Devi Mandir

Temple of Divine Mother

Shree Maa- Trip to India- Family Reunion

Bara Maa, Shree Maa’s mother, came today along with many members of the family. After twenty-five years their family joined in one place. We all joined in arati. After arati, Summi, Shree Maa’s niece, sang. It was a great delight for us all. Listen Here… This is Shree Maa’s immediate family. They all met in […]

Dissolving Sivalinga!

~~OM~~


Photo of the week – Mar 14 – Mar 20, 2008
(Picture taken March 2008 at Devi Mandir, Napa, CA)

After Sivaratri, we dissolve all 1008 clay Siva Lingas in the creek

Shiva Meditates on Vishnu

~~OM~~ So Shiva always meditates on Vishnu. And it’s very interesting, one day in Kailash, Parvati was looking a little bit bored because Shiva was just sitting there in deep, deep meditation. And she called, “Oh Lord.” And Shiva didn’t respond. And she said, “Shiva!” And Shiva didn’t move. And Parvati just stood there watching […]

Bhagavad Gita : Chapter 9

~~OM~~

    Verse 32

  1. The verse says ” For those who take refuge in Me, even if they took birth in a sinful womb, or as women, as business people or as laborers, all attain the supreme refuge.”

    My reason tells me that in this verse, which begins and ends with the Supreme, ultimately there are no differences in the One- Without-a-Second and through devotion and sadhana we all can attain the Supreme Refuge. Yet the alarms still go off inside me! How can I best understand this or deal with this resistance? Thank you very much

    We can give up the resistance by understanding the cultural context in which this was written. In that society there was a distinction of authority, and what this verse is saying is that no matter what one’s station in society may be, if one takes refuge in God, that individual attains the Supreme Refuge.

Story of Ravana, Kumbhakarna, and Vibhishana

~~OM~~ Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and Vibhishana, the three, when they were young men, they went off to do tapasya. And Brahma came and said, “I’m satisfied with your tapasya, what do you want?” And Ravana said, “I want power, I want to be the king of the earth.” And Brahma said, “Tatastu. I give you […]