ANNUAL EVENTS
Lunar/Hindi New Year
The Lunar Hindu New Year is very significant, not just culturally, but scientifically too, because it takes into account the relationship between our planet, the sun and the moon, and its impact on the human system. As such, the New Year's dates were set to mark the beginning of the new agricultural season and the welcoming of spring, and not on 1 January.
In India, each region has a unique way of celebrating the Lunar Hindu New Year. As part of the celebrations at Linga Bhairavi, devotees from diverse parts of the country can make various ritual offerings to appeal to Devi’s Grace.
Although the celebration is known by different names in different regions of India, essentially it marks the beginning of the new agricultural season - the basis of life in these cultures. The Lunar Hindu New Year is celebrated as Puthandu in Tamil Nadu, Vaisakhi in Punjab, Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra, Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, Cheti Chant by Sindhis, Vishu in Kerala, Jur Sital by Maithili, Bohag Bihu in Assam, Pohela Baishakh by Bengalis, Pana Sankranti in Odisha and Sangken in Northeast India.
Guru Purnima
Importance and Significance of Guru Purnima
The first full moon after the summer solstice in the month of Ashadha (July-August), is known as Guru Purnima. This sacred day marks the first transmission of the yogic sciences from Shiva – the Adiyogi or first yogi – to his first disciples, the Saptarishis, the seven celebrated sages. Thus, the Adiyogi became the Adi Guru or first Guru on this day. The Saptarishis carried this knowing throughout the world and even today, every spiritual process on the planet draws from the spine of knowing created by Adiyogi.
The word “Guru” in Sanskrit is translated as “dispeller of darkness.” A Guru dispels the seeker’s ignorance, allowing him to experience the source of creation within. The day of Guru Purnima is traditionally the time when seekers offer the Guru their gratitude and receive his blessings. Guru Purnima is also considered an especially beneficial day to practice yogic sadhana and meditation.
Why Do We Celebrate Guru Purnima?
Guru Purnima is the day the first guru was born. In the yogic culture, Shiva is not seen as a god, he is seen as the Adiyogi, or the first yogi. Guru Purnima is that full moon day when the first yogi transformed himself into the Adi GuruThis is the time of the year, when over 15,000 years ago, his attention fell upon the now celebrated Saptarishis – his first seven disciples. They had done some simple preparation for 84 years. Then, when the solstice had shifted from the summer solstice to the winter – that is, when the Sun’s run with relation to this planet shifted from the northern run to the southern run, which in this tradition is known as Uttarayana and Dakshinayana – on that day, Adiyogi looked at the Saptarishis and saw that they had become shining receptacles of knowing. He could not ignore them anymore. He observed them closely and when the next full moon rose, he decided to become a guru. That full moon day is known as Guru Purnima. He turned south and the transmission of yogic science to the seven disciples began.
The yogic science is not about how to bend your body or hold your breath. This is the science of understanding the mechanics of the human mechanism and to be able to dismantle or put it together. Adiyogi made a dimensional change in the way people perceive and understand the existence and the source of creation. And he made himself a bridge between a simple piece of creation and the source of creation. He said, “If you walk this, there will be no distinction between you and that which you refer to as the creator.” The journey is from creation to the creator.
When Adiyogi spoke, he was not speaking religion, philosophy or dogma. He was talking about a science, a scientific method through which you could undo the boundaries that nature has set upon human life.
Every boundary that we set has the purpose of protection to start with. We build a fence around our house with the intent or protection. But once you become unaware as to why you set up these boundaries, the boundaries of self-preservation also become boundaries of self-imprisonment. And these boundaries are not in any one form. They have taken on so many complex forms.
I am not just talking about the psychological boundaries that you set for yourself. I am talking about the boundaries set by nature for your protection and wellbeing. But human nature is such, you cannot experience true wellbeing unless you transcend the limitations of boundaries set upon you. This is a human predicament. When you are in danger, you want fortresses around you. The moment the danger is gone, you want it all to collapse and disappear.
Guru Purnima Is Celebrated Irrespective of Caste or Creed
So this day is the most significant day for the human race. It was held that way in this land till recently. Guru Purnima was one of the most important festivals in the nation. People celebrated it irrespective of caste or creed because in this country, the most important thing was not wealth or money. Knowledge or knowing was considered the highest value. A teacher or guru was considered the highest entity in society because knowing is the most important thing. But then for some reason, we chose to celebrate ignorance instead of knowing, and in the last sixty-five years, Guru Purnima has lost its significance because the Government of India did not declare a holiday.
Before the British came to India, there were three days of holidays around Amavasya or new moon day, and two days of holidays around Purnima or full moon day. So there were five holidays in a month that were meant for you to go to the temple and work on your inner well-being. But when the British came, they made Sunday a holiday. What is the purpose of that? You don’t know what to do on those days so you eat a lot and watch television!
Maha Shivratri
Mahashivratri is one of the largest and most significant among the sacred festivals of India. The festival celebrates the Grace of Shiva, who is considered the Adi Guru or the First Guru from whom the Yogic tradition originates. The planetary positions on this night, which is also the darkest night of the year, are such that there is a powerful natural upsurge of energy in the human system. It is enormously beneficial for one’s physical and spiritual wellbeing to stay awake and aware in a vertical posture throughout the night
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Benefits of Mahashivratri
Mahashivratri is very significant for people who are on the spiritual path, and also for people with ambitions in the world and in family situations.
Biologists have pointed out that one of the biggest steps in the evolutionary process of an animal was the movement from a horizontal to a vertical spine. It was only after this step that the flowering of the intelligence has happened. So, by making use of this natural upsurge of energies on the nightlong festival of Mahashivratri, with the right kind of mantras and meditations, we can move one step closer to the Divine.
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The raising of energies takes place even if there is no sadhana in a person’s life. But especially for those people who are into some kind of yogic sadhana, keeping the body in a vertical position- or in other words, not sleeping on this night- is very important.
Mahashivratri is very significant for people who are on the spiritual path, and also for people with careers and in family situations. For people living in family situations, Mahashivratri is worshipped as Shiva’s wedding anniversary. The ambitious see it as the day Shiva conquered all his enemies. But in the yogic tradition, we do not consider Shiva as a god, but as the first guru or Adi Guru – the one who originated the science of Yoga. The word “Shiva” means “that which is not.” If you can keep yourself in such a state that you are not yourself, and allow Shiva to be, then the possibility of opening up a new vision into life and looking at life with total clarity is possible.
Significance of Mahashivratri
Mahashivratri, “The Great Night of Shiva” is the most significant event in India’s spiritual calendar.
The fourteenth day of every lunar month or the day before the new moon is known as Shivratri. Among all the twelve Shivratris that occur in a calendar year, Mahashivratri, the one that occurs in February-March is of the most spiritual significance. On this night, the northern hemisphere of the planet is positioned in such a way that there is a natural upsurge of energy in a human being. This is a day when nature is pushing one towards one’s spiritual peak. It is to make use of this, that in this tradition, we established a certain festival which is nightlong. To allow this natural upsurge of energies to find their way,one of the fundamentals of this nightlong festival is to ensure that you remain awake with your spine vertical throughout the night.
Mahashivratri is very significant for people who are on the spiritual path. It is also very significant for people who are in family situations, and also for the ambitious in the world. People who live in family situations observe Mahashivratri as Shiva’s wedding anniversary. Those with worldly ambitions see that day as the day Shiva conquered all his enemies. But, for the ascetics, it is the day he became one with Mount Kailash. He became like a mountain – absolutely still. In the yogic tradition, Shiva is not worshipped as a God, but considered as the Adi Guru, the first Guru from whom the science of Yoga originated. After many millennia in meditation, one day he became absolutely still. That day is Mahashivratri. All movement in him stopped and he became utterly still, so ascetics see Mahashivratri as the night of stillness.
Spiritual Significance of Mahashivratri
Legends apart, why this day and night are held with such importance in the yogic traditions is because of the possibilities it presents to a spiritual seeker. Modern science has gone through many phases and arrived at a point today where they are out to prove to you that everything that you know as life, everything that you know as matter and existence, everything that you know as the cosmos and galaxies, is just one energy which manifests itself in millions of ways.
This scientific fact is an experiential reality in every yogi. The word “yogi” means one who has realized the oneness of the existence. When I say “yoga,” I am not referring to any one particular practice or system. All longing to know the unbounded, all longing to know the oneness in the existence is yoga. The night of Mahashivratri offers a person an opportunity to experience this.
Shivratri – The Darkest Night of the Month
Shivratri, is the darkest day of the month. Celebrating Shivratri on a monthly basis, and the particular day, Mahashivratri, almost seems like celebration of darkness. Any logical mind would resist darkness and naturally opt for light. But the word “Shiva” literally means “that which is not.” “That which is,” is existence and creation. “That which is not” is Shiva. “That which is not” means, if you open your eyes and look around, if your vision is for small things, you will see lots of creation. If your vision is really looking for big things, you will see the biggest presence in the existence is a vast emptiness. A few spots which we call galaxies are generally much noticed, but the vast emptiness that holds them does not come into everybody’s notice. This vastness, this unbounded emptiness, is what is referred to as Shiva. Today, modern science also proves that everything comes from nothing and goes back to nothing. It is in this context that Shiva, the vast emptiness or nothingness, is referred to as the great lord, or Mahadeva.
Every religion, every culture on this planet has always been talking about the omnipresent, all-pervading nature of the divine. If we look at it, the only thing that can be truly all-pervading, the only thing that can be everywhere is darkness, nothingness, or emptiness.
Generally, when people are seeking well-being, we talk of the divine as light. When people are no longer seeking well-being, when they are looking beyond their life in terms of dissolving, if the object of their worship and their sadhana is dissolution, then we always refer to the divine as darkness.
Significance of Shivratri
Light is a brief happening in your mind. Light is not eternal, it is always a limited possibility because it happens and it ends. The greatest source of light that we know on this planet is the sun. Even the sun’s light, you could stop it with your hand and leave a shadow of darkness behind. But darkness is all-enveloping, everywhere. The immature minds in the world have always described darkness as the devil. But when you describe the divine as all-pervading, you are obviously referring to the divine as darkness, because only darkness is all-pervading. It is everywhere. It does not need any support from anything.
Light always comes from a source that is burning itself out. It has a beginning and an end. It is always from a limited source. Darkness has no source. It is a source unto itself. It is all-pervading, everywhere, omnipresent. So when we say Shiva, it is this vast emptiness of existence. It is in the lap of this vast emptiness that all creation has happened. It is that lap of emptiness that we refer to as the Shiva.
In Indian culture, all the ancient prayers were not about saving yourself, protecting yourself or doing better in life. All the ancient prayers have always been “Oh lord, destroy me so that I can become like yourself.” So when we say Shivratri, which is the darkest night of the month, it is an opportunity for one to dissolve their limitedness, to experience the unboundedness of the source of creation which is the seed in every human being.
Navratri
Worship of the feminine has always been prominent in Indian culture. Navratri is nine powerful nights dedicated to Devi - a feminine manifestation of the Divine. Linga Bhairavi manifests all three dimensions of the Divine Feminine, traditionally represented as Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati. These three dimensions represent the three basic qualities of existence – tamas (inertia), rajas (action), and sattva (transcendence). The first two are oriented towards well-being and prosperity, and the third is towards the aspiration to go beyond.
