Swami teaches... Part 1. Shivarathri Is the Time for Auspicious Spiritual Contemplation

[Guest guest]

Light and Love Swami teaches... February - March 2008 Part 1. Shivarathri Is the Time for Auspicious Spiritual Contemplation Shivarathri is the Sacred Night. In the Night of this auspiciousness is the occasion for cherishing auspicious thoughts and praying for auspicious action and conduct in life. Relying on the merely literal meaning of the words, people wait a whole year for this particular holy day in order to miss a meal and call it a fast, to miss a night's sloop and call it a vigil. The fast is called in Sanskrit as Upavasa and it means something far more significant than missing a meal. It means living near and with God. Upavasa means living in the unbroken constant presence of the Lord, by Namansmarana or remembrance of Divinity; that is the real fast, holding fast to Him. Keeping awake, shaking off the sleep of the senses and being fully aware of the Light of Love, that is the Divine essence in all.

The sages of the past have realized the value and dignity, the worth and responsibility, of human life and they have laid down disciplines like the vigil and fast on Shivarathri Day, in order to inspire human and instruct human, on the upward path to God. Shivarathri is a word that connotes the dual nature of human and human's duty to discriminate between the higher and the lower. Shiva means jnana (the higher wisdom, the Unifying Universal Vision); it also means, the lasting, the timeless, and the beneficial, the holy, the auspicious. And the second word, 'rathri' means darkness of ignorance, the blind pursuit of tawdry pleasures, the bewildering of sensory joys. It also means the transitory, the fleeting; it connotes the maleficent, the inauspicious, the sacrilegious. The message of Shivarathri is: discriminate between Shiva and rathri - the prana (life energy) and the body, the dehi (indwelling of spirit) and the deha (body), the spiritual and the material (kshetrajna and kshetra). /The last called in the Gita as vibhaga-yoga (the yoga of discrimination between matter and spirit)/. Shake off the drowsiness and laziness, and practice the deep concentration in meditation and sadhana. That is the main purpose of these holy days and the regulations laid down for their observance. These holy days must be set apart for the contemplation of these great ideals with different approaches and topics directed by Swami. The Upanishads have declared that through renunciation alone is immortality to be attained. The significance of yajna, dhama and thapas (sacrifice, self-control and penance), of sahana, sadhana, samyama (forbearance, spiritual discipline and restraint), of the great Mahavakyas (Divine maxim on Absolute Reality, Vedic dicta) enshrined in the Vedas, of the three yogas - bhakthi, karma and jnana. With increased spiritual development and spiritual life, we will perceive that nothing is really separated from anything else; that we are united in the Great One in infinite forms. We are united in the Atmic Reality, of which we form a part. The entire phenomenal Universe what human being can perceive is a manifestation of the atoms. The five basic elements (space, air, water, fire and earth) are all made up of atoms and pervade the Universe. For this reason, the ancients regarded the Universe as a manifestation of God. What is the origin of atoms, mass? Why do tiny particles weigh the amount they do? Why do some particles have no mass at all? These are questions what arise today before modern science. Everything we see in the Universe, from butterfly to a galaxy, is made up of ordinary particles, referred to as matter, made up of atoms forming only 4% of the Universe. 96% is unknown to science dark energy* and dark matter*. So the part of forms (atoms) in the Universe is about 4%. The other 96% is formless entity, what human being cannot directly perceive. "There is an atomic particle subtler than the atom. There is something vaster than The vastest you can imagine. The atom is in the immense and The immense is in the atom. The Atma is in the atom as the Spirit" says a Telugu Poem by Swami.

The child Prahlada (by ancient scriptures son of the demon king Hiranyakasipu: he was beaten, trampled, and cast into fire and water. But he saw only God everywhere, and repetition of the Name of God saved him). realized the omnipresence of the Divine. He told his father: "Do not have any doubts that the Divine is present here and not there. He is omnipresent. You can find Him wherever you seek Him." What Prahlada declared millennia ago, the scientists of today are near to accept, namely, that the energy that is present in the all-pervading atom is Divine. Separateness ends with realization. Science and Vedanta say the same in substance by different aspects. Scientists are tending to realize the basic unity of the energy that fills the Universe. Vedanta describes that Unity as Brahman (the Supreme all-pervading Absolute, Cosmic Consciousness). The terms used are different, but in substance they are saying the same thing; namely that the Great One subsumes the many. (About the absolutely new scientific experiments in 2008 - briefly in one of the next part).

 

With regard to divinity, there is no meaning in making a distinction between the Divine with form and the formless divinity. How can you conceive of the Formless Divine? You cannot avoid idol worship until you have experience of the Divine within you. The night of Shivarathri will remember it to you through Swami's Teaching. Ramakrishna Paramahamsa once told a disciple - who asked why he (the disciple) was not able to see God - whether he yearned for God with the same intensity with which he sought many worldly things. If he did so, he would certainly have a vision of God. When a similar question was put to Buddha, he said that without indulging in speculation about God if one practiced truth, righteousness and non-violence he would have the highest experience. Let us look these two kinds of worship more properly.

 

Long before humans started exploring the secrets of the atom and discovering the nature of atomic energy, even before scientists began to understand the nature of spirituality, Bharatheyas worshipped the Bhuumi or Earth as Divine. Because the five elements were present in the Earth, they adored the Earth as Bhuudevi, the Earth Goddess. They worshipped water as Gangadevi, recognizing the Divine element in water. The Fire God comes next. The fourth is Vayudeva (the Lord of Wind). The fifth is Shabdha Brahman, the Divine as primal sound. Thus, all the five elements were considered manifestations of the Divine and worshipped as such by the ancient Bharatheyas.

 

Every atom has a form. There is no object in the Universe perceivable by humans without a form. By Vedic scriptures the form is vigraha (an expression of the Divine idol). Swami tells. "I point my finger at the mike and say: this is a mike. After you have seen the mike, you don't need the finger to point it out. I point to a flower and say: this is a flower. After you have seen the flower, there is no need for the finger to point it." Likewise, idols were used to point out God. Until God-realization comes, idols are essential. After God-realization there is no need for idols. (After worshipping an idol and gaining experience of divinity by such worship, one would be able to describe one's experience of God by formless worship). People in different countries over the world hoist the national flags and revere it. Before the National Flag could attain this status, many sacrificed their all for the freedom of the country. (Indians went through all this suffering so that they could have their own flag in a free country. On August 15th and January 26th, the National Flag is hoisted all over the country and revered as the symbol of national freedom). Moreover, people respect even their party flags. Is this flag animate? Has it any vitality or power in it? When you enquire like this you discover that it is the faith in the flag that makes it adorable. Likewise, if the question is asked whether a stone idol that is worshipped has any life or consciousness in it, they will find the answer from the example of the honor done to the national flag. How does a square yard of cotton cloth made into a flag acquire its value? The value is derived from the fact that the flag is a symbol of the victory achieved in the freedom struggle. That victory has no form. The flag demonstrates the achievement of that victory. Without the flag how do you demonstrate the victory in the freedom struggle?

 

Take another example. There is a 100-rupee note. It is lifeless. But you take good care of it because it represents wealth. Money as such has no qualities like goodness. But the possessor of money has qualities. Money is a symbol of power. The fragrance emanating from a flower has no form, but the flower has a form. Take love, for instance. It has no form. But the mother who exhibits love for her child has a form. If there is no mother, how can there be love? The mother's body is a vigraha (embodied form). The preceptor's body is a form. Swami's body is a Form. Among human society there can be no action without the body what is at the base of everything. The term vigraha also means an idol that is an object of worship. Through them humans can realise the Divine. The idols that are worshipped give the answers to those who go about asking, "Where is God?" The truth is, God is present in every atom and in every subatomic particle. Every atom represents the power of the Divine. Every atom deserves to be worshipped. All objects in Creation have to be respected. People have to cultivate this feeling of reverence for all things. In every religion there is a distinct form for worship. For example: Prakrithi (Nature). Nature has the power of attraction. It contains all the five elements. It is from Nature that we get our food. Nature is the source of all minerals. Nature is the sustainer of human being in ordinary life. That being the case, what is wrong in adoring Nature? Should we not be grateful to that which provides so many things for our needs? That gratitude is a form of worship.

 

Today scientists are trying to understand the power of attraction. Take, for instance, a temple. Thousands of people go to the temple for worship. The attractive power of temple extends to the idol in the sanctum. The thoughts of the worshippers are also attracted by the idol. Thereby the power of attraction in the idol gets intensified. The rituals performed for the idol also enhance its power of attraction. This process can be noticed if a couple of nails are kept near a magnet. After two days it will be found that the nails also have been magnetized. In the same manner when worshippers go to a temple the power goes forth from thousands of worshippers, the power or a action in the idol gets immensely intensified. The idol surcharged with this power is able to energize the worshippers.

In a home, there are pictures of grandparents and great-grandparents. The present generation has not seen them. But they offer garlands to the pictures and revere the ancestors. Is there life in the pictures? Do they exhibit any love? Do the pictures by themselves reveal any relationship? Not at all. But the pictures are revered out of the feeling that they represent one's ancestors. If such a loving feeling did not exist, the pictures will not be kept in the house. Likewise it is the attachment for an object that inspires respect and reverence. This is termed devotion. This devotion should be shown towards all objects because the Divine is in everything, in every atom. It may be difficult to cultivate such devotion without special forms.

 

What is the form of water? Here in this tumbler is some water and its form is derived from the tumbler. Likewise air acquires the form of the balloon in which it is confined. Similarly when the body is filled with Divine energy, the Divine acquires the human form. The all-pervading Divine thus acquires the form in which it manifests itself.

 

What is the form of Ananda? Experience alone is the form of this bliss. This bliss can be experienced only by God-realization and not by any other means. Bliss is all-pervading, but it not visible. For that reason, its existence cannot be denied.(By losing faith in the Divine, turning into unbelievers, moving away from bliss, people are becoming a prey to worry). In conclusion, every person begins to learn about all objects only in relation to their forms. People could not easily conceive of God as omnipresent, who is in every object and in every individual. (Some were able to conceive that the atom is present in every, object and everywhere. But it was only some centuries ago that atomic physics came into existence). In conclusion idol worship should not be regarded as a meaningless exercise. It is a good practice because on the basis of the idol the higher consciousness is attained. With firm faith and devotion, after idol worship's experiences the realization of the Great One will appear as formless unity, as the fusion into this formless unity. This divine power does not come from outside. It is within human beings. Our very form is Divine. That is why Swami often addresses people as "Embodiments of the Divine Atma." (Hence, if you want to discover the Divine who is omnipresent there must be a change in outlook within you. When you realize your own inherent divinity, you will be able to recognize the divinity in others).

 

Worship of the formless is often misconceived. The ideal is to make your hearts the temples for the Divine to dwell. (But today jet this is not possible for everybody. Temples in stone are reminders of the existence of God). Ttrue worship consists in heartfelt devotion to the God within each one. The temples erected in your hearts are permanent. When most of humans will realize the God within, then the sums spent on the construction of temples could be spent more usefully on service to the poor and the needy. Learn to see in every living, vital, active person, the embodiment of all energy, all beauty, all beneficence, namely, God. God is subtler than ether, filling the smallest crevice with his majesty. Know this and serve his manifestations, wherever you meet them. (Reet's compilation from: Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 9. "Thieves or Masters?" Chapter 4; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 14. "The four blemishes," Chapter 15; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 16. "Build temple in your hearts," Chapter 8; Sathya Sai Speaks.Vol. 21. "Bhaktha Sakhaa Bhagavan!" Chapter 17; Sathya Sai Speaks. Vol. 28. "Idol worship and God Omnipresence," Chapter 4). PS: 1. Dark energy was discovered in the late 1990s during a survey of distant supernova. (Instead of finding evidence that the mutual gravity of all the objects in the Universe is slowing down its expansion, researchers discovered that its expansion is actually accelerating). 2. Dark matter was first theorized back in 1933 by Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky. He noted that galaxies shouldn't be able to hold themselves together with just the regular matter we can see. There must be some additional, invisible matter surrounding the regular matter that provides the additional gravitational force to hold everything together. Namaste - Reet