Shiva Moon

 

At last it happened
you
who elicit a thousand sighs
...across timeless sands, resounding seas
silent mountains and whispering trees
thousands pouring out a longing heart
just knowing a beloved echoes the same
this enigma of a pleasure mingled in pain
just
looking at you
is reminiscent of being ONE,
so the question is:
who were you mooning over,moon
is the beloved so near
it must be true
you bend
to give a forehead kiss.

( Written on the day of the supermoon 2 days ago.
Shiva, the mountain God ,wears a moon as adornment on his forehead or matty locks.The waxing and waning of the moon, which in itself is always full, is just a veil. just as our Self is always luminous and prisitine, and full. While the moon enchantingly locks itself in shiva's matty hair ,so too the Self projects crescents of ascent and descent involution and evolution.Shiva wearing the moon as adornment is an esoteric symbol of one who knows the self timelessly.)

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

Behold the seated Yogi

 

Shiva seated in meditation is a very popular depiction,
that is a yantra in itself.
Yantras are diagramatic representations of states of consciousness.
Therefore, they help lift our consciousness to that state, by visual resonance, just like Mantras lift us using the power of sound.
Though they are geometric, and intricately worked out by adepts,
i prefer to 'see' Dhyanasta shiva, the meditative one,
as a great visual tool to uplift a seeker to the sought,
so, behold the seated yogi!

Even of the dhyanasta yogi, there are two versions,
in one, he has both palms on his lap, and eyes are closed,
in the deepest meditation.
In the other, the eyes are open, and the right hand is
raised, gesturing blessing.Obviously this second one is on 'awakening'
The gesture is prominent, it is called 'abhaya ',fear not.
Would it betoken that fearlessness is the foremost requisite in the path of meditation? is it like shiva is saying, been there done that, all's well,
may all be well with thee too!

His hair is definitely matty,
he's been around for a long time,do mats suggest eternity?
we spot the face of a lady , mat locked there ,
in the eternal hair.
It is Ganga,the river goddess.
Ganga, who once sat at the feet of God in heaven,
now descended to earth,
must surely know Godly esoterics,
has shiva embraced revelation ?!!
do yogis balance the torrent of divinity,
and then fountain it out for us?

He is seated on a tiger skin,
but didnt we say earlier he is seated in meditation?
is meditation then
just the skin
of the tiger
within?

there is a snake around his neck
looks like a cobra,
hail the king!
has the energy arisen
from its slumber
when the yogi went outside in?

He must surely like beads,
what a collection!
we think rudra aksh grow on trees,
some say they were tears of shiva,
does one feel so nostalgic
to actually cry in seeing old albums?
in samadhi, eternity is a moment,
a moment, and we're in eternity,
sometimes, one's own souvenirs
are a good thing to hang on by.

from science, we know
the moon is always full
but the crescent in the mat
does look cool
does shiva 'wear' such abstract adornment
to help clearly show
its only the way we 'see' that makes
One truth
grow

he's got a third eye
does it open dimension four?
on the forehead where
we have bindi ,tilak or another dot
he's got third eye
is this the symbol of centred?
the rider of the bull would know,
the timeless rodeo.

and then, there's a trident
the trisula,
shiva's rocket science is serial set in triads,
waking dream sleep
knowledge action will
future present past
above here below
and so on,you know!
shiva rocks,
but by holding ground,
the trisula is parked,
not flung around.

Originally, piercing
was
to make ears ring,
say the jogees
to,
unfurl a meditative wing.
and the Nath
IS the origin.

The damaru
his little drum
is many things
in one.
It is of course his beat to boot
to match with krishna's lilting flute
but tantrists say
its the triangles two
that signify
Him and Her,
(In Chinese ,yin and yang…
wei and wu.)
In repose, before creation,
Me and you.
Its an hourglass!
From top we slip down through
to
Land.
And time
Is to wait for the hand
To downside up again.

~ Shail Gulhati  From the book  Shiva Poetry

He is the One who existed before everyone. Ever since Shiva has made His presence known, He is loved by billions.

 

He is the One who existed before everyone. Ever since Shiva has made His presence known, He is loved by billions.

~ SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.

When Shiva opens His Third Eye

 

THE DESTROYER

“Now, tell me”, said the Yogi, “how am I supposed to destroy the world?”

By opening your third eye, wherever you shift your gaze then, turns to ashes.” Answered the snake.

“Mythologically” , said the Yogi. “ Now, listen to the philosophy. At the personal level, the destruction of illusions, makes the meditator enlightened. This is the opening of Gyan Chakshu, this is the whole path of the yogis! The gaze of the discriminating mind destroys wrong previous concepts and illusions. Whatever scriptures such a man reads, he interprets rightly, whatever situation he encounters, he understands. The mind of spiritual discrimination destroys falsehood and delusion.
At the transpersonal or cosmic level, I am a paradox however. My capability is to destroy the whole cosmic play. But, if I use only half my power, to destroy the destructive processes themselves, verily, I become the course for expansion. So using half your power doubles your strength. It also takes double your strength to use half your power. Meditate upon this!”, said the Yogi.

            Destruction, paving the way for creation. I understand, said the snake. Like the defrost button in a refrigerator, enables us to defrost the frozen zones, leaving the other, major portions infact. Destruction, paving way for creation. It is obvious now, that although your symbol, the Shiv linga is a symbol of creation, they still call you the destroyer, this is paradox.

          "Yes", said the yogi, you are learning to cut through the paradox.

{ From the book The Yogi and the snake}

Artist Varun Rampal.

AJAPA MANTRA-अजाप मंत्र

 

“So hum”, hummed the Yogi.

"So Hum ?" asked the snake

“You and I, are one”, said the Yogi; “more appropriately, you are one with God, so, am I, thus we are one with one another. How does one and one make one? meditate on this”

“I have heard mention of the so hum mantra by the great ones”, said the snake.

“The seed of Ajapa is resting in your very breath, said the Yogi, “lest you forget. This is a great mantra. Literally, it means ‘I am He’. Here, ‘He’ stands for God.
But chanting a mantra without understanding it, is like blowing on a flute without understanding its contraption, only a wasteful wind will come out the other end. Have you heard of the man from the land of the fan?
There was once a man who voluntarily got into a time machine and went back a few years to a land, where electricity existed but there were no fans.
The man tried his best to explain the concept of the fan to the natives, but try as he did, his own knowledge was limited to being an end user, so, he could not go beyond drawing sketches. This knowledge was very frustrating for him, he couldn’t do anything except wait for an engineer to land from his time or someone else to be able to follow his words to a re-invention.
Such is the state of wisdom today. We draw yantras, chant mantras, and speak in parables about fantastic achievements; these are truths from ancient memory, not just wild imaginations, what we need is engineers, not just users; deep love of Divinity, not just terminological interest”.

~ The Yogi and the snake

अजाप  मंत्र

 "सो हम", योगी गुनगुनाए। "आप और मैं, एक हैं", योगी ने कहा; "अधिक उचित रूप से, आप भगवान के साथ एक हैं, और में भी भगवान् के साथ एक हूं, इस प्रकार हम एक दूसरे के साथ एक हैं। एक और एक , एक कैसे बनते हैं? इस पर ध्यान करो"
"मैंने महान लोगों द्वारा सो हम मंत्र का उल्लेख सुना है", सांप ने कहा।
योगी ने कहा, " अजाप का बीज आपकी सांस में आराम कर रहा है," ऐसा न हो कि आप भूल जाएं। यह एक महान मंत्र है। इसका शाब्दिक अर्थ है 'मैं वह हूं'। यहाँ 'वह' का अर्थ ईश्वर है। लेकिन बिना समझे किसी मंत्र का जाप करना, बांसुरी को फूंकने के समान है, दूसरे सिरे से केवल व्यर्थ की हवा निकलेगी।
क्या आपने पंखे की भूमि के आदमी के बारे में सुना है? एक बार एक आदमी था जो स्वेच्छा से टाइम मशीन में शामिल हो गया और कुछ हज़ार साल पहले एक ऐसे देश में चला गया, जहां बिजली मौजूद थी लेकिन पंखे नहीं थे। उस व्यक्ति ने मूल निवासी को पंखे की अवधारणा समझाने की पूरी कोशिश की, लेकिन जैसा उसने किया, उसका अपना ज्ञान एक अंतिम उपयोगकर्ता होने तक सीमित था, इसलिए, वह रेखाचित्र बनाने से आगे नहीं जा सका। यह ज्ञान उसके लिए बहुत निराशाजनक था, वह अपने समय से एक इंजीनियर के उतरने की प्रतीक्षा करने के अलावा कुछ नहीं कर सकता था या कोई और उसके शब्दों का पुन: आविष्कार करने में सक्षम था। आज बुद्धि की स्थिति ऐसी ही है। हम यंत्र बनाते हैं, मंत्रों का जाप करते हैं, और शानदार उपलब्धियों के बारे में दृष्टांतों में बोलते हैं; ये प्राचीन स्मृति के सत्य हैं, केवल  कल्पनाएं नहीं, हमें केवल उपयोगकर्ताओं की नहीं, इंजीनियरों की आवश्यकता है; दिव्यता का गहरा प्रेम, केवल पारिभाषिक हित नहीं"।

Hindi translation by Yash NR