Oct 14 class

During the October 14 class, we started exploring the verses from Ramacharitamanas. Our P.O. Box God lessons are based on selected verses (dohas and chaupais) from the Ayodhya Kanda of the Ramacharitamanas. 

After leaving Ayodhya with Sitaji and Lakshmanji, at some point, Lord Rama visits the ashram of Valmiki Rishi and asks .. "Muniraja, I am looking for a nice place to stay, and you know this area, so please tell me where should I stay, where should I build my little kutia?". Valmikiji knew that Rama was Bhagavan Himself, and smiled at this "innocent question" and replied: "Ramachandraji, You are asking me, where shall You stay! I am a little hesitant to ask You, but first You please tell me, where You are not; then I shall tell You, where You can stay." Then, Valmikiji continues and narrates several verses where Bhagavan can stay. Each of them is an address for God, the P.O. Box address.

The verses we discussed are on the letterhead Lesson 3 and each student got a copy. God lives in the hearts of those who are always wanting to hear about God with "ears like an ocean" that never gets filled up with stories.

Whenever our minds are totally taken up with something, we are always ready to hear about that. It could be our favorite sports team, it could be fashion, or it can be a book or movie character. We can relate to a boy who is thinking about a particular pair of Nike shoes that he want so much that he becomes depressed and sad that he doesn't have it.  And only getting the shoe will make him happy.  Until he gets the shoe, he is constantly in search of information about the shoe, other people's conversations where they talk about the shoe, and he has thoughts about how his life will be better with the shoe. In a sense, the shoe is always with that boy. 

Similarly, God lives in the hearts of the lover of god who is in this type of living meditation where he/she thinks about God, searches for information and stories about God, thinks about what more he/she can do to get closer to God etc.