Celebrating your birthdays

[Guest guest]

Celebrating Birthdays

 

 

Celebrating BirthdaysSpiritual meaning‘Celebrating

a birthday is actually expressing gratitude to God for the opportunity

to do sadhana (spiritual practice) during the past year and praying for

His grace in the coming year.’The birthday is the day to assess

spiritual progress of the embodied soul: It is the “day of growthâ€

indicating spiritual progress. For the soul to progress spiritually,

purification of the subtle body and imbibing of the three components,

‘trigunas’ from Deities in appropriate proportions is necessary. The

spiritual progress of an embodied soul begins at birth. Even if an

individual does not undertake actual spiritual practice, due to various

spiritual rituals performed on him the sattva component in him

increases thus initiating his spiritual progress. Birthday is the day

to take stock of the effect of spiritual rituals on his subtle body.

From a spiritual perspective, birthday is the day to assess one’s

spiritual progress and if there is spiritual progress then it signifies

actual growth.Birthday is the day to enhance one’s ability to

imbibe chaitanya: One’s Birthday enhances the ability of an embodied

soul to imbibe chaitanya (Divine Consciousness) by invoking Deities.

This action raises the sattva component in the atmosphere and the

embodied soul achieves stability of the inner mind.An

individual is born with a spiritual level which is carried forward from

the past birth. Accordingly, that particular chakra/centre in the

spiritual energy system or Kundalini is already in an activated state

or a state where the journey of the spiritual energy has halted. In the

‘Satyayug’, ‘Tretayug’ and ‘Dvaparyug’ evolved individuals would be

invited to bless the individual whose first birthday was being

celebrated or the child would be taken to Him. The evolved soul would

perform the ritual of ‘aukshan’ for the child and making a silent

resolve would shower unbroken rice grains on various parts of its body

thus activating the chakras of the spiritual energy system in that

area, till the chakra where the spiritual journey had halted was

reached. He would touch the chakra beyond the one where the spiritual

energy flow was arrested with unbroken rice grains in the fingers. This

would resume the further journey of the spiritual energy. The evolved

soul progressed beyond 75% would know merely by looking at the embodied

soul upto where his spiritual energy was activated. So, a mere glance

at that chakra would restart his spiritual progress.In the

‘Treta’ and ‘Dvaparyugs’ either the individual would visit saints or

vice-versa and the saint would bestow His blessings for rapid spiritual

progress. After having received blessings the embodied soul would

seriously enhance his efforts to increase spiritual progress. On the

subsequent birthday when the individual would go for blessings to the

saint He would bless him only after assessing if his spiritual progress

had occurred in the past year. Since the seeker was fully aware that

his progress was a consequence of the saint’s blessing there were less

chances of inflation of his ego.Importance of celebrating the

birthday as per the Hindu lunar calendar: It is advisable to celebrate

the date of birth as per the Hindu lunar calendar as on that day the

benefits derived are more than if celebrated on the date of birth

according to the Western calendar.The attributes of the

embodied soul born on that particular day match with the frequencies

present on that date as per the Hindu lunar calendar (‘tithi’).When

celebrating the birthday on this date, through the ritual of ‘aukshan’

and a prayer made unto the family deity, the chaitanya generated helps

the embodied soul to combat the distressing energy attacks at various

levels.Blessings and good wishes endow maximum benefit: ‘The

frequencies of the date of birth according to the Hindu lunar calendar

match the individual maximally. Since the blessings and good wishes of

relatives and well-wishers bring maximum benefit to the individual

celebrating the birthday as per the Hindu lunar calendar is more

beneficial.One develops the strength to combat obstacles in

life: Since the frequencies in the universe on the birthday as per the

Hindu lunar calendar match the temperament of the person born on that

date, the ‘sattvik’ and chaitanya-enriched rituals done by an

individual on that day leave a deep impression on his subconscious

mind. As a result, he derives spiritual prowess to combat problems in

his future life.Benefits of celebrating a birthday as per the

Hindu lunar calendar (‘tithi’) as against the date of birth as per the

Western calendarCelebrating birthday as perdate by Western calendarCelebrating birthday as perHindu lunar calendar1. Body involvedPhysical body onlyPhysical body 5% and subtlebody (desire, mind, intellect, ego bodies) 95%2. Effects on bodySince it is related only to thephysical body the embodiedsoul benefits from the ‘sattva’frequencies negligibly. As aresult the covering of theembodied soul by raja-tamaattributes may not get reduced‘Sattva’ component of thesubtle body increases3. Effects on the spiritual energy channels (naadii)Even after ‘aukshan’ the‘sattva’ component in thesubtle body does not grow asmuch as required; mostly thesun channel and at times themoon channel gets activated.However this does not benefitthe embodied soul

spiritually.After a ‘tithi’ begins, everymoment an embodied soulderives ‘sattvik’ frequenciesmatching his subtle body,which are necessary forpurification of the body. As aresult of aukshan the‘Sushumna’ channel in theembodied soul gets activated.If the spiritual level of theembodied soul exceeds 60%,the ‘Sushumna’ channelremains active throughout theday.4. Effects on the attitudes of an embodied soulAs the ‘sattva’ component inan embodied soul does notincrease, his extrovertedattitude does.As the ‘sattva’ component inan embodied soul grows, sodoes his introverted attitude.Method

of birthday celebration: ‘There are as many temperaments as there are

people and so also the corresponding number of paths of spiritual

practice.’ This is one of the basic tenets in Hinduism. Based on this,

the methods of performing religious rituals also vary. Though the

methods vary, the benefit of the ritual is the same, which is all

methods endow the Divine principle. Thus one can decide the method as

per convenience. Following are the two methods for celebration of a

birthday.Method 1A. ‘In the first year of life every

month and thereafter every year on the date of birth as per the Hindu

lunar calendar one should bathe after an oil massage. This should be,

followed by application of tilak of kumkum (vermilion) on the forehead.B.

With the resolve ‘आयà¥à¤°à¤­à¤¿à¤µà¥ƒà¤¦à¥à¤§à¥â€Œà¤¯à¤°à¥à¤¥à¤‚ वरà¥à¤· (मास) वृदà¥à¤§à¤¿à¤•à¤°à¥à¤®à¤‚ करिषà¥â€à¤¯à¥‡â€™

fistful of rice are placed on a wooden seat or platform in seventeen

small heaps in the name of the family deity (‘kuladevata’), lunar

asterism at birth (‘nakshatra’), parents, Deities Prajapati, Surya,

Ganesh, Parshuraam, Raam, Hanumaan , Shasthidevata, Sages Maarkandeya,

Vyaas, Krupaachaarya, Ashwathaamaa, Bali, Pralhaad and Bibhishan . The

corresponding deity is invoked in each heap and their ritualistic

worship with sixteen substances is performed. The Shasthidevata is

offered a sacrament (‘naivedya’) of curd and rice which is later fed to

a cow or any other animal. The other Deities are offered sugar cubes

(‘khadisakhar’) or ‘pedhas’ (a sweetmeat) which is then distributed as

holy sacrament.C. With a prayer, a drink made from a cube of

jaggery, a fistful of sesame seeds and half a cup of milk is partaken

of by the one celebrating the birthday.D. Relatives and friends

are invited for a meal. Offering of food and other items should be done

on this day as much as possible.E. Avoid receiving money or gifts on this day.Method 2A.

Bath after an oil massage: On the birthday, after an oil massage, have

a bath with clothes on (bath taken in this way is symbolic of

forgetting the past, with a prayer to The God for constantly remaining

in the present.) When bathing the spiritual emotion should be that ‘The

pure and holy water of river Ganga is purifying my body and mind’.B. Wear new clothes after the bath.C. Offer obeisance (‘namaskar’) to parents and elders in the family.D.

Perform the ritual of ‘abhishek’ (ablution with liquids like milk and

water) or ritualistic worship of the family deity wholeheartedly.E.

Ritual of ‘aukshan’: The ritual of ‘aukshan’ is performed on the one

whose birthday is being celebrated. Both, the one performing it and the

one on whom the ritual is being performed, should harbour the spiritual

emotion that, ‘Through our medium, God Himself is performing this

ritual and bestowing His blessings on us.’ At the end of this ritual

unbroken rice grains (‘akshataa’) are sprinkled on the head of the one

on whom ‘aukshan’ is performed after venerating one’s family deity or

deity of worship.F. A gift is presented to the one celebrating

the birthday with the following perspective. As one’s duty a child is

given a gift to express appreciation. While gifting an adult, one

should not have a sense of doership. When one gifts something without

expectation, after a while one forgets about it. The gift given on a

birthday should be such. If doership or expectations are harboured in

the mind when gifting then a give and take account is created between

the two. When the one receiving the gift has the attitude that it is

the holy sacrament (prasad) that he is receiving with God’s grace, then

a give and take account is not created.G. Clothes worn when

bathing should be given away, without any expectations. This offering

should be made to one who is deserving hence it is advisable to give it

to a devotee of God or to one serving in the mission of betterment of

the nation and righteousness, instead of a beggar.http://www.hindujagruti.org/hinduism/knowledge/index.php?print/id:247

recommends that you upgrade to the new and safer Internet Explorer 8.