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INTRODUCTION ___________________ Mahāśivarātrī (महाशिवरात्री) is a festival celebrated every year through an all-day fast, through an all-night long vigil, and by making offerings of Bael (Bilva, Aegle marmelos) leaves to Lord Śiva. Additionally, cannabis is traditionally used as an offering to Lord Śiva and his followers in certain ritualistic sections. Per scriptural and discipleship traditions, the penances are performed in order to gain boons in the practice of bīja meditation in Yoga and Tantra, to reach spiritual goals more swiftly, and to avoid rebirth. It is observed on Phālguna Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa कृष्ण पक्ष (waning moon) Trayodaśī / Caturdaśī (13/14th night) as per North Indian calendars, and on Māgha Kṛṣṇa Pakṣa कृष्ण पक्ष (waning moon) Trayodaśī / Caturdaśī as per Gujarat, Mahārāṣṭra, Karṇāṭaka and Andhra Pradesh calendars. SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE _____________________________ Mahā is the Omnipotent. Śiva represents the combined Nirguṇa-Saguṇa, the limitless, all-pervasive energy, t...

Āṣāḍhī Ekādaśī (आषाढ एकादशी) signifies a time-space in which Prabhu Viṣṇuji enters a state of Nivṛtti (in which he appears to sleep) in Kṣīrasāgara (the cosmic ocean of milk) on the cosmic serpent Śeṣanāga . It falls on the 11th lunar day (Ekādaśī) of the bright fortnight (Śukla Pakśa) of the Vedic month of Āśadha (June – July). It is additionally known as Śayani Ekādaśī, Mahā Ekādaśī, Prathama Ekādaśī, or Padma Ekādaśī. This holy day is of significance to Vaiṣṇavites. Through this day and night, they oblate ritualistically the Murti of Prabhu Viṣṇuji and Mā Lakṣmī. The saṅkalpa of Caturm ā sa, or 4-month ritualistic fasting priorly undertaken, is imbibed on this day. Post Caturmāsa, Prabhu Viṣṇuji becomes pravṛtta (appears to wake up) on Prabodhinī Ekādaśī, the 11th day of bright fortnight in the Vedic month of Kārtika (October-November). This day is of great importance in Mahārāṣṭra. The taditional yātrā to Śrī Viṭṭhala (the supreme aṃśa of Prabhu Viṣṇuji) Temple in Pan ḍhar...

Śrī Gaṇapati Atharvaśīrṣa, also known as the Gaṇapati Upaniṣad, was written by Atharva Ṛ ṣ i. It is one of the main texts of the Gā ṇapatya Saṃpradāya, a lineage adulating Gaṇeśa as the central divinity, thought to have become established in India from the 6th century onward. It is thought that a minimum of six groups of Gāṇapatyas (devotees of Gaṇeśa) existed, including one Tantric grouping centred on the worship of Ucchiṣṭa Gaṇapati [the Tantric form of Ga ṇeśa ], although relatively little is known about them. The Ga ṇeśa Upaniṣad belongs to a class of Vedic texts considered to be revelatory [śruti, ‘that which is heard’], and held to be without 'origin'. It is a manifestation of a particular 'Truth'. Atharva Upaniṣad is not meant to be read, but to be recited. The 7th verse of the Upaniṣad presents the Bīja or seed mantra of Gaṇeśa. The first perception of a mantra is held to arise from a human-divine contact of some kind; hence the first person to utter the...

  Is Guru a teacher, a mentor, or a state? गुशब्दस्त्वन्धकारः स्यात्‌ रुशब्दस्तन्निरोधकः। अन्धकारनिरोधित्वात्‌ गुरुरित्यभिधीयते॥ १६॥   Advayatāraka Upaniṣad [Śukla Yajurveda] The syllable ‘GU’ signifies darkness (गुशब्दस्त्वन्धकारः). The syllable ‘RU’ denotes the obstruction to that darkness (रुशब्दस्तन्निरोधकः). That (he/she/they/that) which by the virtue of which the light of realisation that obstructs darkness shows the path is termed as GURU. The term ‘Guru’ is cryptic. It is an expansive algorithm which we spontaneously arrive at as we progress in our lives from linearity to non-linearity. This expansion is facilitated in our moral, social, financial, physical, and mental lives through constant learning and unlearning from various sources that we understand as teachings and as teachers. There therefore is a difference between a teacher / mentor and a Guru. The former is a person, a flow of thoughts (gyāna ज्ञान) from whom we decide or prepare to absorb fro...