Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa!
Om Guru Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa!
Om Guruvan Guruve Saranam Ayyappa!
Om Sadgurunadhane Saranam Ayyappa!
After seeing so many questions from various people, I felt that this is a needed one and must, to guide the youth. Today's kids or grown-ups who are going to be the tomorrow's youth and the future of the nation, who are not being properly guided and who are falling prey to the current trends of social media, internet , television, movies etc where there is no proper monitoring from parents or elders and no one to properly guide them.
In earlier days, there were joint families and there was usually a family head who used be the center of entire of family, who used to guide the kids or grown-ups and the youth of the family, there were fewer chances for the kids or grown-ups or the youth to deviate from the path and fewer chances for them to get addicted to bad habits. Also, any of other elders of the family would also counsel them, guide them. Kids or grown-ups or youth also has the possibility of knowing the values of the family, relationships, how to work in a team because the family size used to big and some or other event would always be happening and as well we used to have a lot of festivals to celebrate. These all put together used to give scope for the kids and youth to participate, exhibit their skills, learn new things, develop their abilities, etc.
The present-day scenario is totally changed, with families becoming nuclear and with everyone in the race of having a better lifestyle where both wife and husband are going for jobs, and everyone thinking that it is just enough to have either one or two kids, the kids and the youth are becoming prey to the impacts of the internet, social media, television, movies, etc. The parents don't have time to spend with their kids or grown-ups, they don't have time to monitor what their kids or grown-ups are doing and they don't have enough time to guide them when they are in problem or they don't have enough time to counsel them when they are facing any problem.
The main problem comes when the children or grown-ups or the youth are facing some sort of emotional problem. These kinds of problems cannot be shared with everyone for various reasons like they might think "what others may think of them", "they may feel embarrassed" etc. These kind of problems are very sensitive and when shared should be properly counseled , properly guided otherwise there is every possibility that they may deviate from the path and get addicted to bad habits or may get accustomed to bad friends or someone whom they approached might take advantage of the situation and use them for their personal activities etc. Even the kids or grown-ups or the youth who temporarily may get addicted to such activities at a later stage may realize this and regret their remaining life, why they have done such activities or even in the worst case they may not be able to forgive themselves or attempt for suicides etc.
Now, what is the remedy for this? The best solution is Ayyappa Swamy Deeksha. We will see how swamy deeksha can bring back the lost ones to the track or how it can help who doesn't want to get deviated. Ayyappa Swamy Deeksha is a special kind of deeksha which deals with guru tatwa. In this deeksha guruswamy plays an important role. So who is a guru?, A guru is one who can remove our ignorance and make us know the truth. The deeksha itself is designed in such a manner that one who is taking this deeksha knowingly or unknowingly for any reason will slowly get transformed and this inner transformation will definitely help him in such a fashion that he can be useful to himself, to his family, to this country, and to this universe.
Firstly, bad habits are the sign of mental weakness where one is not able to control the mind and listen to whatever mind says. So in swamy deeksha, one learns how to win over the mind. For example the mind says, the weather outside is cold, let us do hot shower, where the deeksha rules say you need to do cold water before sunrise and after sunset. The mind says, the weather outside is cold, let us wake up after the sun rises, maybe 7am or 8 am or 9 am. The deeksha rules say you have to wake up at Brahma muhurta, do your bath and complete the puja before sunrise. As an old age saying says "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise", so deekshadari's will complete their puja by early morning and they have the entire day at their discretion to plan and do the activities, which will help them slowly move towards inner transformation and success.
Secondly, an idle man's brain is a devil's workshop: so, someone just sitting idle is not able to know the purpose of his life, he is wasting his time, energy , his life, his country's resources, this universe's resource. If a person realizes that he is not totally independent because he is first, part of a universe, then he is part of this world, then he is part of this country, then he is part of the family, he has so many responsibilities on him to fulfill. As a part of the universe, he has no right to play with other beings in this universe so negative signals should not be sent into the universe. As a part of the world, he has no right to spoil the environment and destroy any of the other resources of this world. As a part of this country, he doesn't have any right to trouble his fellow beings or resources of this country or spoil the environment of this country. Similarly, as a part of the family, he cant be lazy and utilize the resources of the family i.e simply eat, roam, enjoy. So everyone has the responsibility to repay back to the family, to this country, to this world, and to this universe. Simply someone cannot say, I am independent and I am not connected with anyone, I am earning and this is my money, etc. Even then so many things in this universe are supporting where you are getting something to eat, something to enjoy. So when a person takes deeksha, his mindset will change, he will slowly learn why everyone is called a swamy in swamy deeksha. He will know that everything is permeated by swamy only. The basic thing which makes one feel that other is different from him is the concept of name and form. Once you learn to see beyond the name and form of any entity, you realize that there is some energy or something which is making that entity to exist in this universe. If you try to question what it is or try to realize what it is, then you will understand why we are calling everyone as swamy. It is the ability to make realise that you are not supposed to see the external form and name of the person, rather see that inner energy or divine light which is making that exist. we will take a simple example to understand, every ornament is made of gold only, you may make it as long and call it necklace, you may make it short and call it a bracelet, you may make it round and call it bangle or ring, etc. Just because it is round and you are calling it as the ring does make you forget that is made of gold. You are conscious that it is gold, whatever may be the form of gold and name it is called. Similarly just because someone is named ram, Rahim, Krishna, Joesph, etc, you forget the truth that he is permeated and is existing because of the inner divine energy called Swamy (or can be any other whom we call GOD) and by calling everyone as swamy the deekshadari is trying to remember the truth that it is the form of divine only not the external form and name. He is looking at the concept of gold rather than the name and form of the gold.
So people taking deeksha learn this basic truth, because once the light of wisdom is attained, there is no space for the darkness of ignorance, because both can't exist at the same place. It is just like this when the container is empty, it will be filled with air, but when we pour the water into the container, it cant be empty because now it is filled with water. Similarly, when we were ignorant, we were empty and didn't had the knowledge, once we acquired the knowledge and filled with knowledge, then we cant be empty and we are filled. Now, what are the advantages of this knowledge which they have gained? This is the goal and purpose of life when you have this realization, no one appears to be separate than you, you see yourself permeating throughout of this universe, you are not separate from swamy and you become one with swamy. Then there doesn't arise any question of scolding someone or abusing someone, questioning someone, answering someone, etc. You just remain in that state and you become a witness to the divine drama which is taking charge and which is making the entire universe to act and play. This ultimate goal is known as "Tatwamasi" and which is written on the sanctum sanctorum of Sabarimala. When someone can achieve this goal depends on the intensity with which they want to reach this goal. Someone may reach faster, someone may take 1 year, 2 years, 3 years,10 years, 20 years, etc. But it is definitely possible and your journey towards this goal is only what ayyappa swamy deeksha enables you to achieve.
So what are the benefits during the course of the journey towards this goal? Because till we reach the goal, we need to continue existing in this world and play our role. And to exist in this world, we need to survive and we need the money and we will have so many desires and etc.. Then how to balance between the goal which we need to reach and the survival in this world. For this, the deeksha design itself will provide you so much scope that you can learn and apply to survive in this world.
The design of the deeksha and the rules if properly followed help the deekshadari's in a lot of ways. If we want to learn any skill, test it whether we got the skill and to exhibit the skill acquired or to use it for survival or improvement in our life, we need some platform, all these the deeksha provides for us. We will see how the rules of deeksha helps us transforming so that we can balance between the goal we need to reach and till we reach such a goal how these skills help us survive in this world.
Life Management Skills:
The deeksha has one of the rules that deekshadari's should cook for themselves. Now if a swamy sincerely follows this rule, he learns the entire process of cooking, cleaning utensils, cutting vegetables, serving, etc. From this, he can learn what is the amount of work involved in doing all these activities. Because of this realization, he will understand what his wife or his mother or sister or someone who is doing it for him. So next time onwards, he will respect their work and he will never shout or become angry on them even if it takes a little bit more time or even if the taste of the items misses somewhat. With this one single rule of deeksha he is able to learn how to value others efforts, he is able to accept the things, he is able to acknowledge the work of others, he is able to have patience towards smaller mistakes of others. So, if a deekshadhari is sincerely following one rule, it will change the dimension of his thought process and improve the relationships. So following sincerely all the deeksha rules will train the deekshadari for inner transformation where he can learn to manage his life with balance and ease.
Team Involvement Skills:
The deeksha has provision for various activities like puja, bhajan, annadan etc . The deekshadari can learn lot of skills through these activities. How to be part of team which is doing a bigger event. Because the team consists of guruswamy, senior swamys as well younger swamys. He will learn the art of being part of team. How to listen and how to speak to elder swamys, how to delegate work to younger swamys. All these skills help them in growing in their career. These skills will be useful to them in their personal as well as professional life. They get a chance to learn new skills from other swamys. They have the platform to exhibit, learn and acquire new skills. Someone may be interested in decoration ,they can learn artistic in flower decoration, someone may be interested in singing bhajans, somebody may be interested in cooking, serving, entire puja event management, purchase of items, etc. One deeksha will have so many activities, which gives chance to learn and explore so many dimensions. They will learn how to plan and execute events.
Time Management Skills:
The rule that a swamy should complete his puja before sunrise in the morning and after the sunset in the evening time makes a deekshadari learn how to manage time effectively so that he can balance between his deeksha rituals and his regular personal life. When a person learns to wake up early, he will have the entire day at his discretion to plan and complete his activities. So he will learn the art of managing his time, which will probably help him in his career when he goes to higher levels of his career. Not only in professional life, also his personal life, things will become easier and smoother, if he learns how to effectively manage his time. Because time in a way is directly linked to money, so time management will help him also learn money management. He will learn how to value time and money, this one skill will change his life in a positive way that, slowly prosperity will be bestowed on him and which will lead to harmony, peace in his life. These all together will bring a balance in his life and he can enjoy his personal as well as his professional life with ease.
Communication Skills:
The majority of people doesn't know how to communicate properly. First principle in communication is being ready to listen what others are speaking, then have the minimum common sense not to interrupt while others are speaking, and to know when we need to pause while we are speaking to others, checking whether others are able to understand what we are speaking, then have the ability to speak concisely or elaborately depending on the situation, then to have the skill to know what to speak, how to speak and when to speak.
Lack of knowledge about the above things will create a gap between the speaker and the listener and this is where people fail. The deeksha gives the flexibility to improvise these skills a lot. Because, first deekshadari will listen to what guruswamy is saying, so he will learn the art of listening. Then when guruswamy says some instructions and to communicate with other group members, he learns what to speak, how to speak. Then how to communicate with other senior swamy's as well to younger swamy's. How to speak to individuals and how to communicate with the entire group. All these activities and scenarios are possible. Then always there is guruswamy to guide and correct if we are making any mistake. So the best tool to learn the art of communication.
Have no fear:
The major problem which humans face is fear, fear of survival, fear of death, fear of unacceptance, fear of rejection, fear of hunger etc. Whatever it may be, but if we analyze the situation and try to identify the root cause, it will lead to some sort of fear only. And one more thing is the expectation. Humans will have this and feel hurt when the situations or circumstances or people do not go according to their expectations. The deekshadari's will learn to accept things as they come and do not expect things to happen as they think, rather what ayyappa thinks, they will be ready to accept. For this, they get the assurance and courage that swamy is there to protect them and to guide them. This only a person taken deeksha and who has mala around his neck only will be able to understand, others may not experience it or understand this. When things do not go according to our expectations, we feel irritated and get angry, and because of which we lose our temper and our ego will get hurt. When a deekshadari learns to accept the divine play of swamy, he will not have any expectations, so he will not be hurt and he will not lose his temper, so he will be balanced and will not loose talk, his ego will not be hurt and he will be happy always. When a person is happy, his health will be good and his happiness will be reflected on the people around him and his circumstances will be good and his perspective will be positive and seeing his happiness, people around him also will be reflected or influenced with happiness.
Live to help others:
Slowly a deekshadari over a period of time will have the inner peace, every year whenever he is taking swamy deeksha and every year after doing Sabari yatra he will cross the inner hurdle which lies between him and reaching the goal of tatwamasi or knowing god or thyself. Over the years when there are no more hurdles between him and swamy and he had reached the goal, when his ego vanishes, then swamy will use him as a tool for the benefit of the society when his life becomes an example to others, where others can follow him. He will live simply to help others and be useful to this universe. He will be beyond the raaga and dwesha, having a balanced life.
In essence, we can say that youth who have lost the track or youth who want to be successful in their lives by getting inner transformation if take ayyappa swamy deeksha and if they follow all the deeksha rules sincerely will definitely be useful to themselves, to their families, to their countries and to this universe. For a lot of things which are not being carried forward between generations of earlier ones to the present ones, the bridging of the customs, traditions, knowledge is given to the youth through senior guruswamys. In a way, we can say that swamy deeksha will also protect our traditions and customs and make youth learn the right perspective of knowing the real truth (namely tatwamasi).
Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa!
