Visited Swami at his Ashram about a week ago. As well as wanting to discuss matters relating to a family member, I rather enjoy visiting him at his peaceful Ashram in the Tamil countryside.
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| Flagpost with Nandi and Shiva Shrine Doorway in background |
On arrival immediately noticed how quickly the Temple and Ashram are developing. The Flagpost and Doorway with Steps to the Shiva Shrine are now covered with a layer of Panchaloha. [Panchaloha is a composite alloy believed to bring balance and ensure abundance and good fortune. The five metal alloy, the composition of which laid is down in the Shilpa Sastras is an amalgam of; gold, silver, copper, iron and lead (nowadays tin or zinc may also be added)].
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| Flagpost inside Temple |
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| Steps and Doorway to Shiva Shrine |
The next major development work that will be undertaken at the Ashram is the flooring both inside and around the perimeter of the Temple.
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| Flooring to be laid outside perimeter of Temple. Trees to be planted in this area |
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| Swamis Room and Office Rooms |
As to the Ashram, noticed lots of new greenery and also that the dining and kitchen areas are being expanded to cope with the increasing number of devotees visiting his Ashram.
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| Dining area is being enlarged |
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| Enlarging the kitchen area |
If you go to an earlier posting with photographs of Swami’s Ashram at this link here you will be able to see how quickly the Temple and Ashram are developing.
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| New Greenery in parts of the Ashram |
In an earlier posting on Arunachala Mystic I recounted Swami’s words on how he attained his healing and clairvoyant powers.
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| Swami's interview area |
“Following an incident in his life, Guruji stopped taking food, and continued in this manner for seven months whilst staying at Kanchangiri Temple’s Ashram. One day, when his body was in a dire condition, and there was no hope left for him, he prayed to Lord Unnamulai Ammal, tearfully beseeching, ‘you give food to the whole World, so why can’t you take care of my needs and feed me?’
Immediately on uttering this pray, five ladies and five men suddenly appeared and came to Guruji and laid him on the floor. The five ladies sat below the head of the prostrate body, and the five men sat above the head. Each of the five ladies started to remove parts of Guruji’s body, bit by bit, and made up small packages of the body parts.
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| Swami's Chair and entrance to modest room |
During this whole process Guruji felt absolutely no pain. Finally only his head remained. Thereupon the ladies said, ‘give these small packages, to those that come to meet you, as prasadam.’
. . . After this, the five men sitting above him, placed their hands upon Guruji’s head and after a few moments disappeared. At that very moment Guruji’s body reappeared and from that time till this day, Guruji has not had a single problem with his body, even though he hasn’t taken solid food for a number of years.
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| Altar next to Swami's interview and sitting area |
Some days after this incident whilst Guruji was in meditation, a Lingam suddenly appeared. In his excitement he tried to touch and lift the Lingam but as it was so heavy he wasn’t able to move it even an inch. Upon being unable to move the Lingam, he decided to perform a puja, so stood up in order to perform the ritual; as he stood the Lingam also lifted up to his position, slowly came towards him and then mingled with him.
From that time onwards Guruji has been able to read peoples’ minds and see and understand their problems”.
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| Blessings from Sri Siva Jothi Mona Siddhar |
In the Bhagavad Gita Chapter 7 Verse 16, it is stated:
catur-vidha bhajante mam
janah sukritino ‘rjuna
arto jijnasur artharthi
jnani ca bharatarsabha
"Four types of people seek Me – the distressed, the seekers of Knowledge, those desirous of good and the men of wisdom."
The distressed is the one who seeks refuge from the sorrow and suffering experienced in the world. The seeker of Knowledge is the one of an intellectual nature who comes to the Divine with the desire for knowledge. The devotee desirous of good is the person of practical nature who approaches the Divine as the giver of good in the world, and sees God as a means to fulfill worldly ambitions. Finally, the man of wisdom is the jnani who combines devotion and knowledge in order to attain complete unity with the Divine.
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| Swamiji |
Thus it could be said one worships God according to one’s own karma and follows the path to God according to one’s faith and past actions.
As per Swami’s own Divine Dream, he has been given powers and abilities to see and help understand the problems of those in distress and those in need of guidance and support. From my own experience and from those of others I have learnt of, Swami helps, inspires and guides those who come to him.
