Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesha Chaturthi

Ganesha Chaturthi is the Hindu festival celebrated in honour of the god Ganesha, the elephant-headed, remover of obstacles and the god of beginnings and wisdom. The festival, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Bhaadrapada, starting on the shukla chaturthi (fourth day of the waxing moon period). The date usually falls between 19 August and 20 September. The festival lasts for 10 days, ending on Anant Chaturdashi  (fourteenth day of the waxing moon period).

The festival involves installing clay images of Ganesha in public pandals (temporary shrines), which are worshipped for ten days with different variety of herbal leaves, plants and immersed at the end of the festival in a water(lake) along with the Idol. After adding herbal and medicated plants and leaves(patri) in lakes, the water in the lake becomes purified. This was in practice because, in early days people used to drink lake water, and to protect people with infections and viral diseases especially in this season, this tradition was introduced. Some Hindus also install the clay images of Ganesha in their homes. It is believed that Ganesha bestows his presence on earth for all his devotees during this festival. The festival is celebrated as a public event since the days of Shivaji (1630–1680).

While celebrated all over India, it is most elaborate in South India where it is celebrated with great fervor and on a large scale. It is a major festival of the Hindu calendar for Karnataka, Maharashtra and other parts of Western and Southern India. Outside India, it is celebrated widely in Nepal and by Hindus in the United States, Canada,Mauritius, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, Fiji, Trinidad & Tobago, and Guyana.

Traditional Ganesha Hindu stories tell of Lord Ganesha, son of goddess Parvati, who is consort of Shiva. Parvati created Ganesha out of sandalwood paste that she used for her bath and breathed life into the figure. She then set him to stand guard at her door while she bathed. Lord Shiva, who had gone out, returned and as Ganesha didn't know him, didn't allow him to enter. Lord Shiva became enraged by this and asked his follower Ganas to teach the child some manners. Ganesha who was very powerful, being born of Parvati, the embodiment of Shakti, defeated Shiva's followers and declared that nobody was allowed to enter while his mother was bathing. The sage of heavens, Narada along with the Saptarishis sensed the growing turmoil and went to appease the boy with no results. Angered, the king of Gods, Indra attacked the boy with his entire heavenly army but even they didn't stand a chance. By then, this issue had become a matter of pride for Parvati and Shiva. Angry Shiva severed the head of the child. Parvati seeing this became enraged. Seeing Parvati in anger Shiva promised that her son will be alive again. The devas searched for the head of dead person facing North, but they found only the head of a dead elephant. They brought the head of the elephant and Shiva fixed it on the child's body and brought him back to life. Lord Shiva also declared that from this day the boy would be called Ganesha.

According to the Linga Purana, Ganesha was created by Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati at the request of the Devas for being a Vighnakartaa (obstacle-creator) in the path of Rakshasas, and a Vighnahartaa (obstacle-averter) to help the Devas achieve fruits of their hard work.

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Who is Devi

Who is Devi

In this world, every individual has a mother. But Truth is the mother of the entire humanity. Those who follow this mother will never face any difficulties in life. The worldly mothers are bound by space and time and will have to leave their bodies at one point of time, but Truth is not limited by space and time and remains the same in all the three periods of time. It is the master of all the three worlds. So, everyone must necessarily follow such a noble mother. The term Devi refers to such a noble mother.

Devi is your Divine Mother. This Goddess Devi is also called Sathya Swaroopini, which means She is the embodiment of Truth. So, worshipping Truth amounts to worshipping the Goddess Devi. If you understand and follow this Truth, you will be successful in every field. Vedas also proclaims this Truth.

Devi is also referred to by various names such as Durga, Lakshmi, Sarasvathi, etc. She is described as the embodiment of Shakti, the universal energy.

The supreme Shakti manifests herself in the form of Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvathi. Durga grants to us energy - physical, mental and spiritual. Lakshmi bestows on us wealth of many kinds - not just money but intellectual wealth, the wealth of character and others. Even health is a kind of wealth. She grants untold riches to us. And Sarasvathi bestows on us intelligence, the capacity for intellectual enquiry and the power of discrimination. One's own mother is the combination of all these Divine beings. She provides us energy, wealth and intelligence. She constantly desires our advancement in life. So she represents all the three goddesses that we worship.

The term "Devi" also symbolizes the three gunas (or attributes) namely Sathwa, Rajas and Thamas. Devi takes the Rajasic form to suppress the forces of evil and protect the Satwicqualities. When the forces of injustice, immorality and untruth have grown to monstrous proportions and are indulging in a death dance, when selfishness and self-interest are rampant, when men have lost all sense of kindness and compassion, the Atmic principle, assuming the form of Shakti, taking on the Rajasic quality, seeks to destroy the evil elements. This is the inner meaning of the Durga form of Devi..

When the Divine Goddess is in dreadful rage to destroy the wicked elements, She assumes a fearful form. To pacify the dreaded Goddess, Her feminine children offer worship to Her with red kumkum (sacred red powder). The Goddess seeing the blood-red kumkum at her feet, feels assured that the wicked have been vanquished and assumes Her benign form. The inner meaning of the worship of Devi with red kumkum is that thereby the Goddess is appeased.

The significance of Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvathi has to be rightly understood. The three represent three kinds of potencies in man. Ichchaa Shakti, will power, Kriya Shakti, the power of purposeful action, and Jnaana Shakti - the power of discernment.

Sarasvathi is manifest in man as the power of speech, Vaak. Durga is present in the form of dynamism. Lakshmi is manifest in the form of will power. The body indicates Kriya Shakti. The mind is the repository of Ichchaa Shakti. The Atma is Jnaana Shakti. Kriya Shakti comes from the body, which is material. The power that activates the body that is inert and makes it vibrant is Ichchaa Shakti. The power that induces the vibrations of Ichchaa Shakti is Jnaana Shakti, which causes radiation of energy. These three potencies are represented by the mantra Om Bhur Bhuvah Suvaha. Bhur represents Bhuloka, the earth. Bhuvah represents the life force, conscience in man. Suvaha represents the power of radiation. All three are present in man. Thus Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvathi dwell in the human heart.

Men are prone to exhibit rajasic qualities like anger and hatred. They are the menacing manifestations of Durga. The extolling of the Divine in song and poetry and the pleasing vibrations produced by them indicate the power of Sarasvathi. The pure qualities that arise in man such as compassion, love, forbearance and sympathy are derived from Lakshmi.

When people worship Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvathi externally in pictures or icons, they are giving physical forms to the subtle potencies that are within them. The unfortunate predicament of man today is that he is not recognizing the powers within him and developing respect for them. He goes after the external, attracted by the physical forms. The relationship between the material and the subtle has to be understood. The remedy for man's life is contained within himself. But man seeks remedies from outside. All that is needed is to turn the vision inward to experience the Divine within. Convert your ichchaa shakti into a yearning for God. Convert your kriya shakti into a force for doing divine actions. Convert your jnaana shakti into the divine Itself. 

From Sathya Sai Speak

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Self Realization - Who am "I"

Self-Realization is a scientific process which reveals a new vision and understanding so that you have:

Freedom from worries and fear

Scientific solutions to inner and external conflicts

Smoother relationships

Inner peace

Equanimity amid any circumstances

Eternal happiness 

Experience of your true eternal Self

Experience the depths of spirituality while fulfilling your worldly responsibilities

Have you stopped to wonder what the goal of human life might be? While each day contains unique quests for happiness, any happiness we do attain remains with us only temporarily. Then, after each phase of happiness passes, have you noticed that only an underlying dissatisfaction remains inside? This dissatisfaction prompts the next quest for happiness which again is, by nature, temporary. And so the cycle continues.. Aware of this, you may question whether permanent happiness even exists; and if it did, how could it be attained?

The answer is Yes, it does exist. Permanent happiness is, the goal of human life and is experienced continuously upon attaining Self-Realization.

But what exactly is Self-realization? It is to know and experience directly who You really are! By discovering the real eternal nature of "Who am I", true permanent happiness is attained.

When asked "Who are YOU", most people will answer "I am Robert" But this name is only a title given to identify your body, just as store names such as Wal-mart and Tesco are given simply to specify the store's presence. In reality, "YOU" are the owner of your name and not the name itself. If this were not true, how could your name be changed countless times even while "YOU" remain the same inside?

Before Self-realization, it is natural to identify with your name and with the countless temporary qualities that are believed to be "YOU". But who YOU really are is beyond all of these temporary identifications, for "YOU" are eternal, and permanent happiness itself. Self-realization is to experience the nature of your very own Self, from that vantage point, to understand the non-self known as "Robert".

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Parijath Academy school for underprivileged children

Parijath Academy school for underprivileged children

Mr. Uttam Teron with Childrens

Parijat Academy is a school for underprivileged children in Pamohi Village near Guwahati,Assam. There are also currently nine smaller satellite schools of the same name other remote tribal villages.  Established in 2003 bu Uttam Teron,Parijat began with just 4 children in a small room with a pair of desks and benches.  Uttam felt the essential need for education among children of his community,who were mostly engaged by their parents in labor from a very young age.

From small beginnings Parijat Academy has now proudly grown to a school of over 500 students. It is a non religious and non profitable school providing free education where children are encouraged to develop the positive qualities of loving kindness,compassion and universal responsibility.

The school,Parijat Academy,is located in an area comprising of about ten tribal villages and where access to schools is very limited. Uttam Teron has been successful in starting a small scale school to imbibe the value of education among the children. Uttam sees educating the underprivileged children in the neighborhood as a first step in helping the community. He also hopes to start a weaving program for women and some vocational training activities.

visit Parijath academy web site Parijath Academy

Lordsai.com - Gifts that Give

Nita Sairam Parmar during her visit to Parijath Academy

Nita Sairam Parmar is the founder of  “Lordsai.com - Gifts that Give”.

She was born in Malawi in the late 60’s and immigrated to England, UK at the age of 10 years old, where she have been raised, educated and worked.

She have travelled to India well over eighteen times and was inspired by the many noble organisations which provided many services from free Mid-Day School Meals to  free medical treatment  and operations to the underprivileged. She too, wanted to be involved  in philanthropic work, and therefore, initiated  many programmes to serve people in need.

Lordsai.com  support the elements of education through Educare Programme which provides them with:

• Clean drinking water
• Milk for the nursery children
• Fresh Fruits
• Mid-Day School Meal Programme
• Meals for the Hostel Children
• Scholarships
• School Equipment and,
• Building a nursery, and much more

These elements truly help the children as well as the parents to send their children without any economic constraints as majority of their parents earn a few dollars per month from their basic labour work - it's one of many reasons that the parents would rather take their children to do laborious tasks than to send them to school, they literally don't have sufficient funds to support their child’s education.

If you love to help others and do some Seva please visit http://lordsai.com/index.html. There are so many needy children and peoples waiting for your help. If you love to give foods for children please visit http://www.lordsai.com/parijat-academy-mid-day-meal-programme.html for more information.  

“If you only knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way” ~ Buddha

For more info please visit LordSai

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Love All Serve All

Love All Serve All

God is Love and can be won only through the cultivation and exercise of Love. He cannot be trapped by any trick; He yields Grace only when His commands are followed - command to love all, serve all. When you love and serve all, you are serving yourself most, yourself whom you love most! For God's Grace envelops you then and you are strengthened beyond all previous experience. Let all days of living be a continuous offering of Love, as an oil lamp exhausts itself in illumining the surroundings. Bend the body, mend the senses and end the mind - that is the process of attaining the status of 'children of immortality', which the Upanishads have reserved for man.

God is the embodiment of sweetness. Attain Him by offering Him, who resides in all, the sweetness that He has dowered on you. Crush the cane in the mill of Seva, boil it in the cauldron of penitence; decolorize it of all sensual itch; offer the crystallized sugar of compassionate Love to Him.

Seva (service) brings out all that is great in man. It broadens the heart and widens ones vision. It fills one with joy. It promotes unity. It proclaims the truth of the spirit. It drives out all evil qualities in a man. It must be regarded as a great spiritual discipline. You are born to serve, not to dominate. Everyone in the world is a servant and not a master. All relationships - husband and wife, mother and child, the employer and employee - are based on mutual service. The world is progressing because of such mutual service. Seva should be done out of a sense of duty.

The body has been given to man for the performance of right action. Every person has to discharge his duties in life. It is a sin to ignore one's duties. Perform you duties without regard to what others say or do. Engage yourself in service activity. Consider social service as service to God. To earn the Love of God, this is the easiest way. The best way to love God is to love all and serve all. Your entire life sanctified thereby.

Devotion consists in expressing love towards all. You cannot effect a change of heart by speeches. They often lead to confusion and conflict. Better than speeches is practice of love with faith in the divine. Follow the path of love and redeem your love.

Man knows that God is the very embodiment of love. Only through the cord of love can God be bound. But it is only when love is for love's sake that this cord can bind God to man. If love is motivated by desire for worldly objects, God will be beyond our reach. You must become embodiments of love. If you are merely loving, your love will be confined to a few. Only when you become the embodiment of love can your love comprehend all. Only then you will realize that it is the same God who is the indweller in all beings.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the Divine who has not only endowed us with this precious human body but which also sustains it. We shall be able to enjoy these gifts of the Divine only if we discharge this debt to the Divine. How is this to be done? It is by rendering service to other bodies saturated with the same Divine, by doing righteous deeds and consecrating all actions in the service of the society. This debt to the Divine has to be discharged in full in this life itself or during many future lives. The earlier we repay this debt, the sooner we shall realize Divinity.

It is needless to search for God. Verily you are the Divine. Strive to realize this Truth. There is a simple and easy way. Have faith that every human being is an embodiment of the Divine. Love every one. Serve all. The best way to God is to LOVE ALL, SERVE ALL.

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Who is Shirdi Sai Baba

Who is Shirdi Sai Baba

Long time ago, at the beginning of eighteenth century a young bearded man with sparkling eyes took shelter in a mosque, in Shirdi Village (of Maharshtra State, In India) . Nobody knew from where this stranger had come who hardly spoke a word and stayed there.

Gradually the curious villagers started offering food to the man, but he never asked anything from them. Sometimes he shared his food with the animals. Soon the young fakir, as he was started to be addressed, started expressing his view points with few elderly villagers. His simple language of expresssion and his special power of solving the problems of poor needy and destitutes soon made this less known fakir, known as Shri Sai Baba. As the days passed, devotees started streaming into Shirdi in ever growing numbers. The village was fast becoming a centre of pilgrimage. As gifts and presentations flowed in, the pomp and ceremony of Sai worship were evolving. Everyday Sai Baba would be a pauper having distributed all among the needy and the poor. But Sai Baba's life of a Fakir remained calm, undisturbed, unaltered and therein is the saint's Spiritual glory.

People also realised that this "Baba" was no ordinary person but a person with extraordinary godly powers. Such powers are not known or present in normal human beings. Baba preached his principle of love and faith in humanity to all his disciples. He always felt anguished over the fact that all those who came to him were more for their own personal problems and not for attaining the ultimate goal of reaching God which he felt could be attained only by true servicing of humanity.

Sai baba strongly believed in uniformity of religion and he never distinguished anyone on the basis of caste, creed or religion. He always made it a point not to return empty handed those who had come to him in their hour of need and grief. He performed miracles to alleviate the suffering of poor people. On one occasion he restored the eyes of a blind elderly and in another occasion he lighted a lantern with water when there was no oil to burn it.

As all good things have to end ultimately "Baba" also left his body on his own will on 15^th Oct. 1918, leaving his millions of believers and followers crying. His body was laid in the Samadhi Mandir called "Booty", which he had asked his disciple to built before his death.

Sai Baba was Unique, in that, he lived his message through the Essence of his Being. His life and relationship with the common man was his teaching. The lmmense Energy that was manifest in the body of Sai was moving and is still moving in a mysterious way, creating and recreating itself everywhere, beyond the comprehension of time and space.Yet, he lived with the common folk as a penniless fakir, wearing a torn kafni, sleeping over a mat while resting his head on a brick, begging for his food. He radiated a mysterious smile and a deep inward look, of a peace that passeth all understanding. He was always and ever aware of what transpired within the hearts and minds of everyone, whether they be, His devotees or not. This Omnipresent and Omniscient Sri Sai Baba who left his mortal body in 1918, is the living spiritual force that is drawing people from all walks of life, from all parts of the world, into his fold, today.Sri Sai Baba lived, acted and behaved as only a "God descended on Earth" can. He came to serve mankind, to free them from the clutches of fear.

His most concise message for one and all alike was "Why fear when I am here". To take refuge in Sai, is to enter into ajourney to reach the Divine Oasis of Love and drink deep from the Fountain of Life, the source of all Spiritual Energy.Wherever the devotee is, Baba makes him recognize within himself his highest aspirations and goal and at one stroke, his conduct and the attitude to fellow beings is touched with the awareness of love, understanding, patience and faith. This is the promise that Sri Sai Baba holds out to all who come to Him. Sri Sai Baba was beyond the limitations of Time and Space and thus caste, creed, position dogmas and doctrines were fundamentally unimportant to him. Nobody really knew his parentage, where he came from or which religion he practised. He claimed no possessions nor accepted any disciples or gave any specific teaching.

This anonymity lent a strange facet to his interaction with the people who came to him for guidance. To the Hindus he was an orthodox Brahmin, with a sacred fire, enjoining the worship of many gods and the devout study of various Hindu scriptures. He lived in a mosque but always referred to it as "Dwarkamay!" (Lord Krishna's birth place is Dwaraka). To the Moslems he was a fakir living in a mosque observing the disciplines of Islam, uttering "Allah Malik" (God is the master) guiding Muslim seekers along the lines c)f their own religion. To the Parsis he was the sacred rire worshipper. His life was a living manifestation c)f the Sermon of the Christ and of the Eight-fold path of the Buddha.

Sai Baba's attraction and appeal lie in this fact that he was a perfect model of the harmony of all religions, for whom this world - with all its sectarian and religious antagonism, had been waiting. Sai Baba lived to awaken and lead mankind to the varities of spiritual life. He set in motion a wave of spirituality, which is now spreading all over the globe. All his life's activities constituted the upliftment of mankind. By first conferring temporal benefits, he drew unto himself countless souls caught up in ignorance (darkness) and opened their eyes to the true meaning of life. The miracles which manifested through Sai Baba were just such as were needed to create faith in the people and to make his devotees ethically and spiritually better evolved. Baba did not purposefully perform miracles to show his powers. The very strength of his perfect realisation, in its interaction with nature, caused "the miracle" to take place. Thus he drew people from their deluded pursuits after earthly objects of a transitory nature and induced and inspired them to strive for self-realisation. He continued this glorious work until the last moment of his human embodiment in Shirdi.

Amazingly, there are a phenomenally large number of Instances in which Sai Baba has been literally physically appearing before his devotees, even decades after his passing out of the physical body.Sai Baba is constantly and simultaneously proving that he Is alive in spirit and responds to our sincere prayers. He Is the One Spirit of all existence. which is God in all the forms of God, in all the saints, in all the men and in all the creatures.All those who sincerely take to a life of inner development, Sai Baba lifts him to a higher level. Every one derives benefit according to the ripeness o f his soul and in accordance with his inner yearning.Baba assured his devotees by his saying "I am at Shirdi and everywhere. Whatever you do, wherever you may be, ever bear this in mind, that I am always aware of everything". Sai Baba does not belong to any single tradition but to all mankind on the path of goodness, love and understanding.

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Who is Sai Baba

Who is Sai Baba

A letter written by Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to His brother on 25 May 1947 revealing His Mission

My dear one! I received the communication that you wrote and sent; I found in it the surging floods of your devotion and affection, with the undercurrents of doubts and anxiety. Let Me tell you that it is impossible to plumb the hearts and discover the natures of Jnanis, Yogis, ascetics, saints, sages and the like. People are endowed with a variety of characteristics and mental attitudes; so, each one judges according to his own angle, talks and argues in the light of his own nature. But we have to stick to our own path, our own wisdom, our own resolution without getting affected by popular appraisal. As the proverb says, It is only the fruit laden tree that receives the shower of stones from passers by. The good always provoke the bad into calumny; the bad always provoke the good into derision. This is the nature of this world. One must be surprised if such things do not happen.

The people too have to be pitied, rather than condemned. They do not know. They have no patience to judge aright. They are too full of lust, anger and conceit to see clearly and know fully. So they write all manner of things. If they only knew, they would not talk or write like that. We, too, should not attach any value to such comments and take them to heart, as you seem to do. Truth will certainly triumph some day. Untruth can never win. Untruth might appear to overpower Truth, but its victory will fade away and truth will establish itself.

It is not the way of the great to swell when people offer worship, and shrink when people scoff. As a matter of fact, no sacred text lays down rules to regulate the lives of the great, prescribing the habits and attitudes they must adopt. They themselves know the path they must tread; their wisdom regulates and makes their acts holy. Self-reliance, beneficial activity - these two are their special marks. They may also be engaged in the promotion of the welfare of devotees and in allotting them the fruits of their actions. Why should you be affected by doubt and worry, so long as I am adhering to these two? After all, the praise and blame of the populace do not touch the Atma, the reality; they can touch only the outer physical frame.

I have a 'Task': to foster all mankind and ensure for all of them lives full of Ananda. I have a 'Vow': to lead all who stray away from the straight path back again into goodness and save them. I am attached to a 'Work' that I love: to remove the sufferings of the poor and grant them what they lack. I have a 'reason to be proud,' for I rescue all who worship and adore Me aright. I have My definition of 'devotion' [I expect: that those] devoted to Me have to treat joy and grief, gain and loss, with equal fortitude. This means I will never give up those who attach themselves to Me. When I am thus engaged in My beneficial task, how can My Name be tarnished, as you apprehend? I would advise you not to heed such absurd talk. Mahatmas do not acquire greatness through someone calling them so; they do not become small when someone calls them small. Only those low ones who revel in opium and ganja but claim to be unexcelled yogis, only those who quote scriptural texts to justify their gourmandry and pride, only those who are dry-as-dust scholars exulting in their casuistry and argumentative skills, are moved by praise or blame.

You must have read life stories of saints and divine personages; in these books you must have read of even worse falsehoods and more heinous imputations cast against them. This is the lot of Mahatmas everywhere, at all times. Why then do you take these things so much to heart? Have you not heard of dogs that howl at the stars? How long can they go on? Authenticity will soon win.

I will not give up My Mission, nor My determination. I know I will carry them out; I treat the honor and dishonor, the fame and blame that may be the consequence with equal equanimity. Internally, I am unconcerned. I act but in the outer world; I talk and move about for the sake of the outer world and for announcing My coming to the people, else I have no concern even with these.

I do not belong to any place, I am not attached to any name. I have no "mine" or "thine." I answer whatever the name you use. I go, wherever I am taken. This is My very First Vow. I have not disclosed this to anyone so far. For me the world is something afar, apart. I act and move only for the sake of mankind. No one can comprehend My Glory, whoever he is, whatever his method of inquiry, however long his attempt.

You can yourself see the full Glory in the coming years. Devotees must have patience and forbearance.

I am not concerned nor am I anxious that these facts should be made known; I have no need to write these words; I wrote them because I felt you will be pained if I do not reply. Thus, your Baba. 

25 May 1947

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