{"id":892,"date":"2026-08-10T13:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T23:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/?p=892"},"modified":"2025-08-16T17:00:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T03:00:03","slug":"lesson-121-living-with-siva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/lesson-121-living-with-siva\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 121 \u2013 Living with \u015aiva"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/LwS-Lesson-121.mp3\"><\/audio><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Recording: Gurudeva&#8217;s cloned voice<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Confession And Penance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a mature being in the higher nature, above the m\u016bl\u0101dh\u0101ra chakra, ever seeking higher plateaus through s\u0101dhana, the \u015aaivite seeks peace whenever the mind is troubled. How does such a \u015aaivite confess? How does one tell of the reactions to misdeeds performed in all innocence when but a child in the lower consciousness, living in the lower nature, below the m\u016bl\u0101dh\u0101ra chakra? How and whom does one tell of misdeeds performed during a lapse of conscience, even when living a life of dharma? A \u015aaivite confesses to God \u015aiva, the Gods or his guru. To confess to God \u015aiva, go to His temple and mentally, psychically place your burden at the holy feet of the m\u016brti in the sanctum sanctorum. To confess to Gods Murugan or Ga\u1e47e\u015ba, go to their temple and place your confession at their holy feet. Or go to your satguru and tell him of your inner plight, holding nothing back. This is how a \u015aaivite confesses inner burdens as he emerges out of the instinctive mind of the lower nature into the purified intellect of the higher nature. <br><br>Yes, reconciliation is food for the soul. After the soul has unburdened itself of the dross of the lower mind through honest confession, a resolution must be made not to reenter the lower states or rekindle the flames of the chakras below the m\u016bl\u0101dh\u0101ra. To achieve reconciliation by apology for hurts caused another, or to atone by performing acts of penance if a long time has passed since the apology could have been made and received, is truly food for the soul. <br><br>There are many forms of penance, pr\u0101ya\u015bchitta, such as 1,008 prostrations before Gods Ga\u1e47e\u015ba, Murugan or Supreme God \u015aiva, apologizing and showing shame for misdeeds; performing japa slowly 1,008 times on the holy rudr\u0101ksha beads; giving of 108 handmade gifts to the temple; performing manual chores at the temple for 108 hours, such as cleaning, making garlands or arranging flowers; bringing offerings of cooked food; performing kavadi with miniature spears inserted in the flesh; making a pilgrimage by prostrating the body\u2019s length again and again, or rolling around a temple. All these and more are major means of atonement after each individual confession has been made. <br><br>The keynote in serious cases is asking one\u2019s satguru to give a specific penance once the problem has been revealed. Once the satguru is asked for penance, the penance must be performed exactly according to his instruction. It should be done with full energy and without delay. Deliberate delay or refusal to perform the penance shows the devotee has rejected the assistance of the satguru. Further advice and guidance will not be forthcoming until the instruction has been fulfilled. Therefore, a devotee in such a condition does not approach the satguru. He may, however, beseech the guru\u2019s assistance and continued guidance if he is in the process of fulfilling the penance over a period of time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NANDINATHA S\u016aTRA 121: VALID CAUSES FOR SEPARATION<br>In marriages of \u015aiva\u2019s followers, adultery, severe neglect, verbal abuse and abandonment may be valid causes for separation but not divorce. Spiritual law recognizes no divorce, and separation is hoped to be temporary. Aum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Confession And Penance As a mature being in the higher nature, above the m\u016bl\u0101dh\u0101ra chakra, ever seeking higher plateaus through s\u0101dhana, the \u015aaivite seeks peace whenever the mind is troubled. How does such a \u015aaivite confess? How does one tell of the reactions to misdeeds performed in all innocence when but a child in the <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/lesson-121-living-with-siva\/\">READ MORE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living-with-siva"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=892"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3910,"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892\/revisions\/3910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kauaishindumonastery.com\/mc-daily-lessons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}