ŚLOKA 4 Dance is movement, and the most exquisite dance is the most disciplined dance. Hindu spiritual disciplines lead to oneness with God through self-reflection, surrender, personal transformation and the many yogas. Aum.
BHĀSHYA To progress on the path, we study theVedas, other scriptures and our guru’s teachings and make every effort to apply these philosophical truths to daily experience. We strive to understand the mind in its fourfold nature: chitta, consciousness; manas, instinctive mind; buddhi, intellectual mind; and ahaṁkāra, ego or I-maker. We perform japa, meditation and yoga each day. Such spiritual discipline is known as sādhana. It is the mystical, mental, physical and devotional exercise that enables us to dance with Śiva by bringing inner advancement, changes in perception and improvements in character. Sādhana allows us to live in the refined and cultured soul nature, rather than in the outer, instinctive or intellectual spheres. For consistent progress, sādhana should be performed regularly, without fail, at the same time each day, preferably in the early hours before dawn. The most important sādhanas are the challenges and practices given by one’s guru. The Vedas caution, “The Self cannot be attained by the weak, nor by the careless, nor through aimless disciplines. But if one who knows strives by right means, his soul enters the abode of God.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.
Devotees ask, “Why do we circumambulate the temple?” When we come to the temple out of the world, off the street, we are often shrouded by negative vibrations, which can actually be seen in our aura. Our nerve system may be upset, especially now, in the technological age, when we often suffer from stress and strain, the insecurity of so many changes and the rapid pace of life. In order to prepare ourselves to enter the sanctum sanctorum of the temple, the great maṇḍapa inside, we walk clockwise around the temple very slowly. In this way we prepare our mind. We consciously drop off worldliness, letting the sufferings go, letting all disturbances leave our mind the best we can, and trying to reach deep inside of ourselves where peace exists eternally. We become as celestial as we can during the time we are walking around the temple, so that we can communicate with the celestial beings within the temple.
A Śiva temple marks an agreement between God Śiva and the people on the Earth as a meeting place where the three worlds can consciously commune. It is the home of Lord Śiva and many of the other Gods. Specifically sanctified, it possesses a ray of spiritual energy connecting the First World with the Śivaloka. My satguru, Siva Yogaswami of Sri Lanka, proclaimed, “O Lord, O Primal One who gives blessings to devotees, who has become the embodiment of Love, O Supreme Lord, Transcendent One who dwells in the temple, make me to live here like a God. In this world we may acquire a multitude of siddhis, but never stray from bhakti’s path, nor disobey the words of bhaktars.” A holy Śiva temple must be approached with great reverence and humility, as God lives in the temple. Go into the temple as you would approach a great king, a governor, a president of a great realm, anticipating, with a little trepidation, your audience with Him.
The worship in the temple creates the culture in the land. The worship in the temple creates the wealth of the land. The worship in the temple creates the obedience to the divine law of God Śiva, the Śaiva Dharma. The ancient Tirumantiram conversely warns, “When in Śiva’s temple worship ceases, harm befalls the ruler, scanty are the rains, theft and robbery abound in the land” (518). The greatest temples in the world are the homes of God Śiva, and within them there are private rooms and sanctums for Lord Gaṇeśa, Lord Murugan and others of the 330 million Gods of our Śaivite Hindu religion. Pray to God Śiva. Flock to the Śiva temples, and God Śiva will reward you, each and everyone of you, abundantly, as you perform His worship.
We just visited the great temple of Chidambaram, where God Śiva dances. The priests at the temple had their inner sanctum, the garbhagṛiha, scientifically tested. Scientists from the West came, made certain measurements and found that the inner sanctum was not only radioactive, but it also had the highest level of gravity on the planet. Yes, things are very heavy in the inner sanctum, much heavier than any other place in the temple or the surrounding area. And it was radioactive. This great power has been built up by thousands of years of worship there.
Why are Americans converting to the Śaivite religion? Because they have actually seen these mystical things happen, even in the new temples that are being constructed in the West or in their own meditations. They have actually seen the God come and hover over His First-World image. They have actually felt the rays of śakti coming out of the sanctum, cutting through their body, cutting through their aura, and their mind being cleansed and their whole life, even the atoms of their body, being inwardly changed. Therefore, the Americans, who want everything, also want the greatest of all things—the blessings of God Śiva.
NANDINATHA SŪTRA 314: DREAMS ARE TO BE FORGOTTEN My devotees do not indulge in remembrance or interpretation of dreams, unless as a special discipline from their guru. They intentionally forget their dreams and positively concern themselves with waking life. Aum.
Prostration at the holy feet of the satguru has been performed in Hindu India and Sri Lanka for thousands of years. It’s an ancient custom and a very valuable one, because it separates the people who can prostrate from those who cannot. It separates the deeper souls from those still going through the intellectual and instinctive areas of the mind. It allows the aspirant himself to know where he is on the path, and it allows the satguru to know at a glance, without thought, where the seeker is on the spiritual path by the emanations out of the spine as he prostrates himself face down before him. Prostration issues forth definite energies when done before the guru or the temple Deity. The ego is naturally subdued, humility strengthened, and the soul of guru and disciple enjoy deep rapport in that moment.
Śaiva Siddhāntins have always had blind bhakti for God, Gods and guru. Their mothers and fathers are often included and showered with the same feelings of love. They are by nature very sweet people. Jnanaguru Yogaswami said, “Guru bhakti is the greatest blessing. Cherish it and relish it and be refreshed! Advance on the path of dharma. Call on the name of Śaṅkara Śiva. Know that there is not one wrong thing. And proclaim that all is truth. Seek for the grace of God. Repeat Śivāya Namaḥ. You must realize Self by self. In you will peace and patience shine, and you will be your own support. Let like and dislike be snuffed out. Ponder not upon past karma. Resolve to kill the three desires.”
Devotees often transfer to their guru whatever feelings they have for their mothers and fathers. This does not mean that they cease to love their mother and father when they accept a guru. It means that if they have problems at home, they will have similar problems with their guru. If they love and honor their parents, they will love and honor their guru. Devotees who have true bhakti are filled with love for all beings. Their children will never upset them. They care for their pets and love their mother and father. They do not go to a guru to escape unhappiness at home. They go to a guru because their mother and father have taught them all they know, and now they must move onward. Even in this move, the parents’ blessings are sought to either follow the family guru or another. This is the traditional way. This is Śaiva Siddhānta.
There are emanations that come out of the spine wherever the individual is functioning, different types of instinctive, intellectual feelings or those of superconsciousness. The meditator works with those forces. He transmutes his energies to the crown chakra. You must work diligently to get there, and then you have it for eternity. This is the great heritage that is your right to receive by living on this planet.
Transcendental beings who have nerve systems so highly developed that they do not need a physical body in which to function and help those on Earth, can give a vital and a vibrant darshan which will help and stabilize you on the path. These are delicate, subtle, actinic beings that have once lived on the Earth and, just like you, have meditated, worked with their forces, attained Self Realization, brought forth darshan and finally dropped off the physical body, vowing to serve the people of the Earth. Hindus call them devas, Gods or Deities. All of them are right here, because everything is in one place. Everything of a same or similar vibration is in one place in the ākāśa. The great actinic bodies of all these evolved beings are right here. You can invoke the darshan of the Gods, too, if things really get rough for you on the path up the spine.
ŚLOKA 3 All motion begins in God and ends in God. The whole universe is engaged in a whirling flow of change and activity. This is Śiva’s dance. We are all dancing with Śiva, and He with us. Ultimately, we are Śiva dancing. Aum.
BHĀSHYA The world is seen as it truly is—sacred—when we behold Śiva’s cosmic dance. Everything in the universe, all that we see, hear and imagine, is movement. Galaxies soar in movement; atoms swirl in movement. All movement is Śiva’s dance. When we fight this movement and think it should be other than it is, we are reluctantly dancing with Śiva. We are stubbornly resisting, holding ourselves apart, criticizing the natural processes and movements around us. It is by understanding the eternal truths that we bring all areas of our mind into the knowledge of how to accept what is and not wish it to be otherwise. Once this happens, we begin to consciously dance with Śiva, to move with the sacred flow that surrounds us, to accept praise and blame, joy and sorrow, prosperity and adversity in equanimity, the fruit of understanding. We are then gracefully, in unrestrained surrender, dancing with Śiva. The Vedas state, “The cosmic soul is truly the whole universe, the immortal source of all creation, all action, all meditation. Whoever discovers Him, hidden deep within, cuts through the bonds of ignorance even during his life on Earth.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.
Many have wondered what the priest is saying when he is chanting in the Sanskrit language, which is the language of the devas, the celestial beings. When he is in the shrine chanting and performing pūjā with water, flowers and other offerings, you may wonder about the meaning of those very complex rituals. The priest’s craft is very important to the proper working of the temple in our lives. He must be pure and follow strict disciplines so that the Gods will be drawn to the sanctum. Through his chanting, he is speaking to God and the Gods, saying, “O God, I am going to perform this pūjā at such-and-such a temple located in such-and-such a place in your universe of forms, and this pūjā will be for the purpose of such-and-such. I hope that you will consider this worship auspicious and grace it, and that you will grant our needs and our wishes and bring good things into the lives of everyone in this community. I pray that we will please you with our worship, making no errors and forgetting nothing that should be done. But if we do, Lord, please forgive us and make the blessings of this pūjā just as powerful as if we had done it perfectly, without error. We beseech you to come to this temple and hover over the stone image with your body of light and bless the people. Thus, I am offering you rice. I am offering you fruits and flowers. I am offering you all the fine things that we have, so that you will come and stay for awhile.”
The priest’s initial chants are basically letting God know the place and purpose of this day’s worship. He intones, “We hope we are pure enough in our performance of the pūjā that we sanctify the atmosphere here, so that you will come and be our honored guest in this temple.” Then he bathes the Deity image, dresses the Deity in fine clothes, and worships the Deity so that the God from the Third World will come into this finite body in the First World, this body made of stone. Our bodies are made with bones, but we are not our bones. The God’s body in the temple is made of stone, but He is not that stone body. His Third-World form is a body of light. He is a great soul, just as we are also souls.
During the height of pūjā, the God comes with all of His devas, His celestial helpers. They take the problems or concerns out of your mind, harmonize the currents of your body and dissolve all the problems for you. When that happens, you walk out of the temple feeling you have been blessed, having forgotten the concerns that you went in with.
If you arrange for an archana—an optional personal pūjā generally held in-between the main pūjās of the day—the priest pronounces your name. He intones the name of your birth star, or nakshātra, and presents you to the God in a proper way. He says, “O Lord, this devotee humbly requests blessings for a particular problem or a special event. Please hear his prayers as he places them at your holy feet in the knowing that you will assist with the best possible outcome.” “Would this work just as well if the priest chanted in English?” you might wonder. Yes, it would! In your mind you can talk to the God in English or in any other language, and He will understand. But the Sanskrit language has its own power, a spiritual vibration. It is a most ancient language, and far more subtle in its ability to communicate spiritual ideas and meanings. That is why it gives a good feeling to hear the ancient mantras, even if we don’t understand them.
NANDINATHA SŪTRA 313: SHIELDING FROM ASTRAL FORCES My devotees are under the satguru’s psychic protection and remain untouched by negative occult forces. Those who are as yet susceptible to such afflictions should seek relief through pūjā, prayer and penance. Aum.
The advanced yoga adept can go inside himself through the practice of mahāyoga and awaken the flame at the top of his head and experience the five vibrations inside himself, deep within the psychic centers of the head, which is the inner temple. For the beginning meditator who has not done sādhana, this is difficult, and the outer temple and its darshan is a great aid. There are many catalysts on the path that aid in making you strong, so that you can lean on your own spine and bring through your own bliss. We must remember that the satguru is a helper on the path. His renunciate sannyāsins are also sometimes helpers, too. The meditator should not lean on his guru or the other disciples who may be stronger and more advanced in their sādhana. He must rely only on himself, lean on his own spine and unfold spiritually.
In the ākāśa, all form exists in all phases of its manifestation. A mystic sculptor can take clay or stone and bring forth an image of the satguru. As soon as he feels the darshan coming through the form, he knows he is nearly finished. Everything is in one place. It’s only the physical two eyes doing such wonderful things as to make us think things are in different places in the conscious mind of time and distance. But everything in the ākāśic plane of consciousness is in one place. So, all the mystic sculptor has to do to get the satguru darshan is to make the form of the guru in the exact same way it already exists in the ākāśa when the darshan was the strongest at the highest point in his life on Earth.
In a similar way, one can receive darshan through a picture of the satguru. The darshan does not really come from the picture, but from the ākāśa where the inner guru exists. The picture only acts as a point of concentration, but enough of a focal point to tune the devotee into the ākāśa at the exact moment, which is “now,” when that picture was taken or painted and the exact feeling of the darshan at that particular time and its accumulated effect up to the present moment. Then the totality of the satguru’s darshan is felt.
In intellectually knowing how the system of darshan works in many of its various phases, it is easy then to participate in it, and by meditating on some of these principles that I have outlined, you can catch the knack of it.
ŚLOKA 2 We are all growing toward God, and experience is the path. Through experience we mature out of fear into fearlessness, out of anger into love, out of conflict into peace, out of darkness into light and union in God. Aum.
BHĀSHYA We have taken birth in a physical body to grow and evolve into our divine potential. We are inwardly already one with God. Our religion contains the knowledge of how to realize this oneness and not create unwanted experiences along the way. The peerless path is following the way of our spiritual forefathers, discovering the mystical meaning of the scriptures. The peerless path is commitment, study, discipline, practice and the maturing of yoga into wisdom. In the beginning stages, we suffer until we learn. Learning leads us to service; and selfless service is the beginning of spiritual striving. Service leads us to understanding. Understanding leads us to meditate deeply and without distractions. Finally, meditation leads us to surrender in God. This is the straight and certain path, the San Mārga, leading to Self Realization—the inmost purpose of life—and subsequently to moksha, freedom from rebirth. The Vedas wisely affirm, “By austerity, goodness is obtained. From goodness, understanding is reached. From understanding, the Self is obtained, and he who obtains the Self is freed from the cycle of birth and death.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.
Our Supreme God Śiva has created the Mahādevas, the Gods, to help us, to protect us, to inspire us—such as Lord Murugan, Lord Gaṇeśa and many others. Gaṇeśa, above all others, is the God, the great Mahādeva, to be invoked before every act and especially worshiped and prayed to when changes occur in our lives as we move from the old established patterns into new ones. Lord Gaṇeśa is always there to steady our minds and open the proper doors as we evolve and progress. He never, ever fails. He is always there for us when we need Him. Lord Murugan was created by God Śiva’s śakti and given a vel of spiritual discernment, a lance of divine intelligence. Pray to Lord Murugan to unravel the great mysteries of the universe. Pray to Lord Murugan to make you a spiritual person. Pray to Lord Murugan to release you into the arms of Lord Śiva by teaching you more about your Śaivite religion.
The understanding of the reality of God and the Gods may help you to appreciate the importance of prayer and worship. Take, for instance, our hymns and chants—our Devarams and bhajanas, our japa and the many other ways we express the praises and love of God Śiva that we feel in our hearts. These hymns are actually heard by the subtle beings. Devas in the Second World come, hover around and near us and rejoice in our singing. If we are deeply devoted and inspired, then even the Mahādevas of the Third World will hover above the devas in their magnificent bodies of light, showering blessings to those who are singing or chanting prayerfully.
You may not be able to see these subtle beings, but you can feel their presence, feel a holy atmosphere around you. I’m sure that many of you here have felt this, perhaps while chanting Aum Namaḥ Śivāya. As long as somebody is saying “Aum Namaḥ Śivāya,” the Śaivite religion exists on the planet in full force. Wake up in the morning saying “Aum Namaḥ Śivāya, Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.” Go to sleep at night saying “Aum Namaḥ Śivāya, Aum Namaḥ Śivāya,” and through the night you will leave your physical body and travel in the celestial spheres, where we are all together, learning, meditating and advancing ourselves spiritually.
On this Earth plane the Gods have a special home, and that is the holy temple. It is in the sanctified temple, where regular and proper pūjā is being performed in a pure way, that the Gods most easily manifest. You can go to a Hindu temple with your mind filled up with worries, you can be in a state of jealousy and anger, and leave the temple wondering what you were disturbed about, completely free from the mental burdens and feeling secure. So great are the divine psychiatrists, the Gods of our religion, who live in the Third World, who come from the Third World to this world where our priests perform the pūjās and invoke their presence over the stone image.
Hindus do not worship stone images. Don’t let anyone ever convince you of that. It is absolutely false. Those who say such things simply do not understand the mystical workings of the temple, or they seek to ridicule our religion because they feel insecure about their own. Hindu priests invoke the Gods to come and manifest for a few minutes within the sanctum of the temple. The Deities do come in their subtle bodies of light. They hover in and above the stone image and bless the people. If you are psychic and your third eye is open, you can see the God there and have His personal darśana. Many of our ancient Śaivite saints, as well as contemporary devotees, have seen such visions of the Gods. They know from personal experience that God and the Gods do exist.
When we go to the temple, we leave with our mind filled with the śakti of the Deity. We are filled and thrilled with the śakti of the temple in every nerve current of our body. When we return to our home, we light an oil lamp, and that brings the power of the temple into the home. This simple act brings the devas in the Second World right into your home, where they can bless the rest of the family who perhaps did not go to the temple. With a little bit of study of the mysticism of Śaivism, we can easily understand how the unseen worlds operate in and through us.
NANDINATHA SŪTRA 312: CAUTION AGAINST DABBLING IN THE OCCULT My devotees may spontaneously experience but do not practice clairvoyance, clairaudience, astral projection, lucid dreaming, trance mediumship, mind-reading, fortunetelling, magic or other distracting occult arts. Aum.
Through darshan power, the guru is able to communicate with his disciples. Information is passed on these rays of darshan. Unfoldment is guided on these rays of darshan. A beginning student cannot feel the darshan. That means he is not inwardly connected or “hooked in.” He does not have that open line. That is why the satguru often puts out some sort of intellectual book or pamphlets, to hold the intellect in check until the student goes deeper within. After deep study of the guru’s works, they then begin to feel his darshan occasionally from a distance, but not all the time.
A devotee does not have to be with his guru physically all of the time to unfold as a beautiful flower on the path. But he does have to be with the satguru’s darshan all the time, for that waters, protects, guides the unfoldment superconsciously. The guru is within him—not the physical presence of his teacher, however holy, but the divine spheres of his guru’s superconscious being. The law is, though, that only his guru can bring him into this realization fully and permanently.
A temple can be prepared to emanate a certain kind of darshan as strong as, if not stronger than, a guru’s. When a Hindu temple is established, a satguru who has a strong darshan is invited to come and help the priests prepare the main altar in the temple, which initiates the flow of darshan and śakti. This is done through the use of actinodic force. Certain physical elements are magnetized with actinodic power within the shrine through the chanting of mantras and by various other means. This brings the vibratory state of the physical element that holds this new vibration to a high pitch. The darshan vibration penetrates the ethers.
In a similar way, you have magnetized your clothing without realizing it with your personal vibration. A very sensitive “medium” could be blindfolded and by holding in his hand a piece of your clothing identify it as yours and tell something about you. That is why a temple has to be visited with the proper attitude, for a minute part of your actinodic force is left in the temple as you stand in front of the altar feeling the darshan radiating from it. The altar darshan builds up over many, many years as devotees come and go and priests chant the sacred mantras, permeating the temple with this darshan force, storing it in a great battery which takes in and emanates out.
Darshan is extremely important in spiritual unfoldment, because it catalyzes the crown chakra. It catalyzes the refined, superconscious being of man, energizing and strengthening it, in the very same way a violent or sensuous movie and the vibrations of the people sitting within the theater catalyze the lower chakras. Darshan catalyzes the crown chakra, the all-seeing-eye chakra, the universal-love chakra and the chakra of direct cognition in a similar way. That is why once a temple has been established, it should be approached and treated in a certain sensitive way to keep its darshan flowing strongly and profoundly. It builds in power through the years and stabilizes the spiritual unfoldment of all pilgrims who know of its existence, especially those who pilgrimage to the temple to be blessed by it.
If you get a little cloudy, a little foggy, and karma becomes heavy to the point you feel you cannot handle it yourself, then you can tune into the temple darshan if you do not have a satguru, for it works much the same way. Each devotee should establish a shrine in his own home which is connected in vibration with the darshan of the temple, which is again connected with the guru who helped the priests begin the flow for the temple.
The home shrine can bring through some of the vibration by your simply using the five elements: earth, air, fire, water and ether. This would be taught by the wise elders. This, then, is the cycle of darshan: from the satguru, the temple, the home shrine and back to you. If you want to begin a little shrine yourself, you need a stone blessed at the temple, which holds the vibration of the darshan there, nice, fresh air; and you have to reserve a space, preferably a private room. It must be neatly arranged and be clean and clear of worldly vibrations, a room set apart from all others. In it you must have the five vibrations occurring: earth, air, fire, water and ether, and it must be connected into the darshan of the temple.
ŚLOKA 1 Ṛishis proclaim that we are not our body, mind or emotions. We are divine souls on a wondrous journey. We came from God, live in God and are evolving into oneness with God. We are, in truth, the Truth we seek. Aum.
BHĀSHYA We are immortal souls living and growing in the great school of earthly experience in which we have lived many lives. Vedic ṛishis have given us courage by uttering the simple truth, “God is the Life of our life.” A great sage carried it further by saying there is one thing God cannot do: God cannot separate Himself from us. This is because God is our life. God is the life in the birds. God is the life in the fish. God is the life in the animals. Becoming aware of this Life energy in all that lives is becoming aware of God’s loving presence within us. We are the undying consciousness and energy flowing through all things. Deep inside we are perfect this very moment, and we have only to discover and live up to this perfection to be whole. Our energy and God’s energy are the same, ever coming out of the void. We are all beautiful children of God. Each day we should try to see the life energy in trees, birds, animals and people. When we do, we are seeing God Śiva in action. The Vedas affirm, “He who knows God as the Life of life, the Eye of the eye, the Ear of the ear, the Mind of the mind—he indeed comprehends fully the Cause of all causes.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.