FULL MOON GURU PURNIMA HOLIDAY- JULY 20-1

Vedic Holidays in Focus: Guru Purnima and Full Moon on July 20-21

The first full moon after the summer solstice is very auspicious spiritually and occurs on the 15th lunar day on July 15, 2021. This will last from about 7:30 AM ET on Saturday, July 20, to 5:14 AM ET on Sunday. This is a very auspicious time to receive grace from a guru or a greater heart. It is a great time to read spiritual literature or do pujas for a guru. It is a good time to donate to spiritual teachers and their schools and support spiritual knowledge. Meditations and pujas performed on Guru Purnima are especially powerful.

If you don’t have a guru, this day is to honour our teachers. Our first teachers were our mothers, then our school teachers, then maybe our local pastor, then our college mentor. Take the time to pour out your affection, with deep love and gratitude, to all those who have rescued you from ignorance.

Comilla Sutton discusses the importance of Guru and on this day says: “Gu” means darkness and “ru” means dispelling, removal. Guru means one who dispels the darkness of ignorance. A Guru is a spiritual teacher who shows the aspirant the path to higher knowledge. A Guru brings light to the disciple by showing the disciple the means to find eternal light. A spiritual Guru is considered to be the link between the individual and God and hence is given great importance in Vedic philosophy. A Guru opens the eyes of the aspirant to his higher self and shows the light of God to the aspirant who was struggling in the darkness. That is why he has been revered and respected more than anyone else for centuries because only a Guru can show the aspirant the path to God and lead him from darkness to light.

Guru Purnima is a day to express gratitude to the Guru. In India, for thousands of years, the Sagittarius full moon after the summer solstice has been celebrated in honour of the divine Guru. Ved Vyasa is considered the Guru of all Gurus and Guru Purnima is dedicated to him. Vyasa compiled the four Vedas, 18 Puranas, Mahabharata and Srimad Bhagavata. He also taught Dattatreya, who spread Vyasa’s knowledge to other Gurus.

The history of Guru Purnima is an interesting one. Sarabini Rath states:

In yogic lore, Guru Purnima is said to be the day when Shiva became Adi Guru, or the first Guru. The story goes that over 15,000 years ago, a Yogi appeared in the Himalayas. His presence was extraordinary and people gathered around him. But he showed no signs of life other than the occasional tear of ecstasy rolling down his cheek. People started to leave, but the seven men stayed. When he opened his eyes, they begged him, asking to experience whatever was happening to him. He chased them away, but they persisted. Finally, he gave them a brief preparatory phase and closed his eyes again. The seven men began to prepare. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, months turned to years, but the Yogi’s attention was not drawn to them again. After 84 years of sadhana, the Yogi saw them again. They had become shining vessels, wonderfully receptive. He could no longer ignore them. On the next full moon day, the Yogi faced south and sat as the Guru to these seven men. Thus, Shiva, the Adiyogi (first yogi), became the Adi Guru. He expounded on these systems of life over the years. His seven disciples were hailed as Saptarishis and spread this knowledge throughout the world. Guru Purnima is held sacred in the yoga tradition because Adiyogi opened the possibility of conscious evolution in man. The seven different aspects of yoga bestowed upon these seven individuals became the basis for the seven basic forms of yoga that persist to this day.” (Sarabini Rath)

So take a day off and enjoy deep meditation, celebration, and time with your spiritual group.

I will close with a beautiful quote from one of the great spiritual teachers in my spiritual tradition, Swami Brahmanada Saraswati Jagaguru Bhavan Shankaracharya of Jyoti Math:

Getting a human body is a rare thing. Make full use of it. There are 4 million lives that your soul can collect. Then you are given the chance to become a human. Therefore, do not waste the chance to get a human body. If you do not treasure it, you will achieve nothing and end up crying.

Because you are a human being, God has given you the power to think and decide what is good and what is bad. So, do not think of yourself as a weak or fallen creature. Whatever has happened until now, it may be because you did not know. But be careful now… If you do not reach God after becoming a human being, you have sold your diamonds for the price of spinach.h.

My heartfelt thanks go to Komilla Sutton, Sarabini Rath and all my spiritual mentors.

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