The Spiritual Significance of Full Moon Days

Gurucharanam Saranam

The Spiritual Significance of Full Moon Days

Mukundan P.R.

Pournami, the full moon day, how serene and blissful is that day! God has created this day for spiritual enrichment. The brilliant rays of the moon and the sun saturate the creation on full moon days helping the spiritual efflorescence of all souls. The harmful influences that trouble and hinder the spirit become subdued during pournami. The spiritual significance of ‘sadhana’ on pournami is quite an old tradition. The Hindus, Buddhists and Jains undertake vows, rites and rituals on full moon days for spiritual enlightenment as well as the appeasement of ancestral spirits. It is well known that the great Buddha got enlightenment on a full moon day. The ancient sage Vyasa, who compiled the Vedas, was born on a full moon day. This day is celebrated as Guru Purnima throughout India.

The concept of the sun and moon has great significance in Indian spirituality. According to the Rigveda, life originates from the copulation of luminous lunar light molecules (mentioned as soma) and the vaporous dust on the earth in a unique blending of cosmic rays from the sun, planets and stars. The Big Bang Theory is based on the theory of Relativity, the gravitational pulls between atomic particles, the simulations and permutations that create certain fundamental matter-molecules and gaseous energies; all these lead us to the theory that the origin of life is from the interplay of cosmic substances and energies diversely inherent in the astral world – the sun, moon, earth, stars and constellations. The soul of man pulsates in synchronization with the cosmic rays percolating down the solar system, 27 stars (nakshatram) and 12 zodiacs. The moon represents the creative energy in living beings.

Pournami prayers help to cleanse the soul. In Santhigiri Ashram, devotees observe three days ‘vritam’ (vow of abstinence) and perform round the clock prayers on full moon days to get rid of their karmic and ancestral ills. In the night of pournami, the devotees, clad in white and chanting the Guru Mantra, carry lamps and ‘kumbhams’ and circle round the Ashram in a bright procession. It is repeated in the evening, at midnight and at the following dawn of the full moon day. Married couples are advised to undertake special prayers on full moon days for begetting good progeny. When vows and prayers are observed as instructed by the Guru, noble souls could take birth through their sacred bonding on the day of pournami.

Spiritual elevation is possible only when we get rid of the spiritual blocks as well as karmic and ancestral debts. Pournami prayers observed under the enlightened Guru helps the soul in the curing of these spiritual ills. Ignorant of the spiritual ill effects of black moon days, the downtrodden communities do ancestral rites mostly on dark moon days dictated by tradition. An example is the ‘pitru bali’ performed in Kerala on dark moon day in the month of karkidaka (July-August). Auspicious will be the results if a person does the ancestral rites on full moon day, not otherwise.

Evolution of Spirit

Gurucharanam Saranam

Evolution of Spirit

Swami Navananma Jnana Tapaswi
Santhigiri Ashram, Thiruvananthapuram

Indian spirituality explains that everything in the world has its own qualitative status. The evolutionary process of sentient and insentient beings is due to the movement of time and the interaction of nature. This also is the basis of ‘form’ (unique shape) and ‘quality’ in nature; to put in other words, how every living being differs from one another. The differences in the ‘form’ and ‘jeeva’ are due to variations in the quality and vice versa. This in-depth spiritual view of India considers that everything is in the track of evolution at its various levels.

As everything in the universe is the expression of spiritual evolution, it is concomitant with time too. This is a relative status of the ‘jeeva’ (spirit/self) concerned with ‘action’ (karma) and innate tendencies (vasana). The evolution of the ‘spirit’ from its lowest level to its perfect status is also a process correlated with time which means that the aspect of time extends from the minutest micro to the universal macro level. Indian spirituality explains the yuga cycles (kaala chakra) in between these two extremes.

Indian spirituality is a perfect universal science in which the concepts of creation (srishti), stasis (stithi), dissolution (samhaara) and merging with the Ultimate (ultimate release) are clearly defined. These are the four terms clearly defined by the sages in Indian spiritual tradition. This is not mere philosophy, but is the science of transformation of the body and spirit, starting from the very micro level to the omnipotent status.

This science of evolution and its practical hierarchy is explained in Sanatana Dharma, the very basic Indian philosophy through Upanishadic principle (i.e. guru-disciple dialogue). Guru-disciple spirituality is a life style. There is the famous aphorism ‘maata, pita, guru, daivam’, which means that the evolution of the spirit of a kid begins from (or through) the mother, the father and then the guru, who ultimately guides it to God.

There is an oft-repeated prayer in Indian tradition: ‘lokaah samasthaa sukhino bhavanthu’ – ‘may everything in the universe become peaceful’. The very basic concept of this philosophy was out of a noble thought and practice for providing freedom and guidance to each and every spirit in the universe so that it can attain its innate growth and fulfillment. The growth and development ends when it attains a level of perfection. The attainment of ultimate perfection through the relative truth (of time, form, and quality) is a divine pattern for the ultimate level of perfection. The words ‘dharma’ and ‘karma’ relate to this divine pattern. These two aspects are considered the basic concept behind form and quality or individuality. Thus the spiritual aim of every spirit is to attain the ultimate status of perfection transcending quality and form as implied in the prayer, ‘achintya avyakta ruupaaya, nirgunaaya gunaatmane, samastha jagataadhaara muurthaye Brahmane namah’- ‘salutations to Brahman, the formless, indefinable, and unthinkable…’! This is the perfect vision of Indian spirituality.

The way of ‘dvaita’ (the guru disciple duality) to attain the ‘advaita’ (the merger of disciple in guru-hood) was considered the way to ‘moksha’ (liberation). (Contrary to its popular meaning, the word ‘Dvaita’ is taken here as the ‘guru disciple duality’, to mean the imperfect mind of the seeker and the ‘Advaita’ to mean the perfect state of truth which Guru represents). This way of life is operated by a ‘brahma jnaani’ (the knower of Brahman, the Supreme Truth) who is the authoritative embodiment of Brahman for guiding the evolution of all spirits and their different levels of growth through the evolutionary cycles of yugas.