On the morning of New Year’s Day more than 60 devotees gathered at the Chinmaya Dham to meditate on the 1000 names of Lord Vishnu in the presence of Swami Swaroopananda. The atmosphere was festive and yet quietly reverent. The ritual began and finished with devotional singing which allowed our minds to ascend to the spheres of the divine. After the beginning of the puja ten devotees took turn in chanting the 1000 names. As Swami Chinmayananda writes in his commentary on Vishnu Saharsranama “...these thousand names of Vishnu provide us with thousand clear arrow-marks rising from the known, indicating the unknown. Contemplation upon these can deepen our faith in, broaden our devotion to and steel our understanding of the All-Pervading Reality (Vishnu).”

We were given directions to offer our love or to surrender our negative thoughts to Lord Vishnu while repeating the symbolical sounds of Vishnu’s names. For someone who was brought up in the Christian tradition, this monogamous expression of the name of the Lord and the practice to offer not only our love but also our negativities made me surrender in awe at the compassion and strength of the Deity. The offerings each devotee made came straight from the heart with a hand gesture or a gesture accompanied by the gifts of flowers and rice. As the chanting of the 1000 names progressed, the mental focus and the repetitiveness of the physical movement purified and elevated our hearts.

In this way the New Year began with the most sattvic practice and dedication. At the end of the puja Swami Swaroopananda spoke of transformation and how our measure for a successful year should be the amount of inner transformation we have mastered during that year. He stated that a new year was in fact a new year only when there was transformation on this level. With these words Swamiji made us remember our most important purpose in life and encouraged us to increase our devotion, service, sadhanas, meditation and the sharing of love with others.

Thousand Ways to the Transcendental: Vishnu Sahasranaama is available from the book store for further reading and contemplation.