Maha Sivaratri Celebrated in Canada and the U.S. on February 25th: Siva's Great Night, Most Sacred for Saivites, Honored with Fasting, Devotional Chanting & Puja

The evening began with a puja at 5:00 PM at the San Marga Lingam, followed by a puja at the Kadavul Hindu Temple at Sivashram and chanting in the Guru Temple. Gurudeva had one of the monastics read from "Gods in Exile," a book he wrote a few years back on Deity worship. At nine all attended a powerful Siva puja in the Kadavul Koyil, then returned to the Guru Temple where Master spoke to all present on the worship of Lord Siva. We quote briefly from his remarks that evening. "All of you have been worshipping Lord Ganesha and He is the God wherever you are in your evolution. That is why Ganesha devotees are contented people. They consider that they have all the time in the world to deal with their dharma, to work through their karma in this life, and then in the next life and the next. They are not in a hurry if they are sincere devotees. There is no rush. This is the Saivite view of unfoldment, the Eastern view, and it is very different indeed from the intense impatience that beginner in the West often exhibit. Yogaswami world often say, 'No hurry. No worry. No sorry.' By worshipping Ganesha first you stabilize the mind, allowing you to return from your meditations into a very stable area of the mind. Siva is God. Ganesha and Muruga are Gods, Mahadevas. But Siva is God - the Self and the Primal Soul, the formless and the personal Supreme Being. He is the Creator, but no less that which destroys. Siva is everywhere transcendent, and personal, the Original or Primal Soul, the First Soul. Out of that form came a myriad of other forms. Siva has two major darshans. One is the outbreath and one is the inbreath. The outbreath is creation, the inbreath is Siva constantly pulling you towards Himself. You have already experienced the outbreath for you are a fully created soul. Now you are being drawn back to the Source through evolution. Lord Muruga helps you on your way through the practice of yoga and through all of the so-called bardos - all of the chasms of the mind that you can enter and exit, and sometimes cannot exit. Through all of your karmic experiences He releases and opens inner doors, cuts through the stuff of the mind with His Grace and releases you from seeming bondages that Ganesha would allow you to slowly unwind through a natural pattern that might span many lifetimes. With Lord Muruga that same experience or release would take but an instant. He is the giver of boons, and he assists you on the evolutionary path that Siva has set you upon. Now, Lord