Inner Bands Of Steel
If you ever become discouraged and wonder about the path, remember that there are three pillars of Hinduism that will keep you on the path: the satguru, the temple and the scriptures. Go to the temple, strengthen your relationship with your guru and begin studying the scriptures. Discouragement will go away and courage will come. Dark hours will go and bright hours will come. Problems will bend down as the intelligence from the spiritual force begins to come up. This is the way of the mysterious Nāthas, who don’t follow the way of words.
Nāthas don’t have any hype. We are not beating a drum or selling a mantra or selling a seminar or selling a promise. We just are who we are, doing what we are doing, and if anyone comes along to help, that is our karma at that point in time. We do the very best that we can with the facilities that we have. We don’t sell healing. We make no promises. Nāthas do their job on a very broad scale and pay attention to every small detail at the same time. That’s the working of the spiritual force that has come from Sage Yogaswami, Chellappaguru, Kadaitswami, the mysterious Ṛishi and those that preceded him, back to Tirumular and Maharishi Nandinatha and those that preceded them and those that preceded them and those that preceded them, for as long as people have walked on this planet.
Yes, there are three pillars of our great religion: satgurus, temples—Śiva temples, Murugan temples, Gaṇeśa temples—and the oldest scriptures in the world. But it’s the spiritual force of the satguru that makes the religion come to life in the individual. Would we all be sitting here today if when I went to the Jaffna Peninsula to find my guru he wasn’t there, and I just worshiped in a few temples for awhile and came back to the United States? No. We would not all be sitting here today. The temples don’t give you that kind of spiritual force. The scriptures don’t give you that kind of spiritual force. It is only the satguru that gives you the sustaining, spiritual force that makes life on this planet worthwhile and gives you the ability to prevail over all challenges and make a lasting difference, not only in yourself but in the lives of others.
Now we are all working together to bring Hinduism, especially Śaivism, into the twenty-first century. It is going to take all of our energies collectively to make that next big step, because there will be many changes. It is our job to bring the best of tradition into the twenty-first century, with clarity of thought and, most importantly, with the spirit and mysticism that go along with it.
Spirit expressed in a simple example would be, “I want to do my haṭha yoga! I want to get up in the morning and meditate!” Lack of spirit is, “I have to do my haṭha yoga. Oh, do I really have to? Maybe just today I won’t get up and meditate.” That’s the instinctive mind talking. That’s not the superconscious mind talking. “I want to”—that’s the spiritual force. “Do I have to?” or “I should”—that’s the instinctive-intellectual force.
Sitting here today thinking about our wonderful lineage of gurus, about what they said and what they didn’t say, you will find that we don’t know what some of them said and what they didn’t say. But what they did, that’s the important thing. And how did they do it? Through continuity of the spiritual force—one thread and then another thread, one fiber and then another fiber and another fiber, until a rope was built up that was stronger than any humans could pull apart. Bands of steel, generation after generation, that’s the Nandinātha way, unbreakable bands of spiritual force.
It is important that newcomers to the Hindu faith, the young people especially, realize that in ancient times as well as today the family unit is complete only when it includes an ordained spiritual mentor, a guru or pandit. It is to him or her that the family turns in times of joy and celebration. It is to him or her that the family goes when karmas are heavy, when difficulties and confusions are encountered on the path and the proper course is unclear. This mentor’s firmness and clarity are a stabilizing influence in the family’s year-to-year life. For most, but not all Hindus, a family temple is also a necessity, as is a collection of sacred writings or scripture, often the teachings of contemporary masters.
We encourage all to receive, with enthusiasm, as one would a God, all Hindu religious leaders, when they come to your community. Show the proper protocol, rush forward, garland them with flowers, lay gifts at their feet in humble obeisance. They are the mainstay and powerhouse and source of all expressions of our beloved Sanātana Dharma and its followers.
NANDINATHA SŪTRA 329: FIRST THINGS FIRST
Śiva’s monastics tread the path of experiential yoga. They never allow intellectual studies or interests to overshadow their inner life. They are men of God and the Gods first, teachers, scholars or artisans second. Aum.