The Great Spiritual Trunk Road of Guru Centric Spirituality

Gurucharanam Saranam

The Great Spiritual Trunk Road of Guru Centric Spirituality

Mukundan P.R.

Spiritual renaissance in this era involves an evaluation and rectification of errors that had occurred in the actions (karma) and spiritual practices (dharma) of our forefathers in the bygone time, Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru had said it.  A tree gets its nourishment from its root in the soil, through the sun, water or other sources. Likewise, our family tree gets nourishment from its spiritual roots and the virtue of forefathers. If the forefathers have lived sinfully, if the ancestral souls continue to dwell in the dark cells of spiritual contamination, one can expect a fall in the life-fortunes of the offspring too.  Even if we have the best car in the world, we cannot cruise ahead even a little if there is a traffic jam. Similar is the case of a person, a family or society as there are our predecessors on the same road which we travel. We cannot progress in our path when they are stuck before us on the same road. Only a Soul- Knowing Guru can regulate the traffic on this spiritual trunk road of ancestral souls.

We have before us the examples of many families, which once had seen good times, fall in the pit of penury and oblivion. Most of the families which had temples and deities installed in them are known to suffer subsequently, because after the time of their forefathers, who established such practices at home, their descendents neglected those rituals, as they were either not spiritually inclined or lacked the time and knowledge for those rituals.  As a result, the spiritual fabric of the family gets weakened, whatever is the merit or demerit of those practices, and it becomes the cause of ruin of many families. Pitru dharma in Indian religion relates to this question of uplifting the ancestral souls and the astral status of a family. 

Can we strengthen the spiritual veins of our family by resorting to the ancient practices of our forefathers? Would the deities and ancestral souls get appeased by the renewal of rituals and renovation of temples, which the astrologers invariably suggest for a cure from pitrudosha, the ancestral curses?  Experiences of several people prove otherwise. The ancestral problems do not get cured completely or get cured only partially, that too for a limited period of time, even if the suggested rituals are performed by the best masters and tantrics in the field. I would like to quote one experience which proves that such problems could be cured by sages in the Jnana tradition, not wedded to the ritualistic tradition.

Sri Chidambaran is a retired Deputy Director of Education in Kerala and lives in Harippad near Kollam. When faced with diminishing luck and unexpected calamities in the once well to do family, astrologers were consulted. They revealed that there was pitru dosha in the family. As a remedy, the astrologers suggested renewal of family temple, reinstallation of deities, performance of homa etc. that would have cost lakhs of rupees. Sri Chidambaran kept quiet as the expense was unaffordable. One day, Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru happened to visit his place along with his disciples. The grace of Guru fell upon him and his family. Guru told him that the problem in his family could be resolved without the rituals advised by the astrologers. It was as an experiment he agreed to the suggestion. After all it involved no rituals and expenditure, he thought.

Guru asked Sri Chidambaran to call a good astrologer to see the astral chart of the family. The astrologer revealed the problem of pitru dosha and advised the same remedy - renovation of temple and reinstallation of deities etc. When the astrologer heard that the deities and ancestral souls could be removed just with ‘sankalpam’ (mental resolve) of Guru without any rituals, he said, ‘We are viewing this scientifically. No individual, let him be any great saint, through his divine power and meditation, the purifying ritual cannot be performed.  If the deities observed in the chart were seen relocated by ‘sankalpam’ then only it can be believed’, he added.

 On the appointed day, Guru reached the house.  There was along with Guru, a little girl, now a sanyasini in the Ashram. A big crowd had assembled there as spectators including the family members. The astrologer also arrived in time. Guru along with the little child sat in the front hall. The astrologer also sat on one side. Guru asked the astrologer to see what all were there in the family. After calculations, the astrologer said that it was a very old family and had an age and tradition of approximately 800 years. It was known from the chart that there were such and such disturbed deities - Brahma Rakshas, Serpent (Naga) etc. in the spiritual background of the family. The astrologer also disclosed that the remedial measure was to build a temple and install them there.

Guru called the little girl to his side and said something. After prostrating before Guru, that girl sat in meditation for sometime.  ‘Now you see whether these have moved from here or not,’ Guru asked the astrologer.  The astrologer made his chart again and looked bewildered for a moment, for, he saw that the disturbed deities and powers have been vacated. Guru asked him to do the chart once again to prove it beyond doubt. He did as advised and was astonished to find that pitrus and deities have been vacated with the sankalpam of Guru. Guru explained the spiritual background of the family as seen in vision during the performance: When all the disturbed spirits were asked to move after bringing them in the radiance of Guru, all except one were ready to move. That one was a Sanyasi, a member of the family. It was standing there as the family head in the ancestral zodiac. Although it was desirous of salvation, it was unwilling to move without someone taking its position. The tears of this Sanyasi were causing the family to deteriorate. Only after Guru promised to take that position in the family, the Sanyasi became ready to move. Guru told that it was a soul which had immense love toward the family.

Sri Chidambaran demolished the old family temple and built a prayer hall for Guru in the house. It was the beginning of his journey on the great spiritual trunk road of Guru centric spirituality. It reveals another dimension of Sanatana Dharma, which is based on the ancient Indian rishi tradition (Jnana marga) different from the brahmanical temple tradition suffering from the ills of caste system.

Obsolete Spiritual Legacies and Dogmas

Gurucharanam Saranam

Obsolete Spiritual Legacies and Dogmas

Mukundan P.R.

If the present age is witnessing unprecedented clashes and turmoil arising out of socio-economic disparities, religious fundamentalism, plunders of nature and natural resources, it is because man has failed to comprehend the original spiritual script of the Creator. Unless humanity understands the correct spiritual perspective behind life and Creation, which has an un-patentable universality, the world will, as we see today, go on in opposite directions giving torment to the inhabitants of this planet. How can there be multiple truths of Creation about a single universe, the single human family? Diversities have come due to the narrowness and ignorance of people and societies. Spiritual homogeneity, therefore, is going to be a vital aspect in the new millennium.

Nature has supported whenever such unifying spiritual movements took place; and it destructed too the societies which stood against this. India is an example; against the eternal egalitarian monotheistic teachings (Sanatana Dharma) of Sri Krishna, Sri Buddha, Mahavir, Guru Nanak and many others, when India chose to follow the Brahmin centered caste theory and polytheism (popular Hinduism which follows Vedic rituals for propitiating gods) God Almighty sent messengers in other parts of the world like Moses, Jesus and Prophet Mohammed. The social forces that emerged out of these spiritual movements crushed and pillaged the spiritually and socially fragmented India. India became a subject country under colonial rulers.

The planetary system revolves around unalterable cosmic truths. So too are the spiritual truths behind man’s life and evolution. It is because of its eternal, universal nature, the rishis and sages called these laws as Sanatana Dharma, the eternal spiritual laws. Time is one of the fundamental aspects in this. Time is the other name for evolution, perpetual change. It means that humanity has to constantly evolve to higher spiritual truths spun by the wheel of time. Man’s refusal to accept this truth and his clinging to particular sets of belief systems born out of the necessities of a distant past is the cause of present turmoil and conflicts. Human lungs are gasping for the fresh breath of a new, all embracing culture and spiritual experience. However, the spiritual and cultural overlords want to chain this new age under obsolete spiritual legacies and dogmas.

Mankind has become culture conditioned forgetting the immense potential for spiritual discovery in this glorious age of Kali. If the Muslims and Christians are clinging to the medieval spiritual experiences of Jesus Christ and Prophet Mohammed, the Hindus are living with a prehistoric spiritual culture of Dwapara and Treta yuga, blissfully unaware that in this time zone (Kaliyuga) changes occur in the methods for spiritual realization. The object of worship in the Dwapara and Treta yuga were the devas, the celestials, but in the Kaliyuga, because of the evolving yuga cycles, mankind evolves one step higher in the spiritual hierarchy. Every yuga has a unique spiritual authority through whom this spiritual transition takes place. People in this new millennium will reject all religious dogma and seek truth.

The souls are guided to the ultimate truth of the Almighty through the ladder of cyclic astral changes as exemplified by the cosmic time concept - Manvantara time order mentioned by the ancient Indian sages. The great spiritual debacle of India lies in the mix up of Vedic idolatry with the path of the spiritual masters of India, who followed monotheism. And only monotheism can be the true basis of Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion of mankind. The priest class of India, who is not even five percent of Indian population, will never agree to such a proposition, because that will take away their status as a special people, superior to the natives. It is the racial discrimination of Vedic Brahmins, which fragmented Indian society and brought the country to such disgrace, past and present, and perished it!

The second great sin of Vedic Brahmins is that they kept Indian spirituality under the celestial gods (devas), ignoring the spiritual leadership of the great rishis and sages who incarnated from time to time. India always stood for spiritual discovery - God realization through Guru-Disciple order, which is the path shown by the sages and for which India is well known. But the Brahmins stood in between and led people to Vedic ritualism and deity worship establishing themselves as its unquestionable authorities. Honest Hindus should realize this mess up, this spiritually treachery if they wish to see their glorious country prosper spiritually and socially. But how could it happen! Hindus are under the deep spell of a dirty sleep for ages.

The basic problem is people are not well familiarized with the concept of spiritual hierarchies. If one spiritual aspirant experiences an angel, deva or demigod, they think that they have attained everything in spirituality. There are millions and millions of such spiritual beings in the astral world, who can manifest in front of us. They can be channelized and some of them can give us enormous power to perform miracles. Patanjali advises the seekers to be extremely cautions of such celestial beings, because the aspirants might get misled from the path of God realization. Gods and angels are astral beings, in between God and the human world. They are like stranded travelers who have put up camps on the path and depend upon the upcoming seekers.

Today the Hindus, be it a Brahmin or Sudra, are unable to distinguish between the Sanatana Dharma of the Rishis and the outdated Vedic tradition. Almost all Hindus are ignorant about this spiritual pollution of India. Even the pundits of Hinduism are unable to distinguish this truth clearly. Of course, the wisdom of the Rishis are scattered in the Vedic literature in an inseparable way, like water in milk, which is confusing the spiritual aspirants for thousands of years now. This has to change and people must realize the truth. It is time that the Hindus begin to think, lest they be subject to the most grievous wrath of the Almighty.

Sishyapoojita – The Most Revered Among Disciples

Gurucharanam Saranam

Sishyapoojita – The Most Revered Among Disciples

Mukundan P.R.

The concept of ‘Sishyapoojita’ is an original contribution of Santhigiri Guruparampara to the spiritual fraternity. Sishyapoojita, meaning the worshipful among disciples is the highest accolade bestowed by Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru, the founder Guru of Santhigiri Ashram to the chain of spiritual authorities in Santhigiri Guruparamapara, Sishyapoojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini being the foremost after the physical departure of the Founder Guru.

Sishyapoojitha Amritha Jnana Thapaswini wrote about her early days in the Ashram and the plethora of spiritual experiences and vision she experienced:

“I was able to meet Guru for the first time when I was nine years old. I was much inclined towards the worship of God right from childhood. I had a secular outlook and used to go to mosques, churches, temples and ashrams to pray. At the very first meeting with the Guru, my mind was brimful with reverence. "A tranquility not born out of any emotion" may be the right thing to say. I could even think of Guru at par with God. This Divine Form, clad in immaculate white, appeared in all mortal and immortal dimensions, affluent with great kindness and compassion. This form filled my mind always, never fading away.

Guru guided and rectified my spiritual experiences. But both physically and mentally, I was unable to bear the strain or the after-effects of these visions. This made me to think about living in the presence of Guru in the Ashram, because I knew that through His Prakasham - Spiritual Light - the adverse after-effects of the visions could be annihilated. Thus my life as an inmate of Santhigiri Ashram commenced in 1972. Those were the days when the Ashram was a bee hive of activities like the reception of asareeri (Divine Revelations); prayers extending to weeks non-stop in accordance with revelations; culmination of tasks of divine dicta as per Divine Will, known as Poortheekaranam, always marked by non-stop chanting of prayers for days, etc.

Once, a declaration came forth from the Absolute that all were to bathe and pray and the manifestations would be at 5 p.m. The Supreme Power, with all compassion, came and declared that the thing of its aspiration for so many Yugas had fructified. Also that Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru’s Parampara would be perennial. The Guru was endorsed to be the Soul that has accomplished every known task for Yugas and is saturated with the essence of all types of karmas. This lineage had been favoured with the right to ask and understand anything from the Almighty, unlike the others. So saying it, all were blessed…..”

In the history of avatars and prophets nowhere one could find the continuity of the stream of clairvoyance, leadership and guidance among the disciples after the lifetime of the masters. Secondly, a woman has never been able to climb the heights of spiritual hierarchies as in the case of Sishyapoojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini, beyond certain celestial stages in conventional religious traditions, for example the trinity tradition. This twin contribution of Santhigiri to the ancient Indian Guru-Disciple order is one of the uniqueness of Santhigiri’s spiritual movement.

Santhigiri Ashram will be celebrating Poojitha Peedom Samarpanam-10 from 13^th February to 22^nd February, 2011 in commemoration of the great spiritual elevation of Her Holiness Sishyapoojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini, the present spiritual head of Santhigiri Ashram.