Worship

The deluded intellect

Aprabuddhamateenam Hi Eta Balavibheeshika
Matrumodakarvatsarvam Pravrutyarthamudahitam

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Consciousness - the state of Shiva has to be understood. Everyone cannot learn it directly. It is like trying to reach the terrace without climbing any staircase. The terrace contains space. To reach that space high above, one has to climb a stairway, constructed in space. The worship of Bhairava in name and form is like climbing stairs.


Shiva says that for those whose intellect is not fully developed, the various names and forms of God are given, watching their tendencies. The names and forms can be fierce or loving images, just as harsh words are used at times to frighten children or the mother cajoling the child into a discipline with sweets. The name and form of idol worship is meant to coax the person to meditate on consciousness with an idol placed before him.


- (Picture: With village children at Ukhimath, Himalayas). - Swahilya Shambavi.
(Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Tirumandiram, swahilya.soulmate@gmail.com)

Transcendence

Beyond Anything

Nadabindumayo Vaapi Nachandrardha Nirodhikaha

Na chakra krama sambhinno Nacha Shakthiswaroopakaha

The Supreme reality is not the cosmic sound of Om. It cannot be perceived by exciting any energy centre of the body. It is neither the experience of the six chakras of the Muladhara, Swadhishtana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddhi and Agnya, nor is it all the forms of energy that is manifested in the universe.

If nothing is the form of Bhairava, where is the need to know and experience different forms of energy or go through different levels of consciousness?

All that we see, hear, speak, feel, smell and think about are but pointers to the ultimate consciousness that is the experiencer of all the experiences. When I need to show the moon behind the branches of a tree, I have to point to the tree. This is called the Chandrashakha Nyaya in Sanskrit. But to see the moon one has to look where the finger points toward and not at the tip of the finger or the tree. - Swahilya Shambhavi.

(Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita, Tirumandiram, I am that, swahilya.soulmate@gmail.com)

Nothing

Neti Neti

Tatwato Na Navatmasau Shabdarashirna Bhairavaha

Nachasau Trishiro Devaha Nacha Shaktitrayathmakaha

To understand what consciousness is, it is necessary to know what consciousness is not. Shiva, the first teacher of Yoga, negates Devi's suppositions that the Bhairava's form or consciousness is the nine forms of energy which include the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, energy, sun and moon, the various mantras or sounds which are a garland of letters, the three patterns of energy flow - the Ida - feminine, Pingala - masculine and Sushumna - neutral or the three forms of creative forces - the Iccha Shakti - the energy of desire, the Kriya Shakthi - the energy of action and Gnana Shakthi - the energy of knowledge.

How much ever science probes the world outside, splitting the atom or watching outer space, it still continues to dabble with different forms of energy only. It does not touch consciousness which is the very being that supports all the search and research.

If the different forms of energy can be likened to a cell, Shiva, Bhairava or Consciousness can be likened to the being that observes the cell through the eyes and the microscope. Shiva is that being which writes this and reads it too. - Swahilya Shambhavi.

(Picture: You guessed it right! The lady far behind is the Statue of Liberty in the Atlantic Ocean near Manhattan, New York.)

(Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita, Tirumandiram, Maha Shivaratri, Chicago Satsang, Himalayas, swahilya.soulmate@gmail.com)

Form

Ritualistic worship

Dhyanartham Bhrantabuddheenam Kriyadambaravarthinam

Kevalam Varnitam Pumsam Vikalpamihataathmanam

Can the supreme be realised through idol worship and rituals? Shiva's answer initially was "No," when he pointed out that the outer world of name and form was just an illusion. But there is a purpose for ritualistic worship. A person of deluded intellect, with a restless mind urging him to do some work or the other, idol worship and ostentatious rituals involving much action, pomp and display have been described. Such people who find it difficult to sit still and meditate on the supreme reality of consciousness can apply their mind to go through ritualistic worship with flowers, fruits, mantras, dressing up deities in the form of idols, bathing them and decorating them, carrying them around the streets in processions, offering them with food and celebrating their birthdays as festivals, among other ways.

For such people, these actions prescribed will help to channelise and divert their energies and quieten the mind to make it ready for approaching the truth later. - Swahilya Shambhavi

(Maha Shivaratri, Patanjali Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita, Tirumandiram, Himalayas, Satsang in Chicago, swahilya.soulmate@gmail.com)