Archive for March 2011
Maha Shivaratri-Meet inner Shiva
Maha Shivaratri i.e. the Great Night of Lord Shiva. Shiva, a Sanskrit word meaning welfare, but Shiva is the God of destruction. Oh! what a contradiction. Welfare and destruction. Is there some confusion? Or, the whole concept is just a fallacy? No, just see them just as two sides of a coin. The great Sufi poet, Roomi, had once said that when sculptor breaks the stone for making a beautiful idol, stone does not know about the great transformation lies beneath the pain of getting broken up. Shiva is the Lord, who bridges the gap between destruction and transformation. Maha Shivaratri is the festival to celebrate the joy of transformation, getting rid off the pain of ignorance.
What are you going to do today? Fasting? Visiting some temple? Offering oblation to the statue of Shiva? Pouring a lot of Milk and water? Offering some intoxicating material to the Lord? You might do these things, but did you offer something to the Lord Shiva, lying within you? Did you Prayed to Him? Did you at least recognize Him? You are wandering to the temples. You are wasting a lot of money on so called Tirthas (Holy places). But you do not have time for your inner Shiva, who is waiting you from time immemorial. Dear friend, spare some moments toady for your inner Shiva. Let His wait fructify in something immortal.
How can you meet him? Here I am going to describe the simplest technique, evolved and tested by myself. In the midnight of Maha Shivaratri, just sit in Padmasana (Lotus Posture) or Sukhasana (Comfort Posture). Start to concentrate on top portion of your head, called the area of Sahastrara Chakra or Crown Wheel, if we speak the language of scriptures relating to Kundlini Vidya. After three minutes (One eighth portion of Ghati, ancient Hindu Time Unit), start focussing on your breath. Do not do anything, just observe the breaths, and let it go inside and outside, effortlessly. After next three minutes, start to feel that your breaths are hitting and rejuvenating the Sahastrara Chakra. After six minutes, if you are a teetotaler and non smoker, you will start to feel at least a trickle of energy from your Sahastrara Chakra. After a continuous practice, the lucky ones might get the occasional feeling of outburst of your infinite energy, in the same way, you might have seen in the pictures of Lord Shiva, Ganga coming out of his head.
Once, you reach this condition, you will attain Avastha (condition) of Param Shiva, you will witness your inner Shiva; and that will elevate yourself to the state of equilibrium, ultimate harmony and that will be real Maha Shivaratri for you.
