Namaste Beautiful Souls 🙏🏼
When we are born, we are given a birth name by our parents. A name we are usually given before our parents have met us, a name that they like or many say "she looked like a Lisa", but not necessary a name that matches our souls. When we get a spiritual name, it’s given to us by our Guru and it matches our souls. What we carry, what you can bring into the world. The name then become our Guru Mantra, a mantra and a name we repeat to remind ourselves of your Guru and what you can bring to this world.
When I arrived in my AshramI couldn’t pronounce half of the names of the new people I’ve met, and I’m bad at remembering “normal” names. Radheshyam, Prikashni and many more beautiful, different names. It took a couple of weeks until I realised that they were spiritual names. Radheshyam’s birth name was Michael and Prikashni’s birth name was Abbey. They explained to me that Vishva-ji, our Guru, sometimes gets a downloaded spiritual name from the Universe, usually this happens in a dream. The last week in the Ashram, I had a dream where I asked if Guru-ji wanted to give me my spiritual name. In the dream, he answered “I would love to”. The following day when I told him about it, he said “Yes, your spiritual name came to me a couple of days ago and you will get your name on the 25th of March”.
I didn’t know why I was going to receive it on the 25th of March but wen the day arrived I was speechless. In some parts of India, Rishikesh included, the 25th of March is like New Years. It really felt like a rebirth and a new beginning. In the morning at our Fire Puja Ritual, I got my beautiful spiritual name. My Spiritual name is Santoshi Jot - Light of contentment. Vishva-ji had written a card with my name and next to my name it said “Share this illumination with the world.”.
If you have studied the wisdom of Yoga you are probably familiar with the Niyamas, Patanjali’s eight limbs of Yoga, where Santosha means Contentment. Santoshi is the goddess form of this Niyama, the goddess of contentment.
“Santoshi is referred as the goddess of satisfaction. She is the daughter of Lord Ganesh. She accepts all the sorrows, problems and ill fate of all her devotees and blesses them with prosperity and happiness. She is treated as the most calm, soft, pure and kind form of Goddess Durga. She is sitting on lotus which signifies that even in this world which is full of selfishness, rudeness and corruption goddess of satisfaction is still present in her devotee’s hearts. She resides on the lotus which is blossoming in the sea filled with milk which is a symbol of her purity signifying that where there is purity of heart and dedication there we will have our mother of satisfaction.
As it’s a general saying that if we will eat sweet things then our words will be as sweet as sugar, in the same manner Santoshi refrains all the sour things and symbolizes her devotes that by avoiding the sour things which are wrongs acts they can achieve the complete purity, happiness and satisfaction in their hearts. Santoshi is the most beautiful and lovable goddess who is always ready for blessing her followers and looking at her statue all the devotees forget their problems and feel as if they are lost in her beauty and calmness. Santoshi is worshiped on Friday and it is believed that people get all their wishes fulfilled by worshipping Goddess Santoshi by keeping 16 consecutive fasts and following the strict rule of refraining from all the sour eatables. So let’s always keep dedicating her efforts in her feet and she will always take us to the paths of complete solace as being our mother she knows what is best for us.”
Thank you for reading 💗
Santoshi