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Lotus feet of Swami Bhagavati

   We have seen how Swami right from his young age was a spiritual giant and never had a liking for the normal run-of-the-mill life that we see around us. Even as a young man, he yearned for better ways to comprehend and control the Divinity in Himself and this mental makeup drove him into acts of deep meditation for long hours. During such periods, a divine female appeared in front of him or in the flame of the deepam and spoke to him of matters that were greek and latin to him at the time. Over years of persistent seeking, he slowly understood what was being told to him and realized that the spoken words paraphrased innumerable divine secrets in the scriptures and vedas. The presence of this lady (Devi) on a regular basis made him spend much longer periods meditating in the early hours of dawn. He would receive instructions on how to live, what to do and in what manner to proceed to achieve his goal.

   Thus we have seen that by the year 1974 the young Bagavathi Swami had been prepared by Devi to project Her Divinity to the world. In the same year an old man appeared in front of Swami and told him to implicitly obey him and to adhere to all instructions that he would give to Swami. This was the introduction of a loka guru (Swami Gnanananda) to Swami who until then was directly guided by the Divine Mother. We are also aware as to how Swami was in the presence of Sadguru Gnananandar's sthoola sareeram (dead mortal body) and conversed with the Sadguru's sookshma sareeram (inner divine soul) and thus merged into Swami. The Guru guided him to Chothanikkarai where Devi entered into Swami's sookshma sareeram and rests there till date. We have also seen how Swami did his poojas in the early mornings in solitude as the manner and method of the pooja was unique, not practiced even by the Agamas and other elusive cults. The poojas involved mudras and moola manthras in which he had been indoctrinated by his Guru. Later, as Swami matured spiritually, Devi instructed him to come out in the open and declare to this world in general, Her presence in him and conduct poojas in the midst of all.

   Swami both as a Divine Mother and a great Sadguru is no doubt two in one, a veritable spiritual giant. He is a limitless store house of intelligence, knowledge, dharma and spiritual wisdom. There is no task in this world which is too difficult for him to accomplish. In spite of all this, he has come down to our level to try and elevate us from the ocean of materialistic mundanity to the divine path of spirituality living our lives in the service of humanity.

   Oh! Swami...

   You are no doubt the embodiment of Chothanikkarai Bagavathi. Your divinity attained as a consequence of your grand mother's devotion to Devi has resulted in your being Goddess Kalyana Bagavathi (Bagavathi Siddhar) to your devotees. You have taught us to lead a life of faith in God and in ourselves with absolute fearlessness, enabling us surmount difficulties, all the while secure at your lotus feet. You have time and again protected your devotees from grave sickness, accidents and certain death. There is no NO in your dictionary. The weekly poojas conducted by you on Wednesdays (pada pooja to Sadguru Gnanananda) and Devi poojas on Thursdays and Fridays have enabled us to obtain Guru's grace and Devi's blessings. Your divine chandanam (sandal paste) is unique not only in smell but also in its power to remove fear, sickness and anxiety of your devotees.

   Hurt never, love ever, love all and hate none — ego is the man's deadliest enemy, so drown it and surrender completely at Devi's feet, try to practice speech, action and thought all trained in one direction, judge yourself completely before finding another's fault, be self aware, be true and have faith and confidence in the Almighty. See divinity in everything around you. Such is the gist of your divine gospel that has time and again filled us with the goodness of a pious life led in search of eternal bliss.

   By your divine grace, the Bagavathi siddhar peetam at Tambaram, Chennai has been established as a haven of peace, love and spirituality. It is unique in the sense that the devotees who visit for the functions forget the outside world and enjoy a stay of pure bliss. The ghee poured on the Lord Vadakkunathar at the peetam in 1994 still remains intact and frozen despite the burning heat of Chennai, unspoilt by insects and passage of time. This is indeed a unique marvel. The obstacles your devotees face due to their forefather's grievances and their janmanthara karmas of previous births have been completely removed by performing the Kakasseri pada pooja under your divine auspices. Your profound generosity and kindness towards your devotees have enabled them to have the darshan of makara jyothi at siddhar peetam itself. Your love for the devotees is such that through your divine siddhis, all the devotees assembled during the Sivarathri pooja at the siddhar peetam could have the darshan of all the twelve jyothir lingams in India, in the form of ghee and also understand the greatness and the significance of the worship of the lingas. It was a marvellous day to be cherished forever. By leading a very simple life as an ordinary human being, you are a living example of practicing doctrines before preaching them. You had undertaken many foreign trips to USA and Middle East countries to promote peace among humanity. It is your mission to prove that the divine spiritual power latent in India can solve major crises and world problems in a simple, straightforward manner. Such missions if undertaken elsewhere, would involve a lot of expenditure, manpower and time. Science is nothing when confronted with divine power and true spiritual wisdom. This is the doctrine you would like to spread worldwide.

   Swami, merged with both Guru Gnananandar and Goddess Chothanikkara Devi, illuminates all of us with his divine light. As a consequence of our karmic actions, we have entangled ourselves in strong family attachments and worldly desires. We pray to you, dear Swami, that we do not stumble in such pitfalls in our spiritual path. We seek your blessings to be like a pure, glistening water drop on the leaf of the water lotus that is the material world. We pray to you so that we can stand upright, virtuous and of pure mind, like the pristine frozen ghee on Lord Vadakkunathar in the siddhar peetam.

   Swami has always been very concerned that in spite of his divine presence and constant guidance and reminders of his divine presence over all of us, none of his devotees is up to the mark in terms of progress in the spiritual path. He does not want us to become mere staunch followers of his. He wants all to reach a state of mind where physical distance between him and his devotees would matter no more. His real wish is that he wants us to get merged in him and expects at least a few of us to become like him, to serve humanity in every way possible, spreading peace and happiness.

   I feel blessed to be able to play a small part, through this book to spread awareness about Swami and his divinity to the world. I am sure that even though it will take a while for us to understand and realize the full significance and truth behind his doctrines, we will try hard and practice his teachings.

   ⁘ Self realization through unconditional love and service.

   ⁘ Continuous chanting and awareness within our hearts of the most sacred manthra — Om Sri Sakthi Bagavathi Narayanee Namoh Namah.

   ⁘ Maintaining mental peace and quiet, with our minds completely immersed in thoughts of the Almighty and incessant self enquiry.

   ⁘ Follow Swami's living example in every way, practicing before we preach, implicitly obeying his Arul Vakku, being careful not to smear it with our own interpretations and doubting thought waves.

   Let us all pray that the Divine Interaction we have had with Swami in this book inspires us to Divine Inner Action, exactly what Swami wants from all of us. Are you all now ready to join me in fulfilling our beloved Swami's wish?

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