Aum avahitabyah sarvabhyo devatabyo namah
Nana vidha mahanaivedyam nivedayami
Yathasaktya samarpita mahanaivedyam
Kripaya Svikuru!
Aum! Salutations to all the Gods and devas present!
Because I am offering you my very best, in all sincerity and love, the essence of this
humble offering must be counted among the finest you have ever received. To the best of my
ability in the worship of you, I offer the sacred essence of this offering and humbly beg
that you receive it.
Namaste!
When my husband and I traveled to India to get married in a traditional ceremony, I wanted
to have my hands painted with henna as is traditional for Indian brides. At the time I was
not aware of the time, care, and divine inspiration that was required of this beautiful
and ancient art.
First, the artist had to have divine inspiration. Jay's poems and stories have been truly touched by God. It is what gives them a special flavor that makes the reader feel privileged to have discovered this rare gem. Second, the artist must have skill that comes from years of practice and dedication. Reading Gabriele's Editor's Message will show how many years Jay has been dedicated to his art. Third, the artist must have a means of displaying the art. I was honored when Jay and Gabriele asked me to work with them on a website that would enable more people to discover this treasure of words.
Going
back to the henna artist, I discovered just how easy she made it look to apply the
pattern, but how much work came afterwards to develop it into the beautiful red stain that
marked me as a bride. After the artist applied the cool henna, I had to sit with it for
four hours, applying regular treatments of lime juice and sugar. As I sat, I meditated on
my devotion to my husband and what it meant to be married. Soon the henna dried into a
hard black paste that was firmly cemented to my skin with dried sugar and juice. After
applying oil and scraping the paste off I revealed a faint, unimpressive orange
underneath. It was quite discouraging to find on ly a faint impression of what my mind
imagined. Only after I applied eucalyptus oil and a little faith did the full color come
out eight hours later, just in time for my husband to see how much I had prepared for this
day--just for him.
In the same way, Jay, Gabriele, and I have spent many hours of careful thought to the layout, organization, and appearance of these pages. As a self-taught user of HTML with a long way to go before I consider myself anything better than average, this WebPage was a personal challenge and a personal sadhana. I apologize for not being able to give Jay's words full justice. But what I have done, I have done from my heart as an offering, and I am presenting the best of my skills for God and for you, the reader. This page is constantly being updated and enhanced.
