Lesson 104 – Dancing with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

How Does One Attend a Śiva Temple?

ŚLOKA 104
Approaching with deep reverence, we begin our worship with Gaṇeśa, circumambulate the temple and proceed to the main sanctum for pūjā. After receiving the sacraments, we sit quietly before taking our leave. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
With offerings in hand, leaving our shoes outside, we enter through the gopura, or temple tower, wash hands, feet and mouth, and seek blessings at Lord Gaṇeśa’s shrine. Next we follow the outer prakara, or hallway, clockwise around the mahāmaṇḍapa, central chambers. Inside we leave our worldly thoughts at the balipīṭha, or offering place, then prostrate before the dhvajastambha, temple flagpole, and worship Nandi, the sacred bull. Next we circumambulate the central sanctum, garbhagṛiha, usually three times, returning to its entrance for worship. During pūjā, we stand with hands folded or in añjali mudrā, though according to temple custom, it may be proper to sit quietly or sing devotional hymns. After the āratī, or waving of the camphor light before the Deity, we prostrate (ashṭāṅga praṇāma for men, and pañchāṅga praṇāma for women) and rise to receive the prasāda, accepting them in the right hand. We walk around the garbhagṛiha one final time before taking our leave. The Vedas affirm, “If a man first takes firm hold on faith and then offers his sacrifice, then in that man’s sacrifice both Gods and men place confidence.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 104 – Living with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

Inspiration Unbridled

I would like to tell you about one of my students and his experience with the discovery of the superconscious state of the mind. When I first met him, this young man told me that he wanted to be a composer, to write music. He wanted to compose more than anything else in the world. He had just graduated from a university with a degree in music, and he had learned all the accepted, intellectual rules for the composition of music. But he wasn’t entirely satisfied with being told how to compose according to certain mechanical laws. He wanted his music to flow through him without a thought. One day I said to him, “Sit over here at the piano and get in touch with your superconscious through diaphragmatic breathing. Now, find a chord with your right hand. Write it down. You are a composer aren’t you? You are a composer now, not fifty years from now. The superconscious mind that you are contacting works in the eternity of the moment, not tomorrow. Subconscious is yesterday, superconscious is immediate, now.” So he wrote down the chord that his fingers found. “Now write another chord,” I said, “and then another and then another.”

We finished a page of music with the right-hand staff, and I asked him, “What about the left hand? You don’t have a complete piece of music with only the top bars filled in. “Well,” he said, “I would have to work out the left hand according to what I have already written with the right hand.” “No you don’t,” I replied, “Let the superconscious work it out for you. Make your first chord with your left hand now, without referring to what your right hand has done.” He exclaimed that the sound of the two hands together might be terrible, but I insisted that he continue writing the chords with the left hand until the entire page was finished for both hands. When I asked him to play what he had written, he laughed and put his hands over his ears but obliged, “All right, if you insist….” “I do,” I said. He played what he had written. It was a difficult piece of music, but there was no discord whatsoever. I congratulated him, “Now you are a composer. You created that piece superconsciously, without consciously knowing how you put the tones together. But you had sufficient faith in yourself to do it. In the same way, you must always depend upon yourself in the eternity of the moment to be able to accomplish whatever you set out to do.”

The next day, he was right on time for his appointment, and he wanted me to help him compose from his superconscious again. “No,” I said, “I am not going to be a composing machine for you; you will have to find your inspiration from within. It is time you put your yoga laws into practice now and attain concentration and meditation.” He tried and he tried, but somehow his subconscious kept getting in the way. It told him he wasn’t a composer anymore. Then I realized that his present conditions were a little too easy, and he was finding too much security in the conscious mind. Since his next step was to stabilize himself as a composer and find the ability at will to create inspirationally, I sent him on a very difficult mission: to resolve the negative karmas in his subconscious that were blocking his superconsciousness. As his major tool, I gave him the mahā vāsanā daha tantra. I told him that he could not come back until he fulfilled all the conditions of the mission and began to compose again as he wished. He was reluctant, because he would have to leave all of his current friends for a time. But being a sincere and determined student, he went out and successfully fulfilled his mission. In the process, he had to suffer through all of the things in his subconscious mind that had been bothering him since he was a small boy. In doing so, he lifted many of the blocks that had been a part of his subconscious for years, until one day his higher faculties completely opened to him, and music poured through him almost as fast as he could write it down.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 104: WIDOWHOOD’S INNER OPPORTUNITY
Śiva’s devotees who are widows or widowers happily throw themselves into yoga practices. Though their loss is great, so too is their opportunity for religious service and the attainment of the highest spiritual goals. Aum.

Lesson 104 – Merging with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

Changing Your Circumstances

You change your own circumstances all the time, whether you know it or not. Even your mind is different today than it was a week ago. The various experiences you have brought to yourself have made it that way. The point to realize is that you can gain an intricate control of the various things that change in and about you. Lean the thoughts and feelings of your creation in the right direction, and discover how quickly your circumstances will change their direction. This is the secret of self-control. This is the practice of yoga. Try it, and lose the habit of concern, for concern is only a by-product of a part of the mind being out of control.

What does the world offer us but an opportunity for action? It is the reaction that we sometimes get surprised by. The circumstances of your life are either pushing you toward greater understanding, if you are aspiring to realize the real Self, or they are pushing you toward confusion, if you have a tendency to react animalistically, making the personal self predominant. When personal concerns become the most important things in life, you are bound to suffer under the emotion of resentment, and resentment is just a confused state of mind.

The unfortunate thing is, resentment tends to attract even more circumstances worthy of even more resentment. So don’t bother to resent, because you are only making yourself inferior to the person or the circumstance that you hold resentment for. That is right. Resentment, in all its heaviness, places your consciousness beneath that of the person you feel is imposing on you.

Be equal to whatever you meet! That is a better way to react to life. It is accomplished simply by meeting everything in understanding, by demanding understanding from within yourself. And if you feel that everything happening to you is a play of universal love and you are able to maintain that consciousness of universal love in yourself, then you are beyond the happenings of the world. Lifted in consciousness, you can see through and enjoy all the states of consciousness. The circumstances of your life will reflect this change.

Watch for those small incidents that imperceptibly get under your skin and create an eruption a few days later. Little things that do not contribute creatively to your life are an indication that there is some kind of subconscious disturbance that you have not resolved. Look your nature right in the face in meditation, without squirming, and you will discover what the little disturbances are, some issue over which you are rationalizing, a small resentment or worry that is keeping a part of your mind confused, and thus, necessarily, most of your circumstances confused.

Lesson 103 – Dancing with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

When Should One Attend the Temple?

ŚLOKA 103
We attend the temple to commune with God Śiva, Kārttikeya or Gaṇeśa at least once each week and additionally on auspicious days of the month, yearly festival days and on the holiest day of the year, Mahāśivarātri. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
Śaivites consider it most important to live near a Śiva temple, and we build one wherever we find ourselves in the world. This is a most meritorious act, earning blessings in this life and the next. Religious life centers around the temple. It is here, in God’s home, that we nurture our relationship with the Divine. Not wanting to stay away too long, we visit the temple weekly, though women never go during their monthly period. We strive to attend each major festival, when the śakti of the Deity is most powerful, and pilgrimage to a far-off temple annually. Devout Śiva bhaktas attend daily pūjā in the temple. All Śaivites visit the temple on Śiva’s most sacred day of the year, Mahāśivarātri. Śaivite temples are the most ancient of all. Being the homes of the Gods and God, they are approached with great reverence and humility. Draw near the temple as you would approach a king, a governor, a president of a great realm, anticipating with a little trepidation your audience with him. The Vedas say, “May the Lord find pleasure in our song of praise! Priest among men, may he offer due homage to the heavenly beings! Great, O Lord, is your renown.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 103 – Living with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

The Journey Within

Beginning to meditate can be likened to starting a long journey. The destination and the means of travel must be known before setting out. Meditation is an art, a definite art, and well worth working for to become accomplished. Meditation is not easy, and yet it is not difficult. It only takes persistence, working day after day to learn to control and train the outer as well as the subtle, inner forces. We must realize that meditation is the disciplined art of tuning in to the deepest and most subtle spiritual energies. It’s not a fad. It’s not a novelty. It’s not something you do because your next-door neighbor does. It is sacred, the most sacred thing you can do on this planet, and it must be approached with great depth and sincerity. At these moments, we are seeking God, Truth, and actually controlling the forces of life and consciousness as we fulfill the very evolutionary purpose of life—the realization of the Self God. Unless we approach meditation in humility and wonder, we will not reach our goal in this life.

Now we are in a new age. Everything is changing. Everything is different. We must believe that we can change by using our powers of meditation, for we are here, on the surface of this Earth, to value and fulfill our existence. Value yourself and your fellow man. Say to yourself again and again, “I am the most wonderful person in the whole world!” Then ask yourself, “Why? Because of my unruly subconscious? Not necessarily. Because of what I know intellectually? Not so. I am the most wonderful person in the world because of the great spiritual force that flows through my spine, head and body, and the energy within that, and the That within that.”

Know full well that you can realize the very essence of this energy in this life. Feel the spine and the power within it that gives independence, enthusiasm and control. Then say to yourself, over and over, “I am a wonderful person,” until you can fully and unreservedly believe it. Lean on your own spine. Depending on the greatness within is the keynote of this new age. Get your willpower going. If you find an unruly part of your nature, reprogram it, little by little, using the yamas and niyamas as your guideline. Live a dynamic, God-like life every day. Dance with Śiva, live with Śiva and merge with Śiva. Get into this area of the mind called meditation. Make it a fundamental part of your life, and all forms of creativity, success and greatness will find expression in your life. Everyone is on this planet for one purpose. That purpose will be known to you through your powers of meditation, through seeing and then finally realizing your Self at the very core of the universe itself.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 103: WIDOWS’ SIMPLE DRESS
Śiva’s widowed devotees choosing not to remarry traditionally wear unprovocative white clothing, not yellow or orange. They wear no cosmetics, marriage pendant or elaborate jewelry. Their deportment is demure. Aum.

Lesson 103 – Merging with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

Transcending Pettiness

Your journey on this Earth has only one goal, Self Realization. You are here to attain the highest possible states of consciousness. You are not here to react to the petty incidents that occur in the valley of the subconscious. You are here to learn to control the mind and live on the mountaintop. If you fail yourself, you are the one who must suffer your failure. Often, in retelling their failures or their sufferings, people react to or re-enact the original experience all over again. But learning to extract the lesson from the experience is like walking through the rain without getting wet.

We have to hold a constant vigil and keep our feet firmly planted on the spiritual path at all times, knowing that we can fall off the path until we have attained full illumination, or Self Realization, in this or future lives. By taking a stand within yourself on small issues, you can always find a different way, a way which will open the door to new opportunity, selflessness and serenity. But, to the degree that we are unable to restrain the inclinations of our lower mind, to the degree that we find ourselves incapable of entering into positive observances, so do we open ourselves to inferiority complex, jealousy, hatred, self-indulgence, lust, fear, greed and all sorts of mental and physical ailments. Being aware of the laws of life allows an uninhibited and natural unfoldment, just as a bud unfolds into a flower.

People sometimes say to me, “I am a little fearful of the path of classical yoga unfoldment, because I don’t want to lose the way I am.” Of course, these people are not really happy with the way they are. Look back at your baby pictures and you will see that most naturally you lost and left behind the form that was yours at that time, and assuredly this will happen in the future. As you unfold in yoga, you will lose the way you are. You will mature as a bud matures into a flower, fulfilling its evolution, but it must leave behind its original shape, and open. In this same way, through discipline, your mind will open up into its fullness.

Here is a visualization exercise. Bring before the vision of your inner eye the qualities and attributes which you would like to unfold in your nature. Visualize yourself being the kind of person you want to be, doing the kind of things that are going to benefit mankind most. Look back over your day and find out how close to the edge of the mountain you came. Train your subconscious mind to keep you away from the edge of the mountain. Make the yamas and niyamas meaningful habit patterns to your subconscious, as they were meaningful to your intellect.

Lesson 102 – Dancing with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

How Are Temples Founded and Built?

ŚLOKA 102
Śiva temples are founded by God Himself, often designated in a vision or dream of a devout Śaivite, then erected by temple craftsmen usually following Āgamic law. In such a holy place, holiness itself can reside. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
Because of its holiness, a Śiva temple is most often and properly established by God Śiva through His devotees and not founded by men. Once the site is known, hereditary temple architects, known as sthapatis, are commissioned to design and construct the temple. By tradition, every stone is set in place according to the sacred architecture found in the Āgamic scriptures. When properly consecrated, the temple becomes a place upon the Earth in which the three worlds can communicate for the upliftment of mankind and the fulfillment of Śiva’s dharmic law. Śiva has deliberately established many temples to communicate His love to His children throughout the world, who live in every country of the world and long for their Lord’s ever-present love. They build temples in His name and install His image, chant His praises and thus invoke His presence. Lord Śiva accepts all these temples as His own and sends a divine ray to vivify and vitalize them. Śiva’s Vedas annunciate, “Brahman is the priest, Brahman the sacrifice; by Brahman the posts are erected. From Brahman the officiating priest was born; in Brahman is concealed the oblation.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 102 – Living with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

Conflicts with Other People

Good interpersonal relationships help the meditator a great deal, and meditation helps keep those relations harmonious. When we get along nicely with others, meditation becomes easy. If we have problems with other people, if we argue or disagree mentally and verbally, we must work exceedingly diligently in order to regain the subtlety of meditation. Poor interpersonal relationships are one of the biggest barriers, for they antagonize awareness, causing it to flow through the instinctive and intellectual forces. This puts stress and strain on the nerve system and closes inner doors to superconsciousness.

If we cannot get along with our fellow man whom we watch closely, observing the expressions on his face and the inflections of his voice, how will we ever get along with the forces of the subconscious, which we cannot see, or the refined superconscious areas of the inner mind when we face them in meditation? Obviously, we must conquer and harmonize all our relationships—not by working to change the other person, but by working with that other person within ourself, for we are only seeing in him what is in us. He becomes a mirror. We cannot allow the unraveling of the relationship by attempted outer manipulation, discussion or analysis to become a barrier to deeper meditation. Instead, we must internalize everything that needs change, work within ourselves and leave other people out of it. This helps to smooth interpersonal relationships, and as these relationships improve, so does our ability to meditate.

Our nerve system is just like a harp. It can be played by other people. They can cause many tones to be heard in our nerve system. All styles of music can be played on a harp, but no matter what kind of music is played, the harp remains the same. People can do all sorts of things to our nervous system, and make patterns of tone and color appear. This does not hurt the nervous system. It, like the harp, remains the same. The same nervous system can be played by our superconscious or by our passions. We can experience beautiful knowledge from within, which is the outgrowth of good meditation abilities, or experience a mental argument with another person. All tones are played at different times through the same nervous system. We want our nervous system to be played from the inside out through the beautiful rhythm of superconsciousness. This is bliss. We do not want to allow other people to affect our nerve system in a negative way, only in a positive way. That is why it is imperative for those on the path to be in good company.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 102: PURSUING THE PATH OF SĀDHANA
Śiva’s widowed devotees who choose not to remarry practice strict continence. They dedicate their lives to God and transmute sexual forces into the higher chakras through sādhana, worship and brahmacharya. Aum.

Lesson 102 – Merging with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

On the Edge of The Mountain

Knowing the law puts you at a psychological disadvantage, in a way. It is not quite as bad when you act for the first time out of ignorance, in any situation. Suppose you are riding with a friend in a car and he passes through a red light and gets a ticket and a scolding from the officer, and you say to your friend, “Oh, that’s all right, you didn’t know. You haven’t been driving long and your lesson may cost you some money.” You are forgiving of your friend’s error. Two months later, in riding with him again, he passes through another red light. And, what do you know, he gets another ticket and a scolding, and you sit back and say, “There is no excuse for that; you knew better. You saw that red light, didn’t you?” This time you are not lenient with your friend, because you know he is aware of the law.

You will behave with your own mind in the same way subconsciously if you depart from the spiritual law once you recognize its intrinsic value. Through concentration on life’s basic principles, you will become subconsciously aware of these laws, and then it will be easy for you to maintain them without effort, and the example of your life will be a light to shine for the benefit of many others.

Have you ever stood right at the edge of a mountain cliff? You were very careful about falling over the edge, weren’t you? But have you ever experienced that tendency in your nature that makes you a little shaky at the edge of the mountain, that makes you wonder what it might be like to be falling over the cliff, even if the first ledge, shall we say, is not too much of a drop? What is it that makes you want to experience falling over the edge? Some people say they experience this feeling. Others may not have. But let anyone stand on the edge of a mountain precipice and then say that there is not something occurring within them that makes them be quite careful.

If you deliberately fall, even a short distance, you could not climb back to the top without having some kind of scar or bruise on your physical form—maybe only a blow to your pride. But you would carry back with you the results of the fall. It is the same with the spiritual law. Once you are aware of its operation and you deliberately allow yourself to fall, you can return to the path with effort, scarred by the memory and strengthened with the influx of renewed energy as you again search for enlightenment, remembering that we only fail when we stop trying.

Concentrate each night upon the events of the day and see how close you have come, either consciously or subconsciously, to deviating from your newly established yoga principles. Your span of life here is only a short time, and it benefits you to live it the best way that you can.

Lesson 101 – Dancing with Śiva

Posted on by Himalayan Academy
Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

What Is the Nature of the Śiva Temple?

ŚLOKA 101
The Śiva temple is the abode of God Śiva and Gods and the precinct in which the three worlds consciously commune. It is specially sanctified, possessing a ray of spiritual energy connecting it to the celestial worlds. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
The three pillars of Śaivism are the temples, the scriptures and the satgurus. These we revere, for they sustain and preserve the ancient wisdom. Śiva temples, whether they be small village sanctuaries or towering citadels, are esteemed as God’s home and consecrated abode. In the Śiva temple we draw close to God Śiva and find a refuge from the world. His grace, permeating everywhere, is most easily known within the precincts of the Śiva temple. It is in the purified milieu of the temple that the three worlds commune most perfectly, that devotees can establish harmony with inner-plane spiritual beings. When the spiritual energy, śakti, invoked by the pūjā permeates the sanctum sanctorum and floods out to the world, Śaivites know they are in a most holy place where God and the Gods commune with them. Within most Śiva temples are private rooms, sanctums, for Lord Gaṇeśa and Lord Kārttikeya, and shrines for the many Gods and saints. The Vedas explain, “Even as the radiance of the sun enlightens all regions, above, below, and slantwise, so that only God, glorious and worthy of worship, rules over all His creation.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.