Maha Periyavaa darisana anubavangal...

Here are some of the experiences of devotees with MAHAPERIYAVAA... I will continue to upload posts in this topic...

You Want to Know the Greatness of mantra siddhi?"Author: Sri Ramani Anna (in Tamil)Source: Sakthi Vikatan issue dated Oct 6, 2006
Once a brahmachary (bachelor) youth came to have darshan of Kanchi Mahaswami (HH Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati). He prostrated before the sage and got up.Swamiji looked at him keenly and said, "Are you not Kulitalai Sankaran? You are fine?""With your blessings, yes, Periyavaa", said Sankaran."Alright, what is your age now?""Thirty, Periyavaa."Periyavaa laughed: "So you have decided to lead your life as a brahmachari, without any idea of marriage.""Yes, Periyavaa", said Sankaran."Alright, anything special about your coming here now?" Periyavaa laughed. "And you wouldn't come without a reason!""Yes, Periyavaa. I have come to get a doubt cleared.""Is it so? Come on, tell me" said Periyavaa. "What is that big doubt you have?""It is a doubt about mantra japam, Periyavaa", replied Sankaran.Periyavaa asked quickly: "If it is about mantra japam... Are you doing any mantra japam?""Yes, Periyavaa"."Oho... You have had an upadesam?""Yes, Periyavaa"."Whoever is that Guru?""Mysore Yajna Narayana Ganapadigal", said Sankaran."Good, very learned; whatever the mantra?"Before Sankaran could open his mouth, Swamiji said, "Wait, wait. You should not tell me the mantra. That should remain with you as a secret. Just tell me which devata (God) it is about.""Hanumat upAsanA paramAna mUla mantra, Periyavaa" said Sankaran."Alright. What is it that you want to get clarified in this mantra japam?""It is like this, Periyavaa. I am performing this mantra japam since my twenty-third year which was when I got the upadesam. I am doing it for the last seven years, still I don't know anything.""What do you mean by saying 'I don't know anything'?", asked Swamiji with surprise."What I mean, Periyavaa, is that I am not able to find out if I have got the siddhi of that mantra" replied Sankaran, his voice echoing his sadness.Swamiji said without hesitation: "What are you going to do by knowing it? Anyway, are you doing the japam for AtmArtam (to know the self) or kAmyArtam (for a specific purpose)?"Sankaran said: "I am doing it only for AtmArtam, Periyavaa. Still, I am at a loss to understand if I have got the mantra siddhi and the grace of the devata. I pray to you to kindly tell me about my progress". As Sankaran said this with all humility, tears started rolling down his eyes."Only the person who does the japam can understand if he has got the mantra siddhi, by personal experience. There will be a time when the person will experience it, Sankara," said Swamiji with vAtsalyam (affection).Sankaran wasn't satisfied. "No, Periyavaa. I haven't had any personal experience so far. And I don't understand anything about it, though I continue to do the japam, as advised by my Guru, for the last seven years. Sometimes my mind becomes very tired, Periyavaa. You should kindly inform me about any way that I can know it." As he spoke this, Sankaran joined his palms in reverence and prostrated before Swamiji.Acharyal (Swamiji) was quiet for sometime. He understood Sankaran's confusion. He decided to make the disciple understand what he wanted to know.

He asked Sankaran to squat on the floor near him and began talking:"Many years back, in Sringeri Sri Sarada Peetam, a mahaan named Nrusimha Bharati Swamiji was the peetathipathi (pontiff). One day, a sishya (student) of the matam (hermitage) belonging to that region came to have a darshan of the Swamiji. He did not come for nothing. He bore the same question that you asked me now."After prostrating, he presented the guava fruits to Swamiji."'Come, you are fine? Tell me what you want', said Swami Nrusimha Bharati with utmost kindness. The sishya told him politely, 'Swami, I am doing japam of a mantra that was given to me by an upadesam. I am doing the japam for many years now. Still I am not able to know if I have got the mantra siddhi. How do I know it Swami?'"Swamiji said at once, in a bid to persuade him, 'You continue to do the japam in an AtmArta way. That devata itself will bless you with the siddhi phala (fruits of the efforts) eventually.'"The sishya was not satisfied with this reply from the Swamiji. He persisted, 'No, Swami. I need to know if I have got the siddhi of the mantra. You must tell me a way to know it, I pray to you.'"Swamiji understood the sishya's mental state. He called him near and said enthusiasticaly, 'Don't worry, my child. There is a way!""'Is there a way, then kindly bless me with the knowledge, Swami!' The sishya was in a hurry of excitement."Nrusimha Bharati Swamiji said laughingly, 'Every day, before you start your japam, spread paddy grains on a wooden seat, and cover it with a vastram (cloth). Sit over the grains and do the japam. Continue in this fashion day after day. On that day when the paddy grains on the seat fry and blossom into flattened rice, you will understand that you have got the mantra siddhi you have been seeking to know. You understand this?'"Even though the sishya understood it, he thought confusedly that if the Swamiji was telling him this way just to satisfy him or if this would really be possible. Suddenly he asked an unexpected question to the Swamiji."'Gurunathar should excuse me. I pray this to you with an intention to know. I should not be mistaken for testing a sage in the guru stAnam (the position of a guru). Spreading the paddy grains, covering them with a cloth... and they will fry...'"Before he could finish it, Swamiji laughed and said, 'You want to know if I have had any such experience, right?' He asked for a wooden seat to be brought then and there and placed facing the direction of east. He asked for a lot of paddy grains to be spread over the seat. When this was done, Swamiji placed his vastram (cloth) over the grains, seated himself in padmaasana and closed his eyes. By this time a large crowd had gathered in the place."Only a few seconds later, there was a continuous noise of the paddy grains getting fried and flattened. There was a little amount of smoke also. Swamiji got up and removed his vastram (cloth) that covered the grains. On the seat were dazzling white flowers of fried and flattened rice! The crowd was amazed."Nrusimha Bharati Swamiji looked at the sishya who asked the question. The sishya was standing sobbing. No one could speak anything more..."As Kanchi Swamiji finished his narration of this episode, Sankaran was standing amazed, with tears in his eyes.When he started to say something soon after, Swamiji interruped him and said, "What Sankara, are you going to ask me to demonstrate to you?" and laughed heartily. Sankaran fell at Swamiji's feet, his eight limbs touching the floor, and said, "Enough Periyavaa! You have made me understand the mahima (greatness) of mantra siddhi.
Kindly bless me, and permit me to return to my place."

The Science of breath...

I had been yearning to write a post on 'breath and its value' in this blog. I was unaware of the relationship between breath and our body(including mind) till I attended the 'art of living' course. I have been reading some good books regarding Pranayama and Yoga, which confirm the importance of 'breathing excercises'.

Our mind is closely connected with the breath. Just think of the way we breath when we are in emotions like anger, joy, sorrow etc. The way of our breathing would vary from emotion to emotion, i.e, when we are angry, we breath rapidly... It is evident from the lives of great sages and yogis that by controlling our breath, we can have control over our mind. If we practise breathing excercises like 'Pranayama' daily, it would benefit us in many ways. If you take my case, I have wheezing trouble and due to these breathing excercises, I find that the wheezing trouble is in control.

I pity those who smoke, because they dig their own graves by polluting their lungs. It is important that we understand the value of breath and get control over our mind by regulating our breath. Meet you with more posts on BREATH & PRANAYAMA soon...

SEVA Friends Group

Loads and loads of hearty thanks to my friends(Members of the SEVA Friends Group) who have contributed generously for helping a spastic youngster. May God give all of us more oppurtunities to help others, as far as we can.

I WANT PEACE...

This is one of my favourite SMSs. I wish to share this with all of you.

A man went to god and told, "I want peace". God said, "Remove the 'I' which is ego, 'want' which is desire and you get peace. "

Simple, yet powerful message...

Donate food just with a click !

Kudos to my friend Arun abraham and others who are spreading the following message. My only request is that, we can visit those sites and give a click daily, atleast once!

"Hi buddy ,
Please can u do me a favour ? I hope u’l do it for me ! As per the latest Indian survey 7000 hungry people die in India . This is really disgusting ! A day earlier I came across two websites in which just by clicking the box in the websites , u donate a cup of food to an hungry indian at no cost. So I request u to visit these sites , and click the GREEN BOX in the first website and the YELLOW BOX in the second website. Plz visit this link daily and just give a click on the box so that u help a Indian daily.
1 . http://www.bhookh.com/
2. http://www.thehungersite.com/

And one more , just FORWARD this to all of your frnds so that they also form a part of this campaign. Thank you !"

Maha periyava s thoughts for us - PART 1

*The medicine of Grace to wipe out our sorrows is to develop unshakable faith in God and tolerance is the medicine of Grace to wipe out our sorrows. Bhakti alone can give us the capacity to put up with sorrows. Temples are the agencies for developing that Bhakti. Hence, the need for temples at all places. All offerings to the deities in the temples are tokens of our gratitude to God.

*That which is within all, which is seen as "This" is the source. He who is within and sees as "This" is God. It is the reality. It is in yourself. What is limited is Sadhana; what is unlimited is the end.

*He alone is an Acharya, who, after clearly understanding the conclusive teachings of the Sastras, makes the people of the world gain their welfare by making them stick to the path shown in the Sastras and also himself does everything according to Sastras and remains in that experience

*Many acts relating to God, like building temples, digging tanks are performed. While executing them, there would be many difficulties. There would come also several kinds of dishonour. Not minding any of these, they would complete their tasks with mental one-pointedness removing impurities from their minds and letting the mind wander. By straightening their mind, they acquire mind control and at the end, they realise the Reality that is to be known. Digging tanks, building temples and such other acts are called poorttam. The performance of sacrifices, etc., is known as ishtam. Combining these two, we have the word Ishtapoortam

*In all that you do, let love be the sole motive. Any need must be with reference to another. Let action be out of love. Passions such as desire and hatred , anger and malice must be totally eschewed. If love becomes the grounding principle of all deeds . then most of the ills of the world will vanish. to be contd...

PICS OF MAHA PERIYAVA...