From a satsang with Pt. Balram Persad, Spiritual Leader, SWAHA Om Shakti Mandali
From the festivals of the Kumbh Mela, Ganga Dussehra, Ganesh Utsav to Kartik Nahaan, Hinduism places heavy emphasis on visiting the waterways or worshipping Ganga Maa and immersing oneself in the water. The concept of immersion in water is linked to spiritual union with the Divine. We all have two births, a biological and a spiritual. The second, spiritual birth, which other religions have also incorporated into their belief systems, is the immersion or use of water to channel one’s life to a higher purpose. This divine act allows the soul to rejoice in a spiritual awakening and to ritualistically satiate the soul’s desire to attain ‘moksha’.
People of many different temperaments, along many different paths, undertake this spiritual journey. Some are as swift as a horse and some as slow as a snail. Some may take the path through densely populated forests while some journey through unobstructed terrains. We must, however, appreciate the need to begin moving in this direction. By ritualistically immersing ourselves in the ocean, we renew the vow to remain committed to this spiritual journey.
In order to achieve that immersion with the Divine, we must be guided by the purified and enlightened intellect. First, we must lift our consciousness to higher divine thoughts. We are aided by the symbolism of Bhagavan Vishnu. His shankh, the conch shell, is representative of budh or the intellect. The chakra, discus, is the ego that must be controlled on the finger of divinity. The gadaa or mace is one’s mind, and padma or lotus represents chitta or consciousness. Vishnu Bhagavan’s emblems symbolize control of the mind. Like the lotus, we must transcend the mud of negativity; then, surrender the mind and ego to the divine. We must remove the sense of egoism and be guided by the intellect.
It is a step forward in the soul’s unending quest to merge into the ocean of non-duality and attain oneness with the divine. This is why the largest confluence of people on the planet converges on the banks of the Ganga to gain such an experience in their lifetime. Let not another opportunity pass us by! The festivals that allow people to visit the ocean are among the most important for awakening in this age of Kalyug. Have you had your bath of spirituality?
Kartik will be celebrated on November 8 this year.
