Praise - pratah smarami

The Temple of the Heart
by Shree Maa

pratah smarami

pratah smarami bhavabhitharam suresam
gangadharamvrsabha vahanamambikesam
khatvanga sulu varadabhayahastamisam
samsara ogaharam ausadham advitiyam

pratarnamami girisam girijarddhadeham
svargasthti pralayakaranamadidevam
visvesvaram vijitavisvamohabhiramam
samsara ogaharam ausadham advitiyam

pratarbhajami sivamekamanantamadyam
vedantabhedarshitam purusam mahantam
namadibhedarahitam sadabhavasunyam
samsara ogaharam ausadham advitiyam
om namah sivaya

In the morning I remember the Supreme Divinity
who takes away fear from all existence;
who supports the Ganga,
who rides upon a bull,
who is the Lord of the Divine Mother;
who holds a skull-topped staff, a spear,
and offers boons and freedom from fear
with his other two hands;
who is the One without a second,
who offers the medicine
which takes away
the disease of worldliness
from the ocean of world.

In the morning I bow to the Lord of the Mountain
whose half body is the goddess of the Mountain;
who is situated in heaven,
who is the Supreme god,
who is the Cause of the Dissolution of existence,
who is the Supreme Lord of the Universe
and thrusts the universe into ignorance
with His excessive beauty;
who is the One without a second,
who offers the medicine
which takes away
the disease of worldliness
from the ocean of world.

In the morning I celebrate
the Consciousness of Infinite Goodness,
which is One, Infinite and Foremost,
who is sung of as the unity of supreme wisdom,
the Full, Complete and perfect Consciousness
which is Great,
called by various names.
His true nature is Perfect Peace;
who is the One without a second,
who offers the medicine
which takes away
the disease of worldliness
from the ocean of world.Interview Shree Maa op de - nogal kitscherige - website Shreemaa.org.

Deze video's geven een beeld van plechtigheden, waaronder een soort vuurceremonie, waar Shree Maa en haar biograaf Swami Satyananda Saraswati (een mij onsympathieke man, zie verder in de *noot hieronder) aan deelnamen: deel 1 | deel 2 | deel 3 | deel 4 - in het laatste deel Shree Maa zingend, meeslepend - gek genoeg in sommige opzichten 'ingetogen-Zangeres-zonder-naam-achtig', in eveneens volkse aankleding en entourage.
Hier (op iets jongere leeftijd; mooi lied en aangrijpend gezongen) en hier (ook bijzonder) en hier (ontroerend) meer zang van haar.
Overigens roemde Gerard Reve de Zangeres zonder naam als 'Holy Mary' en schreef Lucebert voor haar een liedtekst ('Soldatenmoeder'), zodat via diens preoccupatie met Lilith en de associatie van Lilith met Isis - net zo'n oergod(in) als Shiva - de circel op een art brut-achtige manier rond is.
Andere video's van Shree Maa te vinden op Youtube.
Gemengde gevoelens krijg ik bij een en ander. Soms ontroert haar stem me onmiskenbaar, dan weer stoort me de kitsch van de entourage waarin ze nogal eens verkeert.

Pratah smarami gezongen door David Sylvian:



[*] Excerpt interview Shree Maa - the name means 'Respected (shree / sri) Holy Mother (Maa)':
'When my mother was pregnant, one Saint told my mother that a higher soul is coming and I'm giving initiation to you. That Saint gave initiation to my mother, and Saint told, "When She is born, when She will be two months, please come back and I will give Her initiation." And when I was two months, the Saint gave me initiation also.
From my childhood, I know only God.
When I was four years old, from four years old, three times to worship to God. Early in the morning, wake up, look in the mirror and I bow down to myself, first. And Sun also, the Sun salutation, from four years old, three times a day puja. Puja means worshipping, worship to God. And God is discipline. Whole life from my childhood went that way.
Also see here: 'Shree Maa grew up in one of the wealthiest and most prestigious families of Assam, before rejecting a life of privilege for a life of spiritual practice in the Assamese jungles' [italics by me, K].
And here: 'She descended from the family of the famous Bengali mystic Ramprasad Sen. Shree Maa's great uncle was Atulananda Saraswati, a renunciate who never married, but spent his entire life wandering from place to place. One of her aunts was Renuka Sen, a famous poet and friend and inspiration in the life of Rabindranath Tagore.
Inspired by the 19th century Bengali mystic, Sri Paramahamsa Ramakrishna, she left her family home, and started living in the forests and foothills of Kamakhya and the Himalayas where she performed intense sadhana.'
Paramahamsa Ramakrishna wordt door gelovige hindoes gerekend tot de 'godmensen' of 'avatars', tot wie ook Paramahamsa's tijdgenoot Sai Baba uit Shirdi wordt gerekend, van wie wordt verteld dat hij astma overwon door 72 uur 'in samadhi te gaan'; - ook Shree Maa zou vaak langdurig in die trancetoestand / eenheid met god hebben verkeerd en daarbij eens tot slechts 30 kilo zijn afgevallen.

Overigens beweert de beruchte goeroe Sathya Sai Baba dat hij een reïncarnatie is van Sai Baba uit Shirdi...
Het beeld doemt op van een godsdienst-sociologisch verklaarbaar netwerk van goeroes en navolgers, met bijbehorende indoctrinatie van ouders en kinderen, sommigen mogelijk oprecht spiritueel, anderen suspecte manipulators (in de laatste categorie horen naast Sathya Sai Baba ook Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh en wellicht Maharishi Mahesh Yogi thuis en ik moet zeggen dat deze preek van Swami Satyananda Saraswati - vertaler van 'The song which gives the key to perfection' en auteur van een biografie van Shree Maa - en diens expressie mij evenmin een prettig gevoel geven: zijn geëxcalteerde en geposeerde voordracht over wonderen verricht door ene Gautham Muni doet me aan het gedoe van en rond Sai Baba denken en trouwens tevens - waar hij zinsneden in Hindi invoegt - aan de aggressieve preken van islamitische sjeiks die hun godsdienstwaanzin larderen met citaten in het Arabisch).

In voornoemd interview zegt Shree Maa dat haar goeroe Ramakrishna haar in 1980 opdroeg het geloof te verbreiden in de Verenigde Staten. Aangezien Paramahamsa in 1918 is gestorven en het onwaarschijnlijk is dat er een andere Ramakrishna in het spel is, zou dit dus moeten gaan om een soort bevel uit het dodenrijk, tja
[**] In this Interview David Sylvian says about his recent album Manafon: '...the sense of disillusionment and disorientation that the album [Manafon] starts with in [the track] Small Metal Gods'.

Another beautiful spiritual chant is this invocation by Thich Nhat Hanh of Avalokiteshvara, the bhodisattva of deep and compassionate listening - part of this Dharma Talk of December 24, 2009 at the Plume Village sangha (monastic community in France). Audiobook here.

Bhodi speech and mind;
in perfect oneness,
I send my heart along with the sound of the bell.
May the hearers awaken from forgetfulness
and trancend the path of anxiety and sorrow.

A smile is born on my lips.
Following the sound of the bell,
my breath guides me back
to the safe island of mindfulness.
In the garden of my heart
the flower of peace blooms beautifully.

The universe [...] is already open.
The sound of the rising tide is clear.
And the miracle happens: a beautiful child
appears in the heart of a lotus flower.
One single drop of compassionate water
is enough to bring back the refreshing spring
to mountains and to rivers.

(I'm not quite sure these are the words of the chant.)

It was a moving experience to hear about the 'beautiful child appearing in the heart of a lotus flower' from out of a Western buddhist community in the eve of Christmas. The image reminded me of the description of the 'healing buddha' by the Tibetan monk Tulku Thondup in his book 'Healing Meditations'.



Moment of Happiness
by Thich Nhat Hanh
[ Zen circels]