Twin soul reunions

 Hari Aum.

This is brief post on twin soul reunions. There are quite a few twin souls who are currently in separation. This is a difficult and often very lengthy and painful experience during which much reflection and learning occurs.

However, just as separation is an inevitable part of the twin flame experience as created by God, so too is reunion. Reunion is the divine destiny of all twin souls and this takes place in accordance with Divine will.

There is no force in the universe that can stop twin souls from reuniting after the main separation phase is completed.

They live in each other's heads and hearts all the time, and a reunion in the physical dimension or the waking world is an essential and inevitable occurrence. 

 

In my view, a reunion should involve, first and foremost, an open and frank discussion about events that led to the separation and that have occurred during the separation (specifically the astral aspect of the connection involving thoughts and dreams). This is the minimum that should occur. This is simply a discussion of facts. 

[As Pradnya (a twin soul mentor) says, there is no sense in twin souls blaming themselves, each other or anyone else for the separation as this was inevitable and necessary for their individual growth.

However, once the reality of the connection has been recognised by both, there is no sense in prolonging the separation (not least because this is ridiculously painful).]

And, a reunion should take whatever form the Divine (God and Guru) ordains-- the twin souls will be guided from within and externally as to what should occur. As a minimum, this should involve a frank conversation. In some cases, this will involve them remaining in touch as friends. And, in others, this may lead to them reuniting as partners.  Whatever happens will occur in accordance with the will of God and Guru-- of this there is no doubt.

The twin souls themselves, their karmic partners and social connections, their life situations and other external circumstances cannot be a bar to them reuniting ultimately-- because this is a spiritual connection. This is my firm conviction based upon  my own experiences and those of others.

For myself and some others whom I know, I feel that the separation phase is ending. I am hopeful that the spiritual growth that needed to occur in separation has been achieved and that the Divine is satisfied regarding this. I very much hope and pray that all twin souls may experience a reunion as soon as possible with their counterparts. 

These reunions will, I feel, have a beneficial effect on the twin souls with regard to entering a new phase of spiritual growth and expression of this in their material lives. 

After years of separation, it is often unclear to the twin souls as to how a reunion can possibly occur. I am confident that the Divine will show the way. The appearance of various synchronicities and 'angel numbers' also helps to guide the twins towards their reunion. (For instance, when in doubt as to whether or not a particular step should be taken, the appearance of repeating angel numbers can convey divine guidance). 

I feel that Gurudev Sivananda, Mother Sita and Lord Shiva have a particular part to play in my reunion with my twin soul. This is because I have had extremely vivid and poignant dreams of my twin soul on days related to them in the past three years. I have no doubt that They will help clear the way for not only myself and my own twin soul to reunite, but also others whom I know are going through a similar difficult separation. 

And, I would like to state that I was completely wrong in previously saying that twin flames should not aspire to reunite. I would like to correct myself-- it is absolutely the divine destiny for twin souls to reunite and they certainly should aspire to reunite with each other (and allow the Divine will to shape the nature of this reunion).

Such a pure and beautiful love is not to be discarded-- it is to be cherished. This love is very beautiful, has a divine aspect and deserves a chance to be expressed in full in accordance with Divine will.

Like other twin souls, I too love and miss my twin soul intensely and always will. They have taught me to love in a way that I did not even know was possible (as with many twin souls, this is quite extraordinary considering they have been physically absent from my life for an extended period). I am very grateful to them and the Divine for this-- it has not been an easy experience by any means, but it has been invaluable in many ways.

To reunions for all twins everywhere (and hopefully sooner rather than later!)-- may Radha and Krishna, Sita and Rama, Durga and Shiva, Gurudev Sivananda and all true Gurus bless twin souls everywhere with speedy and blissful reunions!

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat. 

P.S. A very insightful video by Pradnya on the need to have zero expectations (from anyone other than God) on this twin flame journey! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6GJaPJzby4&list=PL6EPavLKcGjQDP-9DTfAo_wobs6WsTiYe

 

Constant remembrance of God: Part 2

 Hari Aum.

Om Namo Narayanaya. Sri Krishna sharanam mama.

Sivananda and the Gurus tell their disciples-- 'Be careful what you ask God for, because you might actually get it (and it may not be quite as you expect!)'.

Many moons ago, in August and December 2013, I wrote some posts regarding my aspiration to remember God constantly. I wrote about how this was a great struggle, how difficult it could be to remember the Divine in the midst of daily activity (whether one lives at home or in an ashram or elsewhere).

How hard it is to remember God, I said. How terrible the senses are, how they lead us away from Him I lamented.

Nonetheless, as advised by my Guru, I persevered. I used various methods to compel my mind to remember God and His name as often as possible during the day (by setting myself reminders, putting up pictures, forming habits of repeating the mantra before and after activities etc etc). 

Over the years, I became quite contented with my spiritual life and the way this was progressing. I was enjoying myself, that is, until God came along and set fire to it all.

It appears that He has given me what I asked for-- constant remembrance of the Divine (or at least virtually constant remembrance! Now I am not able to forget Him even if I want to!). This started gradually at first a few years ago, and has now become a near constant feature of my life. The only issue is (as usual), it is not as I had expected. I had a different idea of constant remembrance of the Divine but I have been given something else!

And, true to my nature (which unfortunately can sometimes be argumentative with the Divine), I have said to God "What is this? This is not the type of remembrance that I asked You for! Please let me have things my way (not Your way!)". I cannot be entirely blamed for feeling this way (as I will explain further below). I do understand now why the Gurus say be careful what you ask for. 

Over the years, I have on many occasions-- ardently, sincerely, intensely, repeatedly-- pleaded with God for His constant remembrance. And now that He has given it to me, I find my life has become very surreal.

It is difficult to operate in daily life with constant remembrance of the Divine, especially when it happens in a form one did not expect. It is difficult to pay full attention to daily duties when the Divine is constantly appearing in one's mental space.

I am very far from being like the exalted gopis in devotion to God (I continue to have many inner flaws and am still working upon these), but I can certainly say that I have now experienced a very tiny drop of the frustration that they experienced. 

"Give us back our minds", they cried to Krishna. "We do not wish to think of You any longer, we cannot function this way!". But, He never let them off. As the yogis say, 'Once He has you in His grip, He never lets you go'. I feel slightly like them-- "Give me back my mind" I say to God, "This is not what I expected from You!". 

In the scriptures, it is mentioned that the company of God is very dangerous indeed (that is, if one wishes to live a normal worldly life)-- by hearing of Him, by repeating His names, one gets transformed gradually from within. The process is long and arduous, and with many strange twists and turns, but the end result is the same. 

Sooner or later, He gets you in His grip and then there is no escape. This is the experience of every yogi and spiritual seeker since time immemorial. And it is natural and guaranteed (not a special experience for a few, but rather, the standard experience of the many-- the only thing is one needs to do regular sadhana or spiritual practice and go through the process).

I spoke with a spiritual mentor about this issue some months ago. After hearing my laments, she gently suggested that I should consider embracing this experience (while telling me that others had also been through the same and done so). 

I tersely replied "This is not the way in which I wished for constant remembrance of Divine! I want my mind back, I cannot cope with this at all!". However, over time, I have come to see the wisdom in her words; perhaps there is some truth in what she said.

To explain the difficulty of this state, I would like to give an analogy.

Imagine, for a moment, that you are in a place where you and many people are playing a game of darts. The dartboard, with its pattern of circles and triangles represents the various common goals of life, including health, wealth, family, friends, spiritual life, and so on. You and other players pick up your allocated darts and aim them at this cosmic dartboard.

As you play, you feel your game is going relatively well (aside from the natural ups and downs of life; the occasional dart falls off the board which is ok)-- you've struck your desired targets of health, wealth, job, spouse, children, family, friends, and even spiritual life. You're winning, you feel quite good about your life.

Suddenly, somebody throws a dart at you! That dart was on fire, and so, you now find yourself alight-- your clothes are burning and you feel very uncomfortable indeed. The people around you, however, are oblivious and blissfully carry on playing the game. They cannot see that you are burning-- because this is a mystic fire (and they have not been set alight, at least, not in the same manner as you!). 

You look around in shock-- 'Who threw that?' you ask, 'What's going on, please help me God!', you say inwardly, while unsuccessfully trying to douse the flames! 

Usually if a fire breaks out, there will be a great commotion. People rush to help, and a fire engine may be called-- there is naturally much concern and sympathy for those affected.

But, not so for the person who is set alight inside. No, you burn alone, in your constant remembrance of the Divine. If you dare to raise the topic that you are in distress with the majority of other darts players (and hope for some sympathy-- as you are on fire after all!), they will only look at you unsympathetically and tell you that everything is ok and that you should just carry on playing! But how can one play as normal when one has been set on fire by the Universe?

And, every day, you are naturally expected to carry on fulfilling your duties, even while you try and flap at those flames that are consuming you from within. You must keep throwing your darts-- to maintain health, family, wealth, work, spirituality and everything else. This is dharma, this is karma, this must be done.

You can hopefully now see what I mean about the nature of the problem!

Constant remembrance of anything, even the Divine (whether as Divine Masculine or Divine Feminine or any other form of the God) is actually quite a challenging experience.

Day after day, night after night, all the time, to remember something or someone, be it even the Divine, is no joke. And the remembrance is not even a casual remembrance; it is intense, constant, overwhelming.

So, now the devotee says, "Please God, kindly relieve me of Your constant remembrance! I am sorry that I asked for Your remembrance, I had no idea what I was talking about!"

But, in response, God is silent. Despite many prayers, His response is only silence. In other words, you realise, this is His will and He has no intention at all of removing this experience. It dawns upon you that this was all a part of His plan.

Then one cannot help but think, "What else could I have expected from such a well-known trickster such as Krishna?". He is famed for creating trouble in people's lives, I should have known that something like this would happen!" 

(One even wonders, "Alas, instead of the Divine Masculine form as Krishna, if only I had been drawn to the sweet Divine Mother as my ishta devata, or perhaps the noble and austere Lord Shiva, this calamity might not have happened....this particular type of spiritual problem might not have occurred! I have heard They do not play such tricks upon Their devotees!"-- this may not be strictly true though!). 

So I remember God pretty much all the time currently. Constantly, unrelentingly, and though I try my best to distract myself from thoughts of Him, it does not really work. I find that I have strangely been blessed with what I have been asking for all these years-- constant remembrance of the Divine (as the Divine Masculine). It is not as I had expected but it must be spiritually good as it appears to be in accordance with the will of God.

I am writing this just to say that theory and practice are two different things. The theory of constant remembrance of God is one thing-- it sounds sweet and delightful. The practice, on the other hand, is a different thing altogether. It can be sweet and charming sometimes, and at other times, it is simply terrifying. 

So rest assured, if you are walking the spiritual path, that you will indeed experience the constant remembrance of God. But it may not be exactly as you expect (though ultimately, it is bound to be for the higher good, as after all, it is occurring by the will of the Divine)!

Om Namo Narayayana. Om Sri Durgayai Namah. Om Namo Bhagavate Sivanandaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Bala Kanda Part 3: The advent of Sri Rama

Hari Aum.

Om Namo Narayanaya. Om Sri Rama Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Rama.

Today is the auspicious day of Rama Navami, the celebration of the birthday of the avatar of Lord Narayana known as Sri Rama.

A very happy Rama Navami to all readers; I hope and pray that Sri Rama blesses all of us and the world with peace and prosperity. May the wars everywhere subside and may much-needed calm prevail.

This is the perfect day to continue writing about the Ramayana and to narrate the birth of Sri Rama (many of you may be broadly familiar with this already but let us look at the details as described in the original Valmiki Ramayana).

In the previous post, we discussed King Dasharatha's intense yearning to have a child and his spiritual practice to obtain one. We also learned that the demi-gods (devas) were being plagued by a demonic being known as Ravana. They had sought help from Narayana who promised to protect them and other living beings by taking on an avatar.

Let us now continue our study of the Ramayana....

After pledging to manifest as the son of King Dasharatha to defeat the evil Ravana and establish dharma/righteousness, Lord Narayana disappeared from view. The demi-gods felt a sense of great relief having received His assurance of protection and praised Him with hymns.  

Meanwhile, King Dasharatha continued his fire ritual to obtain a child (blissfully unaware of any of these events related to the demi-gods; he had no inkling that he was about to become the father of an avatar!).

The messenger of Narayana

As the worship continued, an extraordinary being of divine splendour arose from the sacred fire. He towered above the worshippers, dazzling like the sun. His face had a slightly reddish tinge and he was dark in complexion. 

Dressed in red garments, and wearing divine ornaments, he had various auspicious marks upon his person. He resembled a lion both in strength and appearance (in that he was covered with soft hair, including a fine mane of hair on his head, and also had a moustache and beard!) and had a deep and resonant voice like that of a kettledrum!

In his hands, the divine being held a large covered vessel made of shining gold. Within this shining vessel, was a celestial sweet dish (called 'payasam' in Sanskrit) made of rice, milk and sugar. 

The celestial being gazed at King Dasharatha and addressed him, saying that he had come as a messenger from Lord Narayana (or Vishnu). The King, delighted at the appearance of the divinity, bowed low in greeting and asked how he could serve him.

The messenger of Narayana then replied saying that he had brought a divine blessing from the Lord Himself in the form of this divine sweet payasam. He explained that this had the power to grant not only children but also health and wealth! He advised the King to give this sweet to his wives, assuring him that, by this means, they would be blessed with the children they desired.

Dasharatha, filled with boundless joy, bowed again before the dazzling being. Accepting the golden vessel, he agreed to do as advised. He then went around the messenger clockwise as was the custom to express his gratitude and respect.

The divine being then vanished into the flames and the King, losing no time, hastened to the palace. Entering the women's quarters, he met with his wives and explained the wondrous event that had just taken place! They too were overjoyed that their worship had borne fruit and accepted the divine sweet dish with great delight.

The celestial sweet dish

Dasharatha gave a portion of the celestial sweet dish to each of the three queens, Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi (he gave one half to Kaushalya, then half of the remainder/a quarter to Sumitra. Then, half of the remainder/an eighth to Kaikeyi, and the remaining eighth again to Sumitra; this apportioning has some significance as we will see later). 

Thus were conceived the four sons of Dasharatha and his wives. The King and the Queens, delighted with the divine blessing that they had received, now awaited the birth of their children with great joy and excitement.

The divine monkeys

Meanwhile, unknown to them, great preparations were underway to create a powerful army to accomplish the extraordinary task for which the avatar was manifesting. Telling the demi-gods that Sri Rama would soon be born, the divine Creator, Brahma, commanded them to beget children who would play an important role in His task upon Earth. 

The demi-gods were told to have children filled with divine strength and power, exceptionally skilled in the art of warfare and who would be capable of changing their form at will. These children were to be born of the union of the demi-gods with various other celestial beings (such as apsaras, gandharvas, yakshas, kinnaras and so on). They were to reside upon the Earth, living in the wild forests and mountains in the form of monkeys. In time, they would be called upon to fulfill the purpose for which they had been born. 

Thus, before the birth of Sri Rama, a large number of celestial beings took birth upon the Earth (being born of the devas, their birth and growing up was very quick compared with human beings!).

They were possessed of great size, strength and valour and wandered about freely in the forests. In play, they could uproot trees with ease, agitate the ocean, shake mountains and leap huge distances across land and sea as well as into the sky. 

Apparently unaware of the purpose of their birth, these divine children of the devas, lived happily in the forests, mountains and by the sea.

These divine monkey warriors not only bore a resemblance to their demi-god parents but also possessed their natural skill and powers. For instance, the son of Indra, King of devas, was Vali, who became the King of monkeys. The son of Surya, the sun-god, was Sugriva, the younger brother of Vali, who was as glorious as his father. 

The son of Vishvakarma, the divine architect, was Nala who had a natural talent for building. The Guru of the demi-gods, Brihaspati, fathered Tara, a divine monkey of exceptional intelligence.

 

The demi-god of the wind, Vayu, was the father of Hanuman. Hanuman was unique in many ways-- he was as fast as the wind, of immense power, and blessed with great intelligence. Unlike many of the other monkeys (who tended to be somewhat haughty due to the awareness of their own power), he was also blessed with extraordinary humility (this was perhaps his greatest strength as we will see later). 

Thus, even before the advent of Sri Rama and His brothers, the Earth teamed with divine monkeys, the children of the demi-gods, who were ready to serve Him as He fulfilled the purpose of His avatar.

Birth of Sri Rama and celebrations

Now, let us return again to Ayodhya! Approximately a year after King Dasharatha's worship was completed, a particularly auspicious day dawned. It was the ninth day ('navami' in Sanskrit) of the lunar month known as Chaitra (April-May; and the various planets were powerfully situated in various zodiac signs in the sky, signalling the birth of a Divine being!). 

On this sacred day, the avatar of Lord Narayana known as Sri Rama was born of Queen Kausalya. Shortly afterwards, on the same day, Bharata was born of Queen Kaikeyi. Around a day later, Queen Sumitra gave birth to twin boys who were known as Lakshmana and Shatrughna. 

On the eleventh day after the birth of the children, their naming ceremony was performed in accordance with the scriptures by sage Vasistha, the family Guru. 

Although, Sri Rama was an avatar of Narayana , His three brothers were also divine in nature (they were part-manifestations of the various powers of Narayana; to an extent, their divinity was manifested in proportion to the quantity of celestial payasam consumed by their mothers!).

On the occasion of the birth of children of King Dasharatha and the Queens, there was tremendous rejoicing in the kingdom of Kosala and particularly, in the capital city of Ayodhya. As part of the great celebrations that took place, there was much music, dancing, artistic performance and worship. 

The streets of Ayodhya were filled with people in great spirits. In the heavens above, the demi-gods and divine sages also celebrated and showered flowers upon the city to express their great joy.

The King then gave away great quantities of wealth and jewels as gifts to various worthy recipients including sages, priests, musicians and dancers. The entire city of Ayodhya and the kingdom of Kosala seemed to shine with a divine splendour upon the advent of Sri Rama.

King Dasharatha in particular was filled with a unique ecstasy. With the arrival of his children, and Sri Rama in particular, he felt a peace and bliss that he had never felt before. Thus he regarded himself as being extremely fortunate and blessed.

Thus concludes the description of the birth of Sri Rama. To be continued....

Om Sri Ramaya Namah.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

P.S. Just to say, to those who have sent me queries regarding ishta devata and so on from the Vedic astrology chart, I am sorry for the delay replying. I am working my way through the requests received but have taken on some extra work and other commitments hence the delay (apologies but it may take me a month or more to respond to your queries currently).

Bala Kanda Part 2: King Dasharatha's worship

 Hari Aum.

Having introduced the Ramayana and Bala kanda in recent posts, let me now delve further into the Bala kanda. Let us look at the description of the circumstances that led to Narayana taking a human avatar in the form of Sri Rama. 

[By the way, I have purchased a copy of the Ramayana from the well-known Gorakhpur press in India (as I found the online translation confusing) and am reading this currently. This contains the entire original writings in Sanskrit with English translation. My writings on the Ramayana are based mainly upon their translation (and upon my own very basic knowledge of Sanskrit). 

This is the first time that I have purchased a scripture published by them and I must say that I am very satisfied (there are two volumes which are beautifully printed and illustrated). I would recommend them to anyone else who may be interested (I bought them on Amazon and was happy that they arrived within a couple of days).]

The Bala kanda: King Dasharatha's worship 

Ayodhya

Once upon a time, there was a great kingdom known as Kosala. This was a fertile and beautiful land filled with great wealth and prosperity. Its capital was a city called Ayodhya. And what a city it was. It was a marvel in many ways-- filled with riches, with grand buildings made of various precious materials, and with great natural beauty. The splendour of the city of Ayodhya is described as rivalling that of Amaravati, the capital of the demi-gods of the celestial realm, Svarga.

In the wonderful city of Ayodhya, in a magnificent palace, lived the ruler of the land of Kosala. His name was King Dasharatha. He belonged to an illustrious family of kings descended from Surya deva, the demi-god of the Sun. And, even as Surya lit up the sky every day with his brilliance, his descendants shone like many jewels upon the Earth.

Great indeed was Ayodhya, and equally great was its king, the mighty Dasharatha. The king tended lovingly to his people even as a father would care for his own children. Their every need was his concern and he worked tirelessly to ensure their welfare. The people, in turn, loved and adored their ruler and regarded him as their very own, as one of their own family. They were skilled in many arts and sciences, both material and spiritual. They were protected by a large and powerful army. Thus, it appeared that the kingdom of Kosala was greatly blessed by the Divine and had everything that could be desired. 

However, despite all this good fortune, there was one source of sorrow for the king-- he had no heir. He yearned to have a noble and valiant son, one who would make a fitting heir to the throne of Ayodhya. One who would care for the people even as he had done during his lifetime.

King Dasharatha had three wives, namely, Queen Kaushalya (the senior most), Queen Sumitra, and the youngest and most alluring, Queen Kaikeyi. The three queens too mourned their lack of children. Like the king, they too yearned to hear the pitter patter of tiny feet in the palace. 

(Note: Just to clarify, a king in those days was permitted to have more than one wife as marital alliances were often symbols of political alliances/connections between kingdoms. Everybody else in the kingdom was permitted to have one spouse only!)

The prophecy

One day, the king, feeling heavy at heart, discussed this painful matter of childlessness with his closest council of eight wise ministers. One of them, his chief minister, was the excellent and highly intelligent Sumantara. The chief minister later sought to speak with the king in private. He told King Dasharatha that he was aware of a wondrous prophecy that had been made in ancient times by the great sage Sanatkumara. 

The sage had predicted not only the birth of King Dasharatha in the solar dynasty, but had also said that he would obtain children after performing a special worship of the Supreme Being for this purpose.

King Dasharatha was filled with joy and wonder upon hearing of this prophecy that he was destined to have children through a special worship. He asked Sumantara for further details and his minister explained that the sage Rishayashringa was the one who was destined to help the king with this.  

(Note: In the Ramayana, Sumantara refers to the sage Rishayashringa as the 'son-in-law' of King Dasharatha. How can a childless king have a son-in-law one might ask! The answer is revealed in a different scripture known as the Bhagavatam. 

In the Bhagavatam, it is mentioned that King Dasharatha and Queen Kaushalya had had a child, a beautiful baby girl whom they named Shanta (she was born many years before Rama). However, by a strange twist of fate, they were compelled to give up their daughter to a childless royal couple to raise as their own. That royal couple were King Romapada and Queen Varshini who lived in the neighbouring kingdom known as Anga (Varshini was the older sister of Kaushalya). 

In time, Shanta had grown up into a beautiful young lady and had married the sage Rishayashringa. She lived with the sage in the palace of her adopted parents).

King Dasharatha was beside himself with excitement at the prospect of finally having a child after so many long years of waiting! 

He quickly went to meet the royal Guru, the great sage Vasishtha and shared the news with him. He requested his Guru to help him perform the elaborate rituals of worship required to obtain a child and Vasishta gladly agreed. 

Grand arrangements were made for the performance of the worship. This included the construction of a beautiful altar and area for worship, gathering various sacred and precious materials, and getting together various priests and other assistants who were highly skilled in the performance of sacred rituals.

The arrival of Rishayashringa and Shanta 

Meanwhile, King Dasharatha travelled to the neighbouring kingdom of Anga and met with his friend, King Romapada. He explained that he needed the help of sage Rishayashringa to perform the sacred ritual to have a child. King Romapada immediately agreed to do whatever he could to help.

Princess Shanta and her husband, Rishayashringa were then informed of King Dasharatha's need for their help. They too gladly agreed to provide this; the two of them and their baby then accompanied Dasharatha to Ayodhya to stay for some time with the King and his queens. The queens were delighted to see Shanta along with her husband and baby and they all spent some very happy times together.

Now that everything was in place, the worship began in right earnest. King Dasharatha and his queens, Kaushalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi, took solemn vows to conduct a series of sacred rituals and worship the Supreme Being for the sake of obtaining a worthy and noble child. 

They performed these sincerely with utmost devotion under the guidance of sages Rishayashringa, Vasishtha and others. They worshipped the Supreme Being, Narayana, along with His manifestations in the form of various demi-gods, and gave great gifts in charity to many worthy recipients.

Final stages of the sacred worship

After several months of worship, came the time for the final sacred fire ritual. This was the crucial moment and the homam was to be performed by Rishayashringa himself. In the presence of King Dasharatha, the sage declared the ceremonial vow (or 'sankalpa' in Sanskrit) that he would now perform a sacred fire ceremony to pray to the Supreme Being so that the king may be granted children. He stated that the ritual was intended to grant the king four great and mighty sons to take forward his lineage.

The king was overjoyed at hearing these words from the sage and the fire ritual commenced. In accordance with the scriptures, the Supreme Being was invoked in the sacred fire. Sage Rishayashringa pronounced the various elaborate mantras perfectly as he offered clarified butter (ghee) into fire. Other priests supported him in the worship. 

The plea of the demi-gods

As the worship proceeded, the various divinities who had been invoked appeared there (seemingly in invisible form). This included Brahma, the divine Creator and the demi-gods (all of whom were various manifestations of the Supreme). They had arrived to accept the offerings that were being made to them and to give blessings in return.

While assembled at the place of worship, the demi-gods sought help from Brahma for a great sorrow of their own. They told him that a demonic being known as Ravana had been tormenting them and a number of living creatures in various realms. They could not bear it anymore, they said, and needed help to get rid of him so that they could all live in peace.

In times gone by, Ravana had performed great austerities and thus managed to obtain a special boon from Brahma. According to the boon he had asked for, no demi-god, celestial being or demon would be able to kill him (and he thus became very powerful). He had regarded human beings as weak and beneath him, and had therefore not bothered to ask for any protection from them.

Hearing the plea of the demi-gods, Brahma pondered over the problem and brightened as he thought of a solution. Based upon the boon, the demon could only be killed by a human being. Thus, he told the demi-gods, Ravana could be killed but a suitable human being was required who could achieve this extraordinary task!

Narayana's pledge

At this moment, Narayana Himself appeared at the place of worship as His presence had been invoked by the sages and King Dasharatha.

Seeing Narayana, the demi-gods rushed to Him with a plea to resolve their difficulty. They told Him that Ravana had taken over their celestial realm (Svarga) and had occupied their positions. They and other living beings were suffering greatly as a result. 

Ravana's pride had no limits, they declared, and he enjoyed making other creatures cry out in pain and fear. He was very cruel, a monster in every way, and could not be allowed to carry on committing atrocities upon other living beings in this manner. He simply had to be removed from Earth.

Asking Narayana to help, they therefore begged Him to take on an avatar as a human being for this purpose. "Please be born as the son of King Dasharatha who is currently conducting this ritual for a child!", they pleaded.

Hearing their prayer to be relieved of this torment, and in keeping with His ancient promise to take an avatar when needed to protect the good and destroy evil, Narayana accepted their wish and blessed them.

He replied to the demi-gods saying that He would be born as the son of Dasharatha. While living on Earth in human form, He declared that He would destroy Ravana along with numerous other demonic beings, and thus restore dharma (righteousness/goodness) and peace upon Earth. 

The demi-gods greatly rejoiced upon hearing these sweet words of reassurance and extolled Narayana with hymns of praise. 

Thus, the stage was set for the birth of Sri Rama! I will describe this in the next post.

Om Sri Ramaya Namah. 

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Bala Kanda Part 1: The Sita Charitam Mahat (Ramayana)

 Hari Aum.

The Bala Kanda is the section of the Valmiki Ramayana that describes Sri Rama's birth, childhood and early youth. I would like to say that when writing about the Bala Kanda (and about the Valmiki Ramayana in general), I will mainly focus on the life of Sri Rama Himself (as mentioned in my previous post, the book also contains some descriptions of the lives of other persons, which are not necessarily that relevant to the story of Rama and so, in general, I will not discuss too much about these subjects here).

I will provide you a brief outline of the Bala Kanda and then go on to discuss certain parts of it in more detail. 

Overview of the Bala Kanda: a succinct summary

The sages:

Sage Narada and Sage Valmiki meet. Valmiki asks Narada to tell him of the most excellent human being, and Narada tells Valmiki the entire legend of Sri Rama in brief.  

The demi-god, Brahma, the Divine Creator (an aspect of Narayana) then visits Valmiki and tells him to compose a poem (in a special Sanskrit metre) that describes the entire life of Sri Rama. To enable him to perform this task, Valmiki is then given divine vision whereby he is able to see in detail every aspect of the life of the Rama avatar. 

(Valmiki himself plays a key role in the life of the Rama avatar, the details of which we discover later, so he is also present in the poem!).

Valmiki then composes the great epic of the life of Rama and Sita. He gives this wonderful divine poem three titles, which are as follows:

i) Ramayana: meaning 'the way of Sri Rama'

ii) Sita Charitam Mahat: meaning 'the greatness of Mother Sita' 

iii) Poulastya vadham: meaning 'the slaying of Ravana'

This beautiful poem is capable of granting great material and spiritual blessings upon those who hear or recite it. The sage therefore feels that it should be taught to his disciples.

The sons of Rama and Sita: 

Sage Valmiki wonders which disciples should first receive the teaching of this wondrous poem. At that moment, two young boys, named Lava and Kusha, present themselves. They are the twin sons of Rama and Sita and reside in the hermitage of Valmiki (he is their Guru). 

The boys, who look like reflections of Rama Himself, offer to learn the poem. Valmiki gladly teaches it to them and they memorise the lengthy poem perfectly with ease.

They then recite it in melodious voices to the other sages and disciples at the hermitage. Upon hearing this wonderful composition, the eyes of everyone present fill with tears of devotion and they exclaim that it is most excellent.

Rama, the King of Ayodhya:

Sri Rama, upon hearing about the composition, brings the boys to His courtroom and they sing the entire poem enthralling the entire audience of ministers and citizens. 

Rama greatly enjoys hearing the poem because it is called 'Sita Charitam Mahat', the 'greatness of Sita'. In fact, He is so enchanted by it, that He asks the boys to recite the entire poem again to calm his mind and they obligingly do so.

At this stage, we discover that, strangely, Rama does not seem to know that the two boys are His own sons (and, equally oddly, nor do the boys display any recognition of Him as their father). 

Furthermore, we discover that Sita, the mother of the twins, and wife of Rama, is not currently present in the life of Rama. This is also rather strange (and no explanation is offered for this at this stage in the legend) and Her absence seems to be the likely reason for Him wanting to hear of Her and for asking the boys to recite the entire poem again.

The Sita Charitam Mahat:

I was initially going to continue to write about more of the rest of the Bala Kanda in this post, but, at this stage, I would like to pause. And the reason that I would like to pause is to consider and contemplate, for a short while, the 'Sita Charitam Mahat', the greatness of Mother Sita.

Before delving into the legend of Rama and Sita, before discussing the heroes and villains of the story and the lessons they teach us, I want to begin with a tribute to Mother Sita, by writing a little in praise of Her glory in order to seek Her blessings.

It is no wonder that Sri Rama wanted to hear again and again about Mother Sita-- because She was truly an extraordinary manifestation of the Divine Mother. Just as Rama was an avatar of Vishnu/Narayana, Sita was an incarnation of His Divine Consort, Mother Lakshmi. 

And, just as Rama immersed Himself fully in playing the role of a human man, Mother Sita too fully embraced the experience of life as a human woman. And what an extraordinary life it was, what a test of human endurance, what a test of faith, trust, self-belief and courage. 

We will see in the coming chapters of the Ramayana or the Sita Charitam Mahat, that Sita was the embodiment of goodness, of gentleness, of kindness and of putting the needs of others ahead of Herself. In return for this, She received much pain, sorrow and was exposed to great evil. She endured it all, and ultimately triumphed-- but not before She had shed many tears and experienced much grief.

The life of Rama can sometimes be hard to read due to the pain He endures; however, the life of Sita is, in many ways, completely heartbreaking. Nonetheless, She reminds us, as we live on this Earth today, with all its complexities, pains and sorrows, that the Divine is always victorious in the end. 

The Ramayana portrays the many aspects of human life, the nobility and greatness, and the baseness and wickedness that exist both within and outside of ourselves on this planet. 

The life of Sita also teaches us that we must careful, that we must not be naive in this world as spiritual seekers. We may strive to do good to others, but we must be prepared to receive much evil in return and need to be ready to handle this (through clinging to the Divine come what may and remaining under His/Her protection at all times).

We will see in this divine legend, how Sita's good nature led Her to trust those who should never have been trusted, how it caused Her to believe in the goodness of those who later betrayed Her, how Her nearest and dearest themselves proved to be unable to give Her the happiness that She sought in life (Like another great manifestation of the Mother known as 'Sati', Mother Sita too provides a fitting response to all those who had treated Her unfairly at the very end of Her life on Earth). 

Sita teaches us, by example, the great spiritual truth that, ultimately, we must rely upon ourselves, and specifically upon our Higher Self or God within, to find the peace and joy that we seek in life. 

This is the emphatic teaching of all the Gurus, saints and mystics of all spiritual traditions since time immemorial. God alone is the refuge, they say, and the Sita Charitam Mahat shows this perfectly.

Therefore, salutations and prostrations again and again to Mother Sita, the Divine Mother who embodies the tremendous power of endurance, and of expressing great goodness in the face of great evil-- qualities that are essential for the spiritual ascent of every seeker.

May Mother Sita bless us all.

Om Sri Sitayai Namah. Om Sri Ramaya Namah

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

The Ramayana of sage Valmiki: an introduction

 Hari Aum.

Om Sri Ramayah Namah.

As mentioned in a previous post, I have taken up the reading of the Ramayana (the original version composed by the sage, Valmiki). Like other spiritual texts, the Ramayana, or legend of Lord Rama, contains a number of teachings that are helpful for the spiritual seeker. 

I therefore thought it would be useful to write a bit about what I have read so far from the Valmiki Ramayana.

The Ramayana is lengthy and I obviously do not plan to summarise the entire book here (it is readily available online for those who would like to read the original). However, what I thought I would do, is summarise of the key aspects, and spend some time reflecting upon the spiritual teachings conveyed by the story. 

Before, we delve into the Ramayana, let us pause and reflect upon what is meant by 'Rama'? (I have written about this elsewhere on this blog but, as I am now starting to write about the Ramayana, it would be useful to remind ourselves of the meaning again).

In straightforward terms, 'Rama' is everything and more. It is impossible to define Rama, it is impossible to truly understand Rama-- with the human intellect, that is. The frail, little human intellect, with its many limitations, is incapable of truly grasping the essence of its Creator, who is Rama Himself, the Supreme Being, the One without birth or death, who is beyond time and space.

However, it is possible to understand to an extent, the activities of the avatar, Sri Rama. Our Gurus tell us that Rama can be known by the heart (but not by the head/intellect). Through the cultivation of devotion or bhakti towards Lord Rama, one can indeed come to know and experience Him in full. 

This is the declaration of many Gurus, saints and devotees since time immemorial. 

Rama is not a distant Being, a faraway God, or an ancient king of a time long gone by. No, the Gurus say emphatically, that is not all that there is to Rama.

Rama is here and now, within you and me. Rama is the essence of us all. All that we think, feel, say and do, is by the power and will of Rama alone. With that understanding, let us continue.

 An avatar is defined by the Gurus and yogis as 'the descent of divinity to help the ascent of man'. Rama is one such avatar of the Supreme Being where He takes the form of a human being.

Why did Rama appear on Earth? The Gurus say that the purpose of this particular avatar was to present before humanity the example of an ideal human being. Every avatar comes to protect the good and destroy evil-- but this avatar came with an additional purpose. That purpose was to set an example for humanity to follow.

Unlike the Krishna avatar, who showed an awareness of His own divinity from the moment He appeared on Earth, the Rama avatar appeared, in many ways, to be unaware of His own divinity. This avatar, though as powerful as any other manifestation of the Supreme Being, appears to throw Himself completely into playing the part of a human being with all the accompanying joys, sorrows, victories and challenges.

So, on that note, let us begin to examine the Ramayana written by sage Valmiki (I will sometimes refer to this by the popular term 'Valmiki Ramayana' here).

The Valmiki Ramayana consists of six sections or 'kandas' in Sanskrit.

These are as follows:

1. Bala Kanda: this describes Rama's childhood and early youth

2. Ayodhya Kanda: this describes events in the kingdom of Ayodhya

3. Aranya Kanda: this delineates the experiences of Rama during His exile in the forest

4. Kishkinda Kanda: this portion describes events that occur in the kingdom of divine monkeys

5. Sundara Kanda: this section is dedicated to the valiant actions of Hanuman (devotee of Rama)

6. Yuddha Kanda: this portion describes a great war between the forces of good and evil and the triumph of the Divine.

I have been reading the Bala Kanda recently and would like to write a little about this here. 

The Bala Kanda is a relatively happy section of the Ramayana. It is more lighthearted and cheerful than the other portions. In essence, it describes the birth of Rama, His training under His Gurus (the sages Vashishtha and Vishvamitra) and certain events that demonstrate His power and glory as an avatar of Narayana. It describes how He commences the key task of His avatar to destroy evil. 

It describes the great joy of His winning the hand of Mother Sita (who is an incarnation of Mother Lakshmi). This is perhaps the happiest event in the Ramayana. (The joyful event of the wedding of Sita and Rama is celebrated in many devotional circles even today with special pujas and singing of spiritual songs e.g. as the 'Sita Kalyanam').

One interesting and unique feature of this portion of the Ramayana is the description of the meeting of two avatars of Narayana-- Lord Rama and Lord Parashurama. It is quite rare for two avatars of Narayana to be manifest at the same time and even meet each other. This is not really seen in most of the other legends of the avatars but is seen here. And the encounter between them is quite dramatic and interesting and I will write about this in more detail in another post soon.

In addition to the description of the early part of the life of Rama and Sita, the Bala Kanda provides a detailed description of the lives and activities of other important figures connected with Them, for example, Their family lineages, the remarkable legend of sage Vishvamitra, the reason for the manifestation of the sacred river Ganga on Earth, and the saving power of Rama's grace (that redeems a lady known as Ahalya).

I will write another post (or a few, depending!) on the Bala Kanda of the Ramayana and describe some of these key events with reflections upon the spiritual teachings conveyed.

For now, I will conclude with the famous verse known as the 'Ekasloki Ramayana', i.e. the Ramayana in one verse. The recitation of this Sanskrit verse is said to give great spiritual merit as it connects one's mind and heart to Sri Rama and helps in the cultivation of devotion towards Him.

The Ekasloki Ramayana is as follows:

In Sanskrit (Devanagari script):

आदौ राम तपोवनादि गमनं हत्वा मृगं कांचनं । 

वैदेही हरणं जटायु मरणं सुग्रीव सम्भाषणं ॥ 

वाली निर्ग्रहणं समुद्र तरणं लंकापुरी दाहनं । 

पश्चात रावण कुम्बकर्ण हननं एतहि रामायणं ॥

इति एकश्लोकि रामायणं सम्पूर्णम् ॥

Transliteration of the above verse in English:

Adau Rama tapovanadi gamanam, hatva mrigam kanchanam.

Vaidehi haranam, Jatayu maranam, Sugriva sambhashanam.

Vali nirgrahanam, samudra taranam Lankapuri dahanam.

Pashchat Ravana Kumbhakarna hananam, etahi Ramayanam. 

Iti ekasloki Ramayanam sampurnam. 

This is my Guru Sivananda's translation of the Ekasloki Ramayana:

"Formerly Sri Rama went to the forest (where Rishis did penance) and killed the illusive deer. Sita was carried away and Jatayu was killed. (Rama) met Sugriva, killed Vali and crossed the ocean. The city of Lanka was burnt (by Hanuman). Ravana and Kumbhakarna were then killed. Thus (is recited) the holy Ramayana."

Om Sri Rama Jaya Rama, Jaya Jaya Rama.

May Lord Rama bless us all and grant us true devotion to Him.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Tinted glasses

 Hari Aum.

We all go through ups and downs in life. When we go through a particularly difficult time, we rely upon our own inner strength but also upon support from our network of family and friends. For those who are spiritually-minded, Guru and God also become an important source of strength.

When we go through a rough patch in life, our perception of the world and the people in it can alter significantly. Instead of wearing rose-tinted glasses and having an optimistic vision of life, we may find that we are wearing some grey-tinted ones that show life as being rather lacklustre and gloomy. (Unlike the usual usage of the term, in this article, when I say 'rose tinted glasses', I am referring to a positive approach to life based on reality-- not delusion).

In other words, the tint of our glasses can powerfully shift our perception of reality. As spiritual seekers, especially, it is important for us to be aware of this. When we are in pain, we are often less able to perceive that others in our lives may also be in pain. We may be so busily absorbed in our own experience of our suffering, that we have a reduced ability to notice that of others. We may even incorrectly feel that everybody else is having a good time in life except ourselves and become resentful for no reason at all!

The yogis say that this life is certainly not a bed of roses. According to them, it is more like a bed of thorns with a few roses scattered about. Hence the reason they urge us to seek the everlasting rose of God realisation, which provides a joy and peace that cannot be found in the material aspect of life.

Coming back to human relationships, our expectations play a key role here. When we feel down and gloomy, we often expect to receive comfort from our close circle of family and friends (and if we feel we do not not receive this, we may be seriously upset and offended!). 

However, if a particular family member or trusted friend that we go to for help, is also going through a rough patch of their own, they are unlikely to be interested in us and our problems (as they too are busy sorting out their own issues in life).

We may then (while wearing our grey glasses), perceive them as being cold, cruel and indifferent to our problems. We may blame them for not being there when we needed them the most. Our relationship with them may be severely impacted by these negative and untrue perceptions. 

It is often difficult to be fair and objective when we are suffering in life. We may see injustice where there is none, we may see indifference where there is actually suffering. 

Generally, two people who are both wearing grey-tinted glasses at the same time, cannot be of much help to each other. In fact, they are more likely to end up quarreling and cause more damage to each other! 

And, this is exactly why forgiveness is key for the long-term success of human relationships (it is a sort of life-saving oxygen in many ways). Over time, people are bound to upset and annoy each other, sometimes by mistake, sometimes deliberately. And, this is more likely to happen at times when they were wearing the wrong shade of grey glasses, i.e. they were going through unfavourable circumstances in their lives. 

It is likely that we would like people to forgive us for the mistakes that we made when our vision was obscured by our grey-tinted glasses. Similarly, we should also be prepared to forgive others for the mistakes that they may have made while they were wearing their own grey glasses. 

Life is very much a two-way street. It cannot be one-sided; there has to be give and take, there needs to be balance.

How can we remove the grey tint from our glasses? What is the solution to change our vision and our perception of life? 

I would suggest that, when we are struggling, what we really need is the company of someone wearing rose-tinted glasses who can share their optimistic vision of life with us (this may be a close family member, friend or Guru). 

We also need them to bring along a magical polishing cloth that can help us get our own glasses in order. We need their help to polish away the gloomy grey tint from our glasses and reveal the pretty rose colour that is present underneath. 

We cannot expect others to do all the polishing of course, though they may support us; the main work of polishing has to be undertaken ourselves. As Krishna says in the Gita 'Lift yourself, by yourself'! 

We cannot expect others to set right our vision. We need to recognise that there is an issue with it and work to set it right ourselves. 

And (as you probably guessed that I was going to say!), the ultimate polishing cloth to clean the grey tint off and bring back the rosy hue to our glasses, is the name or mantra of God. This is simply a fact according to the yogis (especially in this gloomy age of quarrels known as Kali Yuga).

Any mantra of God has the power to dispel all gloom from our lives and bring peace, harmony and a rosy hue. It also helps us to develop empathy and understanding, forgive ourselves and others, and set right our vision of the world. These are all very useful qualities that are necessary to have harmony in our relationships as far as possible.

As we know, in the yogic tradition, God has both gentle and stern aspects. When seeking harmony and peace in life, it is good to recite a mantra of a peaceful and loving aspect of God. Some examples would be mantras of Lakshmi, Narayana and Shiva. E.g. Om Sri MahaLakshmyai Namah, Om Namo Narayanaya and Om Namah Shivaya.

May God bless us all with peace and harmony in life (and with healthy rose-tinted glasses!).

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

The Ramayana sankalpa

 Hari Aum.

Today, just a little while ago, along with many, many people in India and abroad, I watched the live broadcast of the inauguration of the Rama temple at His birthplace, namely in the sacred city of Ayodhya (in North India).

Many people I know, both family and friends, took time out of their day to watch the event and participate in their own way. Pujas were conducted, mantras were chanted and prayers were made for the peace and prosperity of all.

It was early morning here when the ceremony started in India and I had the opportunity to watch a bit of it before my daughter woke up and needed to get ready for school. She is four-and-a-half years old and has heard a fair amount of mantra chanting at home and sometimes spontaneously decides to join in. She is familiar with Lord Rama's story (in brief!) and I encourage her to repeat some divine names daily for blessings and protection (even if it is just five or ten recitations of 'Rama', 'Krishna', 'Durga', 'Shiva', 'Kali' and so on). 

She was not too surprised, therefore, when I showed her the live images of the "prana pratishtha" (invoking the deity to be present in the image) ceremony at the temple this morning and advised her to say "Rama, Rama" a few times (which she obligingly agreed to do!). 

Often, getting ready for school in the morning can be a bit of a process with the occasional mini (or big!) tantrum thrown in (she generally likes school but unfortunately is not a fan of getting ready relatively early in the morning!). 

Fortunately, by the sheer grace of Lord Rama (!), she was remarkably well-behaved this morning, and  watched the temple ceremony with me while having breakfast and cheerfully set off for school. I then had a peaceful morning watching the remainder of the ceremony, performing some mantra meditation and a Rama puja (I work part-time currently for childcare reasons so fortunately had the time for this today!).

After watching the Rama temple ceremony, which was exceptionally beautiful and inspiring, I strongly felt that there could be no better time than the present to make a sankalpa (spiritual vow) to finally read the original Ramayana by Valmiki in full. 

I had made a start on reading the Ramayana some time ago but the habit fizzled out in the midst of various other activities and sadhanas. For those less familiar with the subject, the Ramayana or 'story of Rama' was originally composed by the sage Valmiki an exceedingly long time ago. (Since then, many saints and scholars over the centuries have composed their own versions inspired by their own devotional feelings. A particularly famous one is the Ram Charit Manas by the saint and great devotee of Rama known as Tulasi Das.)

As reading the entire Ramayana is not exactly a small exercise (the work is a poem in Sanskrit consisting of 24,000 verses, divided into 534 chapters spread across 6 books!), and given my various existing sadhana, family and work commitments, I have decided to take it very slow and steady. In order to give myself a chance to complete this sankalpa, it needs to be very realistic and based upon my current circumstances.

My plan, therefore, is to read just seven chapters a week on average (either one chapter per day or a few in a single day, but around seven per week). To complete 534 chapters will take around 76 weeks, i.e. a around a year-and-a-half (should be completed somewhere in the middle of next year if all goes well). 

I am sharing a link to the Ramayana by Valmiki below (Sanskrit with English translation):

https://www.valmikiramayan.net/index.html

I will probably write an occasional post on some of the teachings of the Ramayana as I go through it. In Kerala, there is a special month dedicated to the reading of the entire Ramayana (a version known as the 'Adhyatma Ramayana') that occurs in the monsoon season. My father told me that my grandmother and great-grandmother were very fond of reading the Ramayana and celebrating the month of Rama so I take inspiration from them in making this sankalpa. 

May Lord Rama and Mother Sita bless all of India and the whole world with peace and prosperity. May the divine name 'Rama, Rama' echo all over the world and bring peace in places where there is none, bring good cheer where there is gloom, and prosperity where there is presently a sense of lack. 

In this world (where there is presently much conflict and even serious discussion in some countries about preparing for a third global war), the ethos and values represented by Rama are desperately needed, namely truth, justice, compassion, respect and equality for all.

I will conclude by sharing a beautiful performance in praise of Lord Rama (the Sanskrit song 'Bhavayami Raghuramam',  meaning 'I meditate on Lord Rama', was composed a couple of centuries ago by Svati Tirunal, the King of Travancore, Kerala who was a great devotee and wonderful musician):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4yt9lrmVy8

Om Sri Rama Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Rama.

Om Sri Sita-Ramabhyam Namah.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

Kerala and Tantra

 Hari Aum.

A very happy New Year to all readers. I hope that you have had a good start to the year and that your spiritual practice is going well.  

I travelled to Kerala in India recently to spend some time with my family there and to go on a mini-pilgrimage. It was a wonderful trip that took place after quite a while (post-pandemic/arrival of daughter etc). My previous visit to India was to the Northern and Eastern parts (Delhi, Rishikesh and Orissa in 2018) so it was good to be back in the South of the country again.

Along with spending time with family, I had the opportunity to visit some temples which have been dear to my ancestors on both sides of the family. This included temples of both Narayana and Mother Kali.

After attending a puja at a small Kali temple owned by my father's side of the family, I had an interesting conversation with the priest who had conducted the ceremony. He wanted to have a look at my Vedic astrology chart and so I provided him my details. He promptly entered these into the software on his smartphone and speedily generated my chart (he mentioned that his tradition uses the 'Varamihira ayanamsa' to calculate this which I found interesting). 

After examining my chart carefully, he gave me some suggestions for sadhana. He recommended worship of Mother Kali and one of Her attendants (also worshipped in the temple) known as 'Yakshi amma' (particularly due to my ascendant being Taurus). 

Kerala has a fascinating set of traditions of yogic worship. There are the mainstream Vedic paths similar to other parts of India. There is also a strong tradition of worship using the path of Tantra. Many priests are adept in rituals based on the Tantric methods (I would like to clarify that this has nothing whatsoever to do with Tantra as popularised in the West i.e. the nonsensical version of 'Tantric sex' etc which is an absurd invention; sex can have a spiritual dimension according to some Gurus, but this should not be labelled 'Tantric' without a proper understanding of the subject!). Tantra means 'technique' in Sanskrit and comprises highly intricate methods of worshipping the Divine mainly through traditional mantras, pujas and so on.

The approach of the temple priest I spoke with seemed to be based on the Tantra. Like other yogic paths, Tantra can be used to worship God for material or spiritual benefits.

The priest seemed eager to teach me some mantras for material benefits. He declared that worship of Mother Kali's attendant 'Yakshi amma' in particular would be very helpful for my material wellbeing. He went as far as to say that this would be even more suitable for me than worship of Mother Kali Herself (he also advised me to worship the planet 'Rahu' as I am going through a Rahu period as per Vedic astrology)!

I was rather surprised by this approach. I had never before encountered anyone telling me to worship a divine attendant of God for material results rather than God Him/Herself.

The teachings of our Gurus are very clear, i.e. God alone should be worshipped-- whether for material or spiritual benefits. One can certainly choose any name or form of the One Supreme Being that one likes as there are many manifestations. But it is God alone that one should choose to worship according to the yogis.

Sivananda and other Gurus advise their disciples to steer clear of worshipping any lower energies in the universe (whether celestials such as yakshis, apsaras, gandharvas or otherwise) for any material benefits. Doing so can create a karmic bond with them which we will then have to pay off at some stage (as these beings are not liberated/Self-realised). This can even be spiritually harmful in the long run and is therefore not advised.

I therefore politely asked the priest to clarify what he meant. Was he seriously asking me to give more importance to Yakshi amma than Mother Kali and Lord Narayana? Would she be able to give me moksha/liberation? (I had no intention at all of changing my worship but was curious to know his opinions). 

The priest replied saying that yes indeed, Yakshi amma was the most important for me to worship and she was able to grant only material gains (I explained to the priest that I was quite satisfied with the material gains given by God and did not feel the need to perform worship to the divine attendant for this!). 

He stated that she was not able to give any spiritual benefits-- this, he said, was possible only for Mahadev (Shiva), or Vishnu, and I needed to focus on attaining moksha only after crossing the age of sixty (he was of the view that I should focus mainly on the material side of life until I become elderly)!

I have encountered this view many times before in my lifetime-- leave spirituality for old age, it is not for one's youth. Whereas our Gurus say the opposite-- spirituality and spiritual practices require great vigour of body and mind. Old age is not the best time to begin therefore (though better late than never!). Rather, one must begin as early in life as possible they say. It can take years of prolonged practice to hope to experience any spiritual benefits in older age.

When I mentioned this teaching of the Gurus to the priest, he declared that this view was not shared by himself and his orthodox priestly tradition. As I did not want to offend him, I said that I respected his opinion but had my own Guru and spiritual approach. We agreed to disagree and the conversation ended on cordial terms.

Afterwards I mulled over what he had said and compared this to the teachings of my Guru and Lord Krishna. In the Gita, Krishna says that our approach towards worship is a reflection of our own nature. He declares that, in the afterlife, we will go to those beings (divine or undivine!) that we choose to worship while on Earth. 

Furthermore, any material gifts obtained by the worship of lower energies (other than God) are ultimately actually bestowed by God Him/Herself but via an indirect route. Thus, Krishna says, one should seek and approach God alone and not any other lower energy, whether for spiritual or material benefits. 

Since returning home after my trip, I have taken on board the priest's advice to worship Mother Kali (as She is one of our family deities). I do this via a mini-recitation of the Navarna mantra (along with the Sarasvati mantra sadhana that I am doing) every day or a few times a week. I contemplate Mother Kali too as one with Narayana. This is in accordance with the teachings of my Guru (I do not directly worship Yakshi amma, however, though I respect her and feel her worship in the temple by the priest along with Kali is quite appropriate). 

I will conclude by saying that, in accordance with the teachings of our Gurus, it would be sensible to  worship God alone (and not any lower energies in the universe). Regardless of whether our goals are material or spiritual, or whether we follow the Vedic or Tantric tradition, it would be wise to focus on the worship of our own favourite form of God, e.g. by doing a daily mantra japa practice or other form of regular worship.

Om Sri MahaKalikayai Namah.

Om Namo Narayanaya.

Hari Aum Tat Sat.

P.S. Thank you for your messages and Vedic astrology queries regarding ishta devata and so on. I will be going through these in the coming days and replying (apologies for the delay in responding-- this was due to the recent travel).