bear Hunter - Just as the hunter is able to interact with the bear, God takes on a human form to enable us to interact with him. The possibilities are endless in this interactive Youtube video and so too are they for us when we are able to serve the divine form of God.

Step 3: Support the simple statement with stories filled with details (concrete) and backed with validity (credibility). We decided to go with the second simple statement, "God's divine form enhances our own bhakti."

• NOTE: The syllabus is NOT stating that the Satpurush is God but rather the Satpurush's form is divine since God resides in him fully without any traces of maya. In Vachanamrut Sarangpur 5, Shriji Maharaj says, "As separate and beyond all of them, Akshar is said to contain as sharir only Lord Purushottam and does not sustain even a trace of the ignorance attached to Prakriti and Purush.” In other words, the Satpurush is the closest entity to Shriji Maharaj Himself, so his form too is divine. 
• Opportunity to Serve - Yogiji Maharaj's illness enabled others to serve him and thereby offer seva to him. If God lacked a form, our seva would be severely limited in its scope. Let's think about it for a second. What seva has to happen whenever Pramukh Swami comes for vicharan? Reporting, A/V, parking, decorations, and the list proves infinite. All of that would eliminated if we did not believe in God having a divine form. Prefacing this prasang with this example could serve to illustrate it well.
• Accepting Bhakti - Offering devotion in the form of puja, thaal, arti, etc. requires that we have faith; after all, our devotion becomes tainted when we expect to receive something in exchange for it. Hence, having a God with divine form enhances this bhakti because we have the opportunity of actually witnessing God's satisfaction firsthand. That sweet memory only supercharges our wish to serve and offer devotion!
• Tied to Taste - Our bhakti is limited by how easily we get distracted by the panchvishays - sights, sounds, smells, etc. - that pervade our environment. The Nagar devotee felt this obstacle firsthand, yet only the divine form of God awakened his awareness: If he can dine so simply as the mahant of this mandir, why can I not as a mere devotee? Swamishri too awakens our awareness to our own bhakti. When we see him do puja, arti, thaal, we realize just how focused we need to be in offering bhakti to God. The divine form thus provides with a model by which we can enhance our own bhakti.

As we can see, such a simple concept can have such lasting implications on our spiritual progress. Let's make a point to formulate our presentation before walking into sabha; it would certainly be hypocritical to discuss the benefits of a God with form without actually providing one for our presentation (i.e. winging it on the spot). 

Graphical Ramayan

This week we will try to combine the principles of Made to Stick and Resonate in creating a sticky talks that resonates with our sabha audience. It maybe beneficial to re-read the follow posts here an here to review the main points from those two books. The topic from the syllabus is the Ramayan, and we will look at one option. See if it works for you, or better yet, take these ideas (and the ideas in the blog) to make something even better - and share that with us.

Everyday Ecstasy

Simple

Everyone has sorrow in life, even Ram Bhagwan. However, he was always happy. Those who focused on him, had sorrow in their lives, but they too were always happy. We have the same relationship with Bapa.

Unexpected

The supplemental material has some very good unexpected graphs which we reproduce here. The ideas is that in every story, every hero has what is called the "Hero's Journey." S/he has obstacles that they have to overcome. We attach emotion to their journey, and then we relate to that journey. It may look like this graph.

Let's look at an example that everyone knows (bonus for those that watched yesterday post video - notice how this mirrors the structure of a great talk).

Now to Ram Bhagwan, what did the first part of his life (at least the part in this presentation) look like. If the audience could benefit, make this an activity: map Ram Bhagwan's life from misery to ecstasy up until he reaches the jungle. It may look something like this.

This is the first part of our introduction, where we paint a picture of what is. What is life like right now for all of us? It is this up and down of happiness and sorrow. Even Ram Bhagwan was not immune to this. In fact, his happiness was greater than ours (first prince, destined for the throne, marries Sita), but his sadness is even worse than ours (leaves home and parents at a young age, attacked by monsters that want to kill him, exiled to the forest).

Now, we introduce our idea of what could be and introduce the gap between the status quo and the simple idea of our talk - Ram Bhagwan was always happy, so really, the map of his life should look like this graph.

Concrete, Credible Story Examples

With our simple idea introduced take the prasangs from Ram Bhagwan's life and show how even though he experience a great deal of joy and a great deal of sorrow - it did not disturb him because he was one with Bhagwan. For our local sabha, the kishores would benefit by giving the concrete example of Swamishri. He has had health problems - heart attack, cataracts, etc. - yet he is not affected by this. He has also had a great deal of success - Delhi Akshardham - yet he he is not affected by this either. Why? He is always in a state of bliss, he is always focused on Maharaj.

How would this look on Duarte's graph of a great talk as described in Resonate? Here is our attempt.

Emotion and Details

Each of the prasangs from the presentation are perfect for storytelling. We had a great guest post that really identified how to make our prasangs resonate - it maybe worth reviewing. The key idea with emotion is that it does not have to pull on our heartstrings, it does not have to make us sad or hopeful. Any emotion will do - disgust, anger, laughter. When Ram Bhagwan is exiled, if we dig, we can find details (that may not be in the syllabus) that clearly show how outrageous this was - it should make us angry that this happened - it was not fair. Once we have everyone riled up, we can deftly point out that Ram Bhagwan did not get angry. Why? He was always in a state of bliss - our simple message.

Call for Action

Duarte mentions that we need to end with a call to action - to point out what the world would be like if everyone was happy. We can paint that world, there would be no war, no disagreements. We get a glimpse of that world when we are near Bapa, when Bapa visits our center, when we go to a National Convention where Bapa is present - everyone is excited, energized.

Shriji Maharaj's Miracles (Divyabhav)

Though make-believe, these comic characters captivate our childhood imaginations.For some, it even extends well into adulthood, like the guy on the right.

Yet, when we see these characters, we cannot hope to fantasize about their abilities. I wish I had that power.

Not to fret - the public at-large thinks in similar terms. In an older episode of the popular podcast, This American Life, John Hodgman decided to phrase it as a question, "If you had a superpower, would it be flight or invisibility?

It's an interesting answer to garner, but what's even more intriguing is how the person imagines using the power. Take a crack at it in sabha, and see how the audience responds to the following questions.

• If you could pick one superpower, would it be the ability to fly or the ability to become invisible?
• What would you do with that power?

Now comes the kicker - let's listen to what Hodgman observed in all the responses (9:00-10:15).

Assuming that we listened to Hodgman's profound insight, did we find ourselves in shock & awe? Interestingly enough, we find this same lesson resounding from Shriji Maharaj Himself. As Purna Purushottam Narayan Himself, He could have very well utilized his supremacy to fly around all day or disappear at will, but every moment he spent enveloped in His powers, He would be losing time that could be spent on the betterment of others.

In effect, while we desire to be superhuman to be better than all, Shriji Maharaj desires us to be more human for the betterment of all. His life was a testament to this powerful message as evidenced in the prasangs provided.

But Shriji Maharaj did in fact use His powers to work miracles, so how could He be so genuine? The syllabus provides us with an answer on this important note, so be sure not to overlook it along with the prasang of Vyapakanand Swami.

After all, it's one thing to steal the show. It's another to actually run it, so let's learn from Shriji Maharaj that it's the motives, not the magic or the money, that make a man memorable.

Paint Like Your Blind

We are all going to celebrate Hari Jayanti this week. What sticky analogy can even hold a candle to this great day? We think playing together and painting blindly. Let us explain.

This week we brainstormed about how a three year-old would celebrate Shriji Maharaj's life and most responses consisted of fun, intellectual, and joyous memorabilia for baby Ghanshyam Maharaj's friends.

Perhaps the toddlers have the right idea - perhaps sabha should consist of sheer celebration of Maharaj's life and Pragat Guruhari Swamishri, of Akshar Purushottam Upasana and our mandirs, and of life as we have come to know it.

Have you seen toddlers play? They are full of focus, in the moment, and never just doing something just to do it. Oh, they mean to do it all right with full intention. And when you tell them they will play with Ghanshyam, they get very excited. Why are they able to not question their innate understanding?

This week, we also got to see a video of a remarkable Turkish artist who was born without eyes. The Discovery Channel followed Esref's feats, where he was able to outdo the accomplishments of Italian Renaissance master Filippo Brunelleschi. Esref is able to draw a geometrical optical linear perspective in perfect form, considered a near-impossible feat, without ever laying eyes on the building. How is Esref able to tap into his innate knowledge of past births and lives to paint so well?



When we start seeing Maharaj as Purna Purushottam Narayan and Pramukh Swami Maharaj as Mul Akshar Brahman, what do we do? When we learn about upasana and aagna, how does this change our actions?

Toddlers see and they do what they do best - play. Esref sees and does what he does best - paint. People who are writers, they write. People with a Porsche, well they drive...preferably on smooth highways. People with smart phones, they use their phones for way more than just making a phone call. People who understand the true value of what they have make full use of the opportunity.

On Hari Jayanti we take time to think about what we have. We think that maybe bhakti is our play, maybe bhakti is our paint, maybe bhakti is making a sticky talk - these are small steps to making use of the opportunity we have been blessed with.

Swamini Vaat 18 - 1
On Satsang:
“God has said, ‘I am not as pleased by austerities, sacrifices, yoga, observances of vows, donations, and other endeavors as I am by Satsang.’ What is that Satsang? ‘To fold one’s hands before the great God-realized Sãdhu and to do as he says.’”

Literally, Oneness is Sweet!

Here's a find submitted to us by a fellow reader whose katha-listening habits helped her dig this one example out.

The topic of Akshar is referred to in different ways, but the adjectives used to describe Akshar are very similar to those used to describe Purushottam. How do we intellectually differentiate between the two?

P. Brahmavihari Swami sheds light on this during his Kath Upanishad parayan. He asks the question of what different mithai taste like ("how do penda taste? sweet. How does gulab jambu taste? sweet. How does jalebi taste? Sweet.). Although the adjectives used to describe these items is the same (i.e. sweet), by tasting them, we each have personal favorites (I'll take my sister's cheesecake over jalebi anyday). We can tell the difference due to our personal experience.

[Similarly], his point is that... only through personal experience can one articulate the difference between Akshar and Purushottam. Maharaj did so for us in the Vachanamrit and other scriptures; Gunatitanand Swami articulated these characteristics in his Vatu and Swamishri lives these characteristics today. By studying these characteristics and imbibing them, or even meditating upon these characteristics, we can achieve the state of becoming 'brahmarup'. His example was super sticky and I'll never forget it. Pass it on :)

It's hard to forget an example so mouth-watering as this one making it an unexpected asset in our presentation toolbox.

Again, we laud our readers for keeping up with our posts and sharing their feedback, and we encourage it. It's like dessert - who can pass it up?