June 2019 Chitra Puja

Jai Gurudeva!

This morning the aadheenam celebrated our monthly padapuja to Gurudeva during the chitra nakshatra. Yogi Dayanatha and Nirvani Tejadevanatha performed the abhishekam, with Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, our monks and local members in attendance.

"In fact, this Self is so subtle as to be hidden from all but the most awakened. How can it remain so unknown? Simplicity is the answer. The Self is so simple, so uncomplicated, that the ramified external mind overlooks it. From birth to death and back to birth, we live in the ocean of Being and see only the fishes of objective perception. We neglect to notice that these swim in the ocean of Being. When man comes to a point, as he must, when the things of this world possess less attraction for him than the path toward merging with Siva, then only will he begin to detach himself enough to see the obvious, the Ocean of Sivaness that lies on every side, inside, outside, above and below. Then only will the merging we speak of here become meaningful to him. Then only will he be able to simplify his life and his thinking, his very perceptions, his hour-to-hour way of looking at things, enough to quiet the mind, for this Self can only be known in a quieted consciousness. Not even a thought can remain. Not a feeling. Not a hope or a question. One must be very pure for this realization to come, very pure indeed. The Self reveals itself, by the satguru's unique grace, to a mind that has, in a mystical but very pragmatic manner, eliminated itself. 'You must die before you die,' my satguru, Siva Yogaswami, said. That is all that needs to be said."Merging With Siva

Everyone makes their way to Kadavul before sunrise. Mount Waialeale and our flowering albizia trees look almost like snow at this purple morning hour.

Kadavul Temple shines its warm, welcoming glow

Inside we begin our day at Lord Ganesha\

s feet'

Then to Gurudeva\

s shrine for worship'

His black granite tiruvadi are freshly oiled

Yogi and Nirvani prepare to begin the abhishekam as Sri Rudram is chanted

Pranic substances such as milk, yogurt and honey are poured over the tiruvadi

For the panchamritam we use milk, ghee, honey, jaggery and bananas.

\"Self Realization is finding That which is beyond even superconsciousness itself, beyond the mind--timeless, causeless, spaceless.\"

The sun begins to rise and rains lightly fall.

As Rudram ends, the remainder of the abhishekam is done only to the sound of the rain.

Offering a flower for each of 108 Sanskrit names that describe Gurudeva

Then everyone takes a flower to be offered after chanting Mantra Pushpam

Om yopam pushpam veda

pushpavan prajavan pashuman bhavati

chandrama va apam pushpam, pushpavan prajavan pashuman bhavati

ya evam veda,

yopamayatanam veda,

ayatanam bhavati

After all flowers have been offered, the arati is lit

\"Whether you fully know it or not, you are the story of God. Your life is the story of evolution.\"

}

];