Love of The Gods, Part One
Author: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Description: Description: Gurudeva communicated clairaudiently with great devas to receive their advice and guidance. Hinduism, one religion under a single divine hierarchy, is the harmonious working together of the three worlds; religion blossoms for the Hindu as he awakens to the existence of the Second and Third Worlds. All Hindus believe in one supreme Being who pervades the entire universe. The Hindu is aware of God's divine presence especially in the sacred temple. The Hindu traditionally adopts a personal Deity chosen from the many Hindu Gods. The Gods are living Realities, intelligent beings who have evolved through eons of time and are able to help mankind without themselves having to live in a physical body. Puja is a form of communication with the devas and Mahadevas in the inner worlds. The devotion of the devotees strengthening the vibration in the temple, chanting and satsaṅga and ceremonial rituals all contribute to the sanctifying process, creating an atmosphere to which the Gods are drawn and in which they can manifest. It is important that we approach the Deity conscious and confident that our needs are known in the inner spiritual worlds. The radiation from these divine beings can be felt and it is known as darshan. "Guru Chronicles", "Master Course Trilogy", "Merging with Siva", Lessons 127-129.
Transcription:
Good morning everyone. Nice to be back.
And we're starting a new chapter from "Merging with Siva", "Love of the Gods". And we up to 1978. This is our first chapter of 1978. We were previously in 1972 for lots of chapters. And since we have a new time frame we get a quote from "Guru Chronicles."
"While Gurudeva's mystic explorations never stopped, they changed dramatically at this point. Rather than clairvoyantly reading akashic books, he communicated clairaudiently with three or four great devas to receive their advice and insights on current affairs that concerned him. These messages were vast and varied, from lofty dissertations on temple mysticism to earthy insights into the karmas of the newest monastic candidate. Most central were the communications with an overlord who last lived on Earth as an aristocrat 10,000 years ago. When called upon, he provided guidance, especially about the future, pointing out the best direction to be taken and speaking, in transcendental tones, of the importance of the work in which Gurudeva was engaged. This rishi's messages, often the most profound and precious of all, were carefully written in a notebook or scribbled on a napkin in some tea shop in Japan, at a coffee table in Chennai or in a cozy corner of Gurudeva's own office at the monastery."
Then we get lesson 127:
"The Nature Of Devotion.
"Devotion in Hinduism is known as bhakti. It is an entire realm of knowledge and practice unto itself, ranging from the child-like wonder of the unknown and the mysterious to the deep reverence which comes with understanding of the esoteric interworkings of the three worlds. Hinduism views existence as composed of three worlds. The First World is the physical universe, the Second World is the subtle astral or mental plane of existence in which the devas, or angels, and spirits live, and the Third World is the spiritual sphere of the Mahādevas, the Deities, the Gods.
"Hinduism is the harmonious working together of these three worlds. Religion blossoms for the Hindu as he awakens to the existence of the Second and Third Worlds. These inner worlds naturally inspire in man responses of love and devotion and even awe. They are that wonderful.
"Devotion in Hinduism occurs on many levels and at different cycles of time in the evolution of the soul. All forms of devotion are equally valid, and none claims itself as the only proper form of worship. There is devotion to the tribal Deities, to the scriptures, to the saints and to the satguru. But the most prevalent expression of worship for the Hindu comes as devotion to God and the Gods. In the Hindu pantheon there are said to be 330 million Gods. Even so, all Hindus believe in one Supreme Being who pervades the entire universe..."
A very important point. "All Hindus believe in one Supreme Being who pervades the entire universe." I had an opportunity recently to talk about Hinduism with the American ambassador to Mauritius. So he and his staff on Earth Day went bicycling and came across the Spiritual Park in Mauritius and were quite amazed to find that it was founded by an American. Sent us a nice friendly letter so we made a courtesy call on him and we were talking about Hinduism and he's amazingly knowledgeable about Hinduism. Spent time with the Calcutta Embassy for a long time and spoke some of the languages spoken in Calcutta, also Thailand. So we were talking about Hinduism, I forget that he said, but my answer was: "All Hindus believe in a one Supreme Being, they just don't agree on the name or the nature." That's the way I put it. But we all believe in a one Supreme Being.
"...The many Gods are perceived as divine creations of that one Being. These Gods, or Mahādevas, are real beings, capable of thought and feeling beyond the limited thought and feeling of embodied man. So, Hinduism has one God, but it has many Gods. There are only a few of these Gods for whom temples are built and pūjās conducted. Gaṇeśa, Śiva, Subramaniam, Vishṇu and Śakti are the most prominent Deities in contemporary Hinduism. Of course, there are many others for whom certain rites or mantras are done in daily ceremony, often in the home shrine. These include Brahmā, Sūrya, Sarasvatī, Lakshmī, Agni, Chandra, Ayyappan, Hanumān, Mariyamman and others..."
So Gurudeva makes an important point here on real beings. The Gods are real beings. Some Hindu traditions think of them as symbols. Ganesha's a symbol. And then they'll explain all the symbolism, every single aspect of the Murti will be explained as a symbol. But, that's not our tradition and it's not the case in many Hindu traditions, they're not simple symbols, they're real beings.
"...The Hindu traditionally adopts an Ishṭa Devatā. This is a personal Deity chosen from the many Hindu Gods, often according to the devotee’s family background or the feeling of closeness to one form of divine manifestation. It is the unique and all-encompassing nature of Hinduism that one devotee may be worshiping Gaṇeśa while his friend worships Subramaniam or Vishṇu, and yet both honor the other’s choice and feel no sense of conflict.
"The profound understanding and universal acceptance that are unique in Hinduism are reflected in this faculty for accommodating different approaches to the Divine, allowing for different names and forms of God to be worshiped side by side within the temple walls. It may even happen that one may adopt a different personal Deity through the years according to one’s spiritual unfoldment and inner needs."
Lesson 128:
"The Gods Are Living Realities
"The Hindu religion brings to us the gift of tolerance that allows for different stages of worship, different and personal expressions of devotion and even different Gods to guide our life on this Earth. Yet, it is a one religion under a single divine hierarchy that sees to the harmonious working together of the three worlds. These intelligent beings have evolved through eons of time and are able to help mankind without themselves having to live in a physical body. These great Mahādevas, with their multitudes of angelic devas, live and work constantly and tirelessly for the people of our religion, protecting and guiding them, opening new doors and closing unused ones. The Gods worshiped by the Hindu abide in the Third World, aided by the devas that inhabit the Second World.
"It is in the Hindu temple that the three worlds meet and devotees invoke the Gods of our religion. The temple is built as a palace in which the Gods reside. It is the visible home of the Gods, a sacred place unlike every other place on the Earth. The Hindu must associate himself with these Gods in a very sensitive way when he approaches the temple. Though the devotee rarely has the psychic vision of the Deity, he is aware of the God’s divine presence. He is aware through feeling, through sensing the divine presence within the temple. As he approaches the sanctum sanctorum, the Hindu is fully aware that an intelligent being, greater and more evolved than himself, is there. This God is intently aware of him, safeguarding him, fully knowing his inmost thought, fully capable of coping with any situation the devotee may mentally lay at His holy feet. It is important that we approach the Deity in this way—conscious and confident that our needs are known in the inner spiritual worlds.
"The physical representation of the God, be it a stone or metal image, a yantra or other sacred form, simply marks the place that the God will manifest in or hover above in His etheric body. It can be conceived as an antenna to receive the divine rays of the God or as the material body in or through which the God manifests in this First World. Man takes one body and then another in his progression through the cycles of birth and death and rebirth. Similarly, the Gods in their subtle bodies inhabit, for brief or protracted spans of time, these temple images. When we perform a pūjā, a religious ritual, we are attracting the attention of the devas and Mahādevas in the inner worlds. That is the purpose of a pūjā; it is a form of communication. To enhance this communication, we establish an altar in the temple and in the home. This becomes charged or magnetized through our devotional thoughts and feelings, which radiate out and affect the surrounding environment."
So that's a point that I've not generally made. "This becomes charged or magnetized through our devotional thoughts and feelings, which radiate out and affect the surrounding environment." In other words, the devotees are important. The devotion of the devotees, not simply the physical presence of the devotees, but the devotion of the devotees in the temple is strengthening the vibration in the temple.
Lesson 129:
"Communing With the Gods
"Chanting and satsaṅga and ceremonial rituals all contribute to this sanctifying process, creating an atmosphere to which the Gods are drawn and in which they can manifest. By the word manifest, I mean they actually come and dwell there, and can stay for periods of time, providing the vibration is kept pure and undisturbed. The altar takes on a certain power. In our religion there are altars in temples all over the world inhabited by the devas and the great Gods.
"When you enter these holy places, you can sense their sanctity. You can feel the presence of these divine beings, and this radiation from them is known as darshan. The reality of the Mahādevas and their darshan can be experienced by the devotee through his awakened ājñā vision, or more often as the physical sight of the image in the sanctum coupled with the inner knowing that He is there within the microcosm. This darshan can be felt by all devotees, becoming stronger and more defined as devotion is perfected. Through this darshan, messages can be channeled along the vibratory emanations that radiate out from the Mahādevas, as well as from their representatives, the Second World devas who carry out their work for them in shrines and altars.
"To understand darshan, consider the everyday and yet subtle communication of language. You are hearing the tones of my voice through the sensitive organ, your ear. Meaning comes into your mind, for you have been trained to translate these vibrations into meaning through the knowing of the language that I am speaking. Darshan is a vibration, too."
So we're stopping in the middle of that lesson and we'll continue it next time.
So that's an interesting point here on messages: "Through this darshan, messages can be channeled along the vibratory emanations that radiate out from the Mahādevas..."
So it's very interesting our monthly Ardra Abhishekam to Nataraja the vibration as well a being strong at the end is also strong when the curtain is opened. So I've had a few devotees tell me they're so impressed that when the curtain opened Nataraja spoke to them and said this. They know exactly what he said. Interesting! So one man, I forget the first part of the message, the second part was he had to come back next year. Come back next year. So there is communication going on at least at that particular point. Nataraja is talking to devotees when the curtain opens on Ardra.
Have a wonderful day.
End of transcript.]