1. Sahasra seershaa purushah
God has 1000 (a very large number) of heads.
Because all heads belong to the world=God
Sahasrakshah sahasra paath
1000 eyes, 1000 feet. All eyes, feet belong to
God=world
Sa bhoomim viswato vritvaa
Covers the earth from all sides as sky/space
Atyatishtat dasaangulam
Yet he exceeds by 10 digits the whole world.
(exceeds finite space and time)

The world with all its teeming life and light is
considered to be God. But the concept of God exceeds
it too. The word “exceeds” implies finiteness of the
world, which is measurable in size (space and time are
not infinite, they are closed, measurable).

2. Purusha eva idagm sarvam
God is all this world of experience indeed
Yat bhootam yat cha bhavyam
Which has gone before and yet to come
Uta amritatvasya isanah
Yes, God is the controller of immortality
Yat annena atirohati
unlike food, is not consumable.

Even if the world were to come to an end, God would not
end, because it exists beyond the world; the world is
God’s creation. Who created God then?

Creation implies that there was nothing “before” and
something came into being “after”. “Before” and
“after” are terms which have a meaning only with
respect to time. 

Do we look at a book and say, it is born at this
corner and died at this other corner? The book is not
flowing, like time is flowing. If we scan it through
a slot then it does simulate the behavior of life and
death. 

The word “creation” is in the domain of flowing time.
Since God exists as pure existence beyond time, the
concept of creation does not apply to God, which is
beyond time.

We can and should ask what created the world; because
the world of experience has had a beginning and it will
have an ending in time; it is flowing in time.

The implication is that existence can have two
modes: “unaware” and “aware”. The “unaware” state
contains the “aware” state. “Unaware” is like the
center watching the “aware” circle. Without the
center, the circle cannot be; yet it is not a part of
the circle.

It is the awareness of God, the life of God, which
expresses itself in space, time and matter. Pure
existence, unaware of its existence, looks like
non-existence. It is like zero, Shoonya. Yet it is
capable of manifesting aware existence. How?

Let us look at the example of zero. Zero can just be a
zero; it can also be a sum of equal and opposite
attributes (3.1416 + (-3.1416)). Any number of such
pairs of opposites (duals) can come out of the original
zero; yet, it does not lose its potency to create fresh
pairs, it is not exhausted, it is not consumed. The
zero is not like food, which is consumable.

There is simply no way we can distinguish a “pure zero”
from an “impure zero” that came as the sum of a pair of
equal and opposite attributes. The best we can say is
that they are mutual attributes.

These philosophical questions are further explored now.

3. Tripat oordhva udait purushah
Over and above three parts of measured God
Paado asya iha abhavat punah
One more part remained however
Tato vishvang akraamat
The three parts covered the world of perception
Sa ashana anashane abhi
Those which are consumable and un consumable.

The relationship of God to the manifested world is
like that of a circumference to the diameter of a
circle. Three diameters does not measure the
circumference fully, some unending part .14159……
remains.

You gain nothing by leering or laughing at the goddesses here.
You gain everything by understanding your own nature reflected by them.
You are beautiful, lovable, just as you are. You are erotic. Nothing wrong with that!
You can create your identity and destiny. You are not powerless.
You don’t have to be what others tell you to be.
We are with you in empowering you to be yourself.

Sit in front of the icons. Talk to them. Listen to the answers in your mind.
The highest offering you can make to anyone is yourself.
This is exactly what the Goddesses are doing. They have nothing to hide.
They are parts of you. They love you. That is why they have no shame.
They are not afraid of what others say about them. You can be like them.

You have made a special attempt to come here. We love you.
Thank you for your visit. We hope you enjoyed the graceful offering
of themselves the Goddesses have given you. 

Amrita.

3. Breathing exercises

You should not do breathing exercises when the stomach is
heavy. Leave at least 2 hrs gap after meals. ?Ha Sa Kha?,
mantra for loosens bondage to your physical body and enables
astral travel. Let us use a slight variation of this
mantra,?Sa Kha Ha? which means ?She is your friend?.
Breathe in deeply with left nostril with the sound of ?Sa?
filling the belly like a pregnant woman. Hold for half that
time with the sound of ?Kha?. Release with the sound of ?Ha?
from the right nostril. Holding the breath outside, draw a
triangle on the top palette with the tip of your tongue.
This connects the Indra Yoni with the physical yoni. It is
is helpful in controlling the powerful Kundalini powers. Now
breathe deeply in from the right nostril with ?Sa?, hold
with ?Kha? and release with ?Ha? and draw the triangle, just
as before. This pair constitutes one breathing exercise. Do
this seven times.

4. Withdrawal.

This procedure removes the tensions and heals various organs
of your body and so allows you to escape from body
awareness. Sit comfortably in any easy posture described
above. You may make an audio cassette of the following to
keep track of timing and body parts and visualizations. You
can also buy one made by Amrita. 1 min. Pay attention to any
sounds outside such as that of a fan, ac, people talking,
birds singing; or from inside such as the heart beat, any
currents flowing in any parts of your body especially in the
lower belly area.

1 min. Close your eyes. Try to remember and see the walls
around you and the roof top.

1 min. Feel the regions where the weight of your body is
resting on the ground. Become aware of the contact with
earth. 

1 min. Feel the chest rising and falling with the
breath. Keep attention on the wall of the chest and the
nipples. Pay attention for about 20 seconds to each part
mentioned below You may say ?Om Santih Santih Santih? 3
times after shifting attention to each part to relax the
tensions there.
Face: 1. forehead 2. eyes 3. ears 4. cheeks 5. nose
6. lips 7. chin 8. whole face 9. breath

Body: 1. Toes 2. finger 3. middle 4. ring 5. small
6. soles 7. uppers 8. heels 9. ankles 10.calves

11.knees 12.thighs out 13.thighs in
14.buttocks 15.waist 16.chest 17.shoulder18.armpit

19.biceps 20.elbows 21.arms 22.wrists 23.thumbs
24.index 25.middle 26.ring 27.small 28.palms

5. Guided visualization

Wait at each step till you are able to get a glimpse of the
image. Don’t strain too much; if it doesn’t come, let it go.
Next time you sit, try to look at such pictures beforehand,
and try to recall them to your mind.
Imagine that you are sitting near a small stream dangling
your feet in it at the foot hills of Himalayas. You are
feeling a little chill and also a little sweat due to the
afternoon Sun.
1. See a line of swans swiftly flying across the sky. 1min.
2. See the slowly flowing river near your feet. 1min.
3. See a small boulder around which water is gurgling. 3min.
4. See the the huge unmoving range of Himalayas. 1min.
5. Today is the full moon day. See the round moon rising on
the silvery Himalayas. 2min.

6. Flowing Awareness.

Flowing awareness with form:
Imagine that your Guru has materialized before you and
sitting next to you. Keep pressing the feet of your teacher
and keep talking, seeking answers to your doubts. Decide to
act according to the advice given.
Next imagine a red triangle with the angle pointing down. In
its center is a dancing red lingam which is emitting white
sparks upwards like Diwali crackers. Recall picture of
Muladhara wheel.
OR
Imagine that some sages are doing a fire ritual in an
underground temple, and the walls of the temple are
resounding the mantras being uttered. There is a huge image
of a Mother Goddess killing a demon seen in the light of the
fire. There are some women being worshipped by some sages,
seen in the light of fire.
OR
Imagine your favorite Goddess or God or a good friend in
front of you, and that you are chit chatting with them. See
the visions they show you, or do what they ask you to do. If
invited, even make love to them. If the last happens, you
will derive immense benefits and siddhis; because through
making love, the energies are passed on which are of benign
nature.
OR
You may be in the company of divine spirits or Apsaras or
Yakshas. They enjoy free love. Join them, letting go of all
human inhibitions. Forget that you are a human being, and
remember your being a divine.

Formless flow of awareness.

Take 3 deep breaths. Let go of all ideas. See darkness.

3min. If any thoughts come, don’t judge them as good or bad.
Instead, you may ask, does this belong to the past or to the
future? Or am I imagining it? Remain a pure witness. 7min.
If you get any emotion, try to remain a witness. Don’t think
that this emotion should be there, or that this should not
be there. Be a mirror which reflects any thing good or bad
in front of it without choosing. Let go of all choices. If
fear takes hold of you, you help on hand ready by: 1. Pray
to your Guru, 2. Remember the wall of fire and confine the
fear into it. If none of these eliminates your fear, get up
from meditation, wash your hands, feet, eyes, and start
meditation again.

Or, you may get in touch with your teacher. Usually there
are no problems that cannot be solved with the help of your
Guru. Always remember that the deepest fears you have are
mere thoughts and so parts of you, and they can do no harm.
What is there to be afraid of about yourself? They will go
away, Now say, ?I am extremely happy here and now. My life
energy is at its peak. I am full of enthusiasm, energy,
abundance and love. I express my gratitude to all who are
helping me. I am blessed. I bless the whole world.?
Get up from meditation and put down in a dairy all the
thoughts and feelings you have seen or experienced. They
will help you in defining the goals of your life and
deciding your future course of actions.

7. Creating an Astral body.

This is also a guided visualization. Through this procedure,
you will 1. loosen the idea that you are limited only by
your body, and therefore become less sensitive to pain and
pleasure, insult and praise, cold and heat; 2. continue to
exist as a light form lasting for as long as the world
exists, and through that keep, helping others and receive
worship as Goddess Herself. Sit comfortably. Take a deep
breath three times. Repeat the following in your mind. Try
to visualize as clearly as you can. This is an initiation.
Every initiation goes through a gate; here it is the gate of
death and the gate of birth into a new life. This body has
to decay some day. Imagine it dead here and now. All people
known to me, friends and relatives have come to see my body
for the last time. They went round my body three times and
prayed for my soul, and each one poured some water on my
body. The body is tied to a wooden frame. There is one
person carrying an earthen pot of water in front; a
procession of my near and dear followed, to the chants of
Narayana, Narayana. They carried it to the cremation
ground, where there is a funeral pyre ready to receive it.
The frame is kept on the fire wood, all ties removed with
clothes. We come naked into the world, and we go naked from
it. Camphor is placed in all holes of the body, some sandal
wood is placed on the chest, and some small pieces of wood
and then large pieces. The camphor is lighted. Sense the
smell of burning camphor, and see smoke, little lights of
camphor, the smell of burning sandalwood, see sparks, small
pieces of wood lighting up, then the bigger flames. The
person carrying the earthen pot of water went round the
burning pyre 3 times, and threw the pot to the ground. The
pot of water is a symbol of a body containing the life. Pot
is broken, water spilled out and it soaked the earth. Life
which came from earth is returned to it. As the body is
burning, all that belongs to it, namely the feelings of
fear, hate, shame, aversion, class, belongings, family,
relationships, all went back to wherever they came from. I
am witnessing all this. So, strangely, I could not have
died. How can there be death for life? Only the body has
death and decay. We change bodies as simply as changing
clothes. The fire has meanwhile burnt up the whole body. All
that remains of it is just a handful of ashes. It is these
ashes that are worn by Siva as an ornament.
What can this ash need? Does it have any fear? Desires?
Anger or lust or greed or pride or jealousy? Does it know
any good or bad even? Truth or untruth? Nothing whatsoever.
Be in that state of absolute silence for 2 to 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, from somewhere black clouds gathered in the sky.
The whole atmosphere suddenly cooled down and the cool
breeze of impending rain blew. Devi was shining forth as
lightning flashes from the sky to earth, and drops of rain
started falling to the ground. The earth thrilled to the
drops, and emitted the sweet smell of mud wet with the rain.
A divine downpour of cool nectarine rain fell on the ashes.
Because it was nectar the ashes took on a new form. What
kind of a form was that? Like the ball of red Sun rising
fresh on the eastern horizon early in the morning, climbing
slowly up, and changing into bright orange, then extremely
bright white light against the blue sky, but strangely
without the usual heat at all. It came on top of my head,
descended, became a ball of brilliant white light of 5?
diameter and 9? above the head. It stayed there for some
time, descended into my head, and I am experiencing a cool
bright shower of white light in my head. It came down
through my neck, and settled prettily in my heart. My heart
overflowed with joy. There it is emitting millions of
flashes of lightning of all colors of the rainbow: violet,
indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, red. My whole body
became the body of light, filled from head to foot. The ball
of light split into two, became Devi and Siva. Siva is lying
flat on the lotus in my heart, and Devi is sitting on top of
him in union with Him. The thrill of their union filled my
body. Out of the joy of intercourse came this world of
living beings, it lives for that joy, and when the body
becomes old and cannot sustain life, abandons it to get a
new body.
Now my body is emitting all colors like flashes from every
pointed end of my body; toes, fingers, nipples, eyes. Who
ever is coming into contact with these flashes is being
filled with peace of mind, vitality, strength, pleasure,
wealth, fulfillment of all desires, friendship with all,
erotic pleasures, healing of all diseases of body and mind.
Keep your hand on your heart and say ?Aam Soham, Aam Soham,
Aam, Soham?.

8. Opening and harmonizing the Energy wheels.

There are seven spinning wheels of energy in you. If you pay
attention to the actions given below carefully and remember
them, you will experience these spinning wheels.
1. Muladhara wheel. (Link to picture)
There is a square wheel between anus and the vagina or the
base of the penis. There is a rose color triangle in it. In
its center there is a red phallus moving up and down
emitting white sparks of semen continuously. There is the
Kundalini Shakti, the Serpent Power coiled round the phallus
and drinking the semen being ejaculated. This is the
starting point of the supreme energy of the cosmos
manifesting creation. Imagine a sound ?Lang? starting from
this square wheel and rising up to the crown of the head.
When you are pronouncing this sound, the upper part of the
tongue touches the deep upper palette. You must feel that
touch. Do like this for all the other sounds in other
wheels.
2. Swadhishtana, six petal wheel. (Link to Picture)
This is the sex center. A trishul shaped like a yoni is
within a six petal wheel. It has an orange color and a
white moon adorns it. At this place, the vibrations of sex
keep going round and round like a wheel. This is the
original seat of the transcendental Goddess, and the meaning
of ?Swadhistana? is that the Shakti resides there. From
there, the sound of Vang  rises to the crown. This is the
seed sound of nectar, being a rose color, a mixture of
semen-white and blood-red. The clitoris is the seat of
Kundalini, identifiable with the Snake God Kumara.
3. Manipura, the belly button wheel. (Link to Picture)
There is a 10 petal wheel around the waist, shining like
fire with yellow and orange colors. From here to the crown
the sound of ?Rang? keeps spreading. Repeat this sound seven
times. This is the wheel of fire which transforms lust into
power. When the ejaculation in men and orgasm in women is
controlled, the Kundalini power does not get its nectar from
the semen or blood; it uncoils, moves up in search of nectar
and shoots up to the wheel in the crown where it gets the
nectar from the moon there. What this means is that the
physical orgasm is replaced by a spiritual orgasm; the
intercourse takes place in the mind, and a supreme
relaxation occurs in the form of a spiritual explosion of
all colors. Some times spiritual aspirants actually see a
hooded cobra dancing in front of their eyes. It represents
the intense sexual energy and the fears associated with it;
nothing more. So there is absolutely no cause for fear if
you come across such experiences. Remember Kumara the
serpent power has as its vehicle the peacock, the born enemy
of snake!
4. Anahata, the wheel of unconditional love. (Link to
Picture)
There is a 12 petal wheel circulating in air around the
chest. It has yellows and greens, the colors of vegetation.
From here to the crown, the sound of ?Yang? spreads; say it
seven times. By sharing our powers with others, we enter
this wheel of unconditional love. We give because it is our
nature to share; we give without expecting any returns
whatsoever. This wheel brings unbounded prosperity to you,
which grows more and more by giving.

5. Visuddhi, the wheel of astral communication in space.
(Link to picture)
There is a 16 petal wheel around the space in your neck. It
has light and dark blue colors like the sky. It spins to
the sound of ?Hang? which spreads to the crown. Utter this
sound 7 times. By placing attention here, you will acquire
powers like hearing at a distance, seeing far away places,
talking with spirits, Apsaras, Angels, Goddesses and Gods.
This is the wheel of communication in space across immense
distances. The ability to enter another person and know the
experiences as your own is obtained by prolonged practice of
paying attention to this wheel.
6. Ajna, the wheel of time. 
There is a 2 petal lotus between the eye-brows. Focus here
to go across time.
7. Sahasrara, the wheel in the crown of your head. There is a
1000 petal wheel in the head, the brain wheel. It has the
colors of blue and violet and also all colors of rainbow in
a lesser degree. From here the sound of Hreem keeps
emitting light beams flashing above the head.
8. Guru Paduka, wheel of the Supreme being, Yourself. There
is the wheel of the feet of the Supreme Guru 9 inches above
your head. It is in the center pod of the Sahasrar above.
The feet have the letters Hasaum and Sahauh. They are
surrounded by an eight petal lotus. Each petal is abundance
beyond measure, some times also called Ashta Lkashmis and
also Sudarshana. They are filled with millions of round
disks of all colors arranged in the form of worlds in
geometric patterns. By focusing your attention on any disk
you will be able to gain entry into that world, becoming its
creator Brahma, sustainer Vishnu, and Dancer Siva.
The half female, half male form of Sakti Siva -Ardha Nari
Iswara is standing on top of your head, facing the same
direction as you, and the feet above your head belongs to
this form. In this form, the creator Siva is eternally
surrounded by own Yoni, emitting an unending life giving
stream called Ganga. The divine form of this nectar is
Time. The earthly forms of this nectar are the juices of
sex. The physical orgasm loses life energy and ends in a
very short time. But a spiritual orgasm has no end. It is
called ?Brahma ananda, the bliss of creation. The sound of
this creation is like that of an ocean, ?Om?. Suppose there
are a million people in a gathering, each talking to their
neighbors. There is an ocean of sound rising from that
communion. The sound of Om is like that. Your aim is to
raise yourself above your head, merge into that form, and
experience unending spiritual orgasm which you may call is
the dance of the Galaxies, the dance of rising water falls,
divine light and sound show. The joy you experience will
shower your whole body with a thrill never known before.
Experience there is indescribable. You are literally taking
bath in these nectarine waters of life. It is totally free
from tension, very much unlike a physical orgasm. But it
satisfies a million times more. Stay in this state as long
as you can; there can be no higher happiness than this. What
happens then? You are no more in control. There is no you to
be in control. You only experience a feeling, and visions.
It is like you had an intense multiple orgasm, you are
thoroughly satisfied, your body has lost all weight, it is
floating away without walls and ceiling being obstacles, it
is being carried by rainbows, you are rising above the city
you are dwelling, the country, the oceans, the earth, beyond
the Moon, the Sun, entered the star field, the constellation
of Seven Sages (Great Bear), Dhruva (Pole star), beyond
Galaxies, the worlds, and entered the abode of Mother
Goddess, an island of jewels. Witness the playful, and
erotic fun and frolic, singing and dancing, and enjoy the
multiple partners without inhibitions. You enter the source
of the cosmos, Sri Yantra in the womb of the divine
Mother. You become a part of Her to live in waves of beauty,
Soundarya Lahari If I seem to be carried away, it is true,
I am carried away. I had no will of my own. At the will of
the Mother Goddess who loves erotic sentiments (Rati priya)
because Eros is pro-life, I have put down these few thoughts
for you to consider seriously and practice.

9. Affirmations.

1. My body is a temple. All parts of my body are made by
Goddess and are divine. They are seats of all powers:
manifest and latent. They are the real Sakti Peethas.
2. Sex is sacred. It is the source of life. Genitals are
sacred. I worship them as Siva and Sakti.

3. Sri Chakra is located in all the female genitals at the
clitoris. It has been called the Jewel in the Lotus. It is
most sacred, and secret, yet known to every one. I worship
the Sri Chakra, a circle of devotees to connect me to the
source of cosmos.

4. Whatever whatever sins I committed, I did in a state of
ignorance. Then I was in a hypnosis. Now I am awake. This
awakened being did not commit those things. I do not feel
shame, nor will I punish myself for what I was. Past is
past, gone for ever. I forgive myself, as I forgive all
others the wrongs they did to me. Now I can laugh at my
mistakes, and others ignorance. Is a five year old less than
a ten year old? All are evolving. I don’t have to hate
ignorance. Darkness cant be where light is.

5. I love myself. I deserve love. I deserve riches. I
deserve joy, happiness, health. I have them. I share them. I
will see people’s happiness.

6. I will think of Goddess always. In my sadness, in my
pleasure. More so in my pleasure, because that is when I
tend to forget Her.
7. My mother, father, guru, guests, relatives and friends,
and all help me; I express my gratitude for their help every
day mentally and through actions. I will serve them with
compassion. 8. Even my enemies have life; and life is Devi.
So I respect them, forgive them, and try to look at their
point of view and make friends. If I can’t do it, I will
love them all the same, do not reject them, but maintain a
respectful distance. My love does not expect that they
should love me in return. It has no conditions attached. I
share because I like sharing. That is all. 9. Expressing
love through thought word and deed are the sure means for
unlimited abundance, health, and pleasure. It is my birth
right to enjoy these good things of life. 10. In every
outgoing breath, my anxieties and worries are getting out.
With every incoming breath, peace is coming in. I am happy
here and now. I have plenty of energy flowing through me. I
am enjoying bliss, energy, wealth, love and pleasure
independent of external circumstances.
Mark those that appeal to you. Repeat them every day and
make them your own. You will see your life change in
perceptible ways.

Amrita 1998

1. Oh Devi, I have removed all my masks: anger, doubt, fear, shame, aversion, family, race and expectations of my conduct. 

2. I have kept a fresh soft lotus in my heart for you to come and occupy.

3. I entreat you, please come, and enter it with your refreshingly cool and lotus-golden- white lights.

4. Fill me from head to toe with your glorious love, beauty, pleasure, wisdom, light, music, dance, poetry and compassion.

5. Let me enjoy waves after waves of these qualities in an unending series.

6. Protect me from evil.

7. I am open to your direction from within and without.  Bless me in a crystal clear voice. Let me see your divine vision constantly in the lake of my clear mind and with my physical eyes. 

8. Never leave me even for a moment.

9. I will not live without you.  When my time comes, take me into your heart.

10. Enable me to be useful to all living beings to make them realize your beauty and love. This is my constant prayer, aspiration and goal of my life.

Notice that this prayer has several important components.

1. Removing masks. Being your true self.
2. Setting apart a lovely place for your divine presence.
3. Entreaty to divine to come with healing colors of lotus lights.
4. Let every nook and corner be filled with divine qualities.
5. This invocation is like a series of waves building up energy.
6. Seeking protection against false entities trying to lead you astray.
7. Surrender and opening up to divine presence and guidance.
8. Determination not to live without divine presence.
9. Preparedness for ultimate merger without limits.
10. Helping others is your nature. Therefore you help.

Spare 1 hour a day. Try it for 40 days in a row, 3 times daily. Repeat 3 times, stay silent for 20 minutes each time. All ye who tried speak of the result to me, positive or negative.

Amrita, Devipuram 531001.  4 Sep  2002

The Divine mother Life imagined that there should be time, and time came to be. She chose to be the space, the womb, in which time can move. Time and space going in whirls make matter. Time and space also provided the ground for vibrations of energy in the form of light. Light preserves the present moment. The light was Sarasvati. Time – space – matter was classified by Her great will into life, sky, air, fire, water and earth and their properties in seed form. The Divine Mother imagined 14 stable worlds in an atom, and 14 worlds in cosmos. Then she felt this was enough and put a sphere around it.

So far the creation had all the richness of variety, forms of Lakshmi, but there was no action because time was like space refusing to move. Everything was light. She created a great movement to time. Then time began to flow making all motions possible. She made the earth to move around the sun making years and moon around earth making the lunar month. Only if Life is coupled to time any form of experience can occur. Two examples illustrate this. 1. We have life but we don’t feel flowing time in sleep. 2. We have no life but time is flowing. In both these cases there is no experience. So life has to be in continuous union with flowing time in order to have any experience. Sometimes Life would separate from time and then there would be no experience but rest.

Then she limited the fields of cosmic awareness making an individual. The individual separated from cosmos and said,” I am so and so and these are mine and these are not mine.” There was fear and desire about what is not mine. If I did not get what I wanted, I felt helpless, angry and needed power. If I get the desired object I was greedy and would not let it go. I deluded into feeling I can’t live without it. I had the pride that I had it, and nobody else had it. I was jealous that others had things I did not have. I was worried what I had would go away.  All these passions: fear, desire, anger, greed, attachment, delusion , pride, jealousy, spring from the original separation of myself from the world. 

I was worried that I would die, and how can I go on after my life? I discovered food for extending my life. I discovered also that I could create new life forms through pleasure. So, sex was like hunger, nourishing my need to extend my self beyond death. The Divine Mother took the form of Kundalini and chose birth channel as her coiled abode ready to uncoil and strike to transcend life and realizing my potential to be a cosmic being in space and time, before creation of life.

The Khadgamala is the equation I=World=Beyond. Regular practice protects you, nourishes you, and takes you beyond. It fulfils all wishes, more than you desire, instantly. Therein lies its power.

How should you practice Khadgamala? As you are reciting each name, a portion of Sri Chakra should spring up in your imagination. The power comes from intensifying concentration to visualize the form, hear the sound, feel the touch, taste, and smell of the divine perfume of the goddess manifesting that part of the ever youthful Goddess. You can sit in front of each of the sculptures in Devipuram to get training into such visualizations. The Goddess loves fun. She is deeply in love with You, making You Siva.

So begin your journey to Goddess today, no matter how feebly. You can add power and depth as you move along. We are there to help you at Devipuram.

Amrita

I was frustrated for a long time, in trying to know about the roots of our culture.  They’re steeped in the Vedas, and the language is Sanskrit, it’s not a spoken language anymore.  And I go and asked the priest who performed my marriage,  “What is the meaning of the mantras that you recite in the marriage?”.  And they say, “Well, we study the vedas, but we don’t study the meaning of the Vedas.”  That was the standard reply I used to get.  And I used to get frustrated, because I wanted to know about my culture, but I didn’t know how to go about it.  Learning from firsthand was not possible;  from knowledgeable  people, it was not forthcoming.  And I wondered why the information was being held back, what is the reason. When I was a young kid I did study a little bit of Sanskrit, from ages 5 to 11, I was involved in Sanskrit studies, and later I gave it up when I entered school.  Well, today what I want to talk about to you is the importance of our understanding about what really a Hindu marriage means.  And what we should look for in it, and how we should apply it to our lives.  What’s really involved, why do we go through all that ceremony, and what is the meaning of saying that we don’t have the concept of divorce in Hindu marriage and why is it so?  I’d like to delve into some of these questions here.  But let me start off on a philosophical note. 

Many of you understand probably, that we are all one.  Many of you know already that the body is a temple where God resides.  God resides in me, in you, in you, in you, in everyone.  Not only in the human beings , but also in the animals, the trees, the birds that fly in the air, in the air that we breathe, in the clouds that give us rain, in the stars in space.   There is not a single place or a single time where God is not.  We do understand this in principle, but when it comes to practice , we tend to differentiate a lot.  We accept God is there, but we do not accept God’s creation.  We start saying, “If there’s God, why is it there is so much disparity, why is it there is so much disharmony, why are these fights are going on all the time,  Why should hate be there, malevolent forces ruling the world and not love?  Two thousand years after the Prince of Love, Christ, died, still we are trying to find love among our hearts.  So there’s a great wall that divides man from man, man from woman, man from beast, man from everything.  We should first look into the causes of why and how these divides come into existence.   The great Indian philosopher Sankara says,  Advaita, non-duality, means there is only one entity, and that is God.  No matter where you look, you can  only see God and nothing else.  But as I said, we are not able to accept God in his manifested state.  We say that God doesn’t know how to make the world properly.  If only I had the power, I would eliminate all this strife, all this violence, and I would show God how I can improve his creation.  We become so full of ahamkara, I can do better than God.  This is not a surrender.  The first principle is that God exists not only in his pure, enlarged state of oneness, but also in the divided state where you see differences.  And I would want a balance, where these differences are  coming from and why and how.  How do we come to know about this world? Through our sense of sight; either we see the world or we read about it, or we touch it, or feel it, feel  its warmth.   So all these sensory and motor perceptions are the channels through which we communicate to the world, we know about the world.  But all these are deceptive.  What is near to us appears bigger than what is far away. That is called inverse square law; that is how our sense of sight works. You can hear me in this room, but people outside cannot hear me. That is how our sense of hearing works.  So all these senses or motor organs are acting as local magnifiers.  So given this mode of knowing this world, there’s no way we can  get away from the attachment from the localizing perceptions, It is very hard  to get away from that.  In order to get away from that, and to be able to see the oneness and to break down the barriers between man and man, we have to somehow reach a state in which our vision is universal, not localized, where the far appears as close as the near appears to us; where with your consciousness, your awareness, you are able to penetrate the whole world and embrace the whole world in its perception.  That is the state in which you can perceive God as being yourself. 

Let’s come down to a little lower level for illustration.  I say I am one, one being, but in me there are billions of living cells which are born in me, they’re growing in me, they’re dying in me.  I have not given them names, I have not married them, I do not even know who they are, why they are there, what they are doing; I am not even aware of them.  But I still have an experience of this continuous life of all these living cells together which is what I call my life.  I see through my eyes, and I hear through my ears; so I say this is my eye and this is my ear.  I do not say this is my ear and this is my eye.  See, the world I perceive through my eyes is totally different from the world I perceive through my ears.  Both these pieces of awareness are unified in my consciousness.  It is I who am perceiving these different fields of awareness, but  the seer is the same.  So it makes sense to call this an eye and this an ear, different names for sub parts of my awareness. They are both parts of me; they are parts of me because they are attached to me in some sense.  My hands are attached to my body, my legs are attached, my heart is attached.  So all these are attached to me.  So, can you find this attachment that we all have together?  I have life, you have life.  We are both attached to life.  I can speak, you can speak, we are both attached to speech.  And there are so many factors which are common to the seer and the seen. This  is what brings about the unity, the experience of unity as compared to the state of diversity.  We see that the division that we look at is superficial, but if we go deep, we see the unity.  The ability to see both the diversity and the unity at the same time is given to us.  And your birthright is to experience that unity.  And the concept of marriage as it exists now in the Hindu culture tells you how to translate this experience  of unity in diversity. If you know how to make two into one, then you know how to make three into one; by induction process, and then you know how to make four into one and so on.  So you experience the whole entire world collapsing into you.  So this is the foundation of the concept of marriage. 

So let me go over some details about some of the  vedic mantras that we recite and why recite them.  So I will start with  the idea that the God is in me.  So it makes sense for every one of us  to say that I am God.  But, if I said God is really in me and not in you, I am God and you’re the Devil, then the problem comes.   I should  able to say I am God and you are also God.  It is then that the oneness, the unity comes about. 

So in the marriage, who is the bridegroom? The father of the bride worships the feet of the bridegroom in the marriage saying the following stanza:

Namostu anantaya sahasramurtaye Sahasrapadakshi shira uru bahave sahasranamne purushaya shashvate  sahasrakoti yuga dharine namah

The bridegroom is none other than MahaVishnu, physically present as an individual here, I am washing his feet.  Namostu, I bow down to him.  Anantaya, one who has no ending.  Sahasra murtaye, the one who has a thousand forms.  In Sanskrit, the word thousand is used in a different sense than we normally   understand . The three zeros are the three illusions of our wakefulness, of our dreaming and sleeping state.  The reality, the one is you; you are experiencing all these three states.  One thousand is meant to represent infinity of experiences in these three states of our being. Sahasramurtaye,  having a thousand forms.  Sahasra shira purushaya, having a thousand heads, because all of our heads belong to him, all of our hands belong to him.  Sahasrapadaksi  shiraurubahave.  He has got a thousand rays coming from him, and infinity of rays, an infinity of ways of knowing the world.  Purushaya.  He is the seer.  Shashvate, he is existing forever, through all life.  Sahasrakoti yugadharine namah.  For thousands of crores of eras, he has been there, and that is the Maha Vishnu who is the bridegroom.

So you see, you are not seeing the bridegroom as an individual.  You are considereing him as a manifestation of Maha Vishnu directly.  And it is to him the Kanya, the bride is being offered.  And what does the bride represent?  The wealth of the lord, Maha Laksmi, aishvarya.  All the wealth in the world, all the enjoyment, all the riches, all the experiences, they are the Maha Laksmi.  Kanyam kanaka sampannam sakala abharanih yutam.  This bride is offered as the  wealth of the world unto thee, unto the God who owns this wealth.  Then you may say, what is this giving of the bride to the bridegroom?  Is it not a sense of distortion?  Should the bridegroom not be given to the bride?  Why  this superiority of the male? Does it not interfere with the relationship?  But it’s not so. To see this, let us go on with the concept of marriage.

The real muhurta, when the people get married,  is when they put their hands on each others’ heads, it’s called sumuhurta.  At that time, what happens?  You have a betel leaf, some jaggery, and some seeds, and that is kept on the heads of the bride and bridegroom mutually.  Now who puts the hand on your head?  Putting a hand on your head is a blessing.  And who blesses you?   The guru blesses you.  So the meaning of that sumuhurta, the real meaning of marriage is implicit there.  That you , the bride becomes the guru of the bridegroom, and the bridegroom becomes the guru of the bride.  So you are mutual guru and sishya.  But you have to understand this.  Where normally, we tend to place the guru on a pedestal, high up above, and think that we have obey or listen to whatever he or she says.   That is not the real meaning. The real meaning of the guru and sishya relationship is that  like a transmitter and receiver. When I’m talking and you’re listening, I’m the guru and you are the chela or sishya.  But when you’re talking and I’m listening, you’re the transmitter and I’m the receiver; so you’re the guru and I’m the sishya.  See, in advaita, it becomes very clear that you’re not really talking to somebody else when you’re talking to somebody else.   You’re talking to yourself when you’re talking to somebody else because the talker and listener are one. You learn to see the oneness of yourself with the other.  Therefore,  the talker and the listener become one.  In that sense the relationship between guru and sishya is just a resonance with your self, being in tune with yourself.

 So here, people say, that girls are not entitled to study the Veda.  Many people of the ascetic order say girls should not recite Vedas.  That’s not true.  The boy goes through a state called upanayana.  Upanayana means taking you near God.   nayana means taking, upa means near.  You’re being taken near the Goddess, the mother Gayatri,  by the thread ceremony.  The thread ceremony entitles you to recite Gayatri Mantra.  Gayatri is a Shakti who is ruling the whole world.  She is the creatrix, she is the sustainer, she is also the destroyer.  She combines all these powers into her.  And if you get the right to recite the Gayatri, you become a Shakti upasaka, then you go through the transition called upanayana. The dynamic nature   you have to understand, and implement, and expose yourself to in your life.  

Now, for Gayatri mantra upasana, the woman get the right too during the marriage ceremony.  How?  Because, from the husband, who becomes her guru, she’s entitled to learn this Gayatri mantra.  So, what is considered upanayana for the male  is equal to the Kalyana or marriage ceremony, for the bride.  So from that moment onward, she is entitled to learn all the Vedas, all the Shastras he has learned.  And what ever she has learned, she can be a guru to him and she can teach him.  So this mutual guru sishya relationship is what we call the marriage.  You have to understand this.  If I say, I am always the guru and you’re always the disciple, there’s a superiority / inferiority relationship there.   But that’s not true.   The relationship is built on total equality.  You’re sometimes the guru, sometimes I’m the guru.  Sometimes you’re the sishya, sometimes I’m the sishya.  So where’s the question of superiority there?  If A contains B and B contains A, then we say A is equal to B, right?  It is this relationship which is the essence of our Hindu marriage.  

If in this relationship of marriage, if we assume the dominant male or the dominant female attitude, then the concept of the marriage is totally lost.  The marriage is supposed to be like a cart that has two wheels, and both wheels have to move forward at the same speed so that the cart can go forward.  If one wheel stops and the other is moving,  it goes round and round, it doesn’t move forward.  But equality of the two wheels which are the husband and the wife, that is being established by this relationship, and that is the essence of the marriage. 

So I told you that the roots of marriage is friendship, right?  So, explore this friendship a little further.  If I am friend to you, and somebody else is a friend to you, should it mean that somebody must be enemy to me?  Not so. Marriage is like an equality.  If A=B and B=C then it does not mean that A is not equal to C, but it means that A is equal to C.  So to establish this relationship more completely, the Vedic mantras that are used in the marriage have what is called saptapadi, the seven steps that you walk together around the fire.  And in this saptapadi the following statements are there:  Sakha saptipadi bhava-  be my friend who walks these seven steps together.  Sakhyam te gameyam- may I aspire to your friendship.  Look at the words carefully – may I ASPIRE to your friendship.  It’s not there now, we have to reach that understanding.   Sakhyam temayoshah; sakhyam me ma yoshtyas. That means, the bridegroom is telling the bride “You may have friends, they may be girls or  they may be boys, it does not mean therefore that they’re my enemies.   So I aspire to your friendship, and your friends are my friends, they’re not my enemies.  And similarly, I may have friends, girl friends or boy friends, and they’re not your enemies, even if we were to make love to them. The fundamental cause for breaking up of marriages is to become jealous when you’re talking to somebody else, when you’re looking at somebody else, when you want to make love to somebody other than your married partner. It is denounced as adultery in our days, and is the cause of divorce.   It’s this kind of jealousy which breaks up the marriage. It root is cut off in a vedic marriage.  So total freedom to have any number of friends is permitted in the Vedic marriage.  And then the great Rishis ask the question, for what purpose is the marriage?  Dharma praja sampatti artham striyam udvahe.  The spark of life  was given to us by our parents.   And we have to repay that debt.  And how do repay that debt?  By procreation.   By creating another spark of life, we repay that debt to our parents.  And that reason is one of the prime reasons for marriage.  So if you want to have children,  you must beget them through  a married  partner.  That is the dictum.   Now we got what are called four purushartas, which are called dharma, artha, kama, moksha.  In every samkalpa we say “Dharma, artha,, kama, moksha, cathur vidha phala purusharta siddharthyam.  I want to do my duty, I want to earn money, I want to fulfill my desires, and I want to be liberated.  These are the four basic desires that everyone has.  So dharma is defined as giving the spark of life which have received from your father and mother, and pass on that life to a new life. Because in the Convocation address given to the disciple after education is completed, it says, “Praja tantum ma vyavachetsih”.   It says, life is so precious, please do not cut it short by not having children.  Life is so precious, in this whole wide world, there is a very little part where life really manifests in its full state.  So you have the bounden duty to continue this spark of life unbroken.  And let the life evolve into higher an higher forms.  So your defined purpose is to generate children and that is one of the prime  reasons for marriage. 

Artha, then Kama and moksha are there.  Kama is desire.  We have desires.  What are these desires?  We want to build a home, we want to raise good children,  we want to acquire wealth and peace of mind, we want to have friends, all these things are desires.  These  desires can take the forms of lusts; lust for money, lust for life, lust for enjoyment, lust for anything.  If you  have a desire in a relationship as intimate as a marriage is, then it cannot be called love.  Love is that which arises when the desire is not there.  Love is what we like to do and we simply do it.  Loving is loving yourself, basically, because you do not see the other person as different from you when you are in love, or when you are making love. You are connected, attached when making love; you know the other’s feelings through the connectedness.  So when I love somebody, then whatever I do to that person I’m doing to myself.  Because love is that  which integrates, which unites.  It is not that which separates.  Love is a connection, a resonance. So you see, if you are giving to somebody something, say somebody has come to take alms from you, and  you give some money; if then you have a pride that you are giving that money, then it is not an expression of love towards that person.  If there is no pride, then it becomes an expression of love.  So love is that where you discover the real needs of the other person and you try to fulfill those needs.  Not because you’re in a position where you can help and that person needs the help, but because it’s your nature to help, and it hurts you not to help those whom you’re helping.  So you see, love is a very delicate thing which blurs the sense of distinction between the giver and the given, or the receiver and the received.  So it is in total unity only that you can love.  If you feel separateness, then you cannot experience this love.  The purpose of marriage was to achieve the state where you make two into one, make three into one, make many into one, and to take you into that state where you are connected to the whole world, and become truly a divine person, a Goddess or a God.

 You think you are two separate bodies, you and your wife, or you and your husband.  But these two are connected so totally, that I know your thoughts as if they are my own thoughts.  I’m able to see through your eyes.  I’m able to hear through your ears.  I’m able to feel what you’re experiencing without your having to communicate with me.  It is that total union of the spirit which enables you to circulate into the other state of consciousness, that is the aim of the marriage, to make two into one.  To realize that in a real life situation, that is the real purpose of marriage.

The seven steps that you go around the fire are supposed to be the seven chakras in your body, if you are aware of the psychic chakras, they are supposed to be seven centers where you’re connected to the cosmos. By keeping your awareness in these centers you’re able to connect to  the cosmos.  Those who are practicing yoga become the cosmos.  Marriage is considered as yoga.  Yoga is a part of samyoga, where two are merging together in total love, and then they practice yoga.

Then we come to the question of how this friendship is produced.  Can they have desires and how do they express their desires?  There is a freedom given and there is a freedom not given.  These are issues which are resolved in the marriage.  As I said, the marriage is between God and the world; between Maha Vishnu and this world.  Where does Maha Vishnu reside?  In everyone, right?  And where does Maha Laksmi reside?  In everyone.  So, you see, how can there be a divorce in such a situation?  When the bridegroom is the God and God exists in everyone.  The wealth of God also exists in everyone.  And the unity of these two, how can it be disturbed by separation?  There is no concept of divorce in the Hindu marriage.  Whomever marries whomever else, it still is the marriage of Maha Vishnu and Maha Laksmi. 

You know, there is the concept of worshiping the women who come to our house.  We give them gifts and say, “Who is it that is giving gifts?” .  We tell them , Devi, it is you who are giving gifts, who are also receiving gifts.  This is Devi puja.  So, though the names of the people are different, it is the same Goddess who is giving and the Goddess who is receiving.  So this non-distinction is built from the beginning of our life to the end of our life, and throughout our life.  This is the real basis of Hindu marriage.  In the olden days, the Vedic times, in the Tantric times, they used to marry the girls eight years after menstruation.  Eight years after she became a woman, she is married.  What happens between these eight years?  There used to be called Gandharva vivaha, which means you love somebody, so you are with that somebody.  In modern terms, it is called dating.  In olden times it was called Gandharva vivaha. 

The bride and bridegroom are married.  So who is the bride married to?  She’s married to everyone, the whole world.  Who is the bridegroom married to?  He’s married to the whole world.  Explicitly, the vedic mantras say, the bride is married to the purohit who is performing the marriage.  She’s married to the Gandharvas.  Gandharvas are those with whom she had contact earlier, before her marriage.  She’s married to all of them.  She’s married to agni, the fire.  She’s married to vayu, pritivi, apah, tejas, vayu, akasha.  All these things, she’s married to.  And the priest had the first right of opening her up to the maritial bliss if she remained a virgin. 

The Vedic marriage concept is totally different.  In fact, we are using the same mantras, but we don’t understand what they really mean.  So they give us the discipline.  They asked the question, for whom is this marriage required?  The world tried different approaches to marriage.  They tried, “I’ll get whomever I can,” that type of marriage.  The group marriage they tried.  And finally they have decided on monogamy.  Polyandry and polygamy were there, and finally they decided on this monogamy as the standard one for the lifestyles. 

So what happens to the desires that are left in you?  Now, if you understand properly our Hindu culture, we worship the Siva Linga.  Siva Linga is the union of the universal male and the universal female.  The Linga and the Yoni are united together.  We are worshiping that, which means we are worshiping the universal male and universal female.

 In the broadest context, let us understand Siva Linga at four different levels.  The lowest level at which we understand the Siva Linga is at the level of physical union.  It is the male phallus which is called Siva and the female yoni which is called Parvati.  It is their union that we are worshiping.  There, the union is for procreation. At the next highest level, the fire in the navel center and the love in the heart center, their union is called Siva and Shakti.  In the next higher level still, space is considered the womb and time is the linga which is moving.  The universe of space and time is called the Siva Linga.  All the five elements, all the ways in which we perceive, all these are considered to be lingas. After these three levels, we reach the fourth and transcendent level where there is no distinction between the seer and the seen.  They have become one.  That is the highest form of the linga.  It is called alinga.  There is no linga there.  There is no characteristic that differentiates one from the other.  You are joined so totally with the world.  You have absorbed the whole world into yourself and there is nothing other than you.  So, to reach that state is called moksa.  The purpose of marriage was to reach that state, moksa.  Not by denying yourself, not by the ascetic character of your life; but you enjoy life to the fullest, while at the same time there is union with God.  So the union between man and woman, the union between God and his wealth, was being proposed as a paradigm for our evolution.  This is the essential concept of marriage.

Group of angels come running.
G. asks who are you?

Chorus: We are Shaktis. We are Siddhis.

1. I am Anima. I make you an atom. So you can’t be seen.
2. I am laghima. I make you lighter than air. So you can float.
3. I, Mahima. With my help, you can become a galaxy. What power on earth can shake you?
4. Isitva. You can control the environment.
5. Vasitva. You can control yourself.
6. Prakamya. You will cherish great desires.
7. Bhukti. I give you health so you can enjoy.
8. Ichcha. Your will becomes the will of Goddess.
9. Prapti. You will surely get what you want.
10. Sarva kama. I will fulfill all your desires.

G. If I want misery for others or myself?
Chorus: We can surely give you that. But what is the point?

G. Some times I feel like it.
Chorus: Be careful what you ask! Because you will get it!
G: Like Midas? 
C: Yeah, like Midas.
G: How will I know what to ask?
Isitva: Good question. I can help you find it. I will teach you how to control your tongue.

Chorus: We will teach you how to control your tongue. Your senses. And moods. So Don’t be afraid to ask.

G: What brings you here?
Chorus: People in this world have lost their hearts. We want to bring the light of love into their hearts. So they can love more and hurt less.

Isitva: Too much violence and anger.
Vasitva: Too much loneliness and suppression.
Prakamya: Totally unnecessary.

Chorus: Together we can cure the ills of people here.

G: How? I have been trying. Not much success yet.
Chorus: By bringing love into the hearts.

We will teach you how to love, sing with the colors float on air and dance with us.  We will teach you to love all and become light. that’s what you need that’s what you are, but forgot it a lover first and a lover last.

G: Yes, I sometimes feel very heavy. 
I can use some weight reduction. Do you run a health spa?
Chorus: You just ask! We do anything.

G: Why are you, (coughs), uh, not wearing any clothes?

Chorus: We don’t? Oh yes, we forgot what they are long ago.
It is below our dignity to wear clothes.

Tell me why, my friend,
The sky doesn’t wear clothes,
the winds are naked,
the fires are nude,
the lakes don’t have cover
the vegetation doesn’t cover bosom of the earth.
And why, why, why,
people cover themselves.
Perhaps to hide imperfections.
Beauty doesn’t need clothes.

Isitva: I will tell you why. To separate themselves from one another. We are one and we know it.

G: Are you not ashamed to expose your bodies?
Vasitva: What is shame? I don’t understand it.

Chorus: It is our will to be seen as we are.

The flowers are the source from which the fruits come.
Are they ashamed? Would you rather cover them ?
In Mother’s creation every thing is pure, nothing is sinful nothing pretends to be what it is not.

G: Are there more of you? Or just ten ?

Chorus: Of course there are.

Each of us is a billion yet the million thousands are one.
Like each of you is a billion of living cells.
Thousands dying every second, thousands born, yet, are you not one individual?
Whose life are you living my friend?
When cells die in your body are you dying with them?
There is one life flowing through all of us.

G: Is that the Mother?
Curtain closes.

Sudden change of weather. Sounds of thunder. Bolts of lightning. Winds raising dust. First drops of water falling. Sweet smell of earth hungry for
rain. Sounds of lashing rain.  More thunder, more lightning. Sahasrakshi appears in a lightning. Radiant, glowing, smiling. Zoom into Her face.

She speaks: Her lips don’t move, but She speaks.

I come to this world to spread the wings of love and make you fly like angels.

I am the energy of love, life and light.

Surrender to me. I will lead you to the realization that you are God, You are me.

There is no you, no me. We are one. That is the truth. Love brings people together.

Respect love. Do not degrade it with anger violence or lust. Making love is my worship.

This earth torn by fear. I bring my angels to help you with your journey to greatness.

Do not resist them. They are here to help in your darkest hours of melancholy. Hrim.

Let us consider briefly the causes of incomplete knowledge and how it makes our present human condition. And how this makes up our ego, and its consequences of fear, lust, anger, greed, delusion, pride and envy. And how we can free ourselves. And what freedom means.

 1. Causes of incomplete knowledge.
Things are not what they seem to be.

How do we perceive the world around us? Through our senses. Through sound, touch, form, taste and smell, or through thinking. All these six faculties are filters.

Let us look at the nature of these filters.

SABDA = sound:  We HEAR only what is in this room.  We cant hear what is far away. Also we can hear only the sounds in the frequency range of some 15 cycles/sec to 15000.  We don’t hear the ultra or infra sounds which some animals can.  

SPARSA= touch:  We feel the TOUCH only within a few millimeters of our surface.  Beyond that we don’t feel any thing.  Our skin acts as a sharp cut-off filter within and outside of the body surface.

ROOPA=form:  We SEE nearby objects much bigger than far away objects. Also we can only see one octave of wavelengths in the entire electro-magnetic spectrum.  Also we see things only from a single direction.  We cannot see a thing from all angles, and all distances.  How would an object look if we see it from all sides at once?  From all distances?  With all magnifications? Would it be the same as our normal vision ? How does a spinning top appear with pictures on it?  How would the world appear if we had X ray vision?  Would our skin based cosmetics industry survive?

RASA=taste:  We TASTE only what is on our tongue.

GANDHA=smell:  We SMELL only what enters our noses.

MANAS=mind:  Our MIND reproduces these sensations through remembering, and can some times overcome some limitations of sensory filters by the logical thinking.  Yet, it cannot penetrate other minds and read what is in other thoughts as if the thoughts were its own. It can remember the past and sometimes the future too; but that is rare.  Thus the mind as an instrument has its many limitations. It is also a filter.

The world we are perceiving is not really as it seems to be.  So, our experience is an illusion.  All the senses and the mind are distorting it in so many ways.  They are so immediate, so intimately connected to us that we do not even suspect that our perceptions are wrong and that the world we experience bears no resemblance to the reality. It is not what is really out there.

What we know or can know through senses or reasoning is infinitesimal.  What we do not see is far more important than what we see.

2. Ego is illusion coming from incompleteness.
Ego is the idea:  this is me, these are mine; this is not me, these are not my people.

Given the filters of our perceptions, is it not natural that we give importance to local experiences and no importance at all to things far away? The ideas of I and mine, that this is what I am and these are my people, forms the core of ego.  All my life I try to protect these ideas.

We understand that it is NOT our fault that we have the ideas of I and mine so deeply embedded in us. But it is in the very nature of our senses that these concepts are embedded.

If we wish to overcome the limitations of ego, we have to let go of our attachments to senses and the information they bring.  Just as I can’t get an idea of a carpet if I attach a microscope to my eye even if I research for a thousand years, I cannot get an idea of the universe with the limiting vision.  I have to let go of the microscope; I have to let go of the senses.  Then only I get a chance to perceive the reality.  The freedom we talk about is the freedom from the senses, or attachment to sense based information.

The separation between I and world, mine and not mine comes from the local nature of senses.

Concepts of I and mine make the passions. How? I see some thing. I don’t know what it is. Fear comes. I like it, I want it, Desire/Lust is born. If I don’t get what I want, I get Anger, feel helpless, and hunger for power comes. If I get what I want, I don’t want to let go of it, possessiveness comes. I get so used to it, I can’t even live without it. Delusion comes. I get the pride I have it; and jealousy some has it I don’t have it. So, all these passions are born out of I and mine.

Also, I judge the information I receive based on what is good or bad for me. I notice that good brings me happiness, reduces misery, and preserves my identity, that is, maintains my separateness from the world.  Bad is the opposite of these things. 

Judgments form the core of the structures of ego. Hatred, doubt, fear, shame, aversion, family, race, conduct: these 8 passions form the sub-structures of ego.

We HATE something or someone who brings misery to us.

We DOUBT if what is in front of us is good or bad.

We FEAR animals or persons unknown to us, who speak a foreign tongue.

We are ASHAMED of doing things we really want to do.

We develop AVERSION to things we judge as bad.

We form the idea of our FAMILY and try to do everything for them.

We identify with our RACE and pronounce others inferior or bad.

We believe that we have to conform to the norms of CONDUCT without questioning for fear of punishment or rejection.

Thus we develop the emotions of Hatred, Doubt, Fear, Shame, Aversion, Family, Race and Conduct from trying to protect the ideas of I and mine. These are the sub structures of ego. All because of the nature of our sense-based information!

Ego is separation, of the one reality into two polar opposites: Subject and object.  Ego is illusion; illusion is based on sensory information which filters reality.  Ego breaks down if

    1. we understand the nature of senses,

   2. the need to let go of our attachment to senses,

   3. train ourselves to work free of filters and limitations,

   4. and finally let go of sense limits by suspending
      judgments.

All these are the objects of Goddess worship, and Tantra of Lalitha.

This is exactly what Lalitha’s form teaches us; she holds the five senses in one hand and the mind which seeks them in another. ” Mano roopa ikshu kodanda, pancha tanmatra sayaka.” Yoga is keeping mind separate from senses which bring in limited senses to couple with unlimited senses. This is what we mean by saying that we die to the profane world, to be born into the divine prospect of immortal beauty.

3.     SOHAM:   Object is Subject.
        Object is mirrored in the Subject.

Every thing that we see or know is mapped into our brain where thoughts are our first reality.  The world of our perceptions has no reality higher than our thoughts, which are themselves unreal. The objective world is mirrored in the Subject.  Remove the Subject. Who observes?  How can there be an observed thing or phenomenon without an observer?  The Subjective I implies the objective world of experience. The object is like a mirror image of the subject; it is the subject. The subject and object are mutual mirror images.

Ego is the deep rooted idea that the seer and the seen are different.  It is caused by illusion; it is an illusion.  It has no basis.  Just as nothing is left after we peel off successive layers of onion, so also ego vanishes when successive layers of ego like hate, doubt, fear, shame, aversion, family, race and conduct are peeled off. Once the ego is even temporarily suspended, subject merges into object, all separation is lost. That is being in tune with our true nature.

(Even with the ego intact, one can argue and establish that the subject and object are one. How? How is   I=World?   Is it not egoistic and megamania to say that I am the world? Logically, if A implies B and also B implies A, then it is true that A is the same as B, A is identical to B. I want to prove that Object and Subject are one. Object for me is the world. I am a part of this world; so Object implies Subject. If I do not exist, will the world exist for me ? So, I imply the world. The Subject implies the Object.  World contains me and I contain the world.  These are precisely the necessary and sufficient conditions for the equation “I = World” to hold).

These considerations go to suggest that our awareness is a mirror.  It reflects what is in front of it.  The mirror is itself never seen, unless it is unclean; but then it is no more a mirror.  The world is mapped onto the canvas of our awareness. The canvas is the brain.

What do I see if I stood in front of a mirror?  My own image. If I am wearing a hat, I see myself with it.  If I had 10 heads like the Ravana, I see my image having 10 heads. If I had 10 heads, 20 hands and 20 legs like Maha Kali, my image will have the same things. Now 10 heads, 20 hands, 20 legs can belong to 10 different people. If I were 10 different people myself, I will see my reflection as 10 different people. Just one more step on the same lines; if I was the whole world and stood in front of a pure mirror, I would see the world as my own image; I=World. No matter how much variety I see ‘out’ there, it is all me only.

Keeping the ego created by our senses we can still appreciate that what we see is ourselves, however much it appears to be different from us.  That is yoga=union:  what we see is what we are.  The world seen through filters is full of play.  If I remain a witness even when I participate in the drama of the world, I can practice yoga of play, like Krishna.

4.     Yoga Aaraamam
        Yoga is both play and rest.

This play aspect of Yoga is very interesting.  Krishna was said to have enjoyed playing with 16000 milk maids.  Let me stop and do a little calculation.  Assuming I spend one night with a woman, I need 16000/365= 50 years to be with all the 16000. Assuming again that I start from the age of 15, I would be 65 by the time I finished the whole lot.  How could I remain a child during all this time ?  What a prurient model for the repressed society of India of 1998!  Did he drink also ? Perhaps.  There was no prohibition then. Do the 1000 million Hindus care ?  How come he could have delivered the epic poem Bhagavad-Gita to Arjuna in the battlefield of deciding between right and wrong (Dharma kshetra) and between action and inaction (kuru kshetra)?  Let us understand this play: when life is looked upon as play, all is rest.

In the neck, there is a 16 petal lotus; at the crown, a 1000 petal lotus. If we join lines from each petal of neck lotus to the petal in the crown lotus, we get 16000 lines. Each line is a path in the brain; it represents a thought pattern. What Krishna did then was to watch each of these thought patterns as erotic play described as enjoying with the milk maids. Why milk maids? Milk comes from breasts.  So the loving interaction is at the heart level, the abodes of Sri Devi the protectress and Sri Lakshmi, the mother who gives plenty. Immunity from diseases and nourishment for the child both come from the breasts.  So the milk maids.

The story goes that in the circle dance, The wheel of Sri there was a Krishna between each pair of milk maids. And between each pair of Krishnas there was a milk maid. Were there 16000 Krishnas then or did he clone himself that many times?

The word Krishna like the word Kali, means a dark, unknown power. The power of time, moving silently like a river through the great void of space.  It is the great silence.  Krishna is the silence which watches as the subject, and Kali the silence in which the observer is absent.  The circle dance then means that between each pair of thoughts, there is subjective silence observing the neighboring thoughts, and between each pair of silences, there is a thought craving for the neighboring silences.

The story of Rasa leela of Krishna with the milk maids is a story of silence and thoughts alternating, in an erotic playfulness. The silence craves for thoughts; restless thoughts crave for silence.  Eros, craving, is the fundamental nature of silence; and Thanatos, the death wish is the fundamental nature of thoughts.  Doesn’t each thought tend to end itself ?  That is its death wish, the suicidal tendency of thoughts.

5.     Life is death
        Life and death are continuous experiences of time flow.

Life seems so continuous, and death seems so final, like a full stop.  We are not afraid of living, but we are scared to death of the creepy death. Somehow, death seems so final.  Point of no return.  Dead end. One moment I am there.  Next, I am gone, inexplicably.  What in me goes away, where, at death ?  Where do these fears come from?  But before that, who are we?

What do we consist of?  Flesh, blood, bones, marrow, and billions of living cells.  This is what science teaches us.  Millions of living cells are dying and millions born every second in our very bodies.  I somehow think that I am an individual, though I consist of billions of living cells. To them, I am God, not even aware of their existence.

Have I given birth to these lives? Have I named them? Married them? Cared for their off spring? Do I feel any responsibility to these billions of lives whose community life is what I think I am ? The immunity cells are checking every cell entering our body boundaries with questions like ” Do you belong here?  Do you have a valid visa? A work permit ? Have you come to enrich or poison our society ? ”  If the answers they receive are not satisfactory, the visitors are killed and disposed of. Am I even aware of the terrible wars going on between my immunity cells and their foreign visitors ?

Every moment, a part of me is dying.  Every moment a part of me is being born.  Am I experiencing my dying part ? Real death is never experienced nor experienceable. Only life is observable, experienceable.  My life is a river.  Old water is going out, new water is coming in.  I am dying every moment.  I am being born every moment.  With every out-going breath I die.  With every in coming breath, I get life.  Every thought in me is making chemicals called hormones, or catacholins or adrenalin. They help nourish me, or put me in altered states of awareness, ready to fight or run away with sudden bursts of energy.

Can I show you that “me’ sucking milk from my mother’s breasts? That “me” is dead and gone, as surely as I would be when my body burns on the funeral pyre. Can I show you that “me’ when I was a 7 year old going to school now ? In a picture, yes. In reality, no. That is also gone, that is also dead, never never to return. My childhood is dead, yet I continue to live. My youth is dead, yet I continue to live. Life seems to go on merrily without interruption through so much of unremitting death all around. Is death a finality then ? Is it not just another way of looking at life ? Could it be that death and life are synonymous ?

The statement “I am living continuously” is completely equivalent to the statement “I am dying continuously”. Death then is not such a finality after all. Because I am dying and I am living at the same time. Just like a river, I have a name. The water is not the same, nothing is the same, there is no constancy. The only constancy seems to be the concepts of “I” and “me”. Even the things that belong to me are not constant. For some time, yes. Not for all time. All the things I own, all my relationships, all have to fade away. I cannot own any thing or any one forever.

Rama told Sita once:  like a pair of logs that were drifting and came together in a stream, we came together.  We continue together for some time.  And some whirlpool comes along and one of us sinks in it.  The other continues along.

The only string that runs through all my life/death experiences is the subjective “I” and the subjective “me”. That seems to be the only reality, the only constant.

Life and death are two names for one process, called change. We can call it life, we can call it death. Does it matter ? They not only co-exist, but in fact they are one and the same. This is a very important realization to have. Then the fear of death goes away once for all.

Let me tell you about a dream I had. I was a king. I wanted to go for a royal hunt. My wives told me to be careful. I was riding an elephant. Dogs were barking and following. Some men were following with drums, others with fires burning at the end of sticks. The forest we were going through became very dense. I sighted a tiger. I shot it with an arrow. It got hit, and jumped on me. I narrowly escaped death. I woke up, perspiring.

Now that I am fully awake, I ask myself the following questions and get the answers.  Who was the king ?  I. Who were his wives ? I. Who was the elephant on which I was riding?  I. Who were the barking dogs ?  I. Who were the men with drums and with lights ?  I. Who was the forest?  I. Who was the tiger ?  I. Who killed the tiger ?  I. Who was killed ?  I. Who was afraid of whom ? I was afraid of myself. Who am I now ? None of these things. Such is the nature of illusion and such is the nature of knowledge. Can we say then that knowledge is superior to illusion? A thumping No!

In my state of dreaming all these things were true enough. I had reason to be careful, I had reason to be afraid. But once I am awake, I have no reason to be afraid any more. I realize that I lived in two states; dream and awake.  Both denied the knowledge of the other state.  In my dream, if the tiger told me, ” Hey king, don’t be scared, I am going to eat you, but you will not die”, I would surely have my doubts. I would suspect the motives of the tiger. When I am awake ? I could accept it with laughter, playing Siva, who wins over death ( Mrityum Jaya).

Let us end this discussion on philosophy and move on to a presentation of adoring the Goddess, preparing Nectar, Her milk. Let us drink that, to get immortality.

Everyone of us exists in two modes, one which I call a localized mode and one which I call a diffused mode. In the localized mode of our existence we are identifying ourselves with our body, mind or intellect. This is the limited state of our existence. The non-localized, diffused, spread-out form of our existence, consists of our consciousness pervading all life forms – plant, animal, bird, the sun, the skies, the stars… everywhere. There you are a witness to all these things and you are yet none of these things. The relationship between these two modes is like that between a circle and its center. You cannot have a circle without its starting point, the center. The center is within the circle, it is not attached to the circle. Just like when you a sphere through the center, the center is unchanging and the circle is always changing. The center has to remain fixed. If the center is moving, the circle cannot be formed. There has to be a center. You have to be centered on yourself. We need both these states of our existence to discover our roots, our inner most desires, the purpose of our lives and to be able to express the purpose of our lives through our daily lives.

You need the non-local diffused mode where you are not your body, you are not your mind, you are not your intellect, but you are the whole, you have spread yourself, your conscious is part of the entire universe. You have to get in that state a few times a day. Maybe three times a day. If time does not permit, at least two times a day. It is in the silence of the mind that God is known. This has been called sandhyavandhanam : three times a day you have to take the shakthi up into a transcendental state and be there for sometime. In the de localized mode of your functioning, the importance is not on the content of information, but on the container of the information. It’s not how much you know that matters, but how much you can forget. It is not subject to logical reasoning, not even to emotions. It’s beyond reasoning and emotions. And you have to reach that state.

I’d like to say a few words about how to access this state, what is called samadhi. You have to make a commitment in your lives to spend 15 to 20 minutes in the morning and 15 to 20 minutes in the evening doing this. Now, you may ask, why do you want us to do this ? We have already so many pressures at work. Why should we do this? What do we gain by doing this? What is in it for me?

First of all, we need proof that we need to do something. Let me give you that proof. Let’s suppose there is a school, an elementary school, and there is a teacher at the blackboard. The history teacher comes and writes a few lines there. He’s telling the story of the Ramayana. He says, “Once there was a king called Dasaratha”, and writes “Dasaratha” there. “… and he had four sons named Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Shatrugna”, he continues, and writes their names on the board as well. After a little more story-telling, the class is over. Then the mathematics teacher comes, and he writes the equation (a+b)^2 = a^2 + b^2 + 2ab on the board and he explains the meaning of this and he goes away. The student, when he goes back home, has the following information in his mind: Dasaratha = (a+b)^2, Rama=a^2, Lakshmana =b^2, Bharatha = 2ab, and Shatrugna is nothing.

It is not only the chalk piece that puts the information in your mind that is important, but also the duster. If you do not clean your mind of the information you have received, the selected information that’s going to get into the mind gets mixed up and there is lot of confusion in your mind. If we do not let our minds be cleared at least twice a day, then we cannot have clear perception. Which is more important, the chalk piece or the duster? Without the chalk piece you are stupid, without the duster you are confused. You need both. You need the chalk piece, the world, which writes the information on your mind and you have to be able to clear it also. The clearing process of the conscious part of the mind and being able to remain thoughtless for some time is the duster. We need both these things. This is one aspect. The other aspect is that once you are really able to achieve silence of the mind, stop all the dialogues, all the monologues in your mind, then you enter a state called yoga : Yogah cittabuddih nirogah.

When all the manifestations of the mind, the fluctuations of the mind are subdued then your body identification is gone; when you are in the witness state and only the subject remains, the object has merged into the subject. The object is not there, because the subject has become the object. We are seeing the world and we have become the world and you stop seeing yourself. That is the state which is called manolaya – where you have eliminated your mind. You have got to try to reach that state, three times a day preferably. If you can manage a wink at the office, nothing like that. If you can’t, at least do it twice, once in the morning and once in the evening. It is necessary in this day of high tension living, high pressure work; you need this relaxation process.

What are the steps that lead to the relaxation of the mind? I think there are basically four steps involved. If we eat heavily and then sit down for meditation, what happens? We sleep like Kumbakarna. Kumbakarna is a guy who sleeps for six months continuously. If you are totally hungry, with the burning sensation in the stomach, you can’t sit and meditate. So a slight hunger should be there, but not too much.

If your mind is totally fresh, you have just woken up from sleep, and you want to sit for meditation, the mind wants to think. It has finished it’s sleep. It wants to become active. That doesn’t create the slope that is necessary for the mind to settle down into a thoughtless state. So, if you are totally fresh, again, it is a conducive state for meditation. The second important step is that as you should have a little hunger, you should have a little tiredness also. When your body is tired and your mind is tired, the mind wants to stop thinking and start relaxing. This will set up a small slope in the mind and it starts gently rolling down. If you take a bottle, fill it with water and put some mud in it and shake it well and let it stand, it will start settling down. The settling down is because the mind has naturally a tendency to be lazy. So you try to go into a state of non thinking in a natural gradient.

But what happens is that when you sit for meditation, some kind of disturbance or the other, some trigger comes. A little sound, and you start analyzing what that sound is. It starts a train of thought. So when you have these trains of thought, it’s like a ball that is rolling down the slope of a hill comes across an obstacle. It stops there. It doesn’t roll down further. Or sometimes the obstacle is such that it pushes it up. So, what do you have to do?

Have you observed that no thought has never remained all the time with you? Is there any thought that has remained forever with you? No, not a single thought. All thoughts come, they are born, they grow, and they die in your mind. The nature of the obstacles in your thoughtless state are the thoughts. If you observe that the thoughts are temporary in nature, they will never stay for long, they cannot. The mind has a natural tendency to kill them. What do you have to do? Remain a passive witness to the thought, don’t get involved with the thought. Don’t invite the thought, put it on a pedestal and do puja like you do to Devi. Nor do you ask the thought to go away. If you push it away, you are working with the emotion of the thought. “This is a bad thought, I should not be having it”. Why do these thoughts come to me when I am trying to clear my mind? I should have only good thoughts, not bad thoughts”. So, suspend your judgment of these thoughts. Your judgment that this is good or bad, this is what I should have, this is what I should not have, is a thought. If I think it is a good idea, then I want to hang on to it, if I think it is a bad idea, I want to push it away from me. Thoughts are not the problem, your judgment of your thoughts is. If you judge not, then you are in a passive state of mind, a witness state of mind. A witness is not affected. If my name is Sastry, I can witness this guy Sastry having this thought, that’s not me, I am witnessing this fellow having this thought. Take yourself a little away from yourself. Detach yourself a little. And without judgment, let the thought come, let it stay as long as it wants, let it go if it wants to. Let a new thought come, let it go.

We talked about three aspects. The first is a little hunger, then a little tiredness to set the slope of the mind. And the obstacles in the way of reaching the settling of the mind are the judgment of the thoughts and therefore you remain a witness to the thoughts, not judging them.

There is one more important thing. This is the most important. We accept or we say we accept God. But we do not accept His creation. We start asking, “If there is a God then why in the name of Heaven does He create all this misery, all these pressures ? Why should He reward the impious and why should He punish the virtuous? Why should He allow those hapless 220 people to die in the plane crash? He doesn’t know how to make the world !”

We are not accepting His creation for what it is. They say there are three pivots for a stable mind : bhakthi, gnana and vairagya. Bhakthi is devotion, Gnana means knowledge and vairagya means detachment. In my opinion, bhakthi and vairagya are not different from each other. They are one and the same. Being able to accept God’s creation, good or bad, whatever it is, as being perfect, that is surrender to God. We thank God that we receive gifts from Him. We ridicule God when we receive brickbats from Him. We should be able to thank Him both when we are in misery and when we are in pleasure. This equanimity is surrender to God’s will. Not surrendering to God’s will is criticizing it, and saying, “If only I had the power I would create a better world.” What kind of a world will I create? I will create a blank white paper. Well, no color, no contrast, everything is fine…there’s no picture there. God is the picture of this world. God is His creation. God is the earth, He is the sorrow, He is the misery, He is the pleasure, He is the pain. He is everything. So accepting God is accepting God’s creation also. What does this imply that applies to meditation?

Sometimes the meditation goes wonderfully, absolutely no problems, I’m in seventh heaven, walking on the rainbows, with the Mother leading me with Her little finger and showing me different worlds. They are singing for me, they are dancing for me – an aesthetic state of union with God. And sometimes nothing happens. It is just routine. Where does boredom come from? Because you have an expectation that something is going to happen, and when that something does not happen, then you are bored. It’s not helping you, and you lose interest in the meditation. So you have to understand that expectation is the cause for the disappointment. Expectation is the cause of the boredom. So what is it that you have to do ? You should have no expectations whatsoever about how the meditation is going to proceed. If you have no expectations, no disappointments. If you have expectations, you will have disappointments.

So, to reach that thoughtless state of the mind, spend about 20 minutes in the morning and in the evening. I am not asking you to do mantra japa. Mantra japa is a thought. That is also an addiction; you are going to get rid of it one day. You may use it for sometime, but then when the mind starts getting cleared, you have to let go of that too. A little tiredness, a little hunger, non-expectation of the results and being a witness to your thoughts. These are the four essential conditions that are necessary for settling the mind down to a quiet state. All that is needed is that your mind settles down to a quiet state and once you have learnt the trick of how to go about doing this, it comes naturally to you. This is the duster which you have got to apply once in the morning and once in the evening. You choose your time. But try to see if you can stick to the same time everyday because it builds up a habit. Try to see if you can create an environment around yourself where not much of external disturbance is present. Try to see that you are not over full or over eaten, try to be comfortable. Take a simple posture where you can forget your body, don’t contort yourself into a position which you cannot hold for any length of time without discomfort. If you are used to yogasanas, that’s a different story. But otherwise what you do is sukhasana : whatever asana, whatever posture is convenient for you, where your body doesn’t keep hurting you and bringing you back to your body consciousness. What you are trying to do is forget the body, forget the mind. But not going to sleep.

So, this is called Sandhyavandhanam. There are several mantras we know…there is pancadashi the 15 letter mantra, shodashi the 28 letter mantra, then there is balatripurasundari shadakshari – aim kleem souh souh kleem aim, and then you have hamsa – soham mantra and the shuddha pranavam AUM. Then there are the mahavakyas. And beyond all these things, there is the silence of the mind. There you don’t have Her to hold on to, the sastras say niralamba margah . There is no support, support less you have got to be. Any kind of support that you try to hang on to does not give you independence. If you are seeking any kind of support, whether it is the guru, whether it is the mantra or whether it is an expectation, nothing, you have got to let go of everything. You have to be yourself, without expectations, and try to remain in that state. All these rituals that we do are to help us to reach a state of mind where it is balanced.

Having practiced this, I have known that it is in that state that clarity of perception comes. It is in that state that universal love springs forth in your heart. It is in that state that you are able to feel the oneness with entire universe. It is in that state that you are at the bottom of the ocean of awareness. There you see the oneness, not the diversity. It is in that state that you start feeling that when you give to somebody, you not giving to somebody else, you are giving to myself. In that state you will know for certain, that when I improve myself, I am improving the world around me. It is in that state you will understand that if I am helping myself, I am helping the world. We have an equation – I am You – that is established in that state of non localized mode of existence.

We are very much used to the localized mode of existence and we’ve forgotten that we can exist in the other mode. In physics, we have got what is called the quantum phenomenon. There is the particle mode of existence and there is the wave mode of existence. This applies to you. Your mind is a quantum phenomenon. It knows of no distance nor time, it knows of no path, it jumps from this to that without being in the intermediate state of time or space. In the classical model, if I want to go from Rochester to New York, we can put the sentries on the way, at Syracuse, at Troy, Albany and then New York. And you can say, he has just crossed Syracuse, now he has crossed Troy, now he has crossed Albany before getting to New York. In quantum mode of travel, this does not happen. What happens is that you disappear here and you appear there. That’s how the mind functions. The mind being a quantum phenomenon, the classical model of continuous path does not have to apply. The mind being a quantum phenomenon, it can disappear being an individual, become a wave, dematerialize here and materialize there. You’ve got to learn how to be a particle, you’ve got to learn how to be a wave. We have learned how to be a particle throughout our lives, what we have to learn is how to become a wave. So I hope that you will practice this, and perhaps I can talk about this again. I’ve got tomorrow and I’ve got, maybe the Guru pournami day.

We’ll meet again. Thank you for listening to me patiently. God Bless You.

A plate, a glass of water, mango / betel preferred leaves, a vessel, a coconut, turmeric rice, 2 bananas, flowers of all colors, 1.5 ft wool thread; a mud container for oil, 2 cotton wicks and matches and Rs 5 (10 cents) to be brought by each family.

(DEEPA YAJNA = festival of lights)

By whatever name you call, only one Godhead answers. His Power is also one with Him and Supreme. People of all religions worship Godhead through songs. The basic set of musical notes is the word of God, called Om. Does Godhead have a form? Yes. It is not visible, but it is similar to light. This light is actually life, which no one can see, but is the light through which everything is seen. So light is used by all as a symbol of God’s form. When people forget their differences and gather to do good to all, it is called a Yajna.

Yajna is a set of good actions. To get auspicious thoughts and to protect against disturbances disrupting our actions, let us welcome God by saying Om five times.  Each time before saying Om, take a really deep breath, release the breath slowly saying a full throated Om. Pull up your back straight. Keep your hands loose and facing up in your lap. Close your eyes. Listen carefully. (Start Sruti) Merge your voices into Tanpura. Say, 

Om Om Om Om Om (Sruti continues for 30 seconds)

Open your eyes slowly.

Yajna is sacred action.  Sprinkle water, symbol of life on to your neighbor’s heads and your own heads.
Say,

My mind is now pure. My speech is now pure. My actions are now pure. May this purity in thought, word and deed lead us to the highway to God, open up our vision, and bring peace to the world.

Listen: Sun gives us light and life, like God. We can breathe the Sun’s life into our lungs to enhance our life power. Close your eyes. Take a really deep breath and hold it. Say,

See the sun passing through white clouds. In every one of my hair follicles, the light and life of Sun is spreading. My mind, and heart are filled with light. I am full of life, happy and contended here and now.

Slowly release your breath.

Useless thinking and feeling unwanted emotions makes our minds hot. To cool it down, we need the cool touch and vision of God always between our eyebrows. This removes our hot thoughts or emotions. For this purpose, we wet a little bit of mud, or sandal paste and kumkum and then place it in between eyebrows.
Focus on the coolness there. Say, 

May my mind become calm. May useless emotions and excitements not even enter my mind.  May my head be proud and held high. May my intelligence be clear.

Listen: These are difficult days. Miseries pile up like mountains, caused by our own unthinking actions. They are also caused by unscrupulous people exploiting our weaknesses or poverty. They make us feel powerless and angry.  We do need to ask for help from our Creator who is almighty. We  ask for protection
through what is is called Samkalp Sootra or Raksha Bandhan, tied to the wrist. Adult women please hold in your left hands, the rest of you  in right hands. Hold it up high to make these promises. Say,

I will obey the commands of my Creator. I will not do undesirable acts. I accept Godhead’s blessings as my fortune, happily. I will share my abundance with everyone.

Listen: Tie the Samkalp Sootra at the wrist to the person next to you. They will tie it to you. Keep it till the next yajna.

The round vessel is a symbol of the world. The coconut on top of it is a symbol for head, and the waters in it for life. Decorate the vessel with turmeric and kumkum. Arrange betel or mango leaves like a lotus on the vessel. Place the coconut on top of it. Say,

My dearest God, unite all of us in doing good to our village. Give us the strengths of will, knowledge and power to act. 

Not only God, but also all his powers must manifest into the coconut. The powers of God move us from poverty to abundance, ignorance to knowing and darkness to light. The first of such powers is our teacher who lights up our path to acquire the remaining powers. Other powers achieve synergy like a chain reaction.  Let us call, offer seats and worship these powers to get their blessings.  Keep offering turmeric rice on the coconut.

Hail, ye teachers who channel God’s will to guide the world.
Hail, earth, waters, fire, wind and sky; ye sustain us.
Hail, ye great ones who sacrificed themselves for our welfare.
Hail, ye social reformers, visionaries, and soft-spoken sages.
Hail, ye who made us victorious over violent and cruel forces.
Hail, ye like sun lead us to light and sacredness.
Hail to all great knowledge giving paradigms.
Hail ye ladies who shower love, care and affection on the world.
Hail, ye temples and sacred places who inspire perfumed actions.
Hail, ye divine mother, who alone can change course of destiny.
All ye powers, enter the coconut, and accept our five offerings.

Sarva Devata Poojanam

Perform the actions suggested.

My dearest God and all ye powers!
Taste our devotion as waters we sprinkle.
Feel the cool touch on your foreheads our sacred acts
and unswerving actions as sandalwood paste.
Decorate your hair with our enjoyments as flowers.
Smell the vapors of lust, anger, possessiveness,
delusion, pride and jealousies leaving our bodies and minds as incense.
See our devotion to you as the lighted tip of incense stick.
Please accept a little part of the riches you yourselves have given us.

Prayer : Hail God, who is unending, who is in all:
thus  has 1000 forms, 1000 feet,  1000 eyes, 1000
heads, 1000 thighs, 1000 hands, 1000 names, eternal
time lasting for 1000s of crores of yugas.

Oh God, fill us with your light. Give us power to change tendencies to cause misery in us and in others.
May we also spread perfumed actions and light to others like you.

Deepa Yajna: Lighting lamps.

Listen: When we light a lamp, our deservedness is the mud container, devotion is the oil, God and me are the two wicks. They unite to generate light which destroys darkness, and fills the universe with light. This keeps on going as a Yajna automatically. Whenever we do this together, a great divine power descends on earth. People get attracted to do good paths, light, knowledge, and good actions. This is the essence of Deepa Yajna, to motivate people to get together to do good to them and to society. If we perform this Yajna on every full moon day, you will get abundance; on every new moon day, your poverty, misery, fear, and apathy will be destroyed. Like a flood, enthusiasm and excitement flow to regenerate desire to live better, know how to, and to act in coordination to reach goals you set. The very faces of your villages change, making them better places to live than urban areas in every way.

We are now going to light all the lamps; so please be silent. To focus our awareness, let us all recite Om 5 times after taking deep breaths. Keep your spine erect. (Start Sruti) Take a deep breath. Say,

Om  Om  Om  Om  Om 

Listen: To give peace of mind to those in misery, let us keep silent for ½ minute. (Sruti ends after ½ minute)

Now light the lamps taking care not to burn yourselves, or the sarees or hair of the ladies in front of you. Keep the wicks separate in oil, but united where they emit light.

Poornahuti

We are about to start poornahuti. This means that we are going to merge our will into the will of God. It also means that we are promising to make necessary sacrifices to achieve the good of our village. Say,

Om  Poornam adah poornam idam,  poornaat poornam udachyate.
Poornasya  poornam aadaaya,  pooram eva avasishyate,
Svaahaa.

Offer turmeric rice to coconut.
Listen again: There are disruptive forces in us and in the village in the form of bad habits which destroy our health or wealth. Let us throw them out by saying Svaha 3 times forcefully. Say after me,

Svaaha.   Svaahaa.   Svaahaa.

Listen: In every village this Deepa Yajnam and Baala mandir is going on at this very moment on every new moon and full moon days. News is spreading about the benefits of these community actions to other villages, mandals, districts, rashtras, our entire country; all are being empowered and enriched this very moment.

7 Promises to give to enrich our village with fire as witness:

Listen: Raise the lighted lamp with your both hands under it carefully to be level with your eyes. Be careful not to spill the oil on the ground, or set fire to your neighbors’ sarees. Keep your attention on the light, not the container while saying the promises. Say,

I (say your name, gotram in your mind) am making these promises with fire as witness, merging myself into God and so my will is the will of God:

I will give Health: My body is a temple fit for God to live in. I will keep it clean and healthy and nourished. I will get rid of my bad habits. Similarly, I will protect the health of others. I will dispose of garbage in specified places to recycle or convert into fertilizer. I will not release bad water on to roads, but into soak pits.

I will give flowers and fruits: I will earn money by productive activities appropriate to the village such as raising fruits and flowers, or vegetables, or stitching clothes, making eco- friendly paper bags etc. If I think that I save what remains after my expenses, it never happens. So I will think of savings as my first expense, and save.

I will give to God: I offer what I have earned or saved first to God and then use them as appropriate for myself or for village.

I will give Devotion: To prevent bad thoughts, I will pray and sing to God everyday for at least ½ hour with soulful absorption so that, others who see will with devotion. My well being is included in the well being of all. So I will do everything possible to help the society in anyway.

I will give Work: To throw away apathy and laziness, I will work for the village at least one hour every week.

I will give Education: I will teach at least one person to study. I will give any kind of help to any school in the village.

I promise to meet here every new moon and full moon day and to perform this deepa yajna. We will abide by what we in our village committee decide to give the offerings on the 2 weeks following each yajna.

We accept God’s grace in fulfilling His will. May all be happy.

Om, Peace, Peace, Peace.


This completes the Deepa Yajna, to be followed immediately by Baala Mandir street show by children in age group 10-13 both boys and girls. It explains the concepts of poverties of seven kinds, and what villagers do to eliminate each of them. The substance is elaborated in the seven kinds of giving promised in the Deepa Yajna.

Each Deepa Yajna sustains enthusiasm for 14 days, to be reinforced by the next.