Chapter 11§
Spiritual Initiation
दीक्षा
ARMA, THE FLOW OF LIFE, IS REGULATED AND BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL THROUGH DĪKSHĀ, INITIATION, THE PLACING OF A SPECIAL, LIFE-CHANGING, RELIGIOUS IMPRESSION DEEP INTO THE MIND OF THE DEVOTEE. DĪKSHĀS CATALYZE AND EMPOWER SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT, GRANTING ACCESS TO NEW AREAS OF INNER CONSCIOUSNESS BY ENLIVENING THE KUṆḌALINĪ POWER IN THE INITIATE. AFTER DĪKSHĀ, ADDITIONAL STUDY BEGINS.§
201 ¶Dīkshā provides the spark to clear barriers. It is the satguru’s blessing and inner sanction for further sādhana. Giving dīkshā may be likened to planting a seed. Fruition, growth and ripening come with time and naturally depend on the śishya’s sincerity and personal effort to perform the sādhana given with the dīkshā, or to fulfill the assigned prāyaśchitta (penance) to compensate if the sādhana is not performed. The fellowship of initiates are the core of the Hindu Church of the noble Kailāsa Paramparā. They are truly stalwart and dedicated, having carried the banner of dharma through the thick and thin of their many lives. §
About Samaya Dīkshā§
202 ¶Samaya dīkshā, also called mantra dīkshā, is the fundamental Śaiva initiation, for through it the devotee is formally connected to a particular lineage by virtue of the preceptor’s spiritual power and authority. The sūtras of Living with Śiva carefully prepare the novitiate for samaya dīkshā. All initiates instruct newcomers not just intellectually but more by example. Novitiates are instructed in how to transform themselves by themselves through daily pūjā, temple worship, attending festivals, tithing, vegetarianism, pilgrimage, scriptural reading, Gaṅgā sādhana and more. Samaya dīkshā is the blessing and empowering to enter the kriyā pāda and perform certain daily sādhanas, including chanting the Pañchākshara Mantra, Aum Namaḥ Śivāya, each day at least 108 times on a mālā of rudrāksha japa beads. §
The Meaning Of Namaḥ Śivāya§
203 ¶This mantra quiets the mind, harmonizes the nerve system, bringing forth knowledge from within, reminding the śishya of his purpose in life and relationship with Lord Śiva. Namaḥ Śivāya literally means “adoration to God Śiva.” The symbolism of each of the five letters is: Si is Śiva; Va is His revealing grace, Ya is the soul, Na is His concealing grace and Ma is the world. Namaḥ Śivāya is the gateway to yoga. The secret of Namaḥ Śivāya is to hear it from the right lips at the right time. Then, and only then, is it the most powerful mantra of Śaivism for you. Samaya dīkshā enters the devotee into the Nandinātha Sampradāya as a dīkshāśishya. A series of Nandinātha Tantras is then revealed. After mantra dīkshā, devotees continue The Master Course.§
About Vishesha Dīkshā§
204 ¶Vishesha dīkshā, “distinguishing” initiation, marks the śishya’s formal entrance into the Śrī Subramuniya Ṛishi Gotra, our lineage’s select assembly of followers, affectionately known as chelas. After this initiation, the devotee is obligated to personally, daily perform the Śaiva Ātmārtha Pūjā, which now has new power. This worship is performed during the early morning, followed by scriptural study and 108 repetitions of the Pañchākshara Mantra. The pūjā obligation of vishesha dīkshā is not fulfilled by attending the pūjā performed by the head of the house in the shrine room. Each member who has received this initiation performs the pūjā privately (the long, medium or short version) and then attends the family pūjā as well. Vishesha dīkshā is also the empowering to perform yoga, to worship internally and undertake serious austerities. This dīkshā opens access into inner realms heretofore not accessible. As part of the dīkshā, the śishya voices and signs the following solemn vow binding himself and his family line to the Śrī Subramuniya Ṛishi Gotra. Vishesha dīkshā brings the devotee more deeply into the study of Shum, my magical language of meditation, through the Shum Tyaef Lexicon.§
Vishesha Dīkshā Vrata§
205 ¶“Prostrations to the holy feet of Lord Gaṇeśa! Aum Śivāya! I pledge my loyalties to the Śaiva Swāmī Saṅgam of Śaiva Siddhānta Church, to the monistic Śaiva Siddhānta theology of Ṛishi Tirumular and, most importantly, to the holy feet of my satguru in this life, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, as I enter the Śrī Subramuniya Ṛishi Gotra. In doing so, I rededicate myself to the Sanātana Dharma and now bind myself to the congregation of devotees of Śaiva Siddhānta Church, those who uphold the Śaiva Dharma—Dancing with Śiva: Hinduism’s Contemporary Catechism and the Creed for Śaivite Hindus—and seek to remold the Śaiva karma by doing penance for the entire Śaivite world as it moves from an agricultural into a technological era and on into a new age of space. As I sit before Guru Mahāsannidhānam and the Śaiva swāmīs and the gotra of devotees, I bow before the holy feet of Lord Naṭarāja, pledging my allegiance as a soldier of the within and a silent minister, emissary of duty to be well performed. I have enjoined my three bodies—soul, mental and physical—to propel new members into our fellowship and make them comfortable in our congregation. May Lord Gaṇeśa bless me, may Lord Murugan bless me, may Lord Śiva bless me. May Gurudeva bless me in this and from inner worlds as I join for all time as a Śivathondar the great congregation of Śaiva Siddhānta Church and irrevocably blend my karma with its dharma. Anbe Śivamayam Satyame Parasivam.” §
Borne along and defiled by the stream of qualities, unsteady, wavering, bewildered, full of desire, distracted, one goes on into the state of self-conceit. In thinking, ‘This is I’ and ‘That is mine’ one binds himself with himself, as does a bird with a snare.§
KṚISHṆA YAJUR VEDA, MAITU 3.2. UPH, 418§
About Nirvāṇa Dīkshā§
206 ¶Nirvāṇa dīkshā marks the beginning of tapas and the serious practice of yoga for monastics. This dīkshā intensifies the activity of the kuṇḍalinī, and changes are expected as the external ego melts and the mellowness of the soul is exposed. One who receives this dīkshā is a practitioner of yoga, preparing for sannyāsa dīkshā. Nirvāṇa dīkshā is given to monastics when they don the yellow robes of the yogī tapasvin. It is also given to sādhakas who have served faithfully for twelve years or more and qualify to serve as catalysts of Himālayan Academy. They are then known as nirvāṇa sādhaka and wear a single strand of rudrāksha beads. §
About Sannyāsa Dīkshā§
207 ¶Sannyāsa dīkshā marks the complete abdication of the world and of personal life. It is the death of the ego for the Hindu maṭhavāsi and his irrevocable entrance onto the path of the renunciate monastic. In our order this dīkshā is given after a minimum of twelve brahmacharya years according to the śāstric calculations. §
About Āchārya Dīkshā§
208 ¶Āchārya dīkshā is given to swāmīs who have proved their dedication and spiritual maturity and earned twenty-four years of brahmacharya age, as explained in the Śaivite Śāstras. Ordination as a Śaiva āchārya brings the sannyāsin into more responsibilities for training and counseling young monastics. Śaiva āchāryas are the senior teachers of our theology. §
The Security Of Our Successorship§
209 ¶Now I would like to share with my śishyas a very important matter for the future of our Śaiva Siddhānta Church. It regards the matter of succession, a somewhat profound subject which I know no one likes to think about because it makes us sad to think of life being different than it is now, with all of us working together so closely and with such great love. Please rest assured, as you read this section, that I plan to live a long time. My longevity is shown in my astrological chart, has been confirmed by South Indian Nāḍī readers and is even expressly stated in our Śaivite Śāstras. Verse 345 assures, “Your Gurudeva will be with you many, many cycles. He will see each of you into your final destiny. He can live as long as he likes on the earth. There is no problem there.” With all of this said, the dawn of 1996 is a very auspicious time to make it clear how our wonderful fellowship will continue to flourish even after I make my grand departure. §
My Three Āchārya Successors§
210 ¶In order to secure the future strength, sustenance and stability of our monastic order and our entire international spiritual extended family, I have established three successors, all very experienced in spiritual and religious matters. Each has been dear to our congregation for 20 to 30 years. All know them to be extremely competent, holy men of the highest calibre. At the time of my grand departure, the senior most among the circle of my present three āchāryas still living, those being Āchārya Veylanswāmī, Āchārya Palaniswāmī and Āchārya Ceyonswāmī, will automatically become the guru mahāsannidhānam, to sit upon the Kailāsa Pīṭham, in full charge of Kauai Aadheenam, its branches and memberships, and thus carry forward the spiritual lineage of our paramparā, fully empowered to give the dīkshās of our lineage—samaya, vishesha, sannyāsa and abhisheka. The announcement is now, and the appointment will take place automatically upon my mahāsamādhi, with the coronation of the rudrāksha mālā upon his head happening shortly after I experience transition. It is my edict that each of the above three āchāryas, who are the stewards of Śaiva Siddhānta Church, Himālayan Academy and Hindu Heritage Endowment, will take his place upon the Pīṭham upon the grand departure of the other. This means that the next successor after Āchārya Veylanswāmī would be Āchārya Palaniswāmī, followed by Āchārya Ceyonswāmī, in that order. Thereafter, seniority will not be a factor in the appointment of successors. This, therefore, is my succession plan as of 1995. This plan is solely my decision, and I reserve the right to modify or totally change it at anytime. Like these Śāstras, the succession decree remains malleable and may be altered anytime before my passing.§
Our Edict on Outside Control§
211 ¶Here I wish to address my maṭhavāsis, now and in the future, to admonish each one of you to carry on the responsibilities of our order and its church. At no time or under any circumstances would a gṛihasthin or any person outside our Śaiva Siddhānta Yoga Order be permitted to take over the control of our Church or any of its institutions, which if allowed would bring great suffering upon all concerned, leading to the foreclosure of the heart, mind and soul of the monastic community, and reap jealousies among the family community. Many monasteries have fallen by turning their monies, assets and land management over to the family community, after which the monks become pawns in their hands. This includes offering people access to decision-making positions in exchange for large donations, allowing families, intellectuals or professionals in any field access to Church management or financial responsibility, giving over responsibility for Church teachings and temple services to nonmonastics, and many other subtle surrenderings of our strict monastic control of all institutions. This is not the Nātha way, nor shall it ever be. §
Mind is indeed the source of bondage and also the source of liberation. To be bound to things of this world: this is bondage. To be free from them: this is liberation.§
KṚISHṆA YAJUR VEDA, MAITU 6.34. UPM, 104§
Acceptance Of New Successors §
212 ¶Now I speak to my devotees who come forward to me at Guru Pūrṇimā. The next Guru Mahāsannidhānam sitting on the Kailāsa Pīṭham shall follow these Śāstras, as will his successor and the successor that follows him. After my mahāsamādhi, I urge all to come forward to him. I would remain your satguru, but your loyalties would remain toward the Pīṭham of the venerable Kailāsa lineage of gurus. Naturally, the new Guru Mahāsannidhānam would gradually initiate new followers and bring them along the sādhana mārga, and to them he would be their Gurudeva and I would be their paramaguru.§
The Future Tenor of Our Fellowship§
213 ¶I, Gurudeva Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, will always remain the founder, and my teachings and writings will always be the center of the institution, in the same way that Śrī Rāmakṛishṇa is the center of his institutions. I will always be satguru to those I initiated, with my Jayantī and Mahāsamādhi celebrated in glorious style each year. One hundred years from now, the thrust shall still be the carrying forward and dissemination of the Kailāsa Paramparā teachings of Paramaguru Yogaswāmī and Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, rather than future gurus neglecting these treasures or replacing them with their own presentations of the Vedic truths, or worse still, taking Śaiva Siddhānta Church off in another direction altogether, thus compromising its integrity as a boldly orthodox fellowship of traditional Śaivites.§
Guru Mahā-Sannidhānam Insignia §
214 ¶Traditionally, the guru mahāsannidhānam of a lineage has a silver scepter, a crown of rudrāksha beads, large, heavy earrings and an ornate siṅhāsana throne. Each new guru becomes an irrevocable image among the paramparā portraits in the line of gurus, and a shrine would be made for him in Ṛishi Valley. His picture would be placed to the right of Subramuniyaswami. §
Guru Mahā-Sannidhānam Insignia §
215 ¶How perfect that the next chapter of these Śaiva Dharma Śāstras is about our monks. Ever since the early Treta and Dvapara Yugas there has always been monastic life on planet Earth, our Lemurian Śāstras tell us. It is a necessary part of the human picture, as integral as air, water, belief and love. Monastics are full-time servants of the Divine, supported by part-time servants of the Divine. We honor them, for they chant the sacred syllables when others forget. They strive unceasingly while others become distracted. They hold themselves at the center, hovering at the precipice of the Infinite Self, while others struggle to control the mind. They are truly the knowers of the Unknowable, holding Truth in the palm of their hands. No wonder we turn to them in times of sorrow, when in need of guidance and wise direction, when our will seems weak or our spiritual perspective fades and the world seems all too real. That is how it is in our Church, as the next chapter will explain. §
Girded by the wind, they have donned ocher mud for a garment. So soon as the Gods have entered within them, they follow the wings of the wind, these silent ascetics.§
Ṛig Veda 10.136.2. VE, 436§
Let him approach with humility a guru who is learned in the scriptures and established in Brahman. To such a seeker, whose mind is tranquil and senses controlled, and who has approached him in the proper manner, let the learned guru impart the science of Brahman, through which the true, Imperishable Being is realized.§
Atharva Veda, MundU 1.2.12–13. EH, 157§
Within him is fire, within him is drink, within him both earth and heaven. He is the sun which views the whole world, he is indeed light itself—the long-haired ascetic.§
Ṛig Veda 10.136.1. VE, 436§
Hail, O sannyāsin, you who knows no guile! Establish in your heart and worship there that Taintless One—Pañchākshara’s inmost core, whom neither Vishṇu nor Brahmā had power to comprehend. You who regards all others as yourself—who in this world can be compared with you? The powerful karma your past deeds have wrought will vanish without trace. Daily, on the thought “Is not this jīva Śiva?” you must meditate.§
Natchintanai, “O Sannyāsin!” NT, 146§