Lesson 319 – Dancing with Śiva

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Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

What Is the Devotional Vaishṇava Sect?

ŚLOKA 9
Vaishṇavism is an ancient Hindu sect centering on the worship of Lord Vishṇu and His incarnations, especially Kṛishṇa and Rāma. Largely dualistic, profoundly devotional, it is rich in saints, temples and scriptures. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
The worship of Vishṇu, meaning “pervader,” dates back to Vedic times. The Pañcharātra and Bhāgavata sects were popular prior to 300 BCE. Today’s five Vaishṇava schools emerged in the middle ages, founded by Ramanuja, Madhva, Nimbarka, Vallabha and Chaitanya. Vaish­ṇa­­vism stresses prapatti, single-pointed sur­­render to Vishṇu, or His ten or more incarnations, called av­a­­tāras. Japa is a key devotional sādhana, as is ecstatic chanting and dancing, called kīrtana. Temple worship and festivals are elaborately observed. Philosophically, Vaishṇa­vism ranges from Madhva’s pure du­alism to Ramanuja’s qualified nondualism to Vallabha’s nearly monistic vis­ion. God and soul are everlastingly distinct. The soul’s destiny, through God’s grace, is to eternally worship and en­joy Him. While general­ly nonascetic, advocating bhakti as the highest path, Vaish­ṇa­­vism has a strong mon­astic community. Central scriptures are the Vedas, Vaish­ṇava Āga­mas, Itihāsas and Purāṇas. The Bhagavad Gītā states, “On those who meditate on Me and worship with un­divided heart, I confer attainment of what they have not, and preserve what they have.” Aum Namo Nārāyaṇāya.

Lesson 319 – Living with Śiva 

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Recording: Gurudeva’s cloned voice

Messages to Loved Ones

You may be wondering if you can send written prayers in Tyēīf to loved ones who have passed on to the inner world. The answer is, yes, you can. Your guardian deva will hand the prayer to the loved ones, relatives or close friends. They can be communicated with. Through such prayers, many devotees who are feeling badly about their behavioral patterns toward a departed member of their family apologize for misdemeanors performed during their relative’s Earthly life. They make the apology by writing a letter in the magical Tyēīf script. It is received by a guardian deva and promptly delivered. Everything happens quite efficiently and rapidly in the inner world. In Japan and elsewhere in Asia not only are letters sent to the departed, but many gifts as well are placed in the sacred fire—gifts such as automobiles made of cardboard, money, food and more. The cardboard car and other items, when burned, will reappear in the astral world.

Those who have recently given up their physical bodies are easy to reach, because more often than not they are still close to Earth consciousness and enjoy receiving communication from loved ones in the form of written prayers. Souls who are well settled in the inner world but who are nearly ready to reincarnate are also easy to contact in this way. Souls who have attained mukti, freedom from rebirth, but who are not yet ready to enter into higher planes where they will no longer be involved with or communicate with those in Earth consciousness—because they have not yet finished helping their devotees to attain their highest potential in this lifetime—will also receive friendly messages from their loved ones on Earth. Many chelas communicate with their departed gurus in this way.

There is a vast inner network of devonic helpers, ever working, never sleeping. They are nourished on the prāṇas of the most refined morsels of Śiva consciousness. They never take time out even to eat a meal. There is a continuity of consciousness in the Devaloka that we do not experience in our earthly bodies. It is in the world of the Gods and their devas that the mass consciousness is guided through its evolution—the evolution of the māyā of the constant, interlaced action of creation, preservation and dissolution. This mighty group of soldiers of the within, preceptors of dharma, lords of karma, is ever active, available and ready to serve those who seek.

Sending prayers into the inner world through the sacred fire is simply a means of communicating with those powerful beings who do not possess a physical body. Using the Tyēīf script is as simple as writing then mailing a letter, sending an e-mail or a fax. Through this means, you can even communicate in Tyēīf with someone living in a physical body in a far-off place. They will receive your message from a dispatcher at night when they are out of the physical body during sleep and conscious on the astral plane. This is truly a magical way of reaching into the inner world and contacting friends and relatives asleep at night in a far-off place.

You are also an inner soul and can be seen by the devas in their world. They see you in your soul body. Psychic persons living in physical bodies can often see the devas.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 319: THEIR PAST IS SMALL, THEIR FUTURE IS LARGE
Śiva’s monastics walk bravely into the future, letting go of the past and letting what is be. Through yoga their kuṇḍaliṇī rises, expanding consciousness, changing values and creating magical happenings around them. Aum.

Lesson 319 – Merging with Śiva

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

Duties of The Disciple

It is the disciple’s duty to understand the sometimes subtle guidance offered by the guru, to take the suggestions and make the best use of them in fulfilling the sādhanas given. Being with a satguru is an intensification on the path of enlightenment—always challenging, for growth is a challenge to the instinctive mind. If a guru does not provide this intensification, we could consider him to be more a philosophical teacher. Not all gurus are satgurus. Not all gurus have realized God themselves. The idea is to change the patterns of life, not to perpetuate them. That would be the only reason one would want to find a satguru.

Some teachers will teach ethics. Others will teach philosophy, language, worship and scriptures. Some will teach by example, by an inner guidance. Others will teach from books. Some will be silent, while others will lecture and have classes. Some will be orthodox, while others may not. The form of the teaching is not the most essential matter. What matters is that there be a true and fully realized satguru, that there be a true and fully dedicated disciple. Under such conditions, spiritual progress will be swift and certain, though not necessarily easy. Of course, in our tradition the siddhas have always taught of Śiva and only Śiva. They have taught the Śaiva Dharma which seeks to serve and know Śiva in three ways: as Personal Lord and creator of all that exists; as existence, knowledge and bliss—the love that flows through all form—and finally as the timeless, formless, causeless Self of all.

When we go to school, we are expected to learn our lessons and then to graduate. Having graduated, we are expected to enter society, take a position comparable to our level of education. We are expected to know more when we leave than when we entered, and we naturally do. When we perform sādhana, we are expected to mature inwardly, to grow and to discipline ourselves. And, in fact, we do become a better, more productive, more compassionate, more refined person.

But when we perform yoga, we are expected to go within, in and in, deep within ourselves, deep within the mind. If yoga is truly performed, we graduate with knowledge based on personal experience, not on what someone else has said. We then take our place among the jñānīs—the wise ones who know, and who know what they know—to uplift others with understanding in sādhana and in yoga.

Lesson 318 – Dancing with Śiva

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

What Is the Magic and Power of Śāktism?

ŚLOKA 8
Śāktism reveres the Supreme as the Divine Mother, Śakti or Devī, in Her many forms, both gentle and fierce. Śāktas use mantra, tantra, yantra, yoga and pūjā to invoke cosmic forces and awaken the kuṇḍalinī power. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
While worship of the Divine Mother extends beyond the pale of history, Śākta Hinduism arose as an organized sect in India around the fifth century. Today it has four expressions—de­­vo­­tional, folk-shamanic, yogic and universalist—all invoking the fierce power of Kālī or Durgā, or the benign grace of Pār­vatī or Ambikā. Śākta de­­­vo­tionalists use pūjā rites, especial­ly to the Śrī Chakra yan­tra, to es­­tablish intimacy with the God­dess. Sha­­man­ic Śāk­tism employs magic, trance medium­ship, firewalking and animal sacrifice for healing, fertility, pro­­ph­e­cy and power. Śākta yogīs seek to awaken the sleeping Goddess Kuṇ­ḍalinī and unite her with Śiva in the sa­­has­­rāra chakra. Śāk­ta universalists follow the reformed Vedāntic tradition ex­­­em­plified by Sri Rām­a­krishna. “Left-hand” tan­tric rites transcend traditional ethical codes. Śāktism is chiefly ad­vaitic, de­fin­ing the soul’s destiny as complete identity with the Un­man­­ifest, Śiva. Central scrip­tures are the Vedas, Śākta Āgamas and Pur­āṇas. The Devī Gītā extols, “We bow down to the uni­ver­sal soul of all. Above and below and in all four directions, Mother of the universe, we bow.” Aum Chaṇḍikāyai Namaḥ.

Lesson 318 – Living with Śiva

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

How Prayers Are Answered

The Gods, their devas and your own guardian devas are ever ready to respond to requests for help and guidance. You may well ask, “How are prayers answered?” It is well known that religious people have guardian devas, or angels, helping them through their Earthly experience. Established families who have kept the continuity of togetherness generation after generation court the same devonic beings century after century in their home shrines. In our technological age it is difficult to maintain this kind of togetherness or to attend properly to the home shrine. Therefore, other means of communication with the devonic guardians must be used.

Those who worship in Śiva temples slowly gain acceptance into the devonic realms of the Gods, and one or two of the uncountable numbers of devonic intelligences often return with the devotee to his home. When this happens, the home immediately has within it the feeling of fullness. It is these guardian devas who are the first to receive the devotee’s written prayers when they are transferred to the Devaloka through the sacred fire. They read each prayer carefully. If they cannot immediately respond, the prayer is given to a waiting dispatcher along with some personal advice about the individual or the family from their guardian deva. The dispatcher carries the prayer, along with the guardian deva’s advice, to the group of devonic helpers who can best fulfill the request.

There are many groups of devas who sit in saṅgam circles, communicating with one another through thought transference. When they receive a prayer, read and understand it, through the power of consensus their group mind begins the process of fulfillment. After the prayer has been read and understood by each one present, it enters their inner minds. When this happens, the solution, karmically proper, is revealed to all. One or several of the devas is then seen to vanish from the group, on their way through inner space to execute the request. Because Earth time and astral time are different, the entire process takes about three Earth days from the time the prayer is offered until the time that it is fulfilled.

These saṅgams of devas configure themselves in circles of six, twelve, twenty-four and thirty-six. They dispatch many kinds of requests, some business, some health, some personal, some creative, some marital, some mental and others emotional. There is a saṅgam circle of devas for literally every department of life. These saṅgams service the needs of devotees in many temples and shrines in China, Japan, Southeast Asia, Hawaii, India, Africa, North America, Europe and other areas of our planet.

Before the Gods and devas can respond to your request, they must examine a time line extending ninety-nine years into the past and ninety-nine years into the future. Then they divide the possible decisions into nine groups to choose their course of helpfulness to your karmic pattern. Their duty is not to alter time or experience or to manipulate karmas, but to assist you in going through your natural karmas and to mitigate, nullify and soften the effects of karmas of the past that touch you in the present, whether they be good, mixed or bad. Therefore, it is important to delineate your state of mind as you write your prayer.

The devas surrounding all Nātha temples and shrines respond best to written requests. The Gods and devas do not normally read your thoughts—only the thoughts directed to them—and they never interfere in the natural karmas of individuals who come into these places of worship. Hindus often say, “God knows my need. He will fulfill it.” This is generally true for those who have sufficient mental prowess and intensity of thought, the inner fire burning in the maṇipūra chakra, in the heart chakra and in the head. But in our day-to-day states of consciousness, it is most fruitful to clearly and precisely let our thoughts be known through the written word. This is the great boon the Nātha temples have to offer—the direct, intricately concise, two-way communication between this and the higher inner world.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 318: HOLDING FAST TO THE TRUEST TREASURES
Śiva’s monastics never fail to take refuge in their God, their guru and their Great Oath. This is the highest path they have chosen, the culmination of numberless lives, perhaps the last in the cycle of reincarnation. Aum.

Lesson 318 – Merging with Śiva

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

Devotion and Guru Guidance

Of course, our most cherished theology is monistic Śaiva Siddhānta, the advaitic teachings inherited from our guru paramparā who outlined the course we are on. This teaches us that God and man are ultimately one. This teaches us that our Supreme God, Śiva, is the creator of the universe, and He is also the creation. He is not different from it.

We must go to the temple and worship, with all our heart, God in form before our karmas are cleared, our responsibilities paid, and we realize the formless perfection of God Śiva. The guhā, the cave of consciousness, opens its doors for us to sit comfortably, mentally undistracted, within the cavity within the head, there to begin the yoga of union for personal, spiritual, everlasting attainment. Śaiva Siddhānta outlines the path that we are on. It tells us how to attain these goals.

The saints who sang the hymns of Tirumurai inspire us onward and inward. The illustrious, venerable Rishi Tirumular captured the essence of the Vedas and the Āgamas in his epistles, promulgating the rules and regulations that we must follow, setting forth the attainments that we may expect to reach. Over two thousand years ago the great siddha, Saint Tirumular, taught, “Offer oblations in love. Light the golden lamps. Spread incense of fragrant wood and lighted camphor in all directions. Forget your worldly worries and meditate. Truly, you shall attain rapturous liberation.”

It is said in our Hindu scriptures that it is necessary to have a satguru. However, it is also possible for an individual to accomplish all of this by himself without a guru. Possible, but most difficult and exceedingly rare. There may be four or five in a hundred years, or less. Scriptures explain that perhaps in past lives such a soul would have been well disciplined by some guru and is helped inwardly by God in this life. With rare exceptions, a guru is necessary to guide the aspirant on the path as far as he is willing and able to go in his current incarnation. Few will reach the Ultimate. The satguru is needed because the mind is cunning and the ego is a self-perpetuating mechanism. It is unable and unwilling to transcend itself by itself. Therefore, one needs the guidance of another who has gone through the same process, who has faithfully followed the path to its natural end and therefore can gently lead us to God within ourselves. Remember, the satguru will keep you on the path, but you have to walk the path yourself.

All gurus differ one from another depending on their paramparā, their lineage, as well as on their individual nature, awakening and attainments. Basically, the only thing that a guru can give you is yourself to yourself. That is all, and this is done in many ways. The guru would only be limited by his philosophy, which outlines the ultimate attainment, and by his own experience. He cannot take you where he himself has not been. It is the guru’s job to inspire, to assist, to guide and sometimes even impel the disciple to move a little farther toward the Self of himself than he has been able to go by himself.

Lesson 317 – Dancing with Śiva

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

What Is the Deeply Mystical Śaiva Sect?

ŚLOKA 7
Śaivism is the world’s oldest religion. Worshiping God Śiva, the compassionate One, it stresses potent disciplines, high philosophy, the guru’s centrality and bhakti-rāja-siddha yoga leading to oneness with Śiva within. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
Śaivism is ancient, truly ageless, for it has no beginning. It is the precursor of the many-faceted religion now termed Hinduism. Scholars trace the roots of Śiva worship back more than 8,000 years to the advanced Indus Valley civilization. But sa­cred writings tell us there never was a time when Śaivism did not exist. Modern history re­cords six main schools: Śaiva Siddhānta, Pāśupatism, Kashmīr Śaivism, Vīra Śaivism, Siddha Siddhān­ta and Śiva Ad­vaita. Śaivism’s grand­eur and beauty are found in a practical culture, an en­lightened view of man’s place in the universe and a profound system of temple mys­ti­cism and siddha yoga. It provides knowledge of man’s ev­o­lution from God and back to God, of the soul’s un­fold­­­ment and awak­ening guided by en­lightened sages. Like all the sects, its majority are devout families, headed by hundreds of orders of swāmīs and sā­dhus who follow the fiery, world-re­nouncing path to moksha. The Ved­as state, “By knowing Śiva, the Auspicious One who is hidden in all things, exceedingly fine, like film arising from clarified butter, the One embracer of the universe—by realizing God, one is released from all fetters.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 317 – Living with Śiva

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

Tantras of Communication

In our own Kailāsa Paramparā, there is a similar but uniquely different example of direct communion between the inner worlds and the outer. My guru’s guru’s guru’s guru, known as the Rishi from the Himalayas, sat for meditation in a tea shop in Bangalore, South India, for seven years, never speaking a word or moving a muscle. Devotees flocked to this extraordinary sage, and with them came the normal quota of problems, questions, prayers and needs. Though they only spoke these needs in their own private thoughts, they were mystified by the way that answers came floating down on twisted-up slips of paper, from an unseen source above the ṛishi’s head. Devotees would open up these messages to find the exact answers to their unspoken questions. Our prayers burned in the sacred fire are going in the opposite direction, and the answers are coming in more subtle, indirect ways that become obvious as satisfaction is experienced.

The knowledge of reincarnation, astral travel, channeling messages from the departed, auras and oh-so-many other psychic mysteries of the soul are an intrinsic part of the Western world in this age of communication, just as these phenomena have been an acknowledged part of life in the East since the dawn of mankind. Communicating with the Gods and their devas, invoking, courting and keeping happy angels and devas in home shrines has been at the core of nearly every religion in the world ever since religions have existed.

Methods of communication with one’s guardian devas, their friends and associates and the Gods they so faithfully serve are many: the Ouija board, automatic writing, materialization seances, swinging pendulums, extracting knowledge from crystals, sending letters and gifts through sacred temple fires, clairvoyance, clairaudience, early-morning dreams, messages and predictions from entranced mediums, the readings of subtle signs, interpreting the sounds of lizards and crows, visiting psychic mentors, fortunetellers, palmists, astrologers, priests and shamans, exorcism, revelation of knowledge from deep meditation, and more. All of these are tantras of communication. A tantra is a method, preceded by learning, which often requires an initiation, but not always.

It is no accident that you and I are together and you are reading this book and have gotten this far. A great thought form and several devas accompany this book which you are now holding. They have guided you to it and are now with you, their inner mind and your inner mind communicating as you continue to read. This highly charged book is itself a doorway into the inner planes. Put it under your pillow when you sleep at night. Study it through the day and absorb the inner knowledge.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 317: VOWS FOR CONTEMPLATIVE LIVING
Śiva’s monastics who are sādhakas and yogīs uphold, and renew every two years, the four vows of humility, purity, confidence and obedience. Swāmīs uphold for life these four and a fifth vow of renunciation. Aum.

Lesson 317 – Merging with Śiva

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

Four Stages Of Evolution

Let me begin with something that may at first come as a surprise to you. All men and women on the Earth are doing exactly as they should and must do. People complain, “I wish I were rich. I wish I lived somewhere else. I really should be a doctor. If only things were different.” But in the final analysis, we are all doing exactly as we want, as we must, doing what is next on our personal path of evolution. Nothing is wrong. Nothing should be that is not. Even the drunk, even the thief, is part of the cosmic dance of God Śiva. Not that you should ever think of being a thief, for there is much difficult karma there. Just realize that he, too, is evolving. He, too, is Śiva’s creation, and what he does is, for him, somehow necessary.

Just look at the world. Warriors have to fight their battles. Priests have to take care of their temples. Businessmen must sell their goods. Farmers must grow their crops and tend their flocks. Teachers must pass on knowledge. Each one has to do what he has to do in the great cosmic dance of Śiva. Each one follows the path of service leading to devotion, which leads to spiritual disciplines of yoga. Finally, that yoga culminates in the attainment of Truth, or God Realization. These are the four mārgas leading the soul to its very Self.

For Hindus, the path is seen as divided into four stages or phases of inner development. Some say karma yoga, bhakti yoga, rāja yoga and jñāna; others say charyā, kriyā, yoga and jñāna. Either way, it is basically the same—progressive stages followed by the soul in its quest for God. We are speaking here of the way the ancients attained their realizations, how they lived their lives, suffered, went through mental pain in their tapas, walked the San Mārga path through life—charyā, kriyā, yoga and jñāna—and in that process unwound the karmas of the past, learned to live fully in the present, abashed the person of themselves to be the soul of themselves. They practiced true yoga to obtain release from rebirth, moksha, which only the realization of the Absolute Truth can give. There is, of course, no action too great to render to persist on the path of enlightenment, once the path has clearly been defined.

Jñāna is the last stage. Most people don’t understand jñāna. They think it is little more than intellectual study of the path, a simple kind of wisdom. But jñāna does not mean simplistic reading of scriptures or understanding of philosophical books and knowing pat answers to stereotyped questions. Jñāna is the blossoming of wisdom, of enlightened consciousness, of true being. Jñāna is the state of the realized soul who knows Absolute Reality through personal experience, who has reached the end of the spiritual path after many, many lifetimes.

Yoga is the path of sādhana, or discipline, leading the advanced soul toward jñāna. Yoga is divided into eight parts, ranging from the simple physical disciplines and diet, up to the deepest contemplation gained through perfect control of mind. Yoga does not mean just sitting in lotus for half an hour each day in a penthouse or doing haṭha yoga āsanas for health and beauty. It means yoga as performed by the yogīs of yore, the renegades from society, tapasvins ready to face the fire of sādhana, brave souls who have given up all else in their search for Truth, persevering with an iron will until they accomplish what they seek.

Kriyā is basically worship and devotion, or the expression of our love of the Divine through various ceremonies and rituals. Kriyā does not mean mindlessly or superstitiously attending temple services to look good in the community, to be with friends, to gossip or talk of politics and other human affairs. It is a genuine communion with the inner worlds, a profound stage in which the heart swells and eyes overflow with internalized worship, love and surrender.

Charyā is service, but it does not mean empty service, unthinking performance of traditional rites or just marrying off daughters, thus forestalling premarital affairs. It is service done selflessly, it is dharma performed consciously, it is worship offered wholly and it is goodness in thought, word and deed.

Lesson 316 – Dancing with Śiva

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

What Are Hinduism’s Principal Sects?

ŚLOKA 6
The Sanātana Dharma, or “eternal faith,” known today as Hinduism, is a family of religions that accept the authority of the Vedas. Its four principal denominations are Śaivism, Śāktism, Vaishṇavism and Smārtism. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
The world’s billion Hindus, one-sixth of the human family, are organized in four main denominations, each distinguish­ed by its Su­preme Deity. For Vaishṇavites, Lord Vishṇu is God. For Śai­vites, God is Śiva. For Śāktas, Goddess Śakti is su­preme. For Smār­tas, liberal Hindus, the choice of Deity is left to the devotee. Each has a multitude of guru lineages, religious leaders, priesthoods, sacred literature, monastic communities, schools, pilgrimage centers and tens of thousands of temples. They possess a wealth of art and architecture, philosophy and scholarship. These four sects hold such divergent be­liefs that each is a complete and independent religion. Yet, they share a vast heritage of culture and belief—karma, dharma, reincarnation, all-pervasive Di­vinity, tem­ple worship, sac­ra­ments, manifold Deities, the guru-śishya tradition and the Vedas as scriptural authority. While India is home to most Hindus, large communities flourish worldwide. The Vedas elaborate, “He is Brahmā. He is Śiva. He is Indra. He is the immutable, the su­preme, the self-luminous. He is Vishṇu. He is life. He is time. He is the fire, and He is the moon.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.