I had an experience with Guru Nithya Chaithanya Yathi. Once he drew a diagramatic pattern with a single line without lifting his hand from the paper and then he asked me to translate that picture on my violin. I was stunned for a moment. Never before that have I thought of such an idea. But if Guru says, I just do it. I have nothing to think about it. I simply started. To my wonder, a beautiful raga emerged. Guru was listening with his eyes closed. I felt like a kid walking holding it's father's index finger. The lines took me through hills and valleys. That was an incredible journey..............
Manoj Pavitran: I still vividly remember the day when you were given initiation, I remember the difficulty of calling you Anandanadh instead of Manu, I still remember the poise and determination you had on your face after receiving Guru’s blessings. Now you have come a long way, you have put aside the saffron clothes, shaven off your beard; you have entered into a married relationship and now living in the US. If you don’t mind can you please share with us your journey? What made you go beyond the conventions of saffron life? How did it enrich your journey?
Anandnadh: I've shared my experience of spiritual initiation at: http://anandnadh.blogspot.com/2011/01/gurukulam-life.html . That day,Guru told me all these costumes are insignificant and irrelevant. He told they should be used only as a device to cross the threshold if it helps to protect myself from the heavy current of the material world within. He said it also helps to remind oneself of the path he has chosen. I found him very rational. When I realized myself that the spiritual journey is the life journey itself, the outer cover of Sannyas just dropped off by itself. The analogy Guru used to explain this is that of a small fence you fix around a growing plant to protect it from animals eating away. As it matures into a full fledged tree, the fence breaks. I still revere the saffron robe and I am grateful for the protection and the focus it gave in my life. Sree Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says, once you cross the river you don't carry the boat on your head. Just leave it there.
Now the demarcation of spirituality and materialism has vanished in my consciousness. They are different angles from which you look at the Truth. A great tool that helped me rise in awareness is VIPASSANA (www.dhamma.org). Guru continues to bless my life at every juncture. I always feel his presence at the major turning points in my life. He is within. He is the embodiment of LOVE.
When I look back, my decision to take up and give up Sannyas, all happened in it's natural course. Neither happened in my life out of any frustration. I was happy leading a sannyasin's life and I am happy being a family man. Human being is a multi-dimensional being. There is a family man in a sannyasin and there is a sannyasin in a family man. Externally a sannyasin, could be more of a family man within and vice-versa. Life is a constant flux. Anithya. Woman, relationship, family, parents, money, friends are all part part of me as much as spirituality is. Separation comes from ignorance. Integration is wisdom. Thank you for starting this. Couldn't stop myself from sharing.
Just at the age of three-and-a -half she started to catch up with the musical notes I played or sang. She's so playful about it but pitching is quite natural to her. Her interest in music is incredible. She always reminds me to teach her music. If I sing a small song for her to repeat she wants the svara first. In my music classes for other older children, she'll just sit through and listen without disturbing. She has got a beautiful voice and inherent talent. Grateful to you Nandu, to have born as my daughter...........
Nandu making her on two minutes maagi noodles. In between she is asking whether it is properly boiled or not. She likes to be called as Nandootty! Nandootty observes her mom cooking and she wants to try it out all by herself.
working
4th b'day
laughter
drawing
surprised
hot sun!
before prayer!
naughty
happy
oh my!
sad
ok, agreed!
oh, yeah!
children live by the moment. it's a learning process to watch them grow.
the innocence, the love, the playfulness, the spontaneity............
will it ever come back in our lives with the same intensity and depth?
Very pious people. So blessed to have born to such simple but great souls. Father left so unexpectedly just when I began to realize and express my love for him. Never thought of responsibility until he was around. All the qualities and traits and all that I am, I humbly attribute to this couple. The gratitude can never be put into words. The best thing about them as parents is that they never imposed what we have to become or what we have to do as children. They just created an atmosphere for us to naturally blossom into our potentials. Prostrations.................
Yoga at the beach during sunrise is so refreshing.....................
travel continues....
happy family
With Jaya and Nandu. They added more fulfillment and meaning to life. An experience of universal love at the nuclear level. It is the same bond that binds the whole world. the stars, galaxies, oceans, mountains,................................
as Sri Ramakrishna.................
During kairali tv Ragolsavam shoot........
the musician.........
with Christ & Gandhi.....
This role was at the talent show in sivananda yoga vedantha centre during the one month residential international yoga teacher training program-2003. it was all fun.
Music is therapeutic. Human system responds
wonderfully to the vibrations of musical sounds.
Listening to music immediately changes our energy
patterns as well as the body chemistry. There is
scientific evidence for the effect of music on the
good health of plants and animals too. Some plants
were allowed to grow in ordinary favourable conditions
and a few others in addition were exposed to music.
Those plants which grow listening to the music were
found to be the healthier species. Similarly animals
were also found to respond to music in a positive
manner. In music there exists, inherently the power to
communicate simultaneously on different levels of
consciousness. This is why music plays an important
role in almost every religion.
Don. G. Campbell, the director of the Institute for
Music, Health and Education in Colorado says : " Sonic
energies activate and harmonise the conscious mind,
the emotional brain and the physical body systems. It
is essential to realise that sound is a specific form
of energy which carries wave forms, that affects all
matter, rather than only an acoustic energy for
auditory perception". Master choa Kok Sui, in the
preview of his book "The Ancient Science and Art of
Pranic Healing" mentions that, once suffering from a
severe headache, instead of seeking treatment, he
experimented by listening to soothing music and found
the headache considerably reduced. Music helps relax
the mind. Relaxed mind facilitates the self healing
mechanism of the body. Suitable music as background
can inspire a healer to heal much more effectively.
The patient also becomes so receptive that the healing
is hastened. A regular enjoyer of music seldom falls
sick. Not forgetting here what Sir. E. W. Howe has
said : "When people here good music, it makes them
homesick for something they never had and never will
have!".
Saint Thyagaraja, a great musician in South India is
believed to have brought back a dead person to life
through his music. Tansen, in king Akbar's court is
said to have brought down rains, lit a lamp etc.
through music. This implies that the vibrations of
music can not only affect the human biological system,
but also influence the universal energies. The purpose
of music is to destroy the walls of our ego and lead
ourselves into the identity of the macrocosm. Music
has a quality of transcendence in it, transcending
time and space. You forget where you are, who you are,
you forget your past and future. Everything merges
into music.
Musical pitches have been correlated to different
colours. The study of the relationship between sound
and colour was attempted in the northern part of
India, which gave birth to 'ragamala pictures' as they
are called. Sir. Geoffry Hudson of the Theosophical
Society also has given great contribution in his
clairvoyant research study, 'Musical Forms'. Like
sounds, colours also produce certain effects on the
mind: Light colours have a soothing effect, dark ones
can be overwhelming and the like. It is a certain
frequency vibration of energy that appears as a
certain colour or is heard as a certain sound. The
same vibrational frequency when perceived through the
eyes can be seen as a colour and when perceived
through the ears can be heard as a certain sound. The
chakras or energy centers in our body have specific
colours which a clairvoyant can observe or can be
pictured in a Kirlian's camera. Traditionally, certain
syllable sounds or mantras correspond to these energy
centers. Like there is a visible frequency of light,
there is an audible frequency of sound also. Just by
the intention and by relaxing ourselves, we will be
able to tune into the subtle frequencies normally
beyond our perception.
Guru Nithya Chaitanya Yathi in his commentary on
Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says : " The music of the
ancient world, was a worship of the heart, offered to
the all embracing core of adoration. In it, every
particle of our body sings and there is an interim
fusion of the tones of the particles, somany
micro-micro tones, that it becomes a continuous music
in us and was hence treated as the richest heritage of
a living person". Life should be made a sweet melody
within oneself and in great harmony with the universe
and only then the cup of life can be enjoyed to its
fullest. May Guru Nithya's message comes as a great
blessing to the whole earth, that " Music creates solemn bridges
between human hearts and when we commune with each
other in this musical rejoicings, the world becomes a
heaven of Peace and Love".
In my school days I used to fantasize myself traveling to places without other people seeing me. Later I became interested when I heard about Astral Travel. I obtained a small practical book, 'The Secret of Astral Projection' by David Savage. In certain workshops also I learnt a few techniques of Astral Projection. During casual discussions some of my friends narrated their Out-Of-the-Body-Experience (OOBE) to me. For them it happened automatically and unexpectedly. They even did not realize that to be an Astral Projection.
One friend said he saw his physical body separate from himself while he was suffering from severe fever. Another friend had a blissful experience of floating in the sky when she was lying on a lawn watching a bird soaring high in the sky. Yet another close friend of mine described how she felt thirsty during her sleep in the night. She tried to go to the kitchen to drink water, but found it difficult even to get up from the bed. Forcefully she managed to get up and while walking just turned and looked back. There she saw her husband, kid and also herself sleeping on the cot. She was terribly shocked and immediately returned back to her physical body.
I was much thrilled to here all these incredible stories. I thus developed an intense desire to do the Mystic Transport. One whole night lying on the bed I tried every method I knew, but all in vein. Finally frustrated, I slept off letting go of everything. Early in the morning before I was wide-awake, I became aware of a tingling sensation all over my body. Then I felt myself floating above near the ceiling. It was pitch dark then. For a moment I could sense my physical body lying down on the cot separate from me. Before I could make out what has happened, I got terribly scared and rushed back to the physical body with a jerk, in no time. Then only I realized that to be an OOBE. Any way I felt very fresh and happy. I appreciated myself for the achievement and decided to continue with the practice.
After a few days I had another beautiful experience associated with a dream. In the dream I was talking with a person. I then remembered, 'this is a dream' and I became aware of the Astral Body. I felt the same tingling sensation as before and a suggestion came from inside that I am doing an Astral Projection. This gave me confidence. Suddenly I took-off from my physical body with a continuous sound of a jet propeller. This time I could open my astral eyes and see around. Everything looked brighter. The walls appeared taller and vibrating like a river current. I passed through the ceiling and reached up to the dark blue sky gliding along. The experience was totally ecstatic and beyond any words.
During another attempt I succeeded also in directing myself to a certain place where I wanted to visit astrally. On a different occasion I had vivid and colorful visions which I still believe belong to one of my past lives. All these experiences, when I look back, happened just not because of any techniques I have tried, but more by the intensity of my desire to master this art of inner journey.
I reached there on a cool and crisp sunny morning
during the summer. The Gurukula in 'Fernhill', 5
kilometers above from Ooty, seemed to be more calm and
isolated. My mind was saturated in a beautiful
silence. I Felt much confident and at peace standing
at that important turning point of my life. From my
childhood I had high regards and respect to the
saffron robed people. But then I never knew that I am
marching to be one among them. When I told my parents
that I am going to get initiated into sannyas from
Guru Nithya Chaitanya Yathi, they happily said "okay",
because they never believed that I could be one at
that young age of 23.
As I got a chance for a private dialogue with Guru, I
opened my heart's desire to him. He just said, "good".
Then I told him that my wish is to get initiation from
him. I sensed an inner smile blooming in his eyes.
Without agreeing or disagreeing he started explaining
his story of sannyas initiation to me. He was about 18
or 20 years then. Hearing about Ramana Maharshi he
left home and reached Thiruvannamalai. Ramana was in
silence and was old. People were moving in a queue to
prostrate before the Saint. Maharshi was just sitting
in silence with his eyes closed. Guru said that he
could here his own heartbeats while in the queue. '
How to ask? Will Ramana open his eyes and speak?
Should I ask for sannyas?', all these questions
started passing through his mind. When his turn came,
to his surprise, Ramana opened the eyes and looked
into his eyes. He said that he felt something like
lightning passing towards him. After narrating this
experience, Guru continued to me: " Sannyas is not a
commodity which can be given or taken. It is a state
of mind as well as a life style". Guru's words inspired me. I found him very practical
and had the feeling that he was my Guru. I stayed in
the Gurukula patiently waiting for an auspicious
initiation ceremony. But Guru seemed to have forgotten
the entire episode. Finally when I gave up hope, one
day during his Upanishad class Guru just read out the
'homa mantra' of 'Sree Narayana Guru' and explained the
subtle meaning of it. This mantra was chanted during
initiation ceremonies in the Gurukula. Guru wanted me
to repeat this mantra after him. I knew this was the
first step of my sannyas initiation. There was no
sacrificial fire or any rituals. All happened in the
inner world. Once Guru happened to call me 'Ananda
Nada Yogi', and I knew that was my sannyas name. Again many days passed and one evening after the
regular class, Guru called me near him when I least
expected it. As I sat near him touching his feet Guru
placed his hands on my head. I felt a tremendous
circuit of energy being passed on to me and a bright
golden light enveloped both of us. I had a heavy
sensation in my heart for a long time. To explain that
state in words is really difficult. He then covered me
with a saffron robe and explained many things about
sannyas. The whole night I couldn't sleep. I was in a
blissful state. Next day was my birthday. Actually
sannyas is also a new birth and it happened to be an
invaluable gift on my birthday from my Guru.
