Yogaswami sang:

“Transcending all mutations of form and attribute,
Surpassing all finite measure is the GURU,
An embodiment of the highest wisdom.”

It is the day we work on decorations for tomorrow’s festival. Tandu Sivanathan brings us to new bonsai plants to replace the one in front of Kadavul.

Tirumular writes in Tirumantiram:

“He who is beyond the worlds, He dwells
In the hearts of the saints in benign grace
So that all may attain liberation.
He is the speechless Guru, the immaculate Sivam.”

“The Beauteous boon of ‘Siddhi and Mukti,’
The upright way of Grace and Truth,
The wealth of Wisdom and Bliss divine,
Can be attained by Grace of God with Form.”

Tayumanavar writes of his “Mouna Guru” (Silent Guru)

“To those who have been duly initiated
into the icon, temple and holy waters,
(of the Ishta devata) the real Guru who
utters the unique Word (mantram) will also appear.”

“One Word, a wondrous Word, there is
which in itself contains
All other words; by it is cleansed
The soul of all its stains.
It is the Word the Guru gave,
One Word, unmoving goal.”

“Fixed as a mountain top is firm,
Towards which moves the soul.
All other words beside it are
As vain devoid of aim,
As are the pawns at random moved,
moved in aimless game.”

“Thou camest as the Silent Teacher mine,
Ready to grant all boons however rare,
And with a mother’s love Thou didst unfold
Decking my head with those Blessed Feet of Thine,
The Eternal Law of wisdom’s ecstasy.
Bereft of thought or holy word revolved
The superconscious Vision beyond all thought
Of Freedom’s final state as one or two,
As Light or Void or Form or Primal Sound.
Such is Beatitude. So hast Thou taught.
Grant me thy Grace, O Lord, to live that life
Wherein are steeped time honoured lovers thine.
O Thou Siddhanta’s Goal and Prime Essence!
O Dhakshinamurthi that dost shine aloft
On Trichi’s hill, O master of Wisdom’s Bliss!”

–Tayumanavar

Yogaswami in his Natchintani sings about his Guru Chellappaswami who lived at the Murugan temple in Nallur, Jaffna:

THE SHAFT OF LIGHT

I arise from the stagnant pool of self-centredness and as the lotus bud unfolds its petals to the rising sun, so too the sight of my Guru at Nallur thrills me with divine consciousness, and life manifests its hidden beauty, power, light and joy.

He is my Guru who is the destroyer of my darkness, who turns my gaze from the world of carnal desires and transience, and leads me to behold the Light of wisdom He fixed me firmly in the path of liberation by declaring that He is mySelf–(Tamil Script)

The exalted Guru called by many as the madman of Nallur, did I gaze intently, as he sat at the flight of the chariot steps. He regulated my conduct in life, having reduced my frenzied wants and woes with the sweep of his God Consciousness. Endowed with clarity of vision, he placed me in the midst of the devout servitors, and I saw his true glory at Nallur.

He is the cherished treasure of my soul..He is the Guru who consumed my delusions and egoity. He is the consort of Sakti who rained his grace on me at Nallur, girt with Nagalinga blooms.

In the Supreme Will is a look of grace at me. It manifests in my gracious Guru who came down to save me from life’s bewilderment. I saw him at Nallur, ‘neath the chariot step.

The Lord Siva with flaming Eye, who danceth in the dense jungle with Kali, manifested in this land as the Jnana-Guru and rescued me. His fragrant tender Feet, I beheld at the foot of the chariot dome at Nallur.

The divinity that eluded the search of the Creator and Protector–Brahma and Vishnu, came down as the gracious Teacher, and liberated me from all inimical forces within and without at illustrious Nallur, at the foot of the chariot spires.

He came of his own will to enlighten the aspirants who relentlessly examine their inner self. The light of Truth did manifest at hallowed Nallur out of boundless grace, and I saw him at the foot of the chariot step from where he conferred on me, the least worthy one, the regal honours.

‘There is none other than mySelf’– was his mystic dictum. He unravelled its subtle meaning with the gentle tenderness surpassing that of a mother’s love. I greeted him at luxuriant Nallur, ‘neath the cariot pinnacle.

“The Lord came as my Guru to wipe out my oppressive gloom of duality, and chasten my consciousness to behold the One in the many. I propitiate the refuge of his roseate Feet, which he crowned on my head at the refreshing sanctum of Nallur. “

— Yogaswami

Shantini and her mother just prior to their departure for Toronto. They both thoroughly enjoyed their pilgrimage here. Shantini is already enthusiastically planning to bring the rest of her family with her on her next visit here.

Pandit Srinivasan with his wife Lakshmi are here visiting for the day. He first met Gurudeva when Gurudeva visited the Siva/Vishnu Temple in Livermore, California in the 1990’s where Srinivasin serves as a priest.

In 2000 Pandit Srinivasin met Bodhinatha here on Kauai when the Iraivan Temple was just beginning to be built. Today he was amazed at the progress and stated that “this is a very holy place; you can feel the spiritual power here!”

Pandit Srinivasin and Lakshmi were taken over to the sacred swayambhu lingam where Gurudeva had his three-fold vision of God Siva. This is also the site where we always celebrate Guru Purnima.

Deva Seyon and Tandu Sivanathan were very busy happily decorating this sacred site with an abundance of native Hawaiian flowers for tomorrow’s puja.

More photos of the yatra by Rishipati Mylavaganam and Rishimata Sivalosani Kanagaratnam and Thondunathan.

These were taken in Tiruvannamalai, where we had another wonderful darshan.

Here were are at the Tiruvannamalai temple.

The view of the holy Arunachala hill in Tiruvannamalai.

This is a picture of a lingam at the famed Siva temple of Sri Kalahasti, Andra Pradesh.

This is the same lingam that Kanappan Nayannar had worshipped. It is also one of the five elemental lingams. The lingam in the Kalahasti temple is dedicated to vayu.

In this pilgrimage we were able to cover all the 5 elemental Siva temples, namely Chidambaram-akasha lingam, Ekambareswarar in Kanchipuram, the earth lingam, Tiruvanaikaval in Trichy, the water lingam, Tiruvannamalai the fire lingam and Sri Kalahasti the air lingam.