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).