Issue 1

What! Me, Sick??

We have all fallen sick one time or another. What's our foremost thought when we are sick? "I want to get rid of this disease and I don't want to catch any new ones." This is smart thinking.

Now, the one thing we know about the spiritual world is that if you come up with something smart, it probably has an application in spirituality. The idea of getting rid of afflictions and not contacting new ones is such an idea.

What's the affliction that ails humanity? The very fact that we have to be born and that we have to die. The birth-death cycle is our disease. How do we catch this disease? And is there a way out of it?

We catch this disease because of our karma baggage. (Refer to the Agasthiar Primer for more details on this important topic.) And we perpetuate it by accumulating new karma every minute of every day.

The Doctor is in!

How can we get cured of this disease? Simple. If we can get rid of past karma while not accumulating any new karma, we can get rid of this disease once and for all. How can we do this? Simple, once again. Follow the advice of the doctor of karma neutralization, the Sathguru.

Sathguru Venkataraman says that two of the important ways of karma neutralization are: (1) unfailing practice of the worship procedures laid out by the Siddhas and (2) constant involvement in charity work, both done under the guidance of a Sathguru.

"Why can't I do this on my own? Why do I need to do it under the guidance of a Sathguru?" Well, this is like saying, "Why can't I remove my own brain tumor? Why do I need a brain surgeon?"

There are many reasons for performing spiritual activities under the guidance of a Sathguru. (1) Do we know what our karma baggage is? (2) Do we know what exactly we must do to get rid of it? (3) Even if we know the procedure, are we sure we can execute it perfectly? (4) And even if we execute it perfectly, are we sure we won't accumulate any new karma via some extraneous thoughts and the like?

Only under the watchful all-seeing eye of the Sathguru can we execute these spiritual practices perfectly and not only get rid of karma but also make sure that we don't accumulate any new karma in the process.

More importantly, it's a law of the spiritual world that only under the guidance of a Sathguru can one see God, know God and merge with God. The great Siddha Thirumoolar emphatically stated this truth. This is why even God seeks out a Sathguru when he assumes human form like Rama or Krishna. The spiritual epics talk about Rama learning from Vasishta and Visvamitra and Krishna serving Sandeepani. This is not because God needs a Sathguru; it's to set an example for us humans.

We must learn that only through faith in the Sathguru and service to him or her can we march towards spiritual perfection. Our faith in the Sathguru gets transformed into a spiritual fire that burns up karma baggage. Hence the need to observe spiritual practices under the guidance of a Sathguru.

Remember that the Sathguru is not desperately seeking out disciples, but discples must desperately seek out the Sathguru. The Sathguru has achieved all there's to achieve; he's amidst us just so others can benefit from his achievements. The Sathguru's very life is a sacrifice to humankind.

How About Maximizing the Return On Investment?

Is there any human out there who doesn't want to maximize the returns on his or her investment? So we say, "Alright, I'll practice these worship procedures, but tell me, how can I get the maximum benefit out of them? I want to spend the least time but get the maximum benefit." Of course, being calculative has no place in spirituality, but still the Siddhas understand the human mind better than the humans do. They say that while there's no substitute for everyday worship, those who are not that diligent must at least observe the special worship practices like Vishnupathi and Maha Sivarathri. (Refer to the articles on timing, Vishnupathi and Maha Sivarathri in this issue of AUMzine.) This is like a minimum requirement; it's a rule relaxation that is meant only for those on the spiritual fringe, not for the serious aspirant. Of course, we are sure that most visitors to our Website are diligent spiritual aspirants brimming with bakthi who are serious about everyday spiritual practices.

"Ok, enough of that, cut to the chase and tell us how to get the maximum benefit out of our spiritual practices?" Well, alright, here it is. Sathguru Venkataraman says that those worship procedures and charity work conducted during spiritually exceptional time periods like Vishnupathi and Maha Sivarathri offer many times the spiritual and material benefits as those done during other time periods. This is the reason that one must never never miss out on these special observances.

The Siddhas insist on charity and selfless service to humanity being a part of every one of their worship procedures. These are in fact the catalysts that make the entire worship procedure work for one's spiritual and material good. Without selfless service, it's really hard to convince God that we are ready for spiritual upliftment.

Each and every one of these special days is different in the kind of spiritual good that it brings to an aspirant. On each of these special days, the Siddhas arrange for the obliteration of certain specific types of karma baggage. For example, the Siddhas may obliterate one kind of karma in the coming Vishnupathi and a different kind of karma in the next Vishnupathi. Therefore we should never submit to the "I'll do it next time around" delusion. Once missed, it's pretty much gone for life. So we should learn to treat everyone of these special days as a once in a lifetime opportunity granted to us by the Siddhas so that they can get rid of our karma baggage with surgical precision.

You know where to find information on these special days, don't you? AUMzine, of course!

Don't forget to read the articles on timing, Vishnupathi and Maha Sivarathri in this issue of AUMzine.