Sai Center of Stamford Study Circle Sunday, Aug. 16th 2015.

Eight Flowers (Ashta Pushpam) forWorship

- Worshipping God with worldly flowers are impermanent - they fade away, drop down, lose fragrance, develop unpleasant odor.

- Natural flowers that have been created by the Will of God, by offering them back to the Creator Himself has no special distinction.

- Instead Worshipping God through good qualities, good conduct, good thoughts, and good company is far superior than offering/worshipping God with ritual worship and flowers.

- This is called para bhakthi (supreme devotion) - distinctive type of devotion by which you worship God with a good, clean mind and good conduct.

What are these 8 Flowers of WorshipThey are:

Non-violence

Control of Senses

Compassion for All Living Beings

Forebearance

Peace

Penance

Meditation

Truth

Compassion for All Living Beings(Dhaya)

Meaning: • to sympathize with, to have pity on, stands for compassion,

sympathy.

• It means ‘suffering in the suffering of all others’. It is deeper and more positive in sentiment than sympathy.

Wider meaning of Dhaya

• What does Dhaya mean? It is not merely sympathizing with others.

• Pity Vs Compassion

• Dhaya, cognitively, observes alien pain; affectively, it gets touched by it and moves with affectional responses for the sufferer; and cognitively it moves one to act mercifully, pityingly, with kindness and forgiveness.

What Swami’s Says on Dhaya

• Have Compassion towards All as God Resides in All

– The Story of Abou Ben Adhem

• Among all the flowers, compassion for all creatures is most important. Man alone is endowed with this virtue of compassion. This is the flower that you should offer to God. God is the indweller of all beings.

Practice of Dhaya

• Love All and Serve All

• Serve un-conditionallyकर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते र्ा फलेषु कदाचन।र्ा कर्मफलहेतुर्भमर्ाम ते सगंोऽस््वकर्मणि॥

Bhagavad Gita 2.47

Translation: Your right is to the duty only, not to the fruits thereof. Do not act for the results of your deeds. Never be attached to not doing the duty.

Meaning: Perform your duty with a mind free from the anxieties of fruits of action. Neither you be indolent nor consider yourself as the cause ( agent) of results.

Forebarance (Kshama)

• Meaning:

• The fourth flower is kshama, tolerance, fortitude.

• Kshama is identified by the scriptures with truth, righteousness, knowledge, sacrifice and joy. Without kshama man cannot be happy even for a kshasya (moment)

What Swami Says on Kshama

• Forbearance Promotes Divine Qualities

• Forbearance Is Very Dear to the Lord

Why we need Kshama• Forbearance Promotes Divine Qualities

•We need Kshama to be get supreme knowledge and enjoy the bliss.

• Story “THE DISCIPLE FINALLY GETS IT!”

• Forbearance Is Very Dear to the Lord

• Story The Winning Smile

How to Practice Kshama-

•When you have the idea that “everyone is mine” there is room for patience and forbearance.

• Be non-judgmental

• Put yourself in others shoes

Questions1. How do you practice Dhaya and Kshama?

2. What challenges you face practicing them?

Study Circle responses:Love allRemove of egoget tired when you are angry and violentothers value systemsmile at othersnon reacting, pity and help, sympathy help, compassion and helpJesus’s last word – kshamaRamakrishna -cancerun-conditionally happy.

Thanks.

Further reading:

http://www.saiaustralia.org.au/ladies/nurturing-spiritual-heart-God-Is.pdf

Teachings of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba - Volume 1