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Mahasamadhi Day Two

Today we celebrated our second day of our Gurudeva Mahasamadhi activities. The day began in Kadavul Temple with a the chanting of Sri Rudram and a short puja conducted by Sadhaka Jayanatha and Sadhaka Dayanatha. Even before the puja had begun, Gurudeva's presence could be felt as a powerful love and inner stillness radiating out from his tiruvadi. Following the final arati, everyone sat for a silent meditation.

After the pilgrims enjoyed breakfast and the morning Siva puja, everyone gathered in the Guru Peedam for a class with Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami. Swamigal discussed many things, including recent positive happenings and also about how we should respond to hostility, which he explained through several real-life stories. The group also discussed ways in which we can maintain Gurudeva's presence in our everyday life.

Paramacharya read a poem, called "Who Was It?",
that he wrote to Gurudeva during a past Mahasamadhi Festival


Who was it who captured my errant heart
and save me from a common life?
My Gurudeva, whose love for me
was greater than my love of the fleeting world.

Who took me in and in, revealing the core
of this vast cosmos to be my very Self?
My Gurudeva, who every waking moment
knew the Self of all as his very Self.

Who drove the demons of distraction
from my mind, never to return?
My Gurudeva, whose perfectly one-pointed
mind permitted not the slightest wavering.

Who shattered the charade of self-interest
and unshakled me from ego's confinements?
My Gurudeva, whose humility was so pure
it shamed away petty self-importance in all who approached him.

Who set me on the path of self-transformation,
uprooting the weeds of worry, wantonness and weakness of will?
My Gurudeva, whose iron will knew no resistence
in this world or the next.

Who opened doors and windows of the mind,
that my constrained perceptions could soar in the larger world.
My Gurudeva, who lived a life on Earth,
a life in Siva's Elysium and a third between.

Who taught me life's practical lessons,
that my youthful sassiness could turn to something useful to others?
My Gurudeva, who knew the world's ways
and achieved everything he set his mind to do.

Who introduced me to the Gods
and made me fall with affection at Siva's holy feet?
My Gurudeva, who taught me what pure love is
and walked, a living Siva, on the Earth.

Who took my hand and kept me strong
when days were dark and doubts rained down unrelentingly?
My Gurudeva, whose strength I never measured,
who was the agile nemesis of all negativity.

Who gave me the gift of oneness that lies beyond divine union,
That which is prior to all things, the gift of infinite inclusion?
My Gurudeva, who knew all things, delighted in all things, was all things
and, possessing the All in all, could proffer it to those with hands outstretched.

Who saw through my crass humaness,
perceiving the divinity within, all the while redefining true humanity?
My Gurudeva, humanity's noblest son, freed of every dross,
and able to see only perfection in this world.

Who mended in me what many lives had broken
and set me on the golden throne of self-knowing?
My Gurudeva, my heart's ruler, whose loving light healed all it touched
with the palpable promise of perfections yet to come.

From Merging with Siva:
Older souls, seeking the Self beyond the mind, merge with the Spirit and with things spiritual. For them, a pure and nearly perfect life calls. They intuitively know that the profound merger of jiva in Siva is no easy task, to be accomplished in a weekend seminar or yoga class. So they go farther, they renounce, they take up the ideals of the four Vedas--not to parrot them, but to live them, just as did the rishis of yore. That leads to the path of the renouncer, to the sannyasin in the Indian tradition. Though it may not be your dharma to formally renounce the world, you can benefit your search immensely by knowing how the great ones seek to live and respond to life. You can find ways in the midst of your life to follow their example. Realize that the sannyasins, the sadhus and the host of nameless mendicants from the traditional orders of Hinduism do have built within them the spiritual, social, cultural structure that has survived siege and pestilence within the countries they serve. But most importantly, these three million soldiers of the within have survived the siege of their lower self, the pestilence of their own mind, and risen above to the heights.


8 Responses to “Mahasamadhi Day Two”

  1. Patty Hickey says:

    An encompassing expression of the Grace of Gurudeva. Feeling Grateful. Mahalo Gurudeva !

  2. Ramai Santhirapala says:

    Wonderful! Photos filled with darshan and a poem filled with Love. Thank you so much for this post. Jai Gurudeva!

  3. Patricia Hickey says:

    Jai, My Gurudeva Jai !

  4. Devi Tandavan says:

    Jai Gurudeva! Jai to the Mathavasis who carry forward His pure love and His immeasurable gifts to us. Om Namasivaya!

  5. Brooke says:

    That was a beautiful poem, truly beautiful… I’m just learning about Siva through Gurudeva’s books and I wish I could have known him – after reading this poem even more so.

  6. Martan Mann says:

    This poem is so beautiful.

  7. Rajen Manick says:

    Very inspiring poem indeed on Gurudeva. So simple and so meaningful ! Thank you Paramacharya.
    Aum.

  8. Annapoorani Ganesan says:

    Beautiful and so inspiring poem. Thank you so much and jai Gurudeva!

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