A cacophony of devotion

I encountered a cacophony of devotion at the temple last night. I walked through the arched entrance and left my shoes on the rack. I passed the small room that houses the Krishna statue, and saw a priest chanting mantras and waving a candle flame to him. I paused to watch, unnoticed. The priests, especially this one, ooze devotion when they are doing these ceremonies.

I continued on to Bhimeshwar, the Shiva temple on the grounds. That is my favorite place in all of Ganeshpuri. There are two poojas to the Shiva Lingam in that temple every day, at 5:30am and 7:30pm. I try not to miss either one. I could hear chanting and the clang of chimes from inside Nityananda's temple, which is the main space on the grounds. Every night, devotees gather for Bhajan (singing devotional hymns) for the 30 minutes preceeding the evening Arti (candle flame ceremony). That's also the Shiva pooja time, so I don’t go to that.

I could hear a lot of loud chanting coming from Bhimeshwar and as I approached the entrance, I could see why. When I descended the four steps into the small temple, I counted seven Brahmin priests. I recognized several of them as local priests. None of them were temple priests. They were chanting and doing ceremonies to the Lingam. I felt like I was intruding in something private and there wasn't much space to sit. I went back up the stairs and watched and listened from outside.

Fortunately for me, one of the temple priests came by and ushered me back inside. He directed me to go sit down in my spot, which happened to be available. It was cool to listen to these priests from outside, but that was nothing compared to sitting with them. They chant fast. And loud. And powerfully. And the acoustics in that little temple are incredible. The priest I was sitting next to was the lead chanter, and he was most impressive.

Then it was time for the ringing of the bells. There are 7 chains hanging from the ceiling with one or two bells on them. There is a point in the pooja when people stand and ring the bells. It's my favorite part of the ceremony. This time, all seven priests were chanting as we rang the bells. They got louder and louder. As their chanting climbed to a crescendo with the clanging of the bells and the beating of the drum, the bliss swelled inside of me. I laughed and laughed. It was intoxicating and delightful.

My words don't do my experience justice. It can't be limited in that way. I was fortunate enough to be a part of something extraordinary. And these kind of things happen all over the place here. In Ganeshpuri, and in India. You never know when you'll come across people performing sacred ceremonies and ancient rituals. There's a reason they are still practiced today. They are powerful and mystical and prevalent throughout Mother India. That chanting continues to reverberate inside me today. It feels like those reverberations are rewiring me at a cellular level. How lucky for me!

Here's a link to a bit of the Shri Rudram, which is the chant the priests were chanting last night. It can give you a sense of what it sounds like.

https://youtu.be/ELfgl_p0K_g?si=pm8b1BSkc3R65VKK