Devi Mandir

Temple of Divine Mother

Shree Maa & Swamiji- Trip to India- March 20 2008

~~OM~~

A Temple in Every Home, God’s Abode in Every Heart

Our plane touched the sacred soil of Mother India on March 11, 2008 and our hearts were filled with love and joy! Shree Maa and Swamiji humbly bent down and bowed down to Mother India as soon as we got off. Swamiji has explained to us that Bharat means the land where the Light of Wisdom shines. Today, even amidst neon signs proclaiming malls and global brands, we still see the eternal light of Divine wisdom shining and feel the sweet love of God in the lap of Mother India.

We were taken to a devotee’s house which was decorated with marigold flowers and lights and most of all devotion to Mother and Swamiji! We went to their temple room which had many little Shiva lingams, numerous deities and beautiful pictures of Shree Maa and Swamiji. The shrine room is small and can seat only 10 people.

We walked around the house and saw the living room. It was decorated in a modern cosmopolitan style – with western European hand sketches, an ancient blouse from the Mughol era and decorative statues. Maa and Swamiji said, “We will make a temple here.”

In a matter of minutes, the couches were moved and space was made on the northern wall. A long table was placed and Chandi Maa’s picture housed in the middle. The walls were decorated with artificial flower garlands. Shree Maa placed two beautiful vases of flowers besides Chandi Maa. She was smiling at all of us – in Her new home! We brought a Shiva Linga for Maa’s puja and all other deities came running too!! Besides the main altar, Maa made an altar for Ganesh on the right and Thakur Ramakrishna on the left. Tea candles were placed all around the altars and incense sticks were lit.

Maa started ringing the bell and lit the arati lamps! She was singing to God and our hearts were brimming with delight! The room was completely transformed – from a room for dinners and parties to the divine abode of Gods and all devotees. In a matter of minutes, we learnt from Shree Maa and Swamiji, make place for God and God will come! We learnt that as we create a divine atmosphere outside, we create space within ourselves for divinity to reside.

That very evening, we had satsang with arati and little singing. Our host, Maa’s devotee was drowning in tears of joy, adoration and love. The whole community joined us in singing to God and feeling divine presence in our lives.

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, […]

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, […]

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 […]

Taking Refuge in Divine Mother

~~OM~~

Shree Maa and Swamiji’s Message

“Dear Beloved Children, Thanks for helping to bring peace to yourselves and this universe. We are very proud of you. This year please recite the following mantra: “saranaagata diinaarta paritraana paraayane sarvasyaarti hare devi naaraayani namo-stu te” (Translation: For those who are devoted to you and take refuge in you, even though helpless and perplexed, you save them from all discomfort and unhappiness. All worry you take away, Oh Goddess, Exposer of Consciousness, we bow to you.” Please do at least one maala (108 times) each day for 2008. With your prayer this world will get peace.”

Blessings,

Shree Maa and Swamiji

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With the blessings of our Gurus, we have begun making japa of the Sharanagata Mantra in 2008. The Japa totals as of January 17th 2008 are as follows:

Aparna

1836
Devi

3888
Leela

864
Morningsong

756
Nanda

1080
Ramya

1080
Rosario

540
Srini

1080
Steve

4536
Total

16660
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