July Gurudeva Padapuja

Several days ago an afternoon pada puja was performed at Gurudeva's shrine. Each month during the Chitra nakshatra this contemplative abhishekam is done by the monks, bathing Gurudeva's tiruvadi in prana-filled substances such as milk, yogurt and honey.

"Where do you get devotion? Not from the teacher. The teacher is only an awakener. He imparts knowledge to you, a vibration to you. He awakens you to the possibilities of the grandeur within yourself." - Gurudeva

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s Jayanatha and Rajanatha perform the puja'

\"Devotion is the keynote to the fulfillment of duty.\"

Each month Wailua Mission devotees decorate the shrine with tropical plants

\"Abundance, materially and spiritually, comes to you when you cease to be attached to it, when you can take as much joy over a little pebble as you could over a precious ruby.\"

The monks chant Sri Rudram for the first half of the abhishekam

\"The power of giving is a very great power, a great power that comes to you through yoga. You hear about yoga powers, the power of levitation, the power of suspended animation, but the truly great powers are the power of giving, the power of concentration, the power of the subconscious control over your mind, body and emotions, the power of universal love, practical powers that can be used today\"

The reast of the puja is done in silence

\"Why cant you spiritually unfold until you learn to give and give and give and give until it hurts? Because that hurt is your block.\"

\"The person who has a heart full of joy, even if he doesnt have material possessions to speak of, always finds something to give; he gives what he has\"

\"A person attains relaxation and peace through a benevolent act in which he loses himself in anothers happiness.\"

\"The cycles of tension and release, tension and release which are constantly given birth to in the instinctive and intellectual state of mind are only broken as the unfolding soul expresses itself in devotion, breaking up the crust of personal concern and hurt feelings\"

\"You must train yourself to know where you are in consciousness at all times. When you can become fully aware of the states of consciousness through which you pass, there will be no one whom you cannot understand, no one with whom you could not communicate through the medium of love.\"

\"Love is the sum of all the spiritual laws. Whereas everyone is running around trying to get love, it is found in giving.\"

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