Beginning the 2022 Jivana Ritau

Today is the first full day of our new season, the Jivana Ritau. Early this morning, Satguru, monastics and members gathered in Kadavul Temple for a homa. Following an upadesha from Satguru, they then proceeded out the the aadheenam's flagpole to fly the dvaja for the new season.

Excerpts from Saiva Dharma Shastras about the this time of year:
"Beginning with Hindu New Year in mid-April, three seasons of the year divide our activities into three great needs of humankind the learning of scripture in the first season, Nartana Ritau; the living of culture in the second season, Jivana Ritau; and the meditating on Siva in the third season, Moksha Ritau. Thus we are constantly reminded that our life is Siva's life and our path to Him is through study, sadhana and realization. In ritau one, we teach the philosophy; in ritau two, we teach the culture; and in ritau three, we teach meditation.

During Jivana Ritau, the rainy season, from mid-August to mid-December, Living with Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Culture is the primary text. The key word of this season is work. The colors are rust, copper-maroon and all shades of red rust for earthy preservation, copper-maroon for fulfillment and red for physical energy. The Aadheenam's flag pole flies the rust-colored dhvaja, symbolizing environmental care. Copper-maroon and all shades of red adorn our smaller flags. This is the season of honoring and showing appreciation for those in the vanaprastha ashrama, life's elder advisor stage. The focus is on preserving what has been created, manifesting goals and fulfilling plans made in the past. Inwardly the emphasis is on direct cognition and caring for the practical details of the external world. Practicality is a word much used this season."

Changing the flag for the new season

\"The more experiences we can have during a lifetime and approach those experiences in a positive way...\"

\"the more we begin to crush out the instinctive elements\"

\"the more we begin to mold the intellect so it is like the superconscious mind rather than being like the instinctive area of the mind\"

\"the more we can begin to mold the physical atoms so that they become closer attuned to the spiritual forces emanating from the soul body\"

\"The more experiences we can have and face those experiences positively, the faster we evolve\"

\"The fewer experiences we have\"

\"the slower we evolve\"

\"The knowing of how to handle each experience that comes to us in our lifetime comes from the soul\"

\"It\

s our superconscious self\"'

\"The instinctive mind will want to run after certain experiences\"

\"and be repelled by other experiences\"

\"It is the area of duality, of likes and dislikes\"

\"The instinctive mind will react and resent experiences of a certain nature\"

\"The intellectual mind will rationalize other types of experiences that happen to us during a lifetime, argue them out and try to find out reasons why.\"

\"The superconscious mind of the soul will know the reason why.\"

\"It will come in an intuitive flash.\"

\"If it doesnt, it doesnt matter anyway.\"

\"The spiritual body of you, which is permanent,\"

\"has always remained constant.\"

\"It has always been constant because its directly in tune with the constant central source of all energy of the universe.\"

\"This one source of energy feeds through your spiritual body and out\"

\"through the intellectual sheath, the astral or emotional sheath, and the physical body.\"

\"So, identify yourself as the inner being.\"

\"Never see yourself as an outer being.\"

\"Then experience wont be reacted to.\"

\"It will be understood from a mountaintop consciousness.\"

\"Then experience wont be sought for the enjoyment of the experience.\"

\"The Self will be sought for\"

\"and the experience will be part of the path to you.\"

\"Each experience that we have is a good experience\"

\"because it molds us.\"

\"It shapes us, just like an artist would mold a piece of clay.\"

\"From an ugly hunk of clay\"

\"can emerge a divine being.\"

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