Vinayaka Chathurthi

'VAKRA TUNDA MAHAKAYA SURYA KOTI SAMAPRABHA' 'NIRVIGNAM KURUME DEVAHA SARVAKARYESHU SARVATHA'!! Vinayaka chaturthi, pullaiyar chathurthi ,Ganesh Chathurthi also vianayaka chavithi, all different words conveying one meaning only.This is one festival which is celebrated elaborately by all Hindus around the globe as the birthday of Lord Ganesha.It is observed in the Hindu month of Bhadra on shukla chathurthi,and usually comes mid August-mid September.In Maharashtra ganesh Chathurthi is celebrated for 10 days with a lot of zeal,pomp and style.Preparations start well in advance,with the decoration of pandals,and so on and many of them have Ganesha idols 20ft tall and more. At homes too clay idols of Lord Ganesha are bought either that on the day or a day before.People welcome lord ganesha to their homes with great enthusiasm, love, reverance and faith.Beautifully and artistically decorated mandaps are made and the Lord Ganesha is seated royally in them. The priest or the elders at home usually clad in dhoti and shawl, invokes life into the idol amidst the chanting of mantras. This ritual is called 'pranapratishhtha'. After this the 'shhodashopachara' (16 ways of paying tribute) follows. Coconut, jaggery, 21 'modakas' (rice flour preparation), 21 'durva' (trefoil) blades and

flowers are offered. The idol is anointed with red unguent or sandal paste (rakta chandan). Throughout the ceremony, Vedic hymns from the Rig Veda and Ganapati Atharva Shirsha Upanishad, and Ganesha stotra from the Narada Purana are chanted.A variety of other sweets are offered to the Lord, the most important being Modaks which are said to be his favourites. For 10 days, from Bhadrapad Shukla Chaturthi to the Ananta Chaturdashi, Ganesha is worshipped. On the 11th day, the image is taken through the streets in a procession accompanied with dancing, singing, to be immersed in a river or the sea symbolizing a ritual see-off of the Lord in his journey towards his abode in Kailash while taking away with him the misfortunes of all man. All join in this final procession shouting "Ganapathi Bappa Morya, Pudchya Varshi Laukariya" (O father Ganesha, come again early next year). After the final offering of coconuts, flowers and camphor is made, people carry the idol to the river to immerse it. Lord Vinayaka,is beileved to be Vigna Hartha (remover of obstacles)and Buddhi Pradayaka(giver of intelligence) 'Ga' symbolises Buddhi (intellect), 'Na' stands for Vijnana (wisdom). So, Ganapati is the master of Buddhi and Vijnana. The universe is sustained by Ganas (gods) and Ganapati is their master. In this world, everybody has a master, but Ganapati has none. He is a master by himself. This is the birthday of the Master of Masters. Ganapati is also called Mooshika Vahana (one who has a mouse as his vehicle). You may wonder how a small mooshika can carry on its back a hefty personality like Vinayaka. Here mooshika does not mean a mere mouse. It symbolises the darkness of ignorance because it is in darkness that the mouse moves about. Hence, Mooshika Vahana is one who subdues ignorance and dispels darkness.The mouse is considered as the embodiment of the sense of smell. The mouse is a symbol of the attachment to worldly tendencies (vaasanas). It is well known that if you want to catch a mouse, you place a strong-smelling edible inside the mouse-trap. The mouse also symbolises the darkness of night. The mouse can see well in the dark. As Vinayaka's vehicle the mouse signifies an object that leads man from darkness to light. The Vinayaka-principle, thus, means that which removes all the bad qualities, bad practices and bad thoughts in men and inculcates good qualities, good conduct and good thoughts. It is only when we understand the inner significance of the Vinayaka principle that we will be able to celebrate Vinayaka Chaturthi properly. Vinayaka symbolises the qualities of a true leader in all aspects. "Viyate Nayake Iti Vinayaka" meaning, He is a master unto Himself. In this world Vinayaka is worshipped by many. However, Vinayaka does not worship anyone as He has no master above Him. Even Easwara, the father, worships His son Vinayaka, but it does not happen the other way. Worship of Vinayaka confers success in spiritual as well as worldly endeavours. Vinayaka has many teachings that help man liberate himself. Worship of Lord Ganesha has been followed from very ancient times. In the Narayana Upanishad, Lord Ganesha is praised first. In the three Vedas, we find the mention of Lord Ganesha. Even in music, they pray to Ganesha for his grace. Lord Vinayaka has a pure heart. In fact, Siddhi and Buddhi (fulfillment and intellect) are his two eyes. He considered them as his consorts. For intelligence, we need to have Buddhi. For Buddhi we need to have gratitude. An ungrateful man can never become an intellectual. Without intellect, one can never be successful. Vinayaka confers success. So, we need to know the inner significance of Lord Vinayaka. How should we pray to Ganesha? We should not ask for petty things like jobs and other worldly matters. We should pray: Let there be no obstacles in our path. We should ask for Ganesha Himself. Once you have Ganapathi on your side, you will become the master of all. Lord Ganesha has 108 names and one of them is Vigneshwara. Easwara is one who is endowed with every conceivable form of wealth : riches, knowledge, health, bliss, beauty, etc. Vighneswara is the promoter of all these forms of wealth and removes all obstacles to their enjoyment. He confers all these forms of wealth on those who worship him. Vinayaka is described as Prathama Vandana (the first deity who should be worshipped). As everyone in the world desires wealth and prosperity, everyone offers the first place for worship to Vighneswara. A peek into the origin and history of Ganesh Chathurthi now...Origin According to the legend, the festival marks the auspicious day of the birth of Lord Ganesha. The story goes as follows- Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of resolution, was away from Kailash due to some work. As Parvati was alone at home, she felt the necessity of some one to guard the door to her house while she took bath. When she did not get any one, she conceived of the idea of creating a son who could guard her. She then created Ganesha out of her sandalwood paste and breathed life into the idol. She then asked him to stand on the gate and do not let any body enter until she came out. Unfortunately, Shiva returned home in the meantime. As, Ganesha did recognize him, he stopped Shiva from entering as per his mother's advice. This badly enraged Lord Shiva, who cut off Ganesha's head by his trident. When Parvati saw beheaded Ganesha, took on the form of the Goddess Kali and threatened to destruct all the three worlds. The earth, the heaven, the nether world, all was shaken and every body ran to Shiva for solution. In order to appease Lord Parvati and save the world from destruction, Lord Shiva sent out his followers to find a child whose mother is facing another direction in negligence, cut off his head and bring it quickly. The first such child that came in the eyes of the Shiva followers was an elephant, so they brought the head of this elephant and Shiva placed it on the trunk of Parvati's son and gave life into him. Parvati was the overwhelmed with happiness and embraced her son. They named her Ganesha i.e the Lord of all Ganas (followers). History Though the festival is being celebrated since times immemorial, the present kind of celebrations of Ganesha Chaturthi came in fashion in 1893, Lokmanya Tilak, an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer reshaped the annual Ganesh festival from a private family celebration into a community event. The day was conceived to be the National Festival in order to bridge the gap between the Brahmins and the non-Brahmins in the society. Tilak chose this festival for this purpose because Lord Ganesh was considered to be the ' God of Everyman'. It then served as a meeting ground for people of all community and religion on a public platform. Since then the festival has served its cause of existence. Even now people irrespective of caste and community barriers celebrate this festival with great joy. The Philosophy or Tattva: Ganesha is the manifested form of the divine. The formless divine is ever present though it takes on a manifestation or a form, owing to our identification of ourself with a form. Having manifested with a form, the divine also assumes a name due to our association with a form and our wrong notion of separate existence, in order to distinguish ourselves from others. The truth or the essence is but one, the formless spirit that pervades all destroys the disparities. The celebration of Ganesha Chaturti reveals that while we worship the divine with the form, we ought to bear in mind our formless reality. This is depicted in the elaborate worship that is carried out on Gnaesha Chaturti and finally dissolving the form that we endear in a water body in remembrance of the divine as the formless reality even beyond the manifested form. It is not to be considered that worship of forms do not have any value. Since we identify ourselves with a form it is imperative to seek the truth with a manifested form in order to proceed to realise the formless reality. This ultimately merges oneself with the realisation of one's true self, the formless reality thereby in eternal mergence with the divine. Let us thus pray to Lord Ganesha to guide us to worship Him in His glorious form and to lead us to the eternal formless truth which is Sat (Truth), Chit (Knowledge), Ananda (Eternal bliss). Jai Gurudev....

Down Memory Lane.....

Yesterday was teachers day,and in the evening my thoughts were with all the teachers who have made a difference in my life.It is well known that every person that comes into your life has a purpose for sure.As my thoughts hovered I could see that there was one particular event responsible for a major transformation that happened in my life. !990-1994 in Muscat was an immemorable time, with a whole lot of amazing people and this was the time when satsang,shloka chanting became a part of my daily routine for sometime. Thanks to all the mentors then. Post 1994 once in India lost track of my life and started questioning myself "why am I here and what is the purpose of my life?"This used to keep haunting me all the time and as result was not happy with whatever I did.Everything seemed so mundane and worthles actually.Tried working for a couple of years,teaching etc etc...but yet the question still remained. It was in 2001 January that there came some major changes in life.I met with a road accident which caused some damage to my left hand, requiring surgery ,physiotherapy etc, but now when I look back I am convinced that this happened just to give me the answer to the question in my mind.....what is the purpose of my life??? A few months aftr the accident my dear mother suggested that we must have some satsang at home which will give positive vibrations and may be do me some good. Thus started the Lalitha sahasranamam chanting at home with a group of wonderful loving people, who would come home home once a month and we would chant the sahasranamam.This was done with such a selfless attitude and with only one goal that my hand become alright and I feel better.Such wonderful people for sure,truly brings tears to my eyes. I was not so familiar with chanting and after 1994 completely lost track so had to pick up the lost the threads and this was the right time.This gave me so much peace and joy that it made me latch on to the group and the changes that have happened after that are simply amazing.One thing led to another and each experience greater than the previous one. The best being introduced to the art of living family. My life has been growing spiritually in leaps and bounds since the day I attended the slver jubilee celebrations of the art of living at Bangalore. I am indeed grateful and full of gratitude to each and everyone who has helped me in this wonderful journey until today. At this juncture I feel I must mention my special gratitude and thanks to my dear Mythili mami because of whose love and affection I learnt the Lalitha sahasranamam.Mami,though a teacher ,guru who has taught me not only Lalitha sahasranamam,but lots of other shlokas as well is so motherly and full of love and kindness. I find it so thrilling that since 2001 till today the divine has made sure that I am always in the company of people chanting Lalitha sahasranamam.Even though for the last six years have been here in Mussafah,here too I was directed to a LSG(Lalitha sahasranamam group)Mussafah.Now we also have a group learning Gita. Oh, life indeed is amazing and so full of joy isn't it???? I am beginning to understand the purpose of my life... Jai Gurudev..... Listen To lalitha sahasranamam by Priya sisters here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jixZ8ZO3dwQ

A Wonderful Advanced Course

Just back this afternoon after a simply awesome four days,two and a half in silence.This course in particular has been indeed special for quite a few reasons.After getting three advanced courses in quick succession I guess one does naturally get a little too greedy maybe and wants more and more.That is exactly what happened to me.I wanted more,and sure enough I had to wait for more than two long years to get the next one.
What I have understood from this experience is that when we start getting feverish and desperate that is when we are taught to just let go and drop all the feverishness and anxiety..When we let go then things happen so naturally and effortlessly.The moment I just dropped my restlessness and surrendered to my Guru then he made everything happen so smoothly and wonderfully for me.
He not only gave me the course,but he also took such great care to see that I didn't have to go too far,since I have very senior in laws at home.The course happened just at a distance of 5 minutes from my home.
It is not very often that we get non residential advanced course.This one was so special ,it was non residential and so very close to my home.It felt like icing on the cake.
The moment we surrender to the divine he takes utmost care about us,which I sure experienced. Well, as for the course experience,every advanced course is such a new and fresh experience,and each one brings to light something new and brilliant. the four days actually went so smoothly and effortlessly.Inspite of language barriers my mil managed to teach my maid a couple of new recipes.This was actually amazing to me.So,when we are under the masters umbrella there is nothing we need to worry about.It is all so wonderful.He takes charge totally.I usedto be out from 6.30am -9.30pm everyday. This morning I heard a story which I though I should put down here for more than one reason.This is about a boy who lost his left hand and is very unhappy because he wanted to master Karate and none would teach him because his left hand was lost.A Japanese teacher agreed to teach him and so the classes started.The master taught his student one move and asked him to practice the move for months together,whenever the disciple asked his teacher to teach him something new teacher would say,you practice this one.The disciple did as asked and one fine day his master enrolled his student for a contest.The student was initially very scared and not confident because he felt he knew only one move,but nonetheless he participated in the contest and won three rounds to his astonishmentand to the astonishment of all those present.The final round was against avery senior champion and so the student told his master he will not want to challenge him,the master said no you must don't worry,just give your 100%,and to the amazement of everyone there the young student won this round too and was declared champion.After it was all over he came to his master and questioned him how this was posiible,the master replied with a smile,my dear child, I taught you one of the most precious and important moves in Karate and anyone who wants to stop you from this move needs to hold your left hand,and so you see you were at such an advantage all the time. This story has multiple messages in it.First of all we should surrender to our master and accept what is given to us without any doubt.Secondly repeated practice of anything helps us achieve mastery. There is always a doubt in the minds as to why nama japa should be done regularly.When we repeatedly chant the lords name it cleanses us of the cobwebs from within and certainly takes us closer to the divine and makes life joyful and happy. The advanced course too,guruji says one should repeat every six months or once a year atleast.The silence that is observed during the course helps in silencing the chattering mind a great deal.It quietens one from within and helps us to look within. I am indeed totally greatful to guruji for all that he has given me.Thankful and full of gratitude to all the wonderful teachers too whom I had the gift of doing the course with.Have been privileged to receive some wonderful knowledge along the way. Jai Gurudev.... .PS Istarted this blog soon after the part two course but it has taken me almost amonth to complete the blog...:)

Hanuman Jayanti

A very beautiful article by Bhai Shree on Hanuman Jayanti and Hanumanji's Daasya Bhakti.

When Hanumanji came to Ayodhya, Hanumanji took over the charan seva (service) of Lord Shri Ramji over which Maa Sita and Shri Lakshmanji used to have a sweet quarrel in the past. However, neither Sitaji nor Lakshmanji felt or expressed any spitefulness or jealousy toward Hanumanji performing Shri Ramji's seva. In fact, they looked at Shri Hanumanji with gratefulness. Such was Hanumanji as a devotee and follower.

Tulsidasji has said, "Prabhu charitra sunibe ko rasiya, Ram Lakhan Sita man basiya." This means that Hanumanji is present in Shri Ramji's heart, but an even bigger truth is that he has also filled the space in Shri Lakshmanji and Sitaji's heart. It is easier to create respect in your worshipping idol than it is in the worshippers hearts around your idol.

Hanumanji is loved by all because he saved Sitaji's and Lakshmanji's life, as shown in the following verse in the Ram Charit Manas: laay sajivan Lakhan jiyaaye, Shri Raghuvir harashi ur laaye".

Shri Hari does not remain indebted to anyone. He will shower his grace on anyone who does even a little for him. However, Hanumanji is one such follower to whom Shri Ramji is indebted to.

Shri Hanumanji protected Shri Bharatji's life also. Only one day was left in the fourteen years of exile for Shri Ramji to return and the ascetic, Bharatji, was seated on the wooden pyre ready to light it if Shri Ramji does not return to Ayodhya by the evening. Dawn was about to fall. Shri Tulsidasji says that Bharatji's heart was drowning due to being separated from Lord Shri Ram. At that instant, Hanumanji arrived and broke the news about Shri Ramji's arrival to Shri Bharatji. Shri Bharatji's life was saved.

In addition to saving Shri Bharatji's and Maa Sitaji's life, Shri Hanumanji also saved Shri Ramji's life when he saved Shri Lakshmanji's life.

When all four brothers are seated together, who's katha do they discuss about? Shri Hanumanji's! When Hanumanji recommends a person, even Shri Ramji accepts this devotee. "Tumhre bhajan Ram ko paave, janam janam ke dukh bisraave".

Observe Shri Hanumanji's loyalty of service to Shri Ramji! Shri Ramji used to click his fingers whenever he yawned. Hanumanji thought that as a follower, why should my Lord have to make the effort in my presence? He said to Shri Ramji, please provide me the service of clicking my fingers when you yawn. And so Shri Hanumanji took on this service.

Hanumanji is the role model of daasya bhakti in the nine types of bhakti: shravanam, kirtanam, Vishnu smaranam, paad sevanam, archanam, vandanam, daasyam, sakhyam, aatmanivedanam.

Jai Shri Bajrangbali
With Blessings,
Bhaishri

Maha Shivrathri &RamCharita Manas

In the Shrimad Bhagavat, Shri Shankar Bhagavan has been referred to as 'Vaishnavaanaam yathaa Shambhuhu', meaning, Shri Ved Vyas ji has described Lord Shankar Bhagavan as a Vaishnav. This is perfectly true because our Bhole Baba is the leader of the path to devotion (bhakti).

Remember, Shri Ram katha was first and foremost narrated by Shri Shankar Bhagavan. It is in the nature of a true devotee to keep chanting their beloved deity's name day and night. In Baalkaand (the first chapter of Shri Ram Charit Manas) Shri Tulsidasji describes the following chopaay (verse) on how Shri Bhole Baba continuously recites Shri Ramji's name:

'Tum puni Ram Ram din raati, saadar japahu anang aaraati.'

Shri Tulsidasji created Shri Ram Charit Manas with the inspiration of Shri Bhole Baba which is why he offered this divine scripture to Shri Shankar Bhagavan.

There is a well known katha that when Shri Goswami Tulsidasji wrote Shri Ram Charit Manas the Sanskrit scholars refused to approve and respect the Manas as a scripture as it was written in Hindi instead of Sanskrit. In the end, it was decided to leave all the scriptures in Baba Vishwanath's temple, where Shri Ram Charit Manas written by Tulsidasji was kept at the bottom of the pile and the doors to the temple closed.

It has been said that the next morning when the doors to the temple were opened, people were surprised to see that Shri Ram Charit Manas written by Tulsidasji was now on top of the pile of all the scriptures and Shri Shankar Bhagavan had written three words on top of Shri Ram Charit Manas: 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram'.

Since Lord Shiv respected and approved Shri Ram Charit Manas, this scripture, even to this date, leads us towards our welfare and towards Lord Shiv.

Jai Bholenath to all the devotees on this very auspicious occasion of MahaShivratri.

With Blessings,
Bhaishri

Ja Gurudev...