When you see with your inner eye, then you realize
that you are God and not different from Him.Shirdi Sai Baba (1838-1918)
Having dispelled all the impressions lingering in the mind, being with contented heart, being free from the three impurities—anava, karma and maya—and firmly rooted in the unassailable notion of non-duality, the sadhaka should always meditate on his own Self, which is in total identity with the Supreme Self.
Sarvajnanottara Agama 7.16
Life’s challenges are opportunities in disguise. Embrace them, learn from them, and emerge stronger.
Swami Avdheshanand Giri, Acharya Mahamandaleshwar of Juna Akhara
Grace is always present. You imagine it is something somewhere high in the sky, far away, and has to descend. It is really inside you, in your Heart, and the moment you effect merger of the mind into its Source, grace rushes forth, sprouting as from a spring within you.
Ramana Maharishi (1879-1950)
If you close your eyes to facts, you will learn through accidents.
Nigerian proverb
The first step on this long path is to consecrate all our works as a sacrifice to the Divine in us and in the world.
Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950)
The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.
Mark Twain (1835–1910), American author
Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.
Rumi (1207-1273), Sufi mystic and poet
You are extraordinary within your limits, but your limits are extraordinary!
Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) American poet
Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in eternal awareness or pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.
Voltaire (1694-1778), French writer
Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), Swiss psychiatrist
Just as the flowing rivers disappear in the ocean, casting off name and form, even so the knower, freed from name and form, attains to the divine Self, higher than the high.
Mundaka Upanishad 3.28
Your duty is to be, and not to be this or that. “I am that I am” sums up the whole truth. The method is summed up in the words “Be still.” What does stillness mean? It means destroy yourself. Because any form or shape is the cause for trouble. Give up the notion that “I am so and so.” All that is required to realize the Self is to be still. What can be easier than that?
Sri Ramana Maharshi (1879–1950)
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Maya Angelou (1928-2014), American poet
Man’s law changes with his understanding of man. Only the laws of the spirit remain always the same.
Native American Crow Proverb
However strong or beautiful this body may be, its culmination is in those three pounds of ashes. And still people are so attached to it. Glory be to God.
Sarada Devi (1853-1920)
Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing.
Lau Tzu Lao Tzu (4th or 6th century bce), author of Tao Te Ching
Most people believe the mind to be a mirror, more or less accurately reflecting the world outside them, not realizing on the contrary that the mind is itself the principal element of creation.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941), Bengali poet and Nobel laureate
In successfully facing the difficulties that come to us in life, we are resolving karma and moving forward on the spiritual path.
Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, publisher of Hinduism Today
Spiritual striving is not to get something you don’t have. But it is to stop something you have, so that you can be what you are.
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001), founder of Hinduism Today
The Making of Palani Murugan
The famed navapashanam murti of Lord Murugan enshrined at Palani Hill Temple is one of the most extraordinary manifestations of Siddha alchemical wisdom. Crafted by the legendary Siddhar Bhogar, this sacred form is not carved from stone or metal but carefully fashioned from a mysterious amalgam of nine potent substances—collectively (navapashanam).
In the Siddha tradition, pashanam refers to powerful mineral or elemental compounds that, though often toxic in their raw state, are transformed into medicinal agents through meticulous alchemical purification. These materials are broadly classified in two groups: kadisana (hard or dense minerals) and irasa (subtle or reactive substances). The kadisana group includes substances such as lingam (cinnabar or mercuric sulfide), sudham (purified mercury), gauri (believed to be an arsenic-based compound), and thutham (copper sulfate). These dense minerals are traditionally considered dangerous until processed through multi-stage detoxification methods involving heat, herbal infusions and mantric activation.
In contrast, the irasa category comprises more reactive or subtle compounds used in internal alchemy and spiritual healing. These include sendhuram (a red mercurial oxide), sattilingam (another form of cinnabar preparation), and nilam (sometimes interpreted as blue vitriol, or simply as a mystical compound). These substances are prepared to support both physical well-being and subtle body transformation.
The murti itself, known as Dandayuthapani Swami, is revered as an oushadha thirumeni—a “medicinal body.” During ritual abhishekam (ceremonial bathing), offerings like sandalwood paste, milk or vibhuti are placed on the murti and are believed to absorb healing qualities. The resulting prasadam is then distributed to devotees and used to treat various ailments.
Though the formulation remains a closely guarded secret—known only to sthapatis, temple architects—ongoing research and oral tradition continue to highlight Bhogar’s unparalleled synthesis of spiritual insight, medical science and sacred artistry. The navapashanam murti stands not only as a devotional object but also as a living symbol of the deep medicinal and mystical knowledge embedded in the Tamil Siddha tradition.