Spirituall Aspects behind Marriage and Childbirth

The painful conflicts in the families, the breakdown of marriages, incidents of physical as well as mental deformities and the delinquent behaviour of children are caused by the thoughtless marriages performed by ignorant parents, who have neither understood the path of spiritual guidance from a wise seer nor its positive effects in life. Sensual gratification rather than spiritual fulfillment is guiding the man-woman relationship. The increasing trend of abortions, the culture of contractual marriages and divorces reflect this moral degradation.

Humankind has reached this ruinous state because our society has long ago deviated from the guidance of omniscient sages who can reveal the true secrets of life. Man has become more religious than spiritual. He has been unable to grasp the depth of important life-cycle ceremonies like marriage, birth and death, the spiritual aspect of man-woman relationship etc. These life-cycle ceremonies and relationships are divine in nature because they are related to one’s spiritual evolution and that of the family stock or gotra. The breakdown of the institution of family seen in the advanced Western countries is owing to this spiritual ignorance about the depth of family life. 

Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru said that if a woman could be led to spiritual enlightenment that family would become blessed and through such uplifted families, the society and the nation would evolve to a healthy future. A woman through her virtuousness can guide her family to a positive direction. However, she needs spiritual guidance for the nourishment of her family. We can receive spiritual guidance only from an elevated seer. Not knowing the true character of an elevated seer, a few women fall in the trap of fake swamis, fakirs, padiris, tantriks and jyotishis and are cheated, which brings a bad name to the brotherhood of elevated spiritual masters, authentic ashrams and spiritual institutions.

We should not confuse the tantriks, jyotishis, evangelists, priests and the like with the true guru concept. Because of such bogus and questionable spiritual practices and beliefs and because of their own ignorance about true spirituality, both the learned and the uneducated generally view ashrams and gurus with suspicion. It would be beneficial to go through the Sree Gurugita published by Santhigiri Ashram, which mentions about the different types of gurus and the characteristics of a true Guru. 

We must realize that without a true preceptor, we cannot improve spiritually and materially. Some rich communities in India such as Marwaris, Sindhis, Punjabis and Gujaratis became prosperous because they lived respecting and serving their gurus and accepting their guidance. Recently somebody reported that Kerala spends approx. Rs.10, 000 billion per annum on rituals in temples, which is a sign that people are getting more and more ritualistic than spiritual. Different from this crowd of favour seekers at the doors of temples and darghas, for the people in the sagely path, spirituality is a meritorious way of life that would transform them for the better both spiritually and materially.

A successful and enduring marriage is fundamental to the health of a family, which is possible only when the couples are united spiritually. Therefore, a Guru gives the nod for marriage only after looking into the spiritual, cultural and ancestral background of couples. A mismatch in any of these aspects would adversely affect their family life including the life of their children. However, this need not be on the basis of one’s birth, caste, community and religion. It is purely a spiritual alignment of couples under the All-knowing Guru. With this type of marriage a pristine gotra or Guru Parampara is born.

Guru cleanses the harmful astral and ancestral aspects of the marriageable couple for the birth of a pure lineage free from cultural and genetic drawbacks. After marriage, Guru gives the couple necessary guidance on how to live as husband and wife. He advises about the prayers, sankalpam and other sacred deeds including the auspicious time for the birth of a virtuous child. The followers of Guru perform certain rituals and prayers, especially during the seventh month, which helps the developing baby in the womb. Thus, the life of the couple becomes spiritually oriented. 

Bringing up a child too is as important as the regimen and rituals required for the birth of a fortunate child, free of genetic and cultural drawbacks. The habits of a child are moulded during its early years and adolescence. Good and bad children are born from a mother. The mother should pray and do sankalpam for getting rid of the bad traits in children. The mother should try to change the bad characteristics through loving and painful prayer. Like food, which is important for the body, prayer is as much important for the soul. 

The women in the path of Guru are weaned away from decadent and meritless religious beliefs and rituals and atheistic beliefs of some people who neglect spiritual aspects altogether. They are guided to a healthy spiritual vision based on eternal values and verities based on the sage tradition of India. In the final count, we can say that a true social transformation can take place only through spiritually sensitized women and families in the society. 

Spiritual masters and prophets were innumerable in human history, but their followers seem to have given only a cursory importance to the astral aspects behind marriage and childbirth including the spiritual mentoring of women. The guidance initiated by Navajyothisree Karunakara Guru is a correction in this regard.

Mukundan PR

Challenges before Hinduism

A New Sky and a New Earth and a New Jerusalem

George, Netajipuram, Thiruvananthapuram

My name is George. I was born and brought up in Christian faith. I happened to know about Navajyotisri Karunakara Guru in 1986. An acquaintance of mine who was a regular visitor to the Ashram took me along with my family to the Ashram. When I saw Guru, he did not look like the person I had imagined. He was conversing like an ordinary person sitting on as small stool among a group of ordinary folks. He had no beard and flowing hair. He was clean-shaven, wore white clothes and had no airs about him.

We bowed before him and stood aside. Guru asked us whether we had eaten. We replied that we had. Guru signalled to us to sit down. The person who came with me introduced us to Guru. Guru asked me, ‘Why did you come?’ I replied that I wanted to grow spiritually and materially. Guru asked my companion to explain to me everything. Guru asked me again; ‘Are you alone’. I said that I had come with the family. Guru advised us to visit the Ashram often.

Then He continued the conversation. The talk was about Jesus Christ. In between, he asked me; ‘After Jesus’ resurrection, he first revealed himself to Magdalana Mariyam, who was tainted in life; why not to his mother, who gave him birth and brought him up?’

I stood there stupefied without knowing the answer. I had never heard such a question. When I stood there unable to give an answer, Guru repeated the question to others sitting down there. Nobody could give the answer. Then Guru himself revealed the answer. From that, I could understand one thing; it was by God’s Will I   came to him.

We began to frequent the Ashram and learnt more about Guru and His ideology. I could know from Guru’s teachings and from the experience of others that He is the Great Soul in the prophesies of Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, Nostradamus, Sri Narayana Guru, Aravind Maharshi, Sree Buddha and others.

I was convinced that the great master Navajyotisree Karunakara Guru is the Supreme Soul who could for the first time change a soul and its karmagati and cleanse all negative spiritual influences of ancestral souls and deities. With the proof of this, I accepted Guru as my saviour. The words of Yohannan in Bible helped me much in taking such a decision.

Guru explained to us the self-sacrifice and pain of numerous spiritual masters and their followers. Jesus had said that when the Soul of truth comes he would reveal every truth and speak referring his name. The words of Jesus became true here. Guru had revealed through vision that His coming was for the fulfilment of all religions and their ideologies.

Because of the moral decadence of the people who claim to be Sanatanist (Hindus), there developed obsolete way of worship, social injustices and a spiritual tradition that considers evil spirits as Almighty God, who show their strength through fits of trance. There were minor gods for lower castes and bigger gods for higher castes.  The ignorant people were made to believe that this is Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism).

I learnt from Guru that Sanatana Dharma is the spiritual culture of Gurus, who come as the exponents of dharma in every age. Wealth and knowledge is within the possession of people who do not worship Lakshmi and Saraswati, the goddesses of wealth and knowledge. Let us not forget that all scientific growth and richness in this age have come through these guru traditions. We might be scholars and wealthy. However, to have discriminative knowledge we should have a Guru; only through the medium of Guru, we will have wisdom. All our suffering is due to the absence of Guru in our life. We go to the Ashram to get such wisdom; going to the Ashram means the effort to free our soul.

We should venerate Guru If we are to get light dismissing the inner darkness. We will have every kind of knowledge and our vision becomes clear when we worship Guru, the medium through which God appears before us. We should worship only the Creator who has made this beautiful world. Why should we, instead, pray to other powers in creation? It is ignorance to see them in the place of God. Sanatana dharma is not worship of natural forces and deities. The spiritual culture of Hindus is related to the concept of ‘Mata, Pita, Guru and Daivam’, i.e. through the mother know the father, through the father know Guru and through Guru know God.  

Our ancestral background is polluted because of the decadent way of worship, which is ignorant about the age such worship was relevant. Those who have forsaken all this and converted to the path of gurus and prophets who believed in the Oneness of God have developed much higher. They were blessed by fortunes of all kinds, scientific and technological advancement and physical beauty. These words in the Bible are very significant: ‘even if you possess the whole world, if the soul has no rest, what a pity’.

Apart from this, there is this ignorance among us whether we are learned or ignorant. We think that if a Guru is born in a particular caste or religion he belongs to that particular caste or religion and we have nothing to do with that Guru. We do not know what a Guru is. How many persons know that Guru is the physical manifestation of formless God? Only Guru can give the experience of God. God has not made any other arrangements to know him. It is by the will of God, a Guru or prophet takes birth. Their ideology is for the whole mankind.  God has not made any system that for every caste and religion there are different gods. Let us remember that Guru is the path to God. It has been recorded in the Bible that ‘I am the truth and the path’.

The Mahatmas should not be discriminated because of birthplace, language or mode of life nor should they be limited under the boundaries of different religions and the quarrels over it. The Christian religion is an example for that. Only one Jesus Christ was born in the world. However, how many sects are there in the name of Jesus Christ? Each sect claims that his sect is greater than the other. Jesus would be weeping seeing this. The Godly path does not discriminate. Lord Father! Forgive this people.

The Soul of Truth is here who has come to purify all this. A New Sky and a New Earth and a New Jerusalem is ready after the purification of all of us, the earth and the stars.  Those who have luck and light in their soul - let them discover it.  

Let That Golden Vessel be Broken

Janani Satvika Jnana Thapaswini & Janani Amala Jnana Thapaswini

Hiranmayena Patrena Satyasya Apihitam Mugham - the face of truth is hidden by a golden vessel. Several sages tried to open that golden vessel undertaking great pain and suffering and disappeared behind the veil of time. Although we have known about such souls from Guru, it was when we witnessed the wailing soul of a great Rishi, the magnitude of that pain twirled and seized the chords of heart.

A dry morning in the month of Makaram (Malayalam Era 1161): We were on a pilgrimage to Kanyakumari along with Guru and the children of Santhigiri Vidyabhavan. The long-held desire of these children who were fortunate to receive Gurukula education - the lost tradition of modern India - was getting fulfilled. They were chanting the Guru Gita verses, which they had memorized, with an unknown passion during the trip. The atmosphere reverberated with the mantras glorifying Guru, which were denied and unapproachable to their ancestors. Let these echo shaking all living beings that are unaware of this truth because of the selfish motive of the priestly class and its willful treachery.

We reached the precincts of Sucheendram temple around twelve. In all the traveled paths, the ancestral souls of different characters, traits and tendencies were screaming and running behind us, understanding the presence of Guru. Some of them ran away and hid themselves. Some of them danced with joy. Some of them cried for liberation, while some were annihilated. They were souls wandering for many ages seeking salvation through the dust fallen from the feet of a mahatma. Those who sought refuge attained peace. At our arrival, the population of such spirits surrounding the temple increased than the normal. The deities appeared in front of us even before we could enter the temple. There were great rishis, devas and celestials among them. There were Atri Maharshi and Anasuya in front. The great Rishi ran up to Guru and prostrated offering flowers.

We entered the temple. Normally, Guru does not enter any temple. There is a reason. If it were worship time, the deities there would beseech us to tell Guru not to enter then because it was the worship time. ‘If Guru comes inside, we have to get up. And when we receive worship, we are unable to do so’. Therefore, at this place too, Guru waited outside the temple courtyard. Sitting inside the temple, we meditated on Guru. The kundalni was aroused.

The origin, existence and dissolution aspects of the temple flashed before our mind’s eye. The sacrificial life of Atri Maharshi, his soul effulgence and its status could be known. Then the ethereal figure of Guru became manifest with the radiance of a billion suns. The Maharshi touched the feet of Guru and said with tears: ‘I have one submission before You; the people should know the reality, truth and prominence of this place. Your grace should be there for that. It was the heart-rending cry of a soul of self-sacrifice - the cry of a Mahatma who did penance without even a spare cloth and whose hunger had to be satisfied with a morsel of food by begging, and who, suffering mist, sun, rain and wind, left the frame reaching the heights of spiritual realization.

It is that power of penance, which is maintaining the greatness of that place in reality. That truth is hidden with the golden vessel. The name Sucheendram is so known because Indra was purified in that place. The people do not know the Soul who was capable of sanctifying. In his place, the priestly class is worshipping Indra, Trimurti, Sri Ram, Sita and Hanuman. Pity, the poor people offer garlands of vada to Hanuman, who is installed on the Maharshi’s samadhi. When the holy water from the Maharshi’s feet was sprinkled, the Trimurti gods were turned into infants - that is the story. That story is sculpted on the walls too. Ironically, however, the worship is to the Trimurti.

In the history of which temple has the truth not been concealed? Were the Devi temples not established on the blood of Buddha Bhikshus? Even if it is the samadhi of a mahatma, a devi or deva would be installed there and people will be misled. With the passage of time, the number of devas and devis would increase according to the desire of tantrics. Some irrational myths also would be created. The sacrificial lives of mahatmas who had come until now were covered by myths related to the worldly drama of devas.

Is there no escape for these mahatmas? Generations that had blindly believed in all these. Is there no escape for them too? There is now the modern generation, which does not believe in these myths, denying them with rationality and intelligence. Just by denial, you are not going to get salvation. The ancestral souls of your family are entwined with the deities and gods, and they are after you wielding their swords. You have to seek a Guru for their liberation. Break the golden vessel that hides truth and relish the truth.

The Soul of that Mahatma who is painfully trying to show you the golden vessel - that pain has been submitted at the right place, at the feet of a Jnani, who has known the depth of that pain. It has been submitted at the feet of the medium that Brahman has deputed to lead humanity to Satya Yuga, redeeming it from all deviations. Have Your eyes also moistened from the reflection of that submission! You raised him up with compassion as if he were your own soul and consoled him.  ‘Let twelve years pass away! Then there will be an occasion’.

These words made the Maharshi full of joy. However, the pain of the Maharshi still stirs the mind. Pity the people who do not know this. O’ God! If you had given the ethereal vision to all to observe these things happening in the subtle! I declare loudly to the liberationists, compassionately avoiding the rationalists who ridicule this as mental delusion. What is the way for you to know the actual truth of this kind of experiences? If there are Jnanis, let them experience it. Otherwise, there is only the help of astrology. Let them clarify it with astrolabes. 

(Santhigiri Malayalam Adhyatmika Masika, September, 1986, translated into English by Mukundan P.R.)

The Concept of Evolution in Hinduism

The Concept of Evolution in Hinduism

Swami Navananma Jnana Tapaswi

The riddle behind the origin of universe, its sustenance and transformation has always vexed human intelligence and imagination. Nevertheless, the vigor of man’s search to discover the unknown has never weakened. That there is an Invisible Idea behind Creation is fundamental in spirituality. This fundamental plan or idea is behind the origin of life-energy (soul or jeeva), its manifestation and transformation through a physical medium. Indian spiritual thought is related to this perception regarding the successive evolvement of soul and body.

The soul in its infinitesimal form should evolve to its Absolute nature, which necessitates an evolutionary scheme.  Nature has an inherent character to evolve the jeeva to its Absolute status through a series of evolutionary incarnations. There is the process of molding the physical setting according to the nature and quality of evolution presupposing an inter-relationship between spirit’s evolutionary status and physical attributes. There exists, also a divine intervention that creates or directs this rhythmic evolution.

The uniqueness of Indian spirituality is this idea of a divine Intervention in the form of a spiritual embodiment, i.e. Guru Incarnation in the evolutionary process of soul and body. In the practical plane, this concept existed in India in the form of Guru-Disciple spirituality in the scheme of Sanatana Dharma. Since the evolutionary process is successive, the manifestation of Guru is also successive in terms of humanity’s spiritual progression. This process has been ordained in a manner of karma and dharma according to the age, which is termed as Yuga Dharma.

Yuga Dharma is the dharmic orientation of life in accordance with the evolving cycles of time for the soul and body to evolve from its imperfect state to its Absolute status or from the state of nescience to absolute enlightenment. Indian spirituality considers the relationship between an enlightened Guru - who is the embodiment of absolute realization- and the souls who are struggling to attain freedom from the chains of imperfection as the fundamental dharma for the evolvement and fulfillment of all living beings.

There is a revelatory knowledge, which gives the information about such Guru Incarnations who help the imperfect souls to reach the path of perfection. We were not able to comprehend the history of revelations about such great souls and about the prophesies made by them about the incarnations that are to come in succession. We should realize that beyond the miraculous feats and occult performances, there is this path of spiritual evolvement for the soul and body in accordance with a perennial law in nature. There should be a correction to our ignorance on this subject, as it is not good to wait yet.

There is a spiritual order in the universe, which is uniform and binding to all peoples in the world. The seers had discovered this truth, but the institutions built up in their names have been spiritually incapable to perceive this universal truth, dogma and superstitions blocking their real progress. For the devotees of God, a rational understanding of spirituality is essential for evolving higher.