We think of God’s name with devotion. It is a very rare opportunity to worship God in this life. Not everyone will get an opportunity like this. It is a great opportunity to spend your life immersed in the thought of God and to sing his name. You can’t get such an opportunity easily. You can easily get money, name, fame, position, wealth and pleasure. Oh God, can I forget myself and only think of you? Life will always have problems and difficulties but whatever problems I have they will not stop me from thinking of your blissful form. Only a person who has eaten sugar candy or honey will know what it tastes like. Similarly, only one who has realized God will know the magnificence of God…
In Sri Premeshvarar Temple we sing a collection of sacred songs in Tamil at the end of the daily evening puja in front of Swamiji’s samadhi lingam. Collectively we call them, ‘Pancha Puranam’. The Pancha Puranam refers to the five sacred books called, Tevaram, Tiruvasagam, Tiruvisaippa, Tiruppallandu and Periyapuranam. In each of these books are hundreds of sacred songs that were composed by Tamil saints. We sing just one or two songs from each collection…
In Sanskrit nava means nine and ratri means night (just as we have Shivaratri – the night of Shiva) and so, according to tradition, during this festival consecrated to the Divine Mother, we perform abhishekams to worship her and to ask for her grace and her blessings. In Sanskrit riti means “to return to the source”. By means of ritual, therefore, we will acquire the capacity of returning to our divine origin, of rediscovering the Divine within ourselves. Swamiji generally encourages spiritual aspirants to perform or attend a pooja regularly, if they like, because during ritual the mind and body are fully absorbed in the worship of the Divine. It is a means of learning to control the mind and it also purifies the mind. At the same time, we absorb much spiritual energy and enjoy the physical and mental connection to the sacred divine.
Dear Divine Souls,
Many avatars and siddhas were born in this sacred land called India. When you are living on this blessed earth, try to bring your mind to a good state. You have got a good opportunity to do this. However, when we behave with ego, pride, jealousy, greed, anger and when we don’t show respect to others or we are not welcoming to others it means we are not at a mature level. You can bring your mind to a mature stage by becoming humble. Receive the blessings of the Divine Mother, Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati during this Navaratri and live with peace and happiness, without disease, with strong and steady health, with a pure mind, without a competitive attitude and without ego, jealousy, pride or a critical mind…
When Swamiji was living in the Ashram the devotees at that time were very fortunate to have been able to do Pada Puja to him. Swamiji said, “During a Pada Puja, you are able to touch the master’s feet. Through his grace and extraordinary power he can remove your karma, illnesses and difficulties that would have affected you for many lifetimes. (….) The divine power comes from Mother Earth through the feet of the saint or sadhu…
In this human life we should focus our mind on God. To do this, we should think about how to reach his holy feet. In this mundane world we must create opportunities to achieve this. We pray to God to make it happen but our worldly problems stop us from doing this and confuse our mind. If we try to think about this too much our minds will get confused about whether or not we should follow the spiritual path. How can we think of God while living in this world?
By Nagulan, Sri Premananda Centre of Vlamertinge
My wife and I have been back home in Belgium for about six weeks since our stay in the Ashram during Mahashivarathri and every day my thoughts still linger there. During the day a bhajan will suddenly come to mind and I’ll begin singing.
This year Mahashivarathri and our stay in the Ashram was a wonderful experience for me. It was different from previous years and since being home, I’ve been able to keep this feeling of joy I had in the Ashram. I wondered why this could be and, according to me, there are four reasons.
This satsang was recorded at Edamalaipatti Pudur in Trichy in 1988. It is a previously unpublished satsang, which was recorded as a video.
“During his or her life, a human being should always try to follow a good path. However, the people in this world don’t think about it even for a moment. Human beings forget to try and attain a higher path in this life. If people thought about this for just a moment, they could surrender themselves at the feet of the Lord and make use of this opportunity. However, when they only think about themselves then everything they do will be done for fame, name, position, status and for selfish reasons. If a person wants to get closer to the temple of God, then God’s grace will always shower on them.”
This satsang was recorded at Thiruvanaikaval Temple Hall, Edamalaipatti Pudur in Trichy in 1985. It is a previously unpublished satsang, which was recorded as a video.
“Life is impermanent. In this impermanent life we are born to find the truth. If we don’t find out the truth now then when in our lifetime are we going to find it? What else is there to come close to other than the Lord’s divine lotus feet? We should think the purpose of our life is only to come close to his divine lotus feet. In order to realize the true ideas of our religion, the divine will send us on the correct path and make us carry out correct deeds. Patience is always very necessary for us to achieve anything. When we practise patience then we can be victorious. We have very little patience. We are confused because of tension, haste and hasty ideas. Be patient.”
Our Sri Premananda Centre of Koszalin, Poland
The Sri Premananda Centre of Koszalin is located in a yoga school run by Dharini, the Centre Coordinator. The school is situated near the city centre in the highest building in town. It is very fortunate that our Centre is in a yoga school, because many different people appear here every day – most of them are interested only in the physical aspects of yoga, but some of them seek something more, a spiritual path, and we can introduce them to Swamiji and his teachings…
