Upadesha
is
a
vedic
sacrament, may be like baptism, where it is a solemn religious
ceremony in the Christian Church. It is a spiritual
initiation, an investiture ceremony into the practice of
japah.
A
qualified
Aashrama
upadeshaka
shall grant
upadesha
to
the seeker
at
the time, date and place convenient to both the giver and the
receiver. Generally,
upadesha
is
given late in the evening after sun-set or early in the
morning before sun-rise. .
There are male
upadeshakas
and there are female
upadeshakis.
Any male
upadeshaka
can initiate either a male or a female seeker. Similarly a
female
upadeshaki
can initiate either a female seeker or a male seeker. Gender
has no relevance here. In fact, soul has no gender either.
For the initiation ceremony, the initiator and the seeker take
a head bath. The seeker then shall wear
kaupeena,
a
short made-up of two pieces of coarse cotton cloth, one tied
around the loin in a specific way, and the other fold between
the legs. The seeker is made to squat on the mat or a carpet
in a
sukhaasana,
meaning an easy posture. Under the buttocks shall be a cloth
roll which facilitates to sit comfortably so that both the
knee-joints are firmly placed on the floor.
For the initiation ceremony, the initiator
and the seeker take a head bath. The seeker then shall wear
kaupeena,
a short made-up of two pieces of coarse cotton cloth,
one tied around the loin in a specific way, and the other
fold between the legs. The seeker is made to squat on the
mat or a carpet in a
sukhaasana, meaning an easy posture.
Under the buttocks shall be a cloth roll which facilitates
to sit comfortably so that both the knee-joints are firmly
placed on the floor.
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Yogi Achyuta
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Sitting straight facing the north direction, the seeker makes
the
namaskaar
(like making obeisance) by joining both the palms and both the
thumbs touching the mid point between the eye-brows. The
seeker shall fix his gaze at that point, then he shall slowly
bring down the hands and they're made to rest on the knees,
fingers held in a
mudra
(posture).
Watch the Photographs below:
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![](images/japa_02.jpg) |
Smt Bharathi
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The initiator postions himself/herself before the seeker in
garudaasana
(a
particular posture), puts the right hand thumb at mid-point
between the eye-brows, places the four stretched fingers on
the crown of the head and starts the initiation by producing
the
praanic
sound near the right ear. The seeker is then asked to
reproduce the sound as heard. A feeble and halting sound may
come at that time. After a couple of minutes of this labour,
the seeker shall sit in silence, slowly entering into the
meditative mode.
The
initiating
upadeshaka
becomes the seeker's guru (preceptor), and the seeker becomes
that
guru's
sishya (disciple).
The
sishya
who practices
japah
regularly and systematically
deserves to be called a
saadhakaa. |