On 21 Jul 2005, Guru Poornima was celebrated at
the ashram in the presence of Swamiji. Guru Poornima is the full
moon day when disciples and devotees world over offer their gratitude
to all the Gurus and Enlightened Masters who have contributed in
significant ways in increasing the intelligence and giving life
to their Being, thus spurring them on in their journey inwards,
to realize the Supreme Truth. Thousands of people attended the proceedings
and paid their gratitude and respects.
In His Guru Poornima address Swamiji said, "Guru
is the one who dispels darkness or ego in a Being by bringing in
light or wisdom. 'Gu' means darkness and 'ru'
means dispeller. Guru is the one who makes you understand that when
you are driven by ego, you start running behind goals and purposes
in life and feel dissatisfied even after achieving them. Drop the
goal; the path of Life is what is important. When you run behind
goals, you will miss the beauty of Life or Existence and later repent
that you have wasted your life. Life is beautiful and it is not
to be sacrificed for the sake of goals. When you understand that
your outer worldly purposes are mere illusions, you will see that
the whole thing is simply a play of the Divine or Existence!".
(Click to read the entire message)
Swamiji also stressed the need to add the flavour of 'meditation'
and 'service to humanity' to our lives for the inner transformation
to happen in us.
As part of the Guru Poornima celebrations, the
following dheekshas (initiation processes) and poojas
took place:
Jnana Guru Parampara thanksgiving
pooja and homa to all the Enlightened Masters
who have imparted wisdom and spiritual learning to mankind.
Naishteeka Brahmacharya Dheeksha - A brahmacharya
initiation that was given to 5 chosen boys of the ashram
who desired to become sannyasins.
Vidyaarthi - An initiation that was given to
6 children to mark the start of their spiritual learning at the
feet of the Master.
Acharya Dheeksha - An initiation that was
given to 16 acharyas (teachers) trained by Swamiji to
spread His teachings to the world at large.
Ashramite Dheeksha - An initiation that was
given to 3 people who joined the ashram as ashramites to be at
the feet of the Master and learn and offer service to humanity.
Healers' pooja - A pooja offered to
all the Ananda Healers who heal people world wide through the
Ananda Healing System.
Following are a few photographs of the proceedings:
For two days prior to Guru Poornima, preliminary fire rituals
and proceedings happened at the ashram. Here, Swamiji leads
the devotees to the old Ananda Sabha where He performed certain
poorvanga (preliminary) rituals that are normally
done before giving any dheeksha (initiation) to anyone.
On the eve of Guru Poornima, Swamiji performs
a homa (fire ritual) whereby the karmas
(past unfulfilled actions) and the negative mental setup
of one is symbolically offered to the fire before taking
the dheeksha (initiation) from Swamiji on Guru
Poornima day. The public was also asked to participate and
benefit from the homa.
On the eve of
Guru Poornima, Swamiji invites people to offer tharpan
(an offering to people who have passed away in order
to liberate their souls) to their friends and relatives who
had unnatural deaths. When such an offering is given by an
Enlightened Master, the souls to which they are offered to
are said to be immediately liberated.
On the eve of
Guru Poornima, Swamiji guides the devotees to perform Gurupooja
(Pooja to one's Guru) individually by invoking the Guru in
the flame of the lamp that was given to each one and offer
gratitude to it.
In the morning
of Guru Poornima, Swamiji is seen proceeding towards Lord
Ananda Eashwar under the sacred banyan tree where part of
the morning celebrations happened.
Swamiji performs a homa (fire
ritual) to offer gratitude to the Jnana Guru Parampara
- all the Enlightened Masters who have happened on Planet
Earth, who gave wisdom and life to many Beings to help them
flower from within.
Swamiji offers
pooja to the newly made Jnana Parampara Guru
Peeta - the seat of the Master for generations to come
in the Jana Parampara (Order of Wisdom) established
by Dhyanapeetam.
Swamiji offers
arathi to Lord Ananda Eashwar after completing the
homa under the banyan tree.
Swamiji performs
a homa in the new Ananda Sabha that is being built.
Seen in the picture are some of the children who were subsequently
initiated for Vidyaarthi (spiritual learning at the
feet of the Master).
