SATSANG FOR NAVARATRI 30.9.2008-9.10.2008 The celebrations that Swamiji has asked to celebrate and be celebrated are many. Premananda Ashram Management holds celebrations like Vinayakar Chaturti, Guru Purnima, Navaratri, Shivaratri, Krishna Jayanti, Wesak and Christmas. All these celebrations are connected to spirituality. We should feel the divine energy that is produced while conducting these spiritual celebrations. When we think of Lord Ganesh and celebrate His special day, His love and blessings can be felt by all who participate. The ancient scriptures say that when we all come together and pray, Lord Ganesh will come and make His presence felt.
We are fortunate to understand the power of Goddess Durga. She is an ancient Energy, the Universal Energy and the energy of Lord Shiva. We will also pray to Goddess Lakshmi, who is the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. By praying to Lakshmi Narayanan, we also receive the blessings of Lord Narayana. Try to understand this. We pray whole-heartedly to the Goddess Saraswati, who bestows knowledge, education and good thoughts. We are very fortunate to receive Her blessings. With Her grace we will know the greatness of our birth, which is the secret of Brahma. It is a great opportunity to experience all these energies during the Navaratri days. By gathering together and praying with devotion, we will understand ourselves and the divinity within us. Jai Prema Shanti! Swami Premananda |
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We are all entangled in worldly illusions; our minds are involved in this maya. To get rid of this illusion, people celebrate the festival called Dashara or Navaratri. This is celebrated for ten days. The first three days are dedicated to the Goddess Durga Devi. The next three days are for Goddess Lakshmi Devi and the last three days are dedicated to the Goddess Saraswati Devi. On the tenth day we pray to all three Goddesses and ask them all to come and give us their blessings. This is called Navaratri. All these festivals have greatness in them. The day that we think of avatars, saints, Nayanmars and Alwars is called Guru Purnima. On this day we ask one of these great people to come in front of us as our Guru. By coming together and chanting Guru’s names, his energy and blessings will touch us. Guru’s energy will envelope us. Just because we do not see him with our eyes, does not mean that he is not present. He is there. His grace is being showered. Our bad qualities are being removed and divine energy is entering us. These two festivals are regarded as divine occasions. 