Blossom 15 Petal 4

The Source of the Cosmos Sri ChakraSri ChakraSri ChakraSri ChakraSri Chakra

The Journal of the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, Rush, NY

Blossom 15 Petal 4December 2011

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DecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecemberDecember

At the beginning of September,Aiya took a brief trip to theUnited Kingdom where heconducted a series of workshopsand lectures. He was back beforethe middle of the month, duringwhich time the flag went up forNavarathri.

Also during this time, the firstever Interactive Learning Sessions(ILS) class took place onSeptember 24. The response fromthe general public was massive,with all three simultaneousclasses seeing a full attendancefrom all three designated agegroups. A total of about 150adults and children showed upfor their respective three-hourclass, and most stayed for thatnight’s Pradosham puja.

Navarathri began a few dayslater and lasted throughout thefirst week of October.Immediately after Navarathriended, the second set of ILS classestook place on October 8 withAiya, Kumaran Perinpanathan,and Pravin Ranjan, each teachingtheir respective subject mattersfrom Session 1, but to different agegroups.

Past Events

During the period followingNavarathri and throughout thethree-week Kedara Gowrivratam, Aiya was in and out oftown, but was back for the finalday’s puja.

Immediately after Kedara Gowriwrapped up, Aiya and thetemple’s bhajan group travelled toScarborough, Ontario in the firstweek of November for the latestbhajan release of songs from theThirupuggazh. The night saw acrowd of over 200 peopleattending.

Throughout November, thetemple volunteers began toimplement a new system ofrunning the Saturday pujas,where the same people would notbe doing the same tasks anymore.To lead by example, Aiya, himself

The festival startedwith the raising ofthe flag(dvajarohanam) onSept. 20, but the mainfestival officiallybegan eight dayslater on the 27th. Thehallmark of thisNavarathri was acontinuous MahaShodasi homam,which began eachday during theregular homam butcontinued onthroughout theafternoon and also

Sharada Navarathri, Sept. 27 - Oct. 7

refrained from sitting at thekalasams for the November 19puja, and instead worked allmorning in the kitchen helping tomake the mahaprasadam forlunch!

The ILS classes for Novemberand December were cancelledbecause of school exams for allchildren and teenagers, as well asthe impending India Yatra trip formany of the temple volunteers.The classes were announced toresume at full capacity inJanuary.,

The end of November was busy,with Aiya travelling to Toronto todo a wedding, flying out of townfor a funeral, and then returningto Rochester to perform anotherwedding and a valaikaapuceremony.

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evenings and overnight. Shodasichanted outloud and internallycontributed to the daily quota,culminating in 108,000 repititionsby the end of the festival.

Daily kalasa-sthapanam andabhishekam/alankaram also tookplace during the day, and differentupasakas conducted Sri Chakra(Navavarana) pujas each evening.

As usual, every third day, theutsava Rajarajeswari was carriedoutside via palanquin as Durga,Lakshmi, and Saraswati,respectively.

The last Thursday of Navarathrisaw the grand Chandi homam at5 a.m., which was followed by theDevi riding her large chariotaround the temple. On FridayOctober the 7th, templevolunteers bathed all themoveable murthis outside in thewater-cutting ceremony.

Take a look at some of theNavarathri pictures on pages 5and 6!

Skanda Sashti, Oct. 27-31

Kedara Gowri Vratham (last day),Oct. 26

This 6-day festival forMurugan began immediatelyafter Kedara Gowri vrathamwas completed. Murugan,Devayani and Valli remained inthe yajnashala throughout thisfestival where they receivedworship by the assembleddevotees each night.

On the final night, the divinetrio re-enacted the events thatbrought them all together,starting with the SuraSamharam, where Muruga gotready to conquer the demon whowas threatening the Devas.

After he won the war, hemarried Indra’s daughter,Devayani, and then subsequentlyeloped with her spiritual sister,Valli. Hoisted on palanquins bydevotees, the three went aroundthe temple. By the end of theirpradakshanam, Devayani hadforgiven Muruga for alsomarrying Valli, as it was foretoldfrom a previous birth that bothsisters were equally but verydifferently devoted to the warlord.

Beginning on the lastcouple of days of thetemple’s Navarathrifestival, this three-weekvratham received a heftyamount of sponsorshipsfrom ladies praying for thewell-being of theirhusbands.

However, boys and menalso sponsor this pujabecause its greater purposeis to merge with LordShiva. Parvati Devioriginally performed it forthat very purpose; to beone with the divine source.

On the final night, pujawas performed as usual,and the festival kalasamwas carried around thetemple. At the end of thenight, all sponsors weregiven the sharadu (thread)and fruit prasadam aseveryone had dinner.

Kartikkeya and his wives received milkabhishekam each evening.

Shanmukha being prepared to rideinto “war” against the demon Sura.

Karthikai Deepam, Dec. 9

This festival is done a littledifferently every year, but the onecommon factor from year to yearis the abundance of lights aroundthe temple.

This year was no different, andmore people than usual were ableto attend the festivities because itfell on a Friday night. A basicpuja was performed as alwaysand the puja lasted about two

The set up at Karthikai Deepam 2010.

hours. It finished at the same timeas that night’s evening puja to theDevi inside the temple, after whichall the tea lights, deepams andcandles were lit up in and out ofthe temple and the lights wereswitched off.

The temple glowed as if the starsin the sky fell to the earth.Afterwards, the lights wereswitched back on and everyonepresent was given mahaprasadamas dinner.

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Sriman Mahadevaya Namaha

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

Upcoming Events

Devi willing, the next issue ofthe Sri Chakra will be up on thetemple’s website at the beginningof March 2012.

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

The next deadline for articlesubmission is February 10.Please e-mail us with yourcontributions or feedback aboutthis issue [email protected] ortalk to Kamya or Abhi at thetemple.

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha!

In Three Months

Our deepest thanks andOur deepest thanks andOur deepest thanks andOur deepest thanks andOur deepest thanks and

gratitude to this issue’sgratitude to this issue’sgratitude to this issue’sgratitude to this issue’sgratitude to this issue’s

volunteers: Aiya, Vilasvolunteers: Aiya, Vilasvolunteers: Aiya, Vilasvolunteers: Aiya, Vilasvolunteers: Aiya, Vilas

AnkAnkAnkAnkAnkolekarolekarolekarolekarolekar,,,,, V V V V Venkateshwenkateshwenkateshwenkateshwenkateshwararararar

Babu, Gratus Devanesan,Babu, Gratus Devanesan,Babu, Gratus Devanesan,Babu, Gratus Devanesan,Babu, Gratus Devanesan,

Sri BSri BSri BSri BSri B. J. J. J. J. Jaaaaayyyyyaraman,araman,araman,araman,araman, and and and and and

RRRRRamesh Kamesh Kamesh Kamesh Kamesh Kutticad.utticad.utticad.utticad.utticad.

Thai Pongal, Jan. 15

Maha Shivarathri, Feb. 20

Thiruvempavai/ArdhraDharshanam, Dec. 30 - Jan. 8

Because of the India Yatra trip,Aiya and many of the regulartemple volunteers will not bepresent at this year’sThiruvempavai, but as Aiyafrequently says, no one at thetemple is irreplaceable; not evenhimself.

The festival will go on as usual,and whoever is present will wakeup for 5 a.m. pujas to LordNataraja. The pujas and songs tothe Lord will usually wrap up atabout 7 a.m. each morning.

On Ardhra Dharshanam day,the puja will commence at 4 a.m.and will usually go straight onuntil about noon.

In India, this festival is alsoknown in some areas asSankaranthi, and marks thebeginning of spring and theharvest season. At the temple,Aiya or Shankar uncle usually

perform a small puja, completewith the boiling over of milk andthe offering of sakkarai pongal(sweet rice) to the Devi.

This puja usually only takesless than an hour and is typicallyperformed with the rising of thesun. It will take place at thesame time as the daily morningpuja inside.

The chanting of 11 Rudrams in arow has become a staple of Maha

Shivarathri at the temple, and isoften recommended as the quickestway to get a handle on chantingthis most difficult text of the Vedasout loud.

Several puja “stations” withdifferent types of shivalingamswill be set up around the templeand yajnashala, includingshivalingams made of mercury,different precious stones, and evenone made of cooked rice.

Everyone who comes to thetemple on this night will be givenbilvam leaves to offer to any or allof the shivalingams throughoutthe entire night.

In the past, the puja has usuallycommenced at about 9 p.m. andcontinued on until 7 a.m. the nextmorning. After everythingconcludes, all are given prasadambefore they leave.

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Navarathri ‘11!!Navarathri ‘11!!

Left: The massive “frame” was set up around the homakundamTop: Everyone who had Mahasodasi diksha could sit for homam

Clockwise from upper left: Volunteers bring Vaishno Devi into theyajnashala upon her arrival at the temple; Aiya and Kumaran alankaram thefestival flagpole; overnight Mahasodasi homams were common withparticularly keen upasakas; weekly bhajans continued throughout thefestival; Kamadhenu held the Devi as Mahalakshmi when she went aroundthe temple; several people braved the cold for the utsavam festivals.

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The mula murthisand utsava murthiswere dressed insimilar fashions forSaraswati puja.

Literally hundredsof people showedup on the chariotfestival day, withfour buses comingin from Toronto justfor that day.

On the day of thewater-cuttingceremony, thesmall murthis inthe temple weretaken down to theKashi creek andreceived full pujaand abhishekamthere.

The official end tothe Navarathri isthe offering of baliat the Bhairavatree behind thetemple. Anyonewho went had toremaincompletely silentand reverent forthis small butimportant puja.

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Sri Annapurna meditationSri Annapurna meditationSri Annapurna meditationSri Annapurna meditationSri Annapurna meditationSri Annapurna meditationSri Annapurna meditationSri Annapurna meditationSri Annapurna meditationSri Annapurna meditationby Ramesh Kutticad

Sri Annapurnamba is the upanga deity of Sri Lalithambika. Her mantra is found worshipped in thepancha panchika devatas in the kamadhuka panchakam. She is the last kamadhuka amba. In the anuttar-amnaya, she is called Annapurna Sundari, equating her to the Supreme Empress Sri LalitaParabhattarikamba. She is the reigning deity of Kashi, with Lord Visvanatha as her consort. Her worshipon Divali amavasya is very famous. Her mention in Lalitopakhyana during the war with Bhandasura is notthere.

The mantra of Annapurnamba is one of those which have the pranava in them. The mantra runs thus:hreem sreem kleem Om namo bhagavati annapUrNe mamAbhilaSitam annam dehi svAhA.

Her dhyanA sloka is: AdAya daksha kareNa svarNadarvIm dugdh AnnapUrNamitarena ratna pAtram,annapradAna niratAm navahemavarNAm ambAm bhaje kanaka mAlyabhUshAm.

ambAm: We find this in a sense of address, O! Mother. The Mother is the primordial spanda which is the

bija ‘hreem.’AdAya daksha kareNa svarNadarvIm: means with your right hand holding a golden ladle, The gold is

indicative of richness and hence the bija ‘sreem.’itarena ratna pAtram: In your other hand is a jeweled pot. This points to the worldly pleasures and hence

the bija ‘kleem.’dugdhAnnapUrNam: full of milk porridge (paal payasam); fullness indicates the omniscience and

omnipotence, and milk is the product ofcows. The cow is generally revered asVedas; it is white in color, indicatingthe amalgamation of all colors, so thiswill rightly show us the pranava ‘Om .’

Thus we find the mother holding aladle and a jeweled pot which hadnectar, these will point to the order ofthe bijas chanted—‘hreem sreemkleem om.’ This clearly points out thefinal goal that this amba is giving us—the most subtle essence of the Vedas inthe form of pranava by the ladle‘sreem’ and in the pot ‘kleem.’ Bothpoint to being in this world and usingthings found in this world to get thatknowledge.

annapradAna niratAm: Alwaysengaged in enthusiastically giving theabove nectar from the pot is found inthe mantra as ‘mamAbhiliSitamannamdehi,’ the address of this lady is alsoseen in then mantra as ‘annapUrNe.’

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navahemavarNAm, kanakamAlyabhUshAm: Of the colour ofnew molten gold, wearingnecklaces and ornaments of gold.This is ‘richness’ or “lordship.’ Asseen in many mantras this is thenature of ‘ishvara’ which is called‘aishvaryam.’ Another word forthis is ‘bhaga’ and one who hasthis is called ‘bhagavati.’

bhaje: I adore or worship.Worship is to leave this bodyconsciousness of being individualto the all-pervading which isindicated by the ‘na’—not the‘mah’—individual and ‘svaahaa’losing all into the fire of the all-pervading consciousness.

Meditation guideThe above meditation stanza

does not include the environmentof the Devi as seen at Kashi. She isflanked by Sridevi (Lakshmi) andBhudevi and her consort Lord

Visveshvara (Shiva) dances infront of her. She is in the postureof distributing alms from her potof nectar through a ladle.

‘Hreem’ indicated Devi Umawho is the Goddess Annapurnaherself; ‘sreem’ is Lakshmi Devi onher side and ‘kleem’ is the Bhudevion the other side. ‘Om’ is herconsort Lord Visveshvaradancing in front of her.

Annam or food is the basicbuilding block of this body; it isbuilt by food and nourished by it.Bhargavarama says ananda orbliss is the form of Brahman andresides in this body in hiskalpasutra—‘Anadao brhamanamroopam tacca dehe vyavasthitam.’Hence the meaning for‘mamaabhilasitam’—that whichis desired by me to be attained—will mean “bliss” (of course blissis desired by all) and “annam”will point to the receptacle of thisbliss. Thus, the desired blissexperience in the body is said inthis part of the mantra.

On a finer pondering of theabove bijas, we find the clue to thesadhana in our daily routine(which is within the family).‘Hreem’ is the core center, theattainment of bliss; ‘sreem’ willpoint to the material/physicalaspect, and ‘kleem’ to the mentalaspect. We are praying for theexperience of this essence of theVedas represented as the pranavawith enthusiasm. This is verilythe bliss, and the prayer tosustain this bliss in this receptacleby this divine Mother in hermotherly form is noted here.Anuttara-amnaya or the highestway, zenith of the way is ‘theexperience’ of bliss. It is apt thatthe main deity of this way isAnnapurnesvari.

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

drinking tea, and sometimes getting someguidance on how to travel down our ownpaths to the Devi. Here’s an excerpt from aworkshop where he explained how one canfeel the link between burning karma andchanting the Rudram.

Q: What is the most effective way for the common person to learn Rudram?

Aiya: I’m a common person… how did I learn? Listening and chanting, andlistening and chanting in a group. I learned Rudram when we had to doabhishekam to the Devi, back when She was in my garage. In those days I didn’tknow how to chant it, but I knew a young kid from Buffalo who went to a VedaPatashala and learned Rudram properly. He would come on Thursdays andchant when we did abhishekam and I sat beside him and followed along.

You have to struggle through it—there are some sounds that are very difficultto get around your tongue. But you have to practice; you have to stay with it,that’s the only way. Get to a place where someone who already knows Rudramand learn from them. There are many of them in the Toronto and Mississaugaarea.

And one more thing to those people who know Rudram—if someone comes toyou and asks you to teach them, don’t say no, especially if you are a Sri Vidyaupasaka. There is a section in the Navaavarana Puja that is called samaiyugapuja. That means if someone comes to you and asks to learn something, youmust teach them. If they don’t have room in their house but are committed tolearning, you must make all the arrangements so they can learn.

Because the person coming and asking is not just anyone; the Devi is comingand asking you in their form. So whatever knowledge you have, share it.

Q. Is it okay to chant Rudrampartially if we cannot chantcompletely for any reason?

Aiya: I kind of find thatdifficult to answer. Can youanswer me one question? Is it

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okay to eat a meal halfway? Youdon’t have time, you have to be atthe office. Half the food is still onthe plate—will you leave it andgo? If your answer to thisquestion is that you have to eatthe entire meal, then you alsohave to chant the entire Rudram.

If you think there’s not enoughtime to chant the whole Rudram,you can chant the 11 names ofRudra, and in one breath: Namasteastu bhagavan, Visveshwaraya,Mahadevaya, Triyambakaya,Tripuraantakaya, Trikagni Kalaya,Kalagni Rudraya, Neelakantaya,Mrutyunjayaya, Sarveshwaraya,Sadha Shivaya, Sriman Mahadevayanamaha.

Alternatively, you could alsochant the first and lastanuvakams if you don’t have time.

Q. How does chanting Rudramhelp the whole world?

Aiya: What is Rudra? When theprimordial explosion took place14 and a half billion years ago tocreate what you see as theexternal universe, one secondafter that cataclysmic explosion,the temperature was two and ahalf billion degrees Celsius. That’swhat science will tell you. That isRudram.

And when you chant theRudram,check your

body temperature; it will rise. Ifyou want to see this in practice,come to the temple, theRajarajeswari Peetam onShivarathri night and touchanyone who is chanting—you’llthink they have a fever. That heatof the primordial explosion isreproduced in proportion to thebody mass of the person chanting.The power and inflection withwhich you chant will also affectthe amount of heat produced.

What is the purpose of the risingtemperature? It’s burning yourkarma, man! So the effect to therest of the world is that you cancollectively burn others’ karma aswell.

Q. Can your karma be changed?If it can be changed, how does thiswork, and how can we reduce ourkarma?

Aiya: Everybody wants areduction. They camp out allnight the day after Thanksgivingfor a sale and if you ask them tocome to Shivarathri they say theyhave no time. Let me tell yousomething. Like matter—mattercan neither be created nordestroyed—karma cannot bedestroyed. But you can processthe karma. How do you do this?Chant the Rudram!

In the body, there are threeplaces where there is Agni—in thegenitals there is Kamagni, the fireof lust; in the stomach there isJataragni, the fire of hunger;between the eyebrows there isJnanagni, the fire of knowledge.Focus on any of those three placesand chant the Rudram into thatfire. Your karma will burn.

What will happen when youchant anything? The UniversalBeing will give you the innerstrength to withstand whatevernegative effects are coming at you.So whatever is coming, instead ofhitting you in the face, it will goover your head. So the surge ofthe karmic force can be reducedby chanting the Vedas.

Scores of people showed up at the temple to chant the Rudram together at Shivarathri. Aiya says agood way to learn this text is to chant together in a group with others who have already masteredits nuances.

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ChidagniChidagniChidagniChidagniChidagniThe story of Sri Amritananda Saraswati

part 5part 5part 5part 5part 5

ChidagniChidagniChidagniChidagniChidagniThe biography of Sri

Amritananda Saraswati—who isaffectionately known as Gurujito most of Aiya’s students—waspenned in Telugu by Smt. NethiSeeta Devi. These chapters weretranslated into English andgraciously submitted to the SriChakra by Venkateshwar Babufrom Philadelphia in an ongoingseries.

Career1956 was a year of great significance in Guruji’s life. He had completed

his education at Andhra Universitythat year. It was in the same yearGuruji got married to SrimathiAnnapurna. The same year he joinedTata Institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR), Bombay as a ResearchAssistant for a monthly pay of Rs.175/-. All the three were majoraccomplishments for a young bachelor;education, marriage, job opportunitytook place in the same year.

Since then and until 1977 for almost22 years, Guruji was deeply associatedin the field of research. During thatperiod, he also became the proudfather of 3 daughters.

When Guruji joined TIFR there werearound 40 scientists who were expertsin their own fields. Dr. Homi Babhawas the head of TIFR.s In addition, hewas also the Head of the AtomicResearch Institute.

When Guruji was atTIFR, he was not onlyinvolved in research,but had also presentedmany papers inNuclear Physics,Material Sciences,Solid State Physics,Solid State Electronics,etc. For the first timein India, underguidance of Prof.Ramanathan Gurujiwas involved indesigning and buildingIntegrated Chips in

Original photos from Gurujiand Ammah’s wedding in1956.

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India. Later this technology wastransferred to Bharat ElectronicsLimited located in Bangalore.

Over a period of time, Gurujigradually got involved incomputer design. Slowly,Integrated Chips followed by 8-bit processor. Using TTLtechnology, he devised FloatingDesk Calculators. Guruji’s questfor knowledge was never ending.With utmost enthusiasm, Gurujiinvolvement in research on MossBauer Effect of Nuclear GammaResonance leads to his Doctoratefrom Bombay University.

Guruji mentions, “TIFR led toAtomic Energy Institute, and that inturn led to Electronics Corporation ofIndia, and then ISRO, and thenThumba Rocket Launch Station, and soon. In this way, atomic power projectsdeveloped in India.”

After 23 years of Guruji’s servicein TIFR, he had to get involved inAir Defense projects. At thatstage, Guruji questioned himself“Why am I in this division? Are theprojects in this group constructive?”These questions were causing himconcern and his consciencewanted him to go against it. Itwas at this critical stage ofcontemplation that a life-turning,memorable event occurred.

Second experience ofconsciousness

Though Guruji was living inBombay, he was traveling all overthe country and hadopportunities to meetintellectuals, industrialists, andinteract with scientists andphysicists engaged in variousresearch organizations. It was in1977 he was in Hyderabad,visiting ECIL (ElectronicsCorporation of India) fordiscussions on mini computerprograms. Though he was tired,being busy at work all day, he didnot get sleep one night. Gurujidecided to step out for a walk.

It was around 5 a.m. and thestreets were still deserted at thattime. Guruji saw a templeglowing as bright as Iravatham at

an elevation. There were steps leading to the top intothis temple.

Guruji started walking towards the temple thatinterested him, and realized that it was a HanumanTemple. Unknowingly this abode of worshipreminded him of the Hanuman Temple opposite toPrabhat Talkies in Visakhapatnam. He rememberedhis childhood when he used to go that temple daily forprasadam. Guruji started climbing the steps towardsthis Hanuman Temple. Having never visited templessince 11 years of age, and being 45 years old at thatstage, Guruji felt as if someone was pushing him frombehind.

Guruji observed that there were hardly four or fivedevotees in the temple. He then found an old manoffering respects by prostrating to Lord Hanuman.Having hardly visited any temple, Guruji also offeredhis respects by prostrating before Lord Hanuman. Itwas at this moment that unexplainable joy andhappiness flowed through his body like electricalcurrent. Guruji later said this experience could not beexplained in words.

It was at the same time Lord Balaji dressed as maleas well as female approached Guruji and energizedhim. Balaji—as Bala, Bala Tripura Sundari (GopaalaKrishna in male form) gave the divine blessing at thoseauspicious moments.

An old Telugu saying indicates, “No one knows when itrains or when one becomes lifeless.” To this day, thoughtechnology has advanced great strides, and can predictrains it still remains an unsolved mystery todetermine when one may lose life. For that matter, noone even knows what may happen the next minute.On a similar note, Guruji never ever expected the visitto this Hanuman temple that day would change his lifeforever!

Guruji experienced exactly the same as he had as ayoung boy. The whole universe was going around himin circles fast and merging into him. Guruji recalledthat this experience at a young age led him to becomeunconscious. He felt again his head was spinning.Guruji questioned himself, “Is this real happening to meonce again?”

Before Guruji could realize what was going on, LordVenkateshwara appeared before him in the masculineform with feminine aspects. He said, “I amVenkateshwara, Bala, Balaji, and Bala TripuraSundari.”

Guruji did not know what happened to him. LordVenkateshwara touched Guruji and a bright spark ofdivinity pierced him through his forehead. Guruji wasspeechless and lost in tranquility. It was at this time,that he heard in a clear and soft voice, a verse fromIsaavasyopanishad recited in his ears.

Guruji lost track of time and presence, and continuedto just keep staring at the presence of divinity nearhim.

Lord Balaji delivered enormous knowledge to Guruji.This strange experience led Guruji to believe he was

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lost in an ocean of divinity, andwas enjoying every moment ofwhat was happening to him.

By the time Guruji regained hiscomposure and knew what washappening to him, he found thatmany had already left the temple.Realizing this, Guruji went andhad darshan of the Lord, andslowly made his way back home.

Many consider that it was thisoccasion that transformed Gurujiinto a divine soul. On his wayback from the temple, there weremany thoughts going on inGuruji’s mind.

“Why did I ignore and gradually losethe spirituality in me all these days?When I have spent so much time andenergy conducting research in my field,why not I allocate more time forspirituality? Are my current AirDefense projects that important?Counter acting to enemy’s air attacksmay begreat,but atthe endof theday,these areweaponsof

destruction. When destruction can occuron a large scale at the switch of abutton, why should I be a partner incrime?”

Childhood memories startedcoming to the forefront in Guruji’smind and kept bothering him onceagain.

“I have a decent job. Having settled indefense research life is sailing smooth.So far, so good. So should I continuestatus quo? If I continue to delve deeperin research, to what extent is itappropriate? To defend my country fromenemies is it valid to destroy fertilelands? Is it valid to harm and letinnocent civilians suffer? As aconsequence, huge fortune perishes.What is more relevant? Why not thiseffort be spent to save lives instead ofperishing them?”

These restless thoughts addedfuel to the fire in Guruji’s mind.As a matter of fact, Lord Balaji’sdarshan can be considered aturning point in Guruji’s life. Itfurther invigorated him to thinkdeeper.

“Should I continue with my modernsophisticated life style? In this lifetime,will spirituality lead me to higherlevels? Is it possible? If so, should Ipursue this? Possibly, I should delveinto this deeper without anyhesitation.”

Upon his return to Bombay,Guruji got fully engrossed in hisdaily activities, and never had anopportunity to explore his earlierthought process on spirituality.Even in case, he had theopportunity to think about it, hedid not know how to proceedfurther in that path.

Guruji and Ammah around the time they got married, about 55 years ago.

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Sri Chakra Avaranas & Chit Vimarsaby Sri B. Jayaraman & Smt. Vijaya

Sri Chakra Avaranas & Chit Vimarsapart 2part 2part 2part 2part 2

In the last Sri Chakra, Sri Jayaraman shared hisimmense knowledge on the nine levels of the Sri Meruand how each of them are related to an upasaka and hispersonal level of achievement regarding the Mother. Hereis the 2nd of his three-part piece.

Avarana 3In the third stage of Chit Vimarsa, Jeeva is

called Prajnya because jeeva consciously seeksananda primarily through his intellect anddeeper understanding and appreciation at thecausal level. The yoginis are Guptatara—veryhighly secret—others do not even know thatsuch secrets exist. This state is compared toSushupthi, which is the deep sleep where there isno mind and senses but only the memory aspectsof the brain.

Yoginis have no physical forms; they are“Anangas” who do not have any physical parts.Ananga Kusuma, Ananga Mekala etc. They arepurely conceptual. The chakra is called SarvaSankshopanam because everything is in itsessence. The siddhi needed at this stage isMahima—very great. The mudra—Anandastatus is rightly called Sarvaakarshanam—withjeeva’s intellect everything is automaticallyattracted towards him.

Avarana 4We have so far discussed three stages of Chit

Vimarsam and Ananda, which are commonto all but in varying degrees. The first threeavaranas represent the three avasthas ofordinary human beings, who go through thecycle of birth and death. Persons of good virtueand purity of mind with the abundant graceof Lalita become inquisitive and search for higherlevels of Ananda from within without any otherworldly thoughts. This is called “thuryaavastha”—the Transcendental Meditative state.

In this state there is no physical world forthem. They develop Akandaakaara Vrutthi, i.e.the meditative world has no boundaries or

limitations. In this state, jeeva is called“Chethas”— Scientific minded and this thuryaavastha continues until the ninth avarana, withmore and more chit vimarsam and udvegam, theurge from within.

The jeeva searches for that knowledge that istested and traditionally handed over throughgenerations, creating the term Sam Pra Daya.Sam is samyak, meaning very well; PraDaya means “handed through theparampara”—thus Sampradaya yoginis. Thesiddhi of this state is “Isithva”—that whichcontrols.

The sadaka realizes at this stage that he is themaster of himself and controls his mind andsenses. Sarva Vasankari Mudra indicates thathe derives ananda from within only, afterbringing his senses, mind and thoughts underhis control (“vasam” means to keep within yourcontrol). The greatest bhagyam is the ability toget Ananda from within. Hence, the name SarvaSaubhagya Dayaka Chakram.

Avarana 5The sadaka, during the course of “Iswara

Vichara,” having convinced himself aboutAnanda from within and havingdeveloped control over his mind and senses,develops an intense desire to acquire that greatknowledge from an enlightened Guru. Thesiddhi or attainment required is “VasithvaSiddhi,” i.e. he has everything within his controland he no more longs for anything.

The Guru also accepts him in view of thisattainment and thus the Kulam of Guru andDisciple get enriched with the grace of KulaUttheerna Yoginis. Attainment of Guru(Gurupasadhanam) ensures attainment of allpurusharthas—both bhoga and Mokshawithout any conflict. Thus this avaranam iscalled “Sarvartha Sadhakam.” With the intensethirst for the highest knowledge leading tomoksha beginning to get fulfilled with

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Gurupasadhanam, the upasaka isin an intoxicated ananda statecalled “Sarvonmadhini Mudra.”

During the very first contactwith Sri Guru the upasakarealizes that the great knowledgehe is going to receive is Brahmanitself and not different from theGuru—the state of ChitVimarsam is “PragnyanamBrahma.”

Avarana 6Having attained the greatest of

all saubhagyams and bhoga /moksha purusharthams, theupasaka now needs specialprotection from everything andeverywhere. Thus the nextavaranam is “SarvaRakshakaram.” The avaranadevatha yoginis are hidden inevery thing and offer protectionfrom within every where andhence called “Nigarbha Yoginis.”

The Chit Vimarsam of upasakais the readiness to listen to GuruUpadesam repeatedly withbubbling enthusiasm (Udvegam,the Urge from within) which isdescribed as “Sravanam.”

In this state he receives themessage from Guru—“Thaththvamasi”—Thou art that.

This profound Maha Vakya guideshim into Thathva vichara.

The Chit Vimarsa of upasaka inthis state of Sravanam / thathvavichara receives the grace ofNigarbha yoginis which leadsto the cave of the heart beyond thefive sheaths of Anna , Prana,Mano, Vignyana and Anandamaya Sariras wherePrathyagatman shines.

Nigarbha means: NitharamGarbhe Athi Rahasya SthaleSthithvath—Cave of heart, orNigarbha itself means Brahman,hidden to the ignorant butrealised by Chit Vimarsa ofthathva Vichara / sravanam.

The siddhi referred here is“Prakamya” Siddhi, meaningPrakarshena Kamyam i.e. Most

desired eternal Bliss. Prakamyasiddhi provides both Vidya /Vichara shakthi and Vi—Shuddhi. Based on the Sraddhaof the upasaka, he will attain theremoval of Avidya / ignorance byVidya Shakthi and the veryspecial purification of thoughts—Chittha shuddhi, the firstrequirement for thathvavicharam (knowledge of Self).

The Mudra of this avarana is“Sarva Mahangkusa” i.e. Anandaof getting anchored to thethathva vichara leading to betterand newer understanding.

Watch for the 3rd of three parts of SriJayaraman’s article in the next SriChakra.

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Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

Blossom 15 Petal 4

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Transcript of Blossom 15 Petal 4