In other words, I carried on with activities that my mind had been “used” to or “pre conditioned” to perform. However, at the same time I was also listening to slokas and hymns in praise of various deities. I recited the mantra whenever it was convenient for me. Although I found this difficult to achieve, I persisted in sticking with meditation, breath control and mental chanting of the mantra in the manner prescribed by Sri Balu Swamy. At that time, he advised me categorically to remove all other mantras from my mind and also “erase” all notions of deities with various names and forms, be it Sri Bala or Murugan or Pillayar. During this period, I was reciting the mantra given to me by Siddhar Balu Swamy in September, 2010. I hadn’t done any paintings in over a year and this “order” seemed hard to ignore. The month of “Thai” ( mid-January to mid February) marks the start of a period that is sacred to Lord Muruga, Shiva and Devi and the day governed by the star “poosam” is called “Thai Poosam”. I checked the calendar and discovered it was an auspicious day called “Thai Poosam”. It was as though this was the main agenda for the day and nothing else was important. I woke up on the morning of January 19th, 2011, with a very firm conviction in my mind I had to draw a Sri Chakra. In what follows, I shall narrate the succession of events that caused the paintings to come about, the significance of the special order in which they were done, their symbolism and contribution to my inner development.Īlthough I didn’t realize it at the time, the start of this decade has also brought me to the threshold of a new chapter in my spiritual journey.
As if to lend credence to this claim, I received a “divine directive” to execute a series of 11 paintings, on the auspicious day of “Thai Poosam”, on January 19th, 2011. I have always maintained that my art work is a reflection of my inner progress. However, in recent months I have been made aware, through personal experience, that unless every single cell in the body is transformed through “Divine Grace”, this shell we call the body can never become a proper vessel to house the divine, cosmic power that is the Creator or God. At the level of the gross, physical form of the body as well as at the highest level of the intelligence principle acting within him, a person who is “with” and “in” God at all times attains a complete metamorphosis and obtains complete liberation whilst the body is still functioning or alive.Ī lot of us are “intellectually” conscious of these profound statements in the Upanishads.
There is absolutely no ego attached to this statement because the person who truly realizes this fact will be completely transformed in every way. Not “God-like”, but You are the Divine Force itself. The Mahavakyas ( Great sayings) in the Upanishads keep reiterating that “You” are “God”. Most importantly, my experiences prove beyond a shadow of doubt that unless, and only when the physical body has undergone purification at both the gross and subtle level, can a person be placed on the path to Moksha or God-realisation. These incredible events progressed in a sequence as if orchestrated by a Divine Inner force, targeted to remove all pre-conceived notions of spirituality as well as vestiges of left-over karmas and vasanas (samskaras) that were blocking my progress on the spiritual path. I feel the unseen hand of Siddhar, Sri Balu Swamy guiding me although I haven’t precisely followed the instructions he gave me while conferring Mantra Upadesam in September, 2010. Since publishing my last post in November, 2010, I have undergone many unusual experiences I’d like to share with my readers. On physiological transformation and the process of realizing Divine Inner Self Siddhar Sri Balu Swamy’s mystical powers some “electrifying” experiences and more Paintings!