Hope in the crumbling times...

The current phase that mankind is going through, I call as crumbling times. All that was made to believe is crumbling. The institutions are falling apart. Businesses are crumbling. Media myths are exposed. Value systems are being re shaped. Belief systems are questioned. Anything and everything that ruled over us through the organised form is clearly in doubtful existence.

In terms of Economics, the exploitation of resources and the resultant shaping of the world is in serious doubt. The imbalance that has been caused by the exploitation of resources has started taking its toll. Weather is changing, health of humans and animals is degrading, more natural disasters are happening.... When so much uncertainty and negativity is getting spread around, what is the ray of hope for the mankind?

In these interesting transition times, some developments have caught my attention. Few months before major floods took place in the Himalayas and thousands of human and animal lives were lost. It was huge devastation. Though the lives lost, stood strong in the calamity was the thousands of years old temple of Lord Shiva in Kedarnath, the powerful energy spot!

Majestic Kedarnath Temple standing unscathed amidst the debris after devastating floods in the Himalayas.
Photo Courtesy: Tilak Soni

Fox News published the picture of devastating typhoon in Philippines that took place in November 2013, where the Church was standing tall and mostly without any real damage while the surrounding was totally destroyed.

The Holy Cross in the Church is not damaged in the natures furry in recent cyclone in Philippines though the bigger structures were damaged around and thousands lost their lives.
Photo Courtesy : Fox News

Recently, I came across the picture of Tsunami that hit South East Asian countries few years before, where the Mosque was intact while the concrete structures around were totally destroyed.

The Mosque stands still despite the devastation around by the strong Tsunami.
Photo Courtesy : www.Allvoices.com 

All these images are a strong message for mankind. The same mankind which is busy fighting over religious, national, racial, linguistic identities and so on. The same mankind that is insanely illusionary about its conquer over the nature through so called scientific advancements. The same mankind, in the name of economic development, is busy digging Mother Earth, cutting huge trees, polluting  the air and water, the same mankind that has gone so far from its true nature of harmonious existence with the fellow beings in the universe.

Be it a temple, church, mosque or any other place of worship, the message is clear and loud. The divine energy is the same, though named different by ignorant humans. It's the place of high energy that has remained intact and the divisive, illusionary beings have blown away. Drowned away.

Any place of worship is a high energy spot, not only because of the deity in the place, but mainly because the immense faith of the devotees who visit the place. The place of worship gets its strength through the pure intentions of the believers. This belief is the strongest force apparently represented as devotion to a specific religious figure of worship, but ultimately it's the recognition and respect to the 'supreme consciousness' which is beyond any identity.

So the message is strong and clear, let's build the spots of such high energy everywhere. Not through the bricks and concrete but through the unconditional faith in the supreme energy. Such energy fields when increase in numbers and ultimately cover every part of the universe, rest assured, we have lived the divine will of protecting and preserving the universe and being in harmony with it!

Let's build the energy fields around us through good intentions, through soft and pleasing language, through respect for the living and non living beings, through good karma, by abandoning divisive methods and means, by planting trees, by taking care of needy and under privileged, by being kind and compassionate...

Let's build the energy fields.
Lets revive the miraculous universe!

Amen.

Shubham Bhavatu.

Yogi Arwind
(In Seminyak Bali, Indonesia)

Who is Goddess?

All the gods went to the goddess and asked her in the chorus, "O' goddess Mahadevi, Who are you? What is your nature?"

The goddess (Devi) replied, " I am the brahman itself. From me originates the universe of the form and the non-form. The universe of prakriti and purusha."

" I am the bliss. I am the form & expression of bliss. I am all that is science. I am non-science. I am the brahman that every soul should know of. I am the non-brahman too. I am the five elements. I am the universe that is beyond these five elements. All that universe which is visible, which has form; is me!" The Goddess continued.

She says further, " I am the Vedas, I am that knowledge too which may not have incorporated in the Vedas. All that takes birth is me. All that doesnot take birth (permanant) is me too. I wander in the form of all Rudras, Vasus, Adityas, and Vishwadevas. I feed, take care of the Sun and the Rain God (Mitra & Varuna), also of the King of gods and Fire god (Indra & Agni) and of both the Ashwini Kumars (the doctors of gods). I take the form of Soma, Twashta, Pushan, and Bhaga, the early Vedic deities. I appear in the form Vishnu, Brahma and Prajapati."

" I am all that wealth which the performer of Yagya possesses in the form of the havi (the items offered in the yagya). I am the goddess of the whole universe. I give wealth and prosperity to my worshipers, I am the form of brahman, I am the main deity among various gods for whom the yagya
and worship is performed. I create the sky as an impression over my transperent soul. I reside in that intellect and mind which recognises the nature of brahman. The one who understands this nature of mine, he is entitled to earn the divine wealth and prosperity."

When the gods listened to this expression of her own nature by the goddess, they started singing in chorus in the praise of the goddess, "we bow before the goddess. We bow before the Mahadevi who ensures our welfare. We bow before the prakriti form of the goddess who has gone beyond the volatility and attained the supreme stillness. We bow before such giver of auspiciousness, following all the rules of respect and regard for her!"

They further continued the praise of the goddess, " we bow before the one who is of the colour of the fire. We bow before the one who has earned an enormous flow out of her tapas. We surrender to the shining goddess who is worshipped to gain the fruits of karma. O' goddess, the destroyer of the demons, we prostrate before you."

"The gods of Prana created the light of speech. The speech which is used by the creatures for communication. Such goddess of speech, Vagdevi, who grants the bliss like the kamdhenu - the make a wish cow, gives food and strength to her devotees, my she give us the darshan after getting satisfied of our worship and devotion to her." Said the gods.

We bow before the Kalaratri, the goddess who conquers the death, Vishnushakti, whi is praised by the Vedas, Skandamata (Shivshakti), Saraswati (Brahmashakti), mother of gods Aditi, and the daughter of Daksha, Sati. We bow before the goddess who washes away our sins and brings welfare to us.

Te gods said, "we know the form and nature of Mahalakshmi, and we meditate upon her, who gives us the strength. May this goddess guide us on the path of good."

(Definition and the nature of the goddess and her praise by the gods - as it appears in the Devi Atharvashirsha)

Who is Shiva?

Once the gods went wandering to the Heaven and they asked the Rudra, "Who are you?"

Rudra replied, "I am the One! I am in the past, present and the future. There is nothing that is without me. I am the secret of secrets. The one who is present in all directions, it's me. I am the continuity and discontinuity. I am the manifestation. I am the non-manifestation. I am the core of every existence. I am that existence which exists without the core."

Rudra continued further,"I am the East, West, North and South. I am the upside and downside. All directions, all that is feminine, Gayatri, Savitri, are me. Variety of different meters namely; Trishtubh, Jagati, Anushtubh, which are used to sing the Vedas are me. All different types of fire, Garhapatya, Dakshinaagni, Aahavaniya is me. I am the truth!"

(Image courtsy: Ajith Kumar Photography)

"All four Vedas namely; Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda, Atharvaveda are me. All that is respectable is me. All that is superior is me. Water, light, secretive, forest, perishable, non-perishable, sacred, auspicious, fierce, focal, covering, pointed these all is me. I am the flame! " said Shiva.

Shiva said to the gods that you should know that I mingle with all. Know further that the one who knows me knows all gods. Not only that, he knows all four Vedas with the subsections. 

Shiva says, "With my light I please the brahma with the brahman, cow with the cow, brahman with the brahman, life with the life, truth with the truth and the dharma with the dharma." Which means that Shiva is the metadata of the data representated by all these. For example the force behing the truth experienced by one is Shiva!

After listening this elaborate, comprehensive description of his own nature, given by Shiva, gods were so pleased that in chorus they started praising Shiva!!!

(Description of Shiva as appears in the Shiva Atharvashirsha)

Shiva Arharvashirsha sung by Yogi ArwindClick here to listen the Shiva Atharvashirsha sung by Yogi ArwindClick here to listen to the Shiva Atharvashirsha sung by Yogi Arwind

Guru ji, jahan baithu vahan chhaya ji...

Guru ji, jahan baithu vahan chhaya ji

So hi to malak mera najrana aaya ji.

O' my beloved Guruji, wherever I am, i experience the thick shadow of the divine grace. It's such wonderful bliss!

And I get the most precious gift meant for a true spiritual seeker, the experience of the supreme self!

This is nirguni bhajan of Deva Nath. Kumar Gandharva has soulfully sung it. This is a state of mind of a realised seeker. The seeker who has experienced the truth! The seeker who has seen the god! The seeker who has experienced the supreme consciousness!

The realised soul is reflecting the deep sense of gratitude towards his guru, the spiritual master who facilitated this experience for him. 

The guru guides the disciple in his spiritual journey with the words of wisdom. The seeker persistently continues his spiritual efforts. And one fine moment 

arrives that the summit of ultimate consciousness is reached. The obsever and observed lose the duality and only observation remains.

At such moment, the seeker spontaneously expresses his deep sense of gratitude towards his guru saying, 'O' my beloved Guruji, wherever I am, i experience the thick shadow of the divine grace. Its bliss!'

Gera gera jhad jhad sheetal chhayaa ji

Mhara hain satguru dekhan aaya ji

And the seeker says wherever i go, in every experience of my life, in each place, in every situation, every time i experience the cool shadow of the ultimate bliss! Such is the powerful experience that the there is no conditioning of the space and time for this experience. And he expresses the deep gratitude again for his master, the guru saying, its my satguru, who has shown me this divine light!

Kumharya jo dharati ye kalash mangaaya

Mhare satguru ne bhent chadhaayaa ji

The potter, who collects the good clay, cleans it, sorts the unwanted dirt out, mixes with water, makes good dough and then makes nice pot out of it, similarly my guru has accepted me with all my good and bad qualities, he gave me time, answered my queries, guided me with the spiritual practice, he showed utmost patience towards me and helped me to seek the truth! So, i am like the satvic pot that my guru has made out of the non refined clay of my personality which was full of saatvic, rajas and tamas gunas.

Tan bhar tala shabad bhar kunji

Mhare satguru ne khol bataya ji

I was trapped into body consciousness. I limited my existence to my body. This ignorance of mine was a root cause of my suffering. It deprived me of the experience of joy! The bliss. My guru helped me get out of this limitation whith the help of shabad, the key to open the lock of limited consciousness to enter the kingdom of supreme consciousness. My guru opened this lock with the mantra. He gave me the mantra. He gave me the practice. He showed me the light. All these worked a s ke key to liberate my self from the locked being!

Jeev nagar mein kaant bharanu

Mhare satguru ne shodh lagaayaa ji

The life of mortals is full of sufferings and sorrow. It is full of obstacles. Day to day life

 is so full of problems like the the thorns laid down on the path at every step. It is my guru who warned me of the horns. He showed me the horns and helped me clear the path. He helped me remove my sufferings. He helped me redifine sufferings. He helped me open my eyes. He helped me refine my actions. He helped me with the energy of persistence. Hence i am here at the summit experiencing the bliss of the supreme!

Doi kar jod Deva Naath bolyaa

Mhane kesar tilak chadhaaya ji

With the folded hands, says Deva Naath that he applies the saffron spot on the forehead of the guru ji!

The disciple is so content now. Hw is happy. He has deep sense of gratitude. He has sense of reverence towards the guru who made him reach the goal. Out of such umatched sense of request, the disciple worships the guru with the kesar tilak. The saffron spot. This is a traditional way of worship. 

Jai Gurudev!!!