April 2022 Chitra Padapuja

Jai Gurudeva!

Over their recent full moon retreat, our monks celebrated the Chitra Nakshatra with our monthly padapuja to Gurudeva. Local shishya were able to attend this month's padapuja as well. Everyone enjoyed Gurudeva's calming presence as Yogi Dayanatha and Nirvani Tejadevanatha performed the abhishekam. Aum.

"There is no place to go except inside yourself." - Gurudeva

Gurudeva\: \"When we forget who we are, who we really are, we live in a consciousness of time and space, and we relate to the future, to the external us, to the past, and to our subconscious internal us. This can be rather confusing.\"

\"Most people are therefore confused and seek to distract themselves in an effort to find peace.\"

\"A conscious awareness of Now only comes when we remember who we really are. This doesn\

t mean we cannot plan for the future or benefit ourselves by reviewing experiences of the past.\"'

\"It simply means that we always remember that we are the essence of all energy, the source.\"

\"Return to the source. Merge with Siva. At the source there is always peace.\"

\"The key to this entire practice is to become consciously aware of energy. In this constant remembering we have the feeling of being the center of the universe, with the whole world functioning around us.\"

\"To be fully anchored in the knowledge of the source of our being, the eternal now can and must be a constant experience. It\

s easy to live in the now if you work with yourself a little every day and concentrate on what you are doing each moment.\"'

\"To begin to work toward establishing yourself in the eternal now, first limit time and space by not thinking about or discussing events that happened more than four days past or will happen more than four days in the future. This keeps awareness reined in, focused.\"

\"Be aware. Ask yourself, \

Am I fully aware of myself and what I\'m doing right now?\' Once you have gained a little control of awareness in this way, try to sit quietly each day and just be. Dont think. Dont plan. Dont remember. Just sit and be in the now.\"'

\"Thats not as simple as it sounds, for we are accustomed to novelty and constant activity in the mind and not to the simplicity of being. Just sit and be the energy in your spine and head. Feel the simplicity of this energy in every atom of yourself. Think energy. Dont think body. Dont think about yesterday or tomorrow. They dont exist, except in your ability to reconstruct the yesterdays and to create the tomorrows.\"

\"Now is the only time.\"

\"This simple exercise of sitting and being is a wonderful way to wash away the past, but it requires a little discipline. You have to discipline every fiber of your nerve system, work with yourself to keep the power of awareness expanded.\"

\"Regular practice of meditation will bring you intensely into the eternity of the moment. Practice supersedes philosophy, advice, psychology and all pacifiers of the intellect.\"

\"We have to practice to keep awareness here and now.\"

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