Neem Karoli Baba
NEEM KAROLI BABA (MAHARAJI) STORIES: LESSONS AND WISDOM
Why Were You Angry?
“Forgiveness is the greatest weapon because a saint so armed is unperturbable… he can give up anger immediately.” – Neem Karoli Baba.
A young fellow once came, and Maharaji asked him how he was, and he said, “Oh, Maharaji, I’ve overcome anger.” Maharaji said, “Oh, very good!” and kept praising him.
At the time, another fellow was present who had been asking Maharaji for many years to come to his house, but Maharaji had never come because the boy’s father didn’t believe in sadhus or saints. But now Maharaji turned to this boy and said, “Do you still want me to come to your house?” The boy said, “Yes, but let me arrange it with my father.” Maharaji said, “Go, and then we will all come.” The visit would mean, of course, that the place of honor in the house would be given to Maharaji so the father would have to sit someplace else.
Finally, the whole party went, and Maharaji sat on the tucket belonging to the boy’s father. Then Maharaji leaned over and looked the father in the eye and said, “You’re a great saint.” But in Hindi, he used the very personal form, which you use only with very intimate friends and with people in the lower caste. So it was really an insult to use that form to the old father. The old man got upset but held himself together. A little time passed, and Maharaji leaned over again and said, “You’re a great saint.” By this time, the father’s face got red, and he was getting worked up, but he still kept control. A few minutes more went by, and Maharaji leaned over and repeated the same thing. This time the father completely lost it. He got up and started screaming at Maharaji, “You’re no saint, you just come in and eat people’s food, you take their beds, and you’re a phony.”
At this point, the young fellow who had overcome anger leaped to his feet, grabbed the father by the collar, and started shaking him, saying, “Shut up, you don’t know who you’re talking to. He’s a great saint; if you don’t shut up, I’ll kill you.”
At this point, Maharaji got up, looked around bewildered, and said, “What’s the matter, what’s the matter, don’t they want me here? We should go – they don’t want me here.” So he got up and started walking out, and he turned to the young fellow as he was going out and said, “It’s challenging to overcome anger. Some of the greatest saints don’t overcome anger.” The fellow said, “But Maharaji, he was abusing you.”
“That’s right, he was abusing me. Why were you angry?”
– Excerpt from Miracle of Love: Stories about Neem Karoli Baba
I wanted to speak a little bit about the concept of art created in the bhav. Each one of my art pieces is created while reciting the mantra “Ram Ram Ram“ internally. This practice is also known as a form of Japa meditation. (The meditative repetition of a mantra or a divine name). This is why the Sanskrit name of God “Ram” is often featured in the artworks.
I’d also like to mention that a portion of each sale will be donated directly to the Neem Karoli Ashram in Taos, NM nkbashram.org
Thanks very much for checking out my Japa collage pieces. - Rick Ramirez
Maharaji archival footage
Music
ALBUM
Jai Maharajji???One man came from the Accountant General’s office. Maharaj ji was abrupt, asking, “where are you employed? How did you come? By bicycle?” Immediately Maharaj said he was to be given Prasad and sent home. The man was in tears. He couldn’t account for what he might have said that could have offended Maharaj ji. When he reached home, he found that his son had fallen off the roof and was critically injured. The father's presence had been necessary to prevent the death of his son. The next day the man went back to see Maharaj ji. He said nothing.
~Barefoot in the Heart
महालेखाकार के कार्यालय से एक व्यक्ति आया। महाराज जी अचानक से उससे पूछने लगे, “कहाँ कार्यरत हैं आप? आप कैसे आए? साइकिल से?" तुरंत महाराज ने कहा कि उन्हें प्रसाद दिया जाएगा और घर भेज दिया जाए। वह आदमी रोने लगा। उसे नहीं समझ आ रहा था कि उसने ऐसा क्या कहा होगा जिससे महाराज जी नाराज हो गए हैं। जब वह आदमी घर पहुँचा तो देखा कि उसका बेटा छत से गिर गया था और गंभीर रूप से घायल हो गया था। पुत्र की मृत्यु को रोकने के लिए पिता की उपस्थिति आवश्यक थी। अगले दिन वह आदमी महाराज जी से मिलने वापिस गया ।
~बेयरफूट इन द हार्ट
Bhakti: Devotion and the Guru | Ram Dass Full Lecture
Using dualism to step into non-dualism, through the Heart, is the essence of the Bhakti path. Ram Dass explains his personal journey in attempting to be an instrument of the unconditional Love he experienced in the presence of his Guru, and his struggle to convey the concept of Devotion to his Western audience. Being in the presence of Neem Karoli Baba penetrated his paranoid defenses and released in him an innocence he didn't know existed. This intrinsic potential became the gift he feels we can all offer one another. (Woodacre, CA - 9/14/1996) Please click the following link for additional Ram Dass teachings on the Guru:
4AM Chalisa - Krishna Das Live! Songs With Lyrics
We are happy to share this professionally filmed and recorded video of Krishna Das singing "4 AM Chalisa" live with you! There are lyrics in the video too, for you to sing along! This video was shot in New York City at the Church Of St. Paul & St. Andrew in October 2013 and is part of a full-length kirtan recorded that evening.
Krishna Das vocals and harmonium David Nichtern guitar Arjun Bruggeman tabla and naal Nina Rao kartals Yaitza Jaya Sita Lopez cello John McDowell percussion and keyboards Mark Gorman bass Kosmic Kirtan Posse choir vocals Jay Messina mixing and mastering Kevin D Reilly live sound Sandy Chase/ Fluid Film video and editing
Neem Karoli Baba - The Mystic Saint (from the eyes of Richard Alpert a.k.a. Ram Dass)
Now that it is known about Neem Karoli Baba's blessings received by Steve Jobs & Mark Zukerberg it makes more sense to highlight this clip from the documentary "Ram Dass - Fierce Grace".
