Guest guest Posted July 25, 2007 Report Share Posted July 25, 2007 Guru Purnima, falls on 29th July 2007. The following websites confirm the dates. http://www.sgfl.org.uk/termdatesv2/festivals#Hinduhttp://www.neoncarrot.co.uk/h_aboutindia/festival_dates_2007.htmlhttp://www.worldeventsguide.com/event.ehtml?o=2231http://www.vivekananda.btinternet.co.uk/calendaroffestivaldates.htmhttp://www.astrologyforu.com/others/events/guru-poornima.php Guru is such a lotus that His fragrance makes the inner lotus [chakra] unfold, Guru is such a divine light that His grace makes the unconscious world conscious, Guru is melody by whose presence all fear, sadness, and inherent demonic powers subside. Guru is a divine wall of love which is always protecting the disciple, Guru is such a search that attaining him all the hopes are converted into contentment, Guru is a lamp that makes even the lights shine, He is the light that washes away darkness forever, He is such an inspiration that by His presence the disciple goes into the depth of oceanic divine ecstasy. Guru is an energy one with Brahman. That which enlightens the extinguished lamp is called Guru. Guru is the abode of compassion. He dedicates his whole being for the benefit of humanity. He sacrifices his own worldly pleasures so that he can give allgood things to others. Momentary happiness can be gained by worldly things, but to get rid of unhappiness totally, we need the help of a Guru. He is blessedwho has been showered with the wealth of Atmajyaana [the self knowledge] and is always prospering..always prospering!!!! Attaining this wealth, the disciple surrenders [bows] before the Guru. Then the disciple has nothing else to attain, nothing to search for. If Guru is Samadhi, then the disciple is the Sadhana. By Sadhana the Guru converts his disciple into a Guru, so there remains no difference between theGuru and disciple; they become one principle of unity. The masters of Himalayan Tradition, like Swami Rama and Swami Veda, do not mention themselves as Gurus. They say they are humble servants serving humanitywith love. Guru is not one who merely receives the reverence of everybody, but is one who has the attitude of reverence towards all animate and inanimate things. Guru removes our ego. The ego can be removed by proximity to the Guru. When ego is nullified, then the grace of Almighty is attained. To get a PhD, we have to accept a qualified person as our guide and study under him obediently following the instructions given. That's why the PhD thatwe receive from a Guru is not a thesis, but wisdom which overflows with motherly compassion. So the Guru Disciple relationship is like a mother -childrelationship. http://www.swamiveda.org/guru_purnima.html SIGNIFICANCE OF GURU PURNIMAGuru Purnima is the day in which we pay our reverence to the Guru - it is a day filled with devotion, with love, with piety. On this day, Indians across the world pay their deepest reverence to both their personal guru, as well as to Sri Maharishi Vyasji. Vyasji is heralded as the editor of the four vedas, and the author of the 18 puranas, the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. Having brought such an immeasurabletreasure chest of wisdom to the world, Vyasji is worshipped as the Guru of Gurus. It is he who has brought forth this ocean of divine light to dispel thedarkness of humanity. Therefore, on this day we also pay our deepest respects to Sri Vyasji. Guru Purnima is celebrated on the full moon day of Ashadha and the four month period of Chaturmas (the holy time of year in which the monsoons come andthe saints refrain from movement).After the long, hot, dry months of summer in which innumerable people, animals and crops have perished, the rains come, quenching our thirst and bringingus life. And, in India, when the rains come it is not a mere drizzle which lasts for 10 minutes. Rather, the rains are downpours of heavenly nectar, completelysaturating the parched land. Similarly, on this day, as we find ourselves dying of thirst for knowledge, as we find our hearts and minds have become dry due to ignorance, anger anddarkness, the Guru comes, pouring forth upon our lives the rain of wisdom, of love, of light and of life. Just as the flowers which have wilted and yellowedin the never-ending heat of summer, suddenly stand erect and succulent as soon as the rains come, so we, who have become ignorant and "dead" to the divinitywithin us are immediately born anew due to His grace in our lives. Yet, just as the soil must allow the rain to penetrate its depths in order to reap the benefits of this life-giving nectar, so we must become porous vesselsinto which the divine nectar of the Guru can flow. Guru Purnima is a day of renewing our faith, our shraddha, in He who bestows the light upon our lives. It is a day of reopening our hearts, our souls andour lives to His divine presence and letting it penetrate and saturate every aspect of our being. REMEMBER THE GREAT SAGE VYAS ON THIS DAY http://www.astrologyforu.com/others/events/guru-poornima.php This sacred Guru Poornima falls on July 29, 2007. The Full Moon day in the month of Ashadamasam is considered to be extremely a sacred day of Guru Poornima.On this day, when we honour Sage Vyasa, who gave mankind the precious gem of Saguna worship and the hope and assurance that Manava can become Madhava.The Guru is the teacher who removes the fundamental ignorance that hides the knowledge of truth from us. This day is fixed for reversing them. Vyasya maharishi is described as an incarnation of Lord Narayana. He set down in writing the Vedas that previously were known only in the form of sound.He was the great grandson of Arundhati who codified Vedas. As he was born on this day, it is celebrated as Guru Poornima or Vyasa Poornima. He was thegreat teacher who gave many profound and sacred truths to mankind. Hence, his birthday is celebrated as Guru Poornima. The real significance of Guru Poornimadoes not consist in worshiping the Guru with some offerings but in getting rid of the darkness to brightness. Sri Vyasa has done unforgettable service to humanity for all times by editing the four Vedas, writing the eighteen Puranas. We can only repay the deep debtof gratitude we owe him, by constant study of his works and practice of his teachings imparted for the regeneration of humanity in this iron age. In honourof this divine personage, all spiritual aspirants and devotees perform Vyasa Puja on this day, and disciples worship their spiritual preceptor. Saints,monks and men of God are honored and entertained with acts of charity by all the householders with deep faith and sincerity. The period Chaturmas beginsfrom this day; Sannyasins stay at one place during the ensuing four rainy months, engaging in the study of the Brahma Sutras and the practice of meditation. Mark fully the deep significance of this great day. It heralds the setting in of the eagerly awaited rains. The water drawn up and stored as clouds in thehot summer now manifests in plentiful showers that usher in the advent of fresh life everywhere. Even so, all begin seriously to put into actual practiceall the theory and philosophy that have been stored up in them through patient study. Aspirants commence or resolve to intensify with all earnestness,their practical spiritual Sadhana right from this day. Generate fresh waves of spirituality. Let all that you have read, heard, seen and learnt becometransformed, through Sadhana, into a continuous outpouring of universal love, ceaseless loving service, and continuous prayer and worship of the Lord seatedin all beings. Live on milk and fruit on this day and practice rigorous Japa and meditation. Study the Brahma Sutras and do Japa of your Guru Mantra, during the four monthsfollowing the Guru Poornima. You will be highly benefited. The day of worship of one's preceptor, is a day of pure joy to the sincere spiritual aspirant.Thrilled by the expectation of offering his reverent homage to the beloved Guru, aspirants await this occasion with eagerness and devotion. It is the Gurualone that breaks the binding cords of attachment and releases the aspirant from the trammels of earthly existence. Have a new angle of vision. Behold the entire universe as the form of the Guru. See the guiding hand, the awakening voice, the illuminating touch of theGuru in every object in this creation. The whole world will now stand transformed before your changed vision. The world as Guru will reveal all the precioussecrets of life to you, and bestow wisdom upon you. The supreme Guru, as manifested in visible nature, will teach you the most valuable lessons of life. Worship daily this Guru of Gurus, the Guru who taught even the Avadhuta Dattatreya. Dattatreya, regarded as God and the Guru of Gurus, considered NatureHerself as His Guru, and learnt a number of lessons from Her twenty-four creatures, and hence he is said to have had twenty-four Gurus. The silent, all-enduringearth with its lofty forbearance, the shady fruit-bearing tree with its willing self-sacrifice, the mighty banyan tree reposing with patience in the tinyseed, the drops of rain whose persistence wears away even the rocks, the planets and the seasons with their orderly punctuality and regularity were alldivine Gurus to him. They who will look and listen, will learn. Become a personification of receptivity. Empty yourself of your petty ego. All the treasureslocked up in the bosom of Nature will become yours. You will progress and attain perfection in an amazingly short time. Become pure and unattached as themountain breeze. As the river flows continuously, steadily and constantly towards its goal, the ocean, so also let your life flow ceaselessly towards thesupreme state of absolute Existence-Knowledge-Bliss, by letting all your thoughts, all your words and all your actions be directed only towards the goal. The moon shines by reflecting the dazzling light of the sun. It is the full moon on the Poornima day that reflects in full splendor the glorious light ofthe sun. It glorifies the sun. Purify yourself through the fire of selfless service and Sadhana, and like the full moon, reflect the glorious light ofthe Self. Become the full reflectors of Brahmic splendor, the light of lights. The Guru is verily a link between the individual and the Immortal. He isa being who has raised himself from this to That and thus has a free and unhampered access to both realms. He stands, as it were, upon the threshold ofimmortality, and, bending down, he raises the struggling individuals with his one hand, and with the other, lifts them up into the kingdom of everlastingjoy and infinite Truth-Consciousness. Do you realize now the sacred significance and the supreme importance of the Guru's role in the evolution of man? It was not without reason that the Indiaof the past carefully tended and kept alive the lamp of Guru-Tattva. It is therefore not without reason that India, year after year, age after age, commemoratesanew this ancient concept of the Guru, adores it and pays homage to it again and again, and thereby re-affirms its belief and allegiance to it. For, thetrue Indian knows that the Guru is the only guarantee for the individual to transcend the bondage of sorrow and death, and experience the Consciousnessof the Reality. Give up the delusive notion that to submit to the preceptor, to obey him and to carry out his instructions, is slavish mentality. Only the ignorant manthinks that it is beneath his dignity and against his freedom to submit to another man's command. This is a grave blunder. If you reflect carefully, youwill see that your individual freedom is in reality an absolute abject slavery to your own ego and vanity. It is the vagary of the sensual mind. He whoattains victory over the mind and the ego is the truly free man. He is the hero. It is to attain this victory that a man submits to the higher, spiritualisedpersonality of the Guru. By this submission he vanquishes his lower ego and realizes the bliss and freedom of the infinite Consciousness. To strengthen and affirm the faith of the wavering man and to guarantee the attitude that is necessary for the fruition of all worship, the ancients havedeified the personality of the Guru. To adore the Guru is indeed to adore the Supreme. In this world of mortality, the Guru is verily like an ambassadorin an alien court. Just as an ambassador represents fully the nation to which he belongs, even so, the Guru is one who is the representative of the sublimetranscendental state which he has attained. Just as to honour the ambassador is to honour the nation that he hails from, even so to worship and to offeradoration to the visible Guru is verily the direct worship and adoration of the Supreme Reality. Even as a distant tree though it cannot be seen is neverthelessknown by the fragrance its fully-bloomed flowers waft far and wide, so also, the Guru is the divine flower who disseminates the Atmic aroma of divinityin this world, and thus proclaims the immortal Lord who is invisible to the physical eye. He is the standing witness to the Supreme Self, the counterpartof the Lord on earth, and through worship of him one attains the Self. estival Dates for 2006 - 9 Table with 4 columns and 13 rows HINDU Festivals 2007 2008 2009 Makara Sankranti/ Lori 14/01 14/01 14/01 Vashanta Panchami (Sarasvati Puja) 23/01 11/02 31/01 Maha Shiva Ratri 16/02 06/03 23/02 Holi 03/03 21/03 11/03 Rama Navami 27/03 14/04 03/04 Guru Purnima 29/07 18/07 07/07 Raksha Bhandana 23/08 16/08 05/08 Janmashtami 04/09 24/08 14/08 Ganesh Chaturthi 15/09 03/09 23/08 Navaratri (start) 12/10 30/09 19/09 Dussehra 21/10 09/10 28/09 Diwali/ Lakshmi Puja 09/11 28/10 17/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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