A Pure Mind!
A pure mind is a neccesary prerequisite for even the smallest spiritual advancement.
An impure mind is like arid land in which nothing worthwhile can grow.
Only a pure mind that can serve as a fertile ground in which the tree of devotion
can be nurtured and the furit of divinity realized.
But in this modern day, even the minds of children and youth are
filled with impure thoughts and tendencies. This is because of an
educational system that doesn't teach, develop or promote bakthi.
The Siddhas say that the purpose of education is to inculcate bakthi
right from from a yound age. This was achieved even as of 100 years ago
through the practice of guru kula vaasam, life with the Sathguru.
But in this modern day, this practice is mostly not followed, with the
result that bakthi is not taught at an early age and a mind without
bakthi falls prey to impure thoughts easily.
So the ideal solution is a complete reform of the educational system.
But is this easy to do? Whether it's easy to do or not, there's something
everyone of us can do, say the Siddhas. Each one of us can distribute
devotional literature like Dhevaram, Thiruvaasagam, Divya Prabandham and
magazines like the Ashram's Sri Agasthia Vijayam to the young and thus
inspire them to enter the world of bakthi. This is vidya dhaanam,
giving the gift of the knowledge of God.
The result of vidya dhaanam is that both the giver and receiver
get cleansed of their mental impurities.
This is something we must do on Jan/14/2ØØØ, the Bhogi festival day, a day ideally
suited for getting rid of the impurities in the mind.
Why is Bhogi so special?
Why is Bhogi such an ideal day for getting rid of the impurities of the mind?
The reason is that it's the last day of the month of Markazhi, the day on which
month long Markazhi (mid December to mid January) worship of the Devas reaches its climax.
As we know, a year in the life of humans is a day in the life of Devas.
What we know as the month of Markazhi is the auspicious Brahma Muhoortam
time period for the Devas. Thus Bhogi is that time period when the Devas complete
their important early morning worship procedures and as they prostrate their divine figures before
the Lord, the divine light that permeates their divine figures casts a purifying glow upon the earth.
This happens on the Bhogi festival day.
All beings who pray with sincerity for mind purification can easily get this process started on
the Bhogi festival day. The divine glow from the divine bodies of the Devas has the power
to incinerate the impurities in our minds, if only we would surrender ourselves to this divine energy,
which is so readily available on the Bhogi festival day.
This is also the symbolism behind the traditional Bhogi bonfires.
But in the present day, people light bonfires without having any idea of what it signifies.
Make sure you understand the symbolism and pray for the eradication of impurities in your mind
as you light the bonfire. Moreover, light the bonfire in such a way that it doesn't intrude
into the daily lives of people.
Sins of the Mind
Many are the sins of mind. Coveting another's wife or husband, improper sexual desires,
evil thoughts, wanting to harm others, vengeful thoughts, anger, enmity, jealousy,
comparing oneself against others and festering inside - all these are impurities
in the mind. Those guilty of these are guilty of sinning in the mind.
The best thing to do is to pray for redemption from these sins on Bhogi festival day
by following the Siddha procedure described below.
Siddha Worship Procedure for Bhogi
On Bhogi day, wake up early in the morning, shower, wear clean, dry clothes
and make two varieties of rice pongal, one with brown sugar and one without.
Offer them to Sri Soorya and Chandra and distribute the same to the poor and the needy
after consuming a little as prasadam.
Circumnambulate a temple sanctum a minimum of 1008 times using the adi pradakshinam
technique, where you place the heel of one foot at the toe tips of the other and so on.
This is the first step in getting rid of the impurities in the mind.
Temples are hallowed grounds on which many many Siddhas have set foot.
As the soles of our feet come into contact with the ground trod by Siddhas,
a spiritual reaction gets started in our body. It's this spiritual reaction that
set in motion the process of burning up the impurities of the mind in concert with the
divine glow emanating from the divine bodies of the Devas.
The more our soles stay in contact with these hallowed grounds, the better.
The Siddhas further suggest that this adi pradakshinam should be done in temples
wherein one or more sacred trees are found, e.g., peepul, banyan, vilvam, neem, cocunut, banana and other such trees.
Temples which have flower gardens including flowers such as hibiscus, jasmine, etc. are also ideal for
this spiritual exercise.
We must pay our respects everyday to the kitchen fire which is the root cause of the tasty food that
we consume. Pay your respects to Agni, the Lord of Fire, without whom the kitchen fire can not do its job.
This is Agni Pooja.
While this must be done everyday, it's particularly important on Bhogi day.
Make sure you clean the kitchen properly and worship Agni on this day.
When you have finished cooking, say thanks to Agni and put out the fire with some milk.
This is known as Agni Santhi Pooja.
On Bhogi day, make a garland of sampangi with your own hands, offer it to the Lord and then
give it as a gift to poor, married women. The gifting of sampangi flower garlands to poor, married women
can burn up the impurities in one's mind, say the Siddhas. It can also reduce the confusion and wavering
resulting from wayward desires and bestow purity and serenity, say the Siddhas.
What you have read in this article are Siddha revelations concerning one of the most important
problems of modern day life, that of obtaining purity in the mind. Make use of it and get
started on the road to a pure mind on Bhogi festival day!
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| Om Salutations to Arunachala |
| Om Salutations to Soorya and Chandra |
| Om Salutations to Sri Agasthiar |
| Om Salutations to the Maha Guru |
| Om Salutations to the Agasthiar Lineage |
| Om Salutations to the Siddhas |
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