I contacted a group of friends on
September 29, 2018 to ask whether they were interested in joining me for a 41
days Sadhana that consisted of chanting a two line Devi mantra for ten minutes
daily. Eleven of us decided to start from October 2nd.
Snake’s visit, a prelude?
Same day evening while brooming the
house, my maid called me to show a small writhing worm like thing. It was about
12 cms long and dark brown in color. My husband and the maid told it was a
snake, it moved like a snake. But I didn’t consider it a snake as it was too
small to be a snake. He took it on a paper and left among bushes.
Next day again the maid told me that
she found another one below the table, but this time it was a dead one. She
said to me, ‘You can take a closer look at it to see the head, it resembles the
hood of a snake.’ I checked and saw they were right. It was indeed a snake, it
was as if the Universe wanted me to know this fact.
On doing an internet check, I came to
know that it is the smallest snake and is called Brahminy blind snake, flowerpot
snake, or Brahminy worm snake.
It is a nonvenomous blind snake species
found mostly in Africa and Asia, but has been introduced in many other parts of
the world. They are completely fossorial (i.e., burrowing) animals, with habits
and appearance similar to earthworms, for which they are often mistaken.
The message?
A snake could appear when you are
stepping into the unknown and need support to move forward. It can symbolize
spiritual guidance. This animal is typically close to the ground and can remind
you of staying grounded as you move through changes.
In ancient traditions as well as
modern times, snakes are symbols of healing powers and opportunities. A snake
is a symbol of rebirth, patience, intellect, longevity, vigilance, eternity,
protection, rejuvenation, intuition, enigma, and splendor. When a snake appears
in one’s life, it likely means that healing opportunities, change, important
transitions, and increased energy are manifesting. The presence of the snake in
your life often means that you are in a period of transition and it points to
ways that promote your personal growth.
It was likely that I was being
prepared for the changes that this sadhana would bring into my life.
Shoe flowers galore
I use hibiscus
flowers to worship Kali Devi for whom I do Havans on Tuesdays and Fridays. On 1st
October, I saw that there were four flowers in one of my plants (the flowers
stay for a few days on the plant). I left two on the plant since I needed them
for 2nd, when I would do Havan and start my chanting Sadhana. But on 2nd morning, I was
surprised to see many flowers on the plant.
There is another
hibiscus plant in my green house. It gives flowers intermittently; usually a
lone flower will bloom. We attribute the reason to the limited sunlight the
plant gets indoors. But once I started the chanting, suddenly several buds
appeared and many times I was getting two flowers a day.
I use Nerium
Oleander flowers also for my daily puja. When I started my sadhana, the tree
gave different colored flowers to show its appreciation!
I haven’t seen it
happening ever before.
An unusual seed
On October 3rd,
my husband went to the empty plot behind our clinic and brought a peculiar seed
to show me. He told he had seen it in Jaipur during his childhood and never
seen it in South India. The moment I saw the seed and held it in my hands, I
felt some connection of the seed and spiritual pursuit, and told him to get me
more seeds. He didn’t remember its name correctly. He tried to search on the
net, even by uploading its picture, but didn’t succeed.
On 4th
he brought me more seeds and I put the photograph of the seed on the Facebook
and asked for any information about it. One friend responded and told it was
Tiger’s claw, and ‘Hath Jodi’ in Hindi, as it resembles two hands.
These seeds
can help humans to channel the Divine power(s) of the Universe by activation
through some preparatory stages and worship. The plant is considered a form of
Goddess Chamundi. As the fierce aspect of Devi closely associated with Kali,
She is also associated with Mother Parvati and Durga. While Mother Kali
manifests the power of time, death and destruction, Mother Chamunda holds
infinity and eternity.
I thought it
appropriate to activate the seed during the sadhana period and started doing it
in earnest. During the initial Havan, I got to see the silhouette of Kamakhya
Devi.
During the Havan
Puja to activate the seeds
Three days fasting
Navaratri
celebrations came during the period of our sadhana, to me it was not a
coincidence at all. I got the message to do three days fasting (with fruits and
milk). It was the first time in my life and I was pleased with the result –
amazing energy with a light feeling and very deep meditation experience!
And on the 4th
day during meditation I felt the presence of a huge snake hood above my head
like it is seen above Lord Parshwanatha’s head.
Lord Parshwanatha
Along with Mahavira, Rishabhanatha and
Neminatha, Parshvanatha is one of the four Tirthankaras who attracts the most
devotional worship among the Jains. His iconography is notable for the serpent
hood over his head. Parshvanatha is said in Jain texts to have been born in
Benares (Varanasi, India), renounced the worldly life and founded an ascetic
community.
My husband joked that Parshwanatha had blessed
me for fasting, as fasting is very prevalent among the Jains.
Sprouting in the current state
While plucking the
ground nuts from the plant roots, one of them caught my attention, it had
germinated while it was still attached to the root.
Again, when I was
cleaning the coconut in the kitchen, I noticed that it had started germinating.
A clear indication that new growth is possible in whatever stage one is in.
Effort and perseverance are all that are needed.
Buddha coming in..
A couple who came
to learn Reiki from me was raving so much about the serial ‘Buddha’ they were
watching, that we also started watching some time back. There were 55 episodes
and we watched the last episode on October 21st. When I realised how
compassionate he was to every living being, it struck me that even though I
behave compassionately to other human beings, my compassion comes from a
logical reasoning, it doesn’t spring straightway from the heart.
I realised that
Buddha must have some insight into the past or future of a person that his
heart is filled with compassion. For example, when we enter a room full of
people and everybody except one person stand up in respect, we can feel
irritated. But if we are aware that he had an accident on the way and his knees
were hurting so much that he couldn’t stand up, we will only feel compassion
for him.
So I started
praying to Buddha to bless me with such compassion. Then on He was
communicating with me during daily meditations. He made me aware that I was not
compassionate to myself. Being a perfectionist, I cannot forgive myself for any
mistake. ‘You can be compassionate to others only if you are compassionate to
yourself’, he told me. And I consciously started being compassionate to myself.
Rice kheer for the full moon.
I got the message
from Buddha to have kheer on full moon. A video popped up on the you tube
section on my husband’s mobile, extolling the benefits of keeping the kheer
under moon light on Sharad purnima and consuming it . He remembered that his
mother used to do it. So I kept the kheer under moonlight and it was so
delicious. I had it at 4 am before meditation practice and the meditation that
followed was unique.
I have been to Bodh
Gaya in Bihar and visited the Bodhi tree under which Buddha attained
enlightenment. I imagined myself sitting under the same tree and meditating.
First I could feel the chakras from heart chakra to the brow chakra as separate
chakras and gradually they all merged into one. Then I saw a bright full moon
in between my eye brows, I could feel the whole inside of my head being lit
with bright light.
A physical proof?
I felt that
something has definitely happened, but I requested the Universe to give me a
physical proof. We went for yoga practice at 5.30 am; we stood on the balcony
and tried to see the magnificent full moon, as we always do on full moons. But
there was no moon to be seen, though the sky was clear and the stars were
visible. My husband was surprised; I laughed and said, ‘This is the physical
proof for me. The moon is not seen outside, it is inside my head.’
Towards conclusion
We had gone to
Bangalore for Diwali, which fell on 7th November. Since there is an
active spiritual group in Bangalore, I decided to come back to Belgaum only
after finishing my Sadhana (which fell on 11th) in Bangalore. And
what an experience it was!
On 7th
morning, we had a Havan and Tripura rahasya chanting, and group meditation for
three hours. Sixteen of us joined for a
day long meditation on 10th, with lunch break in between. On the
last day, the 11th, there was a Reiki I class with an amazing group
of participants and we had the Havan and chanting at 7 pm. I asked Devi to give
me a proof that the Sadhana has been accepted. A small twig jumped out of the
Havan kund and fell in front of me!
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