Getting back on the spiritual path

After our traumatic stay at the Soul Coach Training Programme, I felt that I was dragged a hundred feet backward in my spiritual path. We had to go to some silent place, meditate and rejuvenate. So off we went to Shringeri and Kanhangad in April 2019.

Shringeri

We reached Shringeri by 3.30 in the afternoon and straightaway went to the guest house Sri Bharati Tirtha Krupa where we had booked a room. The pillow covers didn’t look clean and with some reluctance, they changed them. For dinner we went to the temple dinner hall, a huge one that can accommodate 3000 people at a time. The food was very disappointing; it was just rice and some colored water that was a weak representation of rasam and it was served as if it was a chore. For the rest of our stay, we never ate there again.

Durga Parameshwari temple

The next day brought some great divine experiences for us. It was my husband’s birthday and after bath in the morning we went to the Durga Parameshwari temple.

We were elated to see that there was no crowd, so we could sit and meditate in peace. After some time, in the adjacent school, morning prayers were going on and then they sang, “Happy Birthday” song for some student!!

Kalbhairav temple

We came back to the main temple area and started walking to Kalbhairav temple. On the way we saw the library and stepped in to have a look. Since the librarian couldn’t answer our questions, he went inside and brought a Swamiji who was there for the last 15 years. He was very knowledgeable and we had an interesting conversation.

Meanwhile we got a call from a friend and we had to rush back, instead of proceeding to the Kalbhairav temple. Our friend took us to the Bettada Malahanikareshwara temple. It is situated on a hill top and the moment we reached, Aarti started. For lunch we went to ‘Akshaya mess’ and had a delicious lunch, along with mung dal payasam, which made our birthday celebration complete.

After taking some rest in the room, we set out for the Kalbhairav temple again. It was a 15 minute walk uphill. We didn’t know the way, but as a man was walking ahead, we just followed him and reached the temple. I felt strong vibrations there, sat and chanted mantra 108 times. When the chanting was over, I heard the ‘thud’ of many falling fruits from a tree nearby. It was anjili chakka as we call in Malayalam, or Fruit of Artocarpus Hirsutus or Anhili.

 When I told my husband that we eat them in Kerala, he told it must be Kalbhairav’s Prasad for us. I picked up a broken fruit, saw that the top portion was clean, and we consumed our prasadam.

On the way back, dusk was approaching, there was nobody in sight and we were just walking, praying it was the correct way back. I suddenly noticed that a dog was walking with us. Whenever I stopped and looked, it would also stop, and resume walking once I started walking again. After a while we reached the library where we had spent time in the morning. From there we knew the way and the dog just disappeared. For those who don’t know, dog is the vehicle of Kalabhairav.

Anjaneya and Kalikamba temples

 The four dikpalaka temples in Shringeri are those of Durga Parameshwari, Kalabhairava, Anjaneya and Kalikamba. The first two we had visited, now set out to visit the last two. They are also powerful temples and it was a joy to absorb all those vibrations. It was a great day with so many positive experiences and I could feel my real self slowly surfacing.

Another day in bliss

After breakfast on the next day, we walked across the bridge to the Vyasa mandir.

Vyasa mandir from far off, and a closer view 

There was nobody else, allowing us to spend time meditating. Then we drove to Kigga, which is a small village located at a distance of 9 km from Shringeri. The main attraction of Kigga is Sri Rishya Shringeshwara temple. Dedicated to Rishyasringa, the temple stands on the site where Rishyasringa was absorbed in the celestial light. Built during Vijayanagara period, the temple houses a linga of a unique shape, with three protuberances resembling horns.

During the time of the formation of Sharada Peetha, Sri Adi Shankaracharya visited  this holy place of Kigga. It is after this visit that he named the place as Shringeri derived from the name Rishya - Sringa. Hence, the place became famous as Shringeri Sharada Peetha.

On the river bank

In the evening we went and sat near the river, absorbed in meditation. Gazing at the setting Sun filled me up with all the energy that was depleted at the SCTP.

The river was filled with fish

We have visited Shringeri a couple of times before, but every time we would just go to the main temple and return. It was a unique experience this time, of staying there and visiting all the associated temples.

To Anandashram, Kanhangad

The drive to Kanhangad was scenic, and I noticed many water bodies. We reached Anandashram by 5 pm. After completing the formalities at the reception, we went to the dining hall for tea and then checked into a room in the Krishnabai block.

It was a big room with nice attached bathroom with geyser. I am writing this because in Shringeri guest house we had to pay and get hot water for bath through the room boy in the morning, which was not very convenient.

About Anandashram

Anandashram was founded by Swami Ramdas, endearingly called Beloved Papa, at Kanhangad in Kerala in 1931. The ideal the Ashram holds before it is “Universal Love and Service based upon a vision of divinity in all beings and creatures of the world. Here every man, woman or child, to whatever denomination, creed of caste the person may belong, shall have free access.”

The Ashram provides free food for all visitors, and free accommodation for a limited period of time. There are special buildings for wandering sadhus. We have had free food in many temples (prasadam), but have never experienced the love and concern with which the food is served here.

The food is vegetarian and usually includes plenty of milk products. The Ashram has a Goshala (Cow Shed), with over 50 heads of cattle. The milk yield is passed on to the Ashram Bhojan Shala (Canteen) which feeds not only the devotees but also the poor and hungry who happen to come to the Ashram. The Goshala is fitted with ceiling fans to keep the cows cool, and according to one source, in the Goshala one encounters "some of the happiest cows you'll ever see in India."

The Ashram is centred on the single activity of chanting the mantra "Om Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram."During the lifetime of Swami Ramdas, the mantra was chanted throughout the day in the main Bhajan Hall, except for the times when he would engage in discussions with visitors in the Bhajan Hall after lunch and dinner. Today the mantra is chanted continuously from 6 am to 6 pm in one of the three samadhis in the Ashram: the samadhis of Swami Ramdas, Mataji Krishnabai, and Swami Sachidananda. Spaces are also available for silent meditation. However, visitors are not under any compulsion to participate in these activities. So all those who take part in various programmes are doing it from their heart.

After the mahasamadhi of Swami Ramdas in 1963, Mataji Krishnabai headed Anandashram until her own passing in 1989. Swami Sachidananda, who joined the ashram in 1949, took over the leadership of the Ashram until he passed away in 2008. Now Swami Muktananda heads the Ashram. We listened to his discourses and had a personal meeting too.

The message for me

It was such a divine experience to participate in various programmes in the ashram, I specially cherish the memory of flower offering in the morning and bhajan in the evening. The message that I got from my stay was “Everybody’s body and path are different. Sadhana should let our innerself bloom. We need to go deeper and deeper and find our own method to bloom to our full potential. Sadhana is done to remove the obstacles from our spiritual path. We should not try to copy anybody, just take pointers and move on...’’

Read more at:

 https://www.nativeplanet.com/travel-guide/rishyasringa-temple-near-sringeri-002877.html

http://www.anandashram.org/

If looks could kill.....Nazar

My youngest brother was born when I was nine years of age. Since my mother was a working woman, looking after the new born, bathing and dressing him up used to be my responsibility. He was a sweet child. Whenever somebody came home, admire his cuteness and leave, there used to be distinct difference in his behaviour. He would be cranky, cry for no reason, disturbed during sleep and sometimes feverish. And when I lift him, he would be so much heavier than usual. Same thing used to happen when we would visit somebody’s house or go for a function and come back home.  

‘Nazar’ or ‘Evil eye’ has a remedy.

My mother, on seeing the child’s changed behaviour, said it was due to ‘Nazar’ or ‘Drishti’ and she had a remedy. She would take three unbroken long red chillies, some sea salt, mustard seeds, and some onion peels in a piece of paper, wrap it up and take it in her right palm. She would touch this on the baby’s head on the left side, left shoulder, elbow, palm, left knee, toes, continuing onto right toes, knee, palm, elbow, shoulder and right side of the head. This she would do three times, then make three circles around his head and put the paper with its contents onto fire outside the house in our compound. For making the fire we used coconut husks and dried leaves.

The moment it burnt off, the baby would feel light and I would be relieved because I had to carry him. So as a child, I had experienced its effect.

Principle behind the Nazar

If we know the concept of auras, it is easy to understand what is Evil eye. Aura is the electromagnetic field around our physical body. When we look at objects or people with positive aura, it energises us and we feel happy. A negative aura can sap our energy and make us sad and unhappy. It is possible to draw energy from positive objects/people and lose energy to negative aura objects/people. An evil eye, on the other hand, can cause us to lose our aura, feel drained and disempowered.

When someone looks very pretty in a party, or is giving an outstanding performance, how many in the party or audience will be looking at that person with longing eyes, or with envy? Any of us can possess an evil eye transiently. This follows envy, or even adoration, of something beautiful, like a child. Sometimes even a mother’s gaze can drain the child of positive aura. It is to protect from this that a black dot is put prominently on the child’s face.

Across the world

Through the ages, people have always feared the evil eye. When children fall sick for no apparent reason, when things suddenly start to go wrong or when hindrances come your way repeatedly, people say, the evil eye has struck. 

Belief in the evil eye is strongest in West Asia, Latin America, East and West Africa, Central America, South Asia, Central Asia, and Europe, especially the Mediterranean region; it has also spread to areas, including northern Europe, particularly in the Celtic regions.

Authentic practices of warding off the evil eye are also commonly practiced by Muslims: rather than directly expressing appreciation of, for example, a child's beauty, it is customary to say Masha'Allah, that is, "God has willed it", or invoking God's blessings upon the object or person that is being admired.

A number of beliefs about the evil eye are also found in folk religion, typically revolving around the use of amulets or talismans as a means of protection. In the Aegean Region and other areas where light-colored eyes are relatively rare, people with green eyes, and especially blue eyes, are thought to bestow the curse, intentionally or unintentionally.

Assyrians are also strong believers in the evil eye. They will usually wear a blue/turquoise bead necklace to be protected from the evil eye.

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook explained that the evil eye is "an example of how one soul may affect another through unseen connections between them. We are all influenced by our environment.... The evil eye is the venomous impact from malignant feelings of jealousy and envy of those around us."

In Mexico and Central America, infants are considered at special risk for the evil eye and are often given an amulet bracelet as protection, typically with an eye-like spot painted on the amulet.

Burning chillies

It is interesting that if we just burn a small chilli, we won’t be able to stand nearby as we start sneezing and coughing from the pungent fumes. But when three big chillies are burned to remove nazar, there will be absolutely no offensive smell, no sneezing and coughing.

When one is living in an apartment and can’t light a fire outside, we can line a kadai with aluminium foil, burn some shredded paper inside that and put the things to be burned in that. It is important to see that the chillies burn completely. When it cools down, the whole thing can be wrapped up in the foil and discarded.

A simpler method

If you don’t want to take so much trouble, just take one teaspoon of sea salt in your hand, take it clockwise around the head thrice, lightly spit on it thrice and discard it by flushing immediately in the sink. Salt attracts negative energy and breaks it down. So it is important to dispose the contaminated salt immediately.

Keep yourself protected

A simple way to keep yourself protected from evil eye is to always wear vibhooti in the third eye region.

Talismans that protect from Evil eye

Whereas the evil eye is a curse believed to be cast by a malevolent glare that can cause misfortune or injury, usually given to a person when they are unaware, talismans created to protect against the evil eye are also frequently called "evil eyes".

Attempts to ward off the curse of the evil eye have resulted in a number of talismans in many cultures. As a class, they are called "apotropaic" (Greek for "prophylactic" / or "protective", literally: "turns away") talismans, meaning that they turn away or turn back harm.

A blue or green eye can also be found on some forms of the Hamsa hand, an apotropaic hand-shaped talisman against the evil eye found in West Asia.

In Turkey, a typical Nazar (amulet) is made of handmade glass featuring concentric circles or teardrop shapes in dark blue, white, light blue and black, occasionally with a yellow/gold edge.

Assets and liabilities in life

We had attended a Swamiji’s (from Chinmaya mission) lectures in Manipal way back in 1981. The point that stuck in my mind was the difference between ‘Preya marg’ and ‘Shreya marg.’ Preya marg is doing things in life that gives immediate pleasure, but leads to agony later. For example smoking, over indulgence in sweets etc., Cigarette smoking gives real pleasure to many and in several instances it can lead to life threatening diseases like cancer. Eating too much sugary stuff can cause obesity, diabetes and heart problems.

On the other hand Shreya marg is doing things that don’t give immediate pleasure, but they do bring joy in the long run. Like exercising daily for keeping the body in shape and healthy. It may be raining and you feel like sleeping in the warm bed than to get up and go for jogging, but jogging is what you do if you are on Shreya marg.

Running blind in the rat race

The Universe provides nourishment and necessities for every being. But we humans think that we have to struggle hard to achieve things. I want to make it clear that I am not advocating inaction. As long as we are alive, we need to act, but if we do it in a balanced and nonattached way, we can enjoy every moment of life.

Neglecting one’s body and sleep, not giving time and attention to family, with the common argument “I am doing this to make our life secure, to give you better future’ (which are lame excuses anyway) will back fire in the long run.

When one looks around, everybody is in the rat race. It needs real spiritual foundation to step aside and lead a balanced life. Let us take a look at the assets one creates and how they transform into liabilities over time.

HUGE house, your ‘Status symbol’

There is a trend to make huge houses, with inbuilt home theatre and gym. After about two years of living in that house, it is seen that they hardly get time to watch movies in the home theatre and oversleeping is so enjoyable that the home gym is mostly unused. When it becomes difficult to get domestic help, the huge house turns into a liability as it is difficult to clean.

With the craze to send children abroad, we get to see large number of houses where only the parents (who are senior citizens) are living. They just lock up the rooms except their own bed room and kitchen. Prolonged closed spaces attract negative energies and the parents suffer from problems which the allopathy approach can’t diagnose.

There is the current fashion of false ceiling and intense lighting in the house. False ceiling creates dead spaces in the house, not a good thing for the inhabitants’ wellbeing. The lighting in the house is very strong, there is no balance of Yin and Yang. I feel uncomfortable in some of our friends’ houses as I am sensitive to the energy level around me. They stay in such a bright atmosphere till sleeping time, which is detrimental as after sunset presence of melatonin is supposed to induce sleep and bright lighting doesn’t facilitate melatonin synthesis. Then they take sleeping pills to drift into a drowsy slumber!

I have seen bath tubs in some houses accumulating dirt and becoming storage place for things like brooms. For the sake of status the bath tub was installed in the house but over time it is not used for baths and keeping it clean becomes a tough job.

So you can see how a huge house is turning from an asset into a liability.

Enormous bank accounts

 We all should have savings to meet emergency situations and for old age. But the trend to amass money beyond limit will bring liabilities. As one ages and memory starts fading, it is difficult to remember where all the money has been stacked! When the owner of such unlimited money develops parkinsonism, his signature is distorted and the bank refuses to accept and honour the cheque.

I know of families where the husbands didn’t have any time for family, working around the clock to swell bank accounts. The compromised health leads to their sudden death, and the wives have no knowledge about the different accounts. So the families are now economically suffering.

Accumulating vehicles

Vehicles used to be for transportation and convenience but now it is more a status symbol. If the neighbor is owning two cars like you, you should definitely buy the third one for the one up-manship, right? As one ages, keeping multiple vehicles in running condition and attending to their servicing schedules become a liability!

Unlimited wardrobe

The amount of clothes people amass today is appalling. It is always designer clothes for functions and a huge amount is spent on that. The current trend of using too much cloth for a dress is a burden to the mother Earth. Since the photos of functions are uploaded on facebook, there is no question of using the same dress again for another function. Once I asked a friend (I genuinely wanted to know the answer) what she does with all the designer clothes, because these  dresses, unlike what I do with my saris and simple dresses, can’t be handed down to the maids. She told with a painful expression, “That is the problem Beena, they are just dumped in cardboard boxes and kept in the house. That is when I noticed the cardboard boxes in several corners of the house. You need to know that her house is a huge one.

Is it worth?

One needs to really consider if it is worth sacrificing today’s joys to perceived ‘security of tomorrow’. What you lose in terms of health and relationships in the rat race can’t be retrieved with all the money that you have accumulated.

Higher consciousness and Ego

I shared the following post today (19 Jan 2019) and got a request to explain it further. So here’s my attempt. Though I have been on my spiritual path from my childhood, I am still on my path. I don’t claim I know everything, so this answer is coming from my limited understanding.

We are all souls who have come to the earth plane to have a human experience. It is quite common to think the contrary, that we are humans with a soul, and this can totally change the outlook to life. With this approach, we live a mechanical, materialistic, highly ambitious and stressful life.

Those persons who have realised the full potential of a human life and knows what great heights can be achieved through this human body, keep giving pointers for us to stop and think and take a deviation from this mad rat race. One common idea instilled into the minds is the existence of God (and Satan), who is keeping an account of all your deeds and gives rewards/punishments according to that. This creates fear and fear is a strong deterrant for misdeeds.

This works good for many whose understanding is at a certain level. When one goes beyond, the idea of macrocosm and microcosm can be grasped. During the journey of understanding, one moves from dwaita (duality) philisophy to advaita (nonduality) philosophy. Here, there is no ‘other’. There is only ONE energy that exists, which can be called as higher consciousness. And we are all part of that higher consciousness.

What is preventing us from having this knowledge at the experiential level? Because there are layers and layers of ignorance that we have accumulated over many incarnations, and ego is one strong last layer. These different layers need to be removed, just like peeling off layers of onion. When the last layer of onion is removed, there is only empty space.

With our efforts which are consistent and persistent, we keep removing the layers of ignorance and comes to the ego, which when removed (which is not easy, a Guru may help), you are in touch with your higher consciouness. Now this higher consciousness can help us to overcome lower ego desires. The ego desires make our life unhappy in the least, and hell at the worst. Once we overcome them, our life can be a daily celebration!

Why Yoga Nidra?

Yoga nidra is one of the deepest possible states of relaxation while still maintaining full consciousness.  In Mandukya Upanishad Yoga nidra is referred to as ‘Prajna’, which means conscious awareness of the deep sleep state. It is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping, like the "going-to-sleep" stage. Here the body is completely relaxed, and the practitioner becomes systematically and increasingly aware of the inner world by following a set of verbal instructions. 

 

Meditation vs Yoga nidra

Yoga nidra is for systematically relaxing the body and mind while maintaining awareness. It's done on the floor on your back for the best effects. Meditation is for training the mind using a particular point. It is done sitting up, with erect spine to facilitate movement of prana.

In meditation, concentration on a single focus is required. It is essentially a practice of attaining awareness of your own thoughts. In order to achieve so, you need to sit, close your eyes and turn inward. You need to watch your thoughts.

In yoga nidra the practitioner remains in a state of light withdrawal of the 5 senses (pratyahara) with four of his or her senses internalised, or withdrawn, and only the hearing still connects to the instructions. Yoga nidra is a state of consciousness, in between sleep and wakefulness. It is complete relaxation of the body, while the mind stays awake.

Yoga nidra promotes deep rest and relaxation that isn't found in your average meditation practice. The stages of body scan and breath awareness alone can be practiced to calm the nervous system, leading to less stress and better health.

How does yoga nidra work?

During the sleep cycle, from alpha, you go into a deep alpha and high theta brain-wave state, the dream state, REM sleep. In theta, your thoughts slow down to 4 to 8 thoughts per second. Here, emotional integration and release happen, structures in the brain change, leading to super learning. Kids and artists experience a lot more theta activity in their brains. At this stage you begin to enter the gap of nothingness.

After theta, you are guided to delta, where your thoughts are only 1 to 3.9 thoughts per second. This is the most restorative state, when your organs regenerate and the stress hormone cortisol is removed from your system.

In the current time, very few people are going into the deep states of sleep like theta and delta on a regular basis. So the bodies are not powering down and getting the chance to restore themselves. Depressed people go to beta (beta waves are those associated with day to day wakefulness) and alpha states, but rarely go to theta and delta.

From delta, the guided yoga nidra experience takes you down into an even deeper brain-wave state—one that can’t be reached through conventional sleep. At this stage, your brain is thoughtless, like a complete loss of consciousness, but you are awake. Not everyone who practices yoga nidra touches this state, but the more you practice, the more you’ll receive glimpses of it.

As you are guided back to a waking state, you bring a bit of peace back to your waking, daily brain state. So, in your routine life, you begin to rest more in the space between emotions and thoughts, and this resting space gives you a sense of freedom. And you find you are not agitated so much by the incidences happening around you.

During yoga nidra, we bring our attention the third eye, behind which lies the pineal gland. This gets stimulated when you bring your attention there, releasing the hormone, melatonin. And it is widely known that melatonin is a powerful agent for reducing stress, inducing more restful sleep, and boosting the immune system, which helps prevent illness, promote healing, and slow premature aging.

Time to experience Yoga nidra now, are you ready?

In the following yoga nidra, you need to state an intent, which can be any desire you are having at this moment. Think of it in a small sentence, which you will have to repeat thrice when asked for. 

Be ready with it before starting to listen. Enjoy the session!
Click on the youtube link, or on the image below.

When you finish the session, if you are doing it just before sleep, you don't have to sit up as instructed. Otherwise, sit up and continue to be in a meditative state for at least ten minutes, or more if you are inclined. 

References:

-          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_nidra

-          https://www.yogajournal.com/meditation/your-brain-on-yoga-nidra

Memoirs of my 41 days Sadhana

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 2^nd.

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 1^st 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 2^nd, when I would do Havan and start my chanting  Sadhana. But on 2^nd 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 3^rd, 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 4^th 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 4^th 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 21^st. 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 7^th 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 11^th) in Bangalore. And what an experience it was!

On 7^th 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 10^th, with lunch break in between. On the last day, the 11^th, 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!

                                                      

Habits and soul groups through life times

We do a lot of travelling and I am amazed at how we meet strangers in different states and countries and they become close friends. It is interesting to see that they share our views on life and are spiritual like we are. I believe and often say that we come to this earth plane in groups. Sometimes we have to wait for eons for all members to come together.  

I was elated to get proof for this fact recently. When we had two outstation friends and they learned that I am a past life regression facilitator, they showed keen interest to experience a past life. Since we were hard pressed for time, I decided to do a short session for both together. It was a powerful experience for both of them, and, me too.

Getting inside the box

I took them into a deeply relaxed state and let them imagine a box, large enough to accommodate a person inside. I had to specify that the box was open from the top, without a lid,as one of them was claustrophobic. Each one was guided to get into the box, which was taking them to the life time that held answers to the core issue in this life time. From the same instructions, they went through different experiences.

Vinita’s experience

The moment I asked them to sit down inside the box, Vinita (name changed) sat down in padmasana (Lotus pose). She saw herself as a man sitting in front of a group of people, to whom he was imparting spiritual knowledge. He was then going through the villages on foot, helping people with advice, and distributing  things like rice, dal, clothes  etc., to those in need.

Lasika in Europe

Lasika (name changed) sat on a chair inside the box. In the past life, she was a model in Europe. The significant moment in that life time was when she was busy getting things arranged for a show. She was stressed out and running around to see that all arrangements were made perfect.

Meanwhile a man (lover?) came to her and asked her to leave everything and go with him. They had an argument and she made it clear that she loved the life as a model and the man left her in anger. She felt being left alone, then composed herself and got on with the task at hand.

Parallels to the current life

Vinita is married and living in a joint family. When the husband comes back home hungry in the evening and asks her to cook something for him, she would cook for everybody at home. This irritates her husband, who can’t understand why she can’t cook just for him. He thinks she is doing this to please others. But for her, it is her inherent nature, and is at a loss to grasp why there is a problem at all.

Other members of the family are surprised at her habit of giving something to anybody who visits them. Like giving drinking water to the post man, some fruit to the person who comes to clean their car etc.,

Lasika’s feeling of loneliness is apparent in this life. She never lets herself to be alone in the house. When other members of the family leave for different destinations, whoever is the last one to leave, irrespective of where she/he is going, she will go with them.

Souls from previous lives

Vinita saw herself as an ascetic, and her sixteen months old baby in current life enjoys listening to bhajans. When he is irritated or crying, she puts on bhajans and he becomes calm and happy in no time.

After she gives him bath in the morning, he would straightaway go to the puja room, without any prompting.  I told her that her son is definitely one of her disciples from the previous life.

Lasika has a daughter who is just 3 years old. Once while travelling when she was younger and had just started talking, she was fascinated by a building on the way. She pointed to it and told, ‘Papa, Eiffel tower’. They were surprised from where she came to know of Eiffel tower.

When they were discussing about having a vacation and asked her where she wanted to go, she was ready with her answer, ‘London, Paris’.

Now that she is three years old, they were considering different school options to enrol her, she had her opinion, ‘Papa, put me in London school’.

From the time she started talking, she has a European accent while talking in her mother tongue, and now when she talks in English. Friends and relatives make fun of Lasika, saying, ‘Your daughter is a foreigner or what?’ And she is desperately trying to change her daughter’s accent.

Definitely the daughter is another soul from her European life. On meeting Lasika the first time, my husband, who is an Orthodontist, had remarked, ‘ Your facial profile is like that of a European’. So, even the facial characteristic she has brought from her European life!