Blessings from Yogaswami
Aum Namah Sivaya!
Recently we celebrated Yogaswami's Mahasamadhi Day. We are ever grateful for the deep and fiery wisdom from this Lion of Lanka.
The Magical Songs of Siva Yogaswami
Based in pure Saiva Siddhanta, the Natchintanai affirm the oneness of man and God. Though Yogaswami dauntlessly stressed the nondual nature of Reality, he could never be labeled an Advaitin or Vedantin. He acknowledged the utmost peaks of consciousness but also the foothills that must be traversed to reach that summit, and constantly spoke of the Nayanars, the 63 Tamil saints who embodied his Siddhanta heritage and ideals. His message was summarized by him in two words, Sivadhyana and Sivathondu--meditation on Siva and service to Siva. With these two, he ever asserted, one can complete the journey.
Often Yogaswami would sing spontaneously, and--if fortune smiled--a devotee would write down the words to preserve for others to enjoy. His compositions consist of 385 songs, twenty letters and about 1,500 terse sayings. Yogaswami's teachings explore the mysteries of yoga, disclose the divine experiences on the path and praise Chellappaswami (his guru) and the Mahadevas, especially the supreme Lord, Siva. He goads us on to the feet of the guru, reminding us what a human birth is for: to serve Siva, to meditate on Siva, to find union in Siva.
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami Receives Diksha from Yogaswami
The aim of this book, produced by the monks of Kauai Aadheenam, is to ensure that Yogaswami's sacred teachings continue to be studied and sung across the world. Kauai Aadheenam in Hawaii, home of America's only Saiva Siddhanta spiritual order, is the fruit of the powerful diksha Siva Yogaswami conferred upon Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (Gurudeva) one auspicious full-moon day in May of 1949. We owe all our successes and blessings to this profound event and to the great Sage of Lanka. Sivaya Subramuniyaswami founded Kauai's Hindu Monastery to spread Saiva Siddhanta and preserve the rich Saivite culture of Jaffna.
The Story of Gurudeva's Meeting with Yogaswami
At age 20, in 1947 Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, then known as Robert Hansen, left his home in America and traveled to India and Sri Lanka in search of his guru. While the youth was in Colombo, Yogaswami sent Kandiah Chettiar (a devotee) to fetch Robert and bring him to Jaffna. But he was not brought to Columbuthurai right away. In preparation for his meeting with the sage of Jaffna,
Kandiah Chettiar had Robert stay for months in his home in Alaveddy. His daily routine consisted of arising before dawn and worshiping at the Kumbhalavalai Ganesha Temple followed by a day of solitude and meditation. Finally, one day Kandiah Chettiar announced, "It seems that today is a good day for you to meet Yogaswami." Chettiar sent his son Vinayagamoorthy to accompany Robert, giving him careful instructions as to how they should go and who should take them. Traveling in a bullock cart, their first stop was the Nallur Temple to seek the blessings of Lord Murugan, Who is enshrined there as a vel. Standing before the darkened sanctum, Robert had a brilliantly clear vision of
Yogaswami.
As soon as they reached the thatched hut in Columbuthurai, Yogaswami challenged Robert in a loud voice, "Did you see me anywhere?" Robert replied, "Yes, at the Nallur Temple," and the following conversation took place. Yogaswami:
"You are in me." Robert: "You are in me." Yogaswami: "I am in you." Robert: "I am in you." The meeting was later described in detail by Sivaya Subramuniyaswami:
"One day, I was invited to go to Yogaswami. Jnanaguru Yoganathan, affectionately known by the people of the area as Yogaswami, was a magnificent man. No one approached him unless they were in the right mood. Some were literally afraid of him. When within the radius of him, one could feel the atmosphere scintillating. One felt electricity in the atmosphere. Devotees would prepare themselves on the inside so everything was all right before visiting this guru.
My meeting with him was unusual because I was introduced, and he said, Come on in and sit down.' Everybody else prostrated before him. He said to me, You come in and sit down. You don't have to do that. You and I are one.' Then he started asking me the deepest of philosophical questions. I must have given the right answer each time; he seemed very pleased. As soon as he had asked the question, without hesitation I spoke the answer. Then he gave me the name I hold today, Subramuniya. You are white; Subramuniya [Lord Muruga] is white, he told me boldly. He was my guru, my master. Subra means the light that emanates out from the central source.' It just emanates out. Muni means a silent teacher, and ya means restraint. Subramuniya means a self-restrained soul who remains silent or speaks out from intuition, one who speaks out from the inner sky. He showed me the book he had on Patanjali's yoga aphorisms. I had studied Patanjali, too. We had just a wonderful, deep and inner meeting. He treated me more like a brother. He made me eat food with him, and we parted. Before leaving, I mentioned to my guru that I had established an ashram in nearby Alaveddy and would like to have his blessings. He said, "Fine, good, it will one day become a three story building. He began giving me many different kinds of instructions, such as "When you come back here, nothing will be gained and nothing will be lost" and "now you go and teach the realizations that you have had."
On the second visit with my guru, we had a beautiful time together, just meditating and enjoying a beautiful flow. Many people came. On the third visit, we had a beautiful conversation about the path. Then, as I was leaving his ashram and he was seeing me out, he gave me the hardest slap on the back that I had ever felt from anybody. With all his might he reached out and cracked me on the spine between the shoulder blades. It was tremendous. I would have fallen on my face if I had not been so tall. Some of the Hindu devotees were startled, too, because that is one of the most powerful ordination initiations ever given. After this initiation, he gave me some powerful instructions, 'This sound will be heard in America! Now go 'round the world and roar like a lion. You will build palaces (temples) and feed thousands.' With this diksha he sent me as a sannyasin to America, I was 22 at the time, and he was 77."
As they parted, devotees heard Yogaswami tell Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, "Whenever you want me, I will be with you." Vinayagamoorthy, who witnessed this moment, later wrote:
"It is said that a guru initiates his disciple by one of the four ways-- thought, word, look and touch. But, in Subramuniya's case we find that our Yogaswami knew of Subramuniya's presence at the Nallur Temple and gave darshan (thought); said, "You are in me. I am in you" (word); naturally looked at him (look); gave a blow on his back (touch) and hence showered and crowned him with all the blessings and power that has to be given by a guru to his disciple."
The above is excerpted from The Guru Chronicles.
5 Responses to “Blessings from Yogaswami”
From Our Gurus' Teachings
Archives are now available through 2001. Light colored days have no posts. 1998-2001 coming later.
April 4th, 2020 at 8:19 pm
Very blessed to have a wonderful darshan from satguru ..aum sivaya
April 5th, 2020 at 2:13 pm
As I write this, the moon is out, bright, so is the virus fear but dark, all is quiet outside, hiways, biways almost empty and hardly any move, morrow “we not know”, the whole universe is almost at standstill, but what consoles ones mind, are the teachings of Sivayogaswami and Gurudeva.
Need of the hour, are your blessings!
Om Sivaya
April 5th, 2020 at 6:27 pm
“AUM”.
April 14th, 2020 at 8:19 am
Jai Gurudeva!
April 16th, 2020 at 8:18 pm
No words to express about gurudeva.i had a lifetime chance to meet him in the late 80’s.he blessed me to solve some issue i had in my working place…Gurudeva sivayasubramuniya swami touched my head and chant mantra…that evening in my working the problem just got dissolved.I am so blessed i feel to have met him and still being connected.The article above touched my heart as though i am travelling in that time to witness it.