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Love, a Meditation

By Nithyananda Times -
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Love is an ambiguous word. No two persons will define it the same way and it is a feeling that individuals try to demystify everyday. People fall in love and out of it, and yet its meaning eludes them. Humans can never tell what truly qualifies as ‘being in love’. Above all, why is it important to love in the first place?

Love is an essential component of life, and without it any action will be dull and dry. In many cultures, such as Buddhism, there are numerous techniques that help people practice love as a meditation. However, any action that is performed with love becomes a meditation in itself. An individual will never stick to a practice for more than a few days if it is being done without love. They are like two sides of a coin – when energy is radiated outwards, it is love; When it is turned inwards, it is meditation.

The best way to describe love is as a feeling of overflowing energy. A person who loves overflows in every way – whether it is passion or generosity. A person that radiates love is never aware of it. When he becomes aware, he also becomes egoistic. Love has no base or reason, and when it comes out of a person, he will not even realize it. Only when a person is overflowing, when he has excess, can he share. This gives him courage to share everything that he has to offer to the world, and he knows that he can create more of it.

The Shiva Sutras have never mentioned a specific technique for using love as a meditation, and yet they are a way to create a mental setup that makes love flower in a person’s being. The greatness of Shiva lies in his ability to be the embodiment of love and incorporate that same quality in all his disciples. Love does not just change one’s attitude, it changes his very state of being.

Technique to let love flower in every being, and to remove any quality that blocks the flow of love:

Make a list of all those qualities that will obstruct the feeling of love, such as greed, lust, fear etc.
Start making lists of people or objects that create these emotions in you. For example, make a list of people or objects that incite fear, or create possessiveness in you.
Sit and meditate on these objects and people. Bring yourself to respect them, to promote and elevate them to a higher level of being. Visualize this process.

After doing this process, all lust, fear, possessiveness or any other obstructive emotion will be transformed. Lust will become love, passion will become compassion. The individual himself will move a step higher on the ladder of consciousness. They will be able to experience life to the fullest, opening new channels of bliss. All of this will happen with the understanding that love is meditation and meditation is love.

Why do We do Guru Pooja?

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Q. What is the reason we do pooja at the Guru’s feet? Why do people want to touch Guru’s feet?

A. It is an ancient tradition, in the Vedic tradition. When you are showered so much by the Guru with his knowledge, experience, love, blessings, when you are showered by him, with overflowing gratitude, you don’t know what to do! So you offer whatever you have at his feet. That is the way the tradition of Guru Pooja started. In Vedic tradition this is the oldest ritual. Parvati, Adi Shakti is the first disciple. The moment she was excited with the experience of Shiva, in that extraordinary gratitude she fell at Mahadeva’s feet and offered whatever she had at Mahadeva’s feet. So the first Guru Pooja started. The first initiation is Shiva Sutras ( Shiva’s techniques for Enlightenment). The first sacred ritual is Guru pooja. The first Stotra is Guru Geeta. The overflowing gratitude, you pour yourself at the feet of the Master. There is no logical reason for why Guru Pooja is done. It is an emotional feeling connection. For some people it looks like ‘why should I do it’. For some people it is life. I know for millions of my disciples, morning satsang is much more important than eating food. This is bliss dose. It is life itself. So please understand, it is one’s individual emotion. One more thing I want to tell you, do all this only if you feel intensely connected, not otherwise. It should not be done as a ritual. Your mind itself should feel it. Out of ecstasy and joy you should be pouring it.

Bhakti, The Song of God

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Bhakti, the Ultimate Gift

Let me define exactly what I mean by the word “bhakti”. Understanding that whatever you call as reality is experienced in parietal lobe as illusion and ability to feel something beyond this illusion and the ability to merge, relaxing into something beyond this illusion is bhakti. Where you see whatever is seen and experienced including your body as illusion and ability to see beyond this illusion, resting into something which is beyond this illusion is bhakti. The ability to rest in the truth is bhakti. Bhakti is the Song of the God. If you have it, understand, the greatest thing God can contribute to the cosmos, He has given to you; you have the ultimate gift in your life.

The best thing air can present to the cosmos is a breeze. The best thing a plant can present to the world is a flower. The best thing a tree can present to the world is a fruit. The best thing the ocean can present to us is waves. The best thing human beings can present to the cosmos is creativity. The best thing God can give to the world is bhakti. Bhakti is the song of God Himself. The best thing God can give to the world is not enlightenment, it is bhakti.

Towards whom you have bhakti does not matter at all. If it is towards a man, a woman or a stone, God or guru, or just symbol of guru; anything is okey.

Three Kinds of Personalities

There are three kinds of personalities: One, who can intellectually connect but will take lot of time to emotionally feel connected. With anything he can intellectually understand, he can intellectually relate but he can’t emotionally have the feeling; the feeling connection doesn’t happen in him.

The second kind of people can connect emotionally immediately. They will straight away have that feeling connection. One sight, love at the sight. They can have that strong ‘feeling connection’, but very difficult to intellectually analyze and understand. Intellectually they will be a little dull. More energy will be through the heart.

The third group of people are very balanced. The intellect and emotion will be parallel lines in them. They will be very straight. They can connect intellectually and experience emotionally. They are called being level people.

The Power of Bhakti and Sacred Sentiments

Any sentiment which makes a sweetness in your heart is called a sacred sentiment, devotion. When more and more people dive into the sacred sentiments, the more life becomes livable in planet Earth. When more and more people dive into the sacred sentiments the enmity reduces. Cost increases when enmity amongst people increases. Economy and enmity is directly connected. If people are trusting each other the hoarding, possessing comes down. When the possessing is less, the cost of living is less. The whole thing comes down to ahimsa (non violence). Sacred sentiment not only reduces the war, it helps the economical growth. Any country which cherishes sacred sentiments will have a strong, unshakable economy. Habitual cherishing of sacred sentiments creates a deep trust in you, makes life affordable, makes cost of living easy. The sacred sentiment is the lubrication

for the large civilizations. Sacred sentiments make life livable in planet Earth both internally and externally. One such sacred sentiment is Guru Puja. There is no logical reason for ‘why Guru puja is done’, why people touch the Guru’s feet; it is an emotional ‘feeling connection’.

I always tell people, bhakti or feeling connected to the Master is such an ultimate thing, never miss it if at all you got it in your life. The feeling connection to something which is higher than you nullifies all the constant harassment you go through from your body and mind. There are problems which may not be solved by unclutching that will be solved by a feeling connection.

Feeling connection is the ultimate technique. You do not need any other solution or method to get out of any problem. Problems of planets, disease, negativity, black-magic anything, feeling connection is enough.

Entrainment, Entanglement & Enlightenment

Entanglement means 2 persons falling in tune with the same thought. Entrainment means 2 persons falling in tune with the same idea. Enlightenment means 2 persons uniting beyond ideas. When you unclutch, you are in entanglement with me.

Entangling yourself with an enlightened being is the most powerful way to raise yourself to the higher level and get enlightened. I can give you a simple technique to have entanglement with me. Just morning sit in the satsang, that’s all! Everyday morning satsang itself is entanglement’ with me. In entanglement, physical healing happens. In ‘entrainment’, meaning muscle memory, that is if you do what I am saying, then the mental transformation happens. In the ‘enlightenment’ level, just melting, the conscious explosion happens. Then the very mystical doors of life opens and the enlightenment, or conscious explosion happens.

Taken from the 108 Video on “Feeling Connection”, based on the Life & Teachings of Nithyananda

Unclutch, Be Fresh Every Moment!

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The present moment is the only way for us to connect with existence. We are always out of tune with existence because we destroy the present moment through our past conditioning. Interpreting based on past conditioning leads to misconception and wrong understanding. Please understand, all of your fear, all of your greed, all of your worries – everything that you think as part of your identity – whatever you think as a disturbance in your life can be resolved with this one understanding.

Having compassion towards this moment allows us to be in the flow of existence. We always abuse the present moment with the past, with our previous conditioning. If you are open, fresh, and alive to the present moment, without any past conditioning or words, you can handle situations directly and respond to them in the most intelligent way.

This is what Patanjali, a great enlightened master from the Vedic tradition, refers to as “right knowledge”. According to Patanjali, there are three ways to gain right knowledge: “pratyaksha anumana agama pramanani”, which means, right knowledge is gained through perception by the senses, our cognition of the sensory information, and listening to the words of an enlightened master. Wrong knowledge comes through interpreting based on our past conditioning. Right now you are programmed. You are conditioned. You live based on conditioning and you take decisions based on your conditioning. You do everything based on programming. Our whole process of cognition is wrong because it is based on past conditioning. It does not allow us to be fresh, to be open, and to respond to situations as they actually are.

Just look at gossip as an example: When we gossip, when we pass causal judgments on a person based on our past conditioning, we reinforce the misconception we have created. We think our words are not powerful, but even the very simple words that we create, such as “he is bad, he is torturing me,” get imbibed and we start thinking that it is the truth. Words do not allow us to approach a person or a situation in a fresh way. This is the most dangerous part about gossip: we ourselves start to believe it and judge all of our future interactions with the person based on our wrong perception. I tell you, do not start rumors, even in a jovial way. You will be caught by your own rumors. This is how prejudices are created.

We can avoid wrong understanding through awareness and unclutching from our past conditioning. Whenever we approach a situation or a person, we can consciously avoid making judgments and putting our judgments into words. This allows a fresh energy to flow through us. We can be with the situation as it is, without analyzing it, judging it, or interpreting it. This will automatically lead to right cognition. The final level of right knowledge is gained through listening to the words of an enlightened master and applying those teachings to each situation we encounter.

Taken from Nithyananda’s  Talk on Yoga Sutras on 24th March, 2009 in Montclair, California, USA

Upanishad Samyama – Discover Yourself!

By Nithyananda Times -
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“Yogi yunjeeta satatam aatmaanam rahasi sthitaha
Ekaki yata cittaatmaa niraasheera-parigrahaha”
– Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 6 : Dhyana Yoga, Verse 10

“The jeevan mukta having subdued his thoughts and identity, being free from desires with an attitude of renunciation seated within oneself in aloneness should continuously connect with the higher consciousness by unclutching.”

In the same way that a baby grows in the womb of its mother when she is sleeping, the soul of an initiated disciple grows when he is seated alone, within the self. Upanishad means nothing but sitting with the Master. No prayer, meditation or mantra is needed, all one has to do is sit. Although the fear of falling into depression may arise, there is no need to worry – after all, how long can worries haunt the individual when they are directly confronted?

The mind is a powerful thing, it will bring up unnecessary excuses like work and not having time to sit with oneself. However, it helps to look closer and see that every person has as much time as they make for themselves. To find time is to sacrifice an hour of watching television or surfing the net, neither of which adds any value to one’s time.

When excuses have lost power over the individual, fears will take over. Fear of failure and fear of depression will attack one’s resolve and attempt to break it, but the key is to face these fears. The person will be scared that they will sleep, or that they will never be able to complete the samyama. If not, they will be afraid of falling into a depression. The key to overcoming the constant stream of worry in the mind is to confront those worries. When human beings accept that they are truly alone, orphans in this world, they can face their worries. A strong resolve to just sit will fight away all deviances of the mind.

DAY 1
Be seated alone and allow all worried thoughts to express themselves. Remain seated for two hours with these worried thoughts. This technique will remove the fear and possibility of depression.

DAY 2
Eat until the body is full of food. After that, remain seated and allow yourself to sleep. Continue this for two days. After these two days, your body will get tired of sleeping and you will be able to stay awake throughout.

DAY 3
Visualize yourself as a stone statue and remain seated still.

DAY 4
Visualize all the knee joints to be locked and sit. Within eleven days you will discover the power of Upanishad.

While practicing the entire technique, the best place to experience Upanishad is the Arunachala Mountain, the river Ganga or Kailash. It can be by visiting these places or simply gazing at pictures of these places. All three hold a prominent place in the Vedic culture and are few of the most powerful spiritual energy centres. With the help of these, one will discover the beauty and sweetness of Upanishad.

Adapted from Nithyananda’s Daily Morning Discourse on 9th September, 2012 at Kodaikanal, India

Are You Complete With You?

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Be Complete!

The fundamental way of enriching life with enlightenment is by being complete with all the patterns carried within. Any action that remains unfulfilled as per our fantasy, either due to hindrance from the outside world or from within can be termed as an incompletion. This can be either with ourselves or with another person. If we want a friend to live up to certain expectations that he or she can not honour, then it leads to incompletion. The first step to healing such an incompletion is to render the relationship complete. The only way to do this is by facing the other person and healing the hurt caused in the relationship. This can also be done by invoking their presence if they are no longer physically present. This process of completion and subsequent healing is absolutely necessary. Unless we are complete in all dimensions, life does not begin – living does not happen in us.

Similarly, incompletion also happens internally. Any unfulfilled desire or fantasy carried by us, relating to ourselves, remains as an incompletion. The ideas which we have about us, we should either fulfill them or drop them. If we can not afford to fulfill them with our adopted lifestyle then dropping those will bring about completion with ourselves. For completion to happen, authentic listening needs to happen first. We need to authentically listen to the cries of our heart. This does not mean we will do everything that our heart wants. Just listening to our heart can give tremendous self satisfaction. Completion with ourselves involves giving ourselves the much needed self-attention. It even cures physical pain, as pain is a simple manifestation of being unable to sit comfortably with oneself.

When there is a disturbance, the source is invariably from within us. Be it any kind of hindrance, this technique of completion within the self will be the path to enriching one’s life and cleansing the body of all negativity in its varied forms.

Sva-Poornatva Kriya

a. Identify what is it that has been a repetitive pattern that you have within you which makes you experience low energy again and again and which keeps on repeating itself in your life. Also identify other additional conflicts that you are carrying which make you experience low energy in your life.

b. If you do not remember repetitive experiences in your life where the same conflict has happened again and again. What is it that makes you experience low energy and low emotions in your life?

Make a conscious resolution with integrity, authenticity and responsibility and make this declaration – ‘Now, I am complete in life.’ Declare to yourself – ‘I am now in poornatva. I am committing to being complete and causing completion for myself and for life. I am enriching myself and life with completion.’

Then go to a place where you have a mirror. Please understand that the person in the mirror is the incomplete half of you. Often that incomplete half of you is a small child – only a few days/months/years old. So when you complete with the “little you” in the mirror, you restore completion to the person in the mirror and inside you as well. This is what you should do:

  • Sit in a comfortable position facing the mirror
  • Connect with the person in the mirror
  • Look directly into the eyes of the person in the mirror
  • See the 1 year old or 2 year old or the 3 year old or the 4 year old or the 10 year old in the mirror which is the incomplete half of you
  • Go back to earliest memories of your life and relive incidents/situations in your life where you have experienced low level energy emotions such as anger, guilt, frustration and agitation with yourself (incompletion in some form) from those incidents/situations
  • Now take responsibility for liberating yourself from this incompletion you are carrying within you which you have kept alive all this time
  • Re-live those incidents/situations completely. Then, talk aloud with the person in the mirror till you experience completion happening both for you and for the person in the mirror.

Note: Repeat re-living the incidents/situations and continue talking again and again till you experience being free of the low level emotions inside you

Once you have experienced completion with incomplete part of u in the mirror –

  • You will feel light
  • You will feel absence of something, being relieved of some big burden
  • Until this happens, continue digging out.
  • Keep finishing it off. Getting it out of you, expose it totally.
  • Once you feel that there is an absence of heaviness, to a certain extent svapoornatva is done. Continue doing this till you experience completely being out of its grip, till you are completely out of pain or any other heaviness that exists within.

Poornatva Kriya

Make a conscious resolution with integrity, authenticity and responsibility and make this declaration – ‘I am only being complete in life.’ Declare to yourself – ‘I am now in poornatva. I am committing to being complete and causing completion for myself and for life. I am enriching myself to completion.’

Poornatva Kriya is restoring completion to the different incomplete parts of you which are sitting in others. While doing Poornatva Kriya with others there may be two possibilities –

You may have a very strong resistance to some person. The resistance or fear or hatred is so strong that you cannot even think of facing that person and talking to him or her. If that is the case, first sit in front of the mirror and invoke that person’s presence in the mirror. See that person sitting in the mirror. Connect with that person making eye to eye contact with him/ her in the mirror. Re-live incidents that happened between you and that person and then talk to the person in the mirror till you experience completion.

You may be in talking terms with the person or you are comfortable with that person and have no major resistance in communicating with that person. If that is the case, talk to that person directly either in person or, if you do not have access to talking in person, talk over the phone. If there is no access to even a phone, then communicate through email. If there is no access to email also, then sit with the mirror and connect with that person in the mirror and do the completion process.

First do Poornatva Kriya with your mother. Before you begin to talk to her, remind yourself – ‘With integrity, authenticity and responsibility, I am declaring that I am enriching myself and life with completion.’

Then you talk to your mother, share the incidents where you experienced incompletion with her. Share with her what it was in each situation which left you incomplete with her. Take responsibility for your emotions and actions now and LISTEN and talk to your mother and restore completion. Listening means not having any judgements or pre-conceived notions when the other explains something. When you are complete, you will experience a shift in the way you now experience your mother – that is, you will see the heaviness reducing, you will feel free.

After you complete with your mother, do this process with your father & all other relationships in your life such as – your brothers, sisters, spouse, children, friends, etc. Most important thing to note is – Do not entertain spontaneous lying. When you are talking to yourself and others during this kriya, be aware of not getting into spontaneous lying. Listen to others and take responsibility for their inauthenticities also. Also do completion with Swamiji by sitting face to face with his photograph.

Change Your Past to Shape Your Future!

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By nature, God built you with integrity. Your built-in, natural nature is integrity. That is why when you are in integrity, you feel so full, so complete. Life starts with integrity, authenticity, taking responsibility and enriching yourself and others. Integrity is you fulfilling the word and thoughts you give to yourself and to others and experiencing a state of poornatva (completion) with yourself and with life. Authenticity is you being established in the peak of your capability and responding to life from who you perceive yourself to be for your own self (mamakara), who you project yourself to be for others (ahamkara), and what others expect you to be for them (anyakara). Your mamakara, ahamkara and anykara need to be aligned. Responsibility is living and responding to life from the truth that you are the source of, and therefore, you are responsible for all happenings in and around you. Only in the space of responsibility life flowers in you. Enriching means constantly enriching you and others. Enriching is continuously infusing all these three tattvas in your life and others’ life.

When you start being integrated, so much of your inner space is available to you. This naturally brings authenticity in you and makes you take responsibility and continue to enrich yourself and others.

The first sign of non integrity will be that you will feel everything is impossible. Just like for each disease there are symptoms such as knee pain, fainting, headaches, and so on, if you are feeling that everything is impossible in your life, you have a lack of integrity, it is the symptom. You need to sit and complete with yourself.

Change your Past to Change your Future

Before changing your future, change your past. Immediately, the question arises, ‘How can my past be changed? It has already happened.’ Every idea you carry about your past is wrong. You do not remember your past as it happened, you carry an edited version of your past with you. People usually say, ‘Don’t bother about the past, change your future.’ No! I am saying, don’t bother about your future, change your past! The hangover you carry from the past is the disease you are suffering with. You are not going to be out of the disease until you complete with your past. The load of the past will not even allow you to make any decisions, leave alone execution. Making whatever you think as ‘impossible’ as possible is integrity. Why will anything not be possible? The word ‘impossible’ cannot even exist in your conscious constitution.

This sangha (Community) is the biggest miracle I have demonstrated. Built in such a short span of time, inspite of so much beating. If I am possible, nothing is impossible! We just need to carry the past without the load, the inner space of possibility. I am not teaching you positive thinking, that is the biggest negative thinking that can happen to you! All your positive thinking is like a comedian laughing at you, it is not a hero doing great things. When a lion goes into a forest, he doesn’t declare he is the king, everybody knows he is the king. When integrity starts happening in you, you don’t declare you are positive, you just make everyone experience you are positivity. Positivity is nothing but the absence of the load of past negativity. Then you just flow in positivity, you just flow in completion.

There is no such thing as practicality. Practicality is the most impractical thing in the world. The idea of practicality is nothing but suicidal because it is coming from the past. Any human being has authenticity and inauthenticity both. When you live in authenticity, you will bring the response of authenticity from the other person also. Make it very clear to yourself, you are the source. Success or failure is decided by you inside. Continuously listen to your inner being. Continuously do completions with yourself and others. Feeling powerful inside will make everything a success for you. Feeling powerless inside, nothing will be success for you. When you are feeling powerful, failure doesn’t even enter your breathing space.

What do You Really Believe About You?

When you start thinking with integrity, you will know your strong beliefs. One of the biggest problems human beings have – you love to be successful, but you deeply believe you are a failure! This is one of the biggest paradox with which human beings are suffering. It shows the lack of integrity in your thinking. Understand, some of your actions may be failure, some of your decisions or dimensions may be a failure, but YOU are never a failure – because you are still breathing!

When you have not lost the inspiration to take the responsibility for your life, nothing is lost. If you take the responsibility, even death cannot come near you. With integrity and authenticity, when you take responsibility, the consciousness growing in the body starts happening more intensely. Whether it is to do with health, or creativity, or solving relationship problems, creating wealth or achieving the inner fulfillment, let your every decision be out of authenticity and enriching; not out of anything else – not out of fear or greed.

Stop your self-fulfilling negative prophecies! When you start living in integrity, you will diagnose the self-fulfilling negative prophecies you constantly give to yourself. Each one of you is your own negative astrologer. First you give yourself the self-fulfilling negative prophecy – I am a failure. Then you train yourself for that! First you are an astrologer who predicts that you are a failure, then you are a trainer who trains you to be a failure. If it still does not happen, you behave like a judge and declare that you are a failure! When you are about to get into the car itself, you declare you will have an accident. Then when you drive, you will continuously sleep, and even after that when only a small accident happens, you just hit one corner of the road, nothing happens to you or the car, still you say ‘I told you that accident will happen! See what happened?’

Declare your integrity, not your failure. The power of integrity will teach you to diagnose your self-fulfilling negative prophecies. Sometimes you take up failure as the self-sympathy creating mechanism to justify your failure. You think that for success you have to work, but failure happens naturally! How many of you think you have to work hard for success, but failure comes naturally? Bring integrity; you will understand success is the natural flow of your life. For failure you have to work very hard!

You are Programmed to be Successful

Krishna says very beautifully – by their nature, our senses are tuned for the outer world – means, they are tuned to be active, alive and creating. Extrovert does not mean it is negative. Extrovert senses will always be alive, creative, active, contributing. All great creative persons took responsibility for their extrovert senses. Senses are extrovert, they flow naturally. By nature, they flow towards for achieving. You are programmed by nature to be successful! The natural programming of you is to be successful. But lack of integrity allows the poison of self-fulfilling negative prophecies to grow in your system. The first thing a human being needs to do is weed out all the self-fulfilling negative prophecies he carries in him.

Ramakrishna gives a very beautiful example: how much ever water you bring into your paddy field, if there are too many frog holes, rat holes, all the water will go and settle there. You will not have water for growing the paddy. The frog holes, rat holes, snake holes are the negative self-fulfilling prophecies! All the energy you bring, all the Kundalini energy (latent yogic energy) I pour into you, just goes and settles there. Finally – no water. Neither paddy nor Ganga water can flow, because all 24 hours you are weighed, loaded with negative self-fulfilling prophecies. First thing a human being needs to know is how to weed out the negative self-fulfilling prophecies.

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Your Integrity Can Remove Your Negativity

Self-fulfilling negative prophecies are the chains tied to your legs; they are the weight on your inner space. Integrity is the only way you can even find those negative self-fulfilling prophecies and weed them out. If you start looking, naturally you will not give your negative self-fulfilling prophecies any more life. Even for ten days, if you look at your negative self-fulfilling prophecies with awareness, they will die. Understand – even if you had negative self-fulfilling prophecies for 1000 years, if you do not encourage them for just ten days, they will die. Even if the tree has grown for 1000 years, it takes just a few minutes to die if you pour acid. Integrity is the acid that can destroy the weeds of negative self-fulfilling prophecies in you.
just thinking with integrity removes the weeds of negativity. You do not need courage to fight negativity, you just need the awareness to remove negativity. If you think you need courage, you are caught in the wrong fight! If you think you need to fight your negativity, it is like bringing an atom bomb to fight with your own shadow. If you put an atom bomb, who is going to die? You are also going to die. NO! You just need a torch to fight with your shadow! You just need the torch of integrity to remove the negativity.

Completion Removes Negativity

Every time, the moment you have a strong idea or belief that what you are doing is going to be a failure, just remember that your belief is a commitment and word that you are giving to you. When you give a commitment, knowingly or unknowingly you will fulfill it. So, if you give that word, naturally you have to fulfill it! Do you want to fulfill that word? No. Then tell yourself – ‘I am not going to fulfill it. I am going to have the cognition of fulfillment, not failure.’ Consciously disown and complete with it.

If it comes back, do that again. Complete with it again and again. How many times will it come back? Practice it. Even your belief is not required. Your cognizance is only what is required. Even if you have cognized this theoretically, it is enough. Now apply this mechanical process, then come back to me with the result. It is a homework for you. For 48 hours, practice this cognizance.

Completing all the incompletions is the basic step in life. For whatever hurts you are carrying inside, reach out to the person involved and complete with him/her. If you are not able to reach out to that person, atleast sit in front of a mirror, invoke that person’s presence and complete. Unless poornatva (completion) happens, nothing can be done. Life does not start.

Integrity removes the self fulfilling negative prophecies in your life, in your cognizance, in your inner space! When you start something, if you just decide to remove the negative cognizance, suddenly you will have the courage to grasp the whole scene of the action you are going to get into. Integrity will simply remove the negative cognizance from your inner space.

Cardamom, the Queen of Spices!

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Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum), popularly called ‘The Queen of Spices’ consists of whole or ground dried fruit, or seeds of a herbaceous perennial plant of the ginger family. The seeds have a warm, slightly pungent, and highly aromatic flavour somewhat reminiscent of camphor. Originally from the rain forests of India, they are prized for centuries for their beautifully fragrant flavour, aroma as well as for their therapeutic effects. Today in the West they are still highly valued for their ability to relieve tension and anxiety, to dispel lethargy and nervous exhaustion, to lift the spirits and to improve memory and concentration.

A cardamom enriched tea/coffee gives an instant relief from indigestion induced headaches or tension headaches, which are very common in the modern era. Not only can cardamoms protect against the over-stimulating and other harmful effects of caffeine but also they can be positively beneficial for the nervous system. In Ayurvedic medicine they have long been esteemed for their ability to lift the spirits, reduce pain, restore vitality and induce a calm, meditative state of mind. Studies show that the essential oil has anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties. Cardamom is highly effective as an antispasmodic, relieving muscle pain and spasm throughout the body.

Added to foods and drinks, cardamom seeds have a warming and invigorating effect throughout the body. By stimulating the secretion of digestive juices they stimulate appetite, enhance digestion and absorption of food, and with their relaxing effect on smooth muscle in the digestive tract they can settle the stomach, especially when it is affected by stress. In modern Ayurvedic medicine cardamoms are a popular remedy for nervous digestive upsets in children, and are often combined with fennel. When simmered in water for a few minutes and taken as a hot tea, they will relieve colic, flatulence and indigestion, and helps combat nausea and vomiting.

The seeds can be chewed after a meal to aid digestion and sweeten the breath. In India it is common practice to offer cardamoms at the end of a meal as a digestive and breath freshener. They have a mild laxative effect and are especially good for relieving that uncomfortable feeling from overeating. Their warming and stimulating effects are recommended for those feeling rundown and tired, especially in the winter. Added to milk products and puddings they can actually counteract the mucus-forming properties of milk. Their stimulating expectorant action helps to clear phlegm from the nose and sinuses as well as the chest, making them a good remedy for colds, coughs, asthma and chest infections.

Cardamom is known to be helpful in balancing all three ‘doshas’ in the human body. A dosha is one of three bodily humors that make up one’s constitution according to Ayurveda. Hence it is termed as “tridoshic”. A little quantity of cardamom is especially beneficial in balancing kapha. It can be used for balancing vata and pitta also. Along with some other medicines, it can be used for treating mouth ulcers. Ayurveda practitioners advise its use for treating urinary tract infections.

No More Migraines!

By Nithyananda Times -
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Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by moderate to severe headaches, and nausea. It is about three times more common in women than in men.

The typical migraine headache is unilateral (affecting one half of the head) and pulsating in nature and lasting from two to 72 hours; symptoms include nausea, vomiting, (increased sensitivity to light) and phonophobia (increased sensitivity to sound); the symptoms are generally aggravated by routine activity. The underlying cause of migraines is unknown. There are, however, many biological events that have been clinically associated with migraine. Migraines may be induced by triggers, with common triggers quoted are stress, hunger, and fatigue.

Instructions:

  1. BHAGA ASANA
    Sit with left heel at the anus and right foot on the left thigh
    Close the eyes with index fingers, nose with middle fingers, and ears with thumbs
    Bring your awareness to the eye brow center
    Meditate on the Master or a Deity
    Sit for 30 secs

  2. VAMA GATI KUMBHAKA
    Inhale through both the nostrils
    Hold the breath in an appropriate manner
    Exhale through both the nostrils
    Do this 21 times

  3. UTKRANTI PRANAYAMA
    Inhale through the left nostril and inhale visualizing the atma traveling up along the spine.
    Hold as long as possible judiciously
    Exhale when you can not hold any more
    Do this 21 times

  4. THRAATAKA KUMBHAKA
    Pull your tongue upwards
    Inhale , Retain and Exhale through the nose
    Adopt all bandhas
    Do this 21 times

Kriya given by Nithyananda in his Daily Morning Discourse, on 15th December, 2011 at the Bidadi Ashram, India

For more kriyas visit: http://www.nithyananda.org/nithya-kriyas

DISCLAIMER: This technique is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical diagnosis or treatment. Individuals with any type of medical condition, the elderly, children below 14, women who are pregnant or suspect they may be pregnant are advised to seek professional medical advice before practicing this technique. Viewers who are not on two-way video conferencing are cautioned that they are practicing these techniques at their own risk.  

The Churning of the Milky Ocean – Samudra Manthan

By Nithyananda Times -
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The story of Samudra Manthan, or the churning of the ocean, is an age-old tale from the Puranas (Ancient Hindu texts), where the ocean was churned in order to bring back Devi Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth.

It all began when the gods had begun to notice the growing arrogance in Indra, the king of the Gods. Devrishi Narada, an enlightened sage or Rishi amongst the Gods, and Rishi Durvasa, another sage who was known for his short temper, decided to teach Indra a lesson by handing this Vaijayanthi Mala – a divine flower garland – to him. The specialty of this flower garland was that it only stayed with the one who has been able to conquer his mind. When he failed, Indra’s ego was severely wounded and he declared that he was as great as Shiva himself. The height of his arrogance angered Rishi Durvasa, who cursed Indra. As a result, the Devas lost all their power and wealth.

As this news spread, the Asuras, or demons, felt that this was the right time for them to launch an attack on the Devatas (Gods), and they planned to do so. They defeated the Devatas and fled with the Amrit Kalash, or the earthen pot of nectar, with the Devatas in pursuit. As Indra and Raja Bali fought over the pot, drops of the nectar fell on the earth. The four spots where this nectar fell are Haridwar, Prayag, Ujjain and Nasik, which are now spiritual centers called ‘Maha Kumbh’. At the end of this fight, the Amrit Kalash slippped from their grasps and fell into the ocean.

Seeing this, Lord Shiva declared that the Devas and Asuras must work together to retrieve the nectar. If not, Samudra Manthan or the churning of the sea is impossible. Thus, both parties reluctantly agreed to work together.

In this way, they began the process of churning the ocean. Lord Vishnu carried the Mandara mountain into the sea, to use as a spindle. When the mountain was placed in the ocean, it began to sink and to balance it, Lord Vishnu took his Kurma Avatar, the form of a tortoise with the mountain balancing on his shell. Lord Shiva summoned Vasuki, the king of serpents, to be used as a rope to churn with. They began churning, both parties pulling and pushing at their ends. Before long, the ocean began to give out poison which was so toxic that it could destroy all of creation.

Seeing this, Lord Shiva entered the ocean and began to drink all of the poison. Before the poison passed His throat, Goddess Parvati put her hand on His throat to hold it there, and promised to reside in Shiva’s throat by supplying her Shakti or strength, so that the poison would never leave it. The poison vanished from the ocean after this, rendering it pure once again.

On further churning, the ratnas or treasures began to emerge from the ocean. As these Ratnas were being divided among the two parties, some Asuras ran away with the Amrit Kalash. Then, Lord Vishnu took the form of Mohini, a beautiful woman, and distracted the Asuras. He took back the Amrit Kalash and the nectar was distributed among the Devas.

The real question is the relevance of this story in an individual’s life. Disciples always get jealous of the status that the master holds, not the state. By seeking the state, they can achieve the status as well. This is the case with Indra and Shiva. Narada is the prayer required when one realizes that he needs something beyond himself to achieve this state. The Devas are the positive thoughts and the Asuras are the negative, depressive thoughts that arise in each person. The technique of unclutching from both of these is the spindle, the Mandara mountain. The balance for this technique is the Master or the tortoise. When churning happens, both thoughts pull the individual consciousness, Vasuki, in two directions. The tiredness and depression emitted out is the poison. These come out of the individual’s system and the compassionate master, or Shiva, swallows it.

So, a seeker needs nothing but patience. Only with patience can he continue his spiritual journey and receive the various ratnas that follow the poison, and in the end, receive the Amrit Kalash, or Moksha. This patience is tyaga, the sacrifice of one’s time, and not material possessions. Blessed are those who have both the master and the patience.

What is Initiation?

By Nithyananda Times -
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Enlightened Masters have several methods of expressing the truth to their disciples. One such method uses words. When a teacher expresses a truth to a disciple in this way it is called teaching. While words can be a powerful tool to convey messages and truths, a Master has the ability to directly transmit an experience to a disciple. This method is called initiation.

Initiation is a powerful tool that allows a person to get a glimpse of the truth. When some truth which comes out of an enlightened inner space suddenly clicks with a person, it is called initiation. Initiation does not mean chanting some special mantra in someone’s ears, or doing something special. It means directly experiencing a great truth which has the power to bring about a transformation in the person being initiated. Some part of the mind may of course continue to resist the truth since it is too strong. Too many things may need to be changed if the person accepts the truth and starts expressing it in his life. However, the core of his being will resonate with the truth. His heart will feel connected with the truth which the Master is expressing.

For initiation to happen, only two things are needed. The first thing is: listening. In Vedantic tradition there is a beautiful word shravana, which means intense LISTENING. Listening is God. Everything starts from listening. Usually, within the space of a few minutes a person’s mind goes through many thoughts, just like flipping channels at home on a television. For the transmission of truth to take place, one’s attentiveness should be only with the Master. The second thing that is needed is to be receptive and open to the truths being expressed. One should just relax and go with the flow. It is also important to not wait for or expect anything to happen. Rather, one must let go of preconceived, prejudiced ideas and hypothetical questions; the words and expression of the Master will simply dissolve all the confusion and doubts.

Initiation is an extraordinary experience that can happen to any person at any time. Even if a disciple has already undergone the process, they can still be initiated by another Master anytime afterwards. One must only remember the two important prerequisites: Be present and relax. In Sanskrit, a mantra is defined as ‘Mantrayate iti mantra’. ‘Mantrayate’ means the truths which not only bring you out of depression, but once and for all remove the very source of depression in you! An initiation is the direct experience of such a truth, even if it is just a glimpse. The Master can offer that glimpse to a disciple, but only a disciple can prepare himself for it.

Adapted from Nithyananda’s Discourse during the first Nithya Dhyaan Satsang in Bangalore, India in December, 2007

Experimenting with the Truths

By Nithyananda Times -
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Rajashekharan, now known as Swami Paramahamsa Nithyananda, at the age of ten was already an advanced spiritual seeker, clear about who he was and his path in life. In the late 1980s when other young boys around the world spent their time playing games, listening to music, or playing soccer or football, Rajashekharan was already an advanced yogic practitioner, enamoured with temples, fierce and intense about his spiritual interests and practices. He lived in a small temple town called Thiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, south India; a town renowned for having an unbroken lineage of enlightened masters.

Rajashekharan had many teachers from a young age, and at the age of ten he had been seeking the company of a great master, Annamalai Swamigal, a direct disciple of Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi. One day Rajashekharan heard Annamalai Swamigal say to a group of seekers, “We are not the body. We are beyond suffering and pain.”

These words struck a chord in Rajashekharan. Even though he was such a young boy, Rajashekharan took these words to heart and analyzed them to see if they applied to himself. He thought through his own life where he himself had experienced pain and suffering – physical pains and mental pains. He began wondering how one can go beyond suffering when it was clear that pain and suffering existed even in his own life. He thought, “If my mother beats me, I have pain. If my teacher shouts at me, I have suffering. How can Annamalai Swamigal say that we are beyond pain and suffering?” He was not able to understand.

However, Rajashekharan was not an ordinary boy. Two words that best describe the young seeker are sincerity and intensity. He wanted to find out for himself if the statement made by Annamalai Swamigal was true. He had experienced pain and suffering and now was being told that he was beyond it. So he decided to experiment on his own body to know the truth! Out of his innocent but passionate seeking, he ran home, took his mother’s kitchen knife and cut his right thigh to see if he really experienced pain or not. He made a deep cut into his own body to see if there was pain. Of course, there was pain and his mother took him to the hospital for care. The doctor gave him first aid and stitched the wound. Rajashekharan could not understand.

After a few days, he went back to Annamalai Swamigal and asked him, “What is this? What have you taught me? You said we have no pain and suffering. I cut myself and now I have pain. I have suffering.” It was a very deep cut with stitches. To go back to Annamalai Swamigal and challenge, to continue to try to find the answer at age 10 shows his intense seeking and his desire to find the truth. Annamalai Swamigal just smiled at Rajashekharan and said, ‘My son, just try to find the source from where you are feeling the pain, the point where you are feeling this pain. Try to find the source. Do this meditation.’

He was not immediately convinced. He had experienced pain even though was told he was beyond pain. So he told Annamalai Swamigal, ‘It’s alright. You have given me blessing or an initiation or some meditation. That’s ok. But you could have done this before I cut my thigh! You could have done this earlier. Why did you make me cut my thigh and then talk all these things?’ Annamalai Swamigal said, ‘Don’t bother bother about the pain, my son. You had the courage to experiment with the truth. That itself will liberate you.’

Paramahamsa Nithyananda says that this incident became a big inspiration for him. He got the click that the courage to experiment was beyond all pain. From that point on, the young Rajashekharan used that one incident to guide his life and actions. He played with the technique again and again, just sitting and observing where the pain was coming from, where was the ‘I’ that was feeling the pain, and trying to find the source of the Self. He says he did not even meditate, he simply played with the technique. Because he had the courage to directly test the concepts of pain and suffering, Rajashekharan went beyond the illusion of thoughts into the source of thoughts. He was able to see beyond pain and not bother about it anymore.

After this incident, Annamalai Swamigal became Rajashekharan’s inspiration and scale for everything. For every situation, he would ask ‘‘How would Annamalai Swamigal behave? Let me behave like that’. He used the technique for anything from fear to arguments with his brothers, saying, ‘How would Annamalai Swamigal handle it? He wouldn’t bother. Let me also not bother!’ If he felt a little lazy to meditate or to walk, he would think ‘How Annamalai Swamigal would handle it? Naturally he won’t bother about laziness. He would get up and meditate; so do that, that’s all!’ And so he would just get up, sit and meditate. The connection with the master went so deep that if any thought came up inside, he would ask himself: ‘How would Annamalai Swamigal respond? He will not even have this thought! Then it is not mine either. Over!”

What started as a truth told by Annamalai Swamigal to young Rajashekharan became an experiment with the truth inside him. He was ripe for his first enlightenment experience which happened at the age of 12 on the sacred Arunachala hill. Today, Nithyananda says, that same inspiration and courage to experiment that pushed young Rajashekharan can raise all of humanity’s consciousness to the next level. He invites everyone to experiment with the truth, to become their own ‘spiritual laboratory’. When anyone lives and imbibes an enlightened Master’s body language, experimenting with the truth, enlightenment is possible.

Arunachala, The Giver of Enlightenment

By Nithyananda Times -
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A small temple town which at first sight looks like any other small temple town in India, Thiruvannamalai is a tirtha sthala at the foothills of the Arunachala Mountain. As one slowly makes way to the Annamalai temple and around the holy mountain, deep truths and deeper understandings are said to be revealed about the place in the inner world, as well as the outer world. A closer look at the city reveals that Thiruvannamalai is a place where seekers from all over the world come for one purpose : enlightenment. Thiruvannamalai has seen an unbroken lineage of enlightened masters over the centuries, which continues till today. The caves of Arunachala have been the cradle for nurturing enlightened souls over the decades. Any visit to Thiruvannamalai is incomplete without the sacred Girivelam or walk around the mountain. It is in these caves where Bhagvan Ramana Maharshi lived and enlightened thousands of people. His ashram exists in the town even today, run by his disciples.
Lord Shiva is the presiding deity of the town and is said to reside in the place in three forms – the Arunchala mountain, the shiva linga in the Annamalai temple, and as a living incarnation or enlightened master. Nithyananda hails from the revered lineage of enlightened masters of this divine land, following Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi, Sri Seshadri Swamigal and Yogi Ramsuratkumar. He is respected as the currently presiding living incarnation.

According to legend, there was once an argument between Lord Brahma, the Creator, and Lord Vishnu, the Sustainer, as to which of them was the greater. (Brahma and Vishnu are two of the three Gods who constitute the Trinity of the Hindu pantheon of divinity.) They were unable to resolve the dispute so they took their argument to Shiva, the Rejuvenator (the third member of this Divine Trinity). Shiva appeared before them in his Vishwaroopa – His Cosmic form – as an endless shaft of light. The two ends of the shaft that were his head and feet could not be seen. He said ‘whoever can find either of my ends is the greater of the two of you.’

Brahma took the form of a swan and flew up towards Shiva’s head, and Vishnu went downwards as a boar, burrowing into the earth to find Shiva’s feet. They searched for many yugas (ages). After much effort, Vishnu realized that he could not find Shiva’s feet surrendered his ego to Shiva, asking Him to forgive his arrogance. Shiva blessed him for his honesty.

Brahma, however, could not accept his failure. On his way up, he saw a flower (screwpine or taazham poo in Tamil) falling down and asked the flower where it was coming from. The flower said it had fallen from behind Shiva’s ear. Brahma asked, ‘How long have you been traveling?’ The flower replied, ‘I have been falling for four ages (lifetimes) of Brahma!’ Brahma realized he had no hopes of finding Shiva’s head, but he still did not want to accept his failure. Brahma decided that he would tell Shiva a lie about finding this flower on his ear and asked the flower to bear witness that he had brought it down from Shiva’s head.

Returning to Shiva, who again assumed his normal form, Brahma announced that he had seen Shiva’s head and had brought back this flower as his witness. Shiva instantly knew what had happened and was angry at the lie told to him. He punished Brahma saying, ‘For the lie that you have uttered, you will be never again be worshipped by the people.’ He punished the screwpine flower saying, ‘You will never ever be used as an offering to me in worship.’ To this day, there are no major temples dedicated to Brahma; and the screwpine flower is never offered to Shiva in worship. Brahma realized his mistake and sought Shiva’s forgiveness. Both Vishnu and Brahma requested Shiva to retain his form as that shaft of light to bless the Universe. At their request, Shiva in that form of Divine Light became Arunachala, the glowing mountain, and also assumed the form of the Shiva linga (a dome shaped deity that symbolizes Shiva) called Arunachaleshwara, at the temple in Tiruvannamalai.

How Kundalini Makes You Smarter!

By Nithyananda Times -
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From time immemorial, human beings have suspected that they have more energy and intelligence than they are able to express in their day to day life. It is this belief in a higher potential that is at the root of all creativity. People who suspected that they have more energy and started expressing it in the physical form became great creators – for example the people who constructed the great pyramids, the huge rock-carved temples of South India or the Colosseum in Rome. There are some who expressed it as extraordinary intelligence – like Leonardo da Vinci and Einstein. Then there are some who expressed the same energy and intelligence in artistic form – like Mozart, Picasso or Shakespeare. There are some rare beings, who expressed their higher energy and intelligence in its purest form as spiritual energy to help others – they are the enlightened beings of the world like Buddha, Mahavira, and Krishna.

Any growth in any field, on any level – whether it is ordinary physical health, wealth or extraordinary inner richness, is only possible due to this higher potential energy. This extraordinary inner potential energy is what is called as Kundalini Shakti. The first step towards any kind of growth is to suspect that you may be having something more than what your parents have taught you and what the society at large has led you to believe.
When this suspicion that you have gets confirmed by a few of your actions then seeking starts. The proper and systematic methods and techniques which were created by enlightened beings to awaken one’s inner potential energy is what is called yoga and dhyana – meditation. Thousands of years ago great masters like Patanjali – the father of yoga, and Shiva – the father of all great philosophies like Vedanta, have very clearly expressed powerful techniques and methods to awaken the kundalini shakti, the extraordinary inner potential energy. One of the easiest and safest methods to awaken this energy is from initiation – deeksha (initiation) from an enlightened master. When an enlightened being touches or blesses you, he transmits his energy and awakens your Kundalini energy. This transmission of energy is what is called initiation.

One of the first attempts to record Kundalini activation and its physiological effects was made by Itzak Bentov (1923-1973), a Czech born scientist, inventor, mystic and author, and a pioneer in the field now recognized as ‘consciousness studies.’ Bentov developed a model that attempted to explain the effects of Kundalini awakening on brain activation.

According to this model, when Kundalini ascends the spine through the sushumna nadi (the main channel of subtle energy), it results in a huge energy influx into the brain. As the Kundalini flows from the thalamus to the cortex, it sets up a powerful energy loop within the brain, generating coherent alpha and gamma waves, and awakening the dormant, non-mechanical parts of the brain which we have never used before. Thus the direct result of this awakening of energy is that you also experience the same highest conscious coherence which an enlightened being expresses.

With increasing levels of coherence, the whole brain comes alive, turning into a super-conductor of conscious energies that heal, empower and transform our lives. Enhanced awareness levels, huge surge in energy levels, increased mental abilities, greater creativity and extraordinary powers start to express through us like levitation, teleportation and materialization. Brain activation is also known to slow down the ageing process and improve immunity to disease.

In a breakthrough series of studies conducted in 2011, Kundalini awakening and its benefits were systematically recorded under controlled conditions in close to 600 individuals attending an intensive yoga and meditation retreat at Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam’s international headquarters near Bangalore, India. Apart from daily yoga, pranayama and other supportive practices, participants of the 21-day Inner Awakening program were exposed to a total of 21 personal initiation sessions from Paramahamsa Nithyananda. The study was based on a similar study conducted by Jeffery A. Dusck at Harvard Medical School and published in Public Library of Science in July 2008. Recordings were taken on Day 0 and Day 18 of the program.

A series of QEEG studies were conducted on participants who had Kundalini awakening to study the effects of Kundalini Awakening on electrical activity in the brain. The same studies were also conducted on a control group. Both short term effects observed at the moment of initiation by Paramahamsa Nithyananda and long term effects measured through post-activation assessment of various mental and cognitive functions were studied.

Certain other instantaneous changes were recorded in all participants who had active Kundalini awakening, including:

a. sharper focusing abilities
b. higher alertness levels
c. extremely rapid multi-processing
d. better short-term memory

Post-activation assessment conclusively showed:

a. Better problem-solving abilities
b. More effective decision-making
c. Enhanced interpersonal relations
d. Warm and positive personality trends

In these experiments, it was found that at the moment of initiation the brain waves of subjects during the activation showed a high incidence of delta waves, indicating that they were in a state of deep relaxation comparable to sleep. In Vedic science, this state of intense restful awareness is known as Samadhi.

Why Do We Worship Idols?

By Nithyananda Times -
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What is the logic behind idol worship?

We don’t worship the idol, we worship through the idol. The deity does not represent God; the deity IS God. Worship through the idol happens only when one feels the deity IS God, not when one feels the deity represents God. When one thinks the deity represents God, even then there is a gap between oneself and the Divine. One cannot conceive the idea of God or divine as long as the mind is functioning in the physical frequency. Naturally, one needs to have something perceivable which one can connect or relate to. When one really disappears into that, only then one experiences the higher conscious state.

During worship if one feels: “Oh I know about God, that energy is represented by this deity” then again only your ego, what you think you know about God, only that is participating, not your whole being. Worship happens when one loses one’s ideas about the divine. Only then the divine will start expressing itself. That is why the DEITY IS GOD! It is the channel through which the seeker can experience divinity.

There is a very beautiful sutra, a Tamil verse, given by Mahadeva to a Rishi. The translation is as follows: ‘There is a beautiful statue of elephant carved in teak wood. When we see an elephant, the idea of wood disappears. When we see the wooden statue, the idea of elephant disappears. In the same way, only when the seeker understands that the deity IS God, worship through the idol happens. Till then, it is only idol worship.’

If one sees the Deity, God, one cannot see the statue. If one sees a statue, one cannot see God. One can see only any one thing at the time. Only when one sees the deity as God, one will lose himself. Worship through the idol will start happening when one loses himself into the deity, when one knows for sure the deity is alive. Deities respond to the authentic attitude of the devotee/ seeker. When they are looked at with love, they become a spirit, a living being. Without love, they are just a thing.

There is a beautiful Shloka (verse) in the Bhagavad Gita where Lord Krishna says, “Whatever form and attitude you offer worship with, I will appear and respond to you in the same form and mood”. In the Shiva Sutras, Lord Shiva says, “Look lovingly at some object, do not go to another object. Here in the middle of the object, let the blessing happen to you.”

Here is a technique to practice what is described above:

Have a picture of a favourite Deity or Guru, and look with a deep love without moving to any other object. Let everything disappear, just become the eyes; be completely centered on your eyes. If you have jumped to any other object, come back and just sit in a relaxed way with deep love and you will see that a very deep silence, bliss and blessing starts coming out of your system.

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