Beautiful and divine vibrations engulf the Cove and John Ashram
THE Guyana Sevashram Sangha, in accordance with tradition, celebrated Maha Shiva Ratri (The Night of Shiva) with 24-hour chanting and devotion, commencing yesterday from 0530 hours and concluding this morning at approximately 0600 hours.
From information supplied by the Guyana Sevashram Sangha at Cove and John ‘the Night of Shiva’ is celebrated with devotion and religious fervour in honour of Lord Shiva, one of the deities of the Hindu Trinity.  Shivaratri falls on the moonless 14th night of the new moon in the Hindu month of Phalgun, which corresponds to the month of February-March in the English Calendar.
Shivaratri is said to mark the wedding day of Lord Shiva and mother Parvati.  It is on this day that Lord Shiva manifested himself in the form of a Lingam.
Mahashivaratri Festival is also considered to be an extremely significant festival by women.  Married and unmarried women observe fast and perform Shiva Puja with sincerity to appease and propitiate Mother Parvati for the bestowal of married bliss and long and prosperous married life.  Unmarried women pray for a husband like Shiva, who is regarded as the ideal husband.
The Divine Guru of the Bharat Sevashram Sangha – Acharya Pranavanandaji Maharaj, the founder of the Sangha, is considered to be a manifestation of Lord Shiva himself.  As the Lord promised in the Bhagwat Gita, “I shall manifest myself wherever I am needed in the world.”
The Mahashivaratri Festival is a very auspicious time for the International Sangha because the Divine Guru manifested on 29th January 1896 on a Purnima Day in the month of Magh (February-March in the English calendar).  It was also on a Purnima day in the month of Magh in 1916 when he sat under a Kadamba tree in deep meditation that “he felt himself enter into the great illumination. It was here that he realized his oneness with Brahman” and the Mundaba Upanishad 3:2:9 defines illumination and self-realization thus “He who knows that highest Brahman Being becomes Brahman himself.”
Newly-ordained Swami Shivsankar Anandaji Maharaj, who is yet in his mid-thirties, was also consecrated as a Swami on Purnima day – 30th January of this year.
At the behest of the Divine Guru, Swami Purnanandaji Maharaj came to Guyana and established a branch of the Sangha at Cove and John in 1956.  The Guyana Sevashram Sangha is the first Hindu organization to be registered in the Parliament of British Guiana, having been incorporated by Ordinance No.21 of 1956, and is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus, especially on the occasion of Mahashivaratri, when thousands congregate at this holy site to celebrate this divine festival in the Hindu calendar during 24-hour observances.
The precepts of Hinduism embrace humanity and serve humanity without prejudice, thus it is that students who attend the schools established by the Sangha are encouraged to worship the Lord in accordance with their individual religious beliefs.  Since its establishment the Sangha has been a catalyst of many changes leading to betterment in the society.
Swamiji worked with the then Health Minister, Mrs. Janet Jagan, to pass a Bill to allow Hindus to cremate their dead along the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.  He also emphasized the need for education of girls and introduced the gurukul system at the Ashram.
Guyanese spiritual aspirants who have renounced the world for the celibate life of a sanyasin are Swami Vidyanandaji Maharaj, the first Guyanese Swami and spiritual leader of the American Sevashram Sangha, Swami Nirliptanandaji Maharaj, spiritual leader of the London Sevashram Sangha, Swami Bhajanandaji Maharaj, spiritual leader of the Canadian Sevashram Sangha, Swami Shiveshwaranandaji Maharaj of the New York Sangha, and recently ordained Swami Shivsanker Anandaji Maharaj of the Guyana Sevashram Sangha.

Each of us has a choice and our choice impacts mankind
The oldest and most revered Swamiji Vidyananandaji Maharaj was an unschooled young orphan boy from the sugar plantation Albion, who heeded Guruji Purnananda’s call to sacrifice worldly life to join the Sangha as Bramchari Seecharan, which was a defining moment, because he was a predecessor and a motivator of the other sanyasins from Guyana who subsequently joined the Bharat Sangha.
Under the rigorous discipline and painstaking tutelage of his Guruji over a period of five years, during which he never left the Ashram the young Bramchari evolved intellectually and spiritually to become Swami Vidyananandaji Maharaj and Principal of the Hindu College, who taught the most difficult of subjects – science, churning out many scholars, including former Finance Minister Saisenarine Kowlessar, who are today leading successful and meaningful lives all over the world.  He worked for the then administration without pay after the school was nationalized, transforming many thousands of lives in the process.
During the Havan Sri Guru Puja Guruji spoke words of enlightenment that fell like pearls of wisdom, recalling the days when the lessons of life had to be transmitted from Guru to disciple, until the art of writing evolved and adjuring the rapt congregation to follow the precepts of the Bhagwat Gita and uphold and protect dharma.  He said the Lord promised that whenever the need arises he will come to earth to protect the righteous and redeem the sinners.
Guruji spoke of the lessons Krishna taught Arjuna – about the way a country should be run, what is the duty of leaders, who do not belong to themselves but to their people and their country and the personal sacrifices that they have to make for the sake of their country and for mankind, citing as examples the supreme King Shri Ram and the Divine Acharya – Swami Pranavanandaji, as well as the Founder of the Guyana Sangha.
Guruji urged householders to raise their families – with discipline, within the ambit of dharma, which will promote serenity in the home and a blissful life.  He said that discipline comes from the word ‘disciple’, and a disciple must have a guru – a teacher worthy of emulation.  He encouraged that persons should liberate themselves, where real values of caring for one’s fellow-man supersedes selfish pursuits, which will lead to personal peace and salvation.
Guruji said that even persons who do not believe in God should communicate with their higher selves, and those who do should read their holy texts, of whatever religion they follow, for guidance.
According to Guruji tragic incidents on earth that cause suffering to mankind is caused by man himself, whose actions, many times driven by greed, run counter to God’s laws as circumscribed by the holy scriptures, and he warned that man has to live in harmony with nature in order to preserve a sustaining world.
He made reference to the travails and contributions of our ancestors and said that ours is one of the most beautiful countries in the world and that all our peoples, collectively, helped to build this country into what it is today.
Guruji said that Guyana is blessed because it is the only country out of India that has produced saints and sages – six so far, including newly-ordained Swami ShivSankar Anandaji Maharaj.  “Where you have vibrant religious activity,” posited Guruji, “then you have transformation of the society.  We are children of the rishis and munnis o
f the ancients, whether we are political leaders, or religious leaders, we have to take the reins of dharma to lead the nation and the world.”
“I have been following some of the things that our young President has been doing regarding global warming.  I don’t know whether he is a religionist, whether he follows the religion of Hinduism, but the genetic strains that he has inherited from the ancients gave him enlightenment that our forests need to be protected in order to protect mankind, and he is one of the most respected leaders in the world today.  He is putting Guyana on the map, not only in politics, but in guiding mankind.”
This is an age, according to Guruji, where man has to unite in order to reclaim what we have lost, which has precipitated much destruction on earth, and we can only do so with the acceptance that we are all children of God.  He urged tolerance of each other and pursuit of virtuous paths.  He quoted Mahatma Gandhi, who said that “…all religion is great…I will open my doors and windows and let the wind blow from all directions, but I will not allow my feet to be swept off the floor.”  He adjured that one is bound by dharmic laws, and those who obey those laws and perform tapasya and meritorious deeds will not make mistakes in their personal lives, and that destruction will follow evil doings and corruption, because the law of karma prevails infinitely.
Guruji exemplifies the success of the Sangha’s mission of empowering the poor and vulnerable through education, and vindicates the efforts of the penniless monk who came to this country to establish a branch of the Bharat Sangha, because an orphan from Albion Estate, who did not have even the most basic education, could today flawlessly read and decipher the ancient scriptures, and is also fully au fait with the texts of other religions and cognizant of the messages and lessons of all religions.

Prime Minister Sam Hinds says past incidents have enabled us to be a light to the future
Master of Ceremony, Saisenarine Kowlessar, says that Prime Minister Samuel Hinds is an institution at the Ashram and has an open invitation forever.
The Prime Minister said that, while we may have regretted incidents of the past and castigated those who brought our ancestors here were probably working to a greater plan, that we may be here for the purpose of showing the world how peoples with diverse religious and cultural traditions can be unified into a nation, and that we have been enabled to be a light for the future.
He spoke of his pleasure of being part of Guyana’s Government and his satisfaction at the achievements of the administration so far to develop this country, although he expressed his regrets that more could not have been achieved because of many constraining circumstances.
However, he promised that the Government will continue to work together with the Guyanese people in unity to forge a more prosperous life for all.
Mentioning Swamiji’s reference to President Jagdeo’s lead in the climate change challenges, the PM says that it is indeed an admirable effort, where we seek to receive tangible support for maintaining our forests and foregoing the usual path of development that often compromises sustainable development of our forests by pursuing low carbon ways of utilizing and extracting our forest resources.
Prime Minister Hinds commended the Ashram and those who have contributed, in diverse ways, to the success of the many programmes of the Ashram.  He made special mention of the overwhelming support provided the several activities of the Guyana Sangha by the Sobraj family, Naresh Singh, and Shravan Kumar Budhu.
He reminisced on days when himself and two Sobraj brothers, one of them Jay Sobraj, worked in the bauxite industry at Linden together.  He lauded the contributions to the education of the young people, without prejudice or barriers, that the Ashram continues to make and mentioned the late Brindley Benn, who sent his son to learn Hindi, which helped him to integrate well with other cultures in his adult life.
The Prime Minister said that, although ours is a small population, we are contributing to the actuality of the world being one, with our diverse peoples living together as one, because we are playing a significant role in bringing to the realization of the international consciousness that the world is one.  He closed by again commending the work of the Ashram.

Vice-Consul Phillip Assis congratulates Sangha
Speaking on behalf of the American people and the United States Embassy in Guyana, including the Charge D’Affairs, Mr. Phillip Assis, Vice-Consul of the American Embassy in Guyana, brought a message of peace and hope on what he termed ‘this most auspicious day – Shivaratri 2010.’
Thanking the Ashram for the invitation to the US Embassy, he said that he is very grateful to be included in the celebrations.
He described the Sangha as a recognized leader of spiritual growth, culture, and community in Guyana and expressed his pleasure at being able to be among the devotees thronging the Sangha, and his pride at representing a country whose Guyanese community is such an important partner in the development of the Ashram, especially in the Zara Learning Centre, because his country values education highly.  He said he is pleased to see such shared values here in Guyana.
“As in Guyana, in the United States we are a multi-cultural society, with many religions as well, including a substantial Hindu community, so with that community in the US and here in Guyana, and devotees of Lord Shiva around the world, again I offer you peace, devotion, and congratulations on this most auspicious day.”
The Ashram commenced MahaShivaratri obervances at 0530 hours yesterday with Shri Guru Aarti procession and concluded at 0600 hours this morning with concluding aarti.