An Evening of Prayer with Swami Vishwaparanthapananda and Divine Mother

Thursday 21 July 2012 and my phone beeped, I saw a message from one of our South African Swami's who is currently in JHB asking me to join Him that evening in Benoni for a Prayer to Divine Mother. As she is my Ishta Dev and guardian I quickly replied YES and felt a wave of excitement rush through me.

As I was not sure what to expect I drove the 40 minute journey to Benoni to be a part of this wonderful evening dedicated to Divine Mother. Upon arriving Swami Vishwaparanthapananda briefed me on the significance of the evening being the solstice and what She had asked Him to do that night.

We were to begin with Panchamrit Abishekam followed by Puja and then offer 1000 lotus seeds and spoons of Kumkum to Divine Mother. After he placed a lotus seed I would offer Kumkum on top of the lotus seed. At each offering we would silently chant the Panchadakshakshari Mantra which Sri Swami Vishwananda had initiated us into last year during Navaratri. It is one of the most powerful mantras, extremely secret and bestows Divine Mothers grace upon the initiated chanter bringing what they ask for to life.

Placing my materialised Murthi of Divine Mother with a the Sri Yantra we would be using we began the prayer. It is funny sometimes that the larger the prayer the more time seems to stand still as 3 hours later we had finished 1000 repetitions of the Mantra and offered 1000 Lotus seeds and teaspoons of Kumkum to Divine Mother. 

Singing Arati to Divine Mother we concluded the evening with smiles and joy all round knowing that Divine Mother had allowed us the grace to worship her that evening from our hearts and souls giving us a connection with Her that will be with us even after we leave this body.

Love and Light

Dhanam Jay

Images from the Evening

The Appearance Day of Sri Swami Vishwananda

June 13th is one of our most important days in the  Bhakti Marga family and is a day that is celebrated around the world by thousands of devotee's that pay Homage to their beloved Sat Guru Sri Swami Vishwananda.

The Maha Jwala Narasimha in Johannesburg South Africa was no exception, inaugurated in 2009 by Sri Swami Vishwananda himself who breathed life into the Main Deity Maha Jwala Narasimha it was only fitting that a grand celebration was held to mark the appearance day of Sri Swami Vishwananda.

At first the idea was Simple, let us give everybody the chance to perform a Puja to the feet of Sri Swami Vishwananda. However as we moved down the line the celebration evolved into what the Masters had in mind. Let us give everyone the opportunity to perform the Puja to Sri swami Vishwananda's feet as the Abishek and the Main Puja is being done on His Paduka's but let us also gather 108 people to do the Puja at the same time to make it even more auspicious. So we began to gather numbers and prepped all the ingredients and puja items needed. Emails went out and replies came flying in to be a part of this wonderful event. 1 week before we had the main number, 108 people had RSVP and excitement was abuzz with all the devotees.

June 13th arrived and it was a full day of prayer and homage, starting at 6am was Yagna to mark the time Swami appeared on earth, then we had 2 Seva feedings setup. One at Inkosi's haven and the other at Duduzwane Aids Home. Swami is very big on Seva and selfless service so it was only fitting that honour Him as He himself would want it done.

4pm and the Devotees started coming together to begin prep and setting up at the temple, first we had decorations to put up and hearts and pictures of Swami were hung from the ceiling. Then began the puja prep, 108 puja plates needed to be setup for all attendees. 25 minutes to seven and the final puja plate was laid in front of a picture of Swami feet just in time for the opening prayers to be sung.

As with any prayer those involved are always busy, singing, prepping, answering questions or getting the food ready amongst other things. However a smile can always be seen on their faces as they do it with love, love because they enjoy it and love because they are serving not only their beloved Sat Guru but also fellow devotees of Swami.

The evening progressed in much of a blur as we were whisked into the heavens on our Journey by the two Swami's present, Swami Vishwamohini and Swami Vishwaparanthapananda. By the final Arati and cake cutting 108 Puja's had been done to Sri Swami Vishwananda Paduka's, beautiful Bhajans had been sung, devotees had danced together without a care in the world and Swami had been honoured with pure devotion from those presents hearts. 

Appearance Day of Sri Swami Vishwananda

Appearance Day of Sri Swami Vishwananda, a set on Flickr.

Photo's of the celebration on June 13th 2012

Shivaratri and a Night of Pilgrimage

It is said that to stay awake and participate in all 4 Puja's to Lord Shiva grants one great blessings from Lord Maha Dev. Our usual prayer on a yearly basis was just that we would do Abishek on the Lingam at the prescribed times throughout the night. The energy was always high and we all felt that Lord Shiva was with us.

This year however we just been to Mauritius and visited by His grace the Joytri Lingam twice in one week. Something had stirred in our hearts to do a pilgrimage for Lord Shiva to celebrate His holy and auspicious night. Thus the evening of the Bhajan pilgrimage was born and like a newly manifested Lingam came into existence.

After some careful planning we had arranged to sing at 6 temples from 6pm - 5am and be back at our temple by 5am in order to finish the evening off with a Yagna to Lord Shiva. It was a very ambitious plan, one that would test our dedication d devotion to really celebrate Lord Shiva night and the strength of our tapas or sacrfice.

A bus was hired to transport us around we had 9 devotees on the bus and another 7 following in their own cars as we went from Temple to temple. Our first port of call was a temple that we frequent often and sing at as a group.  The priest is a fellow devotee and we are always warmly welcomed when we sing. As we moved through the evening and went from place to place, so much love and unity could be felt as we laughed, joked and shared experiences on the bus. It is in those moments that you realise how wonderful  it is to have such family with you, giving you strength and love when you need it on your journey.

One can say that it is truly by The Lord's grace that we managed to accomplish the evening as we sang for around 7 hours, stayed awake for 12 hours and still managed to finish the evening off with a Yagna. For those that completed the full pilgrimage on the evening we can all feel the Grace of Lord Shiva with us as we move through 2012 and look forward to next year's time with Him

Love and Light

Dhanam Jay

Murthi Inauguration and Jal Bramacharie Initiation with Swamini Vishwamohini

Saturday 28th January saw great celebration as we headed to a devotees house to Pranprathistha or give life two Murthis, Laxsmi Narayanaya and Laxsmi Narasimha to were bought on the recent trip to Mauritius. Swami had requested the devotee to ask Swamini Vishwamohini to do the pranprathistha and then the devotees also wanted to become Jal Bramacharies.

The week was spent prepping and gathering all the required paraphernalia such as Kush grass, tulsi mala etc. Time since we had arrived back from the trip had been very busy and we were very busy each day with various prayers either at the Temple or out representing Swami and Bhakti Marga across  Johannesburg.

Swamini Vishwamohini although only recently initiated as a Swamini, was as composed as I have ever seen her as if she was merely picking up where she left off serving God in her previous life. We chatted over what would be needed and How she would like me to organise and arrange everything for her. As per her guidelines and wishes everything was prepped by 6:30pm so we could begin. As she began the first part of the prayer I could feel the power of Her saying the prayers flowing up my spine, it was a grace I shall cherish for the rest of my days on earth.

The Evening flowed with love as everyone else present sang Bhajans honouring the various Deities we were bringing to life.

Finally around 11pm we had brought the Murthi's to life and you could feel them now as if their true form was standing on the alter as opposed to their statues.

The time came for Vishwamohini to do the Jal Bramacharie initiation, as we arranged everything for Her and the devotees to take initiation there was an excitement and love in the air that could not really be explained but only felt.

Around 15minutes later, the 4 new initiates offered respects to Her, Swami and Babaji and we all sat down to eat a delicious meal as a closer family serving Swami and Babaji.

Prem se bolo Swamini Vishwamohini

Prem se bolo Premavatar Swami Vishwananda

Prem se bolo Sri Sri Sri Mahavatar Kriya Babaji

Love and Light

Dhanam Jay

Saraswati Puja

January 28th saw us holding a Saraswati Puja at the Temple in Johannesburg. Something inside of me had said before we went to Mauritius that we should due the Puja the Saturday after we got back. Saturday came and the time to honour Dear Saraswati Devi came. Arriving early at the temple I began to prep for a the Kalash puja, Yagna and Abishek. the prep can take a short while and we were hoping to begin by 10am. With everything prepped and the Alter setup we began the prayer with around 25 people in attendance.

As I finished the Guru Puja and Guari Ganesh Puja I handed the burning camphor Arati to Swamini Vishwamohini so She could begin the Homa. As I finished chanting the kalash prayers the Yagna was in full swing as Saraswati's gayatre was chanted. With her blessing and love just as I finished the Kalash prayers, they had finished the last Gayatre and Vishwamohini said that Saraswati will grant us a wish.

As everyone began to sit and focus I had not really heard what She said and was just finishing up the Kalash, looking at me She motioned me to sit and repeated what she had just said. Registering I sat and began to ask for Her grace, my prayer was longer than everyone else and Vishwamohini kindly waited and said Swaha 3 time until I had finished. I heard Tatastu in my head and knew she had granted my wish, I could feel it inside and the rest of the prayer as we performed Abishek and Arati was a bit of a blur.

Jai Sri Saraswati Ma

Love and Light

Dhanam

A Mauritian Odyssey

January 15th - 22nd 2012 saw a few of us making a trip to Mauritius to be with Swami. The flight over there was pretty uneventful as we eagerly awaited the landing so we could see Swami. The Mauritian heat hit us as we disembarked and changed money looking for a cab to take us to the Temple in Rosehill.

After getting lost for a about 15 minutes,  we finally found the right road and arrived at the Temple, Swami had just finished the engagement ceremony, and was looking so lovely his smile radiating as usual. we all offered Pranams to Him and sat around Him as He welcomed us with how are you, how is everything. We lapped up all the attention which does not come often as we only see Him a few time a year.

The week ahead turned out to be jam packed, with something happening each week. On the Tuesday we managed to go together as a group to various sites, including the Joytre Lingam and ended up singing Harinam at the centre for around an hour much to the delight of the priests

The following day we were back there with Swami this time He was to be interviewed by a news station. we waited and eventually with pouring rain Swami gave the interview as we all watched eagerly. Then we were back doing Abishek on the Lingam this time with Swami.

One could say the most beautiful day was the Monday, as we climbed on a bus to go to the beach and see Mauritius with Swami from His point of view. We arrived at the beach and after a brief Swim, I joined Swami just around the corner away from everyone on a grassy bank overlooking the sea. There was 4 of us sitting with Him as we began to sing bhajans and laugh. Shortly later we rejoined the group and began to sing more bhajans as we stared over the sea. It was magical no other setting can have been more beautiful for this.

Moving on as we climbed on the bus and 15 minutes later we stopped to get fresh coconuts with tops cut off and straws inserted we were drinking the juice fresh from the middle. it was refreshing and Swami had decided that He wanted to Swami, unfortunately the spot we were at was too dangerous to Swim due to strong currents so we boarded the bus again and drove another 30 minutes.

Disembarking from the bus we were told we were going to an island, 3 nights earlier I had read in a book that tells of various experiences with actually about this place and fun Swami had had here earlier around 2000 with devotees. After seeing were we were and remembering that picture I was very excited to see it for myself. The crossing to the island was very exciting as we had to cross a section between the beach and the island that swelled and grew in current strength as the waves came and went. We were all laughing even Swami as we got soaked while crossing. After a short sting on the Island we began to cross back to the beach and this is when the fun began. It started with simple splashing and ended with a complete water fight that Swami was loving. As he blessed everyone by throwing water over them we played and laughed with Him enjoying such precious moments. 

Unfortunately we were due to leave and needed to be at the Airport, we had already pushed the time to its maximum and checked in as the plane was boarding, they excepted us which amazed us all and we began our journey back to SA fresh from the feet of our beloved Sat Guru. When we landed we all felt that we had been away for months even though it was just a week.

Love and Light

Dhanam Jay