ESSENTIAL STEPS IN GAYATHRI SADHANA

                                                               GAYATHRI SADHANA

                 THE COMPREHENSIVE INVOCATION HAS 36 STEPS WHILE THE BRIEF METHOD HAS ONLY 7 STEPS.

                 TO PERFORM SO MANY STEPS IN CHANTING THE MANTRA MIGHT SEEM A LITTLE DAUNTING IN THE BEGINNING, BUT DON'T WORRY, FIRST, WE'LL COVER ALL THE STEPS, SO YOU KNOW HOW TO DO EACH STEP, AND THEN WE CAN SEE WHICH ONES WE CAN DO WITHOUT. SOME THINGS IN MANY OF THE STEPS BELOW MAY SOUND LIKE RITUALS. WELL, THAT'S BECAUSE THEY ARE. AS I SAID EARLIER, FIRST LET ME TELL YOU EVERYTHING, AND THEN YOU CAN ALWAYS CUT OUT WHAT YOU DON'T LIKE. BESIDES, IN CASE YOU DON'T WANT TO GO THE IMMERSIVE WAY, YOU CAN ADOPT THE SHORTER ROUTE OF JUST SEVEN STEPS DESCRIBED AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER.

                PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MANTRAS USED IN THIS CHAPTER ARE FOR YOUR REFERENCE ONLY. THEIR CORRECT SANSKRIT TRANSLITERATION (FOR BETTER PHONETIC ACCURACY) IS GIVEN IN THE APPENDIX. (THE DESCRIPTION FOR VARIOUS MUDRAS GIVEN IN THE APPENDIX HAVE BEEN QUOTED VERBATIM FROM MY BOOK THE ANCIENT SCIENCE OF MANTRAS). THE PURPOSE OF THIS CHAPTER IS TO HELP YOU GET FAMILIAR WITH ALL THE STEPS BUT WHEN YOU DECIDE TO DO THE ACTUAL SADHANA, IT IS THE IMFORMATION IN THE APPENDIX YOU'LL USE DIRECTLY.

                                               THE COMPREHENSIVE METHOD

                                                                    STEP ONE

               THE FIRST STEP IS BATHING, REMEMBER YOUR MOTHER USED TO TELL YOU WHEN WERE GROWIN UP, "TAKE A SHOWER, TAKE A SHOWER?, AND YOU WOULD SAY,"NO, I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT TODAY",  AND YOU WOULD NOT LISTEN (JUST KIDDING). I AM TELLING YOU THE EXACT SAME THING. I READ THE BOOK, ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEANT IN KINDERGARDEN. THIS IS SO TRUE. ALL THE BASIC HUMAN VALUES HAVE ALREADY BEEN TAUGHT TO US BY THE TIME WE ARE JUST FIVE-OR -SIX YEARS OLD. YOU KNOW, SHARE YOUR STUFF, SAY GRACE, DON'T TELL LIES, GO TO BED ON TIME AND WAKE UP EARLY, AND SO ON.

              THE FIRST THING IS BATHING IN THE MORNING AND IT BEGINS BY SHOWING TWO MUDTRAS. FILL A BUCKET OF WATER IF YOU TAKE BATH USING A BUCKET OR SIMPLY DISPLAY THE TWO MUDRAS BELOW UNDER THE SHOWER (IF YOU BATHE BY STEPPING INTO THE SHOWER).

                                                                 KALASHA MUDRA

                  KALASHA MEANS A VESSEL, A POT, A GHAT. THIS HAS COME FROM MY LINEAGE OF SIDDHAS. FORM A FIRST WITH YOUR LEFT HAND AND HOLD IT WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND (WRAP YOUR LEFT HAND WITH YOUR RIGHT).

               SOME PEOPLE BEGIN THEIR DAY, NOT WITH KALASHA MUDRA BUT KALESHA MUDRA. KALESHA IS THE SANSKRIT WORD FOR MENTAL AFFLICTION. THEY START THEIR DAY THINKING WHAT IS NOT RIGHT IN THEIR LIFE. STAY WITH KALASHA.

             FORM A FIRST WITH YOUR LEFT HAND AND COVER IT WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND. THIS IS THE MOST SIMPLE KALASHA MUDRA. ON THAT, WE FORM A MATSYA MUDRA, WHICH IS CALLED THE FORMING OF A FISH. THIS IS WITH THE LEFT HAND AT THE BOTTOM AND RIGHT HAND ON TOP. THIS IS THE FISH - DON'T EAT IT. NOW YOU HAVE FILLED THE BUCKET WITH WATER, PERFORMED THE KALASHA MUDRA AND THE MATSYA MUDRA.

                                                                    MATSYA MUDRA

               MATSYA MUDRA FISH. STRETCH YOUR LEFT HAND, PALM FACING DOWNWARDS AND THUMB POINTING OUT. PUT YOUR RIGHT HAND ON TOP, ONCE AGAIN, PALM FACING DOWNWARDS AND THUMB POINTING OUT. JUST TWIDDLE YOUR THUMBS A BIT AND THE MATSYA MUDRA IS COMPLETE. ( MATSYA MUDRA IS SHOWN IN THE APPENDIX)

             ONE OF VISHNU'S FIRST INCARNATIONS WAS A MATSYA. THE IDEA IS THAT BY SHOWING THESE TWO MUDRAS, WE GET IN TOUCH WITH OUR PRIMORDIAL SOURCE.

                                  NOW CHANT THE FOLLOWING MANTRA:

                           GANG CHA YAMUNE CAIVA GODAVARI SARASVATI,

                           NARMADE SINDHU KAVERI JALESMINA SAMNIDHIMA KURU.

          WHEN WE CHANT THIS WITH DEVOTIONAL SENTIMENT, WE ARE INVITING THE ENERGY OF ALL THE HOLY RIVERS INTO OUR WATER -THAT WHILE I AM UNABLE TO BATHE IN THE RIVERS STATED IN OUR SCRIPTURES, WHERE OUR SAGES ONCE BATHED, I AM INVOKING THE ENERGY OF THESE RIVERS IN THE BATH I AM NOW GOING TO TAKE.

              IT IS ESSENTIAL TO INVOKE THAT SENTIMENT INSIDE YOU. A LOT BOILS DOWN TO YOUR SENTIMENT AND FAITH IN MANTRAS. YESTERDAY, A GENTLEMAN RAISED A BEAUTIFUL QUESTION ABOUT FAITH, IS FAITH REALLY NECESSARY IN MANTRAS? YES, IT IS. BECAUSE INVOKING THE ENERGY OF A MANTRAS IS NOT ABOUT BRUTE CHANTING OF IT, BUT CONNECTING YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS WITH A HIGHER SOURCE. FAITH MAKES IT EASIER. FAITH IS LOVE. IT IS HOP.

          I ONCE READ A QUOTE, "ACROSS THE GATEWAY OF MY HEART I WROTE, NO THOROUGHFARE", BUT LOVE CAME LAUGHING BY, AND CRIED, I ENTER EVERYWHERE," FAITH IS SIMILAR. IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW MUCH YOU RESIST, ONCE YOU PURIFY YOURSELF AND LEAD A LIFE OF PURPOSE, FAITH JUST MAKES ITS WAY INTO YOUR HEART. IT'S LIKE YOUR FAVOURITE PET DOT WHO WANTS TO SIT NEXT TO YOU - IT JUST BARGES IN AND LEANS AGAINST YOU.

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