Divine Thoughts

One of the most respected seers of India in the mordern era is the great Sri Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetathipathi Jagatguru Chandrasekhendra Swamigal. For many us he is an incarnation of Adi Sankara himself. Herewith i have taken out some golden words of wisdom rendered by him.

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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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
5. We know many faults we commit, even if others do not know them. Sometimes we realise we are doing so many evil things and repent bitterly and feel why we should be born . Our duty is to pray to God -"I have committed so many faults. Will you not, 0 God, give me the will power not do like that in future and will you not purify my mind?" We must note down in a diary every night before we go to bed the faults committed by us and pray to God to give us courage and intelligence not to do so. This must be propagated widely.

Source: www.kamakoti.org

How to Invocate Lord Siva's blessings

Recently i learnt about Athi Rudhram through mahesh sir. The detail goes like this

Everyone is well aware of the greatness of Sri Rudram, the verses in praise and salutation of Lord Parameswara alias Sri Rudran. Chanting of Sri Rudram, verses that form the central portion of Krishna Yajur vedam is considered very auspicious and effective in invoking the blessings of the Supreme Lord. Chanting Sri Rudram at a stretch eleven times over with one chapter of Chamakam every time in between is known as "One Rudra Ekadasini" (11 times). Repeating this Rudra ekadasini eleven times is called a "Laghu Rudram" (11 x 11 = 121 times). Repeating this Laghu Rudram eleven times is called "Maha Rudram" (11x11x11 = 1331 times). 121 members usually perform "Maha Rudram", each chanting eleven times. Repeating "Maha Rudram" eleven times is called "Athi Rudram". This is normally performed by 121 members chanting Sri Rudram eleven times everyday for eleven days continuously; i.e. Maha Rudram repeated for eleven full days. (11x11x11x11 = 14641 times)

The powers and benefit of such an enviable task of participating and performing an "Athi Rudram" is beyond verbal description and it would suffice to sum it up that in our life span one should be lucky to see and participate in a AthiRudram.