Whispers From the Eternal, Episode 7 - Every Act a Flower for Narayana
Jai Maa and Jai Guru Deva!
I hope you are enjoying these tender whispers from our teacher as much as I am. To me, they feel like droplets of dew on a morning flower - small, but revealing an infinite scope as we come close and pay attention.
Today's episode of Acharya Shunya's Bhakti Yoga focused podcast Whispers From the Eternal is entitled "Every Act a Flower for Narayana".
Acharya Shunya introduces us to Narayana - that infinite eternal cosmic sustaining force, that "is beyond name and form, and yet keeps coming back to take name and form, for our sake so our hearts can find the formless through love." This special sustaining principle of the Infinite comes to us in many forms including as Guru gifting us with the knowledge of the Self. Acharya Shunya shares a prayer that she chants every day to that Cosmic Sustainer, Narayana.
Kayena vacha manasendriyair va, buddhyatmana va, prakriteh svabhavat karomi yadyat, sakalam parasmai, Narayanayeti samarpayami
"Whatever I do O Narayana, with this body, this speech, this mind, these senses, even with this very nature of my minor-most self, which is really all your gifts, I offer all my actions back to YOU. The one who gave me life, the one who is the Life Principle."
As we begin our Karma Yoga teachings this week, we receive this prayer as an offering that connects Karma Yoga and Bhakti Yoga in a "sacred act of remembrance". Beautiful beautiful.
Please enjoy this podcast, and share your reflections below.
In Sacred Remembrance,
Sadhvi Aparna
“That the ordinary becomes holy,” stopped my breath. I had to replay it twice and still it feels like the subtle space between one heartbeat and the next. It is like the ringing bell—waking me up not to something new, but to whisper of truth always inside me that the day-to-day noise around me and inside my head drowns out. After the ringing of the bell comes the moment of silence, and in that silence is the place where truth rings. And so I offer this act of remembrance—that nothing is ordinary because everything comes from the Cosmic Sustainer—back to Narayana with thanks to our teacher for shining light in this moment. J’ai Maa! J'ai Guru Deva!