The Path of Guru

Gurucharanam Saranam

The Path of the Guru
Carlos Guzman, Mexico


Etymologically, the term Guru means dispeller of darkness; one who gives Light by eradicating the darkness of ignorance from your soul. By simply being near a real guru his immense Prakasham - Light - will immediately start purifying your soul in a very powerful way. Why do we need a Guru?

We need someone who, is not bound, nevertheless always doing Dharma for the benefit of others when we have a great soul in our midst who has attained a spiritual state beyond selfishness, who has transcended the petty concerns of this world while still living in the world, who is unattached from his senses and desires, whose ego has completely vanished, who speaks and acts from Jnanam - Divine intuitive wisdom - and who is truly dedicated to the welfare of others, then we can have the faith and conviction that even we must strive towards such selflessness. And the Guru will lead you in the right direction. This is the Will of the Almighty. We are very fortunate to have such a guru in Santhigiri.

Our Guru left his physical form on May 6th 1999 and merged in the Almighty. It has been revealed from the Almighty that this day will be known as Nava Oli Jyothir Dinam - the day of the emergence of the New Light. Many disciples perceived in darshanam (divine vision, clairvoyance, revelations) that since Guru merged with the Almighty, his Light increased enormously and the experiences received by clairvoyance are felt more powerfully. Only a few days after this transition a large number of Guru’s disciples including myself could feel a much more powerful Light descending and merging into our beings while meditating and praying to our Guru. We were amazed and a little confused by this experience, but I, by clairvoyance, could realize that the Guru’s Light has increased immensely. Later I was informed by a close disciple that our Guru had predicted this increase years before his physical departure. This guidance from the Guru for the solutions of problems is now obtained more clearly. It is an amazing and unique experience not found anywhere else, that, the guru, after leaving his physical body, is controlling all the affairs of the Ashram through revelations. This guidance is actualized by our spiritual head, Sishyapoojitha Janani Amrita Jnana Tapaswini, a wonderful gift from our beloved Guru. She has attained a spiritual level that no other female has reached in millions of years. She is the channel of Guru’s Prakasham - Guru’s Light - conveying the Guru’s guidance and instructions, for the proper direction of his disciples and humanity as a whole.

One of the main features of this lineage is that Navajyothi Sri Karunakara Guru has been kindling the faculty of darshanam in his disciples and followers. The knowledge and information obtained in the Ashram, is not through the five senses, but through the extrasensory faculty of darshanam.

The Guru shows us the right path in the spiritual as well as material planes. The Guru informs us that our spiritual duty is not making offerings to dieties, saints, angels, and the like faith, devotion and a total surrender to a fully realized Guru are called for. Also you must have a correct mode of action, Dharma. Kali for spiritual as well as material well-being. The Hindu scriptures recommended nama japa (repetition of God’s name) or of a fully realized spiritual master “as the most effective saadhana - spiritual practice - in the present age of Kali for all attainments. In Santhigiri we chant the Akhanda Nama, the holy name of the Absolute. Traditionally Indians have the idea that Kali is a negative epoch. Of course this is a mistaken notion, Guru says there is a great deal of suffering in this age. But it makes an individual to turn his eyes towards God giving him the opportunity of spiritual growth. Secondly, suffering extinguishes bad karma, that is to say the negative consequences of our incorrect behavior. But it is very important to deal with the suffering. One should accept suffering with faith, surrender, resignation and humility, praying to the Almighty for the purification of the soul and for spiritual liberation. Otherwise one would be in disagreement with God’s Will taking one away from God’s Light, blocking inner evolution. Place faith in the Almighty and surrender all problems to Him. For everything that happens there is a reason. In many cases one does not understand this because the root cause lies in actions done in past . We get what we have to get according to the Divine Law.

We, who live now in this era, are extremely fortunate because man is bestowed with the privilege of working out all karmas - actions - to earn mukuti - spiritual liberation. For such liberation you need the Purity, Knowledge, Grace, and Guidance of a Guru who is a Trikala Jnani - one who can perceive past, present and future of everything and everyone. Such Guru evaluates your soul, seeing past incarnations, karmagati (good and bad actions ingrained in the soul), punnya - (virtue, merit), bhagyam (good fortune), vasanas (good or bad habits acquired in the past) and also the potentiality of your soul. Based on this knowledge, the Guru gives you instructions to conduct your life in a proper manner and to optimize your spiritual evolution. He makes you realize through self experience. Prayer and righteous karma (correct mode of action) dedicated fully to the Guru are also essential. Such Guru can burn out part of your bad karma and help you evolve, to a state beyond your imagination. Religious observances, rituals, sacrifices and offerings based on traditions, are not enough to attain the main goal in life: spiritual evolution that eventually leads to liberation. In this era such redemption is possible for all in Gurumargam.

At Santhigiri Ashram, Navajyothi Sri Karunakara Guru has rediscovered this lost path and has expounded a fulfilling way of life suited for this age. By following this path of a fully spiritually realized Guru, anyone can attain the best possible for oneself - spiritually as well as materially.

Human race gets from the Guru unprecedented knowledge which no other spiritual master ever gave. The Guru performs a new divine holy act which no one else could undertake in the past – Pitrusuddhi. It is called Gurupooja in Santhigiri Ashram and it is an act of Grace of the highest spiritual dimension. Through this the purification of ancestors takes place, liberating the individual as well as his family. The ancestors are freed from the influence of dieties, saints, angels and the like which these has had worshipped while they lived. These ‘celestial beings’ were, to them, the Almighty himself.

When these ancestors take birth again, they will be able to perform their karmas - actions - in a more correct way, because of the purification, that will lead them towards their attachments in a more dynamic way. Also Pitrusuddhi enhances the birth of better children, because after purification better souls can incarnate if successive generations follow. This spiritual path, then the gothram, the entire family line will improve spiritually beyond measure. The deities and saints worshipped might not have attained higher spiritual states and more than doing good to those who worship them, they cause harm and hinder the spiritual evolution of the living. Those who are worthy among them also get cleansed of the living.

Thus the Guru guides you in the spiritual as well as in the material planes, giving you what your soul deserves, always aiming at the evolution of your soul. Whatever he gives will be according to the Dharma - Divine Law. In other words, He is going along with the Will of the Almighty.

Some deities, such as saints, angels and devas (deities misconceived by the Hindu tradition as god-head) who have reached certain stages in spiritual evolution, need to be pleased or gratified in one way or another. They are bound to their emotions, because they have not attained spiritual liberation. They can feel all sorts of emotions, positive and negative, such as joy, anger, hatred, egoism, envy, etc. Therefore they can block your evolution and might even cause your physical destruction, as you evolve, approaching spiritual phases higher than theirs. This is mainly due to jealousy.

Some deities might be able to give you wealth, health or whatever you ask for, though in return they can take away punya – (virtue ,merit) and baghyam (good fortune) that you have acquired during numerous incarnations, and as a consequence you can be reborn with illness, deformities, mental deficiency, bad luck in life, etc. They do not follow a Dharmic spiritually correct way. In some other cases, some deities grant your wishes unknowing of the consequences it is like a father who is fond of his son buying him a big and a fast motorcycle. The careless son drives extremely fast and collides with a bus and becomes paralytic for the rest of life. Remember that the Guru will always give you what you actually need protecting, above all, the evolution of your soul.

Sanathana Dharma is the Divine Perennial Spiritual Law, integrating material life with a cosmic spirituality and it differs from religion. The essence of it is Divine knowledge, which undoubtedly will lead you to the apex of evolution: spiritual liberation. This elevated and elavating knowledge is found in Santhigiri.

In the Cosmic Time Scale of Manu - first preceptor of mankind - we are living in the 7th Manvantara of the 28th Chathuryuga, in the era of Kali, more than five thousand years of Kali have passed and more than 400 0000 remain. Guru informs us that a grave conceptual error had occurred to a great soul in the lineage of Manu (first preceptor of mankind) twenty-five Chathuryugas around 108,000,000 years ago. This led to the obstruction of the evolutionary process in humanity. By 1975, the Guru attained such power or realization as to start an important purification process a cleansing that clears this block which had been there for millions of years. This is the Guru Pooja mentioned earlier.

The deficiencies of your soul with which you are born are responsible for your illnesses, physical deformation, mental deficiency, miseries, poor economic situation, bad luck, problems in life, bad parents etc. But by the grace of the Guru, you can gain relief from these problems. On your part you must be active, doing your saadhana (spiritual practice) diligently, following the Yugadharma (Divine Law for the Age). And the Guru will give you correct guidance in all aspects of your life. Such guidance and intercession in turn lead to receiving children far better than you in punya (virtue, merit), bhagyam (good fortune) and an elevated karmaseshi (ability to act)..

The Guru has said that the first Guru in our life is the mother and she should have patience, understanding, harmony and a proper spiritual knowledge to fortify and guide her children properly. It is only through good women, that a home, a society, a country and the world can prosper benefiting humanity as a whole. The Guru gives great attention to children. These little ones have to be trained well mentally, spiritually and academically, as they are the future guides and leaders of humanity.

The main prayer in the Ashram is a chant that was received as revelations to disciples. Your spiritual evolution is enhanced by chanting it, as it is the most powerful mantra of the age. The Guru had said special disciples will come up in this Guru Parampara (group of people that follow the Guru’s spiritual path; lineage). They would be born in Kerala or in other parts of this world, for continuing the transcendental work that the Guru has started for the liberation of the world. In the foremost disciple Sishya Poojitha Amritha Jnana Tapaswini, we already have a proof of this prediction.

The lofty idea of creating a society endowed with values, society beyond caste, social position and religion, promoting peace will be enhanced by Guru’s cleansing process through few generations. New generations will strengthen and consolidate the creation of a new world wonder.

Even though our era, Kali, started more than 5000 years ago, the Yugadharma of the earlier Yugas, i.e. Treta and Dwapara are being followed in a mixed-up way. The prevalence of worship of all kind of deities misconceived as fully realized souls and the methods of worship reflect this fact. We are still performing tantric yaga and yajna, (complicated sacrificial fire rituals) for example ancient mantras (sacred syllables or words) which connect you to past sources of spiritual energy are practices contrary to the Yugadharma of Kali.

Guru is mainly a reactor. Remember that Isaac Newton, renowned English scientist stated the three famous Laws of Motion. The third one states that: ‘To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’. This is a law of physics and also a universal law that applies to everything, everyone and every single creature on Earth. When you perform certain actions, such as following our Guru’s instructions closely, doing your saadhana, performing correct actions, etc., there will be positive reactions in your soul through Guru’s grace. Then you attain more Light.

The Guru empowers the disciple to do certain important tasks in the astral planes like in no other place in the world. Such enormous grace from the Guru makes Santhigiri Ashram a unique place.

A Perennial Message from Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru

Gurucharanam Saranam

A Perennial Message from Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru

(Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru delivered this Message to a group of youths in Kerala in the 1980s, which has perennial and universal relevance in this troubled times)

Have you ever thought about yourself? How long, do you think, would you be here? Sixty, seventy or at the most of hundred years! Like a government servant you will have to retire sometime. Then, don’t you think that your life in this world has no meaning? From whom shall you get the true knowledge about that true meaning? Would your learning help? Can politics help? Or are you of the view that there is nothing beyond this life? If that is the case, anyone can indulge in any wickedness without consequences affecting them.

You mindlessly talk about an omnipotent power that presides over the universe. Do you really know what you are talking about? Your children are happily playing before your eyes. Do you realize that they are going to be mothers, fathers and grand parents? Have you given anything adequate to prepare them to meet life spiritually and temporally? Would the present materialist class room lessons suffice? Even those who cause destruction and calamity to the world are born as children to parents. Have you ever thought of the sad plight of those parents?

Whoever we are – Hindu, Christian, Muslim etc. – we belong to one humanity, don’t we? Have the masters – Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, the Prophet, Sri Narayana Guru, Chattambi Swamikal et al – ever pursued caste, creed or religion? Don’t you realize that it is the people with parochial and vested interests who confine these great masters? Don’t these seers belong to the entire humanity?

Are not Hindus, Muslims and Christians children of the same mother – India? We have traditions of sacrifice and love. Then why do we flight with one another instead of living in amity for the betterment of our home and country? Is it in order to drag the names of great teachers into your differences in caste and religion? You need not embrace all the master’s ideas, but must you trample upon them? May your children realize their value!

Can’t you evolve a faith above caste and creed? Do you have any place from where righteous thoughts and ideas are conveyed to your children? Seek. You might find it. It is a matter of divine will. Only a realized soul who can see past, present and future can redeem you. He would be above the narrow confines of caste, creed and religion. Jesus, Aurobindo and Nostradamus prophesied the coming of such a soul. If there is humanity left in you, may this thought follow you? Santhigiri continues to give out its tidings.

An Eyewitness Account of Avastha Poortheekaranam Celebrations

Gurucharanam saranam

Avastha Poortheekaranam and Kumbha Mela Celebrations
(Mukundan P.R.)

(My experience when the procession of vehicles carrying Kumbams reached at Pothencode Junction to a tumultuous welcome and the subsequent meeting at the Rock Quarry where Sishya Poojita Janani delivered a message to the assembled devotees. The following day thousands of people participated in the Kumbhamela procession).

The rising tide of enlightenment,
Conquers the borderless skies!
The populace watches in stunned silence,
As the Light of Guru advanced,
With chariots decked,
Hundreds in accompaniment,
With holy ‘kumbham’, from far off places;
In the bosom of civilization rises wisdom!

Sishya Poojita, Her words thunder,
With Faith, Love and Wisdom,
The rock-quarry trembles, where thousands assembled,
The devotees are bestirred, their hearts now in high tides;
The clarion call of India, of Dharma,
The victory of truth seekers,
The sages;
The blossoming of social good,
The tender rays of the Brahmic Will,
Its rise;
It is Avastha Poortheekaranam,
The ‘self’ sacrifice of the disciples,
In the altar of Guru!

It is the adoration of Brahman;
The victory cry of Sanatana Dharma!
The journey of thousands with light,
Carrying kumbhams,
The pots,
The prayer filled journey of devotion,
Of enlightenment,
That erases the defilements of Jeeva,
And its many debacles.

It is prostrations at Guru’s feet,
Not a procession;
Prostrations wearing white,
And the yellow thread of sacredness.
It is not a sacred go,
But holy kneeling at Guru’s abode,
The surrender with firm vows!


It is the chanting of mantra,
Not murmuring of prayers,
Chanting that soothes,
Even the pangs of deaths and births,
It is the mantra of avastha poortheekaranam;
The revealed word,
Of spiritual completions,
Of Guru-disciple protection,
The mantra to Brahmic Bliss!

The Guru of O.V. Vijayan, famous Novelist

Gurucharanam Saranam
The Guru of O.V. Vijayan
G.P. Krishna Kumar, Santhigiri

Late Sri O.V. Vijayan’s association with Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru is well known.  The famous writer once said about the Guru:  ‘GURU is an experience beyond translation….’ A few remarks made by O.V. Vijayan on his relationship with Navajyoti Sri Karunakara Guru are quoted below:

Guru – an Experience beyond translation

‘the ever stable Guru is a great motion. This is my experience. I happened to meet Guru more or less in a barren situation. I had no knowledge or prejudice about Gurumargam. I do not intend to evaluate that meeting in a logical perspective. But I do not require the help of any theology to distinguish the organic evolutions that took place within my inner alertness. Like a piece of emotion surpassing time, a fear of existence or a self ecstasy, something stirred inside me. Try not to define. Only one! Only this! The dizziness from this contact changed it to a movement. I dissolved myself in the great current of Guru. If this is attempted to concise in words, perhaps problems arise. There is no translation for experience’.

Guru – a Great Movement

‘after a long silence, although the circumstances were unfavourable, I started writing. The inspiration for that humble creation was the compassion I could experience myself. I was brave enough to make my literature the medium of that compassion only because of my becoming a part of the great movement of Guru. This gift is not mine. It is of Guru. I know about that only as a small dot of the total knowledge. I have no authority to handle the figures of virtues characterized by me. But I consider that Guru has made me an instrument. The concept of God is beyond the reach of us who are immersed in the futilities of modern life. But Guru becomes the exchange of this experience. Without the help of any theology! ’

Prostrations to Guru

‘I do not ordinarily pray. If at all I pray in some extraordinary circumstances that would be for selfish motives only. My past is full of mistakes. The memory of those mistakes leads me to inertia. But Guru says these are all human. In one word “No-problem”. This one word of pardoning was terrible than any other verdict of punishment. The energy out of that rejuvenates me. Prostrations to Guru’!

Guru was catalytic to my literary works

For Vijayan, Guru was an experience. Vijayan used to come to Santhigiri to experience the infinities of soul and its everlasting beauty. His contact with the Guru, for more than a quarter century, was not accidental. It was the culmination of his prolonged enquiries. His life’s desire was to dissolve in that ocean of love and he achieved it. Without the help of any theology Vijayan recognized Karunakara Guru.  ‘What is the factor that Karunakara Guru attracted you’? Vijayan did not have to think a second time to answer the question. ‘The relation of love, the eternal love no one else can give. That noble love touched my soul and my literature…’

Perhaps we were not able to comprehend the turning point of Vijayan to spirituality as we wanted him to be in a particular plane of intellectuality as he always was… He suffered much for his visions. The words of V.K.Madhavankutty are proof for this. “I could not understand what Guru has said or what Vijayan had comprehended. But Vijayan was firm in it. Vijayan had to sustain the blame of advocating Hindutva. I can tell that he was not so. Vijayan did not complain to anybody.”

Vijayan has written about his experiences in a small book in Malayalam ‘The turtle fish misled to the sea” published by D.C.Books.  Answering the question why Vijayan comes to Santhigiri, the great Novelist said, “I come to Santhigiri to untie and keep down the bundle of my ego, of my intellect and art and to bathe in humility.” 

 O.V.Vijayan in the Preface to ‘Dharmapuranam’

‘Some problems arose between the years of serializing it and publishing it as a book. Most important of them was the character formation of “Sidharthan”. At that time, I happened to be in contact with the great Acharya Karunakara Guru of Santhigiri Ashram, situated near a small village called Pothencode. From the Gurusankalpam as the result of this contact, I could change “Sidharthan” as Guru and the revolutionary touch of Sidharthan as Guru’s gift. This change was reflected throughout the story and made several concepts remain vague in the series more distinct in the book. As there were tamasik and murderous portions in it, I asked whether I can drag the name of a Guru in its presentation. But Guru answered in the affirmative. This reply made me grateful and self confident. I firmly believe that the technicality of ‘Dharmapuranam’ will guide the good minds ……..above all it’s the obscenity’. 

‘The erotic bio-insurgences and the gentle death are the two ends. It is the interval between the two that we, who have born as humans, have to handle it carefully. We are all counting the waves in the shore of the sea called ectoplasm. Here where is room for any dualism. Light and darkness identifying their half portion… impotency again conjoins. Births and deaths unite. The Guru at the same time remains in the dissolution point of the handful of water and the sky rocking ocean enquires our welfare. That is the severe and personal of the extreme dissolution. ‘Gurusagaram’ was the witnessing of thousand fold Guruthva. Oh! My Atoms which immerses in the great bliss being self reformed particles always guiding to the multiple formations of creation, I prostrate you. Lift down our dirty baggage in this journey. Why? Reject them by opening our inner faculties, our positions, honors, education, physical fairness all and all.

Sacrifice is a great experience. Gathering them from the original textures we have made it fossils, by discarding values, externalized, made prose and verses and fractionalized the creativity as the satirical imitations. When we unload from our shoulders, make a sigh of relief, when the pure knowledge of the universe only remains, the co-traveling child laughs. Only with the knowledge and karma we can know as to how far we can laugh like that. But we can say one thing. Just outside the window panes of the aircraft Guru shall remain always as the co-traveler of this traveler’.

Pratishta Varshikam -Anniversary of Consecration of Prayer Hall

Gurucharanam Saranam
Today, 10.02.2009, is Pratishta Varshikam-The Anniversary of Consecration of Prayer Hall by Guru.

Prayer Hall of Santhigiri Ashram
The prayer hall of Santhigiri Ashram is consecrated as per the will of Brahman. The foundation stone for this prayer hall was laid by Guru on 20th October, 1986, Monday at 12’0 clock noon (Malayalam Era 1162, Tulam 3). It was constructed as per the intimations from Brahman according to the concept of cosmic wheel consisting of 27 stars 12 constellations and 9 planets. The sanctum sanctorum was erected on the morning of 30th January, 1989. The concept of Guru behind the establishment of this prayer hall is to nourish a universal culture based on truth. The consecration took place at 3 AM on 10th February, 1989 (M.E.1164 Makaram 28). Guru himself performed the consecration. Prayers and contemplations associated with it were done from 3 to 9 in the morning.

A magnificent golden lotus with the conceptual 2444 petals! This had been revealed through vision. The splendid and beautiful lotus was installed in the prayer hall above a platform having ten steps. These ten steps denote the elevated soul effulgence of Guru that exists above ten spiritual planes. Above the golden lotus is the glorious outline of Guru. Situated in its centre (heart) is the glittering Aumkar. From the Aumkar, rays of scintillating light spread in all directions.

The completion of prayers and contemplation for the consecration took place was on 23rd April, 1989 (M.E. 1164 Medom 10). The anniversary of the consecration is celebrated on Makaram 28 and the completion of consecration on Medom 10th. These days are the sacred days granted to mankind by the grace of Brahman to pray and dedicate oneself to that Supreme Will till the end of time. These days are the memorable milestones made available by the providence of God laying the path of worship and dharma in Kaliyuga for the whole humanity. Nothing should impair that sanctity and its significance, our burden of work or other rituals in life.

The consecration meant the pouring out of Guru’s own soul effulgence in the object consecrated. This caused severe repercussion in the physical body of Guru. The soul of Guru! The soul of transcendental union and bliss; the soul that ploughed the path for liberation in the Kaliyuga; the soul that has self- fulfilled through innumerous divine manifestations such as a god (deva), Rishi or a sage of self realization! From the peak of transcendental solitude and god realization, he came down to the world of mortals as per the decree of Brahman. Rising again from the ocean of perfection, re-enacted the spiritual ascensions and fulfillments, in the short span of a life. He burnt himself countless times in the fire of endurance. When he passed through this fire of torment, self fulfillment or spiritual completion took place. His soul became the universal abode of the 2444 gurus born in this Kaliyuga. He was elevated to the true meaning of ‘Guru is verily the Supreme Brahman’, proving the scriptural aphorism. He became the supreme father of the universe fulfilling godly will.

The appointed time for the graceful transfer of his soul effulgence as willed by Brahman came near. It was the peak of self sacrifice – the sacrificial consecration of one’s own soul that pulsated inseparably with the light of Brahman. The soul is installed or poured out on to something external. It is like discarding one’s soul from the body or transferring ones soul to an external object. That was the consecration Guru did. The penultimate sacrifice of forsaking one’s soul with all its earned virtue out of sacrifices made through thousands of births. Here the sacrifice of Guru and the Will of God gets fulfilled in perfect unison. The golden moment in the history of sacrifices! But it is not the end of the historical path of sacrifice. It is only its beginning, the point of emergence which will thread through the epochal valleys of time – the Manvanataras.

The first step in the process of Santhigiri’s ascension in the spiritual sky of the world had already begun with the consecration of prayer hall by Guru. The word of Brahman that Santhigiri would become a world famous pilgrimage centre was being actualized in the subsequent years. Thousands and thousands of people began to climb the steps of Santhigiri Ashram. World famous political leaders, literary giants, stalwarts in social and scientific fields, spiritual leaders from all religions and creeds, thinkers and educationists - all came to Santhigiri Ashram and saw the ray of hope and the preparation for a great renaissance emanating from Santhigiri. They experienced indescribable peace and transcendental joy in the abode of Guru.

Thousands of families from a society divided by the walls of caste, religion and class migrated to a new spiritual movement of equality, spiritual experience and guidance. They experienced godly love and fatherly protection at the feet of Guru. They submitted themselves at the feet of Guru along with all their possessions, worldly and otherwise. Thus a big community of disciples and devotees sprung up in Santhigiri Ashram. Guru created an enviable model of self sufficient community living, which has become the succor and hope of thousands of people, engaged in various professions, trade and enterprises. It was the birth of a new spiritual movement bereft of caste and religious identities and discrimination. It ploughed the path of liberation and human elevation to a depressed and diseased society, opening up the spring of a universal transformation.

Fulfilling the revelations during the days of ‘spiritual completions’ of Guru that great souls in all Guru lineages would take birth in this Guru Parampara (Guru Lineage) thousands of families were cleansed of the spiritual drawbacks at the genetic level so as to prepare the way for the birth of noble souls in the subsequent generation of these families. This spiritual cleansing was called Guru Pooja in Santhigiri Ashram, which is performed to the families of devotees with the permission from Guru.

Guru continued to live a life of extreme simplicity. He still lived under the roof a thatched hut, which he did till his last moments. The devotees of Guru wished to construct a magnificent edifice for Guru, the divine manifestation. Guru permitted the construction of this building and named it as Sahakarana Mandiram – the House of Cooperation. It was revealed about this that it would become the meeting place of world leaders in the time to come to discuss issues of mankind. The heads of nations would come to Santhigiri to seek guidance from Guru in various matters. The process of actualizing this prophesy has already begun. President of Indian Republic, top leaders of national political parties, Governors, Ambassadors, Central and State Ministers and other top officials met Sishya Poojita Amrita Jnana Tapaswini in the Sahakarana Mandiram and held discussions in the subsequent years after the passage and merging of Guru in the primordial light of Brahman.

Guru had completed the purpose of his life and the mission with which Brahman had entrusted him. On Thursday, 6th May, 1999 at 9 PM, Guru left his physical body. His soul left the mortal world and submerged in the primordial radiance of Brahman – the Adi Sankalpam. He became Nava Oli and Navajyoti, the new radiance of Brahman. A revelation came from that Light after Guru’s Adi Sankalpam. ‘Do not think that I have gone from you. I am with each one of you, as the totality in your life. I will continue to guide this Guru Parampara till the end of time’.

After Guru merged with Adi Sankalpam, the primordial radiance of Brahman, as per the intimations from the Light, a disciple was elevated to the position of Sishya Poojita, i.e. the venerated among the disciples. Thus Janani Amrita Jnana Tapaswini, who was with Guru from the age of nine and who performed spiritual intercessions on behalf of Guru through the medium of transcendental visions for a long period, became the first Sishya Poojita of Guru. Guru’s presence and guidance still continue as prophesied and will ever continue for ages to come.

A golden era has begun, not only for India, but for the whole humanity. The liberating, transforming and guiding light of Guru is the threshold to that great dawn of civilizational change and uplift.

From Religiosity to Spirituality

From Religiosity to Spirituality
Rev. Prof. Valson Thampu

(The author is Member, National Integration Council and Member, National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions)

“In a manner of speaking, you feel fobbed if, by the time you arrive, the great soul you’d have loved to meet, assumed the wings of eternity and disappeared beyond the veil of time. But the strange thing is that you don’t feel quite that way about Sri Karunakara Guru! At least, I don’t. Let me tell you why. There are two ways by which to encounter a person. The first and the most obvious, is to meet him in flesh and blood. You see him, listen to him and breathe in the ambience of his greatness. The second is to meet him through the impact he has had on his disciples through his work and message. But the latter option makes sense only if the person concerned is indeed an extraordinarily great person. Such a person leaves an indelible impression on the world around him. About such a person Jesus said, “even if he dies, he lives still.” Or, in the words of Bapuji, his life is his message. And to the extent that his message is still lived and lived as vibrantly as it is in Santhigiri, you don’t feel that you missed the Guru by a few years. I admit, with much embarrassment, that I came to know about Shri. Karunakara Guru only a few months ago. That ignorance is attributable only in part to my being a ‘Marunadan Malayalee’ or one among the dispersed Malayalee Diaspora. A similar predicament did not prevent Shri. K. R. Narayanan, the late President of India, or Sri. O.V. Vijayan from becoming an ardent follower of Sri Karunakara Guru.

The real problem lies elsewhere; and it is necessary to state it up front. Even though we pride ourselves in this country, on our unique and cherished tradition of religious tolerance, our tolerance a hazy and sleepy thing. As religious communities we live, mostly, in our separate religious ghettoes, taking care not to tread on each other’s tails or toes. India is yet to become a spiritual crucible, where all religious traditions enter into a free and fearless interaction, in the pursuit of truth and fullness of life. Our religious tolerance is a sort of anaesthetized religious co-existence. The time has come for us to move from tolerating each other in ignorant mutual avoidance to informed mutual engagement, celebrating a shared spirituality by exploring and enjoying each other’s traditions. True freedom is the freedom to welcome what is good and robust in the spiritual traditions we practice as timeless expressions of the human urge to be in communion with God. For this to happen at all it is imperative that we shift from mere religiosity to spirituality. It is such an emphasis that I find in the teachings of Sri Karunakara Guru and my soul resonates with this re-orientation.

A word about Santhigiri before I take note of the Guru’s revolutionary spiritual insights. Widely traveled though I am, and enriched with spiritual encounters far and near, I do not recall another place or people amidst whom I felt so instinctively at home as I did in Santhigiri, from the moment I stepped into that remarkable community of people, fiercely focused on the mission that the Guru has entrusted them. The Guru’s spirit lives on in every detail of what exists and happens there. This, in itself, is ample validation of the rare spiritual genius whose memory continues to inspire thousands to this day. A keenness to uphold in practice and propagate the Guru’s teachings in their purity is perceptible everywhere and I pray this remains so for the years to come. It has been the fate of visionaries and missionaries to have been outgrown and overreached by their followers. Going by what I have seen so far in Santhigiri, I feel inwardly comforted that an eager and joyful adherence to what the Guru stood for is the hallmark of Santhigiri.

It is presumptuous of me to try and encapsulate the deep and daring spiritual insights of the Guru in a short piece like the present one. All I propose to do is to itemize some of the insights that all people, irrespective of religious differences, can endorse readily. I feel at one with the Guru in his concern that we must worship God aright. Those who worship God, said Jesus of Nazareth, must worship him “in Spirit and in truth”. The mark of true worship, for both, is personal transformation. False worship, or worship that is not spiritually wholesome, is a danger because it induces personal degradation. The result, in the words of the Guru is: “The worshipper returns worse than before.”5 Guru’s criticism of using gods to perpetuate caste and class differences is socially radical and spiritually incisive. Superior gods for upper castes and inferior gods for the lower castes! The decisive element, the Guru emphasizes rightly, is our idea of God. Degrading and abusing gods for legitimizing caste inequalities and the oppression that goes with it is a spiritual scandal. God does not belong to any caste or class. Nor are we gods. All of us are part of the same Brahman. This is a vision that excludes social discrimination and oppression in every form.

The problem is not with God or gods. The idea that there are many gods and that gods exercise their jurisdiction along caste lines is an aberration improvised by human ego, especially group ego. As long as the human ego continues to direct and dominate the religious outlook these and a host of other distortions will remain endemic to the religious sphere. The radical solution, according to the Guru, is that we must transcend our ego. It is human ego that alienates us from the blessings of God. Here one is reminded of the words of Jesus, “If anyone wants to become my disciple he must deny himself, take up my cross and follow me.” (St. Matthew 16: 24).
I am particularly struck by the Guru’s revolutionary views on the socio-spiritual engineering required at the present time, as part of his over-all mission to evolve a wholesome spiritual culture. In this he enjoys a profound kinship with the founders of great religions. Their mission was not merely to enable a few people to attain moksha or salvation but to evolve a spiritually pro-active culture. Life before death was as important for them as birth after death would be. One is, indeed, continuous with the other. Playing one against the other is the familiar strategy of those who wish to manipulate the masses and exploit them in the name of religion. Karunakara’s guru’s emphasis on being spiritually purposive and wise in spouse selection and the foundational duty to raise children in a spiritually responsive and socially responsible manner is a challenge that no one can afford to ignore at the present time. “It is better to train your children to be karmayogis,” says the Guru, “than to leave them a big legacy.” According to him the spiritual regeneration of the family is the key to the regeneration of the society.

As a Christian priest and thinker, I feel humbled by the Guru’s forthright criticism of my community. It is at once recognition of the high spiritual ideals of the faith and the extent to which its putative followers play fast and loose with them. It is not enough, the Guru warns, to preach sacrifice. “Leading a truthful life is the essence of sacrifice. What have Christians to do with truth at the present time?” According to the Guru, “Christians have become like Hindus. They have imitated Hindu practices meant to appease God. Nothing prevents from doing improprieties in the name of God.”7 These are hard words. But they are more than welcome as they come from the unbiased concerns of a man of God whose moral indignation is aroused by the hypocrisy that he sees spread like cancer through a community of faith.

The Guru’s alarm at the degradation of education strikes a cord in my heart, having watched over the years the demise of idealism and moral passion in what has been traditionally assumed to be a sacred domain by every one of us. Who can doubt or debate Karunakara Guru’s prophetic denunciation in this regard, especially in the light of the controversy that is currently raging in Kerala? According to the Guru, “The educated are the most senseless. The illiterate have better sense. Pride invariably rules over those who are educated and prosperous.”8 The fact that it is the so-called educated class, and not the illiterate people, who have filled this punyabhoomi with corruption, venality and moral turpitude should make us sit up and wonder if what is on offer today is really education. We have to agree with Gandhiji that “education without character” is one of the seven deadly evils. Arguably, the spiritualization of education holds the key to the cultural regeneration of Kerala.

I cannot conclude this piece without recalling my hospitalization in Santhigiri. That I was overwhelmed with affection, good will and gracious hospitality is an understatement. But what I wish to appreciate here in particular is the on-going effort to integrate science and spirituality in the approach to healing in Santhigiri. To see doctors and spiritual teachers walk and work together in the hospital is a welcome thing indeed. In many other places, including in some very famous hospitals, I have heard slick presentations on the integrated approach to healing in a bid to overcome the limitations of the bio-medical model of curing. What is at work here is the sound awareness that healing is more than curing and that science and spirituality can be partners in the pursuit of human welfare; they need not be antagonists. The approach to healing in vogue in the Ashram is an open-ended one, if you like. It keeps the widows of possibilities open to trans-rational and supra-scientific possibilities. If human beings are more than bodies, surely neither the reach of, nor the remedy for, illnesses would be confined to the body alone. At Santhigiri it is assumed that we are ‘souls with bodies’ rather than ‘bodies with souls’.9 The realm of the Spirit is, in other words, primary. That being the case it is impossible to exclude the resources of the Spirit from the mysteries of the healing process, which far exceed the scope of mere curing.
Santhigiri is not just a religious movement; it is a total way of life. Even a cult can be described as a way of life. But what distinguishes a cult from a spiritual effervescence is the impetus of the latter to reach out and embrace more and more people within the radius of its goodness and generosity. A cult excludes; spirituality embraces. The former is marked by predatory, murderous covetousness; and the latter, by the joy of giving and sharing. It is this that I experienced in Santhigiri over the whole week that I spent there as a patient. And it makes me hope that this river of spiritual regeneration and social reform will flow out of Santhigiri and activate a new vibrancy through the whole of Kerala and beyond.”

(Courtesy: Santhigiri Publications, Santhigiri Ashram)

Spiritual Experience - Sri G.P. Krishna Kumar

Boundless Grace
By G.P. Krishna Kumar, Santhigiri


I would like to share some of my experiences that illustrate how an ignorant man met his extraordinary master, compassion incarnate, and failed to follow his Master’s Words. I am around 62 and am now staying in the Santhigiri Ashram premises in Thiruvananthapuram in the accommodation given to me by my Guru. My wife is with me and my children a boy and a girl - are grown up and have set up their own families. I belong to a village called Panmana in Kollam district in Kerala. My house is very close to the Samadhi of the great (late 19th and 20th century) Saint Chattampi Swamikal. From childhood I had been suffering from one illness or the other without a respite as it were. As a result I was always on one course of medicines or the other, following the regimen of one system after the other. To add to this misery I met with several accidents causing fractures and dislocations and what not, which led to long periods of bed rest, leaving behind memories of great pain and constraint. In their anxiety about me, my parents were running to doctors all the time. They also resorted to magical ceremonies, invoking many deities including snake gods. The extended family I belonged to had other problems too beside my sickly condition. Some members had consulted astrologers who attributed our misfortunes to the anger and dissatisfaction of the deities we worshipped in our family shrine. Apparently the rituals that were necessary for those deities were not being carried out properly. Our family shrine had several deities for the past many generations. We were worshipping these in addition to visiting big temples and holy places. Two positive factors balanced my suffering later. I found a government job and got a caring wife. These were my circumstances when I met my Guru. There must have been some punyam stored up in my soul from previous births. Otherwise how could I have met him!

The punyam of some ancestors also might have acted as an influence. Be that as it may the golden chance to meet Guru came in the form of an invitation from a friend, Sri Ramanujam. He was accompanying a person from Nagercoil who wanted to consult Guru about his retarded child. I joined the group and we visited Ashram for the first time on 22 January 1986.

Guru gave us a lot of time that day, talking at length on the evils of worshipping snake gods and such other deities. The retarded child whom we had brought had this defect due to such a baleful influence through worship. For improvement, the parents of the child should turn to a righteous system of worship and to virtuous deeds. Guru also narrated the story of Anasuya, wife of Athri whose Ashram was fabled to be at Sucheendram, a place fairly close to Nagercoil. The story illustrates the power an individual soul can attain through commitment to a Guru. Anasuya was totally committed to her husband taking him to be her Guru. The Trimurti - Brahma, Vishnu and Maheswara - acclaimed to be the mightiest gods in the Hindu pantheon, were totally disarmed by Anasuya. They had entered Athri’s Ashram with a negative intent and Anasuya could immediately read their minds. She sprinkled the Paadatheertham of her sage husband on these goods who were transformed into infants at once. This story is found engraved in the temple at Sucheendram. I could not comprehend then the message Guru was conveying through the story. Nevertheless his words stayed in my memory, after exploring within my inner space, giving out the energy of new meanings. Without my knowledge, my meeting with Guru had become a turning point in my life. For I decided to bring my family to Guru. It was a new beginning for us.

In the course of time, I became a regular visitor to the Ashram. My wife and children accompanied me fairly often. Every time I paid a visit I was charged by a Word, a Glance or a Smile from Guru. Without my having to explain anything, Guru understood everything about my family and myself. Through Guru, I got the conviction that the root cause of my painful physical condition lay in the family’s wrong worship system.

After three years of my first meeting, Guru asked me if I could bring my parents to the Ashram. My father never took my suggestions or opinions very seriously; still I could get them to come to the Ashram with me, on 26 January 1989. Guru then told me that the family could stop the rituals at the shrine now. I was happy but I did not know how to convince my father, who did not take me seriously. He was so mindlessly but deeply involved in the age old traditions and customs of pantheistic worship. Guru knew my plight well and advised me to get a reputed astrologer to the house and to divine the cause of our family problems and the remedies thereof. As a traditional family it was easy for us to resort to divinatory astrological means. So, with the consent of all I got Sri Karakulam Krishnan Potti very well known as an astrologer, to come to my house in Panmana. Guru deputed two persons from the Ashram to witness this session. Sri Potti drew the chart of planetary positions in front of a lighted lamp and started the calculations with his cowries.

All of us had gathered there, watching. After carefully studying the planetary positions he started telling us what we knew from earlier consultations with other astrologers. The deities of the family shrine are angry and dissatisfied he said. Many generations of our ancestors had worshipped at the shrine as the site of worship appeared to have had its origin around 750 years ago. The anger of these deities is having a malefic influence on us now, who have inherited the shrine and its tradition.

How can this situation be countered? What could be the measures to please these deities so that we could free ourselves? The expert astrologer went into his reading of the planetary charts again. Well, yes there are certain remedies, he concluded: The shrine had to be renovated. Needless to say, then, that the re-installation ceremony was to be conducted. A separate well had to be dug exclusively for the shrine. A compound wall also had to be erected around the shrine. Periodic poojas as conducted now are not enough. There should be daily worship in the temple and for the proper conduct of the daily worship a priest had to be appointed. Moreover special ceremonies might have to be conducted periodically as the measures suggested could be effective for only five to ten years.

At this juncture I intervened: ‘Look, I am a follower of Karunakara Guru of Santhigiri Ashram. Please see whether the deities would be satisfied if we followed Guru’s advice in this matter’. Mr. Potti started his divination again. He said he could not believe his findings. He saw him repeat his exercise, apparently with the same result. He was quite perplexed when he hesitantly told us that my suggestion offered a permanent remedy unlike the conventional measures. One of our well wishers who had come for this session just could not agree with this reading. How could a potent astral being like a brahmarakshas be removed at all, he asked unbelievingly. The astrologer stated that the planetary influences unequivocally indicate that the method suggested by Guru can remove even the brahmarakhas. He calculated several times but the readings were consistent, affirming the above position beyond doubt astrologically.

Thus by Guru’s grace I could employ traditional astrology to persuade my family. My parents, siblings and most of the other relatives showed willingness to agree to the new remedial measure and came to see Guru. On the day they arrived, Guru spoke with them for a long time. Guru drew our attention to once prosperous families who worshipped deities in their own shrines have become decadent. Guru also spoke on the Gurupooja in The Ashram. It is cleansing ordained by the Will of the Almighty and could free us from all the baleful astral influences and spirits. Nevertheless there could be some pain and suffering. It is like an operation in which the patients have to go through pain for healing to take place. Guru expressed his willingness to do Gurupooja for us and asked my father whether he was ready for it. At that crucial moment my father wavered, probably aware of the anxiety on some faces in our group.

My father’s response shattered me. He said that he wanted some more time to consult these members of the family who could not come to the Ashram with us. My father’s unfortunate answer amounted to an outright rejection of Guru’s immense Grace extending so caringly to protect us. It amounted to a rejection of the Almighty’s compassionate Will. Seeing what untold grief my family had caused me Guru allowed me to declare my position to my parents and relatives. I went to Panmana when a ceremony was being conducted in the family shrine. I told all who were present there that my wife and myself along with our children would no longer associate ourselves with either this shrine or the rituals conducted in it.

Within a short period the branch of our family who were directly involved in lighting the lamp in the shrine daily had to sell their house and property and move to a far away place. The daily lighting of lamp in the shrine stopped the priest who used to perform the pooja once in a month had a fall from his bicycle on his way to the shrine and broke his legs. Another priest was brought to take his place after some days. He opened the shrine to find an invasion of termites all over the place. Worse than that the idols had lost their firm connection from their seats. The priest left without performing the pooja, advising my parents to arrange for a reinstallation of the idols and other purificatory ceremonies.

My parents were helpless now, they themselves were facing problems like people streaking their coconuts, encroaching their property etc. With the help of some relatives they got another astrologer along with a priest to tantrically shift these deities to various temples. The idols believed to have been their abodes were thrown (immersed) in the sea. The shrine itself was demolished. The properties including the one in which the shrine once stood were all sold. That was the end of a long chapter in our lives.

Guru, in spite of how my father behaved, showered unconditional Grace on him. My father could see Guru in vision. Not once but many times. My father started chanting Akhandanaamam which is the main vehicle of prayer in the Ashram. He could find relief in chanting it. My father was a patient of rheumatic fever. At one point he had become so weak that blood transfusion had to be given to him. A thorough check up was done and the x-ray film showed a clear mass below the lungs. His case was referred to the Medical College hospital in Thiruvananthapuram when Guru was informed of this situation. He asked me to first consult doctors known to one of his close disciples, Dr. Somanathan before bringing him to Trivandrum. Accordingly I went to an eminent chest specialist with the x-ray film and other medical records.

After examining these, doctor said that he did not want to see the patient. Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy were the only treatment in this case. Considering the patients age and physical condition such treatment was not advisable, the doctor asked me to take him home from the hospital without letting him know what had happened. Give him all that he liked. Medical care was to be given to him to make it easier for him. I conveyed the doctor’s advice to Guru, and without saying anything Guru gave me a small packet of bhasmam (sacred ash) for my father.

I went to Panmana and gave an account of this development to my mother and brothers. Under the pretext of going to Trivandrum Medical College, we obtained discharge from the hospital in which he was admitted. I brought my father to my house. I gave the packet of bhasmam from Guru to my father. He would apply the bhasmam on his forehead and put a pinch of it in his mouth. Days passed by and my father appeared to be quite happy and had a good appetite. I went and told Guru about this improvement. Guru smiled: ‘It is all his Grace! Do your prayers’. After two years father was admitted in the same hospital for rheumatic fever and general weakness. The doctor who treated him earlier was still there and he was utterly astonished. He never expected my father to survive that long. The X-ray film of my father’s chest surprised the doctor further. Chest was clear. When my father complained about his aches the doctor patted him on the shoulder and said, ‘You have escaped miraculously from a killer disease! May be it is the Grace of God or of your Guru! Do you think you should complain about these aches?’ Only then did my father find out the secret we kept away from him. My father lived for many more years and passed away in June 2002. Such is the boundless Grace of my Guru!

I have only that GRACE to fall upon. And I experience it now through Guru’s Sishyapoojitha! May I humbly submit my reminiscences at GURU’S lotus feet!