Lost priorities for a NRI couple

This is a long post – relevant for those who are active in Facebook.

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Every devotee starts the spiritual journey at some age and progression happens based on the sadhaka’s mind control. To me, going to Sri Matam and having Periyava’s darshan are part of that sadhana. Our body energy points/chakras get triggered when we stand in the sannidhanam of any murti – be it in a temple or in an ashram. I personally know such advanced sadhakas go to temples only to  tap those energy. This is why acharyas are also called sannidhanams.

Back in the 80s or so when India was behind on technology where getting a good cameras were very limited. Today, India has beaten any country in technology development and our Matam has all technologies for media purposes – there is no expectation from any devotee to take photo to and share it any social media. Matam has its own social media pages etc. If we are taking photo of Periyava, then it is just for us – to brag or for our own memory – we are not doing any favor to Periyava or for the matam!

Lately, there has been a rising concern about a lady who returned from US few years back. She has been posting several Facebook posts targeting certain individuals in Kanchipuram in the Sri Matam. I have seen her posts as well and wasn’t sure what was happening as i am sitting thousands of miles away. One day I got a call from her – I was in a middle of my work call – still I took it and spent 20-25 mts with her as I know her husband well. She mentioned few things to me as her concerns. I just heard her and couldn’t discuss in detail due to my time availability.

Her posts about certain individuals never stopped coming – claiming that they dont let her go near Periyava, someone pulled her phone and threw it away etc etc. She slowly brought in other topics and some other women in FB started supporting her. Her posts started getting very offensive. At one point, I blocked her from my FB contacts several months ago as these posts were posted in a bad manner and don’t want my mind to get distracted/ disturbed because of this.

Many devotees reached out to me to find out if I know anything about this. I ended up calling her husband – he spent quite some time to detail many things – summary is that many anukka thondars at Sri Matam are jealous of this couple and started showing discrimination. I asked what is the reason for the jealousy? As per him, since he is running a blog and FB page that has 75K members and he is known to many devotees, these anukka thondars have become jealous. To me, it sounded a bit silly. Nobody cares about the group or blog you run. We are nobody – seriously! Why are we all picking up so much of ego with these stupid social media!

There are rules in the matam or any institution for that matter – you can’t change it just because you are popular. Or if the anukka thondars change the rules for someone else, just accept it. World doesn’t work for you – you work with the world. You are going there to get Periyava darshan – what more one wants? I asked him why his wife is making these kind of posts in a public forum as opposed to seeking Periyava’s help. His expectation is that they need 1-on-1 with Periyava, which is not the protocol. Periyava will always have people with him and doesn’t do 1-on-1s. I was later told that during the sanyasa diksha event of Pujyasri Satya Chandrasekharendra swamigal, this lady continued her drama and some female police staff had to come and calm her down. I was also told that despite Periyava asked her to stop taking photos, she went on many times. Clearly she is after attention and there is no truth to many of her claims.

So taking social media and talk bad about bunch of people is a very cheap approach knowing that those thondars are not tech-savvy enough to defend themselves. They clearly have forgotten the very purpose of being Periyava devotees – for spiritual progress. Their minds are probably focused on what next FB post to make. All the years of education, knowledge etc had not helped them so far. What a pity!

There are a bunch of ignorant folks who blindly believe and support this lady’s one sided story – quite sad. It is always a good idea to hear from multiple sources to confirm our position. This lady had an audacity to tell someone in Kanchipuram that I support her point of view – no way – I don’t support delusional people. Anything she says/posts has nothing to do with me.

It is quite disappointing that her family or well-wishers are not intervening and pointing out her grave sins she commits by making unfounded accusations on people who have selflessly dedicated their lives for serving Periyava and our Sri Matham.

Remember – you shed your ego to spiritually progress, if at all it matters. Go to matam to get Periyava and Chandramouleeswarar darshan as the goal and not to stand few feet from Him. Offer your kainkaryams to Periyava – make maalais, cut vegetables, serve bhojanam, help keep the premises clean, teach shlokams, speak kindly to bhaktas, do annadanam for the poor, help in our hospitals….. things that all other bhaktas do. There are limitless ways to feel close to Periyava.

Remember these golden words of Mahaperiyava – I am sure your perspective will change.

“அனுக்ரஹம்னா என்ன? நீ இன்னிக்கு கறிகாய் வாங்க போகும் போது, கத்திரிக்கா மலிவா கிடைச்சா அது தான் அனுக்ரஹமா? இப்படி மணிக்கணக்கா இங்க நிக்கறயே, இது அனுக்ரஹம் இல்லையா?” – Mahaperiyava to Pollachi Smt Jayam Patti

“When you come to the matam, your job is to do a namaskaram for Chandramouleeswarar, Pudhu Periyava and myself and not turn your head either side looking for gossips etc and go back home.” – Mahaperiyava to Sri Chandrasekhar, S/O Pollachi Jayam Patti

Our purpose on earth is to spiritually progress and deteriorate. Let us not forget the very purpose of this birth.

Who is this lady? I am sure many FB Periyava devotees know her.

Praying our acharyas to bless us all to walk in the righteous path.

Hara Hara Sankara Jaya Jaya Sankara!