December 2019 Satsang annotated from Sannyasi Shivani

December 2019 Satsang Notes compiled by Chaitanya Chase from Sannyasi Shivani's Satsang

Below are the annotated notes taken from the recorded Satsang in December 2019.  They relay Sannyasi  Shivani’s experiences from her trip to Rikhiapeeth and bought forth some of the themes and teachings that Swami Satsangi relayed in through Satsangs while she was there. 

• The experience this year was really strong. The Devi, the Ganesha and the Shiva Aradhana’s were razor-edged and potent. It gave a good experience of being able to tell when you were functioning within the flow and when you were not.

 

• During the Sita Kalyanam Yajna, over 15 people working in the Bhet department putting together the prasād. The emotional or personality experience could be put aside for the duty. Everyone was focused on working together as efficiently and correctly as possible with love and light-hearted banter as they worked. The moment of purification is when you acknowledge where you are, emotionally and have enough discernment to choose the right action.

 

• During the Ganesha Aradhana, the Pundits were responsible for chanting the Ganapati Atarvashirsha 108 times in two hours. It was really an altering experience of what we are capable of and the efficiency and the clarity that we are able to act in when the mind has that focus that is not coming from the ego but is focused on the mantra or the divine.  

 

• Question: Is there any specific order to the Aradhanas? If yes, what are they and why? Answer: The first Aradhana is Sita Kalyanam to Devi and then the next one is to Ganesha and the next one is to Shiva. Swami Satsangi spoke about Sandhi; Sandhi is the point of connection. Ganesha is the point of connection between Devi and Shiva. Like a child is the point of connection between the mother and the father. Looking for and acknowledging the quality of that connection and honoring that connection is Sandhi; becoming aware of the bridges in your life and to honor those connections.

 

• Swami Satsangi also spoke a lot about Faith. She said that Faith is an inherent quality in human nature. Everybody has Faith; it is not something you have to cultivate; you already have it. We have to become aware of how and to what we direct that Faith.

 

• Swami Satsangi spoke about Living Yoga, and Living Yoga is Satyam, Sevam, and Swadyaya.

 

• There are so many people in the world that do not have the tools.  This is where Hatha Yoga and Karma Yoga bring us into balance. These practices - asana, pranayama, bandha, mudra - get us to ground zero; these are third-dimensional practices. Once we are at ground zero that’s when we start to evolve.

 

• Swami Satsangi said we need to become “mindless” not “mindful”...she said to focus on emptying oneself while in the presence of Truth and Divine energies. So any opportunity to be in this presence and then have the courage to humble ourselves enough to empty in the presence, it changes your world.

To watch the Satsang for yourself check out this link.