ॐ नमः शिवाय

Have you ever wondered what this mantra actually means? 

What does OM mean? Om means completeness of the moment. Om means fullness. Namah means complete surrender. न-मह - nothing is mine. The understanding of 'nothing is mine' is the surrender which demolishes the Ego. Shiva is the most enlightened state of being...of ecstasy...of bliss. 

This moment is complete and full. At this moment we are complete, we do not have anywhere to go. You and I accept ourselves as we are, accept our life as it is. Let us not compare ourselves with others. Let us not compare today with yesterday, or the next day. I am unique, this day is giving me a unique experience. I am complete so is the moment. This realization, this joy means Om... ॐ

When you say Namah, realize that nothing is really yours... the house, the cars, bank balance, wife, husband, children, boy friend, parents, even your body... because nothing is consistent or stationary in your life. You are only the caretaker, a trustee for the time being. Nothing will remain forever with your soul but the knowledge, the understanding, that  you will earn in your life time. That realization is the Namah... नमः

Shivaya is the highest level of being... which complete awareness, complete understanding, total freedom from ignorance... well not that easy to explain Shiva :)

Happy chanting!

ॐ नमः शिवाय

 

Shiva Sutra: Activities vs Actions

The greed to become somebody and the fear of ending up as nobody, is the greatest stress of our life.

Our life is the permutation and combination of the amount of greed and fear. Buddha says that all our activities are caused by greed and fear. Both greed and fear are the symptoms of inner shallowness.

Activities provide an escape from our inner void caused by our ignorance and shallowness. The distorted perception of self create the inner void and shallowness in us. We try to justify our inner void with activities. Till the time we learn to face that inner void, we will remain involved with activities to escape...we will remain bored with life. We get involved in activities to avoid ourselves.

When Buddha asks us to face our inner void, it is called abhi mukhi, which Shiva refers to as Chaitanya Atma.Which means you learn to see yourself with awareness. When we see the self with complete awareness we also see the greed/fear that is inducing our activities.

Learning to face  the self, then identifying the greed and fear behind the activities, and facing those traits with full awareness...when we do so, our activities become actions. Actions, that are results of pure intentions of a fully aware self.

Shiva: Ichcha Shakti, Vidya Shakti and Kriya Shakti

 Sham mangalam karoti iti Shiva

Shiv is the one who creates auspiciousness...mangalam.Shiva is a state of being...which represents three types of strengths: Ichcha Shakti,  Vidya Shakti and Kriya Shakti.

Ichcha Shakti is the power of intention or the power of "will". Ichcha shakti is the intention to destroy the inner darkness. "Udhyamo Bhairavaha". Udhyam means effort to fulfill certain intention. Bhairavaha means Shiv Himself! Every intention or effort that one make to eliminate the inner darkness itself is Lord Shiva.

Vidya Shakti means the power of understanding. Most of us think Vidya means knowledge. But according to Shiva Sutra, Knowledge binds, but clear understanding unbinds...sets us free. Vidya Shakti is acquired by having clear understanding. Confusing isn't it? Let me clarify what I understood. Knowledge binds when it is only words for the words are description. And description is not the "described". When we know the description of things, that is not knowledge. That is called Shabdagnanam. Such knowledge limits our understanding and thus, binds us.

Vidya is the clear understanding of things...which comes from complete realization, which requires no word. For words are only pointers which are pointing out to the thing. We need to comprehend the reality of the things to totally understand those. This is Arthagnanam. Only this way we acquire Vidya Shakti.

When we have Ichcha Shakti and Vidya Shakti, this is the time to act on the understanding with intention. That action is Kriya Shakti.  We know what we SHOULD do, but we do not act on that. This is as good as not knowing. We intend to end the darkness within us, and start acting on it RIGHT NOW. This is Kriya Shakti. Vidya Shakti let us open to be here and now, we start experiencing the transformation within us, we watch this happen with true wonderment. For this to happen, we must start HERE and NOW.

 When Ichcha Shakti, vidya Shakti, and Kriya Shakti are in action, we invoke Lord Shiva. He is the way from darkness to enlightenment. He is the destroyer of darkness.

Om Namah Shivay!

I will come back with more understanding of Lord Shiva....Till then,

Keep the faith!