The Path of the Satgurus

Today we share more background on the profound arrival of the eight Satgurus of our Nandinatha lineage, following their placement in Narmada Valley a few days back. It has created quite a transformation of an already lush and beautiful space.

Seeing all of this, one of our CyberCadets wrote this poem, to express how we all feel about this achievement. It took many years, more than a decade, to complete, with hundreds of people involved quarrying rock, carving, recarving, crating, shipping, installling. We will tell a bit of the story in the following captions and invite all to celebrate with her poem:

Blessed are the eyes that saw
Blessed the hearts that gave
Blessed the hands that carved
Blessed those that tied, lifted and moved
Blessed those that placed it safe
And offered a flower and more
Blessed the bird that bears witness
the plants, trees and river that quietly watch
Blessed the feet that walk that path
And, blessed those that feel the bliss

Blessed those that enable it all
Silent and frozen
Yet, alive and present
guiding every task, big or very small
Blessed He who watches
All that happens within and out
His Will be done, not yours, not mine
An inner smile will surely shine
A tear or two will find a way out
And drench Those Feet in gratitude!

Infinite love and eternal gratitude

Aum Namah Sivaya!

Gurudeva sits on a lotus pond, immersed in Sivaness.

It is all the amazing work of the Jiva Rajasankara family who manage the carvers at our site in Bengaluru, India.

All done with the simplest of tools, hand-held chisels and a mallet

Nandinatha blessing the pilgrims.

He is the first one we greet. All are arranged around the 1,350-foot path, in order of their lives.

His sacred symbol is the Sivalingam, carved into the base

This is his disciple, Tirumular

His base is still in India, so he is on the ground temporarily.

He is scribing the famed scripture, Tirumantiram, on palm leaves.

Next is Rishi from the Himalayas

Between Tirumular and Rishi there were some 155 satgurus, whose names are lost to history. These unnamed sages are represented as yogis carved into the mountain behind Rishi.

He is the one who stepped into a teashop in Bengaluru one day, and did not move for seven years!

Kadaitswami is next on the path

He is the judge who refused to condemn a murderer to death, and renounced the world, walking out of a Bangalore courthouse and giving it all up to fall at Siva\

s feet. '

He is the Satguru who took our Saiva Siddhanta lineage to Sri Lanka.

Then comes Challappaswami.

He too is on a lotus pond,

waiting for his base to arrive.

Declared he: \"There is no intrinsic evil.\" \"All is truth.\"  \"We know not.\" \"This all is perfect and complete.\"

Yogaswami is nearby

This is an early rough cut of Yogaswami\

s murthi in India'

And a concrete model they made to guide the sculptors\

hands'

He faces his guru, Chellappa

Gurudeva is number seven

His sacred symbol, appropriately, is Siva Nataraja, carved into the base. He holds a conch of vibuthi, to bless all who approach him.

Finally, Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami.

Hands in anjali mudra, he surveys the Narmada lotus pond. Amazingly, the first lotus in four years bloomed the day after we placed him here.

Each of the eight Satgurus has a slightly different base, designed by Selvanatha Sthapati

Jai to the Nandinatha Sampradaya! jai....

Some of the instructions which were given to the carvers

}
];

transitionSpeed:150});