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Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

I have found a wonderful story from India at the following link:

http://www.yimag.org/mkm/pilgrimage.html

I have changed only a few words and phrases here and there in the story
to make it easier for people outside of India to relate to it. It is quite
amazing how a few changes of words and phrases transform this story
from being something quite alien and unfamiliar into a story which is
familiar to many.

Long, long ago, a demon sent forth legions of mud-dwelling creatures
from the bottom of the sea to capture the scriptures and thus destroy
their content. And as the dark waters swallowed the knowledge of prayer,
the higher values of life also sank into the depths. People forgot the
difference between good and bad and could no longer distinguish between
right and wrong. As their power of discrimination faded, acts of charity
and other forms of selfless service vanished.

Fear, hunger, sleep, and sex became the motivating forces for all human
activities.

Trust disappeared and with it any semblance of loving relationships
between men and women. The population soared while the general state
of health plummeted. Striving to appease their insatiable desires, humans
plundered the natural world-laying waste to forests and valleys, polluting
rivers and lakes, and robbing the soil of its vitality. Life was miserable for
everyone but the demon and his bottom-dwelling minions.

Seeing how severely nature had been weakened, the demon then decided
to finish it off by attacking and conquering the forces of nurturance-the
soil, vegetation, water, fire, air, and clouds. The angels, bright beings who
are the presiding forces of nature, fled and hid themselves. With the
angels gone, the demon demolished natural law and imposed his own
rule, ushering in his reign with earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes,
typhoons, wildfires, droughts, floods, and all manner of epidemics.

Chaos stalked the Earth, and the angels were in hiding, so the saints
resolved to intervene. Approaching the Lord, the supreme force of
protection and nourishment, they meditated on him with love and faith,
asking him to come to their aid. In response the Lord told them, "With a
one-pointed and disciplined mind, join forces to gather the divine
knowledge once again, and while you fulfill this task I will bring the angels
from their hiding place and dwell with them. Come and join
us there."

The Lord went forth and vanquished the demon.

Meanwhile the Saints had again gone into deep prayer, and had
re-discovered divine wisdom. There they asked the Lord's permission to
bring the knowledge of the Vedas into practice for the benefit of all
creation. In granting their request, the Lord said, "The secret of success
lies in sacrifice, and the scriptures tell us how to walk this path. In every
aspect of creation there is a continuous ceremony of sacrifice. Leaves
decompose and nourish other organisms. It is the same with
everything-nothing in creation is meant for itself. There is one sacrifice
which is greatest among all sacrifices. Those who perform this sacrifice
their personal desires for the sake of the larger welfare. They train and
tame their mind and senses - and finally they share this harnessed energy
with all living beings. This form of
sacrifice nourishes humankind and every other form of life. Let us now
perform this sacrifice." So at the Lord's command all aspects of nature,
the angles, their presiding forces, and the saints (the seers of divine
wisdom), along with all the heavenly host, took part in this great sacrifice.

The sacrifice lasted for years, and by the time it was completed an
astounding transformation was apparent everywhere. People had
regained their interest in learning. They began to embrace the higher
values in life and to take pleasure in performing acts of charity and
selfless service. Their power of discrimination blossomed and the
confusion between right and wrong vanished. Fear, hunger, sex, and sleep
were no longer the motivating forces behind human activity.
Relationships between men and women were now built on trust, and
people once again understood the purpose of life. They remembered
how to live in harmony with the natural world, and as they did, the
ecosystem came back into balance. Even the demons were
transformed: instead of trying to destroy sacred wisdom, they worked in
concert with the angels and other forces of nurturance. And with the
natural world once again bursting with vitality, peace and prosperity
reigned. Seeing this, the saints and angels prostrated in gratitude at the
feet of the Lord: "It is through your grace, O Lord, that we have been
empowered and that all living beings have found their rightful place in this
creation. The energy emanating from this great sacrifice has brought
harmony out of chaos. For this reason we ask you to bless one sacred
place of pilgrimage on earth so that it may
always be the most auspicious and powerful place on the Earth. May the
energy emitting from this holy land guide humanity through all eternity.
May all human endeavor undertaken here be auspicious.

May acts of charity and self-sacrifice performed here bear fruit
without limit."

The Lord readily granted their wish. "Be it so," he said. "From now on this
place will also be known as "the field of pure consciousness" and "the lord
of all holy places". The concentration of spiritual energy here will purify
the way of the soul. By the simple act of coming here, even minds and
hearts that are tainted by dreadful crimes over the course
of many lifetimes will be purified. One day's practice done here properly
will bear the fruit of a decade of continuous practice
anywhere else. Periodically all the benevolent forces of creation, the
energies of all holy places, the saints, and the angels will convene here.
And just as darkness vanishes with the sunrise, obstacles to spiritual
practices have no power to withstand the brilliance of this conjunction of
time and place. Practices undertaken here at this time open the door to all
possibilities."

Once during a time of material prosperity the higher virtues again fell into
decline, and as a result the manna of holiness almost vanished from this
earthly realm. All living beings and all aspects of nature became weak
and pale. The angels and saints pleaded with the
Creator to recharge creation with fresh vitality, but were told that the
sanctity in life now lay buried and obscured. People of all races and faiths
joined forces to find and recover the sanctity. They set out to churn an
entire ocean of words and texts, and churn they did, laboring night and
day. But to their dismay the first fruit of their labor was not the sanctity
they were seeking but a vial of poison so deadly that if it
were unleased it would scorch all creation. The search could not go on
until this menace was removed, yet no one had the capacity or the
wisdom to dispose of it except the Lord who appeared and took upon
himself all the sin.

This ceremony is known as "the spiritual gathering around the vessel."

When we attempt to procure holiness we must be ready to deal with
poison; we can benefit from gathering around the vessel of holiness only
when we realize that poison and manna go hand in hand.

Achieving even the noblest goal entails some degree of pain and
temptation. And because our natural tendency is to avoid pain, the one
who takes it on for the sake of others becomes like God, the most
auspicious and benevolent of beings.

Sitaram · Site Admin Joined: 14 Sep 2005 Posts: 1079

http://www.divinerevelation.org/KumbhMela.html

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