Archives: 6
Gudi Padwa Puja Palam Vihar, Gurgaon (India)
Gudi Padwa Puja, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon (India), 13 April 2002. (Hindi) [Translation from Hindi to English] The festival of Gudi Padwa that we are celebrating today,is also celebrated in other parts of India, even in the South. Everywhere this festival is celebrated. The ‘Samvat’ calendar year that was started (By King Vikramaditya) and the calendar year started by Shalivahanas, both start on the same day. That day is today. All over the country this day (New Year) is celebrated. All the important dates in the year are fixed on that basis especially the festivals. We people (Indians) follow the lunar calendar whereas the westerners follow the sun calendar. That’s why their festival dates do not change. Here (in India ) every festival is based on the position of the moon. And that’s why the dates keep changing and the same festival falls on different dates, in different years. The reason why we give importance to the moon and keep all our dates according to its position, is that the moon has an influence on human beings. The sun does not. Along with the moon, other planets also have influence on us. That is why we follow the lunar calendar and fix our festivals accordingly. There is one festival however, where the date is as per position of the sun. When the sun starts its movement from southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, that date is celebrated as a festival (Sankranti). In our country the science of astrology is also based Read More …
Gudi Padwa Talk Noida (India)
2000- 04-05 Gudi Padwa/Navaratri Puja Talk, India Here, in India, two Navratris (nine nights of the Goddess) are celebrated. One is the Chaitra Navratri (the first month of the Hindu calendar) when She is worshipped in the form of Shailaputri. This is Her first incarnation, and She had taken birth in the Himalayas. That is why She is called Shailaputri (daughter of the Himalaya). She has other names also. But Shailaputri has special significance because it was the very first time that She took an incarnation. She was born in the extreme cold conditions of the Himalayas because whatever She had to achieve, was confined to that environment. But you are not aware of the whole story. Her father Daksha had held a great Havan, but did not invite Shiva. She was Shiva’s wife. So She, the Devi, immolated Herself. This was the first time Sati was performed. She entered the fire of the Havan, and offered Herself as “Aahuti” (oblation to the fire). Then Shiva came. He picked up Her body and left. As He kept moving, pieces of Her Divine Body fell in different places on Mother Earth. We believe that wherever the sacred pieces fell, Her Shakti vibrates there. Like in Vindhyaachal, and many other places. It is said that in all those places, the Shakti of the Devi acts, and purifies everything. Among the seven Shaktis (powers) of the Devi, one of them is ‘Saunharak’ Shakti, (the destructive power). This Saunharak Shakti is right sided. On Read More …
Gudi Padwa Noida (India)
Gudi Padwa puja, Noida, India, 18 March 1999 Translation from Hindi: Today is the Day of Gudi Padwa [The New Year’s Day of the Shalivahana shak]. And it is celebrated in Maharashtra mostly, but now in other places too. It is said that it is a very auspicious day. Whatever work is done on that day it is fruitful. But whatever is the reason is as per worldly beliefs.The other thing is that, in the dynasty of Shalivahana, there was one person: Babruvahan. He defeated the king Vikramaditya. After that, he started this new calendar called ‘Shalivahana Shak’. According to this calender, today is the first day [of the year].Its importance is major in Maharashtra. To represent the Shalivahanas, they take a Kumbha [and a stick] on which they put a shawl – he was Shalivahana. The Kumbha represents the Kundalini. They tie a shawl [to the stick] and keep a Kumbha on top of it. The meaning is that the Kumbha also represents spirituality. Spirituality is represented by the Kumbha.The Shalivahanas used to call themselves the seven vehicles. They had a lot of faith in Kundalini. Later, they started giving a shawl to the Devi. They were worshipers of the Devi so they called themselves the Shalivahanas. That is how the name got changed. The Shalivahanas who were there, came from Mewar. They were the rulers of Mewar from the Sisodia Dynasty. Their son, of Sisodia dynasty, for some reason, had a disagreement with his uncle. So, he ran Read More …
Gudi Padwa, Meditation in thoughtless awareness New Delhi (India)
Gudi Padwa, “Meditation in thoughtless awareness”. Delhi (India), 30 March 1976. We cannot meditate; we only can be in meditation. When we say we are going to meditate it has no meaning. We have to be in meditation. Either you are inside the house or outside the house. You cannot be inside the house and then say that: “Now I’m outside the house.” Or when you are outside the house you cannot say: “I’m inside the house.” In the same way, you are moving in three dimensions of your life – of emotional and physical and mental being. You are not inside yourself. But when you are inside that you are in thoughtless awareness. Then, not only that you are there, but you are everywhere, because that is the place, that is the point where you are really in universal… From there you are in contact with the Principle, with the Shakti, with the Power that permeates into every particle that is matter, into every thought that is emotion, into every planning and thinking of the whole world. You permeate into all the elements that have created this beautiful Earth. You permeate into earth; you permeate into Akasha [sky, ether], into teja [light], into sound. But your movement is very slow. Then you say: “I’m meditating,” that means you are moving in permeation with the Universal Being. But you are not moving yourself, you are just unloading yourself to be free from the weight of things that do not allow Read More …