Today is Maha Shivaratri

A seat made of precious stones, a bath in delightfully cool water, a splendid apparel bedecked, sandalpaste perfumed with musk, jasmine and champaka flowers arranged upon Bilva leaves, incense as well as a lamp, lit...Clarified butter, milk porridge, the five-fold food, a cooling drink of milk and curds with plantains, a variety of vegetables, aromatic water and scented betel - all these offerings... have I conceived in my mind out of love and devotion; do accept them, my Lord. Adi Sankara
Thy hand holding the sacred drum has made and ordered the heavens and earth, other worlds and innumerable souls. Thy lifted hand protects... Thy creation. These worlds are transformed by Thy hand bearing fire. Thy sacred foot, planted on the ground, gives an abode to the tired soul struggling in the toils of causality. It is Thy lifted foot that grants eternal bliss to those that approach Thee. Chidambara Mummani Kovai
Shiva is a destroyer and loves the burning ground. But what does He destroy? Not merely the heavens and earth at the close of a world-cycle, but the fetters that bind each separate soul... Ananda K Coomaraswamy

Feb 1999

Swami Sai Baba performed the greatest miracle at the conclusion of the night long bhajans. The time was about 6.40 AM (15.2. l999). Swami had gone round the darshan lines and had reached Mandir Verandah. As the Bhajan is going on, Swami all of a sudden produced a Sivalingam, from His Mouth..on..LingodbhavaMaha Shivarathri at Prashanthi NilayamFebruary 15, 1999..Later on, during the morning Discourse, Swami mentioned it as HIRANYAGARBHA Lingam, which is the origin of all creations. Swami said that it is very solid and will not break in spite of heavy impacts. He demonstrated by throwing the lingam away from Him, twice, and it was picked up by students and returned back to Swami. Earlier, at the beginning of the Akhanda Bhajan, on the 14th evening, there was a Divine Discourse. The Vice Chancellor of Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning spoke and mentioned that Swami used to Produce Sivalingam earlier years and those were the lucky people and lucky ones to witness such grand miracles. Swami, in His Discourse, mentioned that He had stop the Lingodbhava (Manifestation of Linga) because of the unruly behaviour of the crowd who created chaos to witness the mirac1e, causing injuries to many other devotees. He however said that Lingaolbhava do happen on all Sivarathri days, but not in the public view. Swami said that it is the very nature of Swami to produce Lingam on this auspecious day