Tag hindu deity

The non-dual reality of Lord Shiva – David Frawley

VOI

Nataraja

Shiva is not what we think God is supposed to be, conforming to our opinions or hopes; Shiva is what the Supreme Divine truly is beyond the limitations of our minds and the fixed tenets of any particular faith or belief. … There is no box we can place Shiva into, no formula or structure that the mind can arrive at that can comprehend him. – Dr David Frawley

Shiva is ultimately a deity that represents the non-dualistic Absolute beyond all the contraries and oppositions of this dualistic world of time, space, and karma. He is the force of transcendent unity that is more than the combination of opposites and holds simultaneously the power of both sides of all dualities. Shiva is a deity who transcends duality in his very nature, appearance and manifestation—which also requires that he embraces all dualities and resolves them back into himself. This makes Shiva difficult to understand for the dualistic mind caught in outer differences and distinctions.

Shiva reflects the supreme truth that dwells beyond both relative truth and relative falsehood. He is the Supreme Being beyond both relative being and non-being. He is the supreme good beyond both relative good and evil. He embraces our world on both sides, above, below, and in the center and yet stands infinitely beyond it. He is One, yet he is all. He is everything and nothing, both within all things, outside of all things, and not limited by anything.

As a non-dual deity, Shiva seems contrary to our prevailing views of what is logical, right or appropriate. Shiva is portrayed as a dispassionate yogi yet he has the most powerful passions and the most beautiful and powerful wife. He both destroys Kamadeva, the ordinary God of love but then becomes the Supreme God of Love himself, Kameshvara. He takes us beyond suffering, but to do this he can cause us excruciating pain.

Shiva awakens a higher awareness in us, but for this to occur he must first take us beyond all our preconceptions, making us see the darkness of ignorance behind our lives. Shiva represents our higher Self that is the goal of our aspirations, but to reach it we must allow our ego, its attachments and opinions to be dissolved, giving up our ordinary sense of self altogether.

The challenge of our encounter with Shiva

Shiva in his diverse names, forms, and actions is meant to be challenging for us to grasp. Lord Shiva is not meant to be easy to understand, nor can we present his reality in a simple manner that resolves all doubts as to what he actually represents. To contact the reality of Shiva we must face all doubts and difficulties within ourselves and learn how to move beyond them with steadiness and grace. We must recognize the limitations of the mind and its particularized knowledge. The portrayal of Shiva is not meant to present us with only a pleasing appearance, any more than life is always kind. Our encounter with Shiva is meant to shake us up, to stir our inner transformative energies—to get us to question ourselves and all that we may hold to be truth or reality.

Any real encounter with Lord Shiva is not likely to conform to our existing beliefs, hopes, or expectations. It may not leave us feeling more confident about who we are, or more certain that our lives are moving in the right direction. An encounter with Shiva may not initially make us feel happier or give us more prosperity or what we may regard as a better life.

Shiva is not what we think God is supposed to be, conforming to our opinions or hopes; Shiva is what the Supreme Divine truly is beyond the limitations of our minds and the fixed tenets of any particular faith or belief. Shiva is the supreme reality, not we ourselves, our ideas, opinions, books, or institutions. Shiva is the cosmic reality not our individual or collective imaginations and fantasies. There is no box we can place Shiva into, no formula or structure that the mind can arrive at that can comprehend him.

To arrive at the state of supreme awareness that is Shiva, we must allow ourselves to be stripped bare of our personal conditioning down to the subconscious level, beyond the memories of the present birth and the perceptions of the outer world. We must learn to see ourselves in all beings past, present, and future. We must be humbled back to the core of our being where no self-image prevails, and where there is no other that we have to conform to, please, or fear.

The human mind as it is today is not a conscious intelligence that we can rely upon to determine what is real. It is a conditioned response mechanism for biological survival and social development. Information technology has augmented its powers but not taken us beyond its dualistic limitations. But in the silence of the heart, where all is forgotten, one can know the truth. You are Shiva in your deepest Self and core being. Shiva is the non-dual reality in which you personally are not there, yet in which through your inmost essence of feeling and awareness you are everything.

We can approach Lord Shiva many ways through ritual, yoga, mantra, pranayama and meditation, but these are only expedient measures to draw us beyond body and mind to the mysterious core of our being that knows all intuitively without being trapped in any concepts.

Om Namah Shivaya!

› Dr. David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) is a Voice of India author and teacher in the Vedic tradition. Article from Vedanet.

Ramana Maharishi Quote

The secret power of Hanuman – David Frawley

VOI

Hanuman

Hanuman endows us with the Atma-shakti or Self-power through which we can realise our higher potential and accomplish what is magical. He grants us fearlessness, self-confidence, daring and boldness to attempt the impossible and succeed. – Dr. David Frawley

Hanuman endows us with Self-power

Hanuman is the great hero of the Ramayana, the wonderful story’s most fascinating character. Though having the form of a monkey, he is said to be the greatest sage, yogi and devotee. What is the inner meaning of this magical figure?

Hanuman is portrayed as the son of Vayu, the wind God. This explains his speed of movement, his power to become as small or large as he likes, and his incredible strength. But there are many other yogic secrets hidden behind his symbolism.

Hanuman and cosmic energy

Today our world prides itself in a new information technology, with a rapid speed of data, calculation and communication. Modern science has learned to tap the latent powers of nature to transform our outer lives. At a cosmic level, there is a deeper energy that runs everything in the universe.

This is called “Vayu”, which is not just a force of the wind or air element, but the kriya shakti or power of action that governs all inanimate and animate forces in the universe. It is the source of all cosmic powers, not just wind as a force in the atmosphere.

Vayu manifests as lightning or propulsive force (vidyut). This is not just the lightning that arises from clouds but the kinetic energy that permeates all space and time. Vayu is the energy operative from a subatomic level to the very Big Bang behind the universe as a whole. Tapping into that supreme cosmic power is what the methodology of Yoga is all about.

Vayu at an individual level becomes prana, which is not just the breath but the life force that holds all our motivations and sustains our inner strength and will power. It is not just our physical prana but the prana of mind and ultimately of consciousness itself.

Hanuman represents the cosmic Vayu manifesting through our individual prana. This occurs when we dedicate our lives to the Divine Self or Rama within us, letting go of our attachment to the external world of appearances.

Hanuman endows us with the Atma-shakti or Self-power through which we can realise our higher potential and accomplish what is magical. He grants us fearlessness, self-confidence, daring and boldness to attempt the impossible and succeed.

The cosmic Vayu is inherently a force of intelligence, linking us to the cosmic mind that aligns all minds together in an interconnected network of thought. That is why Hanuman is the most wise and observant, holding the power of buddhi, the discriminating inner intelligence that reveals the highest truth.

Hanuman and the power of Yoga

This cosmic Vayu is the true power of Yoga. It gives flexibility of body, boundless vitality, indomitable will power, and concentration of mind. Our highest prana is to reach out and merge into the immortal Prana, which is to dedicate ourselves as Hanuman to Rama.

Hanuman grants all yoga siddhis extending to the highest self-realisation, allowing us to master all cosmic energies.

Hanuman is the conduit of the power of Rama as the universal Self. Rama represents the Self who guides all nature—through which the wind blows, out of which the Sun and Moon move, which holds the Earth in place through gravity.

The yogi works through that cosmic Vayu and universal Prana, in attunement and harmony with the whole of life.

The true bhakta or devotee surrenders to the Divine will which is the motivating force of Vayu.

Vayu’s vibration is Om or Pranava, the primal sound behind all creation and the source of all mantras.

The Upanishads teach us that Vayu is the directly perceivable form of Brahman, the Cosmic Reality.

Becoming Hanuman

To become Hanuman we must awaken to our inner nature as a portion of cosmic consciousness. Each one of us has the power of the entire universe within us.

But we can only recognise this when we become aware of our inner Self, what the Upanishads call the antaryami or inner controller. Hanuman is the force of Rama working within us, the strength of our innermost Self that is the ruler of all.

It is Hanuman alone who can discover Sita Devi. Sita represents the deeper Self-knowledge or Atma Vidya, through which Rama or the Self can be fully realised.

Sita is also the feminine principle of space and receptivity that the cosmic Vayu depends upon. Without Hanuman, we cannot find Sita, and Rama cannot fulfill his destiny of the highest dharma.

Let us not forget our own deeper cosmic energy in our fascination with the latest information technology that is but its shadow. Hanuman reveals to us the way of transcendence.

Jai Sri Ram! Jai Jai Hanuman! – Vedanet, 30 March 20

› Dr. David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri) is a Voice of India author and teacher in the Vedic tradition.

 

Atma Shakti