Hari Om and a warm welcome to all of you.
We have gathered here today for a special evening sadhana. Have you noticed how the weather is changing? The mornings are cooler. The sun is not so strong. There is freshness in the air. It is becoming pleasant. Do you know why all this is happening? No. Then let me tell you.
As you know the planets, the stars, the things in the air always move and change. Every time they change they create a different energy pattern. From today the nine planets are making a formation which creates energy that is good for sadhana and spiritual growth. And these nine planets will stay in this formation for nine days.
That is why in India we celebrate Navaratri for nine days during this time. Nav means nine and ratri means night. In the night it is dark and we cannot see anything. When there is light everything becomes clear. So in Navaratri, the energy helps us see better.
But what does it help us to see better? It helps us to see ourselves better. So that we can remove the darkness, the negative qualities from our life and bring light, the positive and pleasant qualities into our life.
In these nine nights three different types of energies are present, and at Ganga Darshan in our sadhana we dedicate three nights to each of the energies: goodness, prosperity and knowledge.
Swamiji says that our life is like a garden. To make this garden beautiful we first have to prepare the ground, remove the grass that has grown too tall and the weeds. In the first three days the energy that is there helps us to do just this. It is called iccha shakti or sankalpa shakti. In English it is called willpower. So today on the first day of the Navaratri sadhana think about the weeds in your life, pick one, and take a sankalpa to destroy it. The planets and the universe are helping you. Good luck for planting a beautiful garden.
Ashwin Navaratri 2015, Ganga Darshan, Munger