How Superpowers Manifest - Finding Devi's Crown

Devi Meenakshi at Shayamalapeetha Sarvajnapeetha - Madurai, India

Yesterday at the Temple we were looking for some keys. We looked in the usual places and when we couldn't find them, we tried other keys that we thought might work. Then I "removed" my mind from looking and instantly "saw" a picture of the puja set in the kitchen. I went to the puja set and there they were, the missing keys.

Finding things is one of my superpowers. Of course all moms inherently develop this superpower that goes on from morning till night, "Mom, I can't find my socks!  Where are the scissors? Who took my keys?" 

The Finding superpower that I was blessed with by Swamiji is magnified far beyond that. It's a power that happens when the third eye is open.  It's as if I am already there with the object and I just have to trust myself, open my eyes and see. This isn't always easy. Sometimes when I am "looking" I experience a swirling field of doubt where I feel there is nothing to hold onto and I don't know which way to go. If I can stay with that feeling, it settles, and what I needed to find is in front of me.

If you've ever been given a directive by Swamiji, that becomes one of your superpowers. When His gaze is on you and He speaks to you - the words He says are already a reality in the past, present and future. The directive that Swamiji gives gets instantly bolted into your bio-memory. Ma Durga just posted on Fb that she has recorded 75 videos in the past 5 years as directed by Swamiji. Making these videos has become one of her superpowers. Ma Sivananda was given a white towel that Swamiji was holding in His hand. When He handed her the towel, He said, "This is the Key". And directed her to build the Shiva Temple (Nithyanandeshwara Hindu Temple) in Columbus. This became her superpower. The first time it happened to me,  "Finding" was burned into me. 

---

In 2009 I spent two weeks in Los Angeles as a volunteer preparing for the opening of the Los Angeles Nithyananda Temple. Swamiji was physically present 100% of the time which can feel like you are around fire, and that fire, though wildly intense, produces miracle after miracle. His intensity keeps you moving, hopping, jumping, and transforming.

There were many supplies and materials being brought into the unfinished temple for the grand opening, and they were always being shifted as one room after another was transformed. It was sometimes a challenge to find the item that Swamiji wanted or what was needed in that moment. 

For the grand opening, we were put into teams, and each team was responsible for the alankar or dressing up of one of the magnificent new deities. This was part of the Prana Pratishta, or energization of the deities. Prior to the grand opening, we practiced the alankar as teams under Swamiji's supervision, over and over.  He used a stopwatch to train us to work fast, smoothly and silently. When we finally did the whole process from beginning to end, with no mistakes and under the timeline, He gifted us all with rudraksha earrings!

All of the deity items were being stored in one room in cardboard boxes, with the name of the deity written on the box. As Swamiji continually trained us on the alankar, we were constantly going to look for a needed item from the boxes. Sometimes we would go to the room, rushing to get a sari, or a jewel, only to find the room empty for painting. Then the search would be on to find the boxes, all under the intensity of it being done NOW! This system was only temporary as another team was setting up a large pooja storage area just as Swamiji wanted, with each deity having their own armoire and table for alankar items. This backstage pooja area was one of Swamiji's favorite places and many times He would just be sitting on the end of a table, with His legs crossed and swinging, back and forth, and enjoying. 

Naturally, friction arose within the team as the opening neared. Many times things were not done correctly or on time per Swamiji's instructions. The first team that I was on was experiencing some of this friction that came to a crescendo one day when Swamiji was working on the alankar for Mahalakshmi with all of us watching His instructions. The pearl crown was not among the other alankar items. Swamiji asked our team to go get the crown. When my team-mate went to get the crown, the box was gone. When you are under a direct request from Swamiji, it is intense like fire burning you, and she could not find the crown. When Swamiji questioned her, not knowing what to say, she burst out that I had moved the box, which wasn't true! Swamiji turned and looked at me and I will never forget that gaze. That was the moment the Finding energy was bolted into me.

Time stopped. I panicked. I felt accused of something I had not done. Years of shame came bubbling up as I relived many other times of being accused of things I had not done. I also did not know where the crown was. I was afraid Swamiji would not see the truth in me but would think I was a terrible person. I was suffused in shame. The world got floaty.  

I ran to the room where all the boxes of alankar items had been, and the room was completely empty! Everything had been moved out of the room! I ran looking for someone who would know where the alankar items had been moved to and could not find anyone. It became eerie how there were suddenly no people anywhere. I ran to one of the new pooja area armoires, and looked, and the crown was not there. I found a gold crown from another deity and took it to Swamiji.

Swamiji used every opportunity to teach us about Hinduism, history, Temples, transformation. He explained to all of us that it was the wrong crown, that this Devi had a pearl crown. Swamiji knew every item of inventory in that whole pooja storage area in his head! He sent me back. I ran to another storage room and looked through other deity boxes, thinking maybe the crown had been put back in the wrong place. 

Meanwhile, the tension was getting thicker as Swamiji wanted the crown immediately! He builds this intensity just to make us break out of our patterns. And this is where it gets mysterious. I went back again to the pooja area. It was if all the sound disappeared and I was the only one in the back pooja room. I turned down an aisle for the third time, and this time there was a single cardboard box in the middle of the aisle. It had not been there the other two times. My mind tried to make sense of where everyone had gone and where this box had come from. It had literally just manifested. There was no writing on the box. I walked up to the box in slow-mo and opened it and there was the pearl crown, the only item in the box. I took it to Swamiji. There was no fanfare. He just turned and put it on Devi. But I gained the world.

In that experience Swamiji bestowed so many gifts on me and my team-mates. Because I was accused, I had the opportunity to let Swamiji work on shame. I gained a confidence that He was with me, even when I feeling my most doubtful. He somehow conveyed His trust in me. He allowed my shame and fear to come to the surface so we could remove it. And lastly, my ability to find things became remarkable. 

It did take one thing. It takes putting yourself out there in spite of doubt and fear. I could have shrunk from Swamiji's gaze and not gone to look for the crown. I'm so glad I endured what seemed like an hour of my worst emotions while under Swamiji's gaze.

Many similar things have happened in our Ohio Temple. And soon we will be graced with Meenakshi Devi. Come and see her. See Her crown. Attend a session on manifesting powers. Allow Swamiji's gaze to fall on you in 2-way live darshan. The miracles are waiting to happen.