Sri ChakraThe Source of the Cosmos

The Journal of the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, Rush, NY

Blossom 9Petal 1October 2005

2

Temple Firsts

Our

thoughtsthoughts

our

By Kamya Ramaswamy

Dear Devotees,

I’ve always thought the best things arose out of curiosity, although the more negative among us seem to believe it’s what

killed the cat. Curiosity, mixed with a little intelligence and bravery, is what gets our questions answered and it’s what makes us

smarter and bolder in the end. It fuels our need for learning.

A hunger for answers about a host of topics was also what fueled the revival of The Sri Chakra magazine. It started with

Vijitha and I sitting around in the temple yajnashala on a Saturday night, throwing questions back and forth at each other that we

were too embarrassed to bother Aiya with. These were not only questions about spirituality, but also how to reconcile our

spirituality with the pressures and culture of living in the West.

Just how damaging (if at all) are egg-mixed foods to one’s body? If gold is so important for Hindus, why is a state of

detachment from material objects so valued? If social drinking is a no-no, what is the deal with the viseshargyam in Sri Chakra

puja? (I hear Bagalamukhi puja requires a straight shot of brandy!)

Maybe it was the late hour that contributed to the philosophical turn of the conversation, but we knew others in the

temple would be just as curious as we were about the answers to these questions. If you know the answers to these things, don’t

tell us—write an article about it instead.

It’s the one thing I appreciate about Catholicism, although most of my Catholic friends are struggling Catholics, at best—

even if they’re not fans of the religion, at least they have been taught standard answers to the questions that outsiders are bound

to ask. Meanwhile, how many of us Hindus know the scientific answer to why women shouldn’t enter a temple while

menstruating? What about the importance of kum-kum, or what it’s made of? Any guesses as to why we wear it on the

forehead?

We’re not only curious about answers, folks—we need them.

Abhi, Vijitha and I were honored when Aiya told us to revive his magazine, The Sri Chakra. We’ll do our best to let the

ideas keep this thing afloat, but we need contributors to write some articles and put those ideas into fruition!! And if any of you

kids are interested, we’re hoping to print a section called the Kids Corner with things written by you, and for you.

This issue is all about firsts. Here, you’ll find stories from a plethora of devotees on their personal ‘firsts’ with the

Rajarajeswari temple.

Look for us on the temple website every other month and keep sending your articles and story ideas to

sri_chakra_mag@shinyfeet.com. I know, Aiya’s blessed feet are more dusty than shiny, but I thought I’d try to appease him with

that e-mail address.

We would like to thank the following people for their endless support and help in reviving this magazine: Aiya,

Dharshan Logendran, Dinesh Kumar, Karunanathan Jeyakumar, Kathy Allen, Muralee Mahathevan, Soumitra Sengupta, and all

the contributing writers!

3

Temple Firsts

September

Newsletter

September

Newsletter

Past Month EventsAadi Pooram, Sept. 7

By Kamya Ramaswamy

Varalakshmi Vratham, Sept. 19By Dinesh Kumar

Varalakshmi Vratham or SumangaliPooja is performed in the Southern Partof India. This pooja is performed bymarried women for the health and longlife of their husbands. This year, on the 19th of August, thispooja was performed in our temple.This year 54 women performed thepooja themselves. A big lamp wasdecorated like Devi, and Ammaperformed the pooja to that lamp. Eachof the Suvasini’s who had alreadyregistered for the pooja were seatedaround the lamp, which was placed over the homa kunda on a platform.Each of the suvasini’s were provided witha complete Pooja Set and a lamp withDevi’s face in silver. All 54 Sumangalisdid Shodasa upacharapooja to their individual lamps afterAiya chanted their Gotrams, names,and Nakshatrams.

After the pooja the women tied thesacred thread around their right wrist.Aiya and Amma then blessed theSuvasinis. The suvasinis were given thePooja set that they used to perform thepooja to encourage them to continue theblessed ritual in their own homes.

Ganapathi Chaturthi, Sept. 7By Abhi Somaskanda

This year’s Chaturthi marked thebeginning of many beautiful ceremoniesat the newly built deck for theGanapathi behind the temple.Performing the first yagna in that homakunda since the Chandi homa before thetemple was fully built, Aiya spared nooffering (2780 aahuthis to be exact!)

The festival’s sponsors, Pravin andGratus, sat around the homa kunda withAiya, along with their family andfriends. The puja commenced withkalasa sthabana and a GanapathiTarpanam prescribed by Guruji thatallowed all the devotees present tosprinkle tirtham on a small, hand-shaped, tumeric Ganapathi.

Aiya continued with an elaboratehoma, while everyone present circledaround the deck offering a few of the1008 modakas at a time. This wasfollowed by a grand cirumambulation ofthe temple for the final aahuthi, carriedby Prasanna.

Afterwards, the abhisheka poured onfor more than a half an hour, with milk,pancha amrta, and turmeric water beingoffered to both the outside Ganapathi,the uttsava Ganapathi, who joined inthe festivities at the deck, and theAstra Devata. The installed kalasa wastaken around the temple in typicalSaturday pooja style - umbrella, torches,and all - by Gratus, and then finallyshowered on the Ganapathis.

After lunch, the devotees worked hardto create a colorful backgrounddecoration for the procession, and theevening commenced at seven withshodasa upachara puja intertwined withGanapathi bhajans. The procession wasblessed with a warm night and plenty ofdevotees. The uttsava Ganapathienjoyed a whirl of laughter and dancingaround the temple.

After giving Bali and offeringnaivedyam down at the deck once more,the evening came to an end.

Aadi pooram is one of the specialevents at the temple that finds its charm inthe female-centred tone of thecelebrations. Every year in August wecelebrate the day that Devi became awoman—the day is full of snacks, andgifts for the females in attendance.

The celebrations began simultaneouslywith the morning puja on August 7,and concluded by lunch. This year’sprogramme was slightly different due tothe presence of Mookambika Devi (inthe South-East Agni corner beside utsaGanapathi) and Vana Durga in front of theflagpole.

In front of Mookambika was a hugespread of snacks. Vana Durga was sittingon a rolling table in the centre of thetemple during the puja. In front of thetable was her bathing tub, and everyonewas able to pour a cup of milk on her anda thumb-sized Ganapathi statue.

What was interesting was that therewas kusha grass in the milk. The templewas aptly packed—by the time everyonethere had finished pouring a cup of milkon her, the morning puja was nearlyover. The abhishekam easily lasted onehour.

After the abhishekam, theydressed Devi up, picked her up andstarted the procession around the temple.Aiya explained why she was goingaround the temple—in the old days, a girlwho had just become a woman was takenthrough the village by her family becauseit was a good way to show that she wasof marriageable age.

On this day, the morning and afternoonpujas were almost congealed into one—during the procession outside, thevolunteers inside replaced the sannidhifruits and lauched into the LalitaSahasranamam.

The sannidhis gods were givennaivedyam and Aiya performed the balipuja, after which the official puja was

over. However, gifts for all the women inattendance had yet to be given out.

The gifts were sponsored by Anita’sfamily (from Montreal), partly incelebration of her 16th birthday. Anitadistributed all the presents in front of VanaDurga. They consisted of a blouse piece,a turmeric root, kum-kum, and a lime.First they called all the little girls, whohadn’t reached maturity yet. Then theycalled all the kanya girls who were stillunmarried. Next, they called the “recentlymarrieds,” who had been wed for 5 yearsor less. Three sumangalis received theremaining bundles, after which thefunction was complete and lunch wasserved.

4

Temple Firsts

Upcoming EventsSharadha Navaratri, Oct 3

By Kamya Ramaswamy

Navarathri 2005 will pick up wherethe 2004 left off. Last year, thecelebrations invoked and installed the 10Dasamahavidyas into the homakundam, where they have been residingfor the past year. The Mahavidyas are 10tantric aspects of Devi, among whichour Devi Rajarajeshwari is one. As partof this group, she is known as Lalita, orSodasi. The nine other devis around herrange from the most ‘ugram’ renditionsof the female form to the more ‘sattvik’ones. Worshipping any of these devis asone’s ‘ishta-devata’ will bring one tomoksha, although the manner and thelength of time involved in doing thiswill vary.

After invoking each of theDasamahavidyas last year, the templewill focus each day of Navarathri 2005on chanting the sahasranamams of eachdevi. Each of the 10 devis will beworshipped on each of the 10 days. Thechanting of the namams will beaccompanied by the correspondinghomam for each Devi. The DvajaArohanam commences on Monday,Sept. 26. Navarathri starts this year onMonday, Oct. 3, and concludes onWednesday, Oct. 12. Please encourageyour family and friends to attend thefestivities!

In Two MonthsThe next issue of the Sri Chakra Magazine

Devi willing, the next issue of the Sri Chakra Magazine will be up on the temple’swebsite (www.srividya.org) by December 1st . The next issue will focus on the topicof “Food and Drink.” Such topics as “To egg or not to egg,” “Ideal foods to offer fornaivedya,” and the level of sadhana at which none of these matter, will be discussed.

If you are interested in writing on any of these topics, please email us at the addressgiven in the front of the magazine (sri_chakra_mag@shinyfeet.com). We are alsolooking for anyone who would like to submit or take photographs to go along withthe topics.

If you would like to contribute, the deadline for submissions (photographs and/orarticles) is Monday, November 21. Please be a part of this effort and we look forwardto seeing your contributions and suggestions to help make this magazine the best itcan be!

Sri Gurubhyo Namah!

Temple Address:The Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam6980 East River RoadRush, NY 14543

Phone: (585) 533 - 1970

Gratus carrying the Kalasam aroundthe deck.

Chathurth

i Pict

ures

The sponsors all pray as Aiya

shows the pancha aarathi to the

yagna.

5

Temple Firsts

They say that a first impression is

a lasting impression. Based on

what these devotees share about

their first experiences with Sri

Chaitanyananda (Aiya), Sri

Gnanamba (Amma), and the

temple, it’s not just one of those

things people say. From Gratus’s

honest disclosures, to Aparna’s

dream-like recount, each

devotee has experienced the

infinite grace of Devi. For a few of

them it was all about letting go of

fears, shame, and bad experiences,

and for others it was finding

generosity, humility, and finally

coming back home. Please enjoy

their stories and remember your

own first memories of Devi.

Temple

Firsts

Temple

Firsts

6

Temple Firsts

Story

Aparna’s

I often recall my first meeting withAiya like a dream. Everything wasperfect, and seemingly predestined. Myseven years as a monastic in the SaradaConvent in India had provided me witha foundation in puja, bhakti, andkundalini yoga, as well as theconfidence to pursue any avenuetowards the goal of God Realization. Butit was truly fortuitous that I was broughtto Aiya for the first time in the companyof four dear friends on the occasion ofNavaratri 1996.

The pilgrimage from Philadelphia toRochester was originally planned as asoul-saving trip for our friend Bruce, aman who had the insight to know thathe needed a mantra to pursue spirituallife more seriously. Another friend, Eric(known more popularly as Kalidas) andI had done an inventory of availablegurus on the planet and decided tointroduce him to Aiya. I had not yet metAiya myself, but the stories that Kalidasshared about this householder guruimpressed me. I expect a guru to walkthat line between humility and spiritualpower, and Aiya seemed to be the“genuine article”.

Yet the anticipation of meeting a holyman for the first time was immense, andso it was an added blessing that destinybrought together my friends Steve,Kathy, Kalidas and Bruce - theinnermost link of my spiritual familywhom I now refer to as “The PhillySangha”. We each approached the

journey with reverence, and we wereeach rewarded by Devi’s infinite grace.

When we arrived at 33 Park Circle,Aiya was immediately and incrediblyattentive. Amma fed us, and I was sooostruck by their Indian hospitality. Iresponded with unabashed enthusiasmand excitement. The questions andanswers flowed, the conversation waslively, and even though it was the thirdday of Navaratri, there were few visitorsaround. I was never made to feel that wewere anything less than welcomedguests.

Since there was time before eveningpuja, Aiya asked if he could show us thenewly acquired temple property inRush. I didn’t know why we had to getback in the van to see an empty lot — Ihad been through the California-New-Age-Circuit and I was a bit cynical aboutanyone wanting to build another temple.But I did enjoy the vast landscape andthe apple trees and I thought that even ifhe never built anything there, it was abeautiful place to worship God.

When we arrived back to his house,Aiya talked to us for a bit longer in thebasement before we all prepared forpuja. The five of us sat together againstthe back wall, facing the Devi. Othersarrived and sat in front of us, but Ibarely noticed. I wasn’t there to“witness” the puja, or even participate,but rather to ride the waves of theenergy which the pujari generated bysacred ritual. I wrapped myself in awhite prayer shawl and chanted my

Ramakrishna mantra through much ofthe evening. It was a relief to feel thewaves of blissful energy rejuvenate mysoul. Months later, Aiya told us that hesaw the Devi dancing on our laps thatnight — and perhaps that is why hegave us mantra diksha that evening,graciously planting the seeds for Deviconsciousness within us. For that, I willalways be grateful and in his debt. Andso I offer this testimonial at the guru’sfeet.

By Aparna Hasling

7

Temple Firsts

We came to Zambia in February1972, and we were put up in a hotel, andthe first person we ran into was Aiya. Asusual, he was doing his type of charitywork—collecting money for somebody’sfuneral. That day, itself, we spoke tohim. It wasn’t just that he was from SriLanka, like us… there was somethingabout him that drew us both to him.Once we found out he was havingbhajans and pujas, I was very interested.At about October 1972, it was a muchcloser relationship. When Saru wasborn, I literally looked after her becauseAmma used to go to work and she lefther with me. I had the privilege of beingable to clean up and cook for the pujawhen Amma couldn’t do it. We becamemore like a family than just friends

In Zambia, there was a group offlats there, and we were living inopposite flats. Fridays, we never missedone event. Bhajans, we never missed onThursday. Each day we went, thecrowds got bigger and the pujas gotmore intense with Lalita Sahasranamam.Friday pujas were always at Aiya’splace, and bhajans were at differentplaces, but Aiya always conducted them.The Lalita Sahasranamam was veryintense there, especially when Ammawas ill. I think it was the power of thechanting—because it was done with somuch faith, that she got better soon.

Once Guruji came to Zambia in1979, we both went to Guruji’s place andAiya was able to take me around thearea—Aiya received diksha in October1979 and I received it on Baba’s birthday,

November 23. At the time that Gurujigave me diksha, he also gave me aBalatripurasundari vigraham.

Even after Aiya came to Americaand we were still in Africa, every timeour contract was over and we had somevacation, we always came to visit Aiya.We would stay with him for at least onemonth. One time in 1988, I came when Iwas so ill—I didn’t think I wouldrecover. But just sitting with Aiya andAmma in the shrine room, I got betterright away.

Aiya left Zambia for the States in1980. We left for Botswana a monthlater, but we kept in touch over thephone. In 1991, we came here. I think itwas 1991 or 1992 that Aiya gave us apeetam. He called it KrauncheshwariPeetam, or the “North American”peetam.

Even when I have become ill overthe last few years, when I was reallybad, Aiya put a little Devi pendant onme to protect me. At this point, I feel Imay be able to go a little more often tothe temple. Of course, winter is out, butwhen the weather is good, I’m hoping tocome much more often!

I think Aiya’s kindness makes adifference and his generous spirit is aninspiration. I’m so thankful to him fornot only imparting information, but alsoa passion for learning and growing.

Chitra Mahendran’s

Story

By Mrs. Chitra Mahendran

8

Temple Firsts

Gratuz (What’s his last name?)I love Aiya and Amma very much.

Other than that there is very little thatmatters and even less that needs to besaid.

But for those who care to read on, hereit goes.

I met Aiya first in 1999. He came toattend some conference on Hinduism inToronto. The first thing, and maybe theonly thing, I noticed was that Aiya wasthe only one without a beard.

I saw Aiya again two years later. I wasin Jeya anna’s car, in the back seat. Aiyaturned around and said to me, “we allhave to die sometime.” That was thefirst thing that Aiya ever told me—if thatseems a little odd to you, then it isbecause you don’t know that we weregoing to a funeral at the time. Later thatday, going the other way on the samehighway, Aiya initiated me. I still recallthe difficulties of putting togetherpancadasi in my head. I retained it forabout two seconds. Luckily, Kumaranwrote it down and gave it to me. I stillremember how I kept that piece ofpaper for about a month. For about twoweeks, I was actually chanting it wrong.I am probably still chanting it wrong,but no paper can help me now.

I made my first trip to the temple in2002. It was the first day of Navaratri. Iwalked in and looked in a little confusedas to why all these people were in thatroom. Then I realized, that room IS thetemple. And what a temple it is. My visitto this temple was my second visit everto any temple. I have since been to manytemples, and all of them pale incomparison. Small but powerful, toquote our campers from last year. Ofcourse this temple has since grown, butit has grown with style.

Devi, as I doubt any of the regularvisitors would disagree, is very muchalive here. However, what I havelearned is that whatever is in that statueis more like an answering machine,where those who come can leave amessage and Devi will get back to them.She is out and about, and you couldnever tell where, and/or in whom. Sure,she may assume an individual body, butmore importantly she jumps fromperson to person. As if she isexperiencing them, thereby grantingthem an experience of her.

During my first visits I often tookoffence at certain things that I sawpeople do. It had nothing to do with theway they did puja, cause I still don’treally know how to do puja. It didn’thave anything to do with the way theytalked to me—since everybody here has

put up with me quite happily. It wasmore little things that I noticed. It wouldbe just one person that day, and I wouldnotice that person do something odd—something that I would expectelsewhere, but something that I wouldnot expect from someone at a temple. Iwould leave with that impression: whydid that person not see the lack of, let’ssay decency, in doing what they haddone?

On my next visit, I would have astartling experience of the same persondoing something only a saint would do.That person would do something withsuch compassion and with such loveand kindness, that it would genuinelysurprise me and I would simply have toscratch the previous image from mymind. However, without fail, I wouldfind someone else doing something

quite peculiar; and without doubt, thenext time I came, the very person whosomehow managed to offend me wouldagain seem like the most magnificentperson here. It took me a while, but Ichose to no longer judge these people oranyone else.

As I had said before, Devi jumps fromperson to person. It was she who madethose persons do what they did, bothbefore and after. I doubt it was solely toteach me—it was simply a part of a playshe puts on. It helped me grow in theway I described above, and I am sure ithelped others who were involved.

Pride was a big factor. I personallyconsider pride and jealousy to be trivialobstacles compared to fear and shame.But at the time I had first come to thetemple, more than afraid or shameful, Iwas proud. I would like to say it wasn’tentirely my fault but it probably was.Somehow, people started being

impressed by the fact that I did morethan one Lalita Sahasranamam a day,even before I was initiated. Furthermore,they started commenting on the fact thatI was so lucky to obtain pancadasi andother mantras even before coming to thetemple. By the time I came here I wasconvinced that I was special. To add fuelto the fire, I found some quite odd andentirely untrue stories had beencirculating regarding the strength of mytapas. So it was, in retrospect, nosurprise that I was full of it. I know nowthat my great friends, Pravin andKumaran, who can tell no story withoutadding there own little embellishments,had in my absence laid it on real thick. Ifeel sorry for the people who actuallybelieved them.

Naturally, Devi would not allow prideof that level to stay for too long. As timewent on and I continued to come to thetemple, I realized I had no clue, just likemost others. The pride that had beenthere turned into a secret shame. Secret,because no one really knew how proud Ihad been, and now no one knew howashamed I was of having been thatproud—well, I guess its not a secretanymore.

Shame comes in many ways. I don’tknow which one’s worse—fear orshame. I guess it would be really bad ifone was afraid to be ashamed, orashamed to be afraid. Or maybe that’sthe solution? I don’t know.

Things have changed since I havecome here. I have certainly lost interestin the ritual portion of the temple. Itseems more like an obstacle that must beovercome so that breakfast time can turninto lunch time. My attention span is soshort, I could fall asleep doing pancha-upacara puja. Give me a seat, and I willturn it into a bed. So it is no wonder thatI do not attend Vish uncle’s “way toolong for me” Chandi Homams, and evenduring Saturday puja I spend most ofthe time just drinking tea in the hallway.

I love the food. Even Amma’s sambar(that has come under heavy criticismin recent times) is a great meal afterthose long “will it ever end” pujas. Ilove coming to the temple, in allhonesty,just to drink tea and eat food.

I hope Devi will continue to overlookmy shortcomings, misgivings andill-conceived intentions, so that I maycontinue to come here to drink teaand eat food, and maybe play a littlevolleyball…

So that this looks like it was writtenby a disciple, let me add:“Sri Gurubhyo Namah.”

By Gratus Devanesan

Gratus’s

Story

9

Temple Firsts

All jokes aside, the first time Imet Aiya was nightmarish. I was 11years old when my parents and a few ofour relatives carted us off for hours andhours in a car in December 1993. Afteralmost an eternity of slipping in and outof consciousness in a rusted station-wagon, we arrived in the middle ofnowhere. All I could see were metres ofsnow and a few sticks here and there,which lay sprawled in front of a cozy-looking house. This, as I found outyears later, was 33 Park Circle.

It was a much more blistery andscary winter than I’d ever seen before,partly because I didn’t know where Iwas. All I knew was that people werecrammed into this tiny room with abunch of gods in it. And they keptdoing namaskarams to this one guy whowas doing the puja. I was bored. Icouldn’t wait to get out of there and gohome.

Much to my chagrin, we wentback to the sticks the following summer.I started to like the puja guy a littlemore, because he seemed to be good atanswering my questions aboutHinduism. Somehow, getting answersmade me a little more interested in my

culture. As I sat in the library by myselfone evening before the Friday puja, I feltit—a sudden desire erupted in me tochant the Lalita Sahasranamam. I’dnever looked at it before, but I felt Ineeded nothing more than to learn it,and to learn it fast.

Later that evening, my brotherKanna and I were tired even when thepuja was still going strong. I was gladthat my amma understood and showedus where we could go to bed, but Iwasn’t pleased shortly after when shewoke us up again. Apparently, the pujaguy wanted to give us something.

But after we dragged ourselvesdown there, he just told me and Kannato repeat a few words after him! I feltripped off. I got out of bed for this? Butwe kept saying those few wordseveryday for the next several years.Eventually, I realized we had gottenmantra diksha. It wasn’t until I was 21that I found out how powerful those fewwords were—chanting them was whataltered Kanna’s fate over the followingyears and prevented his pancreas fromdisintegrating like it was originallysupposed to.

We all slept that night in thelibrary, which, as I recall, had nowindows and no lights. I woke up inthe middle of the night to pitchblackness, unable to breathe, and Irealized I was having an asthma attack.Luckily, I passed out again due to sheerfear, but later came to the conclusionthat this puja guy couldn’t be all THATholy if I nearly died in his basement. Iwas pretty sure I would never go backagain.

Fast-forward eight years to June29, 2002. I was accommodating myamma’s wish for an anniversarypresent—she wanted to make a trip tosome temple in Rochester, which I couldvaguely remember was run by that pujaguy. She had been going for years, allthe while hitching rides with otherpeople. She wanted to go at least oncewith her family so I figured I couldspare one Saturday for her.

As soon as we came in, we sawAiya, who asked me to tie my hair back.I don’t quite remember what elsehappened that day, other than a bit ofdehydration and severe restlessness athaving to sit through a puja that lastedhalf the day. But I remembered I reallywanted to come back to this crazy place.And I really wanted to have Aiya be apart of the rest of my life. So we didcome back the next week. And theweek after that, and the one after thatas well. And although I’m sure Aiyahas had enough of me, I’m still comingback now.

Kamya’s

Story

By Kamya Ramaswamy

10

Temple Firsts

Om Sri Matre Namaha! Praises to Shewho is the Mother of the Universe.Praises to She who guides each divinesoul on its journey to return to Herembrace. The first time I visited the SriRajarajeshwari Peetham of Rochester,NY the direct and overwhelmingexperience of Her Divine embracebrought tears of joy and utter solace tome. I knew in every cell in my body thatthis was my ultimate Home.

Aiya has taught us that each name ofthe Sahasranam has endless meaningsand that Devi herself will reveal thoselayers of meaning to one who meditatesupon these sounds. In hindsight, Irealize that She has been leading me ona path which will ultimately bring meback to my Home, the final resting placein Her arms. Sri Matre Namaha! Shewho measures and gives the spiritualaspirant what they need, when theyneed it, patiently guiding them back toHer.

Since I was born an American to non-Hindu parents, my introduction toHinduism was through my universitystudies. I traveled to Nepal for myjunior year in college and lived with aHindu family, was taught by Hinduprofessors and visited great Hindu andBuddhist temples. But still I did not findmy Home. The year after I graduatedfrom university, I traveled with myHinduism professor to Calcutta for ninemonths to study Bengali Vaishnavpadavali kirtan. I traveled all over WestBengal and across North India all theway to the Western state of Rajasthan. Ifelt at home in Calcutta and met myfuture husband during this time, but stillI did not find my Home.

While in India I realized that mylonging for my spiritual Home had ledme on these two trips to Nepal andIndia, but my academic pursuits did notprovide the direct experience of Deviwhich I was seeking. When I returnedto the US, I visited my grandparents inRochester, who introduced me to theirneighbor’s niece who had just returnedfrom Devipuram. She showed me herphoto album of Sahasrakshi in the SriMeru temple and talked about Aiya/Amma and Guruji/Guruji Amma.

However, it wasn’t until three years laterwhen I moved to Philadelphia that I metanother group of friends who wouldfinally bring me to Aiya/Amma’s Home.

It was the third day of Navaratri,Tuesday October 15, 1996 when five ofus arrived at 33 Park Circle in a silverVW van from Philadelphia. Aiya wasexcited to show us the new propertyrecently purchased in Rush, so weoffered him the van keys, Aiya gotbehind the wheel, we all hopped back inthe van and Aiya drove us to the newproperty. I remember the crisp fallweather, the expansive blue sky and thetart apples which Aiya plucked andoffered us from the trees on theproperty.

That night the puja completelywashed over me. Despite myexperiences in North Indian temples andclassroom studies of Hinduism, theabhishekham, chanting and rituals werecompletely new. I remember the radiantsmiles of Sagar and Toshi and thepalpable atmosphere of a loving familyworshipping the Mother of theUniverse. I remember Aiya encouragingus to bathe Devi with milk and not to bescared to touch Her with our ownhands. And I remember Aiya initiatingus into mantra diksha. However, itwasn’t until the following morning,when I crept back into the shrine roomby myself, and sat staring at the Motherin the early morning light that I fully feltHer embrace. She told me, “You don’thave to keep seeking, you are Homenow.” With her thousand gentle arms,She pulled me into Her chest, like asmall child returning to a mother’s lap.The pain of separation was gone. Aboundless bliss overwhelmed me and allI could do was cry like a baby in myMother’s arms.

As we loaded the car to drive back toPhiladelphia, Aiya gave each of us smallkeepsakes and a photograph of Devi toremind us of our visit. These smallitems immediately became the centerfocus of my new shrine back inPhiladelphia. Even though I did nothave the chance to return to Rochesteruntil nine months later, I was completelysatisfied knowing that I had found my

By Kathy Allen

Kathy’s

Story

11

Temple Firsts

It all started out when we came toIndu Chachi’s house for puja. Let metake one minute to tell you who theyare. She is our old family friend thatcame to the Sai center in Syracuse. Socoming back on topic, that day I willnever forget. When I first walked in Ihad no clue who Aiya was but I felt aconnection.

Indu Aunty then introduced usto Aiya. From that day until now I feelthat same connection. It’s a connectionthat I can’t explain in words to anyone.When my parents found out he had atemple in Rochester we started comingpretty much every weekend. That wassomething I always looked forward todoing every week.

Then, one day my mom camehome from work and said we weremoving. At that moment I was so sad,but later I asked her where and she saidRochester. I was so happy that I couldhave given $1,000 to every person I metthat day—that is if I had that muchmoney.

When we moved to Rochester wegot the great privilege of living rightnext to the temple at the temple house.We moved in a year after the Devimoved from Aiya’s house at 33 ParkCircle. It was so much fun. Most of thetime I was so happy because I knew thateveryday, I was going to see Aiya at leastonce. I was about two years old when Ifirst met him and he has known me eversince. I hope I get this chance of being soclose to an awesome yet intelligent soulevery life.

Purvaja’s Story

By Purvaja Kamat

12

Temple Firsts

Sri Gurubhyo Namah