|
|
Sandalwood and Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara
A Special Yearly Worship Procedure
May/10/1999
|
"Make sandalwood paste with bakthi (devotion) and sraddha (faith).
Do it diligently while reciting the appropriate divine names.
Remove the excess water from the paste thus made and
apply it to any divine form, be it a statue or a figurine or a photograph.
The divine manifestations thus worshipped will accept the sandalwood paste
if offered with bakthi and They will shower you with Their blessings.
Once when I did the same for a photograph of Sri Agasthiar's divine form,
because of my Sathguru's grace I got a vision of Sri Agasthiar Himself.
When I saw Him, I saw the sandalwood paste that I had applied on
His photo shining forth as resplendent objects on His divine body.
I was overjoyed by this vision.
What I've now related to you is what I saw with my own eyes."
- Sathguru Venkataraman
1. How To Center The Mind On God
How many of us can meditate on God
with single minded devotion undistracted by anything else?
Our minds seem to travel at whirlwind speed especially when we try meditation!
The great warrior devotee Arjuna says that he can control the wind but not the mind.
To still the mind is not exactly easy.
Thus dhyaanam (meditation on God) is not easy either.
The Siddhas and rishis know of this all too human problem.
They say that if we control the body by using it for God and
His children, the mind will follow suit. After all, how can a controlled
mind exist in an uncontrolled body? Thus we have to bring the
body under control if we want to bring the mind
under control. To bring the body under control, one must dedicate
it to the service of God and His children. They who serve
God and His children physically will
find it easy to control their minds and make progress in dhyaanam.
The Siddhas and the rishis have given us many simple worship techniques
which help us unite body and mind in the service of God. The abishekam
procedure (ritual bathing of the deity form of God) is one such simple
technique which all of us can and must do without fail.
Try it out and you'll see how easily your mind gets centered on God.
You'll realize that the abishekam process involves both the hands,
the eyes, the mouth and the mind. It synchronizes all these organs
and thus the mind can not wander while it's involved in performing
abishekam. Herein lies the secret of the Siddhas and the rishis.
Thus it's important to follow their advice because one can make great
spiritual progress by following their worship procedures.
The substances that are used in the abishekam are
receptors of divine grace as we have already explained elsewhere.
Thus not only does the abishekam ceremony center our minds on God but it also conveys God's grace
to us and others in concrete form.
Hence it's an important facet of any worship and thus must be practised by one and all.
While dhyaanam involves only the practitioner, abishekam neccesarily involves others.
When we give away the substances used in the abishekam as prasadam (divine grace in concrete form),
we involve others in the process. Thus diligent practice of the abishekam
worship procedure can lead one to selflessness quickly.
2. Sandalwood and Spirituality
Different substances are used in the abishekam process and
each one results in distinct material and spiritual benefits.
It's of course ideal if we can perform all worship procedures
for the welfare of the world, but only the Siddhas and the
maharishis are such truly selfless beings. However, it must be
our goal to achieve this state of true selflessness.
One of the substances that's used in abishekam is sandalwood paste.
As we have mentioned elsewhere, all objects and beings
have their intrinsic vibrations.
Sandalwood emits spiritual vibrations of a highly evolved nature
and is thus ideal for use in worship.
God is the seed giving father of all.
Sri Agasthiar says that when Siva performs the cosmic dance in His Nataraja manifestation, the sweat
droplets that fall from His divine body take form as seeds from which sprout sandalwood trees.
This is why sandalwood has intense spiritual vibrations
and this is why it must first be offered in worship before being put to any other use.
Sri Agasthiar also says that each sandalwood tree
is charged with the spiritual force of one of the saptarishis (the seven great rishis).
So one must recite the names of the seven rishis while making sandalwood paste.
| - |
Om Sri Atri, Bhrigu, Kuthsa, Vasishta, Kaasyapa, Aangeerasa, Goutama Saptha Rishayé Namaha
|
| |
(Om Salutations to the Seven Rishis, Sri Atri, Bhrigu, Kuthsa, Vasishta, Kaasyapa, Aangeerasa, and Goutama)
|
If you find this a bit hard, you can recite the following simple mantra:
| - |
ézhu muni étru arulanum, em sathguru dévaa
|
| |
(Sathguru, May the Seven Rishis accept this offering and bless us)
|
Once made, sandalwood paste must be offered in worship within twelve hours,
unless it has to be transported to a distant location.
Sri Agasthiar categorically states that
the sandalwood paste that is offered in worship must be made by one's own hands.
Making sandalwood paste from sandalwood powder, crushing sandalwood in a machine and such practices
are not acceptable.
That which is offered to God must be made with love and devotion by us, not by mechanical processes.
This is a rule which can not be relaxed. We must follow this implicitly and without question.
Breaking this rule is tantamount to going against the instruction of Sri Agasthiar, the Siddha
manifestation of Siva Himself.
One may ask whether it is not more efficient to use a machine in making sandalwood paste.
After all, what we need is sandalwood paste. How does it matter whether we make it ourselves
or use a machine? These are common questions that get asked. Now one should realize that
the Siddhas are perfect beings. Would they not know about efficiency? Why then does Sri Agasthiar
insist on making sandalwood paste with our hands?
When we use our hands in making sandalwood paste to be offered in worship, the physical pain
that we endure contributes to the karma nullification process. The good karma arising out
of the use of one's hands in making sandalwood paste for God
contributes to the nullification of bad karma committed with the hands.
This is the reason behind Sri Agasthiar's rule.
The more one does good karma with a certain body part,
the more that body part gets charged with positive spiritual potency.
This results in a direct lessening of the probability of doing bad karma with that body part.
Since bad karma can arise from thoughts, words and deeds,
we must use the mind and every body part in the service of God and His children.
3. Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara
Maasu = flaw, impurity
Ilaa = without, devoid of
mani = gem
Eesvara = Lord.
Thus Maasilaamani Eesvara is that Lord who is like a flawless gem.
Not only is He flawless, but He is also the One who can make us flawless.
Thus the worship of Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara directly leads one to perfection.
Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara's temple is in Thiru Mullai Vaayil near Madras in the state of Tamil Nadu in south India.
Each year on the Sadhayam nakshatram day in the
month of Chithirai,
the baanam (vertical) part of the the Maasilaamani Eesvara Siva Lingam is coated with sandalwood paste and is then
left untouched till the next Chithirai Sadhayam day.
This yearly ceremony will occur at 7:00 a.m on May/10/1999 this year.
All abishekam ceremonies during the rest of the year are performed only to the aavudaiyaar, the horizontal
part of the Siva Lingam. In other words, the baanam part of the Siva Lingam is offered
abishekam using sandalwood paste once a year.
The sandalwood paste thus offered remains on the Lord for one full year and acquires indescribable spiritual
potencies. Before offering the sandalwood abishekam, the old sandalwood paste is removed and given to
devotees as prasadam, a direct and tangible gift of the Lord's potency and grace.
Those who receive this prasadam are truly blessed indeed.
Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara is the master doctor, specializing in curing problems related to the nervous system.
So those afflicted with these problems should make it a point to receive Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara's sandalwood paste prasadam.
They will be cured by this blessing from Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara.
4. You Can Participate!
For most of us, it's impossible to even enter the sanctum of a svayambhu (self manifested) moorthi
like Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara. But it's possible for the sandalwood paste that we make with out own hands to adorn the
form of Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara for one full year! We can make sandalwood paste and offer it at the Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara Temple and the
temple priests will apply it on the Lord's form.
Think about it... that which we make with our hands will rest on
the Lord's form for one full year! This is a blessing that one can not get even in
Deva Loka.
We must make use of this opportunity with friends and family.
Please follow all of Sri Agasthiar's rules while making sandalwood paste.
Make sure you do it with faith and devotion. Make sure you recite the names of the
seven rishis constantly during the process. Remember that Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara is giving us an opportunity
which even the Devas can't get easily. So do it with great care and diligence.
Even if we don't wish for material gains,
we must participate in this worship as an act of selfless service for the less fortunate amongst us.
We should remember that it's such selfless service coupled with Guru Bakthi that can reveal the Lord of the Self.
Sathguru Venkataraman has made it easy for devotees everywhere to take part in this special worship procedure.
You can make sandalwood paste and deposit it
at the following address in Madras
by 8 p.m. on May/9/99:
Sri Ranga Prasad
Sakthi Flats, No. 5
40 Rameswaram Road
T.Nagar, Madras - 600017
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone: 4345165.
Ashramites will transport the sandalwood paste thus collected
to the Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara temple and hand it over to the priests
for use in the early morning ceremony on May/10/99.
The ashramites have been doing this service for Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara for quite a few years.
You can also send sandalwood paste by airmail to the above address but
please make sure that it's there by 8 p.m. on May/9/99.
People from around the world can thus participate in the special yearly worship of Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara.
Remember that participating in this worship is a spiritual blessing that
even the Devas can't get that easily.
You can also deposit sandalwood paste at the following addresses, but the cutoff date and time will be a bit earlier
at these places since ashramites will have to travel from these places to Madras:
| - |
S. Radhakrishnan
14A Varadaraja Perumal Street
Trichy - 8
Tamil Nadu, India
Phone: 709782, 709010 (office), 702189 (home).
|
| - |
S. Padmanabhan
Divya Flats
B-24 Municipal Colony
Thanjavur - 7.
Tamil Nadu, India.
|
| - |
Sri La Sri Lobha Matha Agasthiar Ashram
Kanchi Road, Adaiyur
Thiru Annamalai - 606604
Tamil Nadu, India.
|
| Om Salutations to Sri Maasilaamani Eesvara |
| Om Salutations to Sri Maasu Ilaa Mani Eesvara |
| 
