Lesson 250 – Living with Śiva

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

The Joy of Mysticism

Then there is the joy of the mysticism of Hinduism. It is the world’s most magical religion, offering worlds within worlds of esoteric discovery and perception. The inner worlds are what Hindu mystics tell of in the greatest richness and freedom of expression that exists on the planet. Mysticism in Hinduism is more out-front than in all the other religions of the world. As a result, it is enjoyed by more of the people in our religion. Mysticism is discussed more broadly and not limited to a few great souls or a handful of pandits. The mysticism of Hinduism is for all the people; yet, too, in its esoteric aspect it is protected at its core and kept sacred by being kept secret. How grand is the Hindu mystical tradition, with its sādhanas and yogas, with its wealth of understanding of the etheric bodies, of the nāḍīs and the chakras, of the aura and the prāṇas, of the various states of consciousness and levels of existence, and so much more. No other religion on the Earth can ever begin to equal Hinduism’s mystical teachings; all that wealth is the rightful inheritance of each Hindu.

The Hindu enjoys all the facets of life as transmuted into a religious expression in art. The Hindu’s art is a religious art—drawing, painting and sculpture of the Gods, the devas, and the saints of our religion. The music is devotional and depicts the tones of the higher chakras, echoes the voices of the Gods; and the dance emulates the movements of the Gods. We are never far away from sights, sounds and symbols of our religion. A mountaintop represents Lord Śiva; a hill represents Lord Murugan, Kārttikeya; and sugar cane fields represent Lord Gaṇeśa. Everything that one sees on the planet represents something religious. Art is not merely for egotistical and existential self-expression, but for spiritual expression, done consciously in service to the Divine. That is why one seldom sees or even knows the name of the artist of the great Hindu artistic creations. The artist is not creating in order to become famous or rich. He is surrendering his talents, serving his Gods and his religion through his art, and his art takes on a certain sacredness.

One great joy that the Hindu has is the appreciation for all other religions. Hinduism is theocentric, that means God-centric, whereas most other religions are prophet-centric, revolving around the personality of some living person or some person who once lived in history and interpreted religion to his culture in his time. Hinduism has no founder. It was never founded. It has neither a beginning nor an end. It is coexistent with man himself. That is why it is called the Sanātana Dharma, the Eternal Path. It is not one man’s teaching or interpretation. It is not limited to a single facet of religion, but consists of the entire spectrum, seen in its various components as if through a prism. It does not say that this religion is wrong and this one right. It sees God everywhere, manifesting all the great religions. The Hindu can appreciate Buddha without becoming a Buddhist. He can understand Jesus without becoming a Christian. Therefore, the joys of all the religions of the world become the joys of the Hindu.

But as Hindus, we must first think of the joys and happiness within our own religion. Consider our blessings. Come closer to the Gods of our religion. The many Gods are in the Western world now and have circumferenced the planet with their śakti of radiant rays that penetrate with spiritual power, bringing harmony and culture, balancing out the dharma of the planet.

Hinduism is such a great religion. All practicing Hindus are very proud of their religion. Unfortunately, these days too many born into the religion are not all that proud to be Hindus, but this is slowly changing. Hindus are now welcoming into their religion others who are, of their own volition, adopting or converting into the Sanātana Dharma. They are proud enough of their faith to want others to share its wisdom, its mysticism, its scriptures, its broadmindedness, its magnificent temples and its final conclusions for all mankind. To all Hindus, who today are found in every country on the Earth, I say: Courage! Courage! Courage! Have the courage to know beyond a doubt that Hinduism is the greatest religion in the world. We must be proud of this.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 250: CUSTOMS FOR RECEIVING THE SATGURU
Śiva’s devotees, upon the satguru’s entrance or arrival, cease worldly activity and conversation. They rise, rush forward to greet him, offer him a seat of honor and expectantly await his instructions. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 250 – Merging with Śiva

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

The State Of Resolve

When you hear the high-pitched sound “eee” in your head, your karma and your dharma are at that moment well balanced in this life. This is reassuring to know, as is the fact that if you persist in this state for an exceedingly long period of time, you would come into the realization of the experience of God. However, as you doubtless have already experienced, distractions you have set into motion teasingly bring awareness into another area, and almost without your knowing it, the high-pitched “eee” sound has faded and a thought has taken its place.

When you are in a state of resolve—and resolve is the key word here; this means you have resolved the major karmas of conflict—good fortune and all the emotions arise, both generated through understanding the awakened philosophies by the practice of yoga and the results obtained. Then the karmas of the head chakras begin to unfold, resulting in these sublime feelings. These karmas are only experienced after many Paraśiva experiences, but they are felt before as a blissful impending future. It is from these karmas the word bliss derives. Only beyond the beyond the beyond—within the vastness within the heart and core of the universes, when space turns to spacelessness, time stops and māyā’s endless cycles are no more—are there no more karmas. Māyā’s endless cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution are karmas in the manifold creations of this process.

Lesson 249 – Dancing with Śiva

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What Are the Child-Bearing Sacraments?

ŚLOKA 94
The essential child-bearing saṁskāras are the garbhādhāna, rite of conception; the punsavana, third-month blessing; the sīmantonnaya, hair-parting ceremony; and the jātakarma, welcoming the newborn child. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
Conception, pregnancy’s crucial stages and birth itself are all sanctified through sacred ceremonies performed privately by the husband. In the rite of conception, garbhādhāna, physical union is consecrated through prayer, mantra and invocation with the conscious purpose of bringing a high soul into physical birth. At the first stirring of life in the womb, in the rite called punsavana, special prayers are intoned for the protection and safe development of child and mother. Between the fourth and seventh months, in the sīmantonnaya, or hair-parting sacrament, the husband lovingly combs his wife’s hair, whispers sweet words praising her beauty and offers gifts of jewelry to express his affection and support. Through the jātakarma saṁskāra, the father welcomes the newborn child into the world, feeding it a taste of honey and clarified butter and praying for its long life, intelligence and well-being. The Vedas proclaim, “That in which the prayers, the songs and formulas are fixed firm like spokes in the hub of a cartwheel, in which are interwoven the hearts of all beings—may that spirit be graciously disposed toward me!” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 249 – Living with Śiva

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

The Joy of Pilgrimage

In our religious life, one of the most fulfilling aspects is pilgrimage. We have a joy in looking forward to a spiritual journey, and we experience a contentment while on our pilgrimage and later bask in the glowing aftermath of the pūjās. It is like going to see a great friend, a devotee’s most loved friend—the Ishṭa Devatā. We travel to the far-off temple where this great friend is eminently present. At that particular temple, this personal God performs a certain function, offers a specific type of blessing to pilgrims who make the pilgrimage to that home. In this way, different temples become famous for answering certain types of prayers, such as requests for financial help, or prayers for the right mate in marriage, prayers to be entrusted with the raising of high-souled children, or help in matters of yoga, or help in inspiring bhakti and love.

The Hindu does not have the feeling of having to take a vacation to “get away from it all.” We don’t lead a life of mental confusions, religious contradictions and the frustrations that result from modern hurried living. We lead a moderate life, a religious life. In living a moderate life, we then look at our pilgrimage as a special moment, a cherished time of setting ordinary concerns aside and giving full stage to our religious longings. It is a time to take problems and prayers to our personal God.

Unlike the proud “free thinkers” who deem themselves emancipated, above the religious life, we Hindus feel that receiving the darśana from the Gods and the help that comes therein invigorates our being and inspires us to be even more diligent in our spiritual life. Unlike the rationalists who feel confident that within themselves lie all the resources to meet all needs, and that praying to Gods for help is a pathetic exercise in futility, the Hindu wisely submits to the Divine and thus avoids the abyss of disbelief.

All in life that one would want to “get away from” the Hindu takes with him on a pilgrimage to the temple, to the feet of his personal God, to the inner-plane being or Mahādeva, who needs no physical body with which to communicate with people—to the God who has a nerve system so sensitive and well developed that as it hovers over the stone image, which looks similar to how the Deity would look on the inner planes, this being of light can communicate with the pilgrims who visit the temple. This being of light, this Mahādeva, can and does absorb all of the dross the devotees have to offer, and gives back blessings which bring happiness and release to them. Thus, the pilgrimage is not travel in the ordinary sense of travel, but rather going to see a personal friend, one who is nearest and dearest, but does not live in a physical body.

The Hindu has another great joy—the certainty of liberation. Even in difficult times, we are solaced in the knowledge of our religion which tells us that no soul that ever existed or ever will exist in future extrapolations of time and space will ever fail to attain liberation. The Hindu knows that all souls will one day merge into God; and he knows that God, who created all souls, slowly guides our maturing into His likeness, brings us back to Himself, which is not separate from ourselves. The Hindu, through striving and personal development in this life on this planet, knows that liberation into God is the final goal. This knowing and this belief release us from any ego, from any superiority by which one person considers himself or herself as especially meriting God’s grace while others are lost. For the Hindu, there is an assurance that all souls will eventually enjoy liberation, and that includes ourselves and all of our friends and family. We need never fear otherwise.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 249: SEEKING SANCTION FOR SEVERE AUSTERITIES
Śiva’s devotees regularly perform spiritual practices on their own, but undertake serious penance and rigorous austerities only with their satguru’s express permission, guidance, empowerment and spiritual protection. Aum.

Lesson 249 – Merging with Śiva

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

The Effect of Self Realization

“I am the master of my fate.” This is how you become the master of your fate and the ruler of your own destiny. Through meditation you can bring everything to the now. “What happens when all the karma of all my past lives is worked out and I finally bring myself up to the now? Then what happens?” you might ask. You would truly be an artisan, an absolute expert at working out karma in the mental and spiritual spheres, and could begin to help working out karma for other people. Karma is transferable. One can take on some of the karma of other people, work it out for them and make their burden a little easier for them.

After the realization of the Self, Paraśiva, the forces of dharma and previous karma still exist, but through the force of the realization of God, much of the impending impact of karma has dwindled, and it is faced differently, treated differently. Prior to the experience of realization, karmas were dealt with in individual increments. After realization, the sum total is seen. The spiritual destiny is realized. The karma and dharma and the future manufacturing of karma are viewed from within out, as a totality.

One does not have the experience of realizing the Self until all of his karma is in a state of resolve. This means that the action-and-reaction patterns were balanced out, one against the other, through his ability to be steadfast in his yoga, brahmacharya and previous superconscious insights which have revealed the true nature of himself. When this begins to occur in him, he actually sees that man is not man, man is the Self, God, for his karma and the forces of his dharma have begun to become transparent to him.

Through the power of his realization, the karma is created and simultaneously dissolved. This occurs for the one who lives in the timeless state of consciousness. If one were to realize the Self each day, he would live his life like writing his karma on the surface of water. The intensity of the Self is so strong that action and reaction dissolve, just as the water’s surface clears immediately when you remove your finger from having written or made designs upon it.

Lesson 248 – Dancing with Śiva

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What Are the Sacraments of Adulthood?

ŚLOKA 93
The most important sacrament of adulthood is the vivāha saṁskāra, or marriage rite, preceded by a pledge of betrothal. A boy’s or girl’s coming of age is also consecrated through special ceremony in the home. Aum.

BHĀSHYA
As puberty dawns, the ṛitu kāla home-ceremony acknowledges a girl’s first menses, and the keśānta kāla celebrates a boy’s first beard-shaving. New clothing and jewelry fit for royalty are presented to and worn by the youth, who is joyously welcomed into the young adult community. Girls receive their first sārī, boys their first razor. Chastity is vowed until marriage. The next sacrament is the betrothal ceremony, called niśchitārtha or vāgdāna, in which a man and woman are declared formally engaged by their parents with the exchange of jewelry and other gifts. Based on this commitment, they and their families begin planning a shared future. In the marriage sacrament, or vivāha, seven steps before God and Gods and tying the wedding pendant consecrate the union of husband and wife. This sacrament is performed before the homa fire in a wedding hall or temple and is occasioned by elaborate celebration. The Gṛihya Sūtras pronounce, “One step for strength, two steps for vitality, three steps for prosperity, four steps for happiness, five steps for cattle, six steps for seasons, seven steps for friendship. To me be devoted.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.

Lesson 248 – Living with Śiva

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

The World as Our Teacher

The Hindu also wants to improve conditions in the world, in the physical world. We do not look upon all that happens to us as unreal. That is a misconception. It is real. Life is real. It is through life that we progress. Life is the means provided by the Primordial God for finding Reality. True, it is māyā. But it is māyā in the form of mind, in the form of form. Māyā, or form, or mind, is created for a purpose, to help man evolve, not to bind him in illusion. The Hindu understands this. We want to help humanity, and simultaneously we know that we may well return in another physical body. So we are working not only for ourselves, but for our loved ones, not only now, but in the future as well. We are improving the world for future generations in which we will play a part.

Through our knowledge of reincarnation, we have a great love and understanding for every human being, for they have been our mothers, our fathers, our sons and daughters, our grandparents and companions in many past lives, or perhaps will be in a future incarnation. This expanded knowledge of the interrelatedness of humanity brings with it a deepened appreciation, helping us to understand why it is that some people seem so close to us though we hardly know them and others are strangers or even enemies after years of close association. To the Hindu, everyone younger is his brother or sister. Everyone older is his mother or father, and he maintains a deep respect for others. We have this knowledge by having lived through many hundreds of lives on this planet and having been associated with many thousands of people. We know that in our current pattern in this life we often attract those to us whom we have been with in past lives. So we have a great joy and happiness in meeting them again and a deep knowledge of our relationships, our psychic relationships, with them in past lives.

The Hindu believes in the law of karma, the ability to earn one’s rewards as well as punishments. All this we can do ourselves with the help of our Gods and our personal relationship with our Ishṭa Devatā, the individual God that we have chosen, or rather that God who has chosen to love, guide and protect us through an incarnation.

In Hinduism there is no priest standing between the devotee and God. The priest is a servant of the God, just as is every other devotee. Even the satguru, the spiritual teacher, does not stand between the disciple and God, but seeks instead to strengthen the devotee’s direct experiential relationship with the Divine. The Hindu thus finds a great joy in his relationship with God and the Gods. It is his relationship, and he alone is able to perpetuate it. No one can do this work for him or on his behalf. There is a great happiness there between the devotee and the God resident in the Hindu temple, which is the communication point with the God, as is the sacred home shrine.

NANDINATHA SŪTRA 248: OBEY YOUR GURU…
Śiva’s devotees trustingly heed their satguru’s counsel without even subtly attempting to change his mind. If he declines to give blessings for an endeavor, they accept that as his blessing and proceed no further. Aum.

Lesson 248 – Merging with Śiva

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

Working It Out On the Inside

A third way that past actions are re-enacted is through the actual intense reactionary experience and working with yourself, conquering inner desires and emotions. When something happens to you that you put into motion in a past life or earlier in this life, sit down and think it over. Do not strike out. Do not react. Work it out inside yourself. Take the experience within, into the pure energies of the spine and transmute that energy back into its primal source. In doing so, what happens? You change its consistency. It no longer has magnetic power, and awareness flows away from that memory pattern forever. You could remember the experience, but your perspective would be totally detached and objective. This is the most common way karma is resolved, in day-to-day experiences. By living an inner life, you stop creating uncomplimentary karma and can therefore consciously face the reactions of the past without the confusion of additional day-to-day reactions.

Everyone lives an inner life. When you are thinking over that film that you saw last week, that is inner life. When you are deeply involved in a reactionary area because of something that has happened or is happening to someone else, you are living inwardly the same experience that you think he is going through.

In your life, someone you love has gone through an experience, and you have shared it with him. You felt his suffering and began to live it through dramatically. Actually, that same experience under a different set of conditions would have been happening to you, but it was happening to you in an indirect way through observation. You were able to vicariously work through this karma.

Perhaps your friend is destined to lose his leg in this life because he caused someone else to lose a leg in a past life. If he is living as an instinctive being, with all the energies flowing through the first two chakras, memory and reason, and through the passive physical forces, that experience will come to him in full force. However, perhaps he has his energies flowing through aggressive intellectual forces. Even if he is not consciously on the path of enlightenment, but is kindly and subdues his instinctive reactions by his intellect, that karma would still come back to him, but he would experience it in a different way.

One morning he may pick up the newspaper and read about an automobile accident in which someone has lost a leg. This news jars him. His solar plexus tightens. His reaction is so severe that he cannot eat his breakfast that morning. He does not know why, but all day he lives and relives every experience the article describes. He wonders, “What if this had happened to me? What would I do? How would I face it? How would I adjust my consciousness to it?” At work he imagines himself going through life with one leg—the therapy, the family concern, the emotional adjustment. It may take him three or four days to work his awareness out of that reaction. He does not know why that particular article in the newspaper impressed him so much. It seems foolish to him to think so much about the event and he tries to forget it. Soon thereafter, while hiking in the mountains, he stumbles and falls, cutting his thigh on the jagged rocks, tearing a few ligaments. The full force of the karmic experience comes, but because of his present goodness and previous blessings earned through control of his intellect, he receives the experience as a minor wound and an emotional reaction to another’s losing his leg. This seed karma is worked through within himself in this way. He does not have to lose a leg, as he would if he were living in the instinctive mind of fear, anger and jealousy.