Introducing Swami Ambikananda Saraswati

On Vashant Panchami (Saraswati Puja), our pujari Brahmachari Parameshwara Chaitanya entered the sannyas ashram at the holy Triveni Sangam in Prayag (Allahabad).  Swamiji was formally initiated as a Naga-Sannyasi of the Dasnami Sampradaya by Swami Bhajanananda and Swami Omananda of Yoga-Vedanta Kutir, receiving the name Baba Ambikananda Saraswati.

“It is through the grace of God alone that the desire for nonduality arises in the wise, thus saving them from great fear.” ~Avadhuta Gita

Maha Shivaratri, March 3

Swami Chetanananda bathing Narmada Lingam with milk on Shiva Ratri at Kali Mandir

According to the Shiva Purana, upon completing creation, Shiva and Parvati went to live on Mount Kailas. One day Parvati asked, “O venerable Lord, which of the many rituals observed in Thy honor please You most?”

The Lord replied, “The 14th night of the new moon, in the dark fortnight during the month of Phalgun, is my most favorite day. It is Shivaratri, the night of My worship.

“My devotee should observe strict spiritual disciplines during the day and worship Me during each of the four successive three-hour periods of the night. The offering of a few bilva leaves is more precious to Me than precious jewels.  My devotee should bathe Me in milk during the first period, in yogurt during  the second, in ghee during the third, and in honey during the last. Next morning, one should feed the Brahmins first and, after performing the prescribed ceremonies, break his fast. O Parvati! there is no ritual which can compare with this simple routine in sanctity.”

Parvati was deeply moved by the words of Lord Shiva. She repeated them to Her friends who, in their turn, passed them on to the ruling princes on earth. Thus was the sanctity of Shivaratri made known all over the world.

Kali Mandir Flood Clean Up

We want to thank all of Ma’s devotees who so lovingly sent us donations and kind words of support after the flood disaster.   Your encouragement has helped us to carry on with clean up and rebuilding.

We’ve been removing mud and debris from Ma’s garden, repairing the flood-damaged kutirs, replacing the floor and dry wall in the gift shop, and getting bids for cleaning up crawl space underneath the temple (this alone could cost as much as $6,000).  Prakash built a brand new garden gate (the old one was completely destroyed in the flood).

We are so touched by the Aliso Viejo Cricket Club, who did a fundraiser for Kali Mandir.   Ma’s devotees have been coming forward and we are very grateful.

Your heartfelt response also encouraged us to contract an architect to draw up plans for reconstructing Ma’s kitchen so that no flood can enter the temple through the back door and kitchen window—the temple’s weakest point in terms of flood risk.  Hopefully, there will be no more frightening videos of water raging past our kitchen window!

For safety reasons, we also want to erect an enclosed garage next to the front patio (away from the creek!) as soon as possible.

Our architect estimates the total cost for reconstruction to be around $90,000.  This is a lot of money for one person or organization, but if 900 of Ma’s devotees have in their heart to donate $100, we could start construction.

Many of Ma’s devotees have already responded and, so far, we have raised $25,000 for this project.  We gratefully accept any amount you can give.  Your donations are tax deductible.

Clearly, Ma protected us during this flood.  It could have been much worse.  A big hand for Swami Bhajanananda and Br. Parameshwara who worked all night under extremely stressful circumstances protecting Ma’s inner shrine.  As a result, there is very little damage to the inside of Ma’s temple.   We hope that with proper planning, we’ll be able to better protect our beloved Sri Ma Dakshineswari Kali from future floods.

Annual Kali Puja 2011

Good news!  We reserved Anneliese’s School for the weekend of July 30-31,2011 for holding Kali Mandir’s annual Kali Puja Festival.   Anneliese’s School incurred $1 million in damages from the flood, but we were told everything will fine by the summer.  The priest that will performing the Kali puja, Debuda Chatterjee, is a member of Sri Ramakrishna’s family and is a senior pujari at the Dakshineswar Kali temple.

Flood at Kali Mandir, 22nd December, 2010

Dear friends of Kali Mandir and devotees of Ma,

A major flood hit our neighborhood around 4am, the morning of December 22. Water reached almost to our windows. Luckily our boards and caulking on our kitchen and gift shop doors held up. The courtyard also filled and water was seeping though the temple glass doors. We had tried to seal the gaps with duck tape with helped slow down the seepage. Parameshwara and I where able to constantly soak up the water with towels and scoop it up with a Tupperware container. So we not much water entered the mandir, but the wood floor around the glass doors have buckled and will have to be repaired.

Around 6am the flood waters receded enough that we where able to check on some of our neighbors and especially Tripti who lives down the road. By God’s grace she is fine, but had a very dangerous escape from her cottage. Then a huge metal storage container hit our bridge causing the water in the river to be diverted onto the land and directly at Kali Mandir. So the water levels rose once again to almost window height and stayed this way for hours. The city of Laguna Beach removed the storage container by crane on the 24th, but there are still three more containers and a Porsche in the river, further up stream.

The kutirs (huts) in our monastery where our monks stay also where flooded and the ashram garden and fencing is severely damaged. Water also seeped into the crawlspace under the temple.

By the grace of the Divine Mother, no one (either human, canine or feline)  was injured in our neighborhood, even though many homes seriously flooded.

The temple itself has been mostly cleaned inside and we are making progress on the kutirs and garden. We have professionals coming to clean and disinfect the crawl-space and much of the debris has been hauled to the dump. We have been going through the flood-soaked items from the kutirs and our storage sheds, washing what is savable and throwing away was has been ruined.

Some of the damage may be covered by our insurance, but much of the cleanup and repair will not be. Any donation towards this cost is very much appreciated.

Thank you all for your prayers, blessing and loving concern. We feel the love you have for your Divine Mother, Her beautiful temple and for us, Her servants. This is Her dance. We bow to Her feet.

In Her service,

Swami Bhajanananda Saraswati

"You see, my son, it is not a fact that you will never face danger. Difficulties always come, but they do not last forever. You will see that they pass away like water under a bridge." ~Holy Mother

In Memoriam

We are sad to announce that our dear friend Wally Tippel passed away this last month. He was Kali Mandir’s philosopher-handyman, philosopher-painter and philosopher-gardener for more than 18 years. He is remembered for his loving childlike heart, deeply thought-out life views and horribly inappropriate (but very funny) sense of humor.

“Don’t believe everything you think.” ~Wally Tippel

Shiva Arranges His Own Worship

Since the large black Narmada Shiva lingam mysteriously appeared at Kali Mandir in April 2009, we have kept Him lying down on His side next to the altar of Sri Ramakrishna.  Due to the lingam’s size and weight – approximately 300 pounds — we could not figure out how to keep Him upright.  We also had troubles obtaining proper measurements so that we could have a gauri peetham and base built.

Shiva Himself had to come to the rescue and helped us make proper arrangements.  Pandit Venugopal Devdhar from the Sringeri Mutt came with Dr. Sridhar for a visit the other day.  When asked for advice,  Panditji made useful suggestions on how to build a proper base.  Moreover, he offered to perform an abhishekam to our crystal Sri Yantra and chant the Lalita Sahasranam.  He said that the abhishekam would last about an hour, but Shiva willed otherwise.

The pandit and Dr. Sridhar came to Kali Mandir at 10 a.m. on Friday, October 1^st to start the abhishekam.  The minute Panditji sat down and started chanting, two sannyasis from the Bharat Sheva Ashram unexpectedly entered Kali Mandir.  They were on the way to Encinitas, but seeing the worship going on, they sat down and settled in.

Shiva seems to like having two sannyasis present during magic moments.  The day He arrived in 2009, He arranged for two Swami Narayan sannyasis to show up unexpectedly at Kali Mandir — the very moment the lingam came through the gate, still packed in a crate.  These sannyasis had joined the Order in Omkareshwar at the Narmada river.   They chanted the appropriate mantras as we opened the crate and did abhishekam to the lingam for the first time with Narmada river water.   More than a year later, we reached another important milestone.

While Pandit Devdhar performed the abhishekam to the Sri Yantra, a group of Indian ladies appeared with flowers.  Surprised, they sat down and immediately started making fragrant garlands.  More people showed up and stayed, listening to the beautiful chanting of the pandit.  Usha went into the kitchen and made a dshatshori of all the vegetables she found in the refrigerator.

When the pandit finished the puja, he looked up and said, “Shiva wants to be upright.  He does not want to sleep any longer.”  Saying this, he helped bring the lingam to an upright position and worshipped him.  The Bharat Sheva Ashram Swamis sang bhajans while the rest of the devotees like excited little children could hardly contain their emotion.

A few days later, Prakash built a temporary base for the lingam that keeps him in an upright position.  One devotee offered to have the gauri peetham carved from granite in India and have it shipped to Kali Mandir.  We hope to raise some money to build a wooden shrine for him in the front courtyard.

Living the Dream

When we are children, we dream of being grown up, of becoming a movie star, a fireman, a space traveler or perhaps even the president — and then we will be happy.  When we are teenagers, we rebel against our parents’ control and dream of being free to do all the mischief we want — and then we will be happy.  As adults, we dream of becoming rich and famous, living worry-free in luxury — and then we will be happy.  When we get old, we get depressed and dream of being young and desirable again because then, and only then, we will be happy.

All through life, we run breathlessly after our dreams never quite catching them, and if we actually do get what we want, we are not satisfied and start runnng after yet another dream.  This madness does not stop until we do. Sri Ramakrishna used to say, “People run after all sorts of things.  They are mad for money, husband, children, but they call me mad because I am mad for God.”

When we fall in love with God, life becomes sweet.  We may get what we desire from the world or we may not get it.  It does not matter when the heart is deeply happy within.  Go to the office, clean the house, stress over a test at school, work at an unpleasant job  — these activities comprise only the hard shell over the lava of love that flows underneath.
Sri Ramakrishna said that in this dark age of kali yuga the forms of God most awake are Ma Kali and Gopala Krishna.  If you earnestly pray to Ma Kali, to baby Krishna, you will get quick results.

One of the devotees here at Kali Mandir has a very special relationship with Ma Dakshineswari Kali.  Some time ago, he came every day in the afternoon and swept Ma’s courtyard.  When he stopped, we asked him about it.  “I promised Ma that I’ll sweep Her courtyard every day for a week if She gives me a job.”  Yes, he got the job he wanted.  Some time after, we saw him sweeping again.  “Did you lose your job?” we asked.  “No, but my friend needs a job.”  When we did not see him sweep again, we guessed that the friend also got a job.  This devotee has such a childlike dependence on Ma.  She cannot help but respond quickly to his needs.

Ma is here for all of us.  If we just call on Her with a longing heart, She showers Her love and blessings.  If we just exhibit a little bit of shraddha, She puts us on Her lap and takes care of every little detail in our life. What is preventing us from sitting on Her lap and living the dream?  The only thing that stands in our way to the highest bliss is our ego.  Let it go.

Sri Haradhan Chakraborty (April 1940 – December 2009)

The famous door to Haradhan Chakraborty’s room at the Dakshineswar Kali temple is closed now.  When Haradhanji was alive, it was always full of devotees who brought their troubles & burdens. Some came for an affectionate hug, blessings or just for a quick chat and a tiny clay cup of milk tea.

Haradhanji was always there for everybody who came to him.  He refused none.  For seventeen years, he travelled from Kolkata to Laguna Beach to perform the annual Kali Puja for us.  He gave us love, affection and awakened our Sri Ma Dakshineswari Kali for us.

Sri Haradhan Chakraborty in front of Ma Dakshineswari Kali, Laguna Beach

Moreover, he demonstrated how a mere mortal can have a truly  intimate relationship with the Divine Goddess Kali.  None of us who witnessed his pujas will ever forget the experience.  Haradhanji is with Ma & lives on in our hearts.

Sri Haradhan Chakraborty in front of Ma Bhavatarini Kali, Dakshineswar

Where God Likes Her Temples Built

These old photos of the Dakshineswar Kali temple under construction arrived via e-mail one morning.  We took it as Sri Ramakrishna’s special grace.  The courtyard has not been tiled yet, and construction workers still have their wooden tents in front of the temple.

It’s exciting to look at these photos and turn back time.  The workers in the picture don’t yet know the impact the temple they are building will have on the world, but we know.  Ma Bhavatarini Kali, the Great Goddess of the Universe, is about to awaken.  Sri Ramakrishna, the modern avatar of unknowable depth, is about to arrive and demonstrate how to love God.

The photo showing the temple in its unfinished state, helps us better understand the difficulties involved with building such a large, beautiful compound.  By Ma’s grace, the impossible is possible.  Perhaps some day Kali Mandir will also be successful in building a large, beautiful temple for  Sri Ma Dakshineswari Kali, hopefully at the location of Anneliese’s School where we hold our annual Kali Puja festivals.

Dakshineswar is a holy place where God likes Her temples to be built.  This village sprung up around a Shiva temple built by the legendary King Banraja (king of the forest) who lived about a thousand years ago.  Prompted in a dream, the king miraculously found a Shiva lingam which he then had installed by the name of “Dakshineswar.”  To this day, Baba Dakshineswar is worshipped in a small temple on the banks of the Ganga north of the Kali temple.  Sri Ramakrishna visited this temple during his stay in Dakshineswar.

King Banraja was not the only one who got prompted by God to build a temple in Dakshineswar.  Rani Rasmani, a wealthy lady who lived at the Janbazar palace in Kolkata, also had a dream just as she was about to go on a pilgrimage to Benares.  Ma Kali appeared in her dream and asked her to build a temple for Her.

Baba Dakshineswar Shiva lingam in the village of Dakshineswar

After a long search, she bought a 20-acre plot of land along the Ganges in the village of Dakshineswar.  The Rani hired the contractor Mackintosh & Co, and temple construction began in 1847.  It took eight years at great expense to complete.  Rani Rasmani spent 50,000 rupees for land, 160,000 rupees for building an embankment along the river, 900,000 rupees for the Kali temple complex and 226,000 rupees for property used as an endowment for the maintenance of the temple.

Old photo of the Kali temple seen from the tank on the eastern side of the temple.

As the temple construction progressed, the Rani contracted a sculptor to make the Kali image.  The image was finished but the Rani was still dealing with construction and not ready for the installation.  One night, she had a dream.  Ma Kali appeared and said, “How long will you keep me confined in a box?  I feel suffocated.  Install me as soon as possible.”  When the crate which stored the image was opened, workers found the statue of Kali moist with perspiration.  Ma Bhavatarini Kali was quickly installed with great pomp on Snan Yatra, May 31, 1855.  Sri Ramakrishna’s elder brother Ramkumar officiated as the priest.

In the early 1900s, Ma appeared in a dream to Annada Thakur, an Ayurvedic doctor, saying, “I am Adyashakti and want to be worshipped as Adya Ma.”  In another dream, Sri Ramakrishna told him to build a temple to Ma.  Annada Thakur bought a plot of land in Dakshineswar and began construction of the Adyapith temple in 1928.

Dakshineswar today draws millions of pilgrims from all over the world who come to see Ma and get Her blessings.