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Thursday heralds the month long fast that is predominately undertaken by the South Indian community. The auspicious period is dedicated to the worship of Lord Narayana, affectionately known in the south regions as Perumal or Srinivasa. It is rather disappointing that over time the focus has shifted from transformation to diet. This very auspicious period which has the necessary components to speed up your spiritual transformation and growth has been unjustly relegated to a diet phenomenon. Lets look at the P’s of Purutassi:
Pause: Do we ever take the time to stop and ask ourselves
some very relevant questions. Who am I? What am I doing here? Why do I lie? Why
do I hurt people? Why am I envious? Why do I possess anger? Why do I want more
than I need? The questions can pile up a mile long and the astonishing thing is
that we don’t have the answers. Essentially, we are ignorant people living in
the information age. Within our inner being we know what truth is, yet we
continue to deviate from it with impunity. Hence our lives tend to border on
the animalistic side where the facility of discrimination is non-existent. We
have allowed our senses and base instincts to run havoc upon us. The senses are
like starving animals ready to pounce upon any prey without discriminating its
capacity and consequences of its hunt expedition.
Prayer: Undeniably, man has made some significant advances
in science but is still completely deluded to see the limitations of his
discoveries and thinking. There is still a vast area of unknown that man is
struggling to explain with his science. There is a power and consciousness that
keeps this creation ticking and for those of us that are born into religion and
have faith based upon our experiences and interaction with this force, we
reference it as GOD. There is nothing in this creation that can be undertaken
without the grace of GOD. It is therefore important if we have decided that we
want this Purutassi to be a transformative experience which must yield answers
to the many unanswered questions we must develop a sankalapa or intent in this
regard. Therefore, we must offer our sincere prayer to Lord Perumal or
Srinivasa for His grace, support and blessings for this journey.
Prepare: Motivational Gurus and coaches have advanced
evidence that success is reached through positive attitude and cultivating the
correct mindset. It is therefore important to prepare oneself mentally and
physically to ensure that the entire being starts to veer and gear towards a
sublime and motivated mood to achieve. It is within these ambits that special
cleansing of the environment takes place to help generate this mood. We should
prioritise our goals so that we choose battles in which we can achieve victory.
We don’t want to create obstacles but rather achieve our goals and victories in
stages, instead of setting insurmountable goals and ejecting the process
despondently.
Purify: It is said that friction is necessary to make
metal shine or to make a diamond sparkle... therefore it is not going to be
easy to purify the mind which essentially entails curtailing all that the
senses lust after. Things like good food and the elements of good character are
abrasives that help in the purification of the mind and heart. This is an
important process because our journey becomes clear with purity of mind and
heart. However, the most important abrasive in this process is daily
meditation and communion with the divine within to develop courage and strengthen
the will to achieve our objectives. Keeping the company of the pious and noble
is also important as they inspire and help maintain your path rather than
distract you.
Practice
& Perseverance: When
actions become habitual, they are mechanically executed. The status quo has
been sedimented as a way of life, therefore any intention to disrupt it is
going to be confronted with a barrage of resistance. Your sadhana and new
routine needs to be practiced daily with intent and one must persevere against
all odds until it becomes the new normal. The more you practice the easier it
becomes to persevere.
Perfection: Our goal of life is perfection. Although it is a
tough ask, taking small steps in the right direction will bring us closer to
perfection and in this world of varied influences and circumstances the idea
would be to move as near towards the locus of perfection as one can.
Sri Ramakrishna said that the grace of God is
always blowing... it is up to us to unfurl our sails. Purutassi is this
opportunity to attract the grace of God into your life and initiate
transformation from pain to paradise. The most recent pandemic upon the world
that brought the entire world to a standstill was a rude awakening to man that
our purpose is beyond the rat race that we are preoccupied with. The efforts we
are investing into controlling the world is futile. That very energy and time
should be invested in self transformation. The ten avatars of Lord Vishnu are
the perfect example of evolution and transformation which is the basis of life.
From the Fish to Srinivasa - the most adored and loved in the world... this
process should be internalised and emulated. We should not remain as fish and
boars but ensure that we manifest the potential divinity within us as encouraged
by Swami Vivekananda.
I take this opportunity to pray to Lord Srinivasa
to guide and help us on our spiritual transformation and to make this Purutassi
fruitful for all those sincerely undertaking a spiritual journey and
transformation towards the ultimate perfection. May we all have a blessed and
rewarding Purutassi by Lord Narayana's grace, is my prayer.
With love and prayers always
Yogan Naidoo
