Shiva and Parvati

The Maha Shivaratri Love Message

The story of Samudra manthana (churning of the ocean) behind Maha Shivaratri is symbolic for churning of the ocean of consciousness by meditation and other yogic practices. In doing this tapas (spiritual practice) one becomes aware of both the Halāhala (poison of the ego) and Amrit (the nectar of immortality). Both are within us.

When Shiva, the great yogi, saw that the poison of the ego which had come out first from churning of the ocean would destroy the world, he immediately drank it so that others would be protected from harm. As Shiva suffered intense pain from the poison, his wife, the Goddess Parvati touched Shiva’s throat and by the power of her love neutralized the effect of the poison.

The story of Maha Shivratri teaches us that the ego is a powerful poison that can delude the mind and be cause of much destruction. However, pure love, as demonstrated by the Goddess Parvati is overwhelming and can neutralize that poison of the ego and lead to the nectar of immortality. Happy Maha Shivaratri!

Free style interpretation of Ashthavakra Gita verses 3.9 to 3.14

Whether honored or tormented, in laughter or tears
the wise man, who is aware of his Self-Nature
does not see the body and mind as his own
and releases them to their natural ways.
Freedom from duality comes from Self-Knowledge
and reveals the joy that takes one beyond all sorrows.

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Here are the original verses from the Asthavakra Gita 3.9-3.14

Whether feted or tormented, the wise man is always aware of his supreme self-nature and is neither pleased nor disappointed. 3.9

The great-souled person sees even his own body in action as if it were someone else’s, so how should he be disturbed by praise or blame? 3.10

Seeing this world as pure illusion, and devoid of any interest in it, how should the strong-minded person feel fear, even at the approach of death? 3.11

Who can be compared to the great-souled person whose mind is free from desire even in disappointment, and who has found satisfaction in self-knowledge? 3.12

How should a strong-minded person who knows that what he sees is by its very nature nothing, consider one thing to be grasped and another to be rejected? 3.13

An object of enjoyment that comes of itself is neither painful nor pleasurable for someone who has eliminated attachment, and who is free from dualism and from desire. 3.14

The Self Cannot Be Found In Books

“You may go on reading any number of books on Vedanta. They can only tell you ‘Realize the Self’. The Self cannot be found in books. You have to find it for yourself in yourself.” Bhagavan Ramana in Gems ~ Chapter 8.

Sri Ramana here states the truth directly and unmistakably. No matter how many books one reads, one cannot gain Self-Realization.

Reading, thinking, and conceptualizing involve mental activity. Yet, it is this mental activity that distracts us and covers up the pure essence of being.

It is the mind itself that has to subside into the Heart and dissolve in it. Upon the merging of the mind in the Heart, the Self, recognition of our true nature is instantaneous. With the mind absent as the intermediary, the wordless Realization is immediate. One recognizes and says that “It has been Me all along. I am the Self.”

This recognition is beyond thoughts, words, and concepts. We use the words only to indicate that our real Self stands always Self-revealed.

Bhagavan Ramana teaches that once we become conscious of our power of attention to scan its own nature, we should focus on that.

in the classic quote given at the beginning of the article, Bhagavan Ramana emphasizes the role of deliberate and conscious introversion of the mind by shifting our attention from perceptions to the perceiver via self-inquiry.

OM Shanti!

Namaste

Note: The featured picture is from Mirela Skerbic on Facebook

ONE MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE…

Lasting happiness and peace are an inside job…Mira Prabhu

mira prabhu

b14516b6b40561bfe96c12b674d70118…is all it takes to blast open the mind and to prove to us, from the inside where it counts, that what we take for reality, as revealed to us via the five senses and our limited finite mind, is just a thin covering over an Absolute reality simply staggering in its intricate beauty and vast complexity.

As a child growing up in south India, I used to catch strangely disorienting fevers that incapacitated me for a couple of days. I would fall into a heavy sleep at night, then wake up to find myself floating above my body; what would hold my ethereal body from floating away, was, believe it or not, the thin cotton top of the mosquito net we always slept under! I would look down with a gasp of surprised terror to see my sleeping body below, and the next second I would be back within…

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The Ego is Not Your Amigo – Part 2 of 2

From Mira Prabhu, the mystic writer living on the holy mountain of Arunachala.

mira prabhu

Harish Johari Harish Johari

I first began to consciously pursue the destruction of my own troublesome ego when I lived in hectic Manhattan. At the time, I had just begun to plot a novel based on eastern philosophy (Whip of the Wild God: A Novel of Tantra in Ancient India), and was engrossed in learning everything I could about Tantra and mysticism.

In the process, I met folks who tended to interpret Tantra mainly as a license to enjoy indiscriminate sex. My view was different: mainly from delving into the treasure trove of eastern philosophy at the New York Public Library, I had discovered that, etymologically speaking, the word Tantra derives from two Sanskrit words: tanoti and trayati—meaning: the explosion of consciousness. How one performs this magic is up to the individual; while couple-hood can certainly become a means of liberation, celibate tantrics often evolve fastersimply because…

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Two Great Truths of Absolute and Relative Reality

By Mira Prabhu who is both an amazing and insightful Yogini as well as a very gifted writer. ❤

mira prabhu

SHIVA AND SHAKTI TANTRA

In my volatile teens, I was struck by the poignant beauty of an ancient metaphor (contained within the Mundaka Upanishad) that speaks of two birds perched on the branch of a tree: one bird eats the fruit of the tree while the other watches.

The first bird represents the individual self/soul; distracted by the fruits (signifying sensual pleasures), she forgets her lord and lover and tries to enjoy the fruit independent of him. (This separating amnesia is known in Sanskrit as maha-maya or enthrallment; it results in the plunge of the individual into the ephemeral realm of birth and death.) As for the second bird, it is an aspect of the Divine/Self that rests in every heart—and which remains forever constant even as the individual soul is bedazzled by the material world.

This teaching implies that it is ignorance of our true nature that creates a vicious cycle: the individual, being blinded by the illusion of existing as a separate…

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Chakras: The Pathway to Enlightenment by Rita Minassian

Rita Minassian holistic therapist chakra-balancing 

The chakras energy centers, a Sanskrit word for « wheel » or « disk », are the keys to reach Enlightenment. Through their meaning, colors, symbols, we can embrace the whole history of humanity starting from its root toward its supreme realization we’re all walking toward.

 

The Mulhadara chakra (or root chakra) located at the base of the spine is the chakra of our fundation: it refers to our survival instincts, self preservation and security. During prehistoric ages, people’s first occupation was struggling to survive. All their activities were about eating, finding a grotto to protect themselves from dangerous animal’s attack or bad weather, and when the moment came, to protect their precious source of fire.

 

Middle ages and Renaissance period were the theater of conquerors around the world. Crusaders or  conquistadors were fighting to conquer territories like Holly land and south America in tremendous violence, while other one were competing for the power of a royal throne and wealth, killing or raping people without guilt.

 

Through centuries, humanity progressed to Svadhistana, our second orange chakra just below the navel. It connects us to others through feeling, desire, sensation, and movement. It represents our capability to exchange and interconnect with the others. This need lead people to the sexual freedom in the 70’s: Woodstock and the use of the orange color during this period of time was the tangible representation of that desire to free the energy of Svadhistana chakra.

 

During the 80’s, we entered the Manipura chakra Era. This yellow solar plexus chakra represents, ego, identity and is oriented to self-definition. Time came for women who wanted some more recognition in society to adopt a “male look” through ties and shoulder pads on fashion at that time, businesswomen were becoming more and more numerous in companies, where self progression was motivating each step of corporate associates, male and female.  Ambition, self realization in a materialistic way: people just worked to achieve some personal goals through one rule, “Me first” …

 

Have you noticed how purple color overflowed fashion this year? For who knows the chakra color system it is surprising to talk about purple color instead of Anahata’s beautiful emerald green color… But shifting from  Manipura to Anahata, from ego to heart and Love, to generosity, non judgment, non violence, we need a lot of transformation and spirituality which is actually the symbol of purple color. Purple was also present during the 70’s when desire to enter the “New age” through a new spirituality was emerging. Anahata is a crossroads chakra, it’s very exigent and very simple at the same time: with loving ourselves and being in Peace, we allow ourselves to Love Unconditionally.

 

Anahata is also the “filter” for the Kundalini energy that climbs up from one chakra to another one and to transform it into a subtle compassionate energy and reach Vishudha chakra through the narrow space of our neck. Thanks to the  filter of Anahata, this blue communication chakra, we will express our thoughts in a compassionate way.   

 

This energy full of kindness will continue its path until arriving to Ajna chakra, or the 3rd eye chakra in the middle of the eyebrows (pituitary gland). It’s the place where our Yin and Yang energies meet: we then become more aware of our being and of our Universe. Ajna is the seat of our 6th sense that sees intuitively. Through it, we can use our insight and psychic skills. Nowadays, we can see more and more children around us with very strong intuitive skills and large consciousness:  some schools are aware of this phenomenon and accompany them with adapted programs. Some of them are known as “indigo children” because of the indigo color of their Aura, similar to Ajna chakra.

 

Finally, the run of the Kundalini energy will finally end to our crown chakra: Sahasrara and its “1000 petals” tinted in marvelous colors like purple (spirituality) white (purity) gold and silver (usually related to Guides and Angels)…

These numerous “receptors” connect us to our Higher Self, to our Guides and to Upper Forces. When everybody will reach the level of Sahasrara through a rich Spiritual life (which is not necessarily a religious life) people will access to wisdom, all-knowing, and bliss. That moment of pure Enlightenment will give us the opportunity to live in Harmony, at least…

   

The good news is that our evolution is rapidly increasing in the last decades than it used to be at the beginning of humanity, and hopefully our complete awakening will arrive quickly.

 

Each progress we make in our personal path toward Enlightenment is a help for our kinds: the more numerous we will be to raise our vibratory frequency, the better it is for the collective unconscious and our planet. From 1952 to 1958, in the island of Koshima in Japan, scientists established a theory which is called “The 100th Monkey”: the scientists trained monkeys to wash their sweet potatoes before eating them. After a certain number of monkeys trained, the scientists noticed that the monkeys on Takasakiyama island, a neighbor island of Koshima, started to wash their food also without being trained for it or having any connections with the trained monkeys … This experience shows us how the energy of a group can have effect on other ones attitude…

 

Everything that happens in this world finds its Source into upper world and upper force, using them for humanity’s Enlightenment is the choice we have through our free will. Like the lotus flower and its root in ooze becomes a beautiful flower with the help of the sunrays, such is human being and humanity in a holistic state: grounded into earth but push by a thirst for Light and Upper Forces to be able to grow…

 

OM MANI PADME HUM, this post is dedicated to the 7 billions of Lotus jewels around our beautiful planet walking toward Light.

 

Rita Minassian

www.ritaminassian.com