Saturday, April 10, 2010
Amarnath-The Lord always exists.
What is it , that you know always, that all the yogis always want to know?
Shiva-the fountainhead where paradoxes reconcile.
What is truly amazing about Shiva is his consistency in reconciling paradoxes.He's called the destroyer, yet His symbol ,the shivlinga denotes creation. He is a yogi par excellence, yet the doting householder, He is King of dance, yet His meditations are perfect stillness, He is lord of power, bestowing boons, yet owns hardly any personal possessions,
He is the auspicious one, yet attended on by the most terrible elementals (Bhutas ), He is Adi the timeless one, yet Sadavasantam, the evergreen.....- is Shiva yet another name for consciousness? or is there a yogi who goes by that name?
or .....
both?
What personally attracts me to Shiva's manner is the inclusiveness, nothing is apart from Him...music,dance,
buddies, mysticism,
family, ascetisism,
frolic, intoxication,
serenity, rejuvenation,
and so on, Shiva seems to me to be the perfect pointer to the oneness that we all really are..! Shiva is comparable to Yoga, and Kundalini, which are inherent in all and not limited to the domain of this or that dogma, actually transcending even religion..
Now He wants to play out with what is possible to do..He is God, so He wants to know what all can be done with His Godhood.
The Upanishads say,"In the beginning was the ONE, he thought, may i be two, may i be many"
In Shaivism, this is called the "Pratham spanda", first stirring..
God knowing Himself, and then wanting to pour out...
this outpour is not like a logician, more like an artist....
Here comes the interesting part, When God is all, all is God,and God wants to create out of Himself, well, then everything will be known to everything..
so, He FIRST creates forgetfullness, he ensures that he forgets who he is..
Now, you see, he is ready to play out hide and seek with himself..
this is akin to a king surveying his kingdom in the garb of an ordinary person..
except here, the King actually forget's who's The King, and looks for the King with intensity..
he becomes the seeker,being actually, the sought.
that He is the worshipper, is but a thought.
Why I love Kashmir Shaivism
This was a talk given by me in the third International seminar on Kashmir Shaivism, held as part of Swami Lakshman Joo's birth centenary celebrations.
Salutations to swamiji,
who are omnipresent, and therefore with us in this very hall...
to the organisers of the ishber trust,honoured delegates, and all you beautiful people gathered here today. Kashmir shaivism, these are not two words for me. Kashmir is shiva, and whenever the word shiva is sounded, images of kashmir come rushing to my mind. i love kashmir, and its people, and that is why it is a great privelege for me to be with you and tell you why i love kashmir shaivism.
WHY I LOVE KASHMIR SHAIVISM
The ability to think is what makes man stand at the crest of all creation.
And man used this ability in two ways. He observed the world around him,
And kept records of his discoveries and these records became studies for further thinking, giving way to the circle of inventions and more discovery.
In India,from time immemorial, there appeared great thinkers,who came to understand
that though this cycle of outward discovery was fascinating,as well as rewarding,
it, however, was endless,as the Universe itself was too large. They became keen to know who they themselves were, what was their purpose in life, who had created life, and why? Whether there was a higher power that governed this immaculate Universe? They used the second ability of thought and shifted their focus to man himself. They began to develop an “inward thinking”.Some of these rare individuals discovered that there is a faculty greater even than thinking and rationalizing,the higher knowledge that comes by intuition. Intuitively, they began understanding various phenomenon about not only themselves, but the entire cosmos.They became keen to enhance this subtle way of knowing ,and with interiorized eyes ,they started developing systems of yoking themselves to the intuitive state by will.They were the yogis, and their yogas were what we now call meditation.When the most determined of these meditators dwelled on the inner Self with unwavering awareness, they reached the very core of life itself, this core was beyond mind, beyond even flashes of intuition, it was a state of being .In this state the knower, the knowing and the known all became one.The seer , the seeing and the seen became one.This non dual state of oneness,in which the whole universe , all of creation, was actually felt within one’s own Self was obviously a state of tremendous bliss and it came to be called Samadhi, and its expression was Cid ananda, bliss of the Self.
When one arose from this Samadhi, one was back to the outside world as before,but with the massive transformation of knowing that all is one. And this phenomenon of having been in that state of Oneness was termed as Darsana. The possessors of Darsana, were called the Dristas, the seers or the Rsis. Even from the Everests of their spiritual attainments,out of their compassion the Rsis gave pointers for others of the outside world of Samadhi, so that they too may realize it for themselves. So Cidananda, or the meditative climax of finding that the whole universe was, in fact within one’s Self was thought to be man’s greatest achievement in the inner journey, the greatest blessing that divinity could give by revealing itself.
But, the rsis of Kashmir wanted to pursue even the state of Samadhi more.They were not
content with just cid ananda,of being blissed only during Samadhi. Perhaps it was the greater design of divinity itself,that the rsi of Kashmir could not ignore his beautiful outer landscape for even the divine mountains within.And he began to seek for even greater blessing,working dexterously on harmonizing the two beatitudes.
And this, to me, was the real advent of Kashmir shaivism,given to us by Vasugupt, Utpala, Somananda, Abhinava, Lalleshwari and of course, Swamiji, they were all adept yogis,they were siddhas, and yet they retained their tremendous love for the manifest beauty of Kashmir.
‘Kashmira parvati paroksh, tat swami ch Maheshwara”, my favourite aphorism from the Puranas of Kashmir, quoted even by Kalhana, emboldens me to suggest that even Lord Shiva wanted us to subscribe to this harmony of both the inner and outer divinity.
And as this Darsana matured, the outstanding feature that started developing was its pragmatism.The love for the reality of the Jagat made our founding spiritual fathers
work tirelessly to uphold all of life in the world.They redefined renunciation, they did not want for us to leave our homes, they wanted us to renounce the sense of duality with god.They did not advocate monkhood,though in their task, they may have had to go on long hours, days, even lifetimes of retreat, the fruit which they wanted to give us from their amri trees, was for us to see God everywhere, in everything.They started leading us from Cidananda, to Jagadananda, bliss of the world. I am sure that in their days they loved their baaghs ,the shikaras in their ferrylanes,the dainty embroideries on their phirens,the warmth of the kangris,the singing alongside with the chinars with the tumbak naris and the santoors,all was Shiva! So too, our children are engrained with divinity and pragmatism, it is in their DNA !They are a proud people renowned for their efficiency in work,their amiable and warm natures and customs .Only the outer times change, our children can move in their motorbikes and cars, go to gyms, pursue great professions and aspirations, go anywhere, and still see Shiva,in the temples, or in the discotheques,He is everywhere, and the ability to see it like this is the essence of Kashmir shaiv Darsana.
The ability of confluencing the two abilities of outward thinking and inner intuition, the ability to harmonise caring for outer beauty and inner divinity, the ability to perfect working efficiency and inner surety. This is Kashmir shaivism. This is our great inheritance, And I entreat all of you to learn our Darsana for ourselves. When and where does one begin to learn? When the mind is resolved,now is always the best time.And, as many great teachers will be giving out beautiful facets of the darsana, this right here, is a great place to begin!
For my part, I will just try to give you a very basic idea of how rich and supportive of pragmatism some of the advanced ancient Kashmir shaiv texts are.
In the Vijnanbhairava,which loosely translated would mean the applied knowledge of Lord Shiva,the Devi asks the lord to teach some methods that will help an aspirant reach high levels of shivahood for himself.Now shivji comes out with 112 yoga dharanas, which can be practised.Its wonderful to note, that not all the yogas are of the same grade, but they all lead to the same summit.And Shiva has been thoughtful enough to prescribe so many different methods to tune into the higher frequency of vibrant divinity.
Do you remember, when, as children,or sometimes, even accompanying our children to a magic show, we used to be amazed at the conjurer’s tricks,say of making things disappear or appear? While most spiritual systems may tend to rubbish this as hoax, lord shiva is far kinder,and in his advanced meditative technology, tells us, to mature that amazement (vismaya) which you feel at the show of magic, into a meditation, make it a bhumika (base) for yoga .For those of you who love music, the sadavasantam(evergreen) shiva says, that anand (ecstasy) you feel while listening to, or humming alongside your favourite tune, let that ecstasy lead you to know that it is your right as shiva to be happy,
Not even your right, this is your actual nature, you only have to re-cognize it, pratya bjna.
He goes on to say that even the literally hair raising arousal we get when we see our favourite land,Des Dristi, or when we are reminded of our excellent preceptors, the para patras, as many of Swamiji’s devotees would be feeling during this celebration,know that to be the oneness with Shiva himself.Whether even it is the eating of good food,(which is of course another great inheritance) the delight that one gets ,know that to be the delight of Shiva enjoying his own creation.
I will repeat that, Shiva enjoying his own creation, this is the essence of Kashmir shaivism ! Kashmir shaiv tells you in the most direct of words,that you are the God you looked for,you, are Shiva! You are Shiva every moment, even if you don’t know it, and it helps you only to re-cognise, that you are and have always been Shiva, because, All is Shiva.And this is why I love Kashmir shaiv. It is by design that Kashmir Shaiv speaks of so many things which can be delighted in our own culture,as pathways to divinity, to abiding happiness,provided, of course, we do everything with the remembrance of our shivahood.When every act has become a ritual dedicated to the divinity that abounds everywhere, And then the Lord says
Yatra yatra manas tustir, manas tatra aiv dharayet,
Tatra tatra parananda svarupam samparvartate
A yogi should fix his mind on any phenomenon that brings delight,
Because the repose in delight is the nature of the lord.
But to ensure that we are bonafide yogis and not self deceiving bhogis,we will have to begin where we began, to make sure that we end where our normal state becomes
a flow of divinity, we must train as yogis with the introverted, meditative eye.
For these sections of the Vijnanbhairava that I have chosen are only to illustrate how a matured yogi can reach the level when all is yoga,so if you can already do that, great! It means you have strong anugraha already,you may take the high path, but even if you cant straightaway do that, your Guru will tell you which Upaya suits your present disposition,
And lead you up the same mountain of Mahadev where the sutra’s of Shiva are revealed by Shiva, for Shiva to know that He, in fact, is Shiva!! This is why I love Kashmir shaiv I love and live it , and again entreat upon you to know it for yourself, and then, like good shaivites, share it with those who devotedly wish to learn.
To end, I would like to recite a poem written in reverence of Lalleshwari, Lalded or even Lal didi as I heard someone call her.
LALLI
Sang Lalli in Kashmir
Take heed!
Enchanting is paradise,
And you forget,
To look,
For HE who hides.
Even through the brilliant guise,HE is everywhere!
But sits where you wont seek
Such is the player!
Such is the player,
That doubt will cloud the peak
Here? In my own bosom?
Aah how could that be?
O Lalli Lalli!
Don’t you know,
That HE is you
And you
Are HE
~ Shail Gulhati is the author of
SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.
Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam -Heart of Recognition
Svacchanda Nath ( Shiva Mahadeva, Kashmir Shaivism )
Now is expounded the Pratyabhijnahrdayam
प्रत्यभिज्ञाहृदयम्
Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam
-Heart (hṛdayam) of Recognition (pratyabhijñā)-
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The Pratyabhijnahrdyam prepared by Ksemaraja, the disciple of Abhinavagupta, serves as a digest to the prtyabhijna philosophy of Self Re-cognition in the Kashmir Shaiv Darsana.The following texts have been taken from Shri Jaideva singh's translation.
My friend Randhir bhan has painstakingly and with thorough devotion , given the sutras in sanskrit. At most places, i have added a few of my notes.
चितिः स्वतन्त्रा विश्वसिद्धिहेतुः॥१॥
Citiḥ svatantrā viśvasiddhihetuḥ||1||
1) Citih, which is absolute consciousness, (and latent with power to do),
by its own free will (svatantrya/independence), is the cause of manifestation, preservation, and again re absorption or withdrawal of the Universe into itself also called dissolution.
This is a description of Godhead, and before time and space are created, it alone is, in itself. It is Citih, or Para Samvit , perfect Prakasa Vimarsa ,it is all knowing, omniscient, and all powerful, omnipotent.
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स्वेच्छया स्वभित्तौ विश्वमुन्मीलयति॥२॥
Svecchayā svabhittau viśvamunmīlayati||2||
2) By Her own power, she unfolds the Universe on her own screen.
This is a direct statement on the understanding of Kashmir Shaivism, that God is both the efficient, as well as material cause of the Universe, that is to say, He creates out of his own will, on his own self, there is no extraneous material, and even the analogy of the potter and the pot of clay, fails here, since the potter emanates or projects out of himself, not out of clay.
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तन्नानानुरूपग्राह्यग्राहकभेदात्॥३॥
Tannānānurūpagrāhyagrāhakabhedāt||3||
3) That Universe, so unfolded, is manifold , consisting of many subjects, who are objects for the others in reciprocal differentiation.
The potter was one, the projector was one, but the pots are many, the projection features many. The various projections, though coming from the same source, and thus essentially the same, are different from the other, like one is a conical pot, the other rounded the third triangular and so on. When they view the other as an object, they see others as different from themselves, and therefore begin to be more difference than identity. Spiritually, this means that the manifold creation gets adapted to each other as subject and object in a reciprocal manner, in my perception you are my object, but in yours, I am an object, you are the subject that views me. Or, simply, that even though we are all essentially the same, but still no two people are alike. Thus, the identity of the oneness of Citih has been veiled (vilaya).
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चितिसङ्कोचात्मा चेतनोऽपि सङ्कुचितविश्वमयः॥४॥
Citisaṅkocātmā cetano'pi saṅkucitaviśvamayaḥ||4||
4) (But) even while he has been reduced to such individual experients,
each individual has the Citi contracted within him, as Citta.
So even while each Experient finds himself limited from birth, and/or limits himself in life, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have the primal consciousness in him, he always does ,albeit in a contracted manner. The fact is, one cannot survive without the Citi, that gone, the body would be lifeless.
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चितिरेव चेतनपदावरूढा चेत्यसङ्कोचिनी चित्तम्॥५॥
Citireva cetanapadādavarūḍhā cetyasaṅkocinī cittam||5||
5) Thus does Citi contract itself in conformity to the object of consciousness, Cetaya.
Such that in the high Experient of Sadashiva, there is predominance of Prakasa Vimarasa, that is, light (pure knowledge)
and power (the power of knowledge knowing itself),
but in the Pasu (a soul bound by ignorance of its divine nature, using its ability as a human, and thus akin to a lower species of animal)
there is predominance of the contraction, and therefore great dullness.
By Dhyana(contemplation, meditation) one may loosen the contraction and advance to a higher stage.
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तन्मयो मायाप्रमाता॥६॥
Tanmayo māyāpramātā||6||
6) Even the Mayapramata, highly deluded being, consists of Citta.
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स चैको द्विरूपस्त्रिमयश्चतुरात्मा सप्तपञ्चकस्वभावः॥७॥
Sa caiko dvirūpastrimayaścaturātmā saptapañcakasvabhāvaḥ||7||
7) And thus, though He is one, he becomes two, three, and many.
As is said in the Taittiriya Upanishad, for Brahman as source of all, he desired, may I be many, may I be born!
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तद्भूमिकाः सर्वदर्शनस्थितयः॥८॥
Tadbhūmikāḥ sarvadarśanasthitayaḥ||8||
8) Thus too, it becomes easier to understand the positions of various systems of philosophy. They are only various reaches of that consciousness of Self.
Like the Hill and the climbers, each successively exalted Darsana is like the climber who has already traversed the path and is now on top, he can see Panoramically (wholly) at what stage the other is, but not vice versa.
Thus a Carvaka, or gross materialist, will tell the believer of soul,
'show me your soul', let me test it, and so on ,and the spiritualist will insist, that everything that is transient, is more like a dream, less of a reality. Swami Vivekananda, said they both think that the other is a dreamer!
And, in all honesty, at all times, no one Darsana deliberated misleading; they actually spoke of the vision, as they saw, much like only one who has seen the moon in its entire phases, will know the truth that it is always full, it only appears to wax and wane. The man who has only seen a crescent, will find it difficult to talk of a full moon, and vice versa.
So too, the non dualism of Kashmir Shaiv is Paradvait, Dvait and Advait both. Thus Shiva spoke of the dual as well as non dual Tantras.
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चिद्वत्तच्छक्तिसङ्कोचान्मलावृतः संसारी॥९॥
Cidvattacchaktisaṅkocānmalāvṛtaḥ saṁsārī||9||
9) Consequently, highest Shiva who's reality, is all consciousness ,because of such limitation of his own Sakti, becomes a mala (dross) covered Samsarin.
The travelling soul is covered with Mala because of constriction of His power(Sakti).
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तथापि तद्वत्पञ्चकृत्यानि करोति॥१०॥
Tathāpi tadvatpañcakṛtyāni karoti||10||
10) For even in the limited state of Jiva, Shiva does retain the five acts, in a limited way, and it is all his perception of what happens as :
· Sristi (projection),
· Sthiti (maintenance or preservation),
· Samhara (dissolution or re -absorption back to the pristine),
· Vilaya ( veiling of the divine nature by Malas) ,and
· Anugraha ( revelation of the divine by grace).
There may be a cat, but for you it comes into existence when you see it, so you give it its Sristi (creation) in your world. If you were to close your eyes, the cat would still be in the world, but not in your world for then. if you remember the cat you are preserving it , maintaining it by memory. and so on. therefore, in a limited way you are still playing Shiva
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आभासनरक्तिविमर्शनबीजावस्थापनविलापनतस्तानि॥११॥
Ābhāsanaraktivimarśanabījāvasthāpanavilāpanatastāni||11||
11) And so on you go, manifesting, relishing, experiencing, dissolving etc
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तदपरिज्ञाने स्वशक्तिभिर्व्यामोहितता संसारित्वम्॥१२॥
Tadaparijñāne svaśaktibhirvyāmohitatā saṁsāritvam||12||
12) To be a samsari means to be deluded by one's own power , because of ignorance of such authorship of the fivefold act. Samsari aka traveling soul is bewildered and infatuated by his own powers as ignorance leads him into delusions.
Since this power of delusion or concealment is Vilaya, obscuration or
forgetfulness of one's divine nature, one should understand that the very recognition that one is deluded, marks Anugraha, grace, and the process of re-cognition of one's (lost) nature begins.
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तत्परिज्ञाने चित्तमेवान्तर्मुखीभावेन चेतनापदाध्यारोहाच्चितिः॥१३॥
Tatparijñāne cittamevāntarmukhībhāvena cetanāpadādhyārohāccitiḥ||13||
13) And as the process ripens, through Sadhanas and methods ,acquiring the full knowledge of the five fold act accrues, and Citta expands from its contracted form to become Citti itself.
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चितिवह्निरवरोहपदे छन्नोऽपि मात्रया मेयेन्धनं प्लुष्यति॥१४॥
Citivahniravarohapade channo'pi mātrayā meyendhanaṁ pluṣyati||14||
14) It can be seen that the fire of citti, keeps burning the fuel of the known objects.
Citti is ever at work! taking you back to your pristine consciousness. but you may accelerate this, by roasting, as they say, the chestnut over and over again..! The fuel is partially consumed by the fire of Citti though its still delusional and is in inferior stage.
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बललाभे विश्वमात्मसात्करोति॥१५॥
Balalābhe viśvamātmasātkaroti||15||
15) In the re -assertion of that power, it, through the aspirant, accomplishing the prasara, or outgoing (expansion) of the divine senses,
comes to fulfillment ,such that it makes the entire universe its own by assimilation.
Ballabbhe vishvaatmasatkaroti, the world is the same as your pristine SELF. That is, he assimilates universe to himself.
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चिदानन्दलाभे देहादिषु चेत्यमानेष्वपि चिदैकात्म्यप्रतिपत्तिदार्ढ्यं जीवन्मुक्तिः॥१६॥
cidānandalābhe dehādiṣu cetyamāneṣvapi cidaikātmyapratipattidārḍhyaṁ jīvanmuktiḥ||16||
16) Liberation while one retains his physical body.
When this bliss of cit is attained, there accrues a lasting acquisition (a stability) of identity with cit, even while having the body, and this is jivanmukti.
This means that one does not have do die, or lose the physical body, to attain to the subtler realms and consciousness itself, the great promise is to attain to the essence here, in this body, and be free from the delusion of life as one earlier thought it to be. Indeed , the reverse seems to be true, if you die without knowing God while alive, there's little chance, you'll come back to birth , knowing him .
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मध्यविकासाच्चिदानन्दलाभः॥१७॥
Madhyavikāsāccidānandalābhaḥ||17||
17) By the sustained development of this centre(of consciousness) ,by the sustenance of this stability on Samvit itself, there is lasting of the bliss.
Now this seems like a repetition, but Shaiv Darsana has the understanding of Vipula, the thickening of that stability on centeredness. Like an actor who goes over his lines over and over, who gets used to playing the role of king, becomes natural about it. while Advait Vedanta goals "Sat Chit Ananda", consciousness, blissed at knowing itself as the ultimate,Kash Shaiv exhorts to reach Cid Ananda Ghana, consciousness blissed thickly, densely! like a forest of bliss consciousness! after having scaled the ultimate truth that doesnt change. ( So Sat,is understood, to be present in the statement...Sat Chid Ananda Ghana!)
Even in traditional yogi literature, once one reaches Sahasrara, the crown chakra (in the human body at the place over the head ,
in geography, Kailash..and so on), by definition itself, the lotus of thousand petals opens,
here thousand denotes Anant, infinite...The Vedantic realization, is called Atma Vyapti, and the thickened Ghana, Vipula, Shaivic goal , is Shiva Vyapti.
One who has Atma Vyapti, has full knowledge of the self, but lacks the powers, while one who has Shiva Vyapti, gets the dynamics also.
The lesser realization is about pure being, the higher realization is about being and becoming, both.
To repeat, again, Prakasa, and prakasavimarsa both, Advait, or Paradvait.
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विकल्पक्षयशक्तिसख़ोचविकासवाहच्छेदद्यन्तकोटिनिभालनादय इहोपायाः॥१८॥
Vikalpakṣayaśaktisaṅkocavikāsavāhacchedadyantakoṭinibhālanādaya ihopāyāḥ||18||
18) For the development : Upayas are given for dissolving all thoughts, constriction and unveiling of power.
At this point the Pratyabhijna gives a few means beginning with sukhopaya, or anupaya, which cannot be taught,and then gives a few other methods, as sadhanas to reach at one ment with Shiva. Since the methods may be found in the successive upayas, it is better to get versed with the Upayas for detail.
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समाधिसंस्कारवति व्युत्थाने भूयो भूयश्चिदैक्यामर्शान्नित्योदितसमाधिलाभः॥१९॥
Samādhisaṁskāravati vyutthāne bhūyo bhūyaścidaikyāmarśānnityoditasamādhilābhaḥ||19||
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19) By reflecting upon the Oneness with Cit experienced in samadhi, there is the lasting bliss even in vyutthana.
Samadhi is to go into the deepest meditation, and merge with pristine consciousness. Vyuthana is when you arise from that Samadhi.
Samadhi passes on its effects to Vyutthana,
and Kashmir shaivism says that by constant reflection on that Oneness with cit, as experienced in samadhi,
we are lead to a permanent state of samadhi, even while not in meditation.
You may call samadhi 'being in meditation', and vyutthana 'meditation in being'.
Such alternation of swinging between the actual inner state of smadhi, and the externalised reflection over it, is called Krama mudra.
Regular practice of this inner-outer swing, of krama leads to the permanent state of Bhairava avastha,
which is to simply know, that inner or outer..all is siva.
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तदा प्रकाशानन्दसारमहामन्त्रवीर्यात्मकपूर्णाहन्तावेशात्सदा सर्वसर्गसंहारकारिनिजसंविद्देवताचक्रेश्वरताप्राप्तिर्भवतीति शिवम्॥२०॥
Tadā prakāśānandasāramahāmantravīryātmakapūrṇāhantāveśātsadā
sarvasargasaṁhārakārinijasaṁviddevatācakreśvaratāprāptirbhavatīti śivam||20||
20) By attainment of such krama mudra and bhairava,as a result of entering into the perfect I -consciousness or Self,
which is in essence Cit and ananda and also of the nature of power of the great mantra,there accrues Lordship over the group of the deities of consciousness that bring about all emanation and re absprbtion of the Universe.All is the nature of Siva.
When one is completely established in Siva consciousness in Samadhi and Vyutthan,One gains Lordship over every power of emanation and re absorbtion that arises from consciousness,because, all is the nature of Siva.
~ Shail Gulhati Author of SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
Shakti-God as Mother!
And it is Universal , whether it is the ever growing numbers of yatris visting Ma Vaishno Devi in our own Jammu, or the establishing of Sri vidya centres down in Bangalore,where one can have puja's and homa's offered to the Devi in the same format as the ancient ways,
Whether it is Dan brown's extraordinary book ,The Da vinci Code, that sold millions of copies talking to people about Mary magdalene as a great force behind Jesus, or whether politicians in our country felt a few years back that it was finally time to honour a woman as the first man ( and i say this because till now we call our president Rashtra pati) ,
or even the comeback of witches in millions in the UK and USA , where once they were stoned and burned at mere accusation, their incantations and mysterious diagramatic rituals now vindicated, with even The Oxford University actually offering a course in witchcraft, or whether even Harry potter makes his entry into our heart, learning magic from sorcerer’s who had profound respect for, and knowledge of , the mysterious power that is latent in the world…
All this is only a re -assertion of Mankind's oldest form of worship to God as mother.
For what really is mother worship?The mother is one who gives us life by deliverance,and then stands by our sides to grow us up every moment,from feeding and nurturing,educating and teaching us how to go about in this world, and this is true not only of all cultures of the human race,but also of birds and animals….so too, the wise people of old times noted that there must be a cosmic mother, One , who delivers the whole universe from its womb.
And in this concept,she goes by different names in different cultures ,but is almost always present in the older civilizations and native tribes of the old world .
In India, where we have always been especially privileged when it comes to spiritual inheritance,
being comfortable with Shakti, the feminine aspect of God,comes naturally to us.
Notably in Hinduism , it in fact, is among the most outstanding features - no God is really complete without his consort, and we even take their names in pairs, Sita Ram, Radhe Shyam, Brahma Saraswati, and of course, Shiva Parvati.
And the consorts are not different from the gods, they are like the qualities of the God himself, like fire and heat,sun and radiance,etc.
In modern mystic parlance, we talk in terms of being and becoming, this is important to note,
For Shiva is pure being
and Shakti is all becoming.
God is the transcendental pureness,and the manifest world is called simply ,Mother Nature .
Without shakti (His power to create), Shiva, they say, would be shava,inert as the corpse.
Shiva's Shakti is also His power to preserve, and finally to dissolve the world back into Himself.
And the old wise ones had noted not only the capacity of this universal power to create, but also to preserve, and ultimately to end all things that are born.
And even this end, they taught, was only an end from the separation from God, and rather than death, they liked to understand it as a return to the origin,a phenomenon they termed as dissolution.
Thus, mother worship, Shakti puja, in simplified terms, is a healthy respect for the created world, its running ,and ultimately the end of the life cycle of all things,and a second deliverance,after having co- operated with the divine intelligence that runs the world, a deliverance back to the origin.
Unlike its western counterparts, who for want of better understanding among the skeptical, got burnt as practitioners of some mysterious and occult ritual ,Seekers in India were actually respected for their profundity in their way of tribute and participation in the Divine Mother’s leela, play. This is because India has also been very rich in its iconography or symbolism of divine insight ,and as a result we had a fantastic array of portrayals of Durga in many of her different attributes,each represented by an elaborately worked out system of yantra(diagram) mantra(incantation), and of course, the very rich portrayal(iconography) that went alongwith it.
These are the ten Mahavidyas , known as Wisdom Goddesses. The spectrum of these ten goddesses covers the whole range of feminine divinity, encompassing horrific goddess's at one end, to the beautiful at the other. The Goddesses are:
Kali,Tara,Shodashi,Bhuvaneshvari,Chinnamasta,Bhairav
I quote from a legend “ Once during their numerous love games, things got out of hand between Shiva and Parvati. What had started in jest turned into a serious matter with an angry Shiva threatening to leave Parvati. No amount of cajoling by Parvati could reverse matters. Parvati then multiplied herself into ten different forms for each of the ten directions. Thus however hard Shiva might try to escape from his beloved, he would find her guarding all escape routes.
Each of the Devi's manifested forms made Shiva realize essential truths, made him aware of the eternal nature of their mutual love and significantly established in Indian thought the Goddess's superiority over her male counterpart. Not that Shiva in any way felt belittled by this awareness, only spiritually awakened.”
The central aim here is to stretch one's consciousness and go beyond the conventional social norms, roles, and expectations, and foray into the realm of truth for oneself.
And so we learned from the very beginning to honour the Devi in her different aspects , the different aspects of Nature: its beauty and benevolence as shodashi ,bhuvaneshwari and tara and we learnt also of her autumnal aspect ,her old age as dhumavati, as bhairavi, the destroyer, and of course, we respected her even in her terrible aspect! who is not familiar with Mahakali, and so,our ancients matured in shakti puja, leaving behind an immense legacy of spiritual gems..
The next time we read or hear about the Das Mahavidyas,ten major forms of the Devi, replete with her mantras and yantras, we can imbibe the process with a greater sense of belonging to a heritage that has matured to respect God in his powers, God, in motherhood, God as She looks after us all like a loving mother through each pleasure and pain of this wordly sojourn.
Jai Mata Di!
Shail Gulhati is The author of the boks :
SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.
Durga art by QK ARLENE
Each of the Devi's manifested forms made Shiva realize essential truths, made him aware of the eternal nature of their mutual love and significantly established in Indian thought the Goddess's superiority over her male counterpart. Not that Shiva in any way felt belittled by this awareness, only spiritually awakened.”
The central aim here is to stretch one's consciousness and go beyond the conventional social norms, roles, and expectations, and foray into the realm of truth for oneself.
And so we learned from the very beginning to honour the Devi in her different aspects , the different aspects of Nature: its beauty and benevolence as shodashi ,bhuvaneshwari and tara and we learnt also of her autumnal aspect ,her old age as dhumavati, as bhairavi, the destroyer, and of course, we respected her even in her terrible aspect! who is not familiar with Mahakali, and so,our ancients matured in shakti puja, leaving behind an immense legacy of spiritual gems..
The next time we read or hear about the Das Mahavidyas,ten major forms of the Devi, replete with her mantras and yantras, we can imbibe the process with a greater sense of belonging to a heritage that has matured to respect God in his powers, God, in motherhood, God as She looks after us all like a loving mother through each pleasure and pain of this wordly sojourn.
Jai Mata Di!
Shail Gulhati is The author of the boks :
SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.
Durga art by QK ARLENE
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Behold the seated Yogi
Shiva seated in meditation is a very popular depiction,
that is a yantra in itself.
Yantras are diagramatic representations of states of consciousness.
Therefore, they help lift our consciousness to that state, by visual resonance, just like Mantras lift us using the power of sound.
Though they are geometric, and intricately worked out by adepts,
i prefer to 'see' Dhyanasta shiva, the meditative one,
as a great visual tool to uplift a seeker to the sought,
so, behold the seated yogi!
Even of the dhyanasta yogi, there are two versions,
in one, he has both palms on his lap, and eyes are closed,
in the deepest meditation.
In the other, the eyes are open, and the right hand is
raised, gesturing blessing.Obviously this second one is on 'awakening'
The gesture is prominent, it is called 'abhaya ',fear not.
Would it betoken that fearlessness is the foremost requisite in the path of meditation? is it like shiva is saying, been there done that, all's well,
may all be well with thee too!
His hair is definitely matty,
he's been around for a long time,do mats suggest eternity?
we spot the face of a lady , mat locked there ,
in the eternal hair.
It is Ganga,the river goddess.
Ganga, who once sat at the feet of God in heaven,
now descended to earth,
must surely know Godly esoterics,
has shiva embraced revelation ?!!
do yogis balance the torrent of divinity,
and then fountain it out for us?
He is seated on a tiger skin,
but didnt we say earlier he is seated in meditation?
is meditation then
just the skin
of the tiger
within?
there is a snake around his neck
looks like a cobra,
hail the king!
has the energy arisen
from its slumber
when the yogi went outside in?
He must surely like beads,
what a collection!
we think rudra aksh grow on trees,
some say they were tears of shiva,
does one feel so nostalgic
to actually cry in seeing old albums?
in samadhi, eternity is a moment,
a moment, and we're in eternity,
sometimes, one's own souvenirs
are a good thing to hang on by.
from science, we know
the moon is always full
but the crescent in the mat
does look cool
does shiva 'wear' such abstract adornment
to help clearly show
its only the way we 'see' that makes
One truth
grow
he's got a third eye
does it open dimension four?
on the forehead where
we have bindi ,tilak or another dot
he's got third eye
is this the symbol of centred?
the rider of the bull would know,
the timeless rodeo.
and then, there's a trident
the trisula,
shiva's rocket science is serial set in triads,
waking dream sleep
knowledge action will
future present past
above here below
and so on,you know!
shiva rocks,
but by holding ground,
the trisula is parked,
not flung around.
Originally, piercing
was
to make ears ring,
say the jogees
to,
unfurl a meditative wing.
and the Nath
IS the origin.
The damaru
his little drum
is many things
in one.
It is of course his beat to boot
to match with krishna's lilting flute
but tantrists say
its the triangles two
that signify
Him and Her,
(In Chinese ,yin and yang…
wei and wu.)
In repose, before creation,
Me and you.
Its an hourglass!
From top we slip down through
to
Land.
And time
Is to wait for the hand
To downside up again.
~ Shail Gulhati From the book Shiva Poetry
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