Blossom 14 Petal 4.pmd

The Source of the Cosmos

Sri ChakraSri ChakraSri ChakraSri ChakraSri ChakraThe Journal of the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, Rush, NY

Blossom 14 Petal 4December 2010

OurOurOurOurOurOurOurOurOurOurThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughts

By the time this issue is published and released, I will have just returned from a quick trip to India, where Iwill have submerged the remainder of my mother’s ashes and tried to do as much annadhanam as I possiblycould.

As I write this piece in October, I’ve been thinking a lot about how annadhanam is one of those funnythings that has changed over time, especially in relation to death rituals. Anyone who has attended ChitraPoornima or Aadi Amavasya at the temple will know that during a tarpanam ritual, one will offersomething called pindams to the spirits of their ancestors. Pindams are small balls about two inches indiameter that are comprised of five ingredients to symbolize the five components that make up the humanbody (muscle, blood, etc.), and they are made to symbolically recreate the body during the ritual.

The five necessary ingredients are rice flour, water, banana, black sesame seeds, and ghee. If one is doing adeath ritual for a person who recently passed away and she was a sumangali as my mother was (died amarried woman), you would add a sixth ingredient—honey.

When my mother was growing up, her father would not only do an elaborate tarpanam ritual once a yearon the anniversary of his parents’ deaths; he would do a smaller scale one each month on Amavasya (thenew moon), along with buying and taking specific foods to give to a priest at the local temple. In this way, aperson would be feeding his or her ancestors (called pitru-devatas) through the body of a man who had alimited source of income and who had dedicated his life to God.

This was typical of orthodox Brahmin families back then, and is still the custom for many families today, atleast in India (however, my last trip to India in 2007 yielded quite a surprise… nowadays the priests makehousecalls and hit about 10 houses per morning on Amavasya).

Here, however, we found it was another story altogether. My dad would gather together the sameamounts of fresh vegetables and grains and try to take it to a local temple priest each year on theanniversaries of each his mother’s and father’s deaths. To his frustration and our surprise, no local priestswould take the food! He had to beg them to take it, and slip in $50 as well!

I asked Aiya why this was the case, suspecting it had something to do with the transference of karmas. Iwas partially correct—back in the old days (and this only applies to Shaivite priests; I’m not sure of the casewith Vaishnavas), priests would be continuously chanting Rudram several times a day and would thereforecontinuously be burning off their doshams. Karmically, they could easily afford to take the burden ofaccepting food from someone who wished to donate, plus, they’d readily have dinner on the table that night.It was a win-win situation.

When priests began to refuse to take the food, however, it was because they knew they were not doingnearly enough Rudrams and japam overall to be able to avoid the karmic effects. Moreover, they didn’t needthe food anymore, especially when they began to earn more than enough to take care of their families.Eventually, being a Brahmin stopped being associated with poverty and 100 per cent service to God.

So buying the fresh foods on Amavasya and getting the priests to take it started to become a problem andstopped making sense… I mean, why were we trying to feed people who didn’t even need or want it? This iswhere my mother found the perfect solution, which we’ve been practicing now for years.

Each month, we would go to the supermarket and buy the items we would normally give, but buy them ina non-perishable manner: packages of rice, and canned vegetables, lentils and beans. We’d also throw inpasta and sauce, noodles, baby food, juice, and some type of toiletries like soap. Then we would stop by atany local fire station and drop it off in the bin as she said, “Pitru-devatam samarpayami,” all the while feeling likewe’d actually fed our ancestors through people who really needed to be fed.

Some of the best things my amma taught (and is still teaching) me have to do with keeping the sanctity oftraditions, but updating them to make sense and go beyond being empty rituals. In this way, they’ll live onthroughout generations and not only serve ourselves karmically, but make the world around us a little bitsweeter to live in.

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha!

The Sri Chakra staff

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Since the last issue...

NewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletterterterterter

The first week or so ofSeptember saw Aiya and Ammatravelling abroad, but they wereback before Ganesha Chaturthi onthe 11th. On the 18th, however,Aiya arrived in North Carolina todo workshops and pujas with thedevotees there for two or threedays.

The temple was packed onFriday, October 1st for the raisingof the Navarathri flag (dvaja-arohanam), and Navarathri tookplace another eight days later.After kulurthi, the unofficial finalday of the festival, the templefamily dispersed once again. ThatSaturday Oct. 23, Aiya performed

DecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletterterterterter

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Aiya ties the upper half of a veshti onto theflagpole, which is one of many steps tocompleting the full dvaja-arohanam.

a valaikappu ceremony (also knownas simanton or puja for anexpecting mother) in theyajnashala.

He and Amma were also presentthe weekend of Oct. 30 for theregular Saturday puja. Thatafternoon, temple volunteersworked together to add the finalcoins on the Devi’s LalitaSahasranamam gold coin mala,which debuted duringNavarathri.

On Sunday the 31st, a Bostonfamily sponsored a full Chandihomam, which lasted the entiremorning. At the end of that weekon Nov. 5, ladies who sponsoredthe 21-day Kedara Gowri vratamcame to the temple that Fridaynight. It was a very auspiciousday as the Devi’s silver kavachammade its debut that evening.

There was no rest for thevolunteers as the very next nightwas the first day of Skanda Sashti.After six nights of celebratingLord Subramaniam, the final Surasamharam and Valli & Devayanikalyanam took place the followingThursday the 11th.

Later in November, Aiya andAmma left on a brief trip toCalifornia to visit the devotees inthe areas and do pujas at some oftheir houses. They were back

The completed flag after theceremony. This is how it stayeduntil the end of Navarathri.

before Karthikai Vilakku andperformed the puja on Nov. 20th.The very next day, Aiya was duenorth in Ottawa for a bhajansession and CD release at the localSai Centre.

At the end of November, Aiyawent to Arizona for a few days tomeet with a yoga group andintroduce them to the process ofpuja and details of ritual worship.

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The Devi’s everyday presence

Past Events

Ganapathi Chaturthi, Sept. 11

Sharada Navarathri, Oct. 8-17

Kedaragowri Vratam, Nov. 5

Skanda Sashti, Nov. 6-11

Karthikai Vilakku, Nov. 20

Due to great weather, the entirefestival took place outside on thisSaturday, with the whole kalasa-sthapanam and Vancha-KalpaGanapathi homam running itscourse on the hardwood deck.

Sponsors sat for a total of eightor nine kalasams that day, butonly the main sponsors sat for thehomam.

The temple’s brahmotsavam wasmade extra special by the presenceof Sri Mathioli Saraswati(affectionately referred to as SriAkka), for the last 3-4 days.

Until then, it was business asusual with a full kalasa-sthapanambeing performed by volunteerseach morning and the Devireceiving homam, abhishekam andalankaram each afternoon. Everythird night, she was carriedaround the temple by ladies andmen alike, in her forms of Durga,Lakshmi and Saraswati.

The third-last day of Navarathrisaw the grand Chandi homam andchariot procession; the second-lastday was that of murthiabhishekam outside; and the lastday was kulurthi. See some ofour festival photos on pages 6 and7, and the full gamut atwww.srividya.org.

This vratam began whenNavarathri was not yet over, onthe evening of Saturday Oct. 16. Itwas a most auspicious occasion asSri Akka was there that firstnight, and received the firstprasadam. Throughout the 21days, different ladies performedthe puja on different nights.

Devotees were also given thechance to do tarpanam toGanapathi on the deck, as well asmilk abhishekam on the deck andinside the temple.

After the morning puja wrappedup at about 4 p.m., volunteershurried to prepare for UtsavaGanapathi’s procession aroundthe temple that night.

On the last night, about 150sponsors and their families arrivedto do abhishekam to SriArdhanareeshwara in theyajnashala. The same thiruvaasibackground used for Akka wasused in the final alankaram.

After the puja, Aiya personallygave out fruit and blouse-pieceprasadam and sharadu threads tothe sponsors.

Karthikai Deepotsvam is afestival of lights that marks theday that Lord Shiva settled inThiruvannamalai in the form offire. On this auspicious nightmillions of devotees perform giripradakshina around Annamalaihill that spans around 14kilometers. Devotees also savorthe sight of the flame lit atop thehill, cherishing the age old beliefthat it is a representation ofShiva himself.

At the temple, this event wascelebrated on Saturday nightwith the lighting of hundreds ofdeepams and tea candlesthroughout the temple. Thehighlight of the festival was theemulation of Annamalai hillusing a Maha Meru and it wasaptly called “Meru Paravata”. Asin Thiruvannamalai, eight Shivalingams (Indra Lingam, AgniLingam, Yama Lingam, NiruthiLingam, Varuna Lingam, VayuLingam, Kubera Lingam andEsanya Lingam) adorned eightdirections around the “MeruParvata.” When all the lightswere finally lit, it was awonderful sight and it providedan out of the world experience.

After five days of Murugan’sSahasranama archana, the sixthday culminated in abhishekam,archana with lotus and rosepetals, homam, and Murugan’smarriage to Valli and Devasena.

The evening began at 6 p.m.with abhishekam, followed byMurugan’s battle with Suran, anasura. After he speared andkilled Suran with his Vel,Murugan was bathed in coldwater to cool him down. He wasthen adorned with finery,wedded to Devasena, thensecretly to Valli.

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The Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam ~ 6980 East River Road ~ Rush, NY 14543 ~ Phone: (585) 533 - 1970

Devi willing, the next issue ofthe Sri Chakra will be up on thetemple’s website at the beginningof March 2011.

This magazine cannot keeppublishing withoutcontributions! Articles, poems,stories and photos about anyspiritual topic are welcomed.

The next deadline for articlesubmission is February 7. Pleasee-mail us with your contributionsor feedback about this issue [email protected] ortalk to Kamya or Abhi at thetemple.

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha!

In Three Months

Our deepest thanks and gratitude to this issue’sOur deepest thanks and gratitude to this issue’sOur deepest thanks and gratitude to this issue’sOur deepest thanks and gratitude to this issue’sOur deepest thanks and gratitude to this issue’svvvvvolunteerolunteerolunteerolunteerolunteers: Aiys: Aiys: Aiys: Aiys: Aiya,a,a,a,a, Me Me Me Me Megha Chattergha Chattergha Chattergha Chattergha Chatterjeejeejeejeejee,,,,, R R R R Ramesh Kamesh Kamesh Kamesh Kamesh Kutticadutticadutticadutticadutticadand Sand Sand Sand Sand S. Shan. Shan. Shan. Shan. Shangggggaranaraaranaraaranaraaranaraaranarayyyyyanan. A special thanks to Vanan. A special thanks to Vanan. A special thanks to Vanan. A special thanks to Vanan. A special thanks to VilasilasilasilasilasAnkAnkAnkAnkAnkolekar folekar folekar folekar folekar for makinor makinor makinor makinor making mucg mucg mucg mucg much ofh ofh ofh ofh of this issue possible with this issue possible with this issue possible with this issue possible with this issue possible withhis quick efforts to supply two articles and most of ourhis quick efforts to supply two articles and most of ourhis quick efforts to supply two articles and most of ourhis quick efforts to supply two articles and most of ourhis quick efforts to supply two articles and most of our

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Upcoming Events

This is a uniquely Tamil festivalorganized around the songs of theThirupalliyezuchi—songs basedon one friend waking another atdawn to come with her andworship Lord Nataraja.

The music and words of thesesongs are rife with devotion, anddates from the ancient time of theNayanmars, since theThirupalliyezuchi was written bySri Manickyavasagar, himself.

Each morning, the puja begins at5 a.m., and anyone present willget a chance to participate.

The final day is ArdhraDharshanam, on which LordNataraja and Sivakami will befully bathed and givenalankaram. On this morning,puja will start at 4 a.m. and willalso include traditional dancingand plenty of sweet and savoryofferings.

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Thiruvempavai, Dec. 12-21

CD release and bhajans, Dec. 4

Kids’ Matangi homam, Dec. 26

The temple’s followers inToronto typically look forward tolate November and earlyDecember, as it is when Aiya andour bhajan group come toScarborough to release theirannual CD.

This year, it will be DravidaVedam 7—the Thiruvempavaisongs sung each year for LordNataraja’s annual festival duringMargazhi maasam. The group willbe coming to 20 Slan Avenue, atEllesmere and Scarborough GolfClub Road.

The bhajans will start at 7 p.m.and Aiya will give brief talks inbetween songs.

Thai Pongal, Jan. 14

The Matangi or Shyamalahomam is one of the liveliest timesat the temple, and truly a sight tosee. It is a homam doneexclusively for the childrens’education, and is organized bychildren for children.

The under-21 crowd organizeand sit for the homam themselves,taking turns between offeringahutis. In the days leading up to it,they decorate the inner sanctum,all the deities, and the yajnashala.

If your child wishes to sit and bea sponsor for this homam, pleasecall the temple immediately. Thisis a very popular event andspaces fill up quickly!

Pongal falls on a Friday thisyear and the puja will most likelybe done by Shankar uncle if Aiyahappens to be away from thetemple. This is typically a shortevent, but all those who attendwill get the chance to add grainsto the sakkarai pongal (sweet rice)prepared and offered to the Devi.

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NavarathriNavarathriNavarathriNavarathriNavarathrimemoriesmemoriesmemoriesmemoriesmemoriesNavarathriNavarathriNavarathriNavarathriNavarathrimemoriesmemoriesmemoriesmemoriesmemories

Sri Akka was welcomed with a mini-paradeon the property, as well as a full policeescort on the way to the temple.

It was a magical moment to watch our two Devis interact.

Sri Akka peelsvegetables insolidarity withAmma and thetemple’s kitchenvolunteers forFriday the 15th’smahaprasadam.

A detailed background of Devi Kamakshi’sthrone was assembled especially for SriAkka’s visit. Here, she sat with a Sri Merubefore her, which was made entirely of rice.

Aiya arranged for two stunninglybeautiful Belgian horses, eachat least 8 feet tall, to draw SriAkka’s carriage. She wasthrilled as she rode in thispersonal vahana as part of thechariot procession on Chandihomam day.

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Everyone participated in the grand chariot festival,as well as the smaller palanquin processions that occurred every three nights throughout Navarathri.

The whole community got intothe fun on kulurthi day, onwhich the Devi was showeredwith various substances tocool her down from the heatgenerated from the precedingdays of worship.

Top: SriShangaranarayanansat with Aiya forChandi homamBottom: Sri Akkagave the childrena very specialvidyaarambam.

Top: Jeilan got thehonour of carryingthe fiery balipumpkin outsideBottom: All thosewho went out forbali got theirfestival doshamsremoved.

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TempleTemple

LoreLore Devi talks to us—areDevi talks to us—areDevi talks to us—areDevi talks to us—areDevi talks to us—arewe ready to listen?we ready to listen?we ready to listen?we ready to listen?we ready to listen?

The stories of the devotees

at the Sri Rajarajeswari

Peetam create the very

essence of the temple’s

soul.

Aiya has verified all these

tales for their

authenticity, and he urges

devotees to share their

experiences for the benefit

of future generations. All

identities will be kept in

the strictest

confidentiality unless

otherwise requested.

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha.It was the time when we had

just returned to Rochester fromthree years of living in Maryland.Although we lived in theRochester area for seven yearsbefore we moved to Marylandand we visited the templeregularly, we were not connectedthat much at all. It was when wemoved to Maryland, we realizedthe value of Sri Vidya temple andcould see what we were missing.

When we returned to Rochester,to make up for the three years oflost time, we visited templeregularly. In fact, we startedvisiting the temple more thanregularly. Apart from Aiya andAmma’s immense love andaffection, we were rewarded with

the acquaintances of many templedevotees and their vast Sri Vidyaknowledge.

The devotees shared manyexperiences that they had withDevi. The legends varied fromsightings of Devi, devoteesconversing with Devi, amongmany other several real lifeexperiences. It was during thistime that I was very fortunate toget to know the late Smt.Shyamala Ramaswamy. Smt.Shyamala amma shared manyexperiences that she had withDevi. Once she witnessed Devi intears and it was the day whenGuru Garu attained Samadhi. Ona hot summer day she felt that theDevi was breathing heavily andwas profusely sweating. Smt.

Shyamala amma started fanningDevi and apparently that helpedDevi cool down.

It was true that these were realexperiences by real people. It wasalso true that our faith towardsDevi grew immensely afterhearing these incidences. But,there were elements of doubts too.Could it be that the experiencesthat devotees are claiming to haveare far stretched imaginations?Could it be that they are justmaking up stories? It was almostlike I needed to have a proof; thatthe experiences are notimaginations – they are real.

When I discussed my dilemmawith Smt. Shyamala amma, shetold me that these are realexperiences. In fact she told me

by Vilas Ankolekar

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that Devi never stopscommunicating; she constantlycommunicates with you. But theonly problem, she said, is that weare not ready to communicatewith her; we are not ready torecognize the experiences that shegives us.

It was a late summer evening in2008. Days were long and it was ahot summer day. After work Iwent to the temple. Aiya was notin town. There were not many inthe temple. As usual I went to seethe Devi. When I looked at Devi, Ifelt something strange. I felt thatshe was in tears. Maybe Devi wasin tears because Aiya was not intown? Or was she feeling muggyand sweaty? In any case, Idecided to take pictures of Deviand show it to Aiya and to findout what the reality was.

Immediately following mydecision, a thought came to methat said not to take a picture ofthe Devi crying. For a fewminutes, I was of two minds.Eventually, I decided to ignore mythought and got my camera frommy car. I removed the camerafrom the bag and tried to click thepictures. Interestingly, thecamera would not switch on.

The camera was hot and I felt itwas on for a long time. I noticedthat the camera battery wascompletely drained out. It wasvery strange to me that a camerathat had an auto shut-off featurehad its battery completelydrained out. Now, I was verycurious to find out if that wasreally Devi’s work. Normally, Icarry a backup camera and I

decided to take pictures from mysecond camera.

Strangely enough, I found outthat there was no battery in mysecond camera. It was missing. Itlooked as though Devi wanted toprove a point. It was highly co-incidental that I could not useeither of my cameras. At thispoint I realized that it was stupidon my part to ignore the thoughtthat told me not to take pictures. Iabandoned the idea of takingpictures.

After offering namaskarams toDevi and begging for herforgiveness I returned home.When I came back home I was stillcurious to find out if my camerastotally stopped working. Ireplaced the batteries and checkedboth of my cameras. Thanks toDevi, they were both working.They were rendered useless onlyfor a short duration.

From that day I am trying veryhard to focus and listen to mythoughts. In my humble opinion,I think that’s how Devicommunicates. I almost did notlisten to Devi during that summerday incident. She did a trick withmy cameras and I was forced tolisten to her. Mrs. Shyamalaamma was right. Devi doescommunicates with us, but only ifwe are ready to listen!

Left: ShyamalaRamaswamyenjoys MayFestival 2009 withher daughter,Kamya, justmonths beforeher passing.Below: VilasAnkolekar duringa previous year’sVijayadasamicelebrations.

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Q & AiyaQ & AiyaWe all love hanging out with Aiya,

drinking tea, and sometimes getting some

guidance on how to travel down our own paths

to the Devi. Here’s an excerpt from a workshop

where he explained how to properly chant out

loud in a public puja or temple setting.

Q: How should a person say mantras out loud?

Aiya: Not mantras—Vedic chanting. There are certain principles one should follow: One, proper pronunciation.Every syllable must be like it is being cut with a knife. Two, the sound must emanate from your belly, not from yourthroat or higher. You go to some places where they’ve gotten so used to chanting, everything will sound nasally!

Three, don’t be too loud and don’t be too soft. Four, your voice must exert the proper pressure on the person who islistening. This chanting isn’t only for you; it must apply theproper pressure on the listener’s eardrums. Fifth, there’s theobservance of swaras. Purusha evedagm sarvam-mmm, yadbhutam yaccha bhavyam-mmm. When you extend those soundsin the right places, it stays within the mouth cavity for aslightly extended period of time. That is enough to stimulatethe right nerves.

Last, there’s the shruti. If you don’t maintain the pitch,it will sound awful. Very rarely do you have a group ofritviks on the same pitch. When I had my 60th birthday andthey did the Rudra-gana abhishekam and homam for me inChidambaram, my God, I was in heaven. Those dikshitarswho came and sat, I’ve never heard any group so perfectlytogether. We could learn from them at our temple!

If you have these things, you’ll be okay. But don’tdiscount, if your attitude is in the proper place, you’ll beblessed.

Q: So if we can make God appear before you attitude alone,why do we need to do puja?

Aiya: There’s a famous story about how Sri RamakrishnaParamahamsa went to the Kali temple one time andimplored her to eat the tray of laddoos he had brought forher. But he couldn’t see her eating and he starting crying,saying, “Maa, eat it, eat it!”

And then suddenly she appeared, got in front of himand started eating the laddoos. For the people who were watching, all they could see was Ramakrishna eating theladdoos, himself! So they ran to the priest and told him, “Ramakrishna is eating Devi’s prasadam… what’s wrongwith him? Why are you allowing him to do this in the temple?” So he took a look.

He wasn’t able to see the Devi but he saw Ramakrishna there and the laddoos disappearing into thin air, one by one.Then he fell at his feet, doing namaskaram to him. See, Ramakrishna was able to notice the Devi in every ordinaryconversation or action or anything going on around him.

When you are able to hear the pranavam going on like that, then you know you are ready to internalize the wholething. Until then, a basic discipline has to be there; you have to do the pujas outside, at least an aarthi.

Q: If we did a homam at the Ati Rudram, or if we chant at a Shiva temple, does all the worshipping we do only go tohim?

Aiya: To Shiva? He is not an individual. All the forms in this universe—Vishnu, Hanuman, Kamadhenu, Lakshmi,Nandi, Kali, Tara, Sundari, Krishna, everybody’s in him. Remember the Visvarupam? See, when Arjuna saw Krishnaassume the Visvarupam form, he saw all the deities in all the worlds, and everything inside him.

This is the same, except with a different name. The Vaishnavites would call it Vishnu and Shaivites would call itShiva. I would call it Amma. It is not only for Shiva, don’t think that. Whatever is your ishta-devata, whatever worshipyou perform will reach that devata.

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Rajya ShyamalaRajya ShyamalaRajya ShyamalaRajya ShyamalaRajya ShyamalaMantra Japam Meditation onMantra Japam Meditation onMantra Japam Meditation onMantra Japam Meditation onMantra Japam Meditation on

Rajya ShyamalaRajya ShyamalaRajya ShyamalaRajya ShyamalaRajya Shyamalaby Ramesh Kutticad

The Rajarajeswari Peetam is fortunate enough to have come into contact with great Sri Vidyaupasakas from around the world. We are even more fortunate to have met those upasakas whoshare a similar goal to that of our guru parampara—to share out their knowledge and experiencesof the Devi.

One of these beautiful souls is Ramesh Kutticad from Chennai, who Aiya has even described asan encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to the Mother. On a past trip to India, I was luckyenough to meet Ramesh and record his knowledge of how to extract the maximum power from thechanting of the Rajya Shyamala mantra. This is done by meditating on different areas on theMother while chanting the mantra to the point of complete fluency.—ed.

Aim Hreem Sreem, Aim Kleem SouhOm Namo Bhagavati Sri MatangeeshwariSarva Jana Manohari Sarva Mukha RanjaniKleem Hreem Sreem

Sarva Raja Vashamkari, Sarva Stri PurushaVashamkari, Sarva Dushta Mrga Vashamkari, SarvaSatya Vashamkari, Sarva Loka Vashamkari

Sri Rajarajeshwari [Trailokyam]* me vashamaanayasvaha

Souh Kleem Aim, Sreem Hreem Aim

*Our Dattatreya parampara states Sri RajarajeswariDevi, but a more common form of this mantra slots“Trailokyam” into this spot instead.

Aim Hreem Sreem, Aim Kleem Souh—hrdayamOm Namo Bhagavati Sri Matangeeshwari—her green-

coloured form emblazoned on your heartSarva Jana Manohari—the Chandra kala sitting on her

headSarva Mukha Ranjani—her beautiful face, including her

half-opened eyesKleem Hreem Sreem—the two hands playing the veena

Sarva Raja Vashamkari—her two earrings made of shankaSarva Stri Purusha Vashamkari—her heavy breastsSarva Dushta Mrga Vashamkari—the parrot on her

shoulderSarva Satya Vashamkari, Sarva Loka Vashamkari, Sri

Rajarajeshwari [Trailokyam] me vashamaanaya svaha—the lotuson which she is seated

Souh Kleem Aim, Sreem Hreem Aim—the merging of Deviwith the self.

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A Fruitful TripA Fruitful Tripby Megha Chatterjee

My husband and I first saw Aiya and got toknow about the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam in April2007, through a workshop he conducted inToronto. Back then, Sri Vidya Upasana was a verynew concept to me, and I barely knew anythingmuch about the living tradition (I still don’t, intruth, but I am learning). So the prospect ofattending an eight-hour workshop on “The Howand Why of Puja” seemed daunting—but wedecided to give it a try anyway, figuring that if itwas too boring we could always leave.

Once the workshop had begun, however, eighthours seemed all too short. Aiya’s magnetism wasoff the charts! We couldn’t take our eyes off him.When Aiya spoke, it was evident that he wasspeaking from experience, not just an intellectualunderstanding; and that put life into everything hesaid. Rather than feeling exhausted and bored, we

were sorry when the workshop was over, andwe came home feeling energized!

For a long time after that, we kept planning tovisit the temple, but our trip never materializeduntil January 2009, when we took our then six-month-old son for his annapraasana (firstpartaking of solid food). Entering the mainsanctum was little overwhelming. I am nottalking about the energy one feels, etc.—I am alittle too dense for those things. I am talkingabout the sheer regality of it. The grandeur islike that of a palace, as it should be for theMother Empress sitting there in all Her majesty.

We were told that it was a full moon night andhence Aiya would be doing a Sri Chakra puja.Only later did we realize what a nice coincidencethat was. A lady at the temple told me to standin front of the Devi and look into Her eyes. “Soonyou’ll be able to see Her eyes for real,” she said. Itried. Nothing happened. It didn’t surprise me,really. I had never considered myself “worthy”of such “miracles,” so there was no realdisappointment.

The Sri Chakra puja began and I saw everyonemaking these intricate mudras and chantingmantras and stotras at a speed I can barelymuster in my own mother tongue! As beautifulas it was to witness, it was also intimidating.

Still, my attraction to both the temple and toAiya grew. I began reading various issues of TheSri Chakra time and again to keep in touch withthe feeling I got during my visits there. Thesection called “Temple Lore,” with all of itsmiracle stories, always amazed me, but it alsodisturbed me on some level. I felt the same whenI read Corinne Dempsey’s book, The Goddess Livesin Upstate New York, which is also full of intriguingmiracle stories from many of Aiya’s longtimedisciples.

Obviously, these special stories make it into thewritten word only when people choose to sharethem—but somehow it begins to seem as thougheveryone other than you is in some way“special.” They are special to Devi; they are

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special to Aiya; and they are onlyso because they are “worthy” ofhaving such experiences.

No matter how much you tryand reason with yourself that this“special-ness” is due to past-lifekarmas and so on, it never quitesubdues that underlying feeling ofnot being good enough. We allhave our own inner demons tofight, and I guess this is one ofmine: never feeling that I am“good enough.”

Despite such self-doubts, Ifinally found the courage thisAugust to approach Aiya and askhim if he would initiate me. I wasnervous, of course. I thought hemight turn me down, due to myvarious shortcomings. Butwithout a moment’s hesitation hesaid, “Of course, I will.” Then heasked me if my “mate” was there,and he initiated my husband aswell. It was, of course, a mostsignificant day for both of us.

A few weeks later, we visited thetemple for Ganesha Chaturthi.After homam and a late-afternoonlunch, Aiya was presiding over amarriage ceremony and everyonewas inside the temple. Myhusband and I had left the templebuilding so that our two-year-oldson could run around withoutdisturbing anyone. The propertyof the temple was almostdeserted.

I had recently read Kathy Allen’sarticle, “Bathing DvaraGanapathi” in The Sri Chakra’sNovember 2007 edition. In thearticle, Kathy mentions the“secret” that anyone who looks atDvara Ganapathi’s manjal spot onthe trunk is sure to receive ablessing.

So I walked up to Ganapathi andstared at the manjal spot for awhile, praying to Him with all myheart to overlook myshortcomings and accept mylimited notions of love anddevotion. As I stood there sharingmy thoughts with Him, I heard arustling sound and saw a mangotumble down from somewherebehind Ganapathi’s garland, andsettle among the other fruits lyingat His feet.

I got a little excited. I wonderedif the mango was meant for me.But being quite skeptical aboutthe nature of such things, and notwanting to assume I was beinggraced by a “miracle,” I thought,“Well, if this is meant for me, thensomeone will tell me so.”

Still, even as I resolved to notjump to any conclusions andclaim that mango, I have to admitI felt a little deflated. What werethe chances that somebody wouldappear out of thin air and tell meto take the mango? I thought thateven if Ganapathi had kindlygiven me a mango as His blessing,the condition I laid down foraccepting it had severely reducedmy chances of receiving it; andthat I would, in all probability,walk away empty-handed.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere,a long-time lady devotee walkedpast me and said, “Take a fruit.” Iwas stunned. I was so overcomewith emotion. Not only hadGanapathi graced me with atangible blessing; He had alsotaken the pains to reassure methat it was really meant for me.The skeptic in me disappeared. Iwas sure now it was nocoincidence.

I write this article not to join theranks of those “special people ofthe written word,” but rather tothank everyone who hascontributed to this magazine forthe inspiration they have givenme in my low moments—and thatthey continue to give me overrepeated readings. I also write itfor those who may be assailed byself-doubt, as I am.

If this article serves to inspireeven one person then I wouldhave honoured the true meaningof Ganapathi’s blessing. For onlynow, as I write this, do I realizethat His blessing wasn’t meantjust for me; it is meant for allthose who may think ofthemselves as undeserving.

In His blessing, He taught methat one doesn’t have to know allthe mudras and stotras andmantras to receive God’s love.That one doesn’t have to be “goodenough;” that one doesn’t have tobe anything. We are all loved justthe same. God and Guru areforever there with Theirunconditional love.

May we learn to love everyonein the same way that we are lovedby Them. With that hope andprayer, Sri Gurubhyo Namaha.

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The Guru, Sishya, andThe Guru, Sishya, andThe Guru, Sishya, andThe Guru, Sishya, andThe Guru, Sishya, andTripura RahasyaTripura RahasyaTripura RahasyaTripura RahasyaTripura Rahasya

The Guru, Sishya, andThe Guru, Sishya, andThe Guru, Sishya, andThe Guru, Sishya, andThe Guru, Sishya, andTripura RahasyaTripura RahasyaTripura RahasyaTripura RahasyaTripura Rahasya

by Sri S. Shangaranarayanan

There is one thing people do notrealize when they areworshipping God in the form of aStatue. God has no mind and Godhas no will, either. These thingsare bestowed by nature on theguru, and the guru, who has aniron will and pure mind,transmits his total divine energyto the sishya or seeker who comesto him for salvation. This canhappen only when you consideryour guru as an adept withcapabilities to transmit by his“will” the total divine energy ofthe God, Gurus and the GuruMandalam to you.

A capable guru will be ableto connect his soul with thesishya’s soul, and bridge thegap between them, so theybecome two bodies but onlyone soul—this is the AdvaitaVedanta Haranji (Aiya) isalways talking about—non-duality between theworshipper, the worshipped,and the act of worshipping,which becomes so easy forthe sishya to emulate whenhe is within the Divine visionof the capable Master. In SriVidya, this is called TripuraRahasya.

When the guru connects hissoul with the soul of thesishya they become one, eventhough the body and mindare different. The commondictum is applicable here,that “I and You become we

and we become I (the guruhimself).” That means the sishyaalways merges with the guru andNOT the guru merging with thesishya, similar to all riversmerging with the ocean.

Another important thing toremember is a capable guru isself-realized, having undergoneand experienced the divinethrough the blessings of his guruparampara and finally mergingHimself with the Ogatrayam orGuru Mandalam. Therefore, hepossesses the cosmic mind,

enabling him to transgress timeand distance, and be available tothe absolute needy disciple attimes of distress.

The difference between thecosmic mind and other minds isthat the cosmic mind has nocomplexities, grossness, illnesses,or barriers of any kind. It cantransform at will from anythingto anything, whereas ordinaryhuman minds have barriers andcan do nothing impressive.

For instance, if Haranji wants tohelp someone say, in Ethiopia, he

Sri Shangaranarayanan and Aiya holding the Navarathri festival kalasam this year beforeabhishekam. Sri Shangaranarayanan has attended several festivals at the temple.

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can do it from Rochester by transmitting the divine energy in him, and he can materialize and de-materialize himself even in physical form and help the devotee crying for help. There have been manyinstances where Haranji had helped devotees in far off places—mentally, morally, physically, financially andspiritually. There are no barriers for his extending his help in any manner whatsoever to any real seeker.

With respect to the realized, this grace has transcended time and distance. To attain such a level ofelevation, one should go beyond idol worship to ideal worship and see his/her guru as the Divine Motherherself. The sishya should always remain connected soul-to-soul with the guru—interaction for integrationwith the soul of the guru. Without the use of body and mind, it is totally impossible to attain such a state of“being to becoming,” no matter what tapas or worship you do.

Most of you must know about meditation—dhyana is the end of Sri Vidya. Prayer is always begging andmeditation is always getting the essence of what you meditate. If you meditate on the living form of yourguru then you get reality, which is his essence.

So when you’re doing dhyana, better to have the living formof your guru before you, develop soul-to-soul interaction, andalways observe what is happening inside your heart. Youwill then know that Haranji is always transmitting his soul’sdivine energy to you and He is no different from the DivineMother.

This connection cannot happen without the guru’s presenceand total participation in your meditation. When you arefocused internally and the guru is also there, then youdevelop “silence in silence” and duality no longer exists, asthe sishya has merged with the guru and transcended timeand distance. Your identity as well as the identity of the guruis lost, and as both have merged themselves in each other,duality is lost. All that remains is your body and mind andthe difference between you and the guru is lost forever.

When we’re doing homams here, we’re doing ajya-ahuti(offering of ghee)—into the sacred fire. When you are offeringyour soul to the guru in meditation, the guru has no choiceexcept to accept your soul as your offering and merge thesame with His soul. This is called prana-ahuti.

This is what we also do when we install the soul of theDivine Mother in the fire, kumbham, kalasam, Sri Yantra etc.,through trikanda mudra, which indicates the Tripura Rahasya. Knowing for certain that there is absolutely nodifference between the guru and the Devi, one should always be in constant remembrance of the guru in hisheart.

See, people want the benefits but they can’t take the simple step of offering their souls to the guru. By thisprocess nobody is going to die! You will only become more alive, brimming with more divine energy thanever before and your improvement in terms of material, physical and spiritual benefits increaseconsiderably. One is able to have a divine, energized environment all around him, develop compassion,never possess the guru and provide ample opportunities for others to interact with the guru.

It is very important to understand that too much popularity with the guru brings contempt. One shouldat no time thrust their opinions onto the guru, disturb him in any manner whatsoever, show oneself as if heis a favoured person of the guru in public, interfere in his activities and trying to influence him in carryingout the temple protocol and connected spiritual activities.

A realized person who has totally merged with the guru to become the guru shall be silently interactingwith the guru and helping him in all his activities silently. Let each one of you try to become Haranji and

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Close to Pazhani in Tamil Nadu,there is a village called KodhaMangalam. In the early part ofthis century in this village, asannyasi used to roam. His namewas known variously as KodhaMangalam Swamiyar and he wasalso known as MaanoorSwamiyar, because apparently helived in a small village calledMaanoor (also close to Pazhani)for a long time.

How old was he? Sightings havebeen reported of him by the veryold people in the village whenthey were small children, andback then he looked exactly thesame.

A family had lived in KodhaMangalam for several centuriesand their last known descendantwas called Venchina Goundar.

It so happened that for anybodyapproaching Maanoor Swamiyar,if he knew you were going to askhim for something material—money, a house, etc.—if you hadthat in mind and approached him,he would throw stones at you andthen run away. However, for anyspiritual question, he would sitthere and calmly and verypatiently answer all yourquestions. The only thing that hewas able to give in the form ofmaterial things was food.

One time, for seven years inKodha Mangalam, there was norain. The fields dried up, therewas no chance for irrigation, andthe village faced starvation. Andit so happened that MaanoorSwamiyar was walking on theside of the now dried-up tank and

StorStorStorStorStoryyyyy

While volunteers dressthe Devi each weekduring the Saturdaypuja, Aiya usually tellsthe crowd a short storyabout some aspect ofthe divine. Just beforethe final day of KedaraGowri vratam, he told atale of how importantthis puja is for theprosperity of acommunity.

with with with with with

StorStorStorStorStoryyyyy timetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetime

withwithwithwithwith AiyAiyAiyAiyAiyaaaaaAiyAiyAiyAiyAiyaaaaa

every assigned job will be carriedout meticulously as if Haranji isdoing it himself. Then you willgather no samskaaras and your lifewill really be worth living.

See, this is why I like Haranji somuch. It is not typical for a guruto become so close with so manyof His sishyas, but he has given somuch of himself and all theliberties to all of you. Also why I

love him, simply for that matter,is he is beyond caste and creed.That’s something I have neverseen in Sri Vidya. I’m drawntowards him only for that reason.

Going back to what I was sayingbefore about the seeker goingthrough the guru because God hasno will—there is a lot of differencebetween faith and good faith.When you have faith, you go to

Haranji andask him tobless youwithsomethingonce, twice,three, four,five timesand evenharass him,unmindfulof hisconveniences.

But onlythe realsishya whohas goodfaith in hisguru will

ask him only once and then forgetabout it. That complete belief inthe guru, coupled withdetachment is the mark of a trulyevolved sishya.

My prayers to the DivineMother are that every one of youshould become “Haranji” and nothis amsam but the whole aspect ofhim. To achieve this, you have toemulate his qualities, actions,reactions, power and at least tryto imitate him in gestures,behaviours etc., so that one dayyou will really become Haranji.Don’t you think that once youbecome at least 50 percent of yourguru, then the temple will growby leaps and bounds and therewill be no negativity anywhere?

It is the responsibility of everyone of you to be of service to theGuru Haranji whose dream is toexpand the temple in a big way inthe years to come, and fill it upwith total spirituality. Rememberin your efforts the guru, parama-guru and parameshti-guru are allthere to help you. Achieve thegoal and be one with Haranji.

May God bless you all.

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Venchina Goundar went up tohim and said, “Swami, it hasn’trained for seven years, we don’thave any food… how are wegoing to survive?”

So Maanoor Swamiyar looked athim and in typical village stylesaid, “It hasn’t rained. If you goonto the paddy fields that you’reso crazy about and make pongal,it will rain.” Venchina Goundar

asked when they should do that,and Swami said to do it that day.

So they gathered everyone at thetemple where Venchina Goundarannounced what Swami had toldhim—as many families aspossible should gather and maketheir pongal in the paddy fields.So half the village said, “Look atthe sky. You can’t see a cloudvisible anywhere… how can wethink it’s going to rain?” VenchinaGoundar said he didn’t know, butthis is what Swami instructedthem to do.

So skeptical families didn’t showup that night, but some familiesthat had even a semblance of faithbrought out their materials, andin about 25 minutes started

making pongal (that’s sweet rice)in the paddy fields. This was inthe middle of the night. At about4 a.m., the winds started pickingup. And then in 15 minutes,nobody knew from where it came,but it clouded over and it rainedcats and dogs!

And in every house where theywere skeptical and refused tomake the pongal, rain broke

throughtheirceilingsand floodedonly thesehouses.For all theothers whohad goneout thatnight,nothinghappenedto theirhomes.

The nextmorning,VenchinaGoundarwent to the

temple where Maanoor Swamiyarwas seated quietly.Swami told himthat years ago inthis village, in thatvery temple, theyused to observeKedara Gowrivratam. About 20years previous, oneof the ladies doingthe puja was notgiven a blousepiece or sari and sothe Devi wentaway from thatvillage.

He told VenchinaGoundar that onceagain, all the

villagers—including the males—must start observing KedaraGowri vratam. It is not actuallyKedara Gowri vratam; it isKedareshwara vratam. Thatmeans worship to Shiva tobecome one with him, or toachieve undifferentiated blisswith Shiva.

So Maanoor Swamiyar wasinstrumental in re-starting thevratam in that Kodha Mangalamvillage. About 10 years later, heappeared in 12 different villagesat the same time and told thepeople, “I am going to takeSamadhi.” And in every villagehe instructed the villagers tobuild a small Samadhi for himand at each site, he walked in, satdown, and left the world.

So Maanoor Swamiyar’sSamadhi exists in 12 differentvillages in and around KodhaMangalam. Each village claimshis Samadhi as the original one.Even now when people go to anyof these Samadhis at night andoffer pongal, he appears to them,and will come and eat the food.

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Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

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