My Dear
Darling,
Maa sits to write another letter to you hoping
someday when you are a gorgeous young girl with a beautiful soul and an
integral mind-set, you will be able to read and understand that which is unsaid
so many times ...
So, today
we will talk about spiritualism or food for soul.
Have you ever wondered what is it that attracts
me (and I can see, now, YOU) to our beloved SHIVA so strongly? The answer is
simple, if we see it simply, and complex, if we don’t understand simplicities
of life. We will not arrive at the answer here on the spot, I would rather take
you on a walk in the forest where we will sit and talk and gather conclusions along with the trees, the leaves,
the wind and the most important thing – SILENCE.
I can see you have a very fertile mind and
imagination, you ask me questions like why we hurt leaves when they have life,
why a teddy bear is abandoned on the road when there is a possibility that it
has a heart and it might get hurt too ....you make me smile with your crystal
like purity, you mesmerise me with your divinity – my little walking angel ….
If you look
around you, and look real strong, you will see SHIVA smiling and talking to us
everywhere.
He, in the
form of tree,
He, in the
voice of songs
He, in the
sparkling stars
He, in the
orange leaves
Do you remember our Scotland trip? Do you remember
river Tay in the morning? Do you remember when first time you witnessed the
flaming orange trees lining up the road? Did your soul dance? Did you sense
SHIVA and his lap? I could sense you did, but your biological body was not
equipped enough to express it in so many words. Remember our little secret of
God being the painter of the view we see through our car (Kiddo) window..mesmerising isn’t it?
When we look around us we see everything was
built with perfection and with a purpose. The purpose of stars, moon, sun,
wind, earth, and ocean is to give us a constant message. A constant message of the
fact that everything was born EQUAL.
Fragmentation happens in our mind/thoughts. The rain does not differentiate
between classes while pouring and so does pain and miseries. So if you pick up
anything in the nature (beauty and pain both) you will see, it equally impacts
us all. We will focus on the beauty part here since I feel, with our limited capabilities
(which is actually limitless but unused by us) we focus too much on miseries
and ignore that which is scattered around us – the BEAUTY.
However, talking of miseries (in short form
here) we often see people miserable about money/wealth. When there is wealth, people are miserable about peace and love, when they have peace and love they are
miserable about not being able to make trips, when they can make trips they are
miserable about not having a house, when they own a house they are miserable
about not having enough stuff and ......so the cycle goes on…… If you look at the
pattern carefully you will see misery prevails because we allow it to, in our
minds! It prevails because we focus on so much, that which we do NOT have, that
we forget to look at things, that which we HAVE.
SHIVA (nature and all his manifestations) had
already bestowed us with loads of wealth prior to our arrival in the human body.
The millions of stars, the millions of galaxies, the free wind, the free water,
a soul which can feel, a mind which can think, an intricately made human body
which can survive, our families, our friends ….the list will go on and on, if
you CHOOSE to focus that is.
2 people can differ in the size of bungalows
they own, the kind of cars they possess, the bank statement they manage, but
they will never be different in terms of number of stars shining on them, the
wind caressing them, the rain wetting them, the flowers smiling at them!! Amazing
isn't it?? Amazing how what was made without the intervention of human mind, does
not know how to fragment. Hope you are still with me and got the point.
I am sure by now you have wondered what a
scientist SHIVA must be to build our body! How is it that all the hearts are
same, everybody has lungs, blood is red in every person (even in so called blue
blooded people :) nature’s joke …haa..haa..) also, again it re-emphasizes the fact that equality
is the buzzword in that world which we call divine !
Nature also has one more secret (it has many
secrets and you have to keep solving the puzzle!) – have you ever wondered why
diamonds are found in coal? Why pearls appear in shells? Why does coconut have
water inside it? (Water is elixir of life right?) Why does lotus appear in
muddy water? Why is it there are hidden beauties in external simple appearances?
- Yes,
it is because nature wants to tell us what is important is INSIDE, do not judge
by what you see, INTENT is what matters. If read differently, it can also mean
that it wants to tell us beyond the exterior lies an interior which is as shiny
as a diamond, the TRUTH!
If you dig deeper you will see the pattern is
generalised to each atom of universe (including unseen) – there are seven days,
seven colours, and seven notes in music! What is with this seven??? If you keep
breaking each pattern you will come to know you were made of THAT!! The thousands
of galaxies and stars!! You are a walking talking kernel of that vast galaxy. Your
body has that rhythm, the cycle of birth and death like stars. The monthly
cycle of your body like cycle of seasons!!! Are you getting thrilled to know
what a miracle YOU are!!! Above all FEMALE body also has a kernel of
creation – you can be a MOTHER and BE GOD!!!! When you came back from school
today you said you were feeling as if sun was inside you because you felt too hot… it put me to thinking – is it that we are born with this awareness but
the view becomes less and less visible due to layer of dirt on our viewing glass…
We often discuss about rain and how the cycle
of evaporation and condensation gets water back to where it was - to its SOURCE. Is
it that it has a coded message? – does it hint at "the cycle of karma", that goes around comes
around? Does it denote the cycle of life and death? we get back to source we
belong to! Why it is that water has no colour? Why is it that it takes the colour
which is put into it? Does it have anything to do with the state of our soul? It
is pure, colour-less, attribute-less, is it that our perception adds colour to
something which in its purest form has no attribute called colour? Think about
it.
I know you must be smiling by now, your heart
bursting with all the beauties and messages around you – guess that is the
reason why our old sages, who knew the truth, would keep calm and smiling (remember
Rishi Pipalada? How composed he was with Lohitang?)
That brings me to our scriptures. Do not borrow
your ideas from anybody. The day nature decided to bestow us with mind besides heart,
it had a purpose – yes, and you got it right! There is nothing that can replace
an experience. Become knowledgeable, read books, listen to people, but come to
your own conclusions. Our scriptures are full of coded divine messages, you
need to have an evolved soul and open mind to understand the coded messages. Like
I have already told you in another letter – look at the characters in the story
but look at them as coded messages – SHIVA , the essence, the Shoonya, the
attribute-less, the formless , the highest form of INTEGRITY , isn’t that what
most souls vie for – to be THAT !! From thence comes the mantra – SHIVOHAM – I am
SHIVA! Who is Indra? Isn’t he prone to all the temptations in life? Why was he
named Indra? Do you know that our sense organs are also called Indriyaan!!! Aren’t
we all tempted because of our sense of seeing (beautiful girls), hearing
(gossip), skin etc… who is Guru Brihaspati? Why does he stay with Indra
always? Why does he keep directing him in the right direction? Is he, the sense
of right that is inherent in all of us? The sense which tells us to deal with
temptations??
Reading and understanding our scriptures will
take you more than one lifetime (if lifetime expectancy is average
of 80 yrs.!) but I will be more than glad if you are able to just scratch
the surface of it. I can assure you, it will heal your soul and make you a
beautifully strong person. You will know to love and live life if you are able
to understand and grasp their messages. It will bring you back to the forest we
are taking a walk in, back to the river, the leaf and all the stars scattered so
unattended by us
Maths is your favourite and it was maths and
science that brought me more close to SHIVA. I like the integrity of the
numbers – a 2+2 always produces 4, CONSISTENTLY, always! So if a rich wrote the
equation and the poor wrote it, the answer would always be 4!!! Miracle! Science
and maths is but manifestation of spiritualism (my take!)
There are so many other things that I want to
talk to you, but there is a time for everything. I will wait for another day
when my hands are forced to type incessantly because the energy inside me wants
to put it in words for you , It cannot be planned, it just happens
We have discussed almost everything that is
an integral part of the chain of events called life, that is why I told you –
SHIVA is all - from the atom to the galaxy to the yet not-comprehended!
I leave you with this – read it carefully
darling, hope you enjoy it. Remember, if you understand the crux of it, major
part of my responsibility to nurture your soul will be taken care of :) I love you my precious little soul!
The following piece is translated by a soul
like ours – lover of SHIVA…so do not judge it for we are not capable of judging
anybody in the world. I also leave the link of his blog for you J
Saturday, December 13, 2008
My deep and obsessive fascination with Shiva began as a young child, as
the mythology of Shiva addressed the archetype I have always identified with
most: the primal ascetic. As psychological growth led me to a more rational
understanding of reality, I came to understand Shiva as a primitive archetype
corresponding to entropy - hence the appellative mahakala. Shiva came to
represent to me the arrow of time, the creative as well as destructive
dimension of space-time. Cosmologically speaking, Creation then corresponds
metaphorically with the Dance of Shiva, where at every level of complexity,
beauty and salience are supported by comparatively large quanta of random
permutations at lower levels. Much of my scientific motivation and interest in
information-theoretic aspects of physics and biology stems from this
metaphysical lemma.
A breakthrough in my understanding of both Shiva and reality was set in motion
by my chancing upon an interesting definition of Shiva about nine months ago.
Shiva, in some Vedantic tradition the name of which escapes my memory now
(UPDATE: Its originally drawn from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad), is defined as
`that which is not'.
Shiva is defined as that which is not.
This thought, while innocuously koan-like in its statement, led to much
thought and meditation for me, culminating in a post-rational cathartic
experience this summer. It has led me very deep into questions concerning the
relationship between the Physical and the Spiritual worlds, the one
characterized by the passage of Time and the other by the increase in fullness
of Joy. It has also brought together the intellectual and Sufi strands of my
thought into a rather interesting synthesis of understanding, where Shiva is
now the source of the undifferentiated Consciousness that, in turn, is the
source of all reality. Not to put too fine a point to it, I now believe that
the story of existence can best be told as being a meditative thought in the
heart-mind of Shiva. All insights that we obtain into Nature and our internal
selves are reflections of the heart-mind of Shiva; the very possibility of
comprehensibility arises only because that which comprehends (awareness) is an
instantiation of the heart-mind of Shiva.
I raise these autobiographical details to provide context for what follows
here. The Shiva Rudrashtakam is a piece composed by Tulsi Das, one of the
greatest and least respected intellectual giants of the Indian Middle Ages. It
is written in Sanskrit and contains eight couplets in praise of Shiva. I must
confess that my Shaivite tendencies caused me to be rather dismissive of Tulsi
Das and his typically Vaishnava (dualistic) compositions when I was younger. The
Rudrashtakam changed my views. In the course of eight couplets, Tulsi
gradually traverses the philosophical spectrum from definitive non-duality to
definitive duality in a shockingly elegant manner.
Here, I translate the Rudrashtakam from a completely non-dualistic viewpoint,
thereby thwarting, in a sense, Tulsi's noble intent. I contend, however, that
it is of some value to regard the Rudrashtakam as a non-dualistic
characterization of the nature of Shiva rather than as an explanation of the
essential unity of the dualistic and non-dualistic understandings of Shiva.
While the latter is more intellectually salient and deep, the former is more
emotionally charged and potent as a meditative aid.
Lastly, I am sure some grammarians might take offense at what they might
consider liberties I have taken with the language in my translation and
metaphysical innovations that I have sought fit to introduce. I therefore
emphasize that this is a subjective translation by a scientist in the 21st
century, not an objective one by a Vedic scholar. Without further ado, let us
delve into it. Most lines are translated individually, making two notes per
couplet. The seventh couplet is translated in one place.
Shiva Rudrashtakam
namami
shami shana nirvana rupam vibhum vyapakam brahma veda swarupam
We sing
of Consciousness: the ontological fundament of the physical Universe, the
contemplation of whose nature is the source of inexhaustible Joy. We sing of
that which is all-powerful for those who meditate upon energy (latent motion),
all-encompassing for those who meditate upon motion (activated energy) and the
primal cause for those who meditate upon causation (source of motion-energy).
nijam nirgunam nirvikalpam niriham chidakasha
makasha vasam bhajeham
We know
that to be Shiva which is the devourer of the interior perception; that which
is beyond categories, beyond qualities, beyond causality and differentiation.
We know that to be Shiva which is the devourer of the exterior perception, the
deconstructor of all narratives of external reality, who exists beyond the
physical universe.
nirakaramonkara moolam turiyam gira gyana
gotitamisham girisham
We know
that to be Shiva that is formless yet forms the substrate for all levels of
Consciousness, the generator of Turiya, undifferentiated Consciousness. We know
that to be Shiva that transcends all these levels, beyond individuated
comprehension.
karalam mahakala kalam kripalam gunagara samsara
param natoham
Shiva is
that which unfolds both the involution and evolution of the Universe. Shiva
exists beyond the realm of physical reality.
tusharadri samkasha gauram gambheeram manobhuta
koti prabha shri shariraram
Shiva
manifests in external awareness as the perilous, blinding radiance of the
mightiest snow covered mountains. Shiva manifests in internal awareness as a
formless form verily defined by the reflections of countless rays of light.
sphuranmauli kallolini charu ganga
lasaddhalabalendu kanthe bhujanga
From the
creativity of Shiva springs the sustenance of all that lives. From the will of
Shiva spring all mysteries and death.
chalat kundalam bhru sunetram vishalam prasannanam
nilakantham dayalam
All
archetypes of physical beauty stem from Shiva, all aestheticism is but the
comparison of the percept of the object to the percept of Shiva. All archetypes
of morality stem from Shiva, all virtues are judged relative to the
anthropomorphized nature of Shiva.
mrigadhisha charmambaram mundamalam priyam shankaram
sarvanatham bhajami
All
asceticism finds its root in Shiva, all practices of yoga and meditation stem
from the desire to perceive Shiva. We sing, therefore, of Shiva, the
universally beloved.
prachandam prakrashtham pragalbham paresham
akhandam ajam bhanukoti prakasham
The
ferocity of storms, the luminosity of stars, the indivisibility of unity are
all pale reflections of the potency of Shiva. Shiva sows the Seed for all of
Creation, and appears in the perception of all that is created as the brilliance
of a billion suns.
trayah shool nirmoolanam shool panim bhajeham
bhavani patim bhavagamyam
The
thought of Shiva heals suffering through alienation from the Source in the
physical, subtle and causal realms. The thought of Shiva is accessible only
when thought of the self dissipates through the arousal of Divine Love.
kalatita kalyana kalpanta kari sadasajjananda data
purari
The thought of Shiva suspends awareness of Time, it generates deep insights and
transformative catharses. The thought of Shiva always rejoices those who seek
it sincerely.
chidananda sandoha mohapahari prasida prasida
prabho manmathari
The
interior representation of Shiva takes the form of supreme awareness and bliss,
dispelling delusion. Therefore, we sing and embrace the thought of Shiva.
na yavad umanath padarvindam bhajantiha loke pare
va naranam
na tavatsukham shanti santapa nasham prasida prabho sarva bhutadhivasam
A
fascination with external categories and causalities associated with them inevitably
leads to uncertainty, alienation and unhappiness which manifest themselves as
deleterious transactions with the external environment. We sing and remain
mindful of Consciousness that moves all thoughts and action so that they may
always remain useful.
na janami yogam japam naiva pujam natoham sada
sarvada shambhu tubhyam
Self-awareness
requires no denominational practices or rituals. The only requirement is a
continual and persistent mindfulness of the interior representations of Shiva.
jara janma dukhaugha tatapyamanam prabho pahi
apannamamisha shambhu
It is
miraculous that finite instantiations of the Infinite can hope to merge with
it. We sing, therefore, in the hope of perceiving the heart of Shiva.
