My Sojourn Within Myself
(Spiritual Retreat at SISS - 5th to 7th Nov’22)
Sumedha
Aurangabad (Maharashtra)
Hari Aum!
Sree Ishwar Maha-Abhishekam at SISS is a divinely joyous occasion, celebrated every year in November. The day coincides with Kartik Purnima; not to forget the two other remarkable occasions on that day - Sree Guru Nanak Jayanti and Dev-Deepawali.
This one day, through the whole year is eagerly awaited by us devotees, as it is an opportunity to offer our tribute towards Sree Ishwara. We get a chance to go inside the Sanctum Santorum, and offer Abhishekam. The aura around is blissfully Divine! The environment reverberates with collective Mantra chanting by learned Brahmins. The mind feels elated and exhilarated, and a sense of divine peacefulness charges the whole being from within!
This time too, Maha-Abhishekam was preceded by a ‘Spiritual Retreat’. The text was ‘Maneesha Panchakam’ by Sree Adi Shankaracharyaji. Though it may appear as a thin book for a novice; the text with these few verses is intense indeed! It is a manual for every seeker.
The root purpose of all scriptural studies and practices is to train, elevate and transcend the mind. Invoking the Divine with an attitude of surrender prepares the seeker to reach the doorsteps of such higher Texts with focussed and sublimated mind. And this is mandatory for refined understanding of the intense text like Maneesha Panchakam!
The quality of my mind will determine my actions. My thoughts depend on the quality of my mind, which in turn springs up from my inherent tendencies. One has to sharpen oneself according to the scriptural injunctions, to pierce through the depths of right knowledge.
The purpose of having this right knowledge is knowing our True Self, by understanding the fundamental difference between the Real and unreal.
In the text, the divine sweeper’s insightful words tear down the false values & hypocrisies in us! Adi Shankaracharyaji, the Master of Advait philosophy, preaching and propagating the one Infinite Self (Brahman) of the Upanishads, could see the satire in the divine sweeper’s words and understood the secret message.
Furthermore, the great Jagadguru reveals the wisdom of Vedas in the following next verses, incorporating the four commandments, declared in our four Vedas - The ‘Four Mahavakyas’.
Such a seeker, who with right knowledge and understanding, has merged his individuality into the state of Supreme Bliss, is according to Sree Shankaracharyaji, not merely the knower of Brahman, but Brahman Himself!
Such deep texts like Maneesha Panchakam, when studied under the apt & able guidance of Guru Maa, within the serene environment of SISS, centres the wandering mind, making it conducive for such supremely refined Texts!
With this kind of learning, along with the overall spiritual treatment of body-mind-soul, when the devotees/seekers offer their Upasana and Archana at the Holy Feet of Sree
Ishwara, the minds get embedded with purest thoughts and divine love!
Organising these Retreats for us out of their kind compassion, not only gives us a wholesome treatment, but also hugely impacts the thoughts and deeds of an individual seeker with immense refinement in the inner making.
The hard work, dedication and pure offering by Sri Chaitanya ji is truly inspiring! It seems knowingly or un-knowingly, he teaches us many Texts that we theoretically study, by practically living every single day of his life in surrender to The Lord and Sree Guru Parampara.
After such extraordinary experiences, the seeker returns to the worldly world very well equipped to deal with his own creation around him and within too!
Hari Aum!