Lesson 141 – Dancing with Śiva

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Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

What Are the Many Hindu Philosophies?

ŚLOKA 141
From time immemorial, India’s sages and philosophers have pondered the nature of reality. Out of their speculations have blossomed hundreds of schools of thought, all evolving from the rich soil of village Hinduism. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
At one end of Hinduism’s complex spectrum is monism, advaita, which perceives a unity of God, soul and world, as in Sankara’s acosmic pantheism and Kashmīr Śaiva monism. At the other end is dualism, dvaita—exemplified by Madhva and the early Pāśupatas—which teaches two or more separate realities. In between are views describing reality as one and yet not one, dvaita-advaita, such as Ramanuja’s Vaishṇava Vedānta and Srikantha’s Śaiva Viśishṭādvaita. Hindu philosophy consists of many schools of Vedic and Āgamic thought, including the six classical darśanas—Nyāya, Vaiśeshika, Sāṇkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṁsā and Vedānta. Each theology expresses the quest for God and is influenced by the myth, mystery and cultural syncretism of contemporary, tribal, shamanic Hinduism alive in every village in every age. India also produced views, called nāstika, that reject the Vedas and are thus not part of Hinduism, such as Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Chārvāka materialistic atheism. The Vedas state, “Theologians ask: What is the cause? Is it Brahmā? Whence are we born? Whereby do we live? And on what are we established?” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 141 – Living with Śiva

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

The Ideals Of Marriage

Marriage is an institution, a business, a spiritual partnership, a furtherance of humanity and a contract—a three-level contract involving body, mind and emotion. Marriage is a necessary commitment not only for the continuation of the human race but also for the furtherance of each individual soul’s spiritual unfoldment. The interaction on all levels between the couple, and later their children, molds the good, bad and confused karmas into new dimensions. Śaivite marriages involve not only the bride and groom but also their parents, their priest, guru, astrologer, relatives on both sides and the entire community. The feeling of responsibility to the community is ever present. The community’s feeling of responsibility to make each of its marriages work out well is also always present.

Why are Śaivite marriages different from other kinds of marriages? It is because of the ever-abiding belief in the ever-present oneness of God Śiva within each one. God Śiva is within you, and you are within God Śiva. God Śiva is the Life of our lives. This and more the Śaivite saints sang. To forget that Śiva is within the wife, to forget that Śiva is within the husband is to forget Śaivism itself. This basic Śaivite belief lays the psychological foundation for the husband to see the wife as a Goddess and the wife to see the husband as a God. All other behavior comes out of this belief. Belief creates attitudes, and attitudes create actions.

The knowing that each one has come into life to work out certain karmas they brought with them in this birth, and that karmas are generally worked out through other people, gives a challenge and a goal—to resolve these karmas and receive the reward of mukti, freedom from rebirth. Because of this belief, this understanding, the husband and wife blend their energies more constructively. Their attitudes are naturally more generous, forgiving and understanding, their actions and interactions more harmonious and mutually supportive. A woman gives her prāṇa, spiritual energy, to her husband, making him strong. Children give their prāṇa to their parents, because to them the parents are Śiva-Śakti, the first guru. The wife, always attending to her husband’s needs, sets the pattern for the children. By focusing her energies within her family, she builds up a great spiritual vibration in the home. In fulfilling his purusha dharma, the husband gives his prāṇa, love and loyalty to his family, and he benefits the community through his service. He never, ever raises his voice in the home; nor does he show anger in any way. He is the model for the entire family. When his sons come of age, they join their prāṇas with his, and as a result, the family, the community and the country flourish.

Believing in reincarnation, the parents know that their relatives—and they themselves—will be born back into their family again and again to work out their unfinished karmas. A Śaivite home is a karmic factory, a recycling of souls, a mill that grinds exceedingly fine the seed karmas of this and past lives.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 141: LOGICAL, POSITIVE DISCIPLINE
Śiva’s followers direct children through affirmations, meaningful chores and rules that are clear and understood, teaching that mistakes are opportunities to learn, and focusing on solutions instead of punishment. Aum.

Lesson 141 – Merging with Śiva

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

Softening of The Heart

The yoga of pure devotion is found at the beginning, the middle and the end of the path. Merging with Śiva is more and more a deeply felt experiential reality when the soul gives of itself to Śiva inwardly and outwardly in unabashed devotion. Prapatti truly is the key that unlocks the love needed as merger increases as the years pass by and, as Satguru Yogaswami said, “Love pours forth to melt the very stones.” Bhakti yoga is not an intellectual study. It is a practice. It is also not an emotional experience. It is a devotional experience. There is a difference, which we will come to understand. Bhakti yoga is not a cure-all, nor a means to fast enlightenment. Rather, it is the foundation for enlightenment. It is not a technique. Nor is it a magic mantra. It is a way of life. The transformation that comes from living in the state of bhakti yoga is the softening of the heart.

External worship, bhakti yoga, is taught first on the spiritual path, because it produces a softened, mellow heart. It is to waste the guru’s time to give training in meditation and contemplation before the heart has been softened through bhakti yoga. The patient guru will wait until this has happened within the devotee. Otherwise, any accomplishment attained through intense rāja yoga practices will not be sustained. And the problems that arise within the devotee’s subconscious mind—should he be taught rāja yoga before the proper preparation has been mastered—will go back on the guru. The guru will then have to act as the psychiatrist to solve the problems arising from the forced awakening. Whereas a mature bhaktar takes such problems, or negative karmas, which are sometimes aroused as a result of deep meditation, to the temple Deities, placing them at their feet to be dissolved. This will not happen for the devotee who has not experienced living in the state of bhakti yoga, because the relationship has not yet been established between himself and the Gods. Therefore, the wise guru starts his devotee at the beginning of the path, not in the middle.

The path begins with charyā, getting to know the Gods and developing a relationship with them through service. Charyā is karma yoga. Then kriyā is experienced. Kriyā is bhakti yoga. Once bhakti yoga has melted the heart, then the deep yoga concepts and meditation techniques of rāja yoga may be practiced. They are to be understood within the internal mind, not just memorized. The wise guru will never teach deep meditation techniques to angry, jealous, fearful devotees. Such devotees should first learn to serve selflessly, by performing karma yoga projects in the āśrama, and then perform simple bhakti yoga until all anger has melted into love.

The inner knowing that “All is Śiva’s will” is one of the first benefits of bhakti yoga. Only through true bhakti can the yogī achieve and maintain the inner state of Satchidānanda. It is only the true bhaktar who can sustain living with God and the Gods unreservedly and begin to internalize his devotion into deeper meditations. One cannot internalize devotion until it has been truly externalized. Here is an example to explain the process of the internalization of devotion. A devotee resents something said to him by another devotee and flares up in anger. The two devotees part, but the anger remains in the form of burning resentment. The emotion of anger has been internalized, but may later be unleashed on someone else.

Lesson 140 – Dancing with Śiva

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

How Is the Affirmation of Faith Used?

ŚLOKA 140
Intoning the affirmation of faith, we positively assert that God is both manifest and unmanifest, both permeating the world and transcending it, both personal Divine Love and impersonal Reality. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

BHĀSHYA
On the lips of Śaivites throughout the world resounds the proclamation “God Śiva is Immanent Love and Transcendent Reality.” It is a statement of fact, a summation of truth, even more potent when intoned in one’s native language. “God Śiva is Immanent Love and Transcendent Reality,” we repeat prior to sleep. “God Śiva is Immanent Love and Transcendent Reality,” we say upon awakening as we recall the transcendent knowledge gained from the ṛishis during sleep. These sacred words we say as we bathe to prepare to face the day, God Śiva’s day, reminding ourselves that His immanent love protects us, guides us, lifting our mind into the arena of useful thoughts and keeping us from harm’s way. Devotees write this affirmation 1,008 times as a sahasra lekhana sādhana. It may be spoken 108 times daily in any language before initiation into Namaḥ Śivāya. Yea, the recitation of this affirmation draws devotees into Śiva consciousness. The Tirumantiram says, “The ignorant prate that love and Śiva are two. They do not know that love alone is Śiva. When men know that love and Śiva are the same, love as Śiva they ever remain.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 140 – Living with Śiva

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

A Personal Testimony

By way of illustration I will ask you now to read a fine message we received from a Śaivite lady in Sri Lanka who follows beautifully the spirit of strī dharma.

“I am a Hindu wife and take pride and pleasure in being one. I am a graduate of the London University and was a teacher in a girls’ school before I got married in 1969. I belong to an orthodox Śaivite Hindu family, and when I reached age twenty-six my parents proposed a marriage. My future husband, too, hailed from an orthodox Śaivite family and was thirty years of age. After our parents discussed and decided upon details, an opportunity was afforded to us to meet. The venue was a Gaṇeśa temple, and the time was 7AM As each of us stepped into the temple from different directions almost simultaneously, the temple bells started ringing to herald the 7:00 pūjā. ‘A good omen,’ both of us thought independently. After the pūjā was over, we were introduced to each other by my mother. Out of inborn shyness and a certain amount of fear of meeting a stranger, I was hardly able to look up and even see the color of the man who was going to be the lord of my life. I heard him talk and even noticed him gazing meaningfully at me all the time. The ‘confrontation’ lasted about ten minutes, and we parted. Each of us approved the selection so carefully made by our parents and, to make a long story short, our marriage was solemnized in due course.

“From the date of marriage, I resigned my job as teacher because my duties as a housewife appeared more onerous and more responsible. My husband earned enough to maintain a family, and we started setting up a home of our own. I brought in some money by way of a dowry, and this helped us to furnish our home with all essential requirements. We loved each other very much and lived like Śiva and Śakti. The most important corner of our house is the shrine room where our day-to-day life starts every morning.

“I get up from bed at 5AM every day. After a wash, I enter the shrine room and clean up the place. Remnants of flowers from the previous day’s pūjā are removed, the brass lamps and vessels are polished, water is sprinkled on the floor and the place kept ready for the day’s pūjā, performed by my husband. Then the kitchen is swept and the pots and pans washed. Water is kept on the gas to boil, and I go for a bath. Returning from the bath, I do a short prayer and pick flowers for my husband’s pūjā. By now it is 6AM—the time my husband awakens. I go to the bedroom and wait there ready to greet him for the day. He looks upon me as the Lakshmī of the home, and it pleases him a lot to wake in my presence—all gleaming with holy ash and kumkum pottu on my forehead. As soon as he gets up, he goes out for a half-hour walk and is back home by 6:30 A cup of coffee is now ready for him. He takes this and, after five minutes’ rest, enjoys a fine bath. He then makes the necessary preparations for the pūjā. I could do this myself, but my husband feels these preparations are also a part of the pūjā. Sharp at 7AM the pūjā starts. I join him and so do our children (we now have two boys and a girl). It is a pleasure to watch my husband at pūjā, which he does very piously and meticulously. At 7.30 we come out of the shrine room for our breakfast. I personally serve my lord and the children meals prepared by my own hands and then get the two elder children ready for school. By 8:30 all the three are out of the house on their respective missions. I then clean up the house, put my little three-year-old son to sleep and by 9:30 I am back in the kitchen preparing lunch.

“In the evening I am dressed up and ready for an outing with my husband and children. Almost every day he takes us out, but occasionally he comes home tired and prefers to remain indoors. At 6PM I start cooking the dinner and at 7:00 we have a joint prayer in the shrine room. Dinner at 7:30 then a little bit of reading, listening to the radio, some chit chat and off to bed by 9:30 This has been my routine for the last eleven years, and I have enjoyed every minute of it.

“In the house, I give first place to my husband. It has never been my custom to find fault with him for anything. He understands me so much and so well that he is always kind, loving, gentle and compassionate towards me. I reciprocate these a hundredfold, and we get on very well. My husband is the secretary of a religious organization, and I give him every help and encouragement in his work. My household duties keep me fully occupied, and so I don’t engage myself in other activities. I respect my husband’s leadership in the home, and so life goes on smoothly.”

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 140: TIMELY OBSERVANCE OF SACRAMENTS
Śiva’s followers provide their children the essential sacraments at the proper times, especially name-giving, first feeding, head-shaving, ear-piercing, first learning, rites of puberty and marriage. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya

Lesson 140 – Merging with Śiva

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

Grace of The Gods

When you worship the God in the temple through pūjā and ceremony, you are bringing that Divinity out of the microcosm and into this macrocosm. You supply the energy through your worship and your devotion, through your thought forms, and even your physical aura. The pujārī purifies and magnetizes the stone image for this to take place. The Gods and the devas are also magnetizing the stone image with their energy, and finally the moment is ready and they can come out of the microcosm into this macrocosm and bless the people. You observe that they stayed only for an instant, but to them it was a longer time. The time sense in the inner worlds is different.

If you want to get acquainted with the Gods, first get to know Lord Gaṇeśa. Take a picture and look at it. Put a picture of Lord Gaṇeśa in your car or in your kitchen. Get acquainted through sight. Then come to know Him through sound by chanting His names and hymns. This is how you get acquainted with your personal Deity. You will get to know Him just as you know your best friend, but in a more intimate way, for Gaṇeśa is within you and there ahead of you to guide your soul’s evolution. As you get acquainted with Him, Gaṇeśa then knows that you’re coming up on the spinal climb of the kuṇḍalinī. He will work with you and work out your karma. Your whole life will begin to smooth out. Religion is the connection between the three worlds, and temple worship is how you can get your personal connection with the inner worlds. You never really lose connection with the inner worlds, but if you are not conscious of that connection, then it appears that you have.

The Gods of Hinduism create, preserve and protect mankind. It is through their sanction that all things continue, and through their will that they cease. It is through their grace that all good things happen, and all things that happen are for the good. Now, you may wonder why one would put himself under this divine authority so willingly, thus losing his semblance of freedom. But does one not willingly put himself in total harmony with those whom he loves? Of course he does. And loving these great souls comes so naturally. Their timeless wisdom, their vast intelligence, their thoroughly benign natures, their ceaseless concern for the problems and well-being of devotees, and their power and sheer godly brilliance—all these inspire our love.

Lesson 139 – Dancing with Śiva

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

What Is Śaivism’s Affirmation of Faith?

ŚLOKA 139
The proclamation “God Śiva is Immanent Love and Transcendent Reality” is a potent affirmation of faith. Said in any of Earth’s 3,000 languages, it summarizes the beliefs and doctrines of the Śaivite Hindu religion. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
An affirmation of faith is a terse, concise statement summarizing a complex philosophical tradition. “God Śiva is Immanent Love and Transcendent Reality,” is what we have when we take the milk from the sacred cow of Śaivism, separate out the cream, churn that cream to rich butter and boil that butter into a precious few drops of ghee. “God Śiva is Immanent Love and Transcendent Reality” is the sweet ghee of the Śaivite Hindu religion. In the Sanskrit language it is Premaiva Śivamaya, Satyam eva Paraśivaḥ. In the sweet Tamil language it is even more succinct and beautiful: Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam. In French it is Dieu Śiva est Amour Omniprésent et Réalité Transcendante. We strengthen our mind with positive affirmations that record the impressions of the distilled and ultimate truths of our religion so that these memories fortify us in times of distress, worldliness or anxiety. The Tirumantiram proclaims, “Transcending all, yet immanent in each He stands. For those bound in the world here below, He is the great treasure. Himself the Parapara Supreme, for all worlds He gave the way that His greatness extends.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 139 – Living with Śiva

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

Why Respect Tradition?

Let’s look at the word tradition. Webster defines tradition as “a story, belief, custom or proverb handed down from generation to generation, a long-established custom or practice that has the effect of an unwritten law.” We all know human nature, because we are people living on this planet. We are fickle; we are changeable. We are always curious to try new things. Change is a wonderful part of life, within certain bounds. We do not want to be too restrictive, yet we do want to be strict. Be strict without being restrictive, and life will be balanced between discipline and freedom. This has always been the Asian way. Take a look back into history, back to the time of Saint Tiruvalluvar, who lived 2,200 years ago. He would not have written the Tirukural if people were perfect, if they were, as a whole, strong, steady and self-disciplined. He wrote those sparkling gems of wisdom and advice for fickle, changeable people, so that they could keep their minds controlled and their lives in line with the basic principles of dharma for men and women clearly set forth in the Vedas six to eight thousand years ago.

Tradition adapts itself to culture and climate. The Hindu women raised in Western countries will not be able to follow all the traditions of the East. But they have to fulfill enough of those traditions to fulfill their strī dharma. And, of course, they will have to adjust slowly.

Scriptural advice is just as pertinent today, thousands of years later. Why? Because people are human, because they are little different today than they were then. Societies change, knowledge changes, language changes. But people do not change all that much. That is exactly the reason that traditions do not change much or change very slowly. They still apply. They are still valid. They are the wisdom of hundreds of generations assembled together. The wise always follow the ways of wisdom, always follow tradition. Does that mean they cannot be inventive? No. Does that mean they cannot use their mind and will to advance themselves and humanity? No. Does that mean they must avoid being creative, original, individualistic? No. It simply means that they express these fine qualities within the context of religious tradition, thus enhancing tradition instead of destroying it. Tradition, with its spoken and unspoken ways, is far too precious to throw out or tear down. The unwritten laws and customs of tradition are what has developed and proved out to be best for the peoples on this planet for centuries. We cannot casually change tradition. It takes centuries to build a tradition. We cannot sit at a meeting and arbitrate a change like that.

Take all of this that has been said into your meditations. Think deeply about the natural balance of masculine and feminine energies in the world and within yourselves. You will discover a new appreciation for the woman’s role and for the traditions which allow her to fulfill it.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 139: TEACHING AND MODELING GOOD CONDUCT
Śiva’s followers love their children, govern them in a kind but firm way and model the five family practices: proper conduct, home worship, religious discussion, continuous self-study and following a preceptor. Aum.

Lesson 139 – Merging with Śiva

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

Microcosm, Macrocosm

The mind of man—and by that I mean his entire mental, emotional and spiritual structure—exists within the microcosm, which exists within the macrocosm that we can see and touch and that we call the physical universe. The Gods also live within the microcosm. The microcosm is within this macrocosm and, then again, within that microcosm is another dimension of space, another macrocosm. Similarly, you can look into a drop of water through the microscope and see a new dimension of space in which myriads of tiny creatures are experiencing a total existence. Those minute living things are in the microcosm; from where they stand they see it as a macrocosm. While you might say there is only one millionth of an inch between each of those little organisms swimming in the drop of water, to them it may seem like fifty yards. There are tens of thousands within that single drop, and yet they are not at all crowded, for it is a different dimension of space. This is how the microcosm can have an even bigger macrocosm than this one within it.

That bigger macrocosm is the Third World, the Śivaloka, where all the Gods and Mahādevas reside. It is within you, but it is ethereal, which means it is nonphysical. Your mind is in the microcosm. That is how it does all the things that it does. You can take your mind completely around the world in an instant, or across the galaxy. Right now we can take our minds to a star that is 680 million light years away from Earth. We can think about that star and see it in our mind. Time is not involved; nor is space. Thought is there instantly. The Gods are also in the microcosm, and in the macrocosm within the microcosm. From their view, all that they do for you, to help you work out a problem, even if they work on it for days of their time, happens faster than instantly. Since your mind, too, exists within the microcosm, the change takes place instantaneously. It then takes a day or two for the effects of that change to be felt in the macrocosm. Deep within your mind, in the microcosm, the problem vanished the instant you stood before the God in the temple. It takes you a few days, or at least a few hours, to catch up to the inner event and see the results in physical form.

Lesson 138 – Dancing with Śiva

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

Is Initiation Necessary to Perform Japa?

ŚLOKA 138
The most precious of all Śaivite mantras, Namaḥ Śivāya is freely sung and chanted by one and all. Mantra dīkshā bestows the permission and power for japa yoga. Without this initiation, its repetition bears lesser fruit. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
The Pañchākshara Mantra is the word of God, the name and total essence of Śiva. But to chant Namaḥ Śivāya and to be empowered to chant Namaḥ Śivāya is likened to the difference between writing a check without money in the bank and writing a check with money in the bank. Namaḥ Śivāya is the gateway to yoga. Initiation from an orthodox guru is given after preparation, training and attaining a certain level of purity and dedication. The guru bestows the authority to chant Namaḥ Śivāya. After initiation, the devotee is obligated to intone it regularly as instructed. This forges the śishya’s permanent bond with the guru and his spiritual lineage, sampradāya, and fires the process of inner unfoldment. From the lips of my Satgurunātha I learned Namaḥ Śivāya, and it has been the central core of my life, strength and fulfillment of destiny. The secret of Namaḥ Śivāya is to hear it from the right lips at the right time. Then, and only then, is it the most powerful mantra for you. The Śiva Saṁhitā affirms, “Only the knowledge imparted by a guru, through his lips, is powerful and useful; otherwise it becomes fruitless, weak and very painful.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.