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Oṁ Uḍī Śrī Śaṅkar Bolānājī Kī Chāyā, Himālayan Siddhā Avatār Śrī Alagpurjī Mahārāj Kī Chāyā, Deva Dī Dev, Śiv Avatār, Deva Īśvar Mahādeva Kī Chāyā, Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī Kī Chāyā, Hindu Dharm Samrāṭ, Satguru Svāmī Śrī Madhavānandapurījī Mahārāj Kī Chāyā, Viśvaguru Mahāmaṇḍaleśvar, Paramātmā Svāmī Śrī Maiśvarānandapurījī Gurudeva Kī Chāyā. Mahādri Pārśve Chhāṭate Ramantam Sampu Jamanam Satatam Unindreha Surah Surah Erekṣa Mahuram Gadyaiha Kedāram Īśam Śivame Kāṁide Kedāram Īśam Śivame Kāṁide. Salutation to the Eternal Divine Light of Śiva’s Consciousness. Adoration to the Guru Lineage of Śrī Alāpurjī Siddhapītā Guru Paramparā, which is related to Lord Śiva. Humble praṇām to the lotus feet of our master. Respected Swami Jasrāj Purījī, dear Gurus, brothers and sisters. This mantra is the Kedārnāth śloka from the Dvādaśa Jyotirliṅga Stotram composed by Śrī Ādi Guru Śaṅkarācārya. It says, "O Lord, who resides in the mighty Himalayas, you are worshipped by all—the saints, the hermits, the gods and the demons, the humans and yakṣas—and I am worshipping you also." Kedārnāth is one of the twelve Jyotirliṅgas. There are twelve special Śivaliṅgas throughout India. The easternmost is Vaiśvanāth in Jharkhand. The southernmost is Rāmeśvara in Tamil Nadu. The westernmost is Somnāth in Gujarat, and the northernmost is Kedārnāth in the Himalayas, at a height of 3,500 meters above sea level. It is, after Mount Kailash, the second most venerated abode of Lord Śiva. Our Śiva Mandir in Jādam Āśram is related to the Kedārnāth Temple. Its origin goes to the time of the end of the Mahābhārata, when the Pāṇḍavas received darśan of Lord Śiva at that place. We know from the teachings of our master that our lineage is also connected to this place. Ālak Purījī is also today living in his subtle body somewhere between Kedārnāth and Badrīnāth. There is also the place where Devpurījī, Ālakpurījī’s disciple, performed his tapasyā; there is Devpurījī’s cave. From the Himalayas, Devpurījī brought the teaching of yoga of Lord Śiva down to the plains of Rajasthan, and so we come to the Śiva Mandir in Jadan Ashram. There is one special stone lying outside the temple. It is actually a Śiva Liṅgam, and on it is written, "Bhagavān Śrī Kedārnāthjī." By its shape, it is similar to the Śiva Liṅgam in the Kedārnāth Mandir in the Himalayas. These Śiva Liṅgams have a specific quality: they symbolize the Pūrṇa, the completeness of God. His infinity has no beginning and no end. Many of you know the origin of this stone. It was found during the Kumbh Melā in Haridwar in 2010, when Swamiji was taking a holy dip along with hundreds of his disciples. This holy stone was found, and hundreds of disciples performed Guru Caraṇakamal Pūjā over it. Now we have it outside the Śiva Mandir, symbolizing Kedārnāth. Let us return to Jadan and step inside the Mandir. The central position, as in any Śiva Mandir, is the Śiva Liṅgam. In front stands the statue of Nandi. Behind the Śiva Liṅgam, we find Gaṇeśa. On the left side, in a small wall altar, is Lord Kārttikeya. On the opposite side, in the side mandir on the right, is Mātā Pārvatī Jī. For us, as disciples of the Guru Lineage, the altar is even more important. For a sincere devotee, the lamp at the top could stand as a symbol of Śrī Alakpurījī, because all we know about him is that he has a body of light. Below that is Śiva Avatār Śrī Deveśwar Mahādev, his successor, the majestic photo of Bhagavān Śrī Dīp Nārāyaṇ Mahāprabhujī. On his right-hand side is our beloved Holy Gurujī, and on the other side is our master Paramahaṁsvāmī Maheśvarānandajī. Let us now take the mūrtis systematically, one by one, and speak a little about their symbolism. In the literature about Hindu deities, there is a great variety of explanations for their symbols. The greatness is that these different explanations are not contradictory but complementary. One can choose that which feels like the biggest revelation for him. We start with Nandi, the bull, the vehicle of Lord Śiva. In the Hindu pantheon, every deity has an animal vehicle. For Lord Śiva, it is Nandi, the bull, because it is said no other animal can carry his greatness. But he is not an ordinary bull; he is the embodiment of Dharma, the Dharmadevatā. It is mentioned in the Purāṇas that once, in ancient times, the Dharmadevatā approached Lord Śiva and asked, "O Lord, what will happen when Mahāpralaya comes? Everything will be destroyed. The end of the world will come. Will all of us die?" Lord Śiva answered, "Do not worry. Become my sincere devotee. All my devotees will remain with me as long as eternity lasts. You can take upon yourself the form of a bull and become my vehicle." Thus, it is said Lord Śiva is the protector of Dharma; he rides on Dharma. Dharma is the principle. The principle of Ahimsā needs four strong pillars, four strong legs: Prem (love), Santoṣa (contentment), Satya (truth), and Dharma itself, which means righteous thinking and acting. Nandījī is also a symbol for a yoga disciple of Guru Bhakti. There are many beautiful stories. One that Swāmījī often told us is about the churning of the ocean by the devatās and the rākṣasas. Before the amṛta, the first thing that emerged was poison. All the devatās and rākṣasas were afraid and stepped back. They requested Lord Śiva, the Lord of elements and tattvas, to solve this problem. Śivajī went forward and began to drink the poison. A few drops of that deadly poison fell to the ground. All were perplexed: what will happen now? This will contaminate the whole earth. But as Śivajī kept drinking, Nandījī saw the poison. He went and licked it off the ground. All were afraid, thinking, "What a terrible death Nandījī will face!" But Lord Śiva consoled them, "Don’t worry, Nandī is my very devoted disciple. He has all my protection and all my qualities. Nothing will happen to him." What an example for us, the disciples. Look at his āsana. He does not move an inch; he is always focused on his Master. Often, when Indian devotees come to a Śiva Mandir, they first approach Nandījī for his blessing, often whispering something into his ears. It is actually their wish or their saṅkalpa, which they hope to get fulfilled. Because Lord Śiva is usually immersed in samādhi, they use Nandījī as a medium, telling him and expecting he will tell his master. We continue. On the back side of the Śiva Liṅgam is a statue of Śrī Gaṇeśjī. Gaṇeśa is the most favorite deity of all Hindus. Everyone worships Gaṇeśa, regardless of which denomination of Hinduism they belong to, because he is the Lord of obstacles. By worshipping him, our endeavors become successful. Before starting any business, new work, study, marriage, or shifting to a new house, everyone worships Lord Gaṇeśa. We know him by many names: Gaṇapati, Gaṇādhipa, Vināyaka, or Vighneśvara. Vighneśvara means the Lord of obstacles. One of his names is also Budhipriya, the husband of intelligence, so he is the Iṣṭadevatā of scientists and the embodiment of knowledge. His vehicle is a mouse. There are many symbolic explanations for why it is a mouse. A question arises: how can such a small animal carry such a big Gaṇeśa? It can because it is so active. Have you ever seen a mouse resting in a corner, just sleeping? No. The mouse is always very active, running to the cupboard, to the storeroom, looking for food. This is the vehicle necessary for knowledge. It doesn’t matter if we have the knowledge of a doctor, an engineer, a mechanic, or a spiritual teacher; it is valid only if it is used for the service of society. It needs to be utilized and moved quickly, which is why there is a mouse. A saint writes in his book that Gaṇeśa can be found in the Mūlādhāra cakra, operating our karma through the proper timing of events. Because Gaṇeśa not only removes obstacles but also allows them to happen, as they are necessary for our spiritual growth; we go through the path of obstacles. Most often, Gaṇeśa is considered the second son of Lord Śiva and Mātā Pārvatī. The first is Lord Kārtikeya. So we go to this side, the mandir on the left. He also has many names, like Skanda, Murugan, and Subramunia. He is most worshipped in South India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia. In his hand, he holds a spear or lance, a symbol of his spiritual insight and power of discrimination. He was the first sannyāsī and a warrior; he was the senāpati, the general of Śiva’s army. He was purposely born to kill the Rākṣasa Tārakāsura, as it was said this demon, who was committing atrocities across the cosmos, could be killed only by the son of Lord Śiva. From here comes the root of Kārtikeya Jī’s symbolism: he symbolizes the purification of demonic qualities in the human. He is seated in the Maṇipūra Cakra. A disciple or yoga aspirant brings his consciousness there when he overcomes the bad qualities of the Mūlādhāra and Svādhiṣṭhāna cakras: mainly Kāma (passion), Krodha (anger), Mada (ego), Lobha (selfishness), Moha (attachment), and Matsarya or Īrṣā (jealousy). These are the six main enemies of humans. For this reason, Kārtikeya Jī is often depicted with six heads. Sometimes it symbolizes that he is the master of the five senses and the mind. Our mūrti seems to have only five heads, but it does not matter because once the Prāṇa Pratiṣṭhā was done—the inauguration of the Śiva Mandir where life was infused into the deities—the tattva is there, regardless of whether it has five or seven heads. The Grand Pratiṣṭhā of our Śiva Mandir was performed during the Mahārudra Yajña in January 1995, a nine-day festival devoted to the worship of Lord Śiva. You see our master himself performing the Abhiṣeka of the Śivaliṅgam. In another divine picture, Lord Kārtikeya receives a holy bath from the hands of Lord Maheśvara. After the inauguration, the Śiva Liṅgam was in its place. So it has been over 17 years of constant worship, constant morning and evening prayer. We continue our parikramā inside the Śiva Mandir. There, on the wall in a small mandir, is the statue of Mātā Pārvatī Jī. She is the embodiment of the Ādi Paraśakti, the primary energy, the primary power of the universe. If there were no Pārvatī Jī, nothing would move in living beings. We would not be able to practice yoga, nor walk, speak, eat, drink, see, hear, inhale, or exhale. All this happens through Śakti, through Mātā Pārvatī. She has many other names, like Umā, Satī, Gaurī, Kālī, Bhavānī, and Lālitā. One of her names is Dakṣāyaṇī; she was the daughter of King Dakṣa. She married Lord Śiva and was his first wife, Umā. Once, King Dakṣa organized a great sacrifice and invited everyone in the universe except his daughter Satī and her husband, Lord Śiva. Umā, or Satī, said, "No, no... They just did not do it out of formality. Of course we can go." So she decided to see her father's sacrifice. But during that ceremony, King Dakṣa publicly began to slander Lord Śiva. Umā could not bear this insult and jumped into the Yajña fire, immolating herself. For that, she is known by the name Satī. She was born again to King Himavat, the Himalayas, and from that comes her name Pārvatī, which means "she of the mountain." She soon recollected the memory of her previous life and wanted to reunite with her beloved husband, Lord Śiva. So she began to perform immense tapasyā and daily worship Lord Śiva. Of course, Lord Śiva is aware of every devotee, but he put Pārvatī Jī to the most severe tests. Finally, Pārvatī Jī won his heart, and she married Lord Śiva a second time. This is a great symbolism for yoga aspirants. When we get a bit awakened from our dream of ignorance and start to tread the path of spirituality, it is Mātā Pārvatī in the form of Kuṇḍalinī Śakti that starts to rise up, chakra by chakra. Once she reaches Sahasrāra, she will marry Lord Śiva again there, and that will be our realization. Pārvatī Jī is seated in the heart. She is the symbol of both great asceticism (tapasyā) and the householder ideal. She is the excellent mother of her sons, and all our feelings of love and compassion come from the heart from Pārvatī. Thus, Pārvatī wants to marry Lord Śiva, symbolized by the Śiva Liṅgam. What is the Śiva Liṅgam? That is a bit of a mystery because the essence of Lord Śiva is formless; he is eternal, pure consciousness. Just by his grace, he manifested in the form of the Śivaliṅgam so he can be worshipped by devotees. In the Vedas, the word Śivaliṅgam is not mentioned, but the same type of worship is described as worshipping the skambha or stambha, which means the pillar. These were rounded stone pillars, as we see, for example, in our Kedārnāth stone. We learn the explanation later in the Purāṇas—the Mahāśiva Purāṇa, Kūrma Purāṇa, and Vāyu Purāṇa. There is a narrated story of Lord Brahmā having a dialogue with Lord Viṣṇu. They were discussing which of them was the actual creator of the world and could not reach an agreement. Their discussion lasted and lasted. Suddenly, the ground in front of them opened, and a pillar of flames, a pillar of fire, pierced the ground up to the sky. They were astonished. "What is that?" They decided to find out. One went down to seek its root, and the other went up to seek its top. But after many days, they met at the same point and humbly had to accept they had not found it. It has no beginning and no end. Then Lord Śiva emerged from that pillar of fire, that pillar of light, and explained that he is the Svayambhū, who is beginningless and is the actual creator of this universe. Because his first expressed tattva is fire, from this comes the type of worship; most often we worship Lord Śiva with jala abhiṣeka, the offering of water, because water soothes the fire. For the practical reason of draining the water poured on the Śiva Liṅgam, people began to build a platform below it. Later, this platform began to emerge, and after the Puranic era, people started to explain that this platform symbolizes Pārvatī. The liṅgam and the platform together are an abstract form of the creation of the universe, meaning the union of eternal consciousness and creative śakti. It was only in the last centuries, as human consciousness declined, that people began to interpret it as a connection of male and female reproductive organs. But that is pure nonsense, as it has no root in the śāstras, the old scriptures. Let us see a few examples of Śivaliṅgams documenting this evolution. First were the śambhas, natural stone Śivaliṅgams. Another type is the famous Amarṇāthjī, also from a natural stone, around which a base platform for draining water is made. This is the same principle, just a more modern arrangement. Another old variation again documents the same principle. Often above the Śivaliṅgam, there is the kalaśa—a brass, copper, or stainless steel vessel from which water constantly drips onto the Śivaliṅgam so that the pūjā, the Jal Abhiṣeka, runs for 24 hours. Abhiṣeka generally means applying different substances on the Śiva Liṅgam, most often water, milk, yoghurt, ghee, honey, sandal paste, sugarcane juice, coconut water, vibhūti (sacred ash), or bilva leaves (bilpatras), which we can see on our Śivaliṅgam. There is also the nāga, the snake, over the Śivaliṅgam. It also has many different symbolic explanations. Personally, I most like the one that this is a symbol of the Jīvātmā, the individual soul, because no matter how much ignorance we have, our very existence is dependent on the consciousness of God, of Lord Śiva. Now on the right, we see another symbol: the triśūl. This is the weapon of Lord Śiva with three peaks, which stand for the three guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas. Lord Śiva is the master of them. Another explanation is that it stands for his powers: Kriyā Śakti, Icchā Śakti, and Jñāna Śakti. In pictures, Lord Śiva usually holds the triśūla in his right hand, and in his left, he holds the ḍamaru. The ḍamaru is a small drum shaped like an hourglass, fixed horizontally under the triśūl. By moving the ḍamaru, Lord Śiva creates the sound of Oṁ in the universe. From the sound of Aum, all other Sanskrit letters and all languages are created. So it is also called Śabdabrahman, the Lord of Words, the Lord of Languages. Our Śiva Mandir is a place of great worship. As Holy Gurujī sings, "Jai Jai Śrī Deveśwar Mahādev," it means, "Glory to Lord Deveśwar, glory to Lord Śiva." From India and all around the world, devotees come in hundreds and thousands, worshipping and reaping the benefit of Lord Śiva’s blessing. So, dear brothers and sisters, know that in the Jadan Śiva Mandir, Lord Śiva resides. He radiates brilliant light, and disciples come here and rest upon his shoulders. In his right hand, he holds the triśūl, and with that, step by step and day by day, he removes negative qualities from the disciples. So it is our choice to become Nandī, the faithful disciple always concentrated on the Master. Then we can approach Lord Gaṇeśa and request him to remove all obstacles from our spiritual journey. Then we proceed to Lord Kārttikeya, that he helps us kill all demonic qualities within us. And to awaken his mother Pārvatījī in the Anāhata. When she climbs up to the Sahasrāra, then we will achieve our aim. We will merge with our Divine Master. Hey, Śambhu.