Valentine's Day to Lord Siva
Author: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Description: We received an invitation to give a blessing at the County Council meeting tomorrow. It'll be Valentine's Day. But what is Valentine's Day to a Hindu monk? We can turn it into a Saivite holy day. Siva is our sweetheart, so he can be honored on this day. We can sing hymns of praise of Siva on Valentine's Day. The Natchintanai "All is You" by Yogaswami is a wonderful hymn honoring Siva. Bodhinatha read this hymn aloud to all gathered in the temple.
Transcription:
Starting our new phase today and we have an invitation tomorrow to give the blessing at the County Council. We are one of the Churches that they invite on a regular basis. Of course, in the past Gurudeva has given the blessing. This will be my first opportunity. They give you three whole minutes. It can be three minutes or less. They want a blessing but they want to get down to business too. That is tomorrow, which is Valentine's Day.
You cannot help but run into advertisements for Valentine's Day all over the place. I was thinking about it and saying, "Well ... Valentine's Day, giving a blessing on Valentine's Day, isn't that interesting! Valentine's Day is a secular Holiday, a holiday to do with romance." It doesn't have much to do with being a Hindu monk was my first conclusion. But then I started to think, "Well, you know Valentine's Day ... Maybe there is a way we can turn it into a Saivite Holy Day."
So that is my first thought this morning that I wanted to share with you. How can you turn Valentine's Day into a Saivite
Holy Day? What is Valentine's Day? It is the day you compliment a sweetheart with cards and gifts. That is what the dictionary says. Compliment a sweetheart with cards and gifts. So, I hope all of our husbands and wives have that well in hand for tomorrow.
The question is to turn it into a Saivite Holy Day, does God Siva qualify as a sweetheart? God Siva has to qualify as a sweetheart, otherwise He can't be honored on Valentine's Day. So what is a sweetheart? A sweetheart is a three-fold definition. One who is dearly loved. Okay, that sounds reasonable. Second one - a generally likeable person is a sweetheart. Third one - a remarkable one-of-a-kind. Remarkable one of its kind.
So you think God Siva qualifies as a sweetheart? I think so, He definitely has all three qualities. If we want to make God Siva our Valentine, we just have to express all of this on Valentine's Day. We are a day early but you have to allow for poetic license here.
We need a Valentine card. What does a Valentine card express? The dictionary again says, "It expresses uncritical praise and affection." Uncritical praise and affection. Doesn't that sound like so many of our Saivite hymns? Potri, Potri? Uncritical praise and affection. Saivite lore is filled with Valentine cards, filled with hymns we can use on Valentine's Day to praise and love God Siva in that way. I chose one from the Natchintanai. It is called, "All is You." So this is our Valentine's Day card to God Siva. I actually I sent it to God Siva in the fire, so it would be delivered on time. Burned a copy.
"All is You.
Father and Mother are You
Dear brothers and sisters are You
Incomparable wife is You
Precious sons are You
Royal potentates are You.
The devas and all the Gods are You
This great Earth is You
And that which guards and governs me is also You
You it was who stayed the river
You are He whose half is Shakti.
You are the truth revealing Vedas
You are both righteousness and error
You are the one adorned with ashes
You are He with an eye upon His brow
You are the prize that I have gained.
You are the one who has made me Yours
Indra and the Gods are You
The multitude of Rishis are You
Both the sun and the moon are You
'Tis you who as the Lingam stands.
Mantra and Tantra are You
This life and the next are You
All beauty and loveliness is You
And our protector too is You
You are the one without an end.
You are the Lord who is my father
You are in truth the changeless one
You are that which is in the heart
You are he who has no parts
You are also all beliefs.
You are that which is known through search
You are order and perfection
That which is love is You
Body and life are also You
Far and near are You.
Truth and untruth too are You
Verse and melody are You
The contents of the song are You
Numbers and letter are You
And that which is my help is You.
You are all benefits
You are the true support of life
You are the almighty Judge
You are yesterday and today
You are that understood by learning.
You are the heart of the best of men
You are religion and You are race
And it is You who has made of me your man
Everything that is, is You
Your Lady forms one half of you.
All might and power is You
All the days of our life are You
Many there are who glorify You
He who came on the horse was You
The hearts of all good men are You
And that which is myself is You.
You are He who rides the bull
'Twas You who kicked the God of Death
'Tis You who are the Guru comes
'Tis You who as the Guru comes
'Tis You indeed who are my refuge.
You are what cannot be told
You are the self-existent one
You are that beyond all praise
And 'tis you behind the intellect
He who bestows alms is You
And he who accepts alms is You.
The entire Universe is You
The bright-browed lady-spouse is You
He adorned with snakes is You
That which is sweet to worship is You
He of beauteous form is You.
What lies within the heart is You
The Universal One is You
That without place or name is You
That which is good is You
What will be tomorrow is You.
Mountains and Seas are You
The whole of this wide world is You
What is in the open hall is You
That devoid of taint is You
That splendor known as Aum is You.
That which has no form is You
That which affirms is You
And that which negates is You
That which is free of sloth is You
That which is the truth is You.
Our safe guard is also You
And all embodied souls are You
That which envy knows is You
What becomes the letters five is You
He who holds the deer is You.
That which exists as I is You
All upright minds are You
That behind all thought is You
That which is divine is You
Guru and disciple both are You."
That is our Valentine!