Wise Earth Monastery
LENOX, MASSACHUSETTS, October 3, 2005: Sri Swamini Mayatitananda, known as mother to her devotees, led the recent Honoring Ancestors Conference 2005. One of Swamini’s chelas, Sundaram, sent a summary of the event to HPI. Sundaram reports, “Our spirits were uplifted to the highest when Mother opened the conference with Her grand presence, entering the hall to the beat of the drums, the strings of the tambura, and the showering of rose petals. During this opening satsanga, Mother spoke of Pitri-Paksha, the auspicious time according to the Vedic Calendar to honor and nourish the ancestors, and illuminated the importance of this event. Mother introduced the chants that were to be used during the ceremony, including a pervasive ancestral mantra, Om Namo Vah Pitris Saumyah (Obeisance to you, the gentle ancestors). Two pitris altars were installed with more than 300 pictures of participants’ forebearers. From this space we took turns offering the traditional nourishment (black sesame seeds and water) to our ancestors, while Mother performed an ancestral puja, a fire offering to Moon, Sun and the pitris. On the final day of the conference, Mother presided over a closing ceremony in which a special grain mandala was made for the pitris. At the end, grains from the mandala were offered to the crows, the worldly emissaries of the pitris. All have reported having a deep inner-knowing that the ancestors have been nourished and the perfect peace that comes as a result.”