Darshan

Swami Vishwananda spoke about Holi wich is celebrated on Monday, 1st March. It is the Festival therefore, celebrates the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of devotion. The story is:

The Demon King Hiranyakashipu wanted everybody in his kingdom to worship only him but to his great disappointment, his son, Prahlad became an ardent devotee of Lord Naarayana, Vishnu. Hiaranyakashipu commanded his sister, Holika to enter a blazing fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika had a boon whereby she could enter fire without any damage on herself. However, she was not aware that the boon worked only when she enters the fire alone. As a result she paid a price for her sinister desires, while Prahlad was saved by the grace of the god for his extreme devotion. The festival, therefore, celebrates the victory of good over evil and also the triumph of devotion.  It is because of this event,  Holika (a bonfire) is burnt every year on Holi eve. The burning of the effigy of Holika is called Holika Dahan (death of Holika).

Tomorrow there is also the Sri Chaitanya Gauri Purnima, which is the holy day of appearance of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.  It is celebrated by Vaishnavas every year on the full moon day of the month of Phalgun (February-March). In year 2010, Gaura purnima is observed on 28th February. It was Lord Chaitanya who inaugurated the chanting of ‘Hare Krishna Maha Mantra’ as the process of deliverance for the age of Kali. Sankirtana movement was started by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu which is gradually spreading throughout the world.

The power of the "Mrithjum Bagheshwar Lingam"

At Shivaratri night Swami Vishwananda said:

"...This Shiva Lingam is very special. Form the beginning itself, when we did the inauguration of the temple in Steffenshof Maha Avatar Babaji blessed this Shiva Lingam and He gave the name `Mrithjum Bageshwar???´ which means ´the Lord which is above death, the Lord of death´. And of course death is one of the- one fear that everyone have, because fear of the unknown, fear of not knowing what is the other side where we will go. But praying to Lord Shiva, especially on this day, He grant one the removal of fear from death and give you an easy passing to the other side. And as Maha Avatar Babaji has have blessed the Shiva Lingam Himself and said- I don´t know whether how many of you remember- He has said that this Ling has a lots of healing quality. Whoever chant the mritjum mantra, the mritjum- the triambhakam mantra eleven time pouring water over the Shiva Lingam, and receive the water and drink it, the illness will be cured."

Meaning of the colour white

When asked about the meaning of the colour white for Shiva, Guruji gave the following answer:

"The white colour of shiva is because He is calling all to wash their sins and that they become white without any stain so that they can reach the lotus feet of the Lord. So white means PURITY of Mind , body and spirit."

Lord Shiva´s message for mankind

Excerpt from Swami Vishwananda´s darshan speech on 5.Feb 2010
Shivaratri actually is the great night of Lord Shiva, the one which is with form and without form. What is Shiva meditating upon? It’s to remind us that we will realize our true self only when we will be in that deep state of meditation. We have not yet realized the purpose of our incarnation on Earth; we have not yet realized how great it is to have a human body, but we can reach that state. We have to really want it, but not superficially.

Very often people go on a spiritual path in a very superficial way, saying, “Let me try it. Let me see what it is about.” But these people will not reach anywhere. We have incarnated for a reason, we have a human body for a reason. But we will not find this reason until we make this body into pure love and devotion. This is where your Sadhana comes in. When you will develop this pure love and devotion, then you will really know the meaning of this human body, then you will really enjoy being in this body, then you will know the purpose of being here.
Look, whenever something good happens to you, how easy it is for you to forget about it. Good things are always happening, but when something not good happens to you, you treasure it. You treasure it with your mind. Your mind has to dwell on the Divine, not on your problems. You will solve your problems by the mean which God has given you within you, which is faith and devotion.
Actually, human being, in the ladder of creation, is the top. It’s true, because only by attaining a human body, a human life, can you really attain the Creator, actually become one with the Creator. But yet, we have to want Him. And to want Him means to devote oneself sincerely, to develop this pure love that is already there, just to let it out and let it spread around.
So through the Divine names which have been given, go inside; utilize the cosmic name of God and attain Him. That’s what Shiva teaches us.

Flowers for Shivaratri

If you would like to bring flowers, please send a mail to:  prajna@bhaktimarga.org  with info about what sort of flowers and when you will bring them, so that your donation can be taken into account for our prayer preparation . Thank you very much!