ANNUAL PRAYERS OF THE ARULMIGU SRI MAHA DASH MUKHI KALIAMMAN TEMPLE, RAHANG, JALAN SEREMBAN - TAMPIN, SEREMBAN, NEGERI SEMBILAN, MALAYSIA THIS AFTERNOON (18 FEBRUARY 2026).

The Arulmigu Sri Maha Dash Mukhi Kaliamman Temple, Rahang, Jalan Seremban - Tampin, Seremban held its Annual Prayers this afternoon (18 February 2026).

One of our Payyan family member also attend and performed his prayers.

The photos of this afternoon prayers:

-photos taken by Mr. C. K. Kannan

THE SHIVA UPAYAS GIVEN TO RISHIS OF KASHMIR

 

SHIVA YOGA

Saiva Yoga is revealed by Lord Shiva , who, perenially mindful of spirituality,is ever eager to share his penchant with Devi, his beloved consort,and transfer illumination . His poetic agamas (replies) to the Devi in response to her nigamas (querries),are recorded in the Tantras, Puranas,Samhitas and Siva Sutras of the Kashmir Rishis for the benefit of sincere seekers.They are called the Shaivagamas.

Shiva’s yoga is the supreme spiritual essence that illuminates both the esoteric and exoteric ( Inner and outer ) aspects of life to their fullest. It encompasses both monism and pluralism, covers theism and deism, clarifies dualism and non duality; All sorts of different spiritual viewpoints are within its own understanding.This is its beauty, Shiva is the fountainhead in whom all opposites are reconciled.

Of six well known schools of Shaivism, the Kashmir Shaiv is highly advanced, and speaks of the Trika sastra, the triad of Siva , Sakti and nara .The highest (God ), the identity in difference ( God's Shalti of maya ), and the unenlightened and therefore bound soul ( Jiva, or nara) , which thinks it is the difference.

Saiva yoga deals more with fullness, Purna rather than Sunya,emptiness, Tat astu -affirmation, rather than neti neti, negation ( The Mayavaadi and Buddhist approach ). It talks of the world as a snare of delusion ( Trapof Maya ) rather than it being a total illusion ( Unreal like a mirage ).

Concisely, Shiva’s philosophy is :

That in the beginning all is Shivashakti.
A primal urge, Pratham spanda ,arises in Shiva to roll out a whole universe.
His Shakti enables him to do exactly that. We honour her as Jag janani, Mother nature.
All creation forget their pristine beginning,thier Divine origin by a spiritual concussion, called Anava mala,the primal forgetting. Once the divine beginning is forgotten, other limitations are quick to creep in, Omniscience becomes worldly conditioned knowledge,Omnipotence becomes limited, specific ability, and Omnipresence is reduced to a body/collective bodies.

All these 'limited 'creatures accumulate experiences in their worldly sojourn. This is almost always in pairs ; joy sadness, hot cold, dark light , black and white and so on.But slowly the jiva begins to understand that all is transient, all temporary, and that nothing lasts forever. And he begins to wonder if there is any changeless state, he begins to look for permanence; the journey back to the origin begins. And finally, he does arrive at Shiva's door.

The Vijnanbhairava, is a text which is accepted as divine revelation. Shiva ,in answer to Parvati’s spiritual querry, expounds 112 ways to re -connect with Divine Consciousness.
Shiva yoga is also beautifully expounded by the sage Vasugupta ,in the “Shiva sutras”, a text also accorded status of ancient revelation by Shiva Himself for the guidance of those who wish to make this journey on earth a happy travel! Alternatively deemed the Shiva Upanishad, this teaches of three possible systems of Shiva’s mystic way,graded to suit the seeker’s present level of attainment.
Interestingly,unlike other Spiritual plans and instructions which ask a seeker to climb his way up to the Divine summit,Shiva exhorts his co- wayfarers to try the higher grade first, and only on failure,should they tune in to a lower, albeit longer path.

The four Upayas (plans) are:

Anupaya or Ananda upaya. It is a stage in which Self -realization is achieved with little or no means,or any specified yoga. It cannot be taught,it happens ;to those rare beings who are already Siddhas of siddhas (adept of adepts) in a past life, and therefore by birth in the current one,they recap spontaneously,maybe at a suggestion,maybe a sight or special circumstance.

Sambhava upaya or iccha upaya. Also called abheda upaya, it involves meditating on the non difference between Shiva and oneself. A nirvikalpa yoga, it is about stilling the mind into pristine state.

Saktopaya or jnana yoga. For those who cannot still the mind,they must then reach Shivahood by persistent suggestion,by mantras, by positive thought and so on.

Anav upaya. Also called kriya upaya. It is the bheda upaya, for those with inherent conviction, “I am different from He who I seek”. This is good for bhaktas, because it begins with devotion, stabilizes into focus and culminates into higher Upayas till the final fusion.



~ From the notes of Shail Gulhati,  Author of the books :
SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.

MAHADEVA- LORD OF TANTRA

 

MAHADEVA- LORD OF TANTRA

Shiva was the Lord of Tantra, a unique system of weaving together God’s science of manifestation. He often taught His ganas the tantra, saying, “ from the very beginning of the world, there was an interplay of Shiva and Shakti. I , a Poet, and She, an Artist. Whatever I sang in divine verse, She painted on the canvas of the world. And life began. Whatever you see around you, has been given by your mother.

~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.

ANNUAL PRAYERS OF THE KALI KOVIL, BATU 8, JALAN MANTIN - SEREMBAN, MANTIN, NEGERI SEMBILAN, MALAYSIA THIS AFTERNOON (17 FEBRUARY 2026)

The Kali Kovil, Batu 8, Jalan Mantin - Seremban, Mantin held its Annual Prayers this afternoon (17 February 2026) despite heavy rainfall.

Our Payyan family member also attended and performed his prayers.

A delicious meal was also served after the Prayers.

Photos of this Annual Prayers:

- photos taken by Mr. C.K. Kannan

Shiva is not a destroyer!

 

Once, a seeker met Lord Shiva, and said " Although millions of people around the world worship you, and we all love you very much, but, my Lord , we are afraid of you also"

"Why?" asked Shiva.

"Because it is said that you are the destroyer, that you end the Universe"

" Really? " answered Shiva,  " Now, tell me, how am I supposed to destroy the world?"

" By opening your third eye, wherever you shift your gaze then, turns to ashes."

    " That is the legend, the story,the mythology. Now, listen to the philosophy. At the personal level, the destruction of illusions, makes the meditator enlightened. This is the opening of Gyan Chakshu, this is the whole path of the yogis. The gaze of the discriminating mind destroys wrong previous concepts and illusions. Whatever scriptures such a man reads, he interprets rightly, whatever situation he encounters, he understands. The mind of spiritual discrimination destroys falsehood and delusion. At the transpersonal or cosmic level, I am a paradox however. My capability is to destroy the whole cosmic play. But, if I use only half my power, to destroy the destruction processes themselves, verily. I become the course expansion. So using half your power doubles your strength. It also takes double your strength to use half your power. Meditate upon this! " Said Shiva.

  " Aha, destruction, paving the way for creation. I understand my Lord", said the seeker." Like we have a defrost button in a refrigerator, which enables us to defrost the frozen zones, leaving the other, major portions intact. Destruction, paving way for creation. So you too, only thaw out the parts of mankind  which are frozen in ignorance!"

Shiva smiled at the seeker's understanding.and said simply, " Yes. That is my role. To Get mankind back on the track, to goodness and Godness, Kindness and Divinity "

" Aha, My Lord, It is obvious now, that although your symbol, the Shivalinga is a symbol of creation, they still call you the destroyer, this is a paradox."

      " Yes", said Shiva, " And you are learning to cut through the paradox."

~ Derived from the book
~ From the book The Yogi and the snake ( conversations with God Shiva)

Shaivism Today Soul Speak ( 7) Alone -ness

There always comes a time in our life when we know that we are alone, that we are all that we have for ourselves. What was your first awareness of being on your own, in this world?

Mine was, when as an eleven year old, I was sent away more than a thousand miles from home to a boarding School. On the very first day, we were woken up in the early morning by the matron with her crisp and authoritative voice, calling us by our School numbers. So it was not  ' Wake up Shailendra', but rather ' Wake up 314'. Right there, away from ' home' , in the middle of a dormitory of 12 boys, a class of 35, and a school of 700 students, i realized that i was just a number. Oh, the miserable feeling that only i knew my own thoughts and emotions, and that i had to keep them closely to myself. I knew right then , that i had to make my own place for myself in the middle of all the 'Others'. And the knowing that i was alone in this ,was indeed a sad one.
And then came the  more amazing realisation that actually, the 'Others' were also in the same situation.  Hmm.

It is the same with our Cosmopolitan world today. We sometimes realize all too deeply that we are just a number ; This realization can come to you anywhere, when you view and understand how many  'multitudes' of people are present in your world, even though you don't know many of them. Especially for example, when you look at the thousands of windows in a  'High- rise'  apartment complex, and though you cannot see them, you know that thousands of people live somewhere inside these windows. .. And there,as a witnessing bystander in the middle of this Universal circus, you may become determined to make some good sense of this beautiful life that has been gifted to you by God:
You want to shine out much beyond your ‘ Just one of many thousands’ status.

Am i right?

But wait, the world of God isn’t just a huge challenge after all, there is another beautiful phenomenon that we come by.
Togetherness.

What was your first realisation of sharing the world?
Mine was when i held my soulmate's hand during our wedding ceremony. Right there, in the middle of a crowd of friends who had gathered for our event, i realised the world was going to be totally different from now on. Somewhere between alone and together, the binary of life started to make itself known - There always comes a time in your life , when you know that it was meant to be lived in Togetherness...

And i knew then, that Alone-ness is not meant by Nature as a way of life. The Alone -ness we get, is for providing us Ekaant, Kevalya; it is good for us to think, to introspect, to wonder about the purpose of life, the challenges and the opportunities; And then, to come out into the world ready to share it with a beautiful partner and together dance this binary dance of Shiva and Shakti…And that fabulous feeling that i can share my thoughts and emotions, that i don't have to keep piling them up like a heap of secrets that only i can know or think about, but rather, that i can share my inner world, every little fairy tale i hold in the heart of the eleven year old child, with my partner in life.
Meditate upon this.
Aum Namah Shivaye.
~ From the notes of Shail Gulhati, Author of SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.

SHIVA

 

SHIVA

Shiva is a storyteller’s delight.

But because Shiva is hugely paradoxical, it comes as no surprise that, much as He is loved by the masses, there have been times when He has actually been maligned in some circles.This may have been by the design of a select few, as had happened at the instance of His own father-in-law, Daksha. Or then, it may simply be because of ignorance—a lack of knowing Shiva’s esoterics. Ignorance is not always bliss; ignorance mostly leads to a fear, which then makes up its own stories.

I believed it was important that Shiva’s endearing mythology, as well as His scintillating spirituality, both needed to be known.

The twin wings that make the truly ethereal flight He eternally embarks upon. It became my call to write a book that gives equal emphasis to Shiva’s story and reveals the fabulous mystic that He is, and indeed, has always been.

~ Shail Gulhati, Author's preface for SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.