The Emergence of Sri Bhuvit
I am used to things unfolding in an inexplicable way, but every once in a while, something occurs that I cannot address with anything other than absolute surrender to the Mystery of life. On November 18th, 2018, something incredible happened, and I would like to share this beautiful moment with others in the hope that someone may find some value or inspiration in it.
In order for the full gravity of the situation to be appreciated, a little backstory would be helpful. At this time in my life, I was 42 years old. I had committed my life to God Consciousness a long while back and had found the INO in early 2016. I had been doing my daily practices and was “looking” for a lingam. I was working a full-time management job at a hotel, having been at that same job for almost 20 years, and often wondering what I was doing there. The day before the miraculous event, my partner of four years suddenly ended our relationship out of the blue. I was devastated. Most of my friends and family in the Seattle area had moved away, and I had yet to connect with the wonderful souls that bring so much love and joy into my life now. I felt so alone, and I was feeling so much pain and fear. My future was suddenly very uncertain. A particular pattern of mine in the past was to run away from the pain I was feeling. I would often fantasize about moving to India and becoming a renunciate. A good friend had told me of an apartment in India that had a large Shiva lingam in it, and the rent was very cheap. That morning, I had decided that I was going to buy a one-way ticket to India and renounce my life. The reality is, I was trying to run away from the pain again.
I went to work that morning as usual, with all of the sadness and fear weighing me down. About 9 a.m., I got a phone call from one of my best friends to check in on me. I went outside and started meandering around while speaking with him. I walked over randomly to a planter box in the back of an abandoned building near my place of employment. I was just talking and not really looking at anything in particular… When I glanced down, I noticed a green glow around the edge of a large rock poking out of the ground about 2 inches. I could tell immediately that, if the angle continued, it could be a Shiva lingam—not actually believing it would be one. The greenish-blue glow persisted, making me a bit disoriented, and I told my friend I would need to call him back. I hung up the phone and began digging. The rest of the details are a bit fuzzy in my memory now, but it is clear that I slowly unearthed a 36-pound Shiva lingam from an outdoor planter box behind the hotel. I could not, and still cannot, believe my eyes when I look at it. I wasn’t sure what to do. I did not want the karma of being a thief, but I could not, for the life of me, leave this lingam abandoned and unappreciated in the dirt behind a dumpster.
When I got it home, I cleaned it, oiled it, and sat in front of it. Although it was only 20 inches tall, it felt enormous—much larger than my body. It took weeks for my psyche to acclimate to its presence. The lingam arrived as a huge omen for me not to run away from that which I do not want to feel and helped me to better understand the Kleshas themselves.
Within the coming weeks, the lingam revealed its name as “Bhuvit” and an accompanying mantra. Sri Bhuvit also made it abundantly clear that it belongs to the INO and the Sampradaya, and it does not belong to me. I have enjoyed caring for him, and he is one of my best friends in this life. I hope one day to find him a good place to sit permanently. For now, he rests on a Yoni pedestal crafted by Sri Vijayanath and adorned by attendees of the 2024 INO mela.
Maybe someday, you will meet him.
OM,
Acharanath \l/