SPECIAL EVENTS
OBSERVE GURU PURINMA
at Mount Madonna, California
Celebrate Guru Purnima
Honoring the teachers within & without
You are invited to be a part of Mount Madonna’s tradition of observing Guru Purnima, a day for honoring our teachers within and without, through song, prayer, ceremony, and play! For decades, we’ve paired devotion and play on this day, by holding a yajna (fire ceremony) in the morning at the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, followed by a bhoj (feast), and then, in the afternoon some years, the Hanuman Olympics – community members of all ages joining together for fun games and friendly competition.
The tradition of Guru Purnima began thousands of years ago. For millions of spiritual aspirants throughout the world, there is no other more auspicious person than the guru, no other more auspicious relationship than that with the guru, and no other more auspicious day than the day of Guru Purnima. The guru is the one who dispels the darkness, or the one who brings to light that which is hidden from awareness. Simply, guru is translated as “teacher.” Purnima means “full.” Thus Guru Purnima is the full moon time to celebrate and honor the guru, the spiritual preceptor.
Baba Hari Dass taught that the guru is not limited by any one form; all forms of the guru are manifestations of one splendorous light that is the light of the Self within.
Upcoming Events
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Guru
The One Who Removes Spiritual Darkness
Were it not for the highly accomplished in all areas of life – artists, scientists, builders, service specialists, to name a few – how would we know the heights to which we may aspire in any aspect of life? Babaji used to say: the first teachers are our parents or those who raised us; then throughout our lives, many people, many things become our teachers.
The pinnacle of a being who can teach, however, and who we usually refer to when we use the term Guru, is the one who has become liberated or freed from a human being’s greatest ignorance, that we are the mind /body complex rather than the the universal Self, the substratum of all creation.
Guru is your own Self which is projected onto a person who is more knowledgeable and capable of teaching. In the beginning an aspirant seeks support from outside, which is given by the teacher. However, when the aspirant begins meditating honestly, his or her own Self is revealed as the Guru. Then the aspirant starts turning inward and finds the path which is shown by the voice of the heart.”
Baba Hari Dass
