Early this morning at 3:30 am on this holy day of Vaikasi Vishakam, in a “rahasya” ceremony, only attended by the swamis, Yogi Jivananandanatha, after 12 years of training and dedicated service, conducted his own funeral homa and emerged from the rites as Siddhanathaswami. After the home, he went to the river to bath, was blessed with abhishekam by his brother sannyasins and returned to the Guru peedam for blessings from Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami and formal taking of vows.

We will share with you some inspiring excerpts from the solemn oath taken by Siddhanathaswami during the homa ceremony. He declares:

“All that I have and all that I am I now give unto my God, my Gods and my guru. I have no family except the Divine Father Siva and Mother Sakti who dwell in Kailas and on Earth the sangam of Saivite devotees.I have no home except the stillness of Being. I have no possessions except my faith and dedication. I have no desires except my desire to serve and to realize God. I, wishing for mukti, take refuge in this sacred Order and in God Siva, who created the world, who breathed out the Vedas. The purpose of my life is to cultivate dispassion, to become pure, to attain union with God Siva and be immersed in Divine Love. I do fully and of my own volition accept these Holy Orders of Sannyas, now and for the remainder of my life, and bind myself in the fulfillment thereof to the ancient Order of sannyas, to my satguru, to my Saivite Hindu faith and to the devas, the Mahadevas and Lord Siva Himself. I am the Atman, the non-dual Parasiva, pure and free.”

In the Guru Peedam our new swami reads further inspiration from the writings of the Paramapara and takes more vows.

Our new swami reads aloud his vows of renunciation, purity and obedience, humility and confidentiality.

Symbolically the new swami walks off toward Mount Kailas, but all his brothers call him back to a life of service, to join the Saiva Siddhanta Yoga order, which is described, in the Holy Orders of Sannyas booklet… in part:

“SPECIAL MISSION FOR SWAMIS OF THE SAIVA SIDDHANTA YOGA ORDER OR THOSE sannyasins who enter the Saiva Siddhanta Yoga Order after receiving sannyas diksha there are, in addition to the foregoing, special obligations pertaining to the mission of the Order and their part in fulfilling that mission. First, the Saiva Siddhanta Yoga Order is a sangam, a spiritual community or brotherhood of Saiva swamis assembled together to continue the work of the Siva Yogaswami Guru Parampara and to live and teach Saiva dharma and Saivite culture. It is, then, an order of vagmis, or contemplative teachers, and not of munis, or solitary ascetics and wandering sadhus. Its members dedicate themselves to the mutual objectives of the whole Order, forgoing, especially in their younger years, any personal or individual interests or activities which might detract from the effort of the entire sangam of renunciates.”

Siddhantaswami then reads his

OATH OF ENTRANCE INTO THE SAIVA SIDDHANTA YOGA ORDER.

“I have studied and meditated deeply on the foregoing section describing the special mission of the Saiva Siddhanta Yoga Order and confirm that I have met all of the qualifications for entrance into this renunciate Saivite brotherhood. I understand that this is a lifetime commitment and that I am expected to follow the highest standards of spiritual discipline and service as outlined in these Holy Orders of Sannyas, working in harmony and one-mindedness with all other members of this Order. I pledge my wholehearted dedication to protecting, preserving and promoting the Saiva Dharma, the monistic theism of Saiva Siddhanta and Saivite culture as summarized in Dancing with Siva, Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism, vowing to live and teach the philosophy and theology found therein without alteration or compromise. Finally, I vow to faithfully and strictly follow and uphold the orthodox dharma of the Saiva sannyasin, including my five lifetime vows and all special instructions and responsibilities which may be noted under Additional Individual Missions, Ordinations, Sadhana and Tapas.”

All the vows are signed by our new swami, then by Bodhianatha and witnessed by all his brothers.

He prostrates three time before his initiating Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

Receiving more robes….

Rudraksha beads…

and new gold ear-rings.

A picture with Gurudeva standing in the background. The lineage lives on! Jai Gurudeva, Jai Bodhinatha

And jai to our new Siddhanathaswami!