AUM PURNAMADAH PURNAMIDAM

 

Dear friends and Shiva bhakts,
we all know the story of how Shiva volunteered to receive Ganga on His head when she had to descend to earth from the heavens for the upliftment of humanity, both living, and the dead. But, she was so full of Divinity that the very earth she was coming to purify would not have been able to take the impact of the torrential 'weight' of her Gyana or satvikta! Shiva stepped forward to make His own matlocks a landing pad for her, Shiva's Yogic hair already contained the ultimate Gyana,infinite Divinity within, and could receive an infinite amount more.

This reminds us of the Purna prayer from the teachings of the ancient hindu rishis, in the Isha Upanishad, which is the first Upanishad.

ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पूर्णमुदच्यते ।
पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥

Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Puurnnam-Udacyate |Puurnnasya Puurnnam-Aadaaya Puurnnam-Eva-Avashissyate ||

Meaning:
Fullness 'that' (Outer World)
Fullness 'this' (Inner World)
From Purna is manifested Purna (From the Fullness of Divine Consciousness within, the outside world is manifested),
Even after manifesting a whole Purna from itself, Purna still remains the same.

Shaivites believe that Shiva is the Adi Purnam, the Original Fullness, therefore no amount of giving or receiving Gyana will affect His own Fullness in any way. And this makes it easier to understand why Shiva has a nature of taking every cosmic event upon His own head, be it the Samundra manthan or then, the reception of Ganga.
Aum Namah Shivaye

~ Shail Gulhati , Author of :
SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
Shiva Poetry
The Yogi and the snake
And Life Said.
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine

What is Yoga ?

 

Lord Shiva is the Primal abhyasi (practitioner) The yogi par excellence.
After having experimented on the Self innumerable times, after dexterously recording His findings in His own mind, He carefully guided his snake from the Karakotaka tribe, in all the eight limbs of the yoga that He had himself developed. The snake became the great Rishi Patanjali in his next birth. Remembering sincerely what his Lord had taught him, Patanjali laid down Shiva's teachings as the Yoga sutras for seekers to practise. It is also known as Ashtanga yoga, or that which has eight steps.
Yoga begins with Yama ( Moral restraints or " do nots " )
Next is Niyama (Moral observances or the" Dos" )
The third limb is Asana. These are the various poses we learn in Hatha Yoga.
Asana is a gateway , and can be understood as 'seats' for this great flight to the Divine Self.
We get to the subtle heights by more subtle steps, to the fourth stage called Pranayama-the training of the prana or breath,
Fifth is Prathyahara-the cessation of outward distraction by isolating our mind,
The sixth step is Dharana, focusing the mind on a single stream of thought ,perhaps on an object that is Divine, like God or Guru.
Shiva teaches that next we must reach the highest peaks of yoga, the seventh realm called Dhyana ( meditation)
and finally the Kailash of yoga, the highest eighth realm called Samadhi ( absorption into Supreme consciousness)

“So do you get all these deep wisdoms in your Yoga abhyasa? I’ve been seeing you do all sorts of postures; Asanas as you call them.” asked Sati one day.

“Yoga asana is only a seat for the great flight to the self. meditation can be as synergized, as natural as my rides on Nandi, or as tumultuous, with the energy of an untamed beast of the natural order.
All of Nature’s things are like that; You need to be completely at oneness with them before you even start to mount the ride. Else you will just be overturned, which too is an important part in the process of learning, Sati,” replied Shiva.
“It’s simple,” He said. “Yoga is not about your body. Yoga is about discovering your soul.”


Read more in  SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller. 

THE ARRIVAL OF TIME

 

THE ARRIVAL OF TIME

It was a sunny morning, and Shiva was feeling good. He readied Nandi for a ride to Daksha’s palace. Nandi himself was in a hurry and charged in true bull fashion to their collective destiny. Together, they made a momentous sight: the Rider and the Ride. Women plowing their rice fields looked up to see this unstoppable creature heralding his master just past their midst.

~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.

THE END OF QUESTIONING

 

THE END OF QUESTIONING

“A lovely story about the time of Shiva's wedding with Parvati, goes somewhat like this,” said Suta.

“Yes! Yes, Gurudeva, please tell!”

“At the point of the solemnising of the marriage by a holy Havan, the pundit asked Shiva, "Who is your father?" Shiva looked at Brahma and said, "He."

"And who is Brahma's father?" asked the pundit. Shiva looked at Vishnu and said, "He is."

But the pundit persisted. "And who, may I ask, is Vishnu's father?"

~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.

HIDING AND SEEKING, GUIDING AND THEN MEETING!!

 

असतो मा सद्गमय
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय
मृत्योर् मा अमृतं गमय
ॐ शांति शांति शांति - बृहदारण्यक उपनिषद् 1.3.28.

Lead Us From the Unreal To Real,
Lead Us From Darkness To Light,
Lead Us From Death To Immortality,
Aum (the universal sound of God)
Let There Be Peace Peace Peace.
(Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28.)

Thus sang the Upanishadic Rishi .For is this not the ultimate aim of all mankind? To be able to find the Real ( Permanent) world instead of living in an endless cycle of birth and death.Is it not the goal of all beings to move on from the darkness of ignorance, to the light of enlightenment ?
To move from the mortality of the body to the immortality of the soul
So too, He who leads us fro Darkness to light , is the Guru.

Lord Shiva is the source of the light of the world. He is The Primal Guru. In Leading us to The Light, He leads us to Himself, in leading us to Himself, He leads us to our SELF.
It is all one great mystic,spiritual circle!
Hiding and seeking,
Guiding , and then Meeting!
It is all the Leela of Shiva and Shakti .
This is the Gist of the world play.
Aum Namah Shivaye!
~ Shail Gulhati is the author of the books:SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.

SHAMSHAN NATH AGHORA

 

SHAMSHAN NATH AGHORA

Aghoras were the earliest and foremost Shamans to whom absolutely nothing mattered, other than proximity to their Lord Shiva, at all times.

~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.

WHEN PARVATI SERVED SHIVA FOR 40 DAYS BEFORE MARRIAGE

 

WHEN PARVATI SERVED SHIVA FOR 40 DAYS BEFORE MARRIAGE

I hope you are happy, now that you have run your first errand for me?” asked Shiva.

“Yes, I am,” smiled Parvati, gently extending Her hand to Him, to give Him His kamandalu of water.

“Master!” shouted Nandi, startling Shiva who turned quickly to look sharply to His left. His shoulder bumped into the kamandalu, which was still in Parvati’s hand. Because Parvati was watchful,

She managed to quickly deflect the collision, saving the vessel from falling down.

“Yes, what is it Nandi?” asked Shiva with concern.

“Nothing, Master, I wanted to tell you, it was Parvati Herself , who drew the water from the cold stream for you.”

“Yes, indeed I know, Nandi.”

~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.