Monday, April 20, 2015

New beginnings!

636. Om gandharva-sevitayai namah: I bow down to Amma who is served by the Gandharvas

An excerpt from an article on Vishu on www.amritapuri.org:
"If your first step is wrong, the whole journey will be wrong. World over an emphasis is put on beginnings. Getting off to a good start is essential, as the beginning is the foundation upon which everything that comes after rests. Indian culture, perhaps more than any other, stresses the importance of beginning things properly. The position of the stars and planets is taken into consideration to insure auspicious beginnings, homas are performed and stotrams are chanted to Lord Ganesha in order to remove potential obstacles before the start of any undertaking. Prayers to God are always offered. Even when studying the Upanishads, which declare the only true power to be our own Self, shanti mantras are chanted before beginning each session of study.
Ultimately, all these are ways of humbly admitting our finitude, the limited nature of our efforts, and are a means of supplicating to the Divine for favourable outcome. As Amma says, “Grace alone is the deciding factor”. By taking into consideration even subtle nuances beyond our intellectual understanding when we begin a project, we are both showing the sincerity of our effort as well as our faith in the words of the scriptures and the Guru."
Let every new beginning be blessed by You, Amma!
Om Amriteswariye namah!

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