Ganga Darshan and Ganga aarti

Happy 2013, dear friends! For me, the year began with Ganga darshan and aarti.  

My six year old son Jyotiraditya began to play in the shallow end of the ice cold Ganga. Then he closed his eyes and began to chant the Mritunjaya mantra with total concentration. It was a priceless moment for me as a mother. He did the chanting with absolute conviction and passion. 

Some foreigners who were humming along with the aarti suddenly pointed towards Adi in exclamation. They began to admire him in soft exclamations and started to click his snapshots. That moment of electric energy was broken instantly. That is one thing I want to share – in places of worship and where prayers are chanted, it is important to avoid taking snapshots. It instantly cuts and interferes with the electric energy of positive powerful vibrations that are a result of mantra-chanting.       

For me, as I stood before the Ganga aarti, the incredible power, the force and the energy of Mother Ganga filled my senses like intoxication. It was as though time had frozen and stress, worry and even a sense of separate identity ceased to dissolve. It felt as though I no longer existed - but seemed to be one with the divine energy around me. 

All that pervaded my consciousness was a need to experience the beauty, the shakti and the sattva shuddhi of this beautiful Goddess that flows all around, cradled by the most beautiful mountains. What in life can be more beautiful than reaching this original point of creation at its most magnificent, powerful peak?

As you stand before the Ganga, you realize that nothing can be as beautiful as this moment of awareness and oneness with divinity. Thoughts dissolved into nothingness. In fact, thoughts ceased altogether, bringing existence itself to a standstill. Isn’t that the culmination of what all spiritual seekers aspire and long for? To be free from thoughts and desires not merely for moments but for this whole lifetime?  

Standing there, I felt humbled by the glory, the power and the beauty of Ganga Maa. And let’s not forget, she flows down to the earth from the heavens. That is the greatest and most important point of a woman’s strength – purity of purpose, patience of being and humility towards all – these traits are divine and have remained consistent for centuries. We call all of this as decadent and patriarchal now of course. That works for some, but values - it springs from the heart whereas showing an attitude is the finest example of ego kicking in and becoming stronger and more powerful than the heart.

Thank you Ganga Maa. So much to learn, so little time.

But I promised. I will try.

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