Column of light coming to me

For the last five years we have been spending our New Year eve in Tiruvannamalai, entering the New Year in deep meditation with Jacqueline at the Singing Heart Ashram. 

 After having spent many years partying on the New Year ’s Eve, it is amazing how peaceful and tranquil it is to open the eyes to the next year from meditation. The first thing we see on January first is the magnificent sun rise from the Arunachala hill.

Arunachala

Arunachala (red mountain) refers to the holy hill at Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu. The hill is also known by the names Arunagiri, Annamalai Hill, Arunachalam, Arunai, Sonagiri and Sonachalam. It is one of the five main Shaivite holy places in South India. At the base of the hill is the Annamalaiyar Temple, a temple of Lord Shiva. 

According to the legend associated with the Temple, a dispute occurred between Brahma the creator, and Vishnu the preserver, over which of them was superior. In order to settle the argument, Lord Shiva is said to have manifested as a column of light, and then the form of Arunachala.

In the Maheswara Khanda of Skanda Purana, sage Veda Vyasa describes in great detail the wonder of Arunachala.

Ramana Maharshi

Arunachala is also an important place for devotees of Sri Ramana Maharshi, with Sri Ramana Ashram situated at its foothills.

A verse in the Arunachala Mahatmyam, translated from Sanskrit into Tamil by Sri Ramana Maharshi says: "Arunachala is truly the holy place. Of all holy places it is the most sacred! Know that it is the heart of the world. It is truly Siva himself! It is his heart-abode, a secret kshetra. In that place the Lord ever abides the hill of light named Arunachala.”

 Asked about the special sanctity of Arunachala,  Ramana Maharshi said that other holy places such as Kailash, Varanasi and Rishikesh are sacred because they are the abodes of Lord Siva whereas Arunachala is Lord Siva himself.

As the above verse of Arunachala Mahatmyam says, Arunachala is a secret kshetra. It is this place that bestows jnana (Self-knowledge) and because most people have so many other desires and do not truly want jnana,  Arunachala has always remained comparatively little known. But to those few who seek jnana, Arunachala always makes itself known through some means or other.

Mahadeepam

Every year in the Tamil month of Karthigai (November-December), the Karthigai Deepam (Light) is lit atop the hill.  Devotees take embers in pots from the sacred fire lit in the Arunachaleswara temple and carry them to the top of Arunachala, along with cloth wicks. An enormous cauldron is placed on the highest of Arunachala's five peaks and filled with hundreds of gallons of ghee mixed with camphor. At precisely six o'clock, as the sun sets and the full moon rises, lights are lit on the top of the Hill, on a flagstaff in the temple, and at Sri Ramanasramam, accompanied by chants of Arunachala Siva by the vast crowds. The fire on top of Arunachala can be seen for miles around.

Sri Ramana Maharshi described the meaning of this event in this way:

"Getting rid of the `I am the body' idea and merging the mind into the Heart to realize the Self as non-dual being and the light of all is the real significance of darshan of the beacon of light on Annamalai, the centre of the universe."

The Thought of Arunachala 

By seeing Chidambaram, by being born, in Tiruvarur, by dying in Kasi, or by merely thinking of Arunachala, one will surely attain Liberation.

The supreme knowledge (Self-knowledge), the import of Vedanta, which cannot be attained without great difficulty, can easily be attained by anyone who sees the form of this hill from wherever it is visible or who even thinks of it by mind from afar.     Such is the assurance given by Lord Siva in the Arunachala Mahatmyam about the power of the mere thought of Arunachala, and this assurance has received confirmation from the life and teachings of Bhagavan Sri Ramana. 

 According to Ramana Maharshi, anyone and everyone can think of Arunachala from wherever they may be, and they will surely attain liberation.

30 December 2016

While I was meditating on 30th December 2016  in Arunachala, I felt a column of red light coming from the hill and occupying my spinal column. I could feel the heat, vibration and then there was immense peace.

I have been doing puja and sadhana according to the instructions from the Universe for many years and there has been presence of divine feminine energies with me all the time. This time I could feel the masculine energy getting integrated into my being.

Confirmation from tarot card

Since the last three years, we join Pia Sofia Koren to check  tarot card for the new year. This year the card that I picked up promised integration of masculine and feminine energies for me. That was a confirmation of what I felt during the meditation, and  it made me really happy.

Ref: 

http://davidgodman.org/asaints/powerofa1.shtml

Ashapura Devi’s instruction

During our Gujarat road trip, we visited Mata no Madh temple of Goddess Ashapura. It was so divine and I could feel intense vibrations. This temple is also known as Desh Devi Maa Ashapura of Mata no Madh. Ashapura Mata temples are there in other cities of Gujarat , Maharashtra and Rajasthan but the main temple is located at Mata no Madh inKutch. 

Later we went to the Koteshwar temple: 

Before climbing the steps to the main temple, we entered the side room that contained many idols and photos. It was dim inside the room and they all looked like male deities. We prayed and sat down on the floor.

Suddenly I felt the strong presence of female energy, giving me an instruction. I was surprised, looked again at the photos and idols, and couldn’t see any goddess. I asked my husband whether he saw any female deities in the room. No, he also didn’t see. My sense of the presence of a goddess was so strong that I was totally confused.

When we came out, a sadhu explained the story behind the temple. Then he mentioned that there was a picture of Ashapura Devi in the room that we sat. I was so glad that what I sensed in the room was correct.

I had never heard of Ashapura Devi, so I was totally surprised to get instruction from her. Since I always trust my intuitions, I made a note of the instruction, to follow on reaching back home. 

Ashapura Mata is one of aspect devi and one of the principal deities of Kutch. As the name indicates, she is the Goddess who fulfills the wish and desires of all those who trust and believe her. The unique thing about most of the idols of Ashapura Mata is that it has 7 pairs of eyes.

From childhood, I have been guided through my spiritual path, and when time comes for the next step, I always get instructions. On coming back home, I did a search on Ashapura Devi. Her temples are mainly found in Gujarat. Some people in Rajasthan and Gujarat consider her to be an incarnation (avatar) of goddess Annapoorna devi.

 Wow! That explains it. If she is an incarnation of Annapoorna Devi, it makes total sense to me. During our visit to Annapoorna temple in Karnataka long back, I bought a small idol of her and kept in my kitchen. Before I start my day’s cooking, I offer flower and  light a candle in front of her.

So now the next step is being given to me and my heart is filled with reverence and gratitude!

Devi Shreedevi......

On August 17 I started feeling feverish and from next day onwards there was high fever and tiredness. I had to just spend time on the bed, could eat just a little food, but kept sipping warm water. After five days I was totally exhausted by the continuous high temperature (there was no other accompanying symptoms) and when I woke up around 4 am, I told the Universe that it has gone beyond my tolerance and I just wanted to leave my body.

A big computer screen appeared in front of me and there were many programs that were regarding my give and take with all people in this life time. I could complete and delete all the programs easily and just before deleting the last program, after which the soul was ready to leave, a small voice came,' Please, can I use this body? I am a congenial soul', and it occupied my body. From next day I had to take some medication for two days. The tiredness continued for several days.

I was not totally normal when we started our trip to Bali on September 5th early morning. On 6th evening I had to miss a local trip and take rest in the room. When I used to touch the center of my palm, I could feel the heat emanating from inside the body.

On 9th evening while I was waiting inside the car, I saw a beautiful cloud formation. It looked like a dragon, with light emanating and projecting upwards from the head. I got the message that my body had been prepared for the crown chakra to receive whatever it was supposed to receive!

On 10th morning I felt normal after all these days. We visited the Devi Shree temple (Pura Beji)and I could connect so much with the energy there.

 As we were standing in front of an almost closed door in front of a deity, we tried to peep in. Just when we were peeping, my daughter and I heard, 'Kaun hai vahan?' ('Who is there' in Hindi). We were really surprised. There were some local teenage boys in the adjacent plot and they were talking in the local language. It was something that they told in Bali language, but it sounded exactly like 'Kaun hai vahan?'

All the time we were at the temple, a Malayalam song I used to sing in my childhood was going on in my head.  I could remember the whole song except two lines! It was ' Devi Shree Devi thedivarunnu njan…', which means,' Devi, Shree Devi, I am coming in search of you'. But instead of the original lines,' I have been calling you, but you never came to me', the line going on in my head was, 'You were near me whenever I called out to you', with similar changes in other lines too. From the temple we went to have lunch and I looked at my watch, which was still showing the Indian time, and I saw 11.11. With 1111, the Universe was sending a signal that an energy gateway has opened for me. The Universe has acknowledged me, and wants me to be aware that help is on the way.

On 11th the heat emanating from the center of my palms stopped, but I could feel inner tremendous heat in the abdomen area. We moved to the Amed beach and were staying in a hotel very close to the beach. On 12th night I had a dream. I was being carried by people and taken in a procession to a local temple. I was installed there and the voice told, 'Now for nine years you have to manage here.'

I got up at 4.45 and went outside the room. Sat on the step just adjacent to the sea and did meditation, Reiki healing and chanted the Gayatri mantra. Now the abdomen area felt normal and I felt sudden surge of heat in the root area for a few seconds and then it became normal.

On 14th we reached Ubud and with great difficulty after searching for 45 minutes we got a place to stay. The owner lady was nice and we had a long conversation. She told that sometime back she was very sick and bedridden. She couldn't walk or talk. Then her father went to the Holy water place and brought Holy water for her. She drank it and became completely alright. She told us that we had to go to that site, take bath and drink the Holy water. On the next morning we started out for the Holy place and saw that there were about 300 steps going down to reach the water fall where we had to take bath.  On the way there were worshiping places. We prayed there and kept going down.

When we reached the area of waterfall (there were two waterfalls nearby, we had to take bath in both of them), there were many local people who had already finished bath and the pujari was doing some ceremony for them. After some time they all went off and we were alone there. As I entered the water, it was cold. Usually I have problem in taking bath in very cold water. Here, in a second I started enjoying standing under the water fall and I could feel it energizing me. And we could climb back all the steps easily. During the period of my high temperature, I felt an oven burning inside me. Now I could feel cool energy filling up my inside.

Now I got to see the whole picture. I was being prepared for this ultimate healing experience. Thank you Universe for planning all this ahead!

A mother's care from Kalima

Rishikesh, August 2nd 2016. We travel around the world and have stayed in many exotic locations. But this room in the Ganga Blossom hotel here is the best stay of my life. Through the huge window of our room, I am looking directly at the flowing Ganges and the meditation opened up my Hridayakasa (Heart space). I could feel the Ganges water flowing down the walls of my inner space.

In the evening four o'clock we took a stride, and visited the Shri Bharat temple. It is the most sacred, most ancient and most famous temple situated in the heart of the city. Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya reinstalled the presiding deity of this temple in about 789 AD.

We were on our way to Triveni ghat when my daughter felt hungry. She didn't want to eat anything before witnessing the aarti at the ghat. While we were walking, we saw an old Kali temple and Kali being my deity since childhood, we entered the temple and spent some time. While we were about to leave, the pujari took some prasad, wrapped in a paper and gave to each one of us. Since two days we had visited many temples and this was the first time we got prasad to eat.

My daughter was so surprised that Kali Ma did some thing to satiate her hunger. Now we could spend time leisurely at the Triveni ghat before heading to enjoy awesome pani puri, aloo tikki and dahi vada! 

Blessings to curses

Attending the workshop by Gurpreet Singh during the Past Life Regression Convention taught me some valuable lessons. It Was eye opening to see how blessings can turn to curses. There was  a small kingdom near the sea and every year there used to be floods that was killing many  people. He wanted to protect his people and built a very huge and strong wall all around the kingdom. It protected the people during further floods.

The king died after some years. After some time a fire broke out in the country. The sea was so near and the people could have escaped the fire by just going into the sea. But the fortress like wall prevented this and all his people were burnt to death. Seeing this from the other realm, the King could not forgive himself. He realised that his blessing had turned into a curse.

There is this family where the girls get married with difficulty and many of them remain spinsters. An astrologer told that it was due to some untimely deaths in the family. I got the message that it came from one lady particularly, who died some years after the marriage. Her husband married twice again, and these two wives also had untimely deaths. Now the picture became clear. Whatever unpleasant incidences led to her death must have aroused in her the protective instinct for the future generations. She must have invoked a strong blessing that her descendent females should be strong and self supporting so that they would be self sufficient and not be subservient to the 'aggressive' males. In the present generation, girls are all strong and they don't see any necessity for marriage. Don't know whether she is watching this and considers

it still a blessing, or a curse!

But this made a point very clear to me. In our later years, we should concentrate more on our ultimate journey and leave all thoughts of how to protect our children. If they have been brought up well and were given proper foundations of life, they will manage their lives well.

Sign from the Goddess

I came across a Devi mantra in May 2016. In two weeks' time I byhearted the mantra. During June we made a trip to Padubelle and stayed in a friend's house. He took us to a very ancient Durga temple neartby. When I set my eyes on the idol, I got the message that the mantra was from her, for her. Standing there, I chanted the mantra.

From Padubelle we went to Coorg to another friend's place. On the next day I woke up at 3 am, totally fresh. I sat on the bed and chanted the new Devi mantra for an hour. When I chanted the last words of the mantra, 'Jago Ma', it was with intense feeling from the depth of the heart , inviting  Ma to awaken in me.

Next day my friend requested a healing from me and I gave her a silent healing. While ending the healing, I chanted the  Devi mantra. She told me that she felt absolutely light and peaceful. Initially she felt heaviness in the chest, felt herself shrinking and shrinking, to become a point. Then the expansion started, she felt one with the Universe in the final stage. Her breathing quickened at first, then turned to deep and long breaths.

At the end she saw a female face, which looked divine. The eyes were large and powerful, and there was a big bindi on the forehead. I told her it was the face of Durga and I had chanted the mantra. She was so impressed that she wanted to learn the mantra.It was an indication that Devi was awakened in me and got projected onto my friend when I chanted the mantra. 

Breaking the ego

Vishu

Vishu is one of the major festivals of Kerala. It is celebrated on the first day of Malayalam month Medam, which usually falls on the 14th of April. When sun crosses the equator on the Malayalam month Medam, it is Astronomical New Year Day for the people of Kerala, which falls in April, mostly on the 14th. Vishu is a symbol of good luck, hope and prosperity.

Vishukkani

It is believed that at the Vishu pulari, (the dawn of the auspicious day of Vishu,) one should see the Vishukkani, as the first sight of the New Year, to have a prosperous and peaceful year. Vishukkani is a collection of several auspicious things such as grains, vegetables,fruits,lamp, flowers, coconut, gold, mirror , Ramayanam or Bhagavatgita (Hindu holi books) etc. set in a large uruli, a circular vessel (made of panchaloham - five metals), with the image of Lord Krishna, in the puja room. The golden color Konnappoo, (Cassia fistula) which usually blossoms during this time only, is the special flower used for this purpose.

Coconut, full or halves?

This year, while preparing Vishukkani on 13^th night, a thought occurred to me. Instead of breaking the coconut, as I sometimes do, I kept it intact. It symbolized the ego of my husband and me. I conversed with the Universe, ‘I am keeping this overnight. Please do whatever is destined for us’.

In the morning we saw the Vishukkani, and I was busy with other household works. After breakfast, I removed the Vishukkani from the puja room and to my surprise and joy, I saw two clean crack lines on the coconut. As if the Universe is cracking the ego of both of us!

Unique design

I have seen coconuts cracking open before too, but never in this fashion. Here are two clean, straight line cracks, symbolizing that the Universe has started working on us. For those who are on the spiritual path, it is a matter of great happiness and encouragement!

Ref:

http://hubpages.com/holidays/Significance-of-Vishu-a-Kerala-festival