mysticism – Shanmugam's Blog

Emotions, Pain and Suffering After Spiritual Enlightenment

I am writing this post since I am seeing a great deal of misunderstanding among some of my readers who are misled by the modern new age spirituality and the so called teachers who show a clean and calm professional image to the public.

I am coming from the land of avadhutas. They were fully awakened people who roamed in the streets with torn and dirty clothes, drank liquor, threw stones at people, cursed them and showed an image of a lunatic. And they were fully awakened. Their existence served a purpose. It was their prarabhdha karma to live their life this way and they still helped people in ways which were uncommon and controversial.

Trust me, spiritual path is a long journey full of adventure, unexpected turns and falls, and converts your whole life as a suspense thriller. The joy of living your life without knowing what happens next is something no Hollywood movie can give you.

So I want to give you a new perspective of this unending adventure. Many people stop somewhere in the path and make it their home; they find a secure spot, settle there and start teaching people. Soon, they fall for the fame they get and their further progress in the spirituality is completely stopped.

In the last four years, I have been very honest in documenting what has happened to me in the spiritual journey. If there is one thing that my beloved readers like about me, then it is nothing but honesty. I am not interested in making claims and attach a specific word to what happened to me. I have made that clear in my first book The Truth About Spiritual Enlightenment: Bridging Science, Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta, which is now with 62 ratings and an average rating of 4.5 out of 5. But many people do not know that your reading is not complete until you read my second book Discovering God: Bridging Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Because I have said so much about spiritual awakening which I have not covered in my first book.

The quotes about Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in my second book on those vasanas that remain after enlightenment and my clarification on bandha vasanas and bhoga vasanas will clarify a lot of misunderstandings. Because, people think that a person is completely out of all desires after enlightenment, which is not true. Some desires and some small amount of raga and dvesha should exist to keep an awakened person in the survival mode. Otherwise, life will not last in his body after 21 days. This is coming from ancient wisdom and it makes sense to me with my current way of experiencing life.

My post titled ‘My Life after Spiritual Enlightenment – The Untold side of Self-Realization‘ will further explain the untold side which has never been covered by any spiritual teacher. The reason is obvious. They didn’t get to face the society as a common man just like I did. I am not a spiritual teacher, which I have told you people several times. I am a common man who is living an awakened life while stepping on the thorns and stones of a raw simple social life. And that life is different. It is this life which you all will get to live after a complete spiritual awakening.

Before I talk about the subject matter you see in the title of the post, let me remind you of something that I have been telling you often. There is something called spiritual rebirth. You have to completely destroy yourself and reconstruct yourself. And this reconstructing yourself involves doing things which are totally opposite of what you did in the destructive phase.

Sadly, many people do not even get to this complete destruction because it is very scary. It is losing yourself completely. You have to go beyond pride and shame. This means, you dont even care to show the lunatic side of yourself. You can appear unenlightened to the majority and you still dont care. Santatagamana’s book on Turiya talks about this. To go through this Turiya, you have to stop teaching. Teachers can’t reach it.. Period. And I am not a teacher.

Once you are completely reborn, you have to reconstruct yourself by building intentions, a new self image, vasanas etc. Because, your spouse can’t tolerate someone who is devoid of emotions and desires. You would be too enlightened to be in a relationship. I have been through this and it is my personal experience. If you are too enlightened to live a social life, you are good for nothing except teaching spirituality. You might have millions of followers but no one would want to marry you. Without marriage and having children, you dont get to pass your genes to the next generation. And your enlightened genetics goes as a waste without giving it a chance to produce an offspring who will inherit some of those qualities. Only a few people know this secret.

Many people are familiar with the quote “die before you die”… Yes, you have to, if you want to progress on the spiritual path. But you can become a deva (twice born) or avatar if you know how to be reborn after you die before you die. No book can teach you that. Just facing the society by living as a common man will push you back into survival mode. You will retain the fulfillment of enlightenment while fully engaging with the world and the society by expressing all kinds of emotions including anger, tears etc. Emotions and pain can exist without suffering.

Suffering is personal. Buddha said, ‘There are two kinds of pain. The wise person stops with the first one’. That is what I am talking about. Some people might have gone beyond pain. But it is dangerous for the survival of the body.

Because each pain gives a message. Pain helps you to take care of the body. Pain tells you that something is wrong and you have to act. You may ask, ‘who cares.. After all I am not the body’. But why should you miss this potential and leave this area unexplored? Body will disappear one day anyway. Why shouldn’t you take care of the body and let it run as long as it can? It will allow you to fully swim through everything that this life has to offer.

The bottom line is this. Emotions, pain and vasanas can exist even after enlightenment. But the suffering is gone. Suffering is completely optional. You dont have to suffer; and you wont once you know how to go beyond it.

I feel that there is too much of a gap between the west and the east. The spiritual literature in the east is so vast and each book addresses different periods of a seeker’s journey. You will find huge differences between Bhagavad Gita, Ashtavakra Gita and Yoga Vasistha for example, and each book addresses the things that other books have missed out. A seeker’s journey is so long and has lots of ups and downs, surprises etc. Above all, books can only teach a little bit and it is the duty of the seeker to discover those things which are not addressed just using words. Also, having basic knowledge in Sanskrit helps to understand the true meaning of these texts, which I do. A lot of clarity is lost in translations.

Ramana himself kept reading spiritual literature for his entire life in order to assist seekers in a better way.

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Right now I am struggling financially and my wordpress subscription is ending this month. In order to keep my domain name and hosting, I need to pay them immediately. I would at least need about $150 USD to keep what I have and manage other expenses. I do have a donate option in my blog: https://shanmugamp.org/donate/ . If you can contribute it will be great. I live my life as a common man and I dont even have a job. Any help you can do will help me to continue assisting seekers.

Spiritual Awakening – A Losing Game

We are conditioned to accumulate stuff. We accumulate both abstract and concrete things – objects, wealth, acquaintances, information, ideas, concepts etc. We associate everything that we accumulate with an idea of a ‘self’.

When people are in the process of getting the next thing listed in their to do list, some of them suddenly come across the concept of spiritual enlightenment or a complete spiritual awakening. It is advertised as the best thing that can happen to a human being and sounds incredibly cool. They just grab this idea and add it in their shopping list.

Spirituality is a business today. So before one gets the true spiritual thirst as the result of an inner calling, spirituality is advertised at their door step with exciting offers and discounts. A lot of these deals are full of bullshit sandwiched with statements of some mind-blowing truths picked up from the literature of some of the most popular gurus of the last century.

Some of them are from people who have been having short or long glimpses of non-duality in their daily life, but are convinced that this is what spiritual enlightenment is all about and this is how the rest of their lives are going to be. They usually give up and come to premature conclusions.

I have addressed the above points many times in my recent Youtube videos. But in this blog post I want to explain why spiritual enlightenment is all about losing and what exactly you lose.

Spiritual enlightenment has various definitions in general. There are people who say that spiritual enlightenment is about being omnipotent and omniscient. But when I talk about spiritual enlightenment, I am talking about what is practically possible to anyone who is truly seeking it; it is something that has happened to millions of people before and something that is happening in more numbers in today’s world.

It is not about achieving or accumulating anything; it is about returning to the source; it is about going back to your natural state; it is about untying the knots or undoing all the complications that your mind has created while growing up; it is about going home. So it is all about losing.

You lose many things. You lose all the reifications. You lose your false ideas, beliefs and illusions. You lose the cravings to do many things you had been doing before. You lose 98% of your mental chatter and lose all self-referential thoughts. You lose your conflicts and your mind loses a lot of its weight.

But I can list three primary things which you lose, which is usually regarded as the symptoms of atma jnana or self-realization. It is only after self-realization and abiding permanently in non-duality, your awakening is complete.

Here are these three things:

Sense of a separate self – At self-realization, you permanently lose the sense that you are an entity separate from the existence. Your experience of life changes completely. You no longer feel like you are trapped in a body and limited. There is no difference between you, the blue sky, the blowing wind and the rest of the nature. It is like a wave realizing that it doesn’t have a separate existence but it is the ocean itself. It is not intellectual understanding or understanding gained by temporary glimpses; it is dying completely before you physically die.

Sense of agency – You no longer feel you are doing your actions; actions simply arise from the inner stillness without any sense of agency. You see life as if everything is unfolding all by itself. Ahankara or the sense of agency is lost.

Psychological time – Everyone has a to-do list or agenda. Everyone is looking forward to future to get a sense of completion. Everyone feels like something that is in the future is waiting to complete them. A religious person hopes that he will reach heaven in the future and a spiritual person thinks that he will reach spiritual enlightenment in the future. This craving and seeking, whether it is for a material goal or a spiritual state is completely absent after self-realization. You will feel full and complete already and you are not looking forward to future to get something that will give you a sense of completion which is missing now.

Spiritual enlightenment is the end of duality and the life that is confined to the rat race of humanity. But it is not the end of everything. It is a new beginning.

In the following video, I have made some important clarifications:

Did Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism Copy from Each Other?

Every culture has influenced every other culture during mutual interactions. It is only because of this influence that humanity has achieved a lot. But many people today call such cross-cultural interactions, influences, adaptations etc as ‘copying’ or ‘plagiarism’ which is both sad and stupid.

For example, today Indians wear shirt and pant, celebrate birthdays using English calendar, cut cakes and blow candles etc. Should we say India copied this from West or West influenced India?

Of course, a lot of Catholic churches and many Sufis have adapted certain cultural things from India as well. So yes, Indian culture has influenced Indian Christians and Indian Muslims. There is no question about it. Have you ever wondered why the Bible is called as Vedagamam in Tamil? It is not plagiarism but influence! Plagiarism or copying means a person using somebody’s work without attribution. This doesn’t apply to cultures.

Let me give you a lot of examples:

The story of Adam in Bible is heavily influenced by Enkidu from the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh.
The story of Noah and Manu was influenced by the great flood in the epic of Gilgamesh.
The old testament doesn’t have the concept of hell or heaven. The divine justice is delivered on earth itself, which is indicated by fall or rise of states. This idea of divine justice was also borrowed from Sumerian-Mesopotamian cultures.
The idea of Good and evil (Satan) in Bible was adapted from Persian religion; and Persian religion itself heavily borrowed from early Vedic religion.
Vedic religion itself adapted many deities from other cultures: Dyaus, Usas and Ashvins come from proto-Indo European culture. Indra and Soma come from Bactria-Margiana culture. And according to Asko Parpola, Varuna was a deity native to Indus valley civilization ( I am a little skeptical of Parpola’s claim though).
There was an ancient University in Taxila founded in 10th century BCE which should have certainly attracted students from all over the world, Even though majority of the people were unaware of other states and empires, there were certainly elites and traders who travelled long distance from the Near East. It is through the influence of this University, many ideas which existed in cultures close to it has travelled to far away lands. A lot of such ideas got distorted, modified, re-interpreted and even developed in the places where they reached. I see no other reason for development of new ideas during Axial age ( 800 BCE to 300 BCE) all over the world.
Early Vedic religion did not have the concept of samsara, moksha or karma. But some individual rishis of Rig Veda might have been aware of such ideas already. These ideas were influenced by Sramana traditions and re-interpreted within Vedic context. Also, early Vedic religion neither had temples or idols.
The stance against idolatry in Judaism was strongly influenced by the representation of the king and the state through images in Egypt . So, the stance against idolatry has a hidden and lost message: Do not consider a human being as infallible authority! But the Hebrew Bible is a theological and mythological narrative to explain real political events, such as the conquery of Israel by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians and others. Along with this, Jewish mysticism which is close to Eastern traditions existed and their ideas also influenced the old Testament.
Followed by Taxila university, Plato’s academy was established in Greece in c. 387 BC in Athens. The idea of eternal hell was developed by Plato as a social tool to discipline people who wouldn’t listen to reason. Later it was adopted by Abrahamic traditions. Plato’s allegory of cave is another metaphorical distinction between real and unreal, just like Vedanta.
Muhammad travelled from Mecca to Damascus every year for trading. In Damascus, he must have been exposed to various mystical traditions. No, he didn’t copy them. He simply brought it to Arabia which by that time had no state, no law, and no justice; People had primitive social norms, killed female infants, raided caravans, married irresponsibly and abandoned orphans and widows. Once thing I can infer is, the intellectual gap between Muḥammad and his followers was very large. As historians agree, Islam indeed improved the status quo of pre-Islamic Arabia and was an improvement to the existing conditions . So many ideas which we think from Islam were already existing before Islam; Muhammad just managed to reform some of them but compromised and adapted some olden values too.
Vedic religion had a concept of Rna or indebtedness. It simply means human beings are obligated to follow a law or Dharma and settle the debts he owes for the society and nature. Failure to do so simply means a lack of gratitude. Dharma means law or way of life. Initially, Dharma was only about ethics and order, wealth and pleasure. But after being influenced by Sramana traditions, Dharma also included the way to attain eternal peace. They came up with three means to do that: karma (doing your obligatory duties without being too attached to the fruits of actions), Jnana (a direct inquiry into the nature of existence) and bhakti (surrender and love to one and only supreme God). Now let us see how all this fits into Islam. Muhammad did not call Islam as a religion but called it as Deen. It means law or way of life, just like Dharma. And the word comes from Arabic for ‘dayne’ which means ‘debt’ (just like rna). And Muḥammad insisted that submission to God as true form of worship. Jihad means struggle, which is the same as Srama in Sramana. And the word ‘khafir‘ originally meant someone who lacked gratitude or someone who hides the truth. If you put together all the pieces and see the whole picture, it will make a lot of sense.

12. Muhammad did not claim that he was bringing something new. He simply claimed he was restoring the original form of worship by Abraham. Who is Abraham? People have noticed strong similarity between Abraham and Brahma and have suggest that Jews and Brahmins were the same. A passage that is quoted often for this is:

“The similarities between the names of Abraham and Brahma have not gone unnoticed. Abraham is said to be the father of the Jews, and Brahma, as the first created being, is often seen as the father of mankind…’ We might also note that the name of Brahma’s consort Sarasvati seems to resonate with that of Abraham’s wife, Sarah [… each one’s identity as a wife and/or sister]. Also, in India, the Sarasvati River includes a tributary known as the Ghaggar…. According to Jewish tradition, Hagar was Sarah’s maidservant…. Both Brahmins … and Jews see themselves as the ‘chosen people of God.’ The Hebrews began their sojourn through history as a ‘kingdom of priests’ (Exodus 19:6). Likewise, Brahmins are also a community of priests. — Rosen in Essential Hinduism, p. 12.”

But I don’t think it is true; there is strong evidence against it. It will make more sense to consider Abraham as a metaphor for a Brahmin who lives between the rivers Sarasvati and Ghaggar. So who is the God of Abraham? It is more likely to be the fusion of aspects of Vedic deities Rudra and Varuna. When I was researching the origins of devotion or bhakti, I was able to trace it back until Varuna, who is described as the Lord of justice, expects surrender and repentance, just like Abrahamic God. And just like God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Varuna asks Harischandra to sacrifice his son. Later, the benevolent deity Yahweh (who is similar to Rudra, later syncretized with Shiva) absorbed all aspects of hundreds of older Jewish deities and the aspects of God of Abraham too. This also makes sense, because the same story about human sacrifice make a re-entry in India through a Tamil Text ‘Periya Puranam’ several centuries later. And this time it is Shiva (who absorbed Vedic Rudra) who comes in disguise as a sadhu and asks for human sacrifice of his son. Makes sense?

13. The lost or unknown years of Jesus in the Bible between the age 12–30 has been explained by many by saying that he has travelled the world, including Indian subcontinent. There is a document in monastery in ladakh which actually talks about Jesus studying there and it has been witnessed and translated by many. Jesus also said that he came to establish the Law (Halakha in Hebrew, which means the same as Dharma).

14. All cultures evolve their dharma like this: an animistic tradition that doesn’t have a concept of God but only believes in various spirits inside real world objects —-> Clan deities of various tribes forming a pantheon, sacrificial rituals and accompanying poetry — Evolutionary monotheism which happens by syncretism of various deities into one —-> Worship and surrender to one supreme God with names like Ishvara, Allah, Narayana etc. —-> The mystical path that involves realizing God as all that exists (Brahman, which is usually thought a direct result of worship and surrender to one God, along with Karma and Jnana. In Islam, there is Sufism; in Christianity there is Christian Mysticism; in Judaism, there is Jewish Mysticism and Hasidism. They all start with surrender and worship in the beginning of the path but also talk about the higher truth of oneness of Brahman; But since they use different names and concepts, use different teaching methods, enumerate the contents of consciousness differently (which is nothing but the actual meaning of Samkhya) and also define the stages of the spiritual paths differently, they all seem different. In addition to it, there are cultural, historical, political, linguistic, and geographical differences which has all been wrapped as a package to come up with the modern concept of religion .

15. Apart from Vedic and Sramana traditions, there were thousands of folk traditions with thousands of deities in India. Many were benevolent but absorbed into Buddhist mythology as yakshas and yakshinis who were the disciples of Buddha. They are also seen as various extensions of one reality in meditation. Vedic religion did the same thing by Sanskritizing all these deities and absorbing them into Shiva or Vishnu; if they were female deities, they merged with Shakthi or Lakshmi. And Shiva and Shakthi are again considered as two aspects of one divinity. Many people, especially from South of India think that this is bad. No, it is really not; the only negative consequence of this was denying entry and access to temple worship to people of specific social class. This is similar to ancient Egyptian tradition in which priests were the only ones who had access to temples and other people can only see the deity during processions. This Sanskritization of folk deities led to various monotheistic traditions like Shaivism and Vaishnavism, which were all united by Adhi Shankara as various paths of single dharma.

16. If you stop seeing things with modern lens using modern concept of religion, you can see the truth; if you take this modern concept as your identity and tend to feel superior towards it, it will certainly lead to intolerance. But if you go to the roots and see that it is all about dharma and its three aspects (bhakti, jnana and karma), then everything will be clear. You will agree with what I have written in this post: Shanmugam P’s answer to Why is Hinduism spreading so fast all over the world?

An article that you may be interested in: Pappankulam – A Village of Brahmins and Four Vedas

Dear Christians, Hindu Deities are not Evil Spirits! – A Criticism of Christian Churches Which Promote Religious Intolerance

I have a lot to say about Christianity. First, I will let you watch a video that narrates many incidents from my life which are associated with Christianity. I will be making many videos in the future, but this is an introduction. In this video, I have spoken the truth that I have realized in my experience, which is now as clear as the sunlight to me. Sharing my thoughts on Christianity is intended to promote religious tolerance, inter-religious understanding and peace. I speak about all religions and this post is in specific to Christianity. First, watch the video, then read the rest of this post:

https://youtu.be/npKleb7Gh1A
The rest of this post is an answer that I wrote in Quora. But also follow the links at the end of this page. The Quora question was, ‘Why do most Christians refuse to accept “Prasad” from Hindus?‘

Because many churches preach that idol worship in Hinduism is Satanic and that idols have evil spirits in them. I used to have a Protestant friend, a girl, whose boyfriend is a Catholic. She wouldn’t step inside a Roman Catholic church because it has the idol of Jesus on the cross.

It is true that Hebrew Bible asks not to worship idols. But it was specifically for people in ancient Israel who were polytheists and didn’t have a strong philosophy that preaches the oneness of God. But when it comes to Hinduism, it already says God is one without a second, and idols are devices for meditation and devotion. So the idol worship that is banned in Bible is not the same as the idol worship in Hinduism.

Hinduism offers various symbols to connect with divine. The symbols include the stimuli of all the five senses. A form of God is a powerful visual stimulus that can evoke the feeling of devotion by mere exposure. This is possible because of a psychological phenomena called classical conditioning. So, in other words, Hinduism is based on deep understanding of human psychology.
Such symbolism is also present in other religions anyway. The Cresent in Islam, the Cross in Christianity, the taste of wine and the bread of the Eucharist and the melodious songs of orchestra in Church are a part of such symbolism and send powerful sensory cues.

Before there can be a real religious tolerance between various religions, people first need to understand the essence of their own religions. A Hindu cannot provide counter arguments to Christians if he himself is ignorant about his own religion.
And Christians should understand that anything that is offered to God with love is not /cannot be anti-Christian or Satanic.

I am in the process of making videos, images and infographics that promote religious tolerance and educate people about the true essence of religions.

Religious tolerance - Unity of Hinduism, Christianity and Islam

Hindu deities are not evil spirits

Idol worship in Hinduism

Christianity is all about love. When you reject a Prasad that is offered by someone with love, you are turning your face away from love; you are being anti-Christian.

Bible verse regarding love - 1 John 4:8

Bible verse regarding love - 1 John 4:16

Bible verse regarding love - Proverbs 3:3-4

By the way, this is not a post intended to attack Christians. And I am not in agreement with organizations like RSS who constantly abuse people of other religions in India. I am all for religious tolerance.

Kshetra Kshetrajna Vibhaga Yoga (Bhagavad Gita: 13.2) – With Animated Yin Yang Images

You are going to read my commentary on a very important verse from Bhagavad Gita. If you have read my book, you may recall that I have talked about the discrimination between subject and object. The other terms for this include Purusha and Prakriti, Kshetrajna and Kshetra, Brahman and Maya, Shiva and Shakthi, Vishnu and Lakshmi, witness and the witnessed etc. Rig Veda says that the truth is one in spite of being called by many names by wise people (ekam sat viprah bahuda vadanti). You can apply it here. Even the concept of Yin and Yang of Taoism roughly translates to these two concepts. All these names that I just said point to two apparent realities that you see from the actual One reality.

May be the last sentence requires further explanation. We can actually divide the reality into two: the subject or the witness and the object or the witnessed. Witness is just the pure awareness and the witnessed is the contents of consciousness, including the perception of the external world. But this doesn’t mean that there are two realities. There is only one. Witness is like a screen; the witnessed is like the contents of the screen. The contents of the screen do not have any reality separate from the screen. In other words, the contents of the screen is also screen. The contents are not real but the screen is real.

From this, we can derive three statements:

The screen is real.
The contents of the screen are unreal.
The contents of the screen is also the screen.

Adhi Shankara made the same statements but used different terminology.

Brahman is real
The world (contents) is unreal.
The world is Brahman.

Let us now move on to the actual sloka in Gita (13.2):

(I am quoting from https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/13/verse/2 for the transliteration and translation)

श्रीभगवानुवाच |
इदं शरीरं कौन्तेय क्षेत्रमित्यभिधीयते |
एतद्यो वेत्ति तं प्राहु: क्षेत्रज्ञ इति तद्विद: || 2||
śhrī-bhagavān uvācha
idaṁ śharīraṁ kaunteya kṣhetram ity abhidhīyate
etad yo vetti taṁ prāhuḥ kṣhetra-jña iti tad-vidaḥ

śhrī-bhagavān uvācha—the Supreme Divine Lord said; idam—this; śharīram—body; kaunteya—Arjun, the son of Kunti; kṣhetram—the field of activities; iti—thus; abhidhīyate—is termed as; etat—this; yaḥ—one who; vetti—knows; tam—that person; prāhuḥ—is called; kṣhetra-jñaḥ—the knower of the field; iti—thus; tat-vidaḥ—those who discern the truth
The Supreme Divine Lord said: O Arjun, this body is termed as kṣhetra (the field of activities), and the one who knows this body is called kṣhetrajña (the knower of the field) by the sages who discern the truth about both.

In Gita, the Brahman, (including the aspect of Maya, the witnessed), is personified as Lord Krishna. Krishna is talking to Arjuna in the battlefield. Here the words kshetra and kshetrajna are used instead of the subject and the object. It is very important to note that Kshetrajna is not only the knower of the body but the knower of everything. No, it doesn’t mean kshetrajna is omniscient!.. It simply means kshetrajna is the knower of everything that happens in the field of consciousness: five sense perceptions, organs of the body and the body, your likes and dislikes, your thoughts, memory and intellect.

There is another word called sarvajna. It is usually understood as omniscient. But sarvajna means all knower; this actually means that it is the all knower of the content of consciousness. One who is established as a witness or the one who has realized his true nature is also called as sarvajna.

The discrimination between kshetra and kshetrajna, or the subject and object is very important in the spiritual path. You may recall my previous posts regarding this topic:

Ramana Maharshi and the Cinema Screen Analogy

Witnessing Meditation by Osho – A Technique of Everyday Mindfulness

I used the tools that technology has provided to make things colorful and appealing. I have been already trying to explain certain subtle things using images, infographics, comics etc. Such a variety will help you to focus easily and remember about certain important things. This time I am trying my hands on some animated gifs. I was playing with an app today and it was really helpful for making these animations.

Ying Yang animated

A Bonus:

I have created a three level meditation by combining the concepts of classical conditioning, meditations in Vajrayana Buddhism and Dhyna, a yogic meditation. You can read the full instructions here: A Shamatha Meditation Based on Symbolism, Visualization, Mnemonics and Classical Conditioning.

There is an image which is needed as a visual meditation aid for this meditation. I have included several copies of that image in the page itself. But I am including an animated one here. You can download and see it in your phone:

By the way, do you mind if include a picture of mine? As I was playing with the app, I also tried editing one of my pictures and it was fun. This pic is just for my friends (for you, I mean ). I just wanted to say a ‘hi’ with a smile, standing before the falling waterfalls and moving clouds.

Shanmugam P

If I Speak in the Tongues of Men or of Angels – A Commentary on I Corinthians 13 and Bible’s Connection with Advaita Vedanta

Hi people! Is there anything that is greater than love? Can there be anything ever that is greater than Love itself? No! I don’t think so! Love is the only thing that connects us… No matter which part of the world you are from… You need to understand that we belong to the same family! I am your relative no matter where you are from… This whole earth is one family and our family!

Let us all unite together, be happy and treat everyone as our own family members. I love you guys… We as humans have to stand up for a global unity and peace.

We CAN make this world a better place to live..

I don’t see any difference between John 14: 19-21 and Bhagavad Gita 9:29. I have no idea why people are fighting…

Gita 9:29:

I am equal to all living beings; I don’t have anyone that I hate or anyone who I told dearer than the others. But whoever worships me with devotion, they are in me and I am in them…

John 14:19 -21:

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

What we call as God is beyond time and space; but we understand him or imagine him as a person. This is because human mind always detects an agent for everything; this agent deduction in the human mind imagines God in human form or an invisible personality that has human psychology. But this is due to our limitation, not God’s! God is not a person but a personification that points to a direct experience and presence beyond time and space.

Also, most of the scriptures got distorted because of later interpolation, poor translation, lost verses, edited verses and testimony from people who are not direct eyewitnesses. Even the testimonies of eyewitnesses can be biased and memory can be biased too! But regardless of all that, the essence of the scriptures have been realized by millions of sages before us and their teachings can guide us to salvation.

Here is a riddle for you:

He sees through the eyes of every being, knows through the awareness of every manifest organism and walks using the legs of every piece of life.

As an Octopus he has eight legs; as the son of Man, he has two legs; as the son of God, he is the inner light of every little thing that eats, procreates and decomposes!

He is beyond time and space.

He exists as the love of every mother, as the care of every father, as the company of every brother, as the support of every sister, as the closeness of every wife and as the convenience of every servant.

He shakes hands with you through every friend you see and he pays your wages as every boss you work for. He is the one who eats and he is the one who gets eaten, yet he neither eats; nor gets eaten. He is the essence of every word, every sound, every sentence, every contradiction, every confusion, everything that is good and bad; NOT EVEN AN ATOM MOVES WITHOUT HIS WILL…

He is the one who robs, which gets robbed and the act of robbing; yet he neither robs nor gets robbed. He is beyond the limits of human intellect even though intellect itself is a manifestation of him; he is beyond the power of human vision, even though human vision itself is one of his manifestations!. He is beyond the power of human ears and yet he is everything that you hear…

He is She; She is it, and it is You! … His kingdom is within you and He is closer than the mane behind your neck! All praise ultimately goes to him and no one else.. He is the good shepherd and the sheep, he is the Gopalan and the Gomata; he is the Pashu and he is the Pathi! He is the Kartha, the doer; every biochemical living piece on planet earth is just a puppet; this puppet show is going on for aeons as a holy game of God…. you suffer, you laugh, you enjoy, you grow, you sin and someday you may even become a saint.. but you know, it is all in the game… in the eyes of God, there is no discrimination!

He is the sweetness of the milk and the sourness of the toddy; He is the intoxication and he is the clarity.. everything happens to according to His will and His will alone.. He is both the uppercase and the lower case letters and the one who is beyond, before, beneath, below and in the middle of all the letters.. He is the first and he is the last, yet He has no beginning and no end!

He expands through and from you in all directions and pervades everything, including every single stone pillar on earth, every single speck of dust and every heart that beats…

He is every mistake and he is every correction … He is… Only He is… He is the one truth which is known, spoken, and understood by various means, forms, names and practices by wise people…

He is not a person but a personification!

Who is He?

Clue: The answer is inside you, within you and lies very close to you; close your eyes and keep looking until you find it…

When you find it, your expression certainly will be, ‘Oh My God!’….

Love is God – Says Lord Muruga as the Divine Teacher

In Hinduism, the one and the same absolute truth is personified as multiple forms and names. The form is used then for meditation as well as to express unconditional love towards the divine, which has manifested itself as all beings and all objects. In Vajrayana Buddhism, such deities are called as yidams.

god-murugan-png-murugan-png-image-401

Lord Muruga and Skanda was a form that developed by a merger of multiple deities. Mountain deity Muruga of Tamil Nadu and the warrior deity Skandha were initially two different deities. But when the form that we know as Muruga and Skandha today was created, it was created to personify the angry face of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva is usually depicted as having five faces. But when the same Shiva is worshipped with the sixth face which is like a hidden but wrathful face of Shiva, he is called as Shanmukha, the one with six faces.

800px-Murugan_by_Raja_Ravi_Varma

In mythology, Skandha was shown to be born because of the fire which came from Shiva’s third eye when Shiva got extremely angry. Skandha was then shown to slay a demon king called Surapadma:

Surapadma (Devanagari: शूरपद्मा, IAST: śūrapadmā) was an asura who was the son of the sage Kashyapa and the asura princess Surasa. He was defeated by Murugan but asking for pardon prior to his defeat, was granted the honour of becoming his vahana, the peacock. He is the brother of Singamuka and Tarakasura.^[1] His eldest son is Banukopan.^[2] The word Surapadma is a compound of two words – the proto-Tamil word Cura and the Sanskrit word Padma.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%9A%C5%ABrapadm%C4%81

Usually in Hindu mythology, a deity slaying a demon symbolizes the absolute truth destroying the ignorance. Spiritual seeking is like an inner war done in the conquest of one’s own mind. A devotee prays to the divine to slay his ignorance. I have written more about Muruga worship in this page: 3- Level Meditation

Lord Muruga slaying Surapadma is celebrated as a six day festival in Tamil Nadu:

Sooranporu or Soorasamharam part of Skanda Sashti Vratham festival is a ritual folk performance that recreates the killing of Asuras by Lord Murugan.^[1] It is performed in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka and the district of Palakkad in Kerala at temples dedicated to Murugan. The Soorasamharam festival is also celebrated in Thiruvannur Subramanya Swami temple in Kozhikode District kerala for more than a century in the name Sooranpada.^[1]^[2] The 2016 date is November 5.^[3]

The Sooranporu performance is based on the story of Murugan, also known as Skanda, as given in the Skandapurana. In the days preceding the performance the Skandapaurana is narrated in the temple. The performance ends with the killing of Soorapadman (or Padmasura) and his race which is depicted through the symbolic beheading of the four Asuras Anamughan, Panumughan, Simhamughan and Soorapadman.^[1] The Asuras are beheaded by Murugan using his weapon the vel a kind of spear or javelin. For the performance the velis specially consecrated and during the staging of the show it is ceremonially placed on the neck of the effigy after which the head is removed, depicting the beheading of the Asura.^[1]^[4] Sooranporu is staged at the end of a week-long Kanda Sashti festival.^[4]^[5]

Sooranporu is preceded by several ceremonies on the last day of the Kanda Sashti festival. Special pujas are conducted and the deity of Murugan is ritually anointed (abhishekam) and devotees seek the deity’s darshan. In some parts of Tamil Nadu women devotees observe a six-day fast which they break at the end of the Sooranporu. In Palani, a procession of Lord Murugan (known here as Dandayuthapaniswamy) is taken down from the hill temple and led through the main thoroughfares of the town before the Sooranporu.^[6]^[7]

In Tamil Nadu, Sooranporu is witnessed every year by large crowds of devotees and the state government and Indian Railways ply special buses and trains to facilitate their travel.^[8] In Kerala’s Palakkad district, Sooranporu is held in all the major Tamil settlements in the district.^[1]

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sooranporu

Here is a video showing Soorasamharam celebrated on the sixth day in Tiruchendur, near Tuticorin, Tamilnadu:

This blog article explains the history of this festival in detail: https://lesbiantalk.wordpress.com/2014/11/02/soorasamharam-a-not-so-popular-festival-of-thiruvannur/

Today, November 13, is the sixth day of this festival which is according to Hindu calender. The Sooranporu or Soorasamharam will be celebrated this evening in all the major Shiva and Muruga temples in Tamil Nadu, including the one very close to my neighborhood in Thachanallur, Tamil Nadu, India.

(From https://thachanallur.wordpress.com/)

H. H. Swami Santhananda Saraswati Avadhoota Swamigal (28 March 1921 – 27 May 2002) was a Mahatma who worshipped Skandha as Skandha Guru.

(image source: http://www.skandasramam.com/ )

Here is a short intro about him:

H. H. Swami Santhananda Saraswati Avadhoota Swamigal (28 March 1921 – 27 May 2002) born as Subrahmanyam was a Hindu spiritual leader and teacher who established the worship of Devi Bhuvaneswari in Tamil Nadu. He was the founder of the Bhuvaneswari Peetam in Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu, India. The very embodiment of Prema, Sri Sri Swami Santhananda was the fountainhead of Hindu Dharma and Vedic principles. In his lifetime he had conducted several yagnas as elucidated in the Sasthras and challenged orthodoxy by bringing to light, guarded Moola Mantras that ensure common good, wealth and peace.^[1]

He was a disciple of H.H.Sri Swayamprakasha Bhremendra Saraswathi of Sendamangalam and came in the lineage of H.H.Sadasiva Bhremendra Saraswathi (Sri Sri Judge Swamigal) of Pudukkottai. He founded Skandhashramam in Salem and Om Sri Skandhashramam in Chennai.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santhananda

One of the most illustrious seers of our time, Sathguru Srimad Shanthananda Swamigal was the very embodiment of the Divine. Hailing from a glorious lineage of Avadhootha saints, Sathguru Sri Shanthananda Swamigal has been the torchbearer of Hinduism and its sanctity. Alleviating the sufferings of humanity has been his primary concern. He has advocated the greatness of Japa and Homa as a means to achieve peace and prosperity. Sathguru Sri Shanthananda Swamigal has been the fountainhead of infinite love & compassion and has bestowed solace to many. He is the guiding spirit and an epitome of peace to his devotees who regard him as the incarnation of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari. Besides Chennai Om Sri Skandasramam, Sathguru Srimad Shanthananda Swamigal has built the Judge Swamigal Adhishtanam at Pudukkottai, Om Sri Skandasramam at Salem and Dattagiri at Sendamangalam. This beautiful statue of Sri Shantanada Swamigal in Marble is placed on the left hand side of Goddess Bhuvaneswari and is 4 ½ feet in height. This gopuram represents the Tamilnadu type of architecture.

Special day : Every Month Visaka Nakshatram

From http://www.skandasramam.com/deities.php?god=Swamigal

He established an ashram near Salem, Tamil Nadu called Skandashramam:

Skandasramam, located in serene surroundings amidst hillocks, two kilometres away from Udayapatti of Salem Town, is a temple complex with shrines to Skanda and to other deities. This lies in Salem-Attur route.

Skandasramam was founded by Shantananda Swami in the latter half of the 20th century. Shantananda Swami – a disciple of Swayamprakasa – was also associated with the Avadhoota Dattatreya Sampradaya of Gujarat – and with several philanthropic activities.

Skandasramam is a unique temple. The presiding deities here are Skanda and Ashtadasabhuja Mahalakshmi. It was planned by Om Shri Santhananda Swamigal in May 1968, and he executed it in the form of a temple by name Skandasramam and its Maha Kumbabisekam took place on 08.02.1971.

In the Maha Mandapam, one can see Shri Ashta Dasapuja Mahalakshmi Durga Parameswari, who is also known as Skandamatha and opposite to Durga, there stands the grand, attractive, and smilling statue by name Gnanaskandan (Bala Dandayudha Pani). Both are in standing posture.

In the outer premises of the northern side of Maha Mandapam one can see the astonishing statues of 16′ Shri Panchmuga Anjaneyar and Shri Panchamuga Vinayagar. They reveal the greatness and spiritual attitude of Om Shri Santhananada Swamigal. Skanthasramam is in the form of Linga. There are nine important points in the Linga in the form of the temple, they donote:

Dattatreya Bhagawan

Danvanthri

Swarnakarshana Bairavar

Panchamuga Ganapathi

Panchamuga Anjaneya

Gnana Skanda Gurunathan

Skandamatha

Magangal Mandapam

Skanda Jothi

Besides these nine points on the top of the Linga form, it is predicted as the adobe of Ganga, in between the 3rd and 5th point there is Gomuki. On the right and left side of Ganga there are moon and sun respectively. In the eastern side of the temple, there runs Kannimar Odai (stream). As it flows towards north, it is also known as Utharavahini. By the side of the stream there is the goddess Kannimar Amman.

Source: http://murugan.org/centers/skandashramam.htm

He also established an ashram in Chennai, which has a lot of deities consecrated, including a beautiful statue of Ayyappa:

(image source: http://www.skandasramam.com/ ).

He established Pudukkottai adhishtanam too:

On the advice of Swami Swayamprakasa, Santhananda undertook the renovation of the Samadhi of Judge Swamigal at Pudukkottai. This Samadhi was established by Swayamprakasa Swamigal in 1936. Santhananda renovated the Samadhi and a Kumbabhishekam was conducted in 1956. This is now known as Bhuvaneswari Avadootha Vidya Peetam. The main deity here is Matha BHUVANESWARI.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santhananda

He also composed a beautiful verse in Tamil called Skandha Guru Kavacham, which preaches that Love is God:

skandhaguru-eng

skandhaguru

The complete Tamil text of Skandha Guru Kavacham, including English translation and transliteration at the end is available for free download here:

http://www.skandagurunatha.org/works/skanda-guru-kavasam/skanda-guru-kavasam.pdf

For people who can read and understand Tamil, here is the full version of Skandha Guru Kavacham:

விநாயகர் வாழ்த்து

கலியுகத் தெய்வமே கந்தனுக்கு மூத்தோனே
முஷிக வாகனனே மூலப் பொருளோனே
கந்தகுரு கவசத்தை கலிதோஷம் நீங்கிடவே
திருவடியின் திருவருளால் செப்புகிறேன் காத்தருள்வாய்
சித்தி வினாயக ஜயமருள் போற்றுகிறேன் …… 5
சிற்பர கணபதே நற்கதியும் தந்தருள்வாய்
கணபதி தாளிணையைக் கருத்தினில் வைத்திட்டேன்
அச்சம் தீர்த்து என்னை ரச்சித்திடுவீரே.

செய்யுள்

கந்தா சரணம் கந்தா சரணம்
சரவணபவ குகா சரணம் சரணம் …… 10

குருகுகா சரணம் குருபரா சரணம்
சரணம் அடைந்திட்டேன் கந்தா சரணம்
தனைத் தானறிந்து நான் தன்மயமாகிடவே
கந்தகிரி குருநாதா தந்திடுவீர் ஞானமுமே
தத்தகிரி குருநாதா வந்திடுவீர் வந்திடுவீர் …… 15

அவதூத சத்குருவாய் ஆண்டவனே வந்திடுவீர்
அன்புருவாய் வந்தென்னை ஆட்கொண்ட குருபரனே
அறம் பொருள் இன்பம் வீடுமே தந்தருள்வாய்
தந்திடுவாய் வரமதனை கந்தகுருநாதா
சண்முகா சரணம் சரணம் கந்த குரோ …… 20

காத்திடுவாய் காத்திடுவாய் கந்தகுரு நாதா
போற்றிடுவேன் போற்றிடுவேன் புவனகுரு நாதா
போற்றி போற்றி கந்தா போற்றி
போற்றி போற்றி முருகா போற்றி
அறுமுகா போற்றி அருட்பதம் அருள்வாய் …… 25

தகப்பன் சுவாமியே என் இதயத்துள் தங்கிடுவாய்
சுவாமி மலைதனில் சொன்னதனைச் சொல்லிடுவாய்
சிவகுரு நாதா செப்பிடுவாய் பிரணவமதை
அகக்கண் திறக்க அருள்வாய் உபதேசம்
திக்கெலாம் வென்று திருச்செந்தில் அமர்ந்தோனே …… 30

ஆறுமுக சுவாமி உன்னை அருட்ஜோதியாய்க் காண
அகத்துள்ளே குமரா நீ அன்பு மயமாய் வருவாய்
அமரத் தன்மையினை அனுக்கிரகித்திடுவாயே
வேலுடைக் குமரா நீ வித்தையும் தந்தருள்வாய்
வேல் கொண்டு வந்திடுவாய் காலனை விரட்டிடவே …… 35

தேவரைக் காத்த திருச்செந்தில் ஆண்டவனே
திருமுருகன் பூண்டியிலே திவ்ய ஜோதியான கந்தா
பரஞ் ஜோதியும் காட்டி பரிபூர்ணமாக்கிடுவாய்
திருமலை முருகா நீ திடஞானம் அருள் புரிவாய்
செல்வமுத்துக் குமரா மும்மலம் அகற்றிடுவாய் …… 40

அடிமுடி யறியவொணா அண்ணா மலையோனே
அருணாசலக் குமரா அருணகிரிக்கு அருளியவா
திருப்பரங்கிரிக் குகனே தீர்த்திடுவாய் வினை முழுதும்
திருத்தணி வேல்முருகா தீரனாய் ஆக்கிடுவாய்
எட்டுக்குடிக் குமரா ஏவல்பில்லி சூனியத்தை …… 45

பகைவர் சூதுவாதுகளை வேல்கொண்டு விரட்டிடுவாய்
எல்லாப் பயன்களும் எனக்குக் கிடைத்திடவே
எங்கும் நிறைந்த கந்தா எண்கண் முருகா நீ
என்னுள் அறிவாய் நீ உள்ளொளியாய் வந்தருள்வாய்
திருப்பேர்ருர் மாமுருகா திருவடியே சரணமய்யா …… 50

அறிவொளியாய் வந்து நீ அகக்கண்ணைத் திறந்திடுவாய்
திருச்செந்தூர் சண்முகனே ஜகத்குருவிற் கருளியவா
ஜகத்குரோ சிவகுமரா சித்தமலம் அகற்றிடுவாய்
செங்கோட்டு வேலவனே சிவானுபூதி தாரும்
சிக்கல் சிங்காரா ஜீவனைச் சிவனாக்கிடுவாய் …… 55

குன்றக்குடிக் குமரா குருகுகனாய் வந்திடப்பா
குமரகிரிப் பெருமானே மனத்தையும் மாய்த்திடுவீர்
பச்சைமலை முருகா இச்சையைக் களைந்திடப்பா
பவழமலை ஆண்டவனே பாவங்களைப் போக்கிடப்பா
விராலிமலை சண்முகனே விரைவில் நீ வந்திடப்பா …… 60

வயலூர் குமாரகுரோ ஞானவரமெனக் கருள்வீரே
வெண்ணைமலை முருகா மெய்வீட்டைத் தந்திடுவீர்
கதிர்க்காம வேலவனே மனமாயை அகற்றிடுவாய்
காந்த மலைக் குமரா கருத்துள் வந்திடுவீர்
மயிலத்து முருகா நீ மனத்தகத்துள் வந்திடுவீர் …… 65

கஞ்சமலை சித்தகுரோ கண்ணொளியாய் வந்திடுவீர்
குமரமலை குருநாதா கவலையெலாம் போக்கிடுவீர்
வள்ளிமலை வேல்முருகா வேல்கொண்டு வந்திடுவீர்
வடபழனி ஆண்டவனே வல்வினைகள் போக்கிடுவீர்
ஏழுமலை ஆண்டவனே எத்திக்கும் காத்திடுவீர் …… 70

ஏழ்மை அகற்றிக் கந்தா எமபயம் போக்கிடுவீர்
அசையாத நெஞ்சத்தில் அறிவாக நீ அருள்வாய்
அறுபடைக் குமரா மயிலேறி வந்திடுவாய்
பணிவதே பணியென்று பணித்தனை நீ எனக்கு
பணிந்தேன் கந்தா உன்பாதம் பணிந்துவப்பேன் …… 75

அருட்பெருஞ் ஜோதியே அன்பெனக் கருள்வாயே
படர்ந்த அன்பினை நீ பரப்பிரம்மம் என்றனையே
உலகெங்கும் உள்ளது ஒருபொருள் அன்பேதான்
உள்ளுயிராகி இருப்பதும் அன்பென்பாய்
அன்பே குமரன் அன்பே கந்தன் …… 80

அன்பே ஓம் என்னும் அருள்மந்திரம் என்றாய்
அன்பை உள்ளத்திலே அசையாது அமர்த்திடுமோர்
சக்தியைத் தந்து தடுத்தாட் கொண்டிடவும்
வருவாய் அன்பனாய் வந்தருள் கந்தகுரோ
யாவர்க்கும் இனியன் நீ யாவர்க்கும் எளியன் நீ …… 85

யாவர்க்கும் வலியன் நீ யாவர்க்கும் ஆனோய் நீ
உனக்கொரு கோயிலை என் அகத்துள்ளே புனைவேனே
சிவசக்திக் குமரா சரணம் சரணம் ஐயா
அபாயம் தவிர்த்துத் தடுத்தாட் கொண்டருள்வாய்
நிழல்வெயில் நீர்நெருப்பு மண்காற்று வானதிலும் …… 90

பகைமையை அகற்றி அபயமளித்திடுவீர்
உணர்விலே ஒன்றி என்னை நிர்மலமாக்கிடுவாய்
யானென தற்ற மெய்ஞ் ஞானம் தருள்வாய் நீ
முக்திக்கு வித்தான முருகா கந்தா
சதுர்மறை போற்றும் சண்முக நாதா …… 95

ஆகமம் ஏத்தும் அம்பிகை புதல்வா
ஏழையைக் காக்க நீ வேலேந்தி வந்திடுவாய்
தாயாய்த் தந்தையாய் முருகா தக்கணம் நீ வருவாய்
சக்தியும் சிவனுமாய்ச் சடுதியில் நீ வருவாய்
பரம்பொருளான பாலனே கந்தகுரோ …… 100

ஆதிமூலமே அருவாய் உருவாய் நீ
அடியனைக் காத்திட அறிவாய் வந்தருள்வாய்
உள்ளொளியாய் முருகா உடனே நீ வா வா வா
தேவாதி தேவா சிவகுரோ வா வா வா
வேலாயுதத்துடன் குமரா விரைவில் நீ வந்திடப்பா …… 105

காண்பன யாவுமாய்க் கண்கண்ட தெய்வமாய்
வேதச் சுடராய் மெய்கண்ட தெய்வமே
மித்தையாம் இவ்வுலகை மித்தையென்று அறிந்திடச்செய்
அபயம் அபயம் கந்தா அபயம் என்று அலறுகின்றேன்
அமைதியை வேண்டி அறுமுக வா வா என்றேன் …… 110

உன்துணை வேண்டினேன் உமையவள் குமரா கேள்
அச்சம் அகற்றிடுவாய் அமைதியைத் தந்திடுவாய்
வேண்டியது உன்அருளே அருள்வது உன் கடனேயாம்
உன் அருளாலே உன்தாள் வணங்கிட்டேன்
அட்டமா சித்திகளை அடியனுக்கு அருளிடப்பா …… 115

அஜபை வழியிலே அசையாமல் இருத்திவிடு
சித்தர்கள் போற்றிடும் ஞானசித்தியும் தந்துவிடு
சிவானந்தத் தேனில் திளைத்திடவே செய்துவிடு
அருள் ஒளிக் காட்சியை அகத்துளே காட்டிவிடு
அறிவை அறிந்திடும் அவ்வருளையும் நீ தந்துவிடு …… 120

அனுக்கிரகித்திடுவாய் ஆதிகுருநாதா கேள்
கந்தகுரு நாதா கந்தகுரு நாதா
தத்துவம் மறந்து தன்னையும் நான் மறந்து
நல்லதும் கெட்டதும் நான் என்பதும் மறந்து
பாவ புண்ணியத்தோடு பரலோகம் மறந்திடச்செய் …… 125

அருள் வெளிவிட்டு இவனை அகலாது இருத்திடுவாய்
அடிமையைக் காத்திடுவாய் ஆறுமுகக் கந்தகுரோ
சித்தியிலே பெரிய ஞானசித்தி நீ அருள
சீக்கிரமே வருவாய் சிவானந்தம் தருவாய்
சிவானந்தம் தந்தருளி சிவசித்தர் ஆக்கிடுவாய் …… 130

சிவனைப் போல் என்னைச் செய்திடுவது உன் கடனே
சிவசத் குருநாதா சிவசத் குருநாதா
கந்த குருநாதா கதறுகிறேன் கேட்டிடுவாய்
தாளினைப் பிடித்தேன் தந்திடு வரம் எனக்கு
திருவருட் சக்தியைத் தந்தாட் கொண்டிடுவாய் …… 135

சத்ருப் பகைவர்களை சண்முகா ஒழித்திட்டு
கிழக்குத் திசையிலிருந்து கிருபாகரா காப்பாற்றும்
தென்கிழக்குத் திசையிலிருந்து தீனபந்தோ காப்பாற்றும்
தென்திசையிலும் என்னைத் திருவருளால் காப்பாற்றும்
தென்மேற்கிலும் என்னைத் திறன்வேலால் காப்பாற்றும் …… 140

மேற்குத் திக்கில் என்னை மால்மருகா ரச்சிப்பாய்
வடமேற்கிலும் என்னை மயிலோனே ரச்சிப்பாய்
வடக்கில் என்னைக் காப்பாற்ற வந்திடுவீர் சத்குருவாய்
வடகிழக்கில் எனக்காக மயில்மீது வருவீரே
பத்துத் திக்குத் தோறும் எனை பறந்துவந்து ரச்சிப்பாய்…… 145

என் சிகையையும் சிரசினையும் சிவகுரோ ரச்சிப்பாய்
நெற்றியும் புருவமும் நினதருள் காக்கட்டும்
புருவங்களுக்கிடையே புருஷோத்தமன் காக்கட்டும்
கண்கள் இரண்டையும் கந்தவேல் காக்கட்டும்
நாசிகள் இரண்டையும் நல்லவேல் காக்கட்டும் …… 150

செவிகள் இரண்டையும் சேவற்கொடி காக்கட்டும்
கன்னங்கள் இரண்டையும் காங்கேயன் காக்கட்டும்
உதட்டினையும் தான் உமாசுதன் காக்கட்டும்
நாக்கை நன் முருகன் நயமுடன் காக்கட்டும்
பற்களைக் கந்தன் பலம்கொண்டு காக்கட்டும் …… 155

கழுத்தைக் கந்தன் கைகளால் காக்கட்டும்
தோள்கள் இரண்டையும் தூய வேல் காக்கட்டும்
கைகள் விரல்களைக் கார்த்திகேயன் காக்கட்டும்
மார்பையும் வயிற்றையும் வள்ளிமணாளன் காக்கட்டும்
மனத்தை முருகன்கை மாத்தடிதான் காக்கட்டும் …… 160

இருதயத்தில் கந்தன் இனிது நிலைத்திருக்கட்டும்
உதரத்தை எல்லாம் உமைமைந்தன் காக்கட்டும்
நாபிகுஹ்யம் லிங்கம் நவயுடைக் குதத்தோடு
இடுப்பை முழங்காலை இணையான கால்களையும்
புறங்கால் விரல்களையும் பொருந்தும் உகிர் அனைத்தையுமே …… 165

உரோமத் துவாரம் எல்லாம் உமைபாலா ரச்சிப்பாய்
தோல் ரத்தம் மஜ்ஜையையும் மாம்சமென்பு மேதசையும்
அறுமுகவா காத்திடுவீர் அமரர் தலைவா காத்திடுவீர்
என் அகங்காரமும் அகற்றி அறிவொளியாய் இருந்தும்
முருகா எனைக் காக்க வேல் கொண்டு வந்திடுவீர் …… 170

பாபத்தைப் பொசுக்கிப் பாரெல்லாம் சிறப்புறவே
ஓம் ஸெளம் சரவணபவ ஸ்ரீம் ஹ்ரீம் க்லீம் என்றும்
க்லெளம் ஸெளம் நமஹ என்று சேர்த்திடடா நாள்தோறும்
ஓமிருந்து நமஹவரை ஒன்றாகச் சேர்த்திடடா
ஒன்றாகக் கூட்டியுமே உள்ளத்திலே இருத்தி …… 175

ஒருமனத் தோடு நீ உருவையும் ஏத்திடடா
முருகனின் மூலமிது முழுமனத்தோடு ஏத்திட்டால்
மும்மலம் அகன்றுவிடும் முக்தியுந்தன் கையிலுண்டாம்
முக்தியை வேண்டியுமே எத்திக்கும் செல்ல வேண்டாம்
முருகன் இருப்பிடமே முக்தித் தலம் ஆகுமப்பா …… 180

இருதயத்தில் முருகனை இருத்திவிடு இக்கணமே
இக்கணமே மூலமந்ரம் ஏத்திவிடு ஏத்திவிடு
முலமதை ஏத்துவோர்க்கு காலபயம் இல்லையடா
காலனை நீ ஜயிக்க கந்தனைப் பற்றிடடா
சொன்னபடிச் செய்தால் சுப்ரமண்ய குருநாதன் …… 185

தண்ணொளிப் பெருஞ்சுடராய் உன்னுள்ளே தானிருப்பான்
ஜகமாயை ஜயித்திடவே செப்பினேன் மூலமுமே
முலத்தை நீ ஜபித்தே முக்தனுமாகிடடா
அக்ஷர லக்ஷமிதை அன்புடன் ஜபித்துவிடில்
எண்ணிய தெலாம்கிட்டும் எமபய மகன்றோடும் …… 190

முவுலகும் பூஜிக்கும் முருகனருள் முன்னிற்கும்
பூவுலகில் இணையற்ற பூஜ்யனுமாவாய் நீ
கோடித்தரம் ஜபித்துக் கோடிகாண வேண்டுமப்பா
கோடிகாணச் சொன்னதை நீ நாடிடுவாய் மனமே
ஜன்மம் கடைத்தேற ஜபித்திடுவாய் கோடியுமே …… 195

வேதாந்த ரகசியமும் வெளியாகும் உன்னுள்ளே
வேத சூட்சுமத்தை விரைவாகப் பற்றிடலாம்
சுப்ரமண்யகுரு ஜோதியாயுள் தோன்றிடுவான்
அருட் பெரும் ஜோதியான ஆறுமுக சுவாமியுமே
அந்தர் முகமிருந்து ஆட்கொள்வான் சத்தியமாய் …… 200

சித்தியையும் முக்தியையும் கந்தகுரு தந்திடுவான்
நின்னையே நான் வேண்டி நித்தமும் ஏத்துகிறேன்
மெய்யறிவாகக் கந்தா வந்திடுவாய் இவனுளே நீ
வந்திடுவாய் மருவிடுவாய் பகுத்தறிவாகவே நீ
பகுத்தறி வோடிவனைப் பார்த்திடச் செய்திடப்பா …… 205

பகுத்தறிவான கந்தன் பரங்குன்றில் இருக்கின்றான்
பழனியில் நீயும் பழம்ஜோதி ஆனாய் நீ
பிரம்மனுக்கு அருளியவா பிரணவப் பொருளோனே
பிறவா வரமருளி பிரம்ம மயமாக்கிடுவாய்
திருச்செந்தூரில் நீ சக்திவேல் தாங்கி விட்டாய் …… 210

பழமுதிர் சோலையில் நீ பரஞ்ஜோதி மயமானாய்
சுவாமி மலையிலே சிவசுவாமிக் கருளிய நீ
குன்றுகள் தோறும் குருவாய் அமர்ந்திட்டோய்
கந்தகிரியை நீ சொந்தமாக்கிக் கொண்டனையே
கந்த குருநாதா கந்தாஸ்ரம ஜோதியே …… 215

பிறப்பையும் இறப்பையும் பெயர்த்துக் காத்திடுவாய்
பிறவாமை என்கின்ற பெருவரம் நீ தந்திடுவாய்
தத்துவக் குப்பையை மறந்திடச் செய்திடுவாய்
எந்த நினைப்பையும் எரித்து நீ காத்திடுவாய்
கந்தா சரணம் கந்தா சரணம் …… 220

சரணம் அடைந்திட்டேன் சடுதியில் வாருமே
சரவண பவனே சரவண பவனே
உன்னருளாலே நான் உயிரோடிருக்கின்றேன்
உயிருக்குயிரான கந்தா உன்னிலென்னைக் கரைத்திடப்பா
என்னில் உன்னைக் காண எனக்கு வரமருள்வாய் …… 225

சீக்கிரம் வந்து சிவசக்தியும் தந்தருள்வாய்
இடகலை பிங்கலை ஏதும் அறிந்திலேன் நான்
இந்திரியம் அடக்கி இருந்தும் அறிகிலேன் நான்
மனதை அடக்க வழி ஒனறும் அறிந்திலேன் நான்
கந்தா உன் திருவடியைப் பற்றினேன் சிக்கெனவே …… 230

சிக்கெனப் பற்றினேன் செப்பிடுவீர் உபதேசம்
காமக் கசடுகள் யாவையும் களைந்திடுவாய்
சித்த சுத்தியும் ஜபமும் தந்திடுவாய்
நினைப்பு எல்லாம் நின்னையே நினைந்திடச் செய்திடுவாய்
திருமுருகா உன்னைத் திடமுற நினைத்திடவே …… 235

திருவருள் தந்திடுவாய் திருவருள்தான் பொங்கிடவே
திருவருள் ஒன்றிலே நிலைபெறச் செய்திடுவாய்
நிலைபெறச் செய்திடுவாய் நித்யானந்தமதில்
நித்யானந்தமே நின்னுரு வாகையினால்
அத்வை ஆனந்தத்தில் இமைப்பொழுது ஆழ்த்திடுவாய் …… 240

ஞான பண்டிதா நான்மறை வித்தகா கேள்
கந்த குருநாதா கந்த குருநாதா கேள்
மெய்ப்பொருளைக் காட்டி மேன்மை அடைந்திடச்செய்
வினைகள் யாவையுமே வேல்கொண்டு விரட்டிடுவாய்
தாரித்திரியங்களை உன் தடி கொண்டு விரட்டிடுவாய் …… 245

துக்கங்கள் அனைத்தையும் தொலைதூரம் போக்கிடுவாய்
பாப உடலைப் பரிசுத்த மாக்கிடுவாய்
இன்ப துன்பத்தை இருவிழியால் விரட்டிடுவாய்
ஆசைப் பேய்களை அறவே நசுக்கிடுவாய்
அகந்தைப் பிசாசை அழித்து ஒழித்திடடா …… 250

மெய்யருளாம் உன்னருளில் முருகா இருத்திடுவாய்
கண்கண்ட தெய்வமே கலியுக வரதனே
ஆறுமுகமான குரோ அறிந்திட்டேன் உன் மகிமை
இக்கணமே வருவாய் என் கந்த குருவே நீ
என்னைக் காத்திடவே எனக்கு நீ அருளிடவே …… 255

அரைக் கணத்தில் நீயும் ஆடி வருவாயப்பா
வந்தெனைத் தடுத்து வலிய ஆட்கொள் வரதகுரோ
அன்புத் தெய்வமே ஆறுமுக மானவனே
சுப்ரமண்யனே சோகம் அகற்றிடுவாய்
ஞான ஸ்கந்தரே ஞானம் அருள்வாய் நீ …… 260

ஞான தண்ட பாணியே என்னை ஞான பண்டிதனக்கிடுவாய்
அகந்தையெல்லாம் அழித்து அன்பினை ஊட்டிடுவாய்
அன்பு மயமாக்கி ஆட்கொள்ளு வையப்பா
அன்பை என் உள்ளத்தில் அசைவின்றி நிறுத்திவிடு
அன்பையே கண்ணாக ஆக்கிக் காத்திடுவாய் …… 265

உள்ளும் புறமும் உன்னருளாம் அன்பையே
உறுதியாக நானும் பற்றிட உவந்திடுவாய்
எல்லை இல்லாத அன்பே இறைவெளி என்றாய் நீ
அங்கிங்கெனாதபடி எங்கும் அன்பென்றாய்
அன்பே சிவமும் அன்பே சக்தியும் …… 270

அன்பே ஹரியும் அன்பே பிரமனும்
அன்பே தேவரும் அன்பே மனிதரும்
அன்பே நீயும் அன்பே நானும்
அன்பே சத்தியம் அன்பே நித்தியம்
அன்பே சாந்தம் அன்பே ஆனந்தம் …… 275

அன்பே மெளனம் அன்பே மோட்சம்
அன்பே பிரம்மமும் அன்பே அனைத்தும் என்றாய்
அன்பிலாத இடம் அங்குமிங்கு மில்லை என்றாய்
எங்கும் நிறைந்த அன்பே என் குருநாதனப்பா
அன்பில் உறையும் அருட்குரு நாதரே தான் …… 280

கந்தாஸ்ரமத்தில் கந்தகுரு வானான்காண்
முவரும் தேவரும் முனிவரும் போற்றிடவே
கந்தாஸ்ரமம் தன்னில் கந்த ஜோதியுமாய்
ஆத்ம ஜோதியுமாய் அமர்ந்திட்ட கந்தகுரு
இருளை அகற்றவே எழுந்திட்ட எங்கள் குரு …… 285

எல்லை இல்லாத உன் இறைவெளியைக் காட்டிடுவாய்
முக்தியைத் தந்திடுவாய் மூவரும் போற்றிடவே
நம்பினேன் உன்னையே நம்பினேன் கந்தகுரோ
உன்னையன்றி இவ்வுலகில் ஒன்றுமில்லை என்றுணர்ந்தேன்
நன்கறிந்து கொண்டேன் நானும் உனதருளால் …… 290

விட்டிட மாட்டேன் கந்தா வீட தருள்வீரே
நடுனெற்றித் தானத்து நானுனைத் தியானிப்பேன்
பிரம்ம மந்திரத்தைப் போதித்து வந்திடுவாய்
சுழுமுனை மார்க்கமாய் ஜோதியை காட்டிடுவாய்
சிவயோகியாக எனைச் செய்திடும் குருநாதா …… 295

ஆசை அறுத்து அரனடியைக் காட்டிவிடும்
மெய்யடி யராக்கி மெய் வீட்டில் இருத்திவிடும்
கொங்கு நாட்டிலே கோயில் கொண்ட கந்தகுரோ
கொல்லிமலை மேலே குமரகுரு வானவனே
கஞ்சமலை சித்தர் போற்றும் கந்தகிரி குருநாதா …… 300

கருவூரார் போற்றும் காங்கேயா கந்தகுரோ
மருதமலைச் சித்தன் மகிழ்ந்துபணி பரமகுரோ
சென்னிமலைக் குமரா சித்தர்க்கு அருள்வோனே
சிவவாக்கியர் சித்தர் உனைச் சிவன் மலையில் போற்றுவரே
பழனியில் போகருமே பாரோர் வாழப் பிரதிஷ்டை செய்திட்டார் …… 305

புலிப்பாணி சித்தர்களால் புடை சூழ்ந்த குமரகுரோ
கொங்கில் மலிந்திட்ட கந்த குருநாதா
கள்ளம் கபடமற்ற வெள்ளை உள்ளம் அருள்வீரே
கற்றவர்களோடு என்னைக் களிப்புறச் செய்திடுமே
உலகெங்கும் நிறைந்திருந்தும் கந்தகுரு உள்ளஇடம் …… 310

கந்தகிரி என்பதை தான் கண்டுகொண்டேன் கண்டுகொண்டேன்
நால்வர் அருணகிரி நவமிரண்டு சித்தர்களும்
பக்தர்களும் போற்றும் பழநிமலை முருகா கேள்
கொங்குதேசத்தில் குன்றுதோறும் குடிகொண்டோய்
சீலம் நிறைந்த சேலம் மாநகரத்தில் …… 315

கன்னிமார் ஓடையின்மேல் கந்தகிரி அதனில்
கந்தாஸ் ரமத்தினிலே ஞானஸ்கந்த சத்குருவாய்
அமர்ந்திருக்கும் ஜோதியே ஆதேமுல மானகுரோ
அயர்ச்சியை நீக்கிடுவாய் என் தளர்ச்சியை அகற்றிடுவாய்
சுகவனேசன் மகனே சுப்ரமண்ய ஜோதியே …… 320

பேரின்ப மகிழ்ச்சியையும் பெருகிடச் செய்திடப்பா
பரமானந்தமதில் எனை மறக்க பாலிப்பாய்
மால் மருகா வள்ளி மணவாளா கந்தகுரோ
சிவகுமரா உன்கோயில் கந்தகிரி என்றுணர்ந்தேன்
ஜோதிப்பிழம்பான சுந்தரனே பழனியப்பா …… 325

சிவஞானப் பழமான கந்தகுருநாதா
பழம் நீ என்றதினால் பழனிமலை இருந்தாயோ
திருவாவினன் குடியில் திருமுருகன் ஆனாயோ
குமரா முருகா குருகுகா வேலவனே
அகத்தியர்க்குத் தந்து ஆட்சிகொண்டாய் தமிழகத்தை …… 330

கலியுக வரதனென்று கலசமுனி உனைப்புகழ்ந்தான்
ஒளவைக்கு அருள் செய்த அறுமுகவா கந்தகுரோ
ஒழுக்கமொடு கருணையையும் தவத்தையும் தந்தருள்வாய்
போகருக்கருள் செய்த புவனசுந்தரனே
தண்டபாணித் தெய்வமே தடுத்தாட் கொண்டிடப்பா …… 335

ஆண்டிக் கோலத்தில் அணைத்திடுவாய் தண்டுடனே
தெய்வங்கள் போற்றிடும் தண்டாயுத ஜோதியே
கந்தகிரி மேலே கந்தகிரி ஜோதி யானவனே
கடைக்கண்ணால் பார்த்திடப்பா கருணையுள்ள கந்தகுரோ
ஏழையைக் காத்திடப்பா ஏத்துகிறேன் உன்நாமம் …… 340

உன்னை அன்றி வேறொன்றை ஒருபோதும் நம்புகிலேன்
கண்கண்ட தெய்வமே கலியுக வரதனே
கந்தன் என்ற பேர்சொன்னால் கடிதாக நோய்தீரும்
புவனேஸ்வரி மைந்தா போற்றினேன் திருவடியை
திருவடியை நம்பினேன் திருவடி சாட்சியாக …… 345

புவனமாதா மைந்தனே புண்ணிய மூர்த்தியே கேள்
நின் நாமம் ஏத்துவதே நான் செய்யும் தவமாகும்
நாத்தழும் பேறவே ஏத்திடுவேன் நின்நாமம்
முருகா முருகாவென்றே மூச்செல்லாம் விட்டிடுவேன்
உள்ளும் புறமும் ஒருமுருகனையே காண்பேன் …… 350

அங்கிங்கு எனாதபடி எங்குமே முருகனப்பா
முருகன் இலாவிட்டால் மூவுலக மேதப்பா
அப்பப்பா முருகாநின் அருளே உலகமப்பா
அருளெல்லாம் முருகன் அன்பெல்லாம் முருகன்
தாவர ஜங்கமாய் கந்தனாய் அருவுருவாய் …… 355

முருகனாய் முதல்வனாய் ஆனவன் கந்தகுரு
கந்தாஸ்ரமம் இருக்கும் கந்தகுரு அடிபற்றிச்
சரணம் அடைந்தவர்கள் சாயுஜ்யம் பெற்றிடுவர்
சத்தியம் சொல்கின்றேன் சந்தேக மில்லையப்பா
வேதங்கள் போற்றிடும் வடிவேலன் முருகனை நீ …… 360

சந்தேகம் இல்லாமல் சத்தியமாய் நம்பிடுவாய்
சத்திய மானதெய்வம் கந்த குருநாதன்
சத்தியம் காணவே நீ சத்தியமாய் நம்பிடப்பா
சத்தியம் வேறல்ல கந்தகுரு வேறல்ல
கந்தகுருவே சத்தியம் சத்தியமே கந்தகுரு …… 365

சத்தியமாய்ச் சொன்னதை சத்தியமாய் நம்பியே நீ
சத்தியமாய் ஞானமாய் சதானந்த மாகிவிடு
அழிவற்ற ப்ரம்மமாய் ஆக்கி விடுவான் முருகன்
திருமறைகள் திருமுறைகள் செப்புவதும் இதுவேதான்
கந்தகுரு கவசமதை சொந்தமாக்கிக் கொண்டு நீ …… 370

பொருளுணர்ந்து ஏத்திடப்பா பொல்லாப்பு வினையகலும்
பிறவிப் பிணி அகலும் பிரம்மானந்த முண்டு
இம்மையிலும் மறுமையிலும் இமையருனைப் போற்றிடுவர்
முவருமே முன்னிற்பர் யாவருமே பூஜிப்பர்
அனுதினமும் கவசத்தை அன்புடன் ஏத்திடப்பா …… 375

சிரத்தா பக்தியுடன் சிந்தையொன்றிச் செப்பிடப்பா
கவலைய கன்றிடுமே கந்தனருள் பொங்கிடுமே
பிறப்பும் இறப்பும் பிணிகளும் தொலைந்திடுமே
கந்தன் கவசமே கவசமென்று உணர்ந்திடுவாய்
கவசம் ஏத்துவீரேல் கலியை ஜெயித்திடலாம் …… 380

கலி என்ற அரக்கனைக் கவசம் விரட்டிடுமே
சொன்னபடிச் செய்து சுகமடைவாய் மனமே நீ
கந்தகுரு கவசத்தைக் கருத்தூன்றி ஏத்துவோர்க்கு
அஷ்ட ஐஸ்வர்யம் தரும் அந்தமில்லா இன்பம் தரும்
ஆல்போல் தழைத்திடுவன் அறுகுபோல் வேரோடிடுவன் …… 385

வாழையடி வாழையைப்போல் வம்சமதைப் பெற்றிடுவன்
பதினாறும் பெற்றுப் பல்லாண்டு வாழ்ந்திடுவன்
சாந்தியும் செளக்யமும் சர்வமங்களமும் பெருகிடுமே
கந்தகுரு கவசமிதை கருத்திருத்தி ஏற்றுவீரேல்
கர்வம் காமக்குரோதம் கலிதோஷம் அகற்றுவிக்கும் …… 390

முன்செய்த வினையகன்று முருகனருள் கிட்டிவிடும்
அறம் பொருள் இன்பம் வீடு அதிசுலபமாய்க் கிட்டும்
ஆசாரம் சீலமுடன் ஆதிநேம நிஷ்டையுடன்
கள்ளமிலா உள்ளத்தோடு கந்தகுரு கவசம் தன்னை
சிரத்தா பக்தியுடன் சிவகுமரனை நினைத்துப் …… 395

பாராயணம் செய்வீரேல் பார்க்கலாம் கந்தனையும்
கந்தகுரு கவசமிதை மண்டலம் நிஷ்டையுடன்
பகலிரவு பாராமல் ஒருமனதாய் பகருவீரேல்
திருமுருகன் வேல்கொண்டு திக்குகள் தோறும் நின்று
காத்திடுவான் கந்தகுரு கவலை இல்லை நிச்சயமாய் …… 400

ஞான கந்தனின் திருவடியை நம்பியே நீ
கந்தகுரு கவசம் தன்னை ஓதுவதே தவம் எனவே
உணர்ந்துகொண்டு ஓதுவையேல் உனக்குப் பெரிதான
இகபரசுகம் உண்டாம் எந்நாளும் துன்பம் இல்லை
துன்பம் அகன்று விடும் தொந்திரைகள் நீங்கிவிடும் …… 405

இன்பம் பெருகிவிடும் இஷ்டசித்தி கூடிவிடும்
பிறவிப்பிணி அகற்றி ப்ரம்ம நிஷ்டையும் தந்து
காத்து ரக்ஷிக்கும் கந்தகுரு கவசமுமே
கவலையை விட்டுநீ கந்தகுரு கவசமிதை
இருந்த படியிருந்து ஏற்றிவிடு ஏற்றினால் …… 410

தெய்வங்கள் தேவர்கள் சித்தர்கள் பக்தர்கள்
போற்றிடுவர் ஏவலுமே புரிந்திடுவர் நிச்சயமாய்
கந்தகுரு கவசம் சம்சயப் பேயோட்டும்
அஞ்ஞானமும் அகற்றி அருள் ஒளியும் காட்டும்
ஞான கந்தகுரு நானென்றும் முன்நிற்பன் …… 415

உள்ளொளியாய் இருந்து உன்னில் அவனாக்கிடுவன்
தன்னில் உனைக்காட்டி உன்னில் தனைக்காட்டி
எங்கும் தனைக்காட்டி எங்குமுனைக் காட்டிடுவான்
கந்தஜோதி யானகந்தன் கந்தகிரி இருந்து
தண்டாயுதம் தாங்கித் தருகின்றான் காட்சியுமே …… 420

கந்தன் புகழ் பாடக் கந்தகிரி வாருமினே
கந்தகிரி வந்து நிதம் கண்டுய்ம்மின் ஜகத்தீரே
கலிதோஷம் அகற்றுவிக்கும் கந்தகுரு கவசமிதை
பாராயணம் செய்து பாரில் புகழ் பெறுமின்
கந்தகுரு கவச பலன் பற்றறுத்துப் பரம்கொடுக்கும் …… 425

ஒருதரம் கவசம் ஓதின் உள்ளழுக்குப் போகும்
இருதரம் ஏற்றுவீரேல் எண்ணியதெல்லாம் கிட்டும்
முன்றுதரம் ஓதின் முன்னிற்பன் கந்தகுரு
நான்முறை ஓதி தினம் நல்லவரம் பெறுவீர்
ஐந்துமுறை தினமட ஓதி பஞ்சாட்சரம் பெற்று …… 430

ஆறுமுறை யோதி ஆறுதலைப் பெற்றிடுவீர்
ஏழு முறை தினம் ஓதின் எல்லாம் வசமாகும்
எட்டுமுறை ஏத்தில் அட்டமா சித்திகிட்டும்
ஒன்பதுதரம் ஓதின் மரணபயம் ஒழியும்
பத்துதரம் ஓதி நித்தம் பற்றறுத்து வாழ்வீரே …… 435

கன்னிமார் ஓடையிலே நீராடி நீறுபூசிக்
கந்தகுரு கவசம் ஓதி கந்தகிரி ஏறிவிட்டால்
முந்தை வினை எல்லாம் கந்தன் அகற்றிடுவான்
நிந்தைகள் நீங்கிவிடும் நிஷ்டையுமே கைகூடும்
கன்னிமார் ஓடை நீரை கைகளில் நீ எடுத்துக் …… 440

கந்தன் என்ற மந்திரத்தைக் கண்மூடி உருவேற்றி
உச்சியிலும் தெளித்து உட்கொண்டு விட்டிட்டால் உன்
சித்த மலம் அகன்று சித்த சுத்தியும் கொடுக்கும்
கன்னிமார் தேவிகளைக் கன்னிமார் ஓடையிலே
கண்டு வழிபட்டு கந்தகிரி ஏறிடுவீர் …… 445

கந்தகிரி ஏறி ஞான கந்தகுரு கவசமிதைப்
பாராயணம் செய்துலகில் பாக்கியமெல்லாம் பெற்றுடுவீர். …… 447

இயற்றியவர் :ஸ்ரீமத் சத்குரு சாந்தானந்த சுவாமிகள்

It’s Your Road & Your Road Alone – Poem

your road-rumi

(A poem based on the quotes of Rumi)

Dear reader, don’t you love these rhyming lines
Of verses through which a mystic light shines?
These words are like a sailing antique ship
And their meaning is the sea for that trip!

Where are you racing to? My loving friend!
Trust me, those wild cravings don’t have an end;
The wealth within you is your grand kingdom;
My friend, there you can taste the true freedom!

Let yourself become a wise, living verse
That wears metaphors and flies to excurse;
Trust your heart! deep down, it does know the way;
Run in that direction, you’ll find the ray!

Don’t worry about what these people think;
Sing like the sparrows, dance, rejoice and drink!
It’s your road and yours alone; walk with joy!
Life is a drama and world is a toy!

– Shanmugam p

Bhoothanatha Geetha – The Song of Ayyappa

Bhoothanatha Geetha (or Bhutanatha Gita) is a very rare Sanskrit text. We are greatly indebted to Mr. V. Aravind Subramanyam for working all his life to find the old manuscripts of this book, translate it and make it available with English and Tamil translations. . The book can only be directly ordered from him by sending a DD or cheque to his residence in Coimbatore Tamil Nadu. It is not available elsewhere. I got a copy of it yesterday and I want to share what I found in it. Mr. Aravind Subramanyam, due to his earnest love for Dharama Sastha, always adds Maha Sasthru Priya Dasan before his name. He has also written a complete purana called Sri Maha Sastha Vijayam.

Boothanatha Geetha is much shorter than Bhagavad Gita but conveys the key points of Advaita Vedanta. It has 132 verses in 8 short chapters. Bhagavad Gita is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna. Similarly, Bhoothanatha Gita is a conversation between Prince Manikanta who was considered as the avatar of Dharma sastha and Rajasekharan, the king of Pandalam.

Boothanatha Geetha has certain uniqueness that other texts don’t have. To explain that, I will comment on some of the important verses from the book.

Boothanatha Geetha is written in much simpler Sanskrit. So, it is easier than Bhagavad Gita, if you want to read the text in the original. The first sloka is very simple and with basic knowledge of Sanskrit, one can understand it:

janma mrtyAdi duhkhAnAm nAzAya mahIpate

karmano nAzanam mukhyam tadupAyam nizamyatAm

Meaning: Oh King, destroying one’s karmas is important for the destruction of the suffering that arises from the cycle of birth and death. You can hear the way for it from me.

The text has 8 chapters. The first chapter Brahma Lakshana Yoga starts with this sloka and proceeds to explain the nature of Brahman, the absolute reality.

Chapter 1 – Brahma Lakshana Yoga

Here is the eighth sloka which talks about it:

AdimadhyAntarahitam svayam jotih parAtparam

avyayam nirgunam rAjan kAladezAdi varjjitam

citganam nityamAnandam tatbhinnam nAsti vastu bho

asitatvamaham taccetyAmnAyah parikIrtitah

Meaning:

Oh king! Brahman has no beginning, no middle and no end. It shines on its own and is the greatest of the greatest. It is imperishable, attributeless and beyond space & time.

It has been described in the scriptures that it is conscious and always in bliss. Nothing other than that exists! It is you and it is also me.

(It is interesting to note that the line ‘citganam nityamAnandam tatbhinnam nAsti vastu bho’ is a description of sat-cit-ananda or truth-consciousness – bliss. citganam = conciousness; nityamAnandam = bliss; tatbhinnam nAsti vastu bho = truth).

These lines also combine two mahavakyas, ‘tat tvam asi’ (You are that) and ‘aham brahmasmi’ (I am Brahmam’ together by saying ‘asi tat tvam aham’ (that exists as you and I). A good sloka for memorization for people who are learning Sanskrit. This sloka is similar to a lot of verses in Sankhya Yoga, the second chapter of Bhagavad Gita.

If Brahman is all that exists, then how do we explain the multiplicity in the existence? In the next few slokas, Manikanta attempts to clarify this doubt with the famous example of gold and gold ornaments found in Chandogya Upanishad.

In Chandogya Upanishad, Svetakethu’s father teaches him ‘tat tvam asi’ (you are that) and proceeds to explain with this example:

“Just as, my dear, by one clod of clay all that is made of clay is known, the modification being only a name, arising from speech, while the truth is that all is clay; “Just as, my dear, by one nugget of gold all that is made of gold is known, the modification being only a name, arising from speech, while the truth is that all is gold; “And just as, my dear, by one pair of nail—scissors all that is made of iron is known, the modification being only a name, arising from speech, while the truth is that all is iron—even so, my dear, is that instruction.”

Manikanta must have been well versed and quite familiar with Chandogya Upanishad and even some Buddhist texts as we will see.

Manikanta explains that just like gold ornaments with different shapes are essentially gold and nothing else, all the myriads of names and forms that we see is essentially Brahman and nothing else. The multiplicity is seen due to Maya (illusion or unreal).

In 12th sloka, the king questions, “What you are saying now seems to be contradictory to what you said before. If Brahman is all that exists, then where does maya come from?. How do the scholars of Advaita accept this contradiction? “

This would remind us of Arjuna’s confusion when he complains to Krishna in Gita 3.1 that Krishna seemed to be contradicting himself.

Manikanta then explains that maya is nothing but the idea of a separate self. When you see something as me or mine, it is maya. This illusion has no beginning but it has an end. It is due to this illusion, one perceives or feels himself different from Brahman. Manikanta then encourages the king to investigate and see if there is really any truth in saying things like ‘this is my hand’, ‘this is my leg’ etc. He asserts that if one investigates carefully, one can know that there is no such thing as ‘mine’.

Manikanta also quotes the famous analogy of crystal to explain the relationship between Brahman and Maya. Maya doesn’t stick to Brahman even though it appears to be, just like a red flower placed on a crystal makes the crystal to appear red, even though the crystal itself doesn’t have the quality of the redness. At the same time, the color exists inseparable from the crystal just like maya is in a sense inseparable from Brahman.

Chapter 2 – Brahma Jnana Yoga

The second chapter is Brahma Jnana Yoga. Manikanta begins by explaining how the three gunas or trimurties sattva (Brahma), rajas (Vishnu) and tamas (Shiva) originated from Brahman.

In this chapter, Manikanta talks like Buddha. Buddha used to discourage metaphysical questions which are about the origin of the world, the origin of maya or the origin of suffering.

In Buddhist texts, there is a parable called the parable of a poisoned arrow. This parable was said as a response when someone asked how suffering originated in the first place:

“It’s just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a brahman, a merchant, or a worker.’ He would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me… until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short… until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored… until I know his home village, town, or city… until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow… until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark… until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated… until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird… until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.’ He would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.’ The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him.

“In the same way, if anyone were to say, ‘I won’t live the holy life under the Blessed One as long as he does not declare to me that ‘The cosmos is eternal,’… or that ‘After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist,’ the man would die and those things would still remain undeclared by the Tathagata.

“Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta: The Shorter Instructions to Malunkya” (MN 63), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight (BCBS Edition), 30 November 2013, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.063.than.html .

Manikanta says something similar in Chapter 2 , verse 6:

yastvagAdhe mahAkUpe patito bhUnnrpottama

tasmAdArohanopAyam avicintya samUDhadhih

tatra sthitvA cintayeccet kUpasyotbhavakAranam

katham tIram ca samprAptum zaktah sabhavati prabho

Meaning:

The greatest of kings! If some one falls down inside a deep well, is there any use in thinking about the reason the well was there in that place? How can you escape from the well if you don’t think about the way to escape from it?

Manikanta in many places, discourages useless questions and mere reading of scriptures without striving to know the truth in one’s experience.

Then Manikanda stresses the importance of a satguru. He says ‘samyag vettum param brahma kAryam satguru sevanam (2.7)’, which means if one wants to know the truth of Brahman in once’s experience, serving a satguru is mandatory. We will see who this satguru is, in a moment.

Manikanta then says that without the help of satguru. people end up like the blind men arguing about the shape of an elephant. The story of the blind men and the elephant is very famous in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The doctrine of Anekantavada is based on this story, which you can read about here: Logic And Spiritual Enlightenment – An Overview of Anekantavada, Saptabhangivada (Seven Valued Logic) and Syadvada of Jainism

Manikanta also goes ahead and narrates the story. (The version Manikanta narrates only has two blind men, but in other versions they are more). Two blind men once wanted to know about an elephant. So, each of them went near an elephant to touch and feel it so that they can find out the shape of the elephant. One guy touched the ears of the elephant while the other person touched the trunk. After that, both of them were perfectly convinced that they knew everything about the elephant and its shape. The guy who touched the ears argued that the elephant looks like a fan where as the guy who touched the trunk insisted that an elephant looks like a long pipe. Seeing these people fighting, a person with the perfect eye sight came and explained to them what an elephant really looks like.

Manikanta ends this chapter by conveying the difference between meditating on and worshipping the formless and attributeless truth (nirguna brahman) and a deity with a form (saguna brahman). These verses are similar to the verses in the 12th chapter (Bhakti Yoga) of Bhagavad Gita where the conversation is about the same topic. Manikanta says that one who meditates on the formless, attributeless Brahman will attain liberation in this life and become Jivan Muktas. People who worship the divine in a form will attain liberation after their death. Adhi Shankara in his commentary on Bhagavad Gita also conveys the same while interpreting the verses in chapter 12 of Gita.

Chapter 3 – Gunatraya Yoga

This chapter talks about Panchikarana, a Vedantic theory that talks about how matter came into existence from five elements (panchabhutas).

Chapter 4 – Tattva Vijnana Yoga

There is something interesting to note in the beginning of this chapter. Manikanta begins by saying that there are 96 tattvas which exist in nature. A tattva is nothing but a smallest indivisible unit or element of what appears in our consciousness. For example, memory is a tattva, ego is a tattva, perception of sight is a tattva etc. When you observe the contents of your consciousness, it is possible to come up with many such tattvas. But the number of tattvas vary by tradition. For example, Bhagavad Gita talks about 8 tattvas. Samkhya school identifies 24 tattvas and Shaiva Siddhanta tradition identifies 36 tattvas. There is one tradition that talks about 96 tattvas. It is nothing but the tradition of Siddhas who specialized in both spiritual matters and herbal medicine. Since Manikanta too talks about 96 tattvas here, it is possible that he was also a Siddha who had mastered siddhis and the art of medicine.

The purpose of the description of these tattvas is to not to commit them to memory as a bunch of information. Enumerating these tattvas are only useful to see that they are not ‘you’ or ‘yours’. In other words, these are tools for self-inquiry rather than a collection of facts. As a mere collection of information, it is useless. So, if one is longing to get liberated, he needs to take care to see that he doesn’t identify with a whole bunch of information.

Citta Suddhi – Purification of the mind

Manikanta then begins to explain how the mind gets unpurified. When we make any decision we use our intellect or the sense of discrimination. But this intellect when influenced by rajas (desire and activity leading to fulfilling the desires) and tamas (lethargy, hatred and anger born out of that hatred) grabs your attention away to multiple things. Intellect eventually gets multibranched because of myriads of desires and fears. That is why there is a lot of self-conflict and that is the reason why human beings suffer a lot from cognitive dissonance.

Gita talks about this too:

vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana
bahu-sakha hy anantas ca buddhayo ‘vyavasayinam – Gita 2.41

Meaning: A person who has achieved one pointedness (by purifying his mind) has an intellect which has just a single branch. But the intellect of the people who have not achieved such one-pointed devotedness is many branched.

While explaining, Manikanta suddenly reminds him that it is useless to just read these things and say things like ‘there are 96 tattvas’, ‘the scriptures say so’ etc. It is a waste of time to talk about things he knows only by reading and not by his experience.

Then Manikanta uses an analogy to explain what is mandatory for the purification of the mind. Let us say the mind is like a milk; and the impurities are like water. If you want to get rid of all the water and get pure milk, the only choice you have is to heat it. No amount of adding anything or trying to remove anything will get rid of the water. Simply reading the scriptures is like trying to heat the milk without fire. If there is no fire, then no matter how long you wait, the water will be still there. Manikanta says that a guru’s words and guidance is like the fuel which can create the fire. Only when the scriptures burn in the fuel of the guru’s words, the impurities of mind will evaporate and the mind will get purified. A seeker should listen to guru’s words and do meditation according to what he taught.

Then Rajasekharan asks, ‘How do I find a satguru? How would I know that he is satguru? Since you know a lot of scriptures, please explain’. It is important to note that Rajasekharan still insists to hear what is written in the scripture. He doesn’t seem to be wanting to know what Manikanta knows by his experience. This is the reason why Manikanta throughout this Gita insists the futility of mere intellectual debates without attempting to directly know the truth by experience.

So Manikanta defines who a ‘satguru’ is by listing four qualities of a satguru:

He doesn’t have any attachments.
He is peaceful and calm.
He loves his disciples.
He knows the truth by experience.

There is another thing to note here. People believe that Kabir who lived in 15th century was the one who coined the word ‘satguru’ and who was also called as a satguru for the first time. Because there were no references to the word ‘satguru’ in any other older scriptures. But Manikanta lived in 10th or 11th century AD. No body has dated Bhoothanatha Gita yet, but assuming that it was written down right after his life, it is probable that Manikanda was the one who was called as satguru for the first time and who probably used that word for the first time.

Manikanta then defines the quality of a seeker:

He has realized that life is prone to suffering.
He is longing to get freedom and prays sincerely for emancipation.

Then he defines the quality of a scripture (sastra). A scripture is a book which gives the path to destroy the following 8 qualities called as ashtaragas:

kama — lust
krodha — anger
lobha — greed
moha — delusory emotional attachment or temptation
mada — pride, hubris, (being possessed by)
matsarya — dissatisfaction
asooya – jealousy
thrshna – Craving (a very acute form of desire)

A warning about fake gurus!

Then comes a beautiful sloka which says something that no other scripture has said to my knowledge. It warns about gurus who are after your money!

guravo bahavassanti zishyANAm dhana hArakAh

durlabho deziko rAjan teshAm santapahArakAh (4.20)

Meaning: There are plenty of so called gurus who take away your money. But the gurus who can take away your misery are very rare!

Finally, Manikanta offers you a solution. Since it is very rare to find such gurus, he says that he himself is both Guru and God for a person who shows selfless devotion to him. What this sloka actually conveys is, dharmasastha is satguru! If you don’t have a guru and can’t find one, just be devoted to sastha! Devotion purifies the mind and the divine as the satguru is always there as the inner light in every being.

Chapter 5 – Karma Vibhaga Yoga

This chapter discusses three types of karmas and how karmic material travels from one body to another body. Certain themes from Chandogya Upanishad appear here too. Here Manikanta insists that one should safeguard his body and not neglect it just because it is going to die own day. Because this body is the instrument which helps you to enjoy the four purusharthas of life: dharma, artha, kama and moksha. At the same time, he also says that the purpose of having this human body is to realize the truth.

He then lists the qualifications for a seeker. In Vedanta there is a concept called sadhana chatushtaya which lists qualifications of a seeker. This sloka just lists four simple qualities that a seeker should have as qualifications : 1) Vairagya – non-attachment 2) Guru Bhakthi – devotion to guru, in this case Dharmasastha. 3) Shama – tranquility of the mind 4) dhama – control of senses.

The chapter ends as Manikanta stresses the importance of devotion in the last few slokas. Devotion purifies the mind as well as helps the person to develop the above mentioned qualifications.

Chapter 6 – Bhakthi Vibhaga Yoga

This chapter once again stresses the importance of devotion. It talks in detail about the three gunas and three type of devotees.

Chapter 7 – Karmakarma yoga

In this chapter Rajesekharan asks important questions.

Here is the essence of his question: ‘If someone is absorbed in the pleasure of Brahman and has no craving, then how will he be motivated to do any action at all? How can he deal with things in practical life as before without anything driving him from the inside?’

Manikanda replies that a person who exhibits feats by climbing a big staff are able to do so effortlessly because their mind is one pointed. When you attain one pointedness through self-realization, you will have more efficiency to do your actions. He lists people such as Janaka, Sukha, Gargi and Katwanga as examples of people who continued to live their married life after their self-realization.

Then he talks about the impermanence of the worldly things and how liberation is the only thing which is permanent. He says that this world is a stage for dramas and Brahman is the one who runs the show; night is the screen and sun is the light; we are are actors; karmas are the musical instruments and the desires are the music. Once a person starts to look at life this way, he will be able to develop vairagya (non-attachment) very quickly.

Chapter 8 – Varna Vibha Yoga

Manikanda talks about four varnas. The slokas are like rewritten verses of Purusha sukta. It talks about how people from different varnas were born from different parts of purusha.

He then says that being a householder is better than being a wandering monk, forest ascetic or a bachelor. These verses seem to echo what some older grihya sutras say. They also favoured married life over asceticism.

Manikanda then warns the king to not to read various scriptures and get confused. He says that whatever that has been conveyed so far is the essence of the scriptures and that he didn’t have to read anything else.

Finally he declares ‘sarvajnoham sarvagoham sarvasAkshyahameva bho’ which means I am the omniscient, omnipresent and a witness of everything. He asks the king to meditate on him all the time and promises him liberation.

…………………………

Thank you for reading. I could only write this because of grace! I sat this morning and resolved to write a detailed post on Bhutanatha gita and let everyone know about this text. I wanted that to happen on this Diwali day itself. I hope this answer gave a complete introduction to Bhoothanatha gita. I wish you a happy and peaceful Diwali!

(People who want to purchase this book can find details on Mr. V. Aravind Subramanyam’s blog: http://shanmatha.blogspot.com/2011/04/bhoothanatha-geetha.html )

The Holy Jihad in Islam and its True Spiritual Meaning

The greatest Jihad is to battle your own soul. to fight the evil within yourself
– Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

( Please visit this link for more examples of this concept: https://abuaminaelias.com/jihad-against-the-soul-in-islam/)

This is the true meaning of Jihad in Islam. Jihad is nothing but conquering oneself. An external Jihad is fought during unavoidable circumstances to protect the world against people who want to destroy peace. But Islam says that unless a man first fights against his own ignorance, craving, delusion etc, he is not qualified for an external Jihad.

The situation of Bhagwad Gita is actually an external Jihad. Arjuna refuses to fight the war against adharma, even though it is his duty as a warrior. But Krishna asks him to surrender the fruit of actions and just do his duty. This concept of surrender is the basis of both Karma Yoga in Bhagavad Gita as well as Islam. The word Islam itself means ‘surrender’. Prophet Mohammed’s main work was to resurrect the old Abrahamic concept of unconditional love and surrender to God. That is what Islam means.Everything else in Quran is a collection of social laws that Muhammad gave to people of those days in his country.

The key concept here is Inner jihad. It is a way of purifying one self. The concept of Navaratri that we are celebrating is also a symbolic representation of the Inner Jihad. Mahishasura represents the three malas: ahankar, karma and maya (delusion). Kali destroying Mahishasura in 9 days represents destroying these three malas (3 days for each mala). The tenth day, Vijayadasami represents the victory of the inner jihad. A victor who conquers himself thus is called as Jina in Jainism. Mahavira (which means ‘the Great warrior’) was called by that name as he had conquered himself.

This is the significance of festivals like Navratri or Durga Puja and even Diwali. Today is Vijayadasami, the tenth day following the 9 day Navaratri celebrations that just happened. Navaratri is a festival that is celebrated all over India in a grand manner. In Eastern parts of India, it is celebrated as Durga puja. On this Vijayadasami day, let us all remember the significance of walking on the spiritual path, removing the ignorance and reaching salvation .

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