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    Sri ChakraThe Source of the Cosmos

    The Journal of the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, Rush, NY

    Blossom 9Petal 1October 2005

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    Temple Firsts

    Our

    thoughtsthoughts

    our

    By Kamya Ramaswamy

    Dear Devotees,

    Ive always thought the best things arose out of curiosity, although the more negative among us seem to believe its what

    killed the cat. Curiosity, mixed with a little intelligence and bravery, is what gets our questions answered and its what makes us

    smarter and bolder in the end. It fuels our need for learning.

    A hunger for answers about a host of topics was also what fueled the revival of The Sri Chakra magazine. It started with

    Vijitha and I sitting around in the temple yajnashala on a Saturday night, throwing questions back and forth at each other that we

    were too embarrassed to bother Aiya with. These were not only questions about spirituality, but also how to reconcile our

    spirituality with the pressures and culture of living in the West.

    Just how damaging (if at all) are egg-mixed foods to ones body? If gold is so important for Hindus, why is a state of

    detachment from material objects so valued? If social drinking is a no-no, what is the deal with theviseshargyam in Sri Chakra

    puja? (I hear Bagalamukhi puja requires a straight shot of brandy!)

    Maybe it was the late hour that contributed to the philosophical turn of the conversation, but we knew others in the

    temple would be just as curious as we were about the answers to these questions. If you know the answers to these things, donttell uswrite an article about it instead.

    Its the one thing I appreciate about Catholicism, although most of my Catholic friends are struggling Catholics, at best

    even if theyre not fans of the religion, at least they have been taught standard answers to the questions that outsiders are bound

    to ask. Meanwhile, how many of us Hindus know the scientific answer to why women shouldnt enter a temple while

    menstruating? What about the importance of kum-kum, or what its made of? Any guesses as to why we wear it on the

    forehead?

    Were not only curious about answers, folkswe need them.

    Abhi, Vijitha and I were honored when Aiya told us to revive his magazine, The Sri Chakra. Well do our best to let the

    ideas keep this thing afloat, but we need contributors to write some articles and put those ideas into fruition!! And if any of you

    kids are interested, were hoping to print a section called the Kids Corner with things written by you, and for you.

    This issue is all about firsts. Here, youll find stories from a plethora of devotees on their personal firsts with the

    Rajarajeswari temple.

    Look for us on the temple website every other month and keep sending your articles and story ideas to

    [email protected]. I know, Aiyas blessed feet are more dusty than shiny, but I thought Id try to appease him with

    that e-mail address.

    We would like to thank the following people for their endless support and help in reviving this magazine: Aiya,

    Dharshan Logendran, Dinesh Kumar, Karunanathan Jeyakumar, Kathy Allen, Muralee Mahathevan, Soumitra Sengupta, and all

    the contributing writers!

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    Temple Firsts

    September

    Newsletter

    September

    NewsletterPast Month EventsAadi Pooram, Sept. 7

    By Kamya Ramaswamy

    Varalakshmi Vratham, Sept. 19By Dinesh Kumar

    Varalakshmi Vratham or SumangaliPooja is performed in the Southern Partof India. This pooja is performed bymarried women for the health and long

    life of their husbands.This year, on the 19th of August, this

    pooja was performed in our temple.This year 54 women performed thepooja themselves. A big lamp wasdecorated like Devi, and Ammaperformed the pooja to that lamp. Eachof the Suvasinis who had alreadyregistered for the pooja were seatedaround the lamp, which was placedover the homa kunda on a platform.Each of the suvasinis were provided witha complete Pooja Set and a lamp withDevis face in silver. All 54 Sumangalisdid Shodasa upachara

    pooja to their individual lamps afterAiya chanted their Gotrams, names,and Nakshatrams.

    After the pooja the women tied thesacred thread around their right wrist.Aiya and Amma then blessed theSuvasinis. The suvasinis were given thePooja set that they used to perform thepooja to encourage them to continue theblessed ritual in their own homes.

    Ganapathi Chaturthi, Sept. 7By Abhi Somaskanda

    This years Chaturthi marked thebeginning of many beautiful ceremoniesat the newly built deck for theGanapathi behind the temple.Performing the first yagna in that homakunda since the Chandi homa before thetemple was fully built, Aiya spared nooffering (2780 aahuthis to be exact!)

    The festivals sponsors, Pravin andGratus, sat around the homa kunda withAiya, along with their family andfriends. The puja commenced withkalasa sthabana and a GanapathiTarpanam prescribed by Guruji thatallowed all the devotees present tosprinkle tirtham on a small, hand-shaped, tumeric Ganapathi.

    Aiya continued with an elaboratehoma, while everyone present circledaround the deck offering a few of the1008 modakas at a time. This wasfollowed by a grand cirumambulation ofthe temple for the final aahuthi, carriedby Prasanna.

    Afterwards, the abhisheka poured onfor more than a half an hour, with milk,pancha amrta, and turmeric water beingoffered to both the outside Ganapathi,the uttsava Ganapathi, who joined inthe festivities at the deck, and theAstra Devata. The installed kalasa wastaken around the temple in typicalSaturday pooja style - umbrella, torches,and all - by Gratus, and then finallyshowered on the Ganapathis.

    After lunch, the devotees worked hardto create a colorful backgrounddecoration for the procession, and theevening commenced at seven withshodasa upachara puja intertwined withGanapathi bhajans. The procession wasblessed with a warm night and plenty ofdevotees. The uttsava Ganapathienjoyed a whirl of laughter and dancingaround the temple.

    After giving Bali and offeringnaivedyam down at the deck once more,the evening came to an end.

    Aadi pooram is one of the specialevents at the temple that finds its charm inthe female-centred tone of thecelebrations. Every year in August wecelebrate the day that Devi became a

    womanthe day is full of snacks, andgifts for thefemales in attendance.

    The celebrationsbegan simultaneouslywith the morning puja on August 7,andconcluded by lunch.This yearsprogramme was slightly different due tothe presence of Mookambika Devi (inthe South-East Agni corner beside utsaGanapathi) and Vana Durga in front of theflagpole.

    In front of Mookambika was a hugespread of snacks. Vana Durga was sittingon a rolling table in the centre of thetempleduring the puja. In front of thetable was her bathing tub, and everyone

    was able to pour a cup of milk on her andathumb-sized Ganapathi statue.

    What was interesting was that therewas kusha grass in the milk. The templewas aptly packedby the time everyonethere had finished pouring a cup of milkon her, the morning puja was nearlyover. The abhishekam easily lasted onehour.

    After the abhishekam, theydressedDevi up, picked her up andstarted the procession around the temple.Aiya explained why she was goingaround the templein the old days, a girlwhohad justbecomea woman was taken

    through the village by herfamily becauseit was a good way to show that she wasof marriageable age.

    On this day, the morning and afternoonpujas were almost congealed into oneduring the procession outside, thevolunteers inside replaced the sannidhifruits and lauched intothe LalitaSahasranamam.

    The sannidhis gods were givennaivedyam and Aiya performed the balipuja, after which the official puja was

    over. However, gifts for all the women inattendance had yet to be given out.

    The gifts were sponsored by Anitasfamily (from Montreal), partlyincelebration of her 16th birthday. Anitadistributed all the presents in front of VanaDurga. They consisted ofa blouse piece,a turmericroot, kum-kum, and a lime.First they called all the little girls, whohadnt reached maturity yet. Then they

    called all the kanya girls who were stillunmarried.Next, they called the recentlymarrieds, who had been wed for 5 yearsor less. Three sumangalis received theremaining bundles, after which thefunction was complete and lunch wasserved.

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    Temple Firsts

    Upcoming EventsSharadha Navaratri, Oct 3

    By Kamya Ramaswamy

    Navarathri 2005 will pick up wherethe 2004 left off. Last year, thecelebrations invoked and installed the 10Dasamahavidyas into the homakundam, where they have been residing

    for the past year. The Mahavidyas are 10tantric aspects of Devi, among whichour Devi Rajarajeshwari is one. As partof this group, she is known as Lalita, orSodasi. The nine other devis around herrange from the most ugram renditionsof the female form to the more sattvikones. Worshipping any of these devis asones ishta-devata will bring one tomoksha, although the manner and thelength of time involved in doing thiswill vary.

    After invoking each of theDasamahavidyas last year, the templewill focus each day of Navarathri 2005

    on chanting the sahasranamams of eachdevi. Each of the 10 devis will beworshipped on each of the 10 days. Thechanting of the namams will beaccompanied by the correspondinghomam for each Devi. The DvajaArohanam commences on Monday,Sept. 26. Navarathri starts this year onMonday, Oct. 3, and concludes onWednesday, Oct. 12. Please encourageyour family and friends to attend thefestivities!

    In Two MonthsThe next issue of the Sri Chakra Magazine

    Devi willing, the next issue of the Sri Chakra Magazine will be up on the templeswebsite (www.srividya.org) by December 1st . The next issue will focus on the topicof Food and Drink. Such topics as To egg or not to egg, Ideal foods to offer fornaivedya, and the level of sadhana at which none of these matter, will be discussed.

    If you are interested in writing on any of these topics, please email us at the addressgiven in the front of the magazine ([email protected]). We are alsolooking for anyone who would like to submit or take photographs to go along withthe topics.

    If you would like to contribute, the deadline for submissions (photographs and/orarticles) is Monday, November 21. Please be a part of this effort and we look forwardto seeing your contributions and suggestions to help make this magazine the best it

    can be!Sri Gurubhyo Namah!

    Temple Address:The Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam6980 East River RoadRush, NY 14543

    Phone: (585) 533 - 1970

    Gratus carrying the Kalasam aroundthe deck.

    Chathu

    rthiP

    ictur

    es

    The sponsors all pray as Aiya

    shows the pancha aarathi to theyagna.

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    Temple Firsts

    They say that a first impression is

    a lasting impression. Based on

    what these devotees share about

    their first experiences with Sri

    Chaitanyananda (Aiya), Sri

    Gnanamba (Amma), and the

    temple, its not just one of those

    things people say. From Gratuss

    honest disclosures, to Aparnas

    dream-like recount, each

    devotee has experienced the

    infinite grace of Devi. For a few of

    them it was all about letting go of

    fears, shame, and bad experiences,

    and for others it was finding

    generosity, humility, and finally

    coming back home. Please enjoy

    their stories and remember your

    own first memories of Devi.

    Temple

    Firsts

    Temple

    Firsts

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    Temple Firsts

    Story

    Aparnas

    I often recall my first meeting withAiya like a dream. Everything wasperfect, and seemingly predestined. Myseven years as a monastic in the SaradaConvent in India had provided me witha foundation in puja, bhakti, andkundalini yoga, as well as theconfidence to pursue any avenuetowards the goal of God Realization. Butit was truly fortuitous that I was brought

    to Aiya for the first time in the companyof four dear friends on the occasion ofNavaratri 1996.

    The pilgrimage from Philadelphia toRochester was originally planned as asoul-saving trip for our friend Bruce, aman who had the insight to know thathe needed a mantra to pursue spirituallife more seriously. Another friend, Eric(known more popularly as Kalidas) andI had done an inventory of availablegurus on the planet and decided tointroduce him to Aiya. I had not yet metAiya myself, but the stories that Kalidasshared about this householder guru

    impressed me. I expect a guru to walkthat line between humility and spiritualpower, and Aiya seemed to be thegenuine article.

    Yet the anticipation of meeting a holyman for the first time was immense, andso it was an added blessing that destinybrought together my friends Steve,Kathy, Kalidas and Bruce - theinnermost link of my spiritual familywhom I now refer to as The PhillySangha. We each approached the

    journey with reverence, and we wereeach rewarded by Devis infinite grace.

    When we arrived at 33 Park Circle,Aiya was immediately and incrediblyattentive. Amma fed us, and I was sooostruck by their Indian hospitality. Iresponded with unabashed enthusiasmand excitement. The questions andanswers flowed, the conversation waslively, and even though it was the third

    day of Navaratri, there were few visitorsaround. I was never made to feel that wewere anything less than welcomedguests.

    Since there was time before eveningpuja, Aiya asked if he could show us thenewly acquired temple property inRush. I didnt know why we had to getback in the van to see an empty lot Ihad been through the California-New-Age-Circuit and I was a bit cynical aboutanyone wanting to build another temple.But I did enjoy the vast landscape andthe apple trees and I thought that even ifhe never built anything there, it was a

    beautiful place to worship God.When we arrived back to his house,

    Aiya talked to us for a bit longer in thebasement before we all prepared forpuja. The five of us sat together againstthe back wall, facing the Devi. Othersarrived and sat in front of us, but Ibarely noticed. I wasnt there towitness the puja, or even participate,but rather to ride the waves of theenergy which the pujari generated bysacred ritual. I wrapped myself in awhite prayer shawl and chanted my

    Ramakrishna mantra through much ofthe evening. It was a relief to feel thewaves of blissful energy rejuvenate mysoul. Months later, Aiya told us that hesaw the Devi dancing on our laps thatnight and perhaps that is why hegave us mantra diksha that evening,graciously planting the seeds for Deviconsciousness within us. For that, I willalways be grateful and in his debt. And

    so I offer this testimonial at the gurusfeet.

    By Aparna Hasling

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    Temple Firsts

    We came to Zambia in February1972, and we were put up in a hotel, andthe first person we ran into was Aiya. Asusual, he was doing his type of charityworkcollecting money for somebodysfuneral. That day, itself, we spoke tohim. It wasnt just that he was from SriLanka, like us there was somethingabout him that drew us both to him.Once we found out he was havingbhajans and pujas, I was very interested.At about October 1972, it was a muchcloser relationship. When Saru was

    born, I literally looked after her becauseAmma used to go to work and she lefther with me. I had the privilege of beingable to clean up and cook for the pujawhen Amma couldnt do it. We becamemore like a family than just friends

    In Zambia, there was a group offlats there, and we were living inopposite flats. Fridays, we never missedone event. Bhajans, we never missed onThursday. Each day we went, thecrowds got bigger and the pujas gotmore intense with Lalita Sahasranamam.Friday pujas were always at Aiyasplace, and bhajans were at different

    places, but Aiya always conducted them.The Lalita Sahasranamam was veryintense there, especially when Ammawas ill. I think it was the power of thechantingbecause it was done with somuch faith, that she got better soon.

    Once Guruji came to Zambia in1979, we both went to Gurujis place andAiya was able to take me around theareaAiya received diksha in October1979 and I received it on Babas birthday,

    November 23. At the time that Gurujigave me diksha, he also gave me aBalatripurasundari vigraham.

    Even after Aiya came to Americaand we were still in Africa, every timeour contract was over and we had somevacation, we always came to visit Aiya.We would stay with him for at least one

    month. One time in 1988, I came when Iwas so illI didnt think I wouldrecover. But just sitting with Aiya andAmma in the shrine room, I got betterright away.

    Aiya left Zambia for the States in1980. We left for Botswana a monthlater, but we kept in touch over thephone. In 1991, we came here. I think itwas 1991 or 1992 that Aiya gave us apeetam. He called it KrauncheshwariPeetam, or the North Americanpeetam.

    Even when I have become ill overthe last few years, when I was really

    bad, Aiya put a little Devi pendant onme to protect me. At this point, I feel Imay be able to go a little more often tothe temple. Of course, winter is out, butwhen the weather is good, Im hoping tocome much more often!

    I think Aiyas kindness makes adifference and his generous spirit is aninspiration. Im so thankful to him fornot only imparting information, but alsoa passion for learning and growing.

    Chitra MahendransStory

    By Mrs. Chitra Mahendran

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    Temple Firsts

    Gratuz (Whats his last name?)I love Aiya and Amma very much.

    Other than that there is very little thatmatters and even less that needs to besaid.

    But for those who care to read on, hereit goes.

    I met Aiya first in 1999. He came to

    attend some conference on Hinduism inToronto. The first thing, and maybe theonly thing, I noticed was that Aiya wasthe only one without a beard.

    I saw Aiya again two years later. I wasin Jeya annas car, in the back seat. Aiyaturned around and said to me, we allhave to die sometime. That was thefirst thing that Aiya ever told meif thatseems a little odd to you, then it isbecause you dont know that we weregoing to a funeral at the time. Later thatday, going the other way on the samehighway, Aiya initiated me. I still recallthe difficulties of putting together

    pancadasi in my head. I retained it forabout two seconds. Luckily, Kumaranwrote it down and gave it to me. I stillremember how I kept that piece ofpaper for about a month. For about twoweeks, I was actually chanting it wrong.I am probably still chanting it wrong,but no paper can help me now.

    I made my first trip to the temple in2002. It was the first day of Navaratri. Iwalked in and looked in a little confusedas to why all these people were in thatroom. Then I realized, that room IS thetemple. And what a temple it is. My visitto this temple was my second visit ever

    to any temple. I have since been to manytemples, and all of them pale incomparison. Small but powerful, toquote our campers from last year. Ofcourse this temple has since grown, butit has grown with style.

    Devi, as I doubt any of the regularvisitors would disagree, is very muchalive here. However, what I havelearned is that whatever is in that statueis more like an answering machine,where those who come can leave amessage and Devi will get back to them.She is out and about, and you couldnever tell where, and/or in whom. Sure,

    she may assume an individual body, butmore importantly she jumps fromperson to person. As if she isexperiencing them, thereby grantingthem an experience of her.

    During my first visits I often tookoffence at certain things that I sawpeople do. It had nothing to do with theway they did puja, cause I still dontreally know how to do puja. It didnthave anything to do with the way theytalked to mesince everybody here has

    put up with me quite happily. It wasmore little things that I noticed. It wouldbe just one person that day, and I wouldnotice that person do something oddsomething that I would expectelsewhere, but something that I wouldnot expect from someone at a temple. Iwould leave with that impression: why

    did that person not see the lack of, letssay decency, in doing what they haddone?

    On my next visit, I would have astartling experience of the same persondoing something only a saint would do.That person would do something withsuch compassion and with such loveand kindness, that it would genuinelysurprise me and I would simply have toscratch the previous image from mymind. However, without fail, I wouldfind someone else doing something

    quite peculiar; and without doubt, thenext time I came, the very person whosomehow managed to offend me wouldagain seem like the most magnificentperson here. It took me a while, but Ichose to no longer judge these people oranyone else.

    As I had said before, Devi jumps fromperson to person. It was she who madethose persons do what they did, bothbefore and after. I doubt it was solely to

    teach meit was simply a part of a playshe puts on. It helped me grow in theway I described above, and I am sure ithelped others who were involved.

    Pride was a big factor. I personallyconsider pride and jealousy to be trivialobstacles compared to fear and shame.But at the time I had first come to thetemple, more than afraid or shameful, Iwas proud. I would like to say it wasntentirely my fault but it probably was.Somehow, people started being

    impressed by the fact that I did morethan one Lalita Sahasranamam a day,even before I was initiated. Furthermore,they started commenting on the fact thatI was so lucky to obtain pancadasi andother mantras even before coming to thetemple. By the time I came here I wasconvinced that I was special. To add fuel

    to the fire, I found some quite odd andentirely untrue stories had beencirculating regarding the strength of mytapas. So it was, in retrospect, nosurprise that I was full of it. I know nowthat my great friends, Pravin andKumaran, who can tell no story withoutadding there own little embellishments,had in my absence laid it on real thick. Ifeel sorry for the people who actuallybelieved them.

    Naturally, Devi would not allow prideof that level to stay for too long. As timewent on and I continued to come to thetemple, I realized I had no clue, just like

    most others. The pride that had beenthere turned into a secret shame. Secret,because no one really knew how proud Ihad been, and now no one knew howashamed I was of having been thatproudwell, I guess its not a secretanymore.

    Shame comes in many ways. I dontknow which ones worsefear orshame. I guess it would be really bad ifone was afraid to be ashamed, orashamed to be afraid. Or maybe thatsthe solution? I dont know.

    Things have changed since I havecome here. I have certainly lost interest

    in the ritual portion of the temple. Itseems more like an obstacle that must beovercome so that breakfast time can turninto lunch time. My attention span is soshort, I could fall asleep doing pancha-upacara puja. Give me a seat, and I willturn it into a bed. So it is no wonder thatI do not attend Vish uncles way toolong for me Chandi Homams, and evenduring Saturday puja I spend most ofthe time just drinking tea in the hallway.

    I love the food. Even Ammas sambar(that has come under heavy criticismin recent times) is a great meal afterthose long will it ever end pujas. I

    love coming to the temple, in allhonesty,just to drink tea and eat food.

    I hope Devi will continue to overlookmy shortcomings, misgivings andill-conceived intentions, so that I maycontinue to come here to drink teaand eat food, and maybe play a littlevolleyball

    So that this looks like it was writtenby a disciple, let me add:Sri Gurubhyo Namah.

    By Gratus Devanesan

    Gratuss

    Story

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    Temple Firsts

    All jokes aside, the first time Imet Aiya was nightmarish. I was 11years old when my parents and a few ofour relatives carted us off for hours andhours in a car in December 1993. Afteralmost an eternity of slipping in and outof consciousness in a rusted station-wagon, we arrived in the middle ofnowhere. All I could see were metres of

    snow and a few sticks here and there,which lay sprawled in front of a cozy-looking house. This, as I found outyears later, was 33 Park Circle.

    It was a much more blistery andscary winter than Id ever seen before,partly because I didnt know where Iwas. All I knew was that people werecrammed into this tiny room with abunch of gods in it. And they keptdoing namaskarams to this one guy whowas doing the puja. I was bored. Icouldnt wait to get out of there and gohome.

    Much to my chagrin, we went

    back to the sticks the following summer.I started to like the puja guy a littlemore, because he seemed to be good atanswering my questions aboutHinduism. Somehow, getting answersmade me a little more interested in my

    culture. As I sat in the library by myselfone evening before the Friday puja, I feltita sudden desire erupted in me tochant the Lalita Sahasranamam. Idnever looked at it before, but I felt Ineeded nothing more than to learn it,and to learn it fast.

    Later that evening, my brotherKanna and I were tired even when the

    puja was still going strong. I was gladthat my amma understood and showedus where we could go to bed, but Iwasnt pleased shortly after when shewoke us up again. Apparently, the pujaguy wanted to give us something.

    But after we dragged ourselvesdown there, he just told me and Kannato repeat a few words after him! I feltripped off. I got out of bed for this? Butwe kept saying those few wordseveryday for the next several years.Eventually, I realized we had gottenmantra diksha. It wasnt until I was 21that I found out how powerful those few

    words werechanting them was whataltered Kannas fate over the followingyears and prevented his pancreas fromdisintegrating like it was originallysupposed to.

    We all slept that night in thelibrary, which, as I recall, had nowindows and no lights. I woke up inthe middle of the night to pitchblackness, unable to breathe, and Irealized I was having an asthma attack.Luckily, I passed out again due to sheerfear, but later came to the conclusionthat this puja guy couldnt be all THATholy if I nearly died in his basement. I

    was pretty sure I would never go backagain.

    Fast-forward eight years to June29, 2002. I was accommodating myammas wish for an anniversarypresentshe wanted to make a trip tosome temple in Rochester, which I couldvaguely remember was run by that pujaguy. She had been going for years, allthe while hitching rides with otherpeople. She wanted to go at least oncewith her family so I figured I couldspare one Saturday for her.

    As soon as we came in, we sawAiya, who asked me to tie my hair back.

    I dont quite remember what elsehappened that day, other than a bit ofdehydration and severe restlessness athaving to sit through a puja that lastedhalf the day. But I remembered I reallywanted to come back to this crazy place.And I really wanted to have Aiya be apart of the rest of my life. So we didcome back the next week. And theweek after that, and the one after thatas well. And although Im sure Aiyahas had enough of me, Im still comingback now.

    Kamyas

    Story

    By Kamya Ramaswamy

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    Temple Firsts

    Om Sri Matre Namaha! Praises to Shewho is the Mother of the Universe.Praises to She who guides each divinesoul on its journey to return to Herembrace. The first time I visited the SriRajarajeshwari Peetham of Rochester,NY the direct and overwhelmingexperience of Her Divine embracebrought tears of joy and utter solace to

    me. I knew in every cell in my body thatthis was my ultimate Home.Aiya has taught us that each name of

    the Sahasranam has endless meaningsand that Devi herself will reveal thoselayers of meaning to one who meditatesupon these sounds. In hindsight, Irealize that She has been leading me ona path which will ultimately bring meback to my Home, the final resting placein Her arms. Sri Matre Namaha! Shewho measures and gives the spiritualaspirant what they need, when theyneed it, patiently guiding them back toHer.

    Since I was born an American to non-Hindu parents, my introduction toHinduism was through my universitystudies. I traveled to Nepal for myjunior year in college and lived with aHindu family, was taught by Hinduprofessors and visited great Hindu andBuddhist temples. But still I did not findmy Home. The year after I graduatedfrom university, I traveled with myHinduism professor to Calcutta for ninemonths to study Bengali Vaishnavpadavali kirtan. I traveled all over WestBengal and across North India all theway to the Western state of Rajasthan. I

    felt at home in Calcutta and met myfuture husband during this time, but stillI did not find my Home.

    While in India I realized that mylonging for my spiritual Home had ledme on these two trips to Nepal andIndia, but my academic pursuits did notprovide the direct experience of Deviwhich I was seeking. When I returnedto the US, I visited my grandparents inRochester, who introduced me to theirneighbors niece who had just returnedfrom Devipuram. She showed me herphoto album of Sahasrakshi in the SriMeru temple and talked about Aiya/

    Amma and Guruji/Guruji Amma.

    However, it wasnt until three years laterwhen I moved to Philadelphia that I metanother group of friends who wouldfinally bring me to Aiya/Ammas Home.

    It was the third day of Navaratri,Tuesday October 15, 1996 when five ofus arrived at 33 Park Circle in a silverVW van from Philadelphia. Aiya wasexcited to show us the new property

    recently purchased in Rush, so weoffered him the van keys, Aiya gotbehind the wheel, we all hopped back inthe van and Aiya drove us to the newproperty. I remember the crisp fallweather, the expansive blue sky and thetart apples which Aiya plucked andoffered us from the trees on theproperty.

    That night the puja completelywashed over me. Despite myexperiences in North Indian temples andclassroom studies of Hinduism, theabhishekham, chanting and rituals werecompletely new. I remember the radiant

    smiles of Sagar and Toshi and thepalpable atmosphere of a loving familyworshipping the Mother of theUniverse. I remember Aiya encouragingus to bathe Devi with milk and not to bescared to touch Her with our ownhands. And I remember Aiya initiatingus into mantra diksha. However, itwasnt until the following morning,when I crept back into the shrine roomby myself, and sat staring at the Motherin the early morning light that I fully feltHer embrace. She told me, You donthave to keep seeking, you are Homenow. With her thousand gentle arms,

    She pulled me into Her chest, like asmall child returning to a mothers lap.The pain of separation was gone. Aboundless bliss overwhelmed me and allI could do was cry like a baby in myMothers arms.

    As we loaded the car to drive back toPhiladelphia, Aiya gave each of us smallkeepsakes and a photograph of Devi toremind us of our visit. These smallitems immediately became the centerfocus of my new shrine back inPhiladelphia. Even though I did nothave the chance to return to Rochesteruntil nine months later, I was completely

    satisfied knowing that I had found my

    By Kathy Allen

    Kathys

    Story

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    Temple Firsts

    It all started out when we came toIndu Chachis house for puja. Let metake one minute to tell you who theyare. She is our old family friend thatcame to the Sai center in Syracuse. Socoming back on topic, that day I willnever forget. When I first walked in I

    had no clue who Aiya was but I felt aconnection.

    Indu Aunty then introduced usto Aiya. From that day until now I feelthat same connection. Its a connectionthat I cant explain in words to anyone.When my parents found out he had atemple in Rochester we started comingpretty much every weekend. That wassomething I always looked forward todoing every week.

    Then, one day my mom camehome from work and said we weremoving. At that moment I was so sad,but later I asked her where and she said

    Rochester. I was so happy that I couldhave given $1,000 to every person I metthat daythat is if I had that muchmoney.

    When we moved to Rochester wegot the great privilege of living rightnext to the temple at the temple house.We moved in a year after the Devimoved from Aiyas house at 33 ParkCircle. It was so much fun. Most of thetime I was so happy because I knew thateveryday, I was going to see Aiya at leastonce. I was about two years old when Ifirst met him and he has known me eversince. I hope I get this chance of being so

    close to an awesome yet intelligent soulevery life.

    Purvajas Story

    By Purvaja Kamat

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    Temple Firsts

    Sri Gurubhyo Namah