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    Creative part of Guru’s Mission
    (Pitrusuddhi)

        Inspite of providing a cosmetic touch, the modern science and technology has failed to do away with the fundamental causation of human suffering. The modern life and the ordering of life and society, accordingly have landed humanity in a perennial crisis of planetary dimension. The only way to get out of this vicious circle, is to understand the purpose of human life, in the light of the accumulated wisdom borne out of human experience.

        Nourishing of Dharma -Divine Law- in personal and social life, and reordering the orientation of modern science and technology, are the necessary means for the survival of humanity. Is a genius representing a particular belief system, able to put forth the Dharma to be observed by whole of the people in the World? No, only a preceptor who comes with the Light of time, sanctified by the Supreme Light and shows the path of redemption for all, above race, caste, religion and all other belief systems is an answer. The great tragedy of mankind, has been that Great Souls, such as Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Mohammed, Shankara, etc. came to the World, but none could perfect a system to evolve men and society in accordance with Yugadharma. The great significance of Navajyothisri Karunakara Guru's mission, lies in the fulfillment of this goal through the correction and acceptance of a new path given through him.

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        Man is not his own master as he fondly imagines to be. We have seen that he is almost a slave of his vasanas -subconscious inclination; subliminal inclinations and habit patterns, acquired by the soul in previous births, according to his past karma -actions. To add to this woe, is the negative influences his manes have on him. Men inherit not only the ancestral fortunes or properties, but also the responsibility to work out the karma -actions- for and on behalf of his dead ancestors or manes, who have no body of their own and hence dependent upon their living heirs to work it out. So are the deities, whom the individuals or his ancestors had worshipped. It is almost impossible for an individual to work out the bad past karmas by his own, that of the ancestors, not to speak of the deities one may have worshipped. To make matters worse, some of the deities and the ancestors may not like to seek mukti -spiritual liberation- since most of them are fully satisfied with the state in which they are. Since they have not achieved liberation, they are attached to their emotions -hatred, anger, egoism, jealousy, etc.- so they can prevent the spiritual progress of the individual by enticing him with the offers or temptations of power, pelf, riches etc. as was done by Satan to Jesus. When it becomes clear that the soul is not going to be swayed away, they influence the others, less strong contemporaries in flesh and bones to hinder the progress of the souls by different media, such as verbal or physical aggression, or in some cases up to the point of even physically eliminating them. Such are the cases of great Mahatmas -Great Souls- or

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    messengers of God. Some saints or deities, when they find out that the individual is evolving, attaining new stages in spiritual evolution, then by their jealously, they may block the individual’s path towards enlightenment.

        The question may arise whether the Almighty Supreme, is a mute witness to this. That is not so. The only possible permanent way of conducting the pitrushudhhi or cleansing of the manes, is if a person wholeheartedly surrender in mind, speech and action to the Almighty Supreme, or to his chosen preceptor or Guru.

        In the absence of such a Guru or Great Soul, the ancient method in Hinduism fell short of earning mukti or deliverance for the dead ancestral beings or manes. Having been reduced to the mere worshippers of the deities, who have not been able to get mukti even for themselves, far less gift it to the worshippers, the Hindus had to place the manes under the tutelage of the deities. The deities were supposed to be born in Kali Yuga, the period of mukti, and with the deities will be born all the manes. But in Kali Yuga, as of now the deities themselves living on borrowed time, the manes cannot be under their solace for more than seven years. The process of earning a respite, thus even for such a short period, is through tantrik rituals which is tiring, cumbersome and expensive. Where as the Guru, is empowered to cleanse or grant mukti -deliverance- and if necessary even to destroy not only the evil manes, but also the deities without even as much as lighting a lamp.

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        Whenever a soul has been given so many opportunities to evolve and to correct it, but no positive results are seen, we must be aware that there is always a limit to this, and that ancestor or deity has to be destroyed. He has become so imperfect and has degraded his soul up to a point where it has to be eliminated. The Law of Cause and Effect takes place.

        One of the basic premises of Eternal Religion -Sanatana Dharma- is that the soul takes birth on this Earth, under the influence of twenty-even stars, nine planets and twelve zodiac signs. The ordering of the pitrus -manes- in the 12 zodiac signs, is in accordance with the punya and papa -merit and demerit- they have inherited from the karma -past actions- which includes the form of worship in any number of their past births at human level. It is the effect of the past karmas in the form of punya -merit or virtues- and papa -sins-, that one carries in his or her soul, that determines the course of ones' life. The fortune and misfortune, rise and fall, as well as the basic behavioral pattern, are being caused by the inherited qualities of the soul. The quality of human instincts, which have its genesis in the soul, determines the inner personality of an individual, and it is in accordance with our karma gathi, which means the virtues and vices we inherit from the actions done in previous births.

        Therefore, the thoughts, words and actions responsible for the present type of structuring of the World, have their origin in the karma gathi -past good and bad actions ingrained in one's soul- of the people. Only when the soul's karma

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    gathi is changed before it takes birth, human life and social life will become noble. This requires a cleansing process of the soul at the subtle plane. Though other religions also admit the relevance of this purification process, it is the Sanatana Philosophy, which emphasizes its necessity. The means prescribed in different religions vary. But there is no evidence having performed the purification of karma of pitrus -manes- in its perfection in the known spiritual history.

        The purification of the countless manes stationed in different zodiac signs so as to ensure the birth of noble and virtuous souls as children, and laying down the Dharma -Spiritual Law- and karma -mode of action- to be observed in life in accordance with the Yugadharma -Divine Law to be observed in a certain era- are the sole means for the redemption of humanity, leading to a global cultural renaissance and the achievement of the ultimate objective in human life. The advent of Navajyothisri Karunakara Guru, carrying the punya -merit- of Dharma in all the past ages, and virtues of this spiritual doctrine is precisely for the accomplishment of this mission.

        By performing pitrusuddhi to you and your family, the purification of your pitrus -manes- takes place liberating you along with your family and ancestors, from the influence of ‘gods,’ saints, angels, etc., which these manes, and you along with your family have worshipped as the Supreme in several previous births, stretching over various yugas -eras. A Guru while performing

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    pitrusuddhi, liberates you, your family and your manes from all the powers you and them have worshipped, and when these manes take birth again, they will be able to perform their karmas -actions- in a more correct way, because of the previous purification, that will lead them towards mukti -spiritual liberation. Also the pitrusuddhi permits you and your wife to have better children, because from that moment on, better souls can incarnate as your successors.

        The worship of all these ‘gods,’ angels and saints that you wrongly consider them as fully realized souls, create a connection with them, so that some of them would not permit the advance of your soul to higher stages in evolution, mainly because of their jealousy and envy towards your spiritual progress. They don't like to be overcome by their mere worshippers. Some of these saints and deities, have attained very low spiritual progress and more than doing good, they are causing harm in the spiritual evolution of the people that are worshipping. By performing pitrusuddhi, all the manes, saints and ‘gods’ you have worshipped along with the ‘gods’ your manes have worshipped, are cleansed to a certain extent and the links that you and your manes have with these ‘gods’ and saints are cut by Guru's Prakasham -Divine Light.

        This concept of pitrusudhhi, which is an act of grace of the highest spiritual dimension, performed in Santhigiri Ashram, is unique and is designated as Guru Pooja by the Santhigiri Guru Parampara -group of people that follow Navajyothisri Karunakara Guru's doctrine. No ritualistic practice is involved in this karma, as

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    this is a sankalpa karma -action of praying with the mind. In the place of worship that has been removed, faith in Guru has to be established on the conscious understanding of what the Guru really is. God is to be realized in the image of the Guru.

        The pitrusuddhi -cleansing of manes- or Guru Pooja, constitute the crux of the means that Guru has laid down, for the creation of a purer progeny, through which he envisions future fundamental changes, leading to higher evolution of man and society. It is the focal point of Guru's ideology also.

        His holiness Navajyothisri Karunakara Guru, is bestowed with the whole authority for the purification of souls since 1973. On the occasion marked by the completion of Guru's mission in 1973, several important truths were revealed. It was on that occasion, the very mission of Guru was made known from the Supreme Light.

        The truth about the supremacy of the Guru over the deities, his capacity to grant deliverance to them etc., can be seen if one cares to go through the chapter "Experiences of Guru’s Disciples.".

    Next Chapter: Book: A Dialogue on the Human Prospect

    Any Questions?