When God helped you - Share your experiences if any.

[isavasya]

This incidence happened about 3 years ago. I was traveling in a taxi in a very busy area of Delhi. The taxi was passing through a flyover. The Man driving the cab was very tired and had dozed off while the cab was still in a high speed. There was a truck moving in the parallel lane just a little behind the cab I was sitting in. My taxi got almost blown off by the truck but at the right moment I woke up the taxi driver who was going to hit the truck in a very high speed. The truck driver also did well to move to the right very quickly. My cab driver apologized for the incidence but I really saw death for a second.

Later I remembered that before I left my house I had been singing this stotram.
चन्द्रशेखर चन्द्रशेखर चन्द्रशेखर पाहिमाम् ।
चन्द्रशेखर चन्द्रशेखर चन्द्रशेखर रक्षमाम् ॥

Shiva,I submit myself unto Thy feet. Protect me forever!

Obviously I don't claim that it was a miracle or I escaped death because Shiva saved me.....but I do like to say that in depressing times God is a great comfort for devotees. I don't know if I believe in God or not, but name of Shiva and Parvati comes to my lips every now and then.

[Eastern Mind]

This incidence happened about 3 years ago. I was traveling in a taxi in a very busy area of Delhi. The taxi was passing through a flyover. The Man driving the cab was very tired and had dozed off while the cab was still in a high speed. There was a truck moving in the parallel lane just a little behind the cab I was sitting in. My taxi got almost blown off by the truck but at the right moment I woke up the taxi driver who was going to hit the truck in a very high speed. The truck driver also did well to move to the right very quickly. My cab driver apologized for the incidence but I really saw death for a second.

Later I remembered that before I left my house I had been singing this stotram.
चन्द्रशेखर चन्द्रशेखर चन्द्रशेखर पाहिमाम् ।
चन्द्रशेखर चन्द्रशेखर चन्द्रशेखर रक्षमाम् ॥

Shiva,I submit myself unto Thy feet. Protect me forever!

Obviously I don't claim that it was a miracle or I escaped death because Shiva saved me.....but I do like to say that in depressing times God is a great comfort for devotees. I don't know if I believe in God or not, but name of Shiva and Parvati comes to my lips every now and then.

Vannakkam: I've only been there for a couple of days. Let's just say it was Siva protecting you.

For the westerners who would like a quick lesson on Indian roads..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X67ZnkznJ4s

Aum Namasivaya

[Believer]

Namaste,

Not sure how old you are, or how much commitment you have to SD, but just look at the following statements,

...I don't know if I believe in God or not....
...in depressing times God is a great comfort...
...at the right moment I woke up the taxi driver...I escaped death because Shiva saved me

With a questionable belief in God, how does he provide you comfort in times of depression?
With a questionable belief in God, and you being the reason for accident avoidance by waking up the driver, how did God save you?

I would like to think that what you wrote was due to your lack of familiarity with and inexperience in expressing yourself in English.

I've only been there for a couple of days.

Where have you been for a couple of days school teacher? In Delhi?

Pranam.

[isavasya]

With a questionable belief in God, how does he provide you comfort in times of depression?

Namaste,


To believe in God and to love God are two different things. I do not care if God is real or not. I love Shiva and Parvati- What they represent. The idea of God is enough for me. That there is a being who owns the universe yet sacrifices everything for humanity and lives the most simplest life as yogi concentrating on self is what attracts me to GOD. Whether the God actually exists is secondary but the idea of what that God represents is primary to me. The Nasadiya Sukta from tenth mandala of Rig Veda too declares that nobody may know from where has arisen the creation, it further says even the creator might not know. In short SD for me is not about having absolute faith in God but about having the desire to keep learning. Self-enquiry. But still if one loves God for what the concept of God represents then it can only do good.

With a questionable belief in God, and you being the reason for accident avoidance by waking up the driver, how did God save you?

I did not claim that the God saved me. I said that I don't know whether God saved me or not but feeling of God or idea of God is what makes one happy in bad times. For example by reading the Ramayana, one is inspired by the great morals and character of Sri Ramchandra. It does not matter to me at least whether the Ramayana happened or not, the ideal character of Sri Rama will remain great in spite of whether Ramayana is based completely on real events or partly on real events.

[Believer]

Namaste,

I am completely missing something here,

That there is a being who owns the universe yet sacrifices everything for humanity and lives the most simplest life as yogi concentrating on self is what attracts me to GOD.

yogi is a realized human being who has conquered human needs,
God has everything, is self fulfilled and does not need anything external. He does not live like a yogi, He lives like GOD.

by reading the Ramayana, one is inspired by the great morals and character of Sri Ramchandra. It does not matter to me at least whether the Ramayana happened or not

So, a good bollywood movie starring one of the Khan boys, with some inspirational moral scenes would suffice?
Why read a boring book like Ramayana if you can get it all from a movie in 2.5 hours and also be entertained with some song and dance thrown in the mix?

Pranam.

[isavasya]

Namaste,

yogi is a realized human being who has conquered human needs,
God has everything, is self fulfilled and does not need anything external. He does not live like a yogi, He lives like GOD.

That's your understanding of God. Not wrong at all. BUT God is the also the guy who our shastras depict as living in Himalayas as a Yogi. That you are unable to identify him as God would not make him anything less. Of course God is also the one absolute consciousness which is present in our Atma.

So, a good bollywood movie starring one of the Khan boys, with some inspirational moral scenes would suffice?
Why read a boring book like Ramayana if you can get it all from a movie in 2.5 hours and also be entertained with some song and dance thrown in the mix?

To my memory, I have boycotted bollywood for past 6 years. Ramayana may be boring for you, was interesting to me.

I am completely missing something here,

Yes sure. The understanding that others may have different understanding of dharma and God than you have. Considering that you asked a fellow sanatan dharmi to put his head in cold water when he/she repeated the Upanishad's stance of 'Jagan mithya' or universe is illusion, it is no wonder you may be missing something here.

[bhargavsai]

Namaste,

Not sure how old you are, or how much commitment you have to SD, but just look at the following statements,


With a questionable belief in God, how does he provide you comfort in times of depression?
With a questionable belief in God, and you being the reason for accident avoidance by waking up the driver, how did God save you?

I would like to think that what you wrote was due to your lack of familiarity with and inexperience in expressing yourself in English.

Sir, with all due respect. I have a few questions for you.

With a questionable belief in God, would God ever isolate a human being? God, might, if he exists, provide support or happiness through his grace. Faith is not a condition for the grace of god, isn't it?

God might do things through human beings. It might be God who made her wake up the driver. Nothing happens without the will of God. So, isn't it God who saved her?

I don't think it is her lack of familiarity with English. I think it is her humility which says those words. And humility is a great thing! Isnt it?

[fem_phoenix1109]

Namaste,

I have found that anytime I sincerely pour my heart out to Lord Shiva, he finds a way to resolve my pain in ways that I could have never thought possible, and ways I never could have orchestrated on my own.

The first time this happened was what led me to this path in the first place. I've always felt spiritual and religious, but never fit on any of the paths that I had been taught. I fell into a depression, and several nights I prayed to God in whatever form might be out there, just to have a connection and understanding. I didn't know anything about Hinduism or Lord Shiva at the time, I just knew I needed a connection with the divine. Over the next few weeks, little things led me to discover Hinduism. I found a comforting song that the chorus would repeat Hara Hara Mahadev, still not knowing what it meant. Then I came across a picture of Lord Shiva, and knew right away that he was what I had always been looking for. When I looked closer at the picture, I noticed the caption underneath said Hara Hara Mahadeva, just like from the song that had brought me comfort! After that I went to the bookstore to look for some books about Hinduism and Lord Shiva, and while I was browsing a song came on in the store that caught my attention, and I asked the clerk what was playing, and the song was actually called "Om Namah Shivaya" from a reggae around the world CD. Hearing that in a large chain bookstore where I live is highly unlikely! But it was a sign to me that I was on the right path.

Another time I was missing my daughters very badly.. When I split up from their father, he was able to support them and I wasn't, and so they lived with him, and they live several states away. It had been very long since I had seen them, and was very painful for me, and for them. Again I prayed to Lord Shiva, to help me find a way to be a part of their lives more often. Just a couple of days after that, I got a phone call that they would be coming to town in the next couple of weeks, and their father had decided to bring them and wanted to do so more often now!!

The most recent time God has answered my prayers, I was struggling with my finances. I am a single mother and support my four year old son, and work full time, and don't have any family that can help me in times of trouble. I had thought of taking another job, but couldn't work it out and still work my full time job and take care of my son. I was having a hard time making ends meet, and I prayed to Lord Shiva to help me to find ways to live within my means so that I could better take care of my son. Shortly thereafter, a coworker approached me, and asked me if I wanted to work for her husband, updating his real estate listings online. It would be completely from home, about 15-20 hours a month at a very good hourly wage. Again my prayers had been answered, and the solution was so much better than anything I could have orchestrated on my own.

These are just a few of the ways that god has worked in my life. I have found that any time I am struggling and in pain, I share my struggles and pain with God and it is lessened. I am very humbled and grateful for the way Lord Shiva has worked in my life so far.

Pranam.

[NayaSurya]

For the record, Isavasya has a better grip of the English than I do.

Been here a long time, but it's been a long time.

Yes, Mahayogi! The ultimate example.

This is who comes when I pray.

There have been so many times in my life that I could say were Divine intervention.

The biggest, many of us share as a point of commonality amongst ourselves.

We could all be driving SUV's with an A-symmetrical hair cut...toting our 2.5 children back and forth to scouts and soccer practice. Jim is always at work...and when he's not...you can find him drinking beer in the man cave with his friends. Jenny takes care of their kids...finally gets them to sleep and spends the night with a bottle of wine and the Twilight series of books.

Just this weekend, as we camped with the children I sat beside our pool in our neighborhood and watched them.

It's the train upon the track...thousands and thousands of people...all so very very similar...and yet none of them aware of it. All of their stories playing out in the same direction...all of them, the same.

Yet, by some Grace of Bhagavan, here we are...sitting in the grass watching them speed on.

We share that you know...even the native Hindu...born into this Truth, not by chance, but by the Grace of Him.

Our very location upon such a forum is yet another nudge.

Just knowing Mahadevas name is the greatest gift in my life.

I have been a year healthy, after the B-12 thing...I could never imagine my life returning to normal (well my normal anyway ). But, here I am, and not only did I retain my health...but my mind is working better than it has since I was 18. It's absolutely astonishing. The other day someone was asking what a word was in a book. They began to spell it and half way through I had to correct them because it was pronounced very differently than they were saying. It was the French word, vichyssoise. Not only did I know how to say the word, I knew what it was.

Also, I could remember the moment I learned it back in 1984

I went from not remembering where i was or what i was doing to remembering everything!

Now, normally i wouldn't care about gifts from Mahadeva...i mean to say...He is like a ROCKSTAR to me... He is everything.

Being a "rockstar", you are bound to have a lot of good time charlies/ groupies always following you around.

But, the moment you don't give them items or you lose popular favor...they disappear.

I don't want Him to think i only Love Him because He is famous...i want Him to know...i love Him...even before He got famous...before He was rich..

I want Him to see...truly know...that i Love Him, not for what He does for me...or could do. But, because i was born to do so.

Normally i try to not be too excited when i see things turning by His Beloved Hand. But, the brain...really is a "by His Grace alone" thing.

In this race...we are often, only as good as the horse we ride upon...

As a woman in labor...in tremendous pain...who completely loses her mind and begins to curse out the doctor...only to come back to herself when the contraction subsides...and apologize...

I must concede, that our interface within this realm is extremely crucial to our ability to shine through and manifest ourselves completely.

The less obstacles in our way, the more that is possible.

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

When God helped you - Share your experiences if any.

For some reason the human experience is looking for some fantastic thing to occur to them to say, oh yes there is the hand of god.

Yet I submit to you, tell me of one thing that does not contain the influence of the Supreme? How many thousands of processes go on inside of one's body , all automatically and we think nothing of it. I ask you to try and manage the digestion an apple. You chew and swallow, then from there it is all automatic.
Look at the millions of items that stay aligned in the cosmos... all within the laws of nature ( another name for His grace). Look at the millions of species that live on this planet - all taken care of within the enumerable laws of nature.
There is not one grain of sand that moves in this cosmos ( let alone the oceans and beaches) that is outside of His Being; not one blade of grass moves without His knowing. Yet we look for some cosmic event to happen to us.

We are a bundle of the 5 elements ( tattva-s) and yet we are able to imbibe consciousness within this structure. Let's take those same 5 elements and what ever you wish to add and see if we can produce a thinking, growing, aware Being with 100's of facial expressions that reflect emotions; that can have consciousness actually expand, that can in fact regenerate itself. Would not this in and of itself quality for the most miraculous thing ever? But we still wish to see His hand do more.




iti śivaṁ