Usually, you see me sitting on the stage, but today, I'd like to show you something
quite special.
In addition to our main altar here, we have another altar that's dedicated to our guru
parampara, our lineage of teachers.
The verse up at the top ends with vande guru-paramparam, I venerate our lineage of teachers, and it
describes the lineage - sadashiva-samarambham, beginning with Lord Shiva, Shankaracharaya-madhyamam,
with Shankaracharya in the middle, asmad acharya paryantam, and extending up to our present
generation of teachers.
This lineage revered because it's the source of the life-changing wisdom we receive from
the teachings of Advaita Vedanta, teachings that have been passed on through the ages
and continue to bless us today.
The top row of pictures traces the flow of that wisdom from ancient times to the present.
Each picture depicts a link in an unbroken chain that stretches out for thousands of
years.
In the Hindu tradition, God is worshiped in many forms, such as Lord Shiva.
And Lord Shiva himself is depicted in several ways, including the form on the far left known
as Dakshinamurti.
A well-known mythological story describes how Lord Shiva imparted the wisdom of the
Vedas to the rishis, the ancient sages.
He appeared in the form of a young teacher and sat at the foot of a banyan tree, facing
south.
The name Dakshinamurti literally means the South-facing form of God.
Symbolically, South represents ignorance and suffering.
Dakshinamurti faces South because he imparts the wisdom that can conquer ignorance and
suffering.
Sitting at his feet are the first four of the ancient rishis.
They face North, the direction that symbolizes moksha, liberation, enlightenment.
According to the story, Dakshinamurti taught them in silence, without saying anything at
all.
Why?
Because the wisdom to be imparted actually lies beyond the realm of words, thoughts,
and ideas.
So, in perfect silence, Dakshinamurti revealed his transcendent wisdom to the rishis, as
shown by the teaching gesture of his lower right hand.
That profound wisdom was passed down from one generation of rishis to the next for thousands
of years.
Among all those rishis, the most important is Rishi Vyasa.
Vyasa compiled all the teachings of the rishis into four books, the four Vedas.
He's also considered the author of the famous epic, Mahabharata, in which the sacred Bhagavad
Gita is found.
And, he's considered the author of all 18 Mahapuranas which are huge collections of
mythological stories.
Eventually, the wisdom of the rishis was taught throughout India by many great teachers, and
one of the greatest was Sri Shankaracharya.
Shankara is so highly regarded because of the clarity and power of his teachings.
He wrote many important works, including commentaries on the teachings of the rishis and on the
Bhagavad Gita.
His works gave form and structure to the tradition we now know as Advaita Vedanta.
Shankara's works remain the most widely studied texts on Advaita Vedanta to this very day.
He's shown here with his four main disciples, who themselves wrote brilliant works and passed
on all this wisdom to their disciples.
In this way, from teacher to student, from guru to shishya, those teachings were passed
on for many centuries, until they reached our modern generation of teachers, including
my own guru, Pujya Swami Dayananda.
Pujya Swamiji was a truly remarkable teacher.
For more than five decades, he taught tirelessly in India, in the US, and around the world.
He also established ashrams in India and in the US where he personally trained hundreds
of dedicated students, preparing them to be next generation of teachers.
The portraits below show the modern generation of teachers.
Pujya Swamiji was taught and initiated into sannyasa by Swami Chinmayananda, the founder
of the well-known Chinmaya Mission.
Years later, Pujya Swamiji was taught by Swami Tarananda, a great scholar of Vedanta and
Sanskrit.
Swami Chinmayananda himself was initiated by the famous Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh.
Then later, he was taught by Swami Tapovan, another great scholar of Vedanta and Sanskrit.
We begin every class by reciting this verse to venerate our guru Parampara.
And each year we celebrate all our teachers on the day of guru purnima by performing puja
here at this altar.
In these ways, we recognize the importance of the unbroken lineage through which we continue
to receive the teachings of Advaita Vedanta.