Peeeeaaace…be with you: Japa Walk during Easter

The Easter Days were very full, intense and many transformations and inner little “resurrections” took place in many of the devotees who visited Shree Peetha Nilaya (SPN).

Besides the church ceremonies there were also a couple of additional activities scheduled and many visitors took advantage of this possibility. One of them was an introduction into the mantra project (a simple but powerful forty day sadhana practise that hundreds of people have completed since it was launched not long ago) with a subsequent one hour japa walk around the ashram (called “parikrama”, a circumambulation).

Two dozen people participated in the japa walk, and the reactions were very positive. Some even had a kind of “high”, an ecstatic experience.

The parikrama is done in silence, and much slower than a normal walk. This makes it a meditative experience. All of the sudden you notice the details of what is hidden in nature. Everything slows down and turns into a soothing movie that presents you the beauty of life. You notice and enjoy captivating flowers, beautiful butterflies, and enchanting bird sounds in a way that you wouldn’t if you walked faster. And most importantly, it connects you to the core of the mantra itself, God inside of you and everywhere around you. There is a special way to chant the mantra that connects it with the rhythm of walking. All this and more is explained in the introduction. 

So next you come to visit SPN, feel free to join in, it is fun and inspiring! :) 

Parikrama Path Around Shree Peetha Nilaya

According to legend, this "Parikrama" began when Shiva was with his two sons Ganesha and Muruga. He asked them to circumnavigate the universe once to get worldly knowledge. 

Muruga took off, riding on his peacock, and went the long way around the whole universe. Ganesha just went around His Father and justified this by saying that the entire universe was contained in His Father. 

This is the legend where the practice of walking around statues, Tulsi plants, temples, etc comes from.

Here is the route around the center.
Start and end is the small Kali temple at the entrance.

Swami Vijaya had the idea to walk around the center - now we do it and it creates a lot of joy! For some time, we started here to make "Japa walks". We recite quietly "Om Namo Narayanaya" to the rhythm of our steps during a walk. 

In between events or appointments, just take 15 minutes off and take a small walk around the spiritual center.

It is important that you stop at the same point where you started the way and that one goes in the right direction, which is clockwise (which you can see in the picture above).