The Goddess Parvati Temple

While the other Goddesses in the "Big Six"** receive regular individual worship, we often only see Parvatiji as an accompaniment to Bholenath, if She is even depicted. That is going to change now, in a big way. When we talk about power, do you know whom in the Big Six has the most power? Parvatiji's Sanskrit name is "Shakti", quite literally 'Power', and She is glorified as the energy and engine behind everything that exists and is in motion. You do the math...

Below are some protocols for what we will see in our beloved Devi's temple. Initially I had wanted to do a full-service temple, but I now realize that the language and pronunciation barriers will be impracticable to surmount for busy American professionals and students, the target demographic, and so we will switch gears to double down on our core competencies and what we can offer devotees with authority. Services will be either simple one-to-few-word beej mantras and otherwise entirely in English, and the institution will be primarily be a place for beginners to safely and easily start or re-enter the path without too many barriers - the key is to make things fast, easy, fun, and an experience that devotees will strongly want to return to regularly. Once they get their feet wet, they can jump into the amateur and then the big leagues. Beyond that the Temple will not be more than a glorified meditation center, by design. We focus on one mission so we can be the best at it and realistically maintain excellence until this Yuga's time to end has arrived.

This is a living document that will evolve with the Temple and the needs of its beloved Devotees.

PROTOCOLS

 1.    Creating Change

Violence is the LAST RESORT and only to be used for defense when all diplomatic means have failed. It is better to win over hearts and minds with pure and consistent LOVE.

 2.    Standard Greeting for Devotees

 “Jai Bholenath”
 Response: “Jai Shakti Ma”

 (Both call and response have four syllables and thus there is natural harmony)

 3.    Meat, Alchohol, and Legal Recreational Drug Consumption

All meat that tastes good to you and can be readily converted to nutrition by the body has been given to us by Nature and is fit to consume. Adults in a free society are free to pursue recreation in any manner they choose, so long as such pursual does not present a clear and present danger to others.

However, it is critical to note that:

(a)  A concerted effort is to be made that animals consumed live a happy and contented life, and are expired in a sudden and pleasant way, say through surprise gassing
 

(b)  As Paramahamsa Yogananda has said, as your spiritual power increases your desire for drink, drugs, and all other vices will blissfully melt away, so don’t be surprised when it happens. There will be no shaming or judgement until we get there.

 4.    Language

Outside of beej mantras, all worship is to be conducted in English so that the organization is welcoming to interested Americans, Canadian, UK, Guyanese, Trinidadian, Kenyan, and other Hindu diaspora who no longer know any other language.

The design of the temple and its offerings will always be simple, fast, and easy by design, to serve as an inviting entry point for both lost and curious souls. If there is too much difficulty or complexity, they will not come.

When devotees are ready for the next step, they are to be directed as follows:
 
(a)  For proper rituals and observances:
 
Ganesh Temple in Flushing, Queens, NY
 
I have been to this temple since a youth, all is done in perfect accordance with the Vedas and Sanatan Dharm tradition, and there is tremendous power in the Bholenathji Lingam installed here.
 
(b)  For the remaining path to spiritual mastery:
 
Shanti Mandir in Walden, NY
 
This is the ashram where I trained under my illustrious guru, Mahamandaleshwar Swami Nityananda. There is tremendous power here that can take you to the final destination, if you are prepared to surrender completely to the Supreme Intelligence. You will not find the luxuries of the Parvati Devi temple here – there is a strict schedule, required seva (menial and free labor to create selflessness and detachment), no meat, no drink, and no vices. Devotees should only be guided here when you are ready, as it is not for those addicted to worldly pleasures, the faint of constitution, or those lacking in discipline. I should reiterate, there is tremendous power here, as the preceptor is a Shaivite Mahamandaleshwar for very good reason. Your preceptor here at the Goddess Parvati Temple is a well-meaning and often half-witted priest, but this chap Nityananda is the Real Deal.

5.    Communication

Communication is a two-way street. Seek to understand who is speaking to you, and know that your audience should also be making a reasonable effort to understand you. A listener should not be offended by literal content where the intention is pure, and a speaker should be mindful lest their literal words be harmful to the listener. At all times, we should give other living beings the benefit of the doubt, unless they have proven otherwise.

6. Physical Layout

The temple will face east, and murtis are to be arranged in three large steps so that all murtis are fully visible by all devotees at all times. Masters of Vedic architecture and sacred geometry are to be consulted. All murtis will be made in silver (excepting the Lingam and Nandi, which will be pure black stone). The steps are as follows, in descending order:

S1. Large Shiva Lingam (Bam Bam Bhole!)

S2. Silver murti of Shiv and Shakti in the ancient Uma-Maheshvara posture, where Parvatiji sits (very slightly) suggestively on Shivji's left lap. Their appearance will be updated to appear attractive to modern audiences, while still retaining key elements of the ancient heritage.

Ganesh stands next to His Mother, and Skanda stands next to His Father. They are grown adults, standing tall and serene.

S3. Nandi. He should look supremely strong yet also cute and adorable, because He is.

The four walls will be covered in purple velvet. The ceiling and floor will be covered in high-gloss dark wood. The seats will be the same wood on the outside, with comfortable padding on the inside, and a large cushion that can be removed to covert from a sitting to meditating posture.

There will be four stained-glass yantras posted at least 15 feet high:

West: Parvatiji (since this is Her temple, She should be in front)

South: Ganapati Bhagwan (he is especially fond of His Mother and will be close to her here)

East: Bholenathji

North: Skanda Bhagwan

7. Community

Organized religion is so organized such that devotees can form bonds and worship with greater power together. People are the key. As such, being as social as you can after services is extremely important. Devotees who are not welcoming or engaged with the rest of the congregation, on a best efforts basis, are to be dismissed and directed to alternative institutions, as there is nothing wrong with that, but it is not what we do here. 

At the end of each service, new attendees and visitors should be welcomed warmly, and ample time should be allowed for temple devotees to spend quality time together, maybe even with fun activities. The Goddess Parvati temple is not a place to go, listen to and watch something, and then go directly home. Such devotees should consider simply praying at home. All are expected to actively love their Hindu neighbors and form strong, loving community bonds. This is pleasing to the Infinite Intelligence, it will be a boon to the lonely and the disenfranchised among us, and also amplifies the power of our exaltation.

PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT NOTES

So far this Temple is just a dream of mine, and I cannot afford to build it myself, nor am I even capable of begging, and yet at the same time I am 100% convinced that it was ordained to exist Upstairs, and that I am only doing my part to lead it into existence. So I will likely chance upon some windfall, benefactors will get wind of the illustrious vision and back it, or even perhaps both. It will ultimately be the joyful work of many loving devotees. In the beginning services may be 90 minutes every quarter, ideally in a rented location suitable until there are resources available to not only build the temple, but provide for its upkeep for a good long while, including provisions for a priest to come to the temple daily and perform the proper rites and rituals for the murtis installed therein. In the interim the frequency and structure of the services will evolve based on what devotees want and need, and will likely be an hour each month, the first half being deep meditation and chanting of 'HRIM', Shakti Ma's beej mantra, followed by katha that I will deliver.

The first temple will be built in Queens, NY, where I am, and the second in New York, NY. At times when there is not an active service, the space will serve as a meditation center with an access fee of $33 per person. Additional funding will come from the sale of merchandise, books, workshops, and spiritual intensives, in line with similar organizations. It is important for the organization to be able to fund itself as much as possible so that it cannot be polluted by the undue influence of any one sizeable benefactor.

When the organization hits full force, there will be a temple in Toronto, Miami, London, Paris and all major global commercial hubs where material success brings tremendous possibility, but may also make spiritual success difficult, stunt the growth and intensification of love, or otherwise impede the fulfillment of dharma. I imagine a place where all Shaivites can go to find other loving devotees, no matter what major part of the world they find themselves in, somewhere where their heart can be filled from the golden cup of divine love, where their intellect can shine with illuminations from the Puranas, the Shiva Sutras, and other key texts connected to current, real-world challenges and goals we face here in the Kali Yuga, and where their soul can be nourished with the collective, guided pursuit of transcendence. In the end, we will help devotees to harmonize and unite all three so that devotees' faculties are all marching in the same direction, such that they become even more capable, dynamic, and realized beings.

I'm fundamentally lazy and, to be honest, would NOT be doing any of this if someone else was, and I do hope that others pick up the mantle at any point in the journey, so I can take my foot off the gas and just enjoy my life, maybe pray and meditate here and there, and regularly pull up as a no-name attendee to a great temple where the service is respectful of my time, adds value, is in a language I know, and fosters a sense of community. It's something that so obviously "should already exist" to me. I'm only pouring so much of myself into it because I already see our membership dropping off of a cliff in America, and it will be at the bottom of the ravine if efforts are not made to update the practice of the Sanatan Dharma for modern times; and so as a Brahmin it becomes my duty to make magic happen.

Time alone will be the judge of whether or not I am a raving madman and a baseless poser, or a truly prescient pundit. If you are interested or have questions, you are more than welcome to contact me, I don't bite. Unless you want me to.

With Love

*If you follow me closely, you may wonder why I am so focused on Parvati when Shiva is my Ishta (favorite). I was specifically instructed to do so by Mahadev, since most of  the ready-made prayers and idols out there are primarily for Shiva, so until we can produce similarly popular content for Parvatiji, we will engage in these. Equally beautiful and enjoyable, as of course they are Husband and Wife.

Furthermore, some say that worshipping Durga Ma, heavily worshipped, is the same as worshipping Parvati, but this warrior form is not the loving, gentle. feminine mother we always see at Bholenath's side. Only PARVATI, Daughter of the Mountains, Shailaputri, is indeed the highest and greatest form, the most radiant, powerful and beautiful One who is still in existence and worthy of praise and glorification. Kali, Durga, etc. are all great but it feels more natural to leave the warfare to gents. While I am glad that they protect us, I personally find nothing appealing about an armed lady on a bloody rampage. Nobody lays the smackdown like Skandaji.

**Big Six = Bramha, Saraswati, Vishnu, Laxmi, Mahesh, Parvati