Blossom 15 Petal 1.pmd

Blossom 15 Petal 1March 2011

The Source of the Cosmos

Sri ChakraSri ChakraSri ChakraSri ChakraSri ChakraThe Journal of the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, Rush, NY

Since the last issue...

NewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletterterterterter

After returning from a brief tripto Arizona at the beginning ofDecember, Aiya was back inRochester for a few days beforedeparting to Toronto for thetemple’s annual concert and CDrelease of Dravida Vedam 7.

The rest of December waslargely uneventful, as the weatherlimited Aiya’s trips out of town.Locally, he performed agrihapravesham and numerousprivate homams and pujas at thetemple.

Most of hisDecemberwas occupiedby risingearly forThiruvempavai,and helpingthe childrenwith theirpreparationsfor the kids’ RajaMatangi homam onthe 26th.

MarchMarchMarchMarchMarchMarchMarchMarchMarchMarchNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletterterterterter

2

In January, there were a coupleof weddings Aiya performed atthe temple, and he was alsopresent for Pongal, which fellbetween a couple of his othertrips.

On the 31st, quite a few devoteesgathered early in the morning fora special Dhanvantari puja andhomam. Dhanvantari is the godwho arose from the milk oceanholding the eternal amritam thatboth the devas and asuras soughtfor everlasting life. His mantra is

mainly chanted for health andlongevity.

Shankar uncle performed thebulk of the 5-hour event, whichinspired everyone present.Finally, a small Dhanvantarimurthi was energized and nowsits near the main Sri Meru insidethe sanctum.

Just before Shivarathri at thebeginning of March, Aiya made a3-day trip to Dallas, Texas to visitdevotees there and conduct theusual rounds of workshops and

pujas.During this past

three-month period,the temple receiveda long-awaitedshipment of the 2ndedition of Aiya’s SriVidya Puja Vidhihbook in Tamil. Theyare now available at

the bookstore. Also, templecalendars are still available inTamil and for the very first time,English!

3

Past Events

The temple bases its celebration of this Tamilfestival by how the Dikshidar priests celebrate LordNataraja each Margazhi maasam in Chidambaram.

Here, the privilege of participating is extended toanyone who will make it to the temple at 5 a.m. eachmorning to help Aiya sing the songs from theThirupalliyezuchi—songs based on one friend wakinganother at dawn to come with her and worshipLord Nataraja and Devi Sivakami.

The final day of ArdhraDharshanam saw the Lord and hisconsort receive full abhishekamand alankaram. After a danceperformance, the writings of sageManickavasagar were finally

taken around thetemple and yajnashalain procession. Finally,sweet and savorynaivedyam wasoffered, and the pujawrapped up at about 10 a.m.

Thiruvempavai and Ardhra Dharshanam, Dec. 12-21

CD release and bhajans, Dec. 4

Kids’ Matangi homam, Dec. 26

A full house turned out for theannual CD release in Toronto at 20Slan Avenue. Aiya and thetemple’s bhajan group played anhours-long concert of the songs offthe disc, and as usual, Aiyainterspersed small storiesbetween the music.

This year, the CD was DravidaVedam 7—Thiruvempavai songs

sung each year for Lord Natarajafrom the Thirupalliyezuchi.

The bhajans began at about 7p.m., but about 200 people werethere by the night’s end.

The annual Matangi orShyamala homam run by kidsfor kids at the end of the calendaryear was beautifully executed.Aiya even commented that interms of preparation andattention to detail, the childrenseem to out-do themselves eachyear.

On this occasion, the samepattern of kids taking turnssitting around the homakundamwith Aiya and Amma continued,but there were some significantchanges.

The number of kids joining upas sponsors swelled up yet again,and more groups of eight andpurnahutis were added. Also,the sublime but difficult-to-graspShyamala Dandakam by the poet

Many members of the bhajan group in Rochester alsosang and played with Aiya for the Toronto concert.

Top to bottom: Aiya performs a mini-puja tothe guests of honour after the first verse issung; festival sponsor Mala Selvan and herdaughters do abhishekam; Purvaja Kamatoffers her own unique puja with a tribute tothe master of all dance.

Several differenttypes of flowerswere ordered andarranged for theDevi on Matangihomam day,including onestrung entirely outof chocolates!

cont’d on p.4

Thai Pongal, Jan. 14

Pongal fell on a Fridaythis year and a simple pujawas performed by Aiya inthe center tiled area of thetemple.

This is typically a shortevent, but all those whoattended were able to addgrains to the sakkaraipongal (sweet rice)prepared and offered to theDevi.

4

The Devi’s everyday presence

The Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam ~ 6980 East River Road ~ Rush, NY 14543 ~ Phone: (585) 533 - 1970

Our deepest thanks and gratitude toOur deepest thanks and gratitude toOur deepest thanks and gratitude toOur deepest thanks and gratitude toOur deepest thanks and gratitude tothis issue’s volunteers: Aiya, Vilasthis issue’s volunteers: Aiya, Vilasthis issue’s volunteers: Aiya, Vilasthis issue’s volunteers: Aiya, Vilasthis issue’s volunteers: Aiya, Vilas

AnkAnkAnkAnkAnkolekarolekarolekarolekarolekar,,,,, V V V V Venkateshwenkateshwenkateshwenkateshwenkateshwar Babar Babar Babar Babar Babu,u,u,u,u,Gratus Devanesan, Sudha PriyaGratus Devanesan, Sudha PriyaGratus Devanesan, Sudha PriyaGratus Devanesan, Sudha PriyaGratus Devanesan, Sudha Priya

KearKearKearKearKearneneneneneyyyyy,,,,, Ma Ma Ma Ma Mayuran Saththianathan,yuran Saththianathan,yuran Saththianathan,yuran Saththianathan,yuran Saththianathan,Sahana Sivakumaran, and TharumanSahana Sivakumaran, and TharumanSahana Sivakumaran, and TharumanSahana Sivakumaran, and TharumanSahana Sivakumaran, and Tharuman

TTTTThahahahahavvvvvakumarakumarakumarakumarakumar.....

Upcoming Events Tamil New Year’s, April 14

There is always a newingredient that is added to theannual Shivarathri celebrations,but the night will always includethe chanting of Rudram, theoffering of bilvam leaves, and pujato 11 different shivalingams setup throughout the yajnashala andinner sanctum.

Everyone will get a chance tooffer bilva, and all are encouragedto chant Rudram out loudthroughout the night.Refreshments will be providedthroughout the night in the lobbyarea if visitors need to take abreak from this marathon puja.

Mahashivarathri, March 2

Annual Pratyangira homam andChitra Poornima, April 17

and author Kalidasa was sungbetween the offering ofpurnahutis. With the offering ofa yantra-shaped cake, completemahaprasadam, and a wildbhajan session in the afternoonwith full instrumentalaccompaniment, the day wastruly memorable. For fulldetails, please see TharumanThavakumar’s article on page 8.

cont’d from p.3

The meru was expertly decorated by the kids; the main organizersnamaskaram Aiya and Amma after finishing all their duties.

Devi willing, the next issue ofthe Sri Chakra will be up on thetemple’s website at the beginningof June 2011.

This magazine cannot keeppublishing withoutcontributions! Articles, poems,stories and photos about anyspiritual topic are welcomed.

The next deadline for articlesubmission is May 9. Please e-mail us with your contributionsor feedback about this issue [email protected] ortalk to Kamya or Abhi at thetemple.

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha!

In Three Months

New Year’s falls on a Thursdaythis year, and the puja that Aiyaand Amma will perform will startbetween 6 and 7 p.m. toaccommodate devotees’ workschedules.

As always, it will be a simplepuja and everyone will be given achance to add grains to thesakkarai pongal. Afterwards,Aiya will hand out the puja’sprasadam to each person there.

Aiya wrapping up last year’s puja,just when the pongal starts to boil.

At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday March 6,Aiya will be giving a two-hourspeech entitled Vedic Mantras: AScientific View of the AncientWisdom. The discourse will takeplace at the Sathya Sai BabaCentre at 40 Voyager Court Northin Etobicoke.

Two weeks later on SaturdayMarch 19, Aiya will make anotherappearance in Toronto for a full-day workshop. In accordancewith history, the workshop willbegin at about 9 a.m., but dateand venue are yet to be confirmedat the time of publication. Pleasecheck the website for details, andmake sure to register!

Toronto appearances, March 6and 19

Weather permitting, Chitra Poornimapuja will be performed at Kashi creek.

It is rare that these twoauspicious occasions fallon the same day. All arewelcome to sponsor theannual Pratyangirahomam, starting at 2 p.m.Chitra Poornima willhappen in the morning,for those who wish tooffer tarpanam for theirdeparted mothers. Callthe temple promptly toregister your name.

5


Raja Shyamala: Some Aspectsby Gratus Devanesan

Raja Shyamala: Some Aspects

It is not possible to describe a goddess of this magnitude in a few words or even a book. One cannot say sheis “knowledge” or that she helps with studies or that she can be equated to Saraswati. Trying to createequalities almost always leads to misunderstanding both, and in the case of goddesses it leads us todowngrade them to mundane concepts.

So as this article’s subtitle suggests, this is not going to be a comprehensive look at Raja Shyamala, alsoknown as Rajamathangi. We will simply look at some aspects and try. And as the word “try” implies this issupposed to stir imagination and criticism. E-Mail me at [email protected] all your thoughts anddisagreements and maybe we can discover more together.

A look at Anga, Upanga and Pratyangadevatas

The might of RS can be broken down intoher “support deities”—of course RS is morethan the sum of her parts, but looking at theparts may lend some insights.

The Anga Devata is Laghu Shyamala. She isthe one that is responsible for the ability ofyour mind to solve problems. An allegorywould be to say that she can cook a deliciousmeal from any ingredients. She will knowhow to put everything together so it tastesgood. So in the mind she can arrange factsand figures, whatever is available, to give agood guess (the best guess) on what should bedone. If the answer is available, or if theanswer can be derived from existingknowledge, she will give you the power toimplicitly derive that answer.

The Upanga Devata is Vakvadini. It iscommonly considered that with Vakvadini,what you say will come true. Moreesoterically, she allows you to hold a thoughtlong enough (channel enough energy into it)for it to manifest physically. How can acasual remark manifest? She opens the gatesso that your verbalizations will carry theweight of the universe. This becomes thepower of attraction when left externalized.By thinking of something that will come toyou—instead of saying “You’re going to slipand fall” and causing someone to slip and fallyou can say “I will have a golden horse” and

you will end up with a golden horse.Of course, the golden horse will bring its not-so-golden karma. Internalized, she gives you the ability to

retain knowledge more easily. A subset of physical manifestation is mental manifestation. If you chant hermantra with complete internal focus she will aid in concentration. Compared to the other two, I am veryunfamiliar with Vakvadini—I was always afraid of making someone slip and fall.

6


The Pratyanga Devata is Nakuli.She is considered a ferret or amongoose. A mongoose fightscobras and a ferret burrows deep.Externalized, as Aiya had told me,she creates an insatiable curiosity;a circular “why?”. Internalized,she acts as thought police—askingyour thoughts to justifythemselves. Moreover, she lendsherself in the deconstruction ofthought patterns that have beenformed “illegally.”

Say you don’t like someone.Consciously, you might think it’sbecause he ate your sandwich.But unconsciously it might be asense of jealousy or fear. She willexpose that and help in thedeconstruction of that thoughtpattern. She can especially help inthe case of mental imbalancecaused by Navagrahas. Whenthoughts arise, you will have theability to scrutinize them andimplicitly understand if it isjustified or just amisunderstanding on your part.

GunaShe is rajasik and not sattvik. I

am adding this as some peoplemay be thinking she is sattvik—mostly because of her associationto Saraswati. Most definitely sheis rajasik. Another problem isthat people think tamas, rajas andsattva can be qualified as bad, notso bad, and good. That’s also nottrue. Each has its purpose and asGuruji wrote, tamas can betransformed into sattva by rajas.

One of the less practical qualitiesof rajas (especially in the suddenabsence of tamasik materials) isan increase in drive and ambition.So chanting a lot of RS can leaveyou ambitious and hyper (whenthere is no application to theambition). There is nothingwrong with ambition, but itneeds to be evaluated at whatcost, for what purpose and whatif you don’t achieve what youwant.

If the ambition is recognized asan artificial agent helping you tofill up your day with activities,it’s good. If it is misunderstood asthe cornerstone of your happiness

then it will become a disease. Allgoals must be pursued with theimplicit understanding that it isthe Devi that gives us happiness,not the fulfillment of goals.

So by being rajasik she will helpus convert our latent mentalenergies ready to be wasted awayon TV to be converted intomeaningful enlightening conceptsthat can help us and others. It canalso make us workaholic controlfreaks who need toachieve at all cost.As it is true withall powerfulmantras anddeities, the choiceis yours.

KnowledgeWill she give you

knowledge? WhenI was younger Iwas veryinterested inamassingknowledge (I stillam). Nothing wasmore interestingthan a new piece ofinformation. Overtime my desire for knowledgebecame qualified and I becameonly interested in things thatwould actually help me todaymake the next step.

Raja Shyamala does not actuallygive you access to new knowledge(no more than any other vidya,anyway). She gives you answersto questions, solutions toproblems. So as a problem isbeing reflected in your mind, thesolution path—using existingknowledge—will form. Thatsolution path might lead you toother sources that will give younew knowledge and with RS thisnew knowledge will becomeinstantly available to be pluggedin to create solutions.

She is not a regurgitator of factsnor will she help you memorizedata. You still have to read booksgo to lectures etc. to getknowledge (you still have tostudy to pass your exam). Shewill simply give you the ability toaccess any fact of relevancy at its

most relevant moment, as long asyou have already acquiredknowledge about that fact.However, in the case of obtainingknowledge to solve a problem shewill help you retain moreknowledge.

AttractionHer powers of attraction are so

strong that by making eye contactwith a cinema actress while

seeing her on TV can attract theactress. Of course that doesn’tmean that the actress is going todrop everything and hop on thenext plane and come to yourhouse. When we look back atPlanck’s curve we see that visibleradiation constitutes less than 1%of total emissions. What you seeis less than 1% of what you’d get.What you actually attracting isthe actress’ karma. And chancesare her karma ain’t that pretty.

Secondly, we know fromchemistry, loose electrons switchover faster. So it won’t be corequalities that will come first(money, wealth, fame). It will bedark secrets that have beenburied (i.e. the karma of those sheconspired with to make it in thebusiness) or other karmas waitingfor her in her next life which hersoul is eagerly looking to drop offsomewhere.

Another scenario, hopefullymuch less likely to happen, is onewhere you make eye contact with

7


a disembodied being—so you want see what you just made eye contact with. It might fall in “love” with youand bond with you mentally. You are just so attractive because of Raja Shyamala.

the finest of sensitivities (see below) you will not be able to recognize that this new wave of thoughts iscoming from a different source.

If you are lucky you will have a guru who can take a care of this with a simple smile. If you are unlucky—orif you refuse your guru—then you’re stuck with a new life and a whole new addition of wants ready todisappoint you.

Why is this part of RS—the power of attraction? It is a side product of knowledge. To know somethingcompletely you need to have a complete intake of all the information it outputs. When the mind is pushedoutwards, information is only obtained through sense inputs, thereby making attraction a prerequisite tounderstanding.

Turned inwards, it creates a motion that would eventually overcome all nine navaavaranas. To know theDevi of the bindu you must traverse all the enclosures and through the grace of RS you will know hercompletely.

Aiya has helped us by telling us to put “Sri Rajarajeswari Me,” which turns the mantra inward, as the LalitaSahasranamam says she is easier found by looking inward. So to reach Sri Rajarajeswari the RS mantra willturn the mind inward because that is a quickerroute to discovering/attracting/knowing SriRajarajeswari.

EpistemologyShe will give you the ability to think about

your thoughts. She will give you clarity ofthought. You will understand your ownmisunderstandings. You will recognize fallaciesand untrue conclusions. She will allow you tofollow the most complex logic and even thoughtstructures not based on logic.

You will be able to understand your ownwants, your desires, your opinions etc. She willgive you impartiality in analyzing your ownthoughts. She will allow you to discover thesource of opinions you have held for years.

ConclusionAs a complete vidya she gives you the ability

to function well in the context of social life whilepursuing liberation. But as is true with anycomplete vidya one can easily become distractedand overwhelmed by accidental thoughts. Youhave to buy and never sell—you need to hold on.Especially since it takes 12 years of intense RajaShyamala upasana, including offeringnaivedyam and chanting her mula mantra 108times every day without missing even one day,to attain her full siddhi.

Eventually, it will regulate and bring youcloser to the Devi no matter what. But if you letgo along the way, you may be catapulted into adistant orbit and having let go of the force thatwould have pulled you in, you may end upadrift for life times. So whatever happens, don’tlet go.

8


Once again this event took offwith flying colors and pristineplanning. Firstly, the group ofkids that planned the event thisyear truly did a phenomenal joband hats off to them!

As you walked into the templeon Sunday, December 26, a senseof festivities definitely overtookthe mind. The inner sanctum wasdecked out and all the murthiswere adorned with jasminecharams. The three main muthishad also been decorated in a verylavish fashion.

The Devi this year was dressed,after gaining approval from Aiya,in an outstanding manner—in anattempt to replicate howMeenakshi Devi stands inMadurai. On Sunday, after all thechampaka, jasmine, rose, andFerrero Rocher garlands went on

her—she looked like a queen.Ganapathi and Shiva were alsodecked out with multiplegarlands and candy—the imageswere definitely ones to becherished.

As the crowd gathered, Kamyaakka kept the kids and adults

occupied with the story ofKalidasa, who was amaster Sanskrit poetseveral centuries ago inIndia. While this wastaking place, the kids werequickly finishing up the lastminute preparations andsetting up the ahuthistations so that everyonecould walk and placedifferent dhanyams intothe ahuthi bundles. Thisyear with the Devi’s grace,every kid got to offerbilvam, arali, jasmine,shanku-pushpi (auspiciousfor Matangi), samit, anddhanyams as ahuthis into the fire.

As the kids lined up and madetheir way orderly to prepare theahuthis, the Bala Kavacham andShivapuranam were sung in thebackground. Aiya latercommented that it was great thatthe Bala Kavacham was sungbecause as he said, “when thechild comes, the mother’sassistants (Rajamathangi andVarahi) will come running aswell.” This year saw the inclusionof the Shyamala Dandakam,which was composed by SriKalidasa.

As the homam began, theShyamala Dandakam was brokendown and sung between everypurnahuthi [exquisitely by SahanaSivakumaran—ed.], accompanied by

Virroshi Sri on the violin, makingit even more melodious. The kidstook turns sitting at the fire andoffering samit along with ninepalaharams and at the end ofevery “shift” a sari, thaali, fruits,garland, ahuthi and variousother auspicious items wereoffered by the kids.

As the event came to an end,Aiya had all the children standinside for the final bali, notwanting to make them suffer inthe cold. As bali was performedinside the yajnashala, the ashpumpkin was broken at the doorafter it was taken around all thekids. That concluded the event.

One of the most eye-catchingand tasty parts of the event tookplace after bali. As the kids madetheir way to watch the end of thepuja, a huge 3-by-3 foot cake with

Rajamathangi 2010Rajamathangi 2010by Tharuman Thavakumar

The Devi wore numerous garlandsarranged by the children.

Groups of kids sat eight at a time aroundthe homakundam and offered ahutis withAiya and Amma presiding.

9


Even after thinking about it over six monthslater, I still believe Ati Rudram was nothinglike I had expected it to be. I imagined after itall that I would have some amazing experiencethat would bring me “closer to the Devi,” that Iwas going to be a completely different person.None of that happened, but at the same time allof that has happened.

I had never before been pushed beyond mystress limits with the people I loved the most. There were constant complaints andunnecessary arguments. Every possibleemotion I had within me flew out likefireworks: anger, jealousy, happiness, love,sorrow, and conceited self satisfaction—all ofit.

I thought Ati Rudram was going to make mea better person but instead I was nothing evenclose to that. Why was this and where was theDevi when I needed her the most?

My friends and I came to learn that everytime we felt upset, something somewhere

Reflections on Ati RudramReflections on Ati Rudramby Sahana Sivakumaran

made us feel so much better. Whether it was aninterested tourist, an encouraging volunteer, acute little kid, or an entertaining homakartathere was always something around the corner.

So many examples come to mind but one thatI always think of was the day that a group of us“tent kids” had been upset about the numerouscomplaints we had been getting about the lackof effort and coordination we had seemed to beputting in; it seemed as if none of it was worthit because no matter what we did no oneseemed to see the good out of it.

As we carried on being upset, two touristscame and asked if we could give them a tour,because there were no tour guides at themoment. To let off some stress a couple of usdecided to take them around. As we walkedaround the tents and temple property Iremember seeing the amazed looks that cameover the two ladies.

The smallest details seemed to interest themlike the setup of the homam pits, the beautiful

This detailed cake of the Rajamathangiyantra took the better part of a full day to bakeand decorate. The kids thank AhalyaArasaratnam for her leadership in creating it.

the Rajamathangi yantradecorated on it with icing andvarious decorative items made itsway into the sanctum for theDevi’s naivedyam. It took close to8 hours to make and every detailwas taken into account.

Every year, Ahalya akkatakes a few kids to teach,and she works with themto demonstrate how artcan be incorporated withthe vidya. The amount offocus and dedication istruly commendable andthe cake was probably thebest I’ve ever tasted!

After the event, Aiyareflected and statedthat he felt the kidshave the tools andability to focusintensely, but need to

carry it on to the next step,which is to direct that focustowards the Mother. Asalways, his talks gave a senseto really feel and think aboutthe religion and extend that tospirituality. It’s easy to say

“focus” but what that entails isanother whole article.

In any case, the hopes and goalsfor next year and thereafter is tofigure out what this focus is, andexperiment with it. As Aiya says,you can’t explain the taste ofsugar—let them taste it and theywon’t ever want to leave it.

Aiya, Amma, and the last group offer the finalpurnahuti at the conclusion of the 3-hour event.

10


colours, and the fact that womenwere chanting and performing thehomam. When we took them intothe temple after inviting them tostay for lunch, they told us howincredible it was to see a templethat was built by so manyvolunteers and were surprised tosee that our generation was stillbeing integrated into culture andreligion.

After talking with them, myfriends and I looked at each otherwith huge smiles on our faces.Just seeing how the temple hadimpacted two strangers made usfeel happier than ever that we hadforgotten about the previousthings that brought us down. Ifeel this was the Devi remindingus that she was still watching us,

but more than that I think shewas showing us to look at thebigger picture.

While we focused on the littlethings that irritated us we didn’tnotice the beautiful sounds of thechanting in unison, the way thetents and homams had beenstructured, the beauty of thetemple land, and our temple’svolunteer foundation—of olderpeople, younger people, doctors,engineers, toddlers, and the listgoes on.

I think this festival representeda condensed version of the worldwe live in today. Nothing wouldhave been accomplished withouta volunteer, a homakarta, asecurity guard, a babysitter, acook, or even a child. Not one

person had any more or lessimpact than anyone else. We allneeded one another to completethe entirety of the festival andthat’s what was so great about it.

If it were not for the guru’s silentguidance, I would have never seenthings within myself that I wasunable to see before. And for thatI am thankful he refrained fromconstantly patting us on the back,because only then did I reallyanalyze and think about how thishas affected me.

I always saw the Devi’s grace asmainly present when youexperience some sort of miracle orjoy. What I never realized wasthat she is present in everyencounter—in every smile andevery tear—we just have to beaware enough to see that.

The “tent kids” hand out purnahutis after lunch

Volunteers gather to discuss during the gruelling prepwork

Stations were set up at either end of the homamtent for runners to quickly access supplies forhomakartas. Most of the runners were under 21.

11


Q & AiyaQ & AiyaWe all love hanging out with Aiya, drinking

tea, and sometimes getting some guidance on how

to travel down our own paths to the Devi. Here’s

an excerpt from a workshop where he explained

some intricate detailsabout certain types of pujas

and murthis.

Q: How do you do prana-pratishta(the installation of a murthi into atemple)?

Aiya: Okay. I’ve made aShivalingam out of rice. Then I’vecharged the puja tray instrumentsand done Ganapathi puja. Now, youdo the sankalpam and thengo, “Om asya Sri Prana-pratishta maha mantrasya.Brahma, Vishnu,Maheshwara rishiyanamaha sirasi; Rg, Yajur,Saama, Atharvana vedachandaamsi mukha vrtte;Pranashakti paradevatahrdaya. Hraam bijam,hreem shakti-hi, hroomkilakam; mama sri Prana-pratishta siddhyarthe japeviniyoga-ha.”

Then do the sadanganyasam with Hraam,Hreem, Hroom for yourfingers. Then dhyanam, andthen only do you invoke whateverdevata you want with their slokam,and invocation mudras. See, first,you are bringing in Pranashakti; shebecomes whatever other devata youwish.

Q: What about after puja? How doyou take it out?

Aiya: Sakala devata udvaasayaami.Shivarathri comes and sometimeswe have an annadhi-lingam, andthis is basically what we do. Prana-pratishta can be done this way, butonly for a Shivalingam or smalldeity that you are using for themoment, for example, a jaggeryShivalingam or chandanamGanapathi.

If it’s a Kriya-lingam beinginstalled into a temple for good, theprocess is much more elaborate. Youwould have seen this when we were

installing our big Meru inside thetemple in 2005.

Q: What were some of thingsyou had to do for the 2005pratishta?

Aiya: When you receive amurthi or statue, there are alwaysdoshams that come along with itbecause nobody, no sthapathi(sculptor) can be completely freeof them. They’re human, after all.So how do you get rid of thedoshas?

There is something called adi-vaasams that have to be performed.You have to immerse the murthiin various dravyas. The first oneis jalaadhivaasam. For 24 hours, ithas to be completely immersed inwater; not just 90 per cent of itwith an arm sticking out—completely immersed. Second,ksheeraadhivaasam—milk. Third,under curd or yogurt,dadhnaadhivaasam. Then, ghee—ajnaadhivaasam, and then fruitjuice, palaadhivaasam. Then if youwant the murthi to be very sweet,you do honey—madhvaadhivaasam.

For our Meru, we used 40 gallonsof honey. If you are doing the adi-vaasams correctly, the colour willchange each time you take it out.Then, annaadhivaasam, with cookedrice, and after that,dhaanyaadhivaasam, with the ninenava-dhanyam grains representing

the planets. What is thelast adi-vaasam? Flowers.Pushpaadhivaasam.

But what do you dowith the materials afterthat? Do you drink themilk? Remember, it hasabsorbed the doshams!All of these things exceptfor the ghee and honeyhave to be thrown out—those two things willalways remain pure.

Q: Aiya, what do we dowhen we have abanalingam at home anddon’t know how to do

puja or install it? What can we dowith it? Should we submerge itback into a river or the Narmada?

Aiya: Amma, lingas worshippedat home have no need to observethese rules. If you’re worshipping athome, you don’t need to worry; justdo the same basic puja or aarthi youwould do in your shrine room, andinclude the banalingams with yourother murthis.

But if you are worshipping alingam at home, it should not exceedthe span of your hand. Someorthodox people will even say itshouldn’t exceed the length of yourfinger. If it exceeds that, it belongsin a temple, not your house. Butbanalingams don’t have theserequirements at home. That doesn’tmean you can drop it, break it, glueit back together and go onworshipping.

12


CHILDHOOD

Sri Nishtala Prahlada Shastri was born in Visakhapatnamon September 26th, 1934 to Sri Narasimha Rao, and SrimathiLakshminarasamma. His sister SuryaLakshmi, who washardly 4 years old then, went to her dad and said, “Dad!Prahlada is born! Please go and see him.”

Father felt that possibly listening to Bhagavatam storiessince childhood, she had inculcated that culture; he decided toname his son Prahladhudu. So, his sister was the one who hadnamed Guruji. It was not a coincidence that he was a veryspecial child from a young age.

As a child, Guruji would sit all alone looking into horizons,the landscape, lost in thoughts and hardly played with kids ofhis age. He always had lots of questions in his mind that he’dask his elders.

Guruji: “How did the world come into existence?”Elder’s response: “God create the world, my child.”Guruji: “Why did God create this world?”Elder’s response: “God created the world just for fun.”Guruji: “Did God create this huge world just for fun?”Elder’s response: “Dear child, please go and play for a while.”Guruji: “I will go and play. Please answer my question. How did

God get the desire to create this world? Why did he? For what reason didhe create the world? What does God derive from this? If the wide worldwas created for fun, is he amongst us to enjoy the fun?”

Elder’s response: “Man can talk. Animal cannot. If animal can talk and man cannot, how will it be? Will heavens fall?The answer is NO! If that is unimportant, so is this! Why does it bother you how things are?”

Guruji had many unanswered questions as no one was able to answer them in a true sense. Even if onequestion was answered it always led Guruji to have his next question ready. Even if anyone dared toanswer him, being impressed with Guruji’s curiosity and innocence, they would realize that it was an uphilltask and so no one dared to venture making an attempt.

Disappointed that no one responded to his queries, Guruji as a 5-year-old boy when sitting alone andthinking, would hear strange sounds. Sometimes it sounded like a veena, sometimes like a flute, sometimeslike ghungroo, and sometimes like temple bells. At such a young age it was hard for Guruji to understandwhy and how he was able to hear such rhythmic melodies. But it was always made him happy! ThoughGuruji was unaware where these sounds were coming from, he always enjoyed paying utmost attention tothis divinity. This in turn enhanced strong focus and concentration in Guruji.

From a very young age, Guruji had a very strong photographic memory. So, he had the ability to visualizeevery aspect that he had read in books. Because of this he always scored top marks during his education.

The biography of Sri Amritananda Saraswati—who is affectionately known

as Guruji to most of Aiya’s students—was penned in Telugu by Smt. Nethi Seeta

Devi. These chapters were translated into English and graciously submitted

to the Sri Chakra by Venkateshwar Babu from Philadelphia in an ongoing

series.

ChidagniChidagniChidagniChidagniChidagniThe story of Sri Amritananda Saraswati

parts 1 & 2parts 1 & 2parts 1 & 2parts 1 & 2parts 1 & 2ChidagniChidagniChidagniChidagniChidagni

13


Once Guruji read questions on hisquestion paper, he was clearlyable to visualize the correctanswer from the books he hadread for exams. Guruji had agreat analyzing power. He wouldanalyze every important issue,and safely store it in his memory.

Between the ages of 5 years and8 years, when many suchastonishing wonders werehappening, he on the other handhad also completed studyingreligious epics such as Bhagavatam.In addition, he had also completedreading Ashta Dasa Puranas.Reading these epics gave Gurujiimmense happiness. Guruji wasable to visualize and spend timewith heavenly deities he wasreading about. Whether Gurujiwas hearing or reading the holyepics, there were multiplesituations that would appear inhis vision as a reality.

Unable to bear the excitement,Guruji at that young age wouldtell other young kids, “See Krishnathere! He is sitting on the tree andplaying the flute.” Other kids,unable to visualize any of thatwould stare blankly. To top that,as Guruji would sit all alonelooking into horizons, thelandscape, lost in thoughts andhardly spoke otherwise, kids ofhis age considered him a weirdo.

FIRST EXPERIENCE

Guruji was around 11 years old.He would rarely play with kids ofhis age. He was once watchingthe kids playing, yelling, jumpingand running all around. All of asudden all the kids playingaround, crowd nearby, passingvehicles, all the landscape waswhirling around him in circles.This continued at such greatspeed, as if the entire worldaround Guruji was getting suckedinto a huge whirlpool. At thatstage, Guruji just fainted.

Nearby playing childrenshouted, “Shastri fell down! Shastrifell down!” and surrounded him.Hearing the children shouting,

Guruji’s mom Smt.Lakshminarasamma camerunning out of the house.

“What happened? What happened?Why did he fall down? Does he haveany fever?” Everyone surroundingGuruji was anxious.

News reached Guruji’s father.He came running to find hisunconscious son lying in front ofhim. He carried his son into thehouse, and rushed immediately toget hold of a doctor.

Doctor diagnosed young Guruji,and told his dad not to worry,gave Guruji some medicine, andsaid, “I will come back and check himtomorrow to see if he has Malaria.”

Next day Guruji had high fever.Doctor came and checked youngGuruji, confirmed he had Malaria,and gave young Guruji a dose ofQuinine and left for the day. Howin the world would the Doctorknow that it was not Malaria, andcould not be controlled byQuinine? This dose of medicinehad in fact diminished Guruji’sphotographic memory.

A couple of days later afterGuruji’s fever subsided, his eldersister SuryaLakshmi with all loveand affection sat next to herbrother and asked him, “Whathappened to you the other day? Howcome you fell unconscious?”

Young Guruji innocentlyreplied, “I really don’t know! Myhead was not spinning! I was juststanding and watching kids playing inthe street. All of a sudden, everythingaround me started spinning. I just keptwatching what was happening. All ofa sudden, I fell unconscious without myknowledge.”

Guruji’s sister: “So, when you fellunconscious, did you see anything orhear anything?”

Guruji: “I did not hear anything.But, I saw different worlds. I wasunaware where I was going! Iwandered in the skies. I had been todifferent worlds. Everything lookedgreat!”

Guruji’s sister: “You didn’t get anymalarial fever. After having seen allthose wonderful sights, being a young

kid, you were unable to take it. That’show you got this fever.”

Guruji: “I don’t know sister!Sometimes I keep getting these doubts,and no one has given me a rightresponse until now!”

Guruji’s sister: “What doubts?”Guruji: “How did this world come

into existence?”Guruji’s sister: “God created this

world.”Guruji: “Why did God create this

world?”Guruji’s sister: “God likes you, me

and all of us. That’s the reason why hecreated this world for all of us.”

Guruji: “How did we become hisfavorites? Does he know us?”

Guruji’s sister: “Yes.”Guruji: “How does he know us?

Where does he live?”

Having reached this far,patiently responding to all heryounger brother’s questions,Guruji’s sister, with a blank face,said, “Only elders would know allthat. We can’t understand all that.”

Guruji: “Then, how come, evenelders are not answering myquestions?”

Guruji’s sister: “They should knowthe answers to your questions. Onlythen, can they answer.”

Guruji: “It was just now, you saidelders would know answers!”

Guruji’s sister: “I said so, but…”Guruji: “I always have these

questions! Where does God live?What does he do? Why does he haveto hide? How do you know that Godcreated this world? Sister! Please letme know!”

Guruji’s sister: “Don’t irritateothers by asking such questions.Everyone will not understand suchtopics.”

Guruji: “I don’t know why! Butsuch questions bother me always!”

Guruji’s sister: “Don’t worry aboutall this now! Focus your efforts in yourstudies and do well. What do you gainby bothering others with suchquestions?”

Whoever expected that this wasGuruji’s first experience of trueconsciousness!

14


At the end of last year, I waslucky enough to be able to visitKashi, the Kaveri river, andRameshwaram, but for a reasonthat got me a lot of sympathy atwork and from people at thetemple—I went to disperse mymother’s ashes in not one, nottwo, but three places across India.This was as per Aiya’sinstructions after Amma’s funeral,which was seriously the mostdivine and beautiful puja I hadever had the fortune to be a partof.

Let me preface a few thingsfirst—my mother was my bestfriend during her life and shecontinues to be even now. Butfirst and foremost, each of us areSri Vidya upasakas and as such,our main goal in this and other

lives was always to reach theDevi. I couldn’t say I truly lovedher if I wasn’t happy about herachieving that goal. That’s partlywhy I see her death as such ablessed event.

Her passing made meunderstand death as one of, if notthe most glorious aspects of life.Her being surrounded by otherSri Vidya upasakas (most ofwhom were purna-dikshainitiates), her blissful little smileas she took her last breaths, andher wedding-like funeral all mademe see that there truly is a Deviand She has an obvious hand inwhat happens in our lives.

For me, that Devi and mymother have merged into one andthe same being, which is why Isaw spreading Amma’s ashes as

just another event in aseries of divine activities Iwas lucky enough toperform. It wasn’t reallyher; it was just theremains of her earthlyself. And through thepretext of this task, I wasable to go on one of thebest adventures of my lifeso far.

As I drifted in and out ofconsciousness on theplane ride to New Delhi(we’re from Bangalore butDelhi’s closer to Kashi),Amma came along andtold me that the firstweek was going to beboth physically andmentally challenging butI needed to grit my teethand bear it. She assuredme my remaining twoweeks in India would beall temples andbookstores, just the way Iwanted.

My mama (Amma’s olderbrother) picked me up in Delhiand we took a train to Varanasi,where a family of priests I’dcontacted ahead of time knewwe’d be arriving the followingmorning. They still live in thetraditional system, where all theextended family lives betweentwo massive houses with acourtyard in the centre. Visitorsneeding to do pujas had littlerooms to stay in on the bottomfloor while the families livedupstairs.

As soon as we arrived at thehouse, we sat down in front oftheir desk, where a young priestnamed Shiva, maybe about 35years old, came to speak to us. Hischarisma and adeptness at boththe religious and spiritual aspects

To Kashi, with AshesTo Kashi, with Ashesby Kamya Ramaswamy

The alleyway between two of Kashi’s 79 ghats (near the telephone pole) iswhere Kamya caught her first ever glimpse of the Ganga.

15


of puja reminded me of a youngAiya, although I admit I almostwanted to kill Shiva vadiyarwhen we first talked that day.

Here’s why: I told him I broughtashes with me and that my gurutold me I could do the pujas, thatmy mom and I were both MahaSodasi initiates and that she’dhad a Navaavarana homam donefor her funeral.

I thought all this would impresshim but he looked horrified! Hetold me to stop telling him this,and that I couldn’t do the puja atall on that day because I’m a girl.I stared at him, stunned. Are youreally saying these words?! Iwondered to myself. I halfexpected him to say, “Justkidding!” at any point and thenlet me get on with the puja.

At that moment it hit me howblessed and spoiled we all were inRochester to have Aiya and

Guruji hovering over our heads,giving us every opportunity to learnand do every puja we’d neverdreamed of, regardless of caste, class,gender, age, etc. Back in the oldworld, nothing had changed. As Isat there wordlessly, Shiva vadiyar(who I later grew to like and respectvery much, don’t worry), asked me ifI was going to cry, which I think Iwas.

But just then, I heard Amma in myhead again and she told me a fewthings: that she was in charge ofeverything that day, and all I neededto do was just relax and see whathappened. Then she gave me abrilliant suggestion.

“Can I chant along with you whileyou’re doing the puja?” I asked Shivavadiyar.

“If you know the mantras, okay,”he said, “but I don’t think you will.”

I smiled to myself.So we bathed and got ready, and

just as a point of honour I decided towear my big fat rudraksha mala. Itwasn’t just to rebel againstgender expectations,(although that was a bigfactor, I must admit); it wasalso because wearing it mademe feel Aiya was standingright next to me.

The house was just twostreets from the banks of theGanga. When I first saw herthere, nestled at the bottom ofa staircased alleywaybetween two ghats, it juststopped me dead in mytracks. Sure, she was dirty

and probably hadseveral corpses floatingin her that day alone, butshe was the mostbreathtakingly magnificentsight I’d ever seen.

It was as surreal as walking upand down the narrow one-waystreets of downtown Torontoand then stumbling across amassive body of water tuckedaway behind a subwayplatform.

By the time we sat down onthe flat stone below, I wassweating in the 30-degreeCelsius sun and thankful I didn’thave to do the puja, despite my

righteous indignation a half-hour before. Shiva vadiyarbrought a proxy in the form ofanother priest to sit on mybehalf and he explained a littleabout the land—the space onthe banks between the first andlast of the 79 ghats was the onlyplace that could rightfully becalled “Kashi.”

The rest of the town wasproperly Varanasi and even thesandy land across the river wasonly known as “Vyasa Kashi,”since that’s where Veda Vyasaspent many of his days. It wasonly when Shiva vadiyar askedme to open the box of the ashesthat the dynamic shifted.

“Oh no,” he said in Tamil,“you brought viboothi insteadof the ashes.”

“No, I didn’t,” I replied inEnglish. “Look, it was packagedby the funeral home.”

“My God,” he said softly aftera pause. “In all the pitru and

preta pujas I’ve done in my life,I have never seen ashes so fineand white. Your amma wastruly a punyashaali lady.”

“Yes, she was,” I smiled. Atthis point I hope heremembered what I’d told himabout her funeral being aNavaavarana homam—pujaslike that aren’t for spectacle;they really send the soul toSripuram. Again, I thanked theDevi for letting us know Aiya,since there wouldn’t be anotherperson in our part of the world

Shiva vadiyar performed an intricate puja, andKamya wishes she could have spent more time inKashi to learn more from him and his family.

Kamya was finally allowed to perform a fewaspects of the puja about halfway through.Here, she fills it with uncooked rice.

One of the three bags of ashes Kamya submergedin three of India’s holy rivers. All were identical.

16


who would be brave enough topublicly perform such acontroversial funeral.

And the ashes really looked likeviboothi. Never seeing humanashes in my life before, I didn’tknow that most of them havechunks and black stuff in them aswell. My mama said if he didn’tknow better, he would have takenthem and put them on hisforehead and never been able totell the difference.

After that point, I was magicallyallowed to do a few things hereand there, and I chanted alongwith the parts I knew. It’s anormal phenomenon in Rochesterbut everyone on the banks seemedsurprised that someone with aCanadian accent would also knowthe Satyo-jaatam mantras andother such Shaivite staples.

We completed the kalasam, didthe abhishekam to the ashes andcollected everything in a claykalasam, which I was to thensubmerge into the Ganga. A ferrycame along and my mama and Iprecariously climbed aboard with

the kalasam, after which werowed out in front of theHarischandra ghat, whereanother body was blazing. I putthe whole kalasam in and thankedAmma for this beautifulopportunity, and we rowed backto where Shiva vadiyar was.

Now it was time for me to dip inthe Ganga, which clashedhorribly with my fear of deepwater.

“I don’t care what you say,”Shiva vadiyar told me as soon as Istepped off the ferry, “you have togo into the water, clothes and all.”

“I agree,” I told him. He lookedsurprised that for once, I didn’tput up a fight. A group of localshad gathered, presumably towatch me drown, as I slowlywaded out. Thank God Shivavadiyar told me there were stepsgoing down or I would havemissed them and the locals wouldhave really gotten a show.

“Can you swim?” Shiva vadiyarcalled out hopefully.

“No,” I whimpered.“Oh. Okay.”

I dunked myself allthe way under and felta wave of dizzinesswash over me likesomething was fastdraining out of mybody. I was verylightheaded by thefourth dunk (I messedup one and Shivavadiyar made me do itagain), but steadiedmyself with my guru-paduka mudra on myhead. Aiya suddenly

stoodbeside mewith ahand onm yshoulder,telling mehewouldn’tlet medrown…otherwisehe’d haveno one to

put together this magazine…hahahahaha… I knew then it wasreally my guru.

I don’t know what it is aboutGanga but I was completely out ofbreath after just a few minutes inher waters. On the way back toShiva vadiyar’s house, we raninto one of Kashi’s countless streetladies, and I just stopped andstared at her and her two smallchildren. I’m no stranger tohomeless people, but there wassomething about her that mademe freeze. I gave her one of mymom’s saris that I was carryingwith me and the look of pureelation on her face was just theperfect end to this puja.

My mama and I changed, ate thefirst solid food we had that day,and then I passed out for severalhours. He immediately camedown with a cold that evening,but I never felt better.

Shiva vadiyar’s theory aboutthat was that people think theGanga’s water makes them sick,but it’s really the karma she forcesthem to get rid of, which comesout in the way of temporaryillness. I asked him why I felt finethen, and he said maybe I have nokarma left to get rid of. Then weboth laughed.

I was sure I would get sick sincethat’s what India does to me, butupon leaving Kashi, all I felt was asense of lightness, like I’d leftbehind a lot of stuff I didn’t need.

Fortunately for me, my motherwasn’t one of them.

Top: Miraculously,the author wasable to crawl ontothe shaky ferrywithout hurtingherself ordropping thekalasamRight: Kamyasubmerges thekalasam. Thesandy shore in thebackground isVyasa Kashi.

A body burns on the Harischandra ghat, which isactually where the famous king once workedyugas ago. After Manikarnika, it is the second-major ghat in all of Kashi.

17


TempleTempleLoreLore

The stories of the devotees at the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam create the very essence of the

temple’s soul.

Aiya has verified all these tales for their authenticity, and he urges devotees to share their

experiences for the benefit of future generations. All identities will be kept in the strictest

confidentiality unless otherwise requested.

A very interesting incident hadoccurred in June that had led meto invite another Gujarati familyto this puja. My brother’s Muslimfriend had married a Hindu girl.This couple lived in the sameapartment complex as mybrother and this other Gujaratifamily. This young man wantedto have a baby shower for hiswife and had asked the Gujaratifamily to host the function intheir apartment to keep it asurprise for his wife.

I too had been invited to thebaby shower along with myfamily. When it was time to havedinner I offered to help the hostswith setting up the table and wasasked to go fetch some cups fromthe kitchen. Since I did not knowexactly where the cups were Irandomly opened a couple ofcabinets and found one of thecabinets was set up as a temple.

I immediately recognized thephoto of Devi in their temple to bethe same as the Devi in Aiya’sshrine room.

Since there were a lot of folksready to have dinner I waited toask the hosts about their Deviphoto in the kitchen cabinet aftermost of the guests had left. Theytold me that the Devi photo wasfrom a temple in Stroudsburg, PAthat they had been going to forquite a while until suddenly itclosed and they were so verydisappointed because they do not

know where the Devi went whenthe temple shut down.

I told them I know where Devi isand gave them all the details ofthe story of how Devi went fromStroudsburg, PA to Aiyaji’s homeand how his garage wasconverted to a temple. They wereso very happy and took Aiya’stelephone number and address.The family were Sri Vidyaupasakas and their joy doubledwhen I mentioned that Aiya wascoming to perform a puja at ourhouse in a few weeks and theywere welcome to attend.

They came along with a lot oftheir family members to the pujaand their daughter who was only12 at the time received Dattatreyamantra from Aiya during thepuja. It is all Devi’s grace thatthey had found her again!

The following year they invitedAiya to perform a puja at theirhouse and about 50 Gujaratisreceived mantra initiation fromAiya. Aiya said he would comeagain sometime in August to do ahomam at our house but latercalled to cancel for an unexpectedreason that I didn’t evenunderstand for another 10 years.

I had so many experiences alongthe way that showed me whoAiya truly is to me but it isamazing how the mind willquestion and doubt. One time Iwas studying for a Physics exam(this was in March 1993) and Ihad just received mantra dikshafrom Aiya a month earlier when I

had met him for the first time atthe Maha Shivaratri puja.

I was at a friend’s house inMassachusetts and was veryanxious and worried about a finalexam for Physics later thatevening, and in my mind I waspraying to Guruji who lived inIndia whom I had heard fromAiya was a nuclear physicist. Ithought that since he was aphysicist if I pray to him he couldhelp me get through the test thatevening. About 4 p.m. the phonerang and my friend said it wassome man for me.

I had not given my friend’sphone number to anyone so I waswondering who could be callingme there. I took the phone andsaid hello and heard Aiya’svoice—he said, “What are youworried about Amma; everythingwill be okay.” I was astoundedthat he knew I was worried andthat he even knew where I wasand got the phone number to callme. Amazing!! I mumbled I waspraying to his Guruji in India tohelp me pass the physics examthat evening. I thanked him forcalling and went off to college.

I got a 4.0 on the test I could notbelieve I even got the bonusquestion right, or shall I sayGuruji aced the test for me. Tothis day it blows my mind as tohow Aiya knows every nuance ofmy thoughts. My friend at whosehouse I was at the time got sospooked she said she would not becomfortable with a Guruji thatknows everything! “You have noprivacy,” she exclaimed— heknows where you are at all times.But I don’t mind that at all!

by Sudha Priya Kearney

18


Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

Documents

Blossom 15 Petal 1.pmd