The Art of Living ( Knowledge Blog )

Saturday, February 21, 2009

A very Happy Shivratri

Mahashivratri

Falls On

23rd February 2009

when the Shiva principle descends to Earth

a thousand times more than usual.

On this day, to obtain the full benefit of

Lord Shiva's principle,

one should chant

'Om Namah Shivaya'

as much as possible.

Shivratri

is the time when Shiva takes a rest.

Shiva rests for one 'prahar' (three hours) of the night.

This 'prahar' is referred to as the Shivratri.

When Lord Shiva takes rest, the function of

'Shivtatva' (Shiva Principle) ceases,

i.e. Lord Shiva goes into a meditative state.

Shiva's meditative state is the time when

He is engrossed in His own spiritual practice.

During That Time,

the 'Shivtatva' does not accept any tamogun

(most base of the 3 elements in us - sattva, raja & tama) or any halahal (venom churned from the ocean)

coming from the Universe.

As a result,

the ratio of halahal or the pressure

of the negative energies increases.

For protection from this pressure, things like

'bilva patra', white flowers, 'rudraksha' beads etc

are offered to Lord Shiva.

These things attract the 'Shivtatva' from the atmosphere, thus providing protection from the increasing effect of the negative energies.

The Earth is a gross object.

Gross objects have very low velocities

i.e. they require more time to cover a specific distance in space.

Gods on the other hand, are subtle hence they

are capable of traversing space within a few seconds.

That is why one year on the earth

is equivalent to just one day of heaven.

Science in the worship of

Lord Shiva on Mahashivratri

The function of the

'Shivpindi'

1. Emitting waves of Knowledge,

Devotion and renunciation

Predominantly

'sattva' waves of knowledge,

'raja' waves of devotion

and

'tama' waves of Renunciation (Vairagya)

are emitted by the 'Shivpindi'.

During Mahashivratri,

the emission increases by 30 percent.

2.

Emission of subtle vibrations

of chaitanya, bliss and peace

The 'Shivpindi' emits

subtle vibrations of chaitanya, bliss and peace.

During the Mahashivratri, the emission increases

by 25 percent.

This helps purify the subtle-body of one who worships the Shivpindi on this day.

The 'sun' or the 'moon' channels in the body get activated as per necessity.

The capacity to absorb the sattvaguna and chaitanya also increases.

Due to the presence of the unmanifest Shiva principle in the Shivpindi and the vibrations of peace emitted,

the Shivpindi remains cool and the mind too experiences peace.

Worship of Shivpindi with devotion,

activates the dormant Shiva principle.

An offering of puffed rice and milk

reaches Lord Shiva in the subtle form.

3.

Receiving the

'tarak or marak tatva (element)'

as required

There is a confluence of the manifest

and the unmanifest elements along with the

'tarak and marak tatva' in the Shivpindi.

(Tarak = Saviour; Marak = Destroyer).

That is how worshipers receive the required element.

The temperature of the Shivpindi increases due

to the emission of the marak tatva

and there one experiences bliss.

Similarly,

when the tarak tatva is emitted,

the temperature drops and one experiences peace and bliss.

Bilvapatra (Bel leaves)

Bilvapatra contains 2% Shiva tatva.

By offering bilvapatra to the Shivpindi on Mahashivratri,

the manifest Shiva tatva near the stalk of

the bilvapatra gets activated.

Due to this, waves of chaitanya as well as Shiva tatva

are emitted by the bilvapatra.

The bilvapatra

attracts 20% of the Shiva tatva present in

the Shivpindi towards itself.

By immersing this bilvapatra

in water or by placing it in grains,

the Shiva tatva present in the bilvapatra is transmitted to them.

The Shiva tatva in the bilvapatra

is activated to a larger extent on Mondays

when it transmits 10% of the Shiva tatva and sattvikta.

On other days only 1% of the Shiva tatva

is activated in the bilvapatra.

Bilvarchan

Offering bilvapatra

to the Shivpindi and chanting the mantra

'Om Namah Shivaya'

with each offering is known as bilvarchan.

Continue offering the bilvapatra until the pindi

is completely covered.

Offer the bilvapatra from the lower part of the pindi.

By starting from the feet of the idol,

more benefit is derived and the idol

can be covered completely.

Chanting on Mahashivratri

'Om Namah Shivaya'

Om represents an unmanifest state beyond

the 3 gunas (elements of sattva, raja & tama).

We bow to Lord Shiva, from whom Om was created.

What does the word 'Shiva' mean?

a.

The word Shiva has been derived

by reversing the letters of the word vash.

Vash means to enlighten; thus the one

who enlightens is Shiva.

He remains radiant and also illuminates the universe.

b.

He is the auspicious and

prosperity-bestowin g principle.

Some unique attributes

1. Physical attributes

a. Ganga :

Just as the sun is the focal point of the solar system

and the soul that of the body,

the focal point of divine consciousness

(chaitanya) in every object and

pure particles (pavitrakas) is ga-aum.

The flow from which ga-aum originates is gan gaha = Ganga.

Ga-aum flows from Shiva's head.

This is called the descent of the Ganga

from Shiva's head.

Since the river Ganga has a fraction

of the principle of the spiritual Ganga,

no matter how polluted it becomes,

its purity is perpetually retained.

Hence,

when compared to any other water in the world,

the water from the Ganga is the purest.

This is realised not only by those

who can perceive the subtle dimension

but also by scientific researchers.

b. Moon :

Shiva adorns the chandra (moon) on His forehead.

The point where the three frequencies

- affection (mamata), mercifulness (kshamashilata)

and motherly love (vatsalya) originate

is referred to as the chandra (moon).

Thus, one can conclude that chandrama

(the moon principle) is the state in

which the three attributes of affection,

mercifulness and motherly love are present.

c. Third eye :

Shankar is three-eyed,

i.e. He can perceive events of the past, present and future.

According to the science of Yoga

the third eye means the Sushumna nadi (channel).

d. Serpent :

One of the Names of Lord Shankar is Bhujanga-patihari.

Bhujang means a serpent or pure particles (pavitrakas) ,

pati means the nurturer and hari means one

with a garland around His neck.

Bhujangapatihari thus means the One

who nurtures pure particles and wears them like a garland.

Various serpents represent groups of pure particles.

Though externally they appear like serpents,

internally they are a kind of ladder.

To make spiritual progress one has to climb

up holding onto the tail of the serpent.

Lord Shankar adorns serpents at nine points on His body

- one on the head,

one around the neck,

one on each arm,

one on each wrist,

one around the waist and

one on each thigh.

This implies that His body is comprised

of pure particles or that serpents of pure particles

play all over the body of Lord Shankar

who has the universe as His form.

2. Spiritual attributes

a. One performing severe

austerities and the great yogi

Shiva is always seated in a bandha or a mudra.

His temperature rises due to heat generated

by performing severe austerities;

Hence, He uses the Ganga, the moon and

serpents which endow a cooling effect

and lives on the snow-clad Kailas mountain.

b. Short tempered

If someone disturbs His meditation

the radiance generated by spiritual practice

will be suddenly expelled and whoever is in front of Him will not be able to tolerate it, and gets destroyed.

This is referred to as being 'reduced to ashes

by Shankar's opening of the third eye'.

c.

One who is willing to undergo

any distress for the sake of imparting happiness to others

The poison

generated during the churning

of the celestial ocean (samudramanthan)

was burning the entire Universe but no deity

came forward to accept it.

At that time Shiva drank that poison

and saved the world from destruction.

d.

One who has both,

deities and demons, as His worshippers

Neither did demons

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

"I Believe" - an eye opener!

Birth Certificate shows that we were born

A Death Certificate shows that we died

Pictures show that we lived!

Have a seat . . . Relax . . . And read this slowly. You would find it better than most forwarded emails

I Believe...

That just because two people argue,

It doesn't mean they don't love each other.
And just because they don't argue,
It doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I Believe...
That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe...
That true friendship continues to grow, even over
The longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe...
That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe...
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe...
That we are responsible for what we do,

No matter how we feel.

I Believe...
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done
When it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe...
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe...
That my best friend and I, can do anything, or nothing and have the best time.

I Believe...
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe...
That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others.

Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe...
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but, we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...
That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life Forever.

I Believe...
Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe...
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I Believe...
That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.

I Believe...
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I Believe...
That you should send this to all of the people that you believe in, I just did.

I Believe...

'The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

How to take care of the old - Sri Sri

Jai GuruDev..

Old people are no different from children! You should treat them like kids. Like children, they are adamant and repeat the same things! They talk about the same thing over and over again, without realising they have already said it several times! When a pattern sets in them, you accept them as they are. They are the best practical example for you to demonstrate that you have followed the first principle of the Art of Living – "Accept people as they are". They come into your life and make you realise that. You cannot change old people overnight, or even in a period of time. You need to accept them. (Remember the previous one , Forgiveness is a balm to soothe the mind - Sri Sri )

See, there is some wisdom in what they are saying. Sometimes, you are unable to see wisdom in what an experienced, mature person says. They speak from their own experience, over the years. Understand that they have a different set of experiences than yours. So don't get upset if they don't change! If you accept them as they are, a miracle will happen. If you give them space, love and compassion, they slowly start changing. But you need to have a lot of patience. You will learn patience dealing with old people, with grannies, who have certain patterns!

Also, don't take their moods too seriously! If they're upset, don't take it too seriously because then, you won't be able to communicate with them. Don't try to convince them. Sometimes, they just want to pour out their heart to you. If they are grumbling, they are just grumbling. They're saying it, but they don't really mean it! If they say, "I'm so upset" – they may say it, but they will still go and have their food, watch television and do all their things – but when they see you, they say, "Oh, I'm so upset, I never ate food, I didn't do this, I didn't do that!" If you take all their complaints seriously, you become miserable, and won't be able to help them. You should realise it's only their way of communicating. People who are very aged or sick just want to communicate with you, but what is it that they can share? When people don't have enthusiasm, they will only share their grievances. That doesn't mean
that they are purely miserable. There is a corner in them that is untouched by any amount of misery. Whether it is extreme joy, happiness or misery, there is a part in every human being that remains untouched.

It is the same with people who appear to be very miserable. In reality, they are not that miserable, but they talk, talk, talk and talk! Especially when you know that someone cares for you, you don't always go to him (or her) with a smile and with joy. You go to him (or her) with all your problems and complaints! This is the normal course of things in the world. Isn't that so?

Suppose you are at a big party, you will go find your very close friend and complain, "The party is good, but this should have been better and that should have been better. They should have put that thing there. This light is not good. That curtain is a little crooked and you know there is no salt in this food...did you taste the food?!" You will find your close friends and talk, but you won't complain to the host. Out of good manners, you won't go and complain to someone new! The same is true of elderly people!

There is a nice story. A man earned a lot of money and then gave all his property to his son. When his son got everything, he built a small out-house behind the main house for his parents and he told them, "Now you have to stay there." So the old couple stayed there, while their son and his family started living in the big bungalow. One day, while playing, the grandchild came into his grandfather's home, where everything was old and in a very poor, pathetic condition – old utensils, old chairs, all unwanted goods. Things that could break at any time were kept in that house. So the grandchild came and told his grandpa, "Grandpa, be careful with your plate and your chair. Don't break them!" When he asked why, the child said, "Because tomorrow, my father needs all this." The child's father heard this and was shocked. That little boy saying, "Grandpa don't break it because tomorrow, when I grow older, I'm also going to send my
father here. So better save this!"

One does not realise this fact. You are also going to be old one day, and are going to be like them. If you find that the elderly people in your home are complaining, and you don't like it, you better not do it today, and if you see them as being so generous, so calm, so serene, so loving, you better start being that way right now. And I tell you, if you're on the path, in the knowledge, and if you keep doing your meditation and the breathing exercises, your ageing reverses! That enthusiasm to learn will exist and your alertness, focus, attention – everything – increases in life. You will not become cynical and senile as you advance in age.

"Celebrate Life. Care for others and share whatever you have with those less fortunate than you. Broaden your vision, for the whole world belongs to you."

- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, Art of Living Foundation.

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