My Life Breath...

One thing that I like and can do effortlessly is to sleep….sleep for long hours. Sleep is one phenomena which is either not understood by modern science or totally misunderstood. What happens when go off to sleep? Have you noticed? Have you come upon a situation where you’re half asleep and half awake? Why one gets awake when all of a sudden someone turns on the light? All these questions are still unanswered. The way science works is to classify/categorize things. Let’s suppose I would ask a scientist to show me the beauty of a flower – what he might do next would sound utter stupidity but that is what science is all about. He might cut the flower apart into pieces  until he reaches to some bizarre part of flower from where he would say the flower adopts its color, scent and the rest of it. Is this what I was trying to know? And also, does this leave me in any further excitement to know more about the flower? Though, probably, the answer to this simple question is within each one of us, the beauty of the flower is in our eyes, its within us. Is it not? We all know the science of how we see objects- i.e. light falls upon that object, it reflects back and our retina does the trick which eventually makes us see that object. So everything is coming from within our own self. The seat of our experience is within us. Is it not true for rest of our senses? Be it taste, touch, visual sense. Everything eventually comes from within. Let me put forward one more proposition. If you touch a steel rod, how do you know that it’s made of steel? Only by touch you can sense it i.e. if we ignore the science behind it – atomic structure and all. What precisely happens is when we touch the steel rod, Our touch sensory helps to identify it as steel otherwise we have to rely only on mere mathematical chemistry equation that it’s made of steel. So, in essence, all our experiences are our own made. It’s coming from within- be it anger, sorrow, misery, love, pain, anything.

This is where my quest begins.

Himalayas is such a grand phenomenon that it would take human race eons to comprehend what it is. In the culture where I’m born, it is said that it is the abode of Lord Shiva himself (lord of destruction). No one knows from where he came from, there is no folk lore behind this hypothesis. Everyone just knew that this guy was simply there. For eons, he would have been there, no one knows. Why am I referring him? Precisely, my quest is all about to find him and somewhere within me I strongly feel that in finding him I might encounter my own self. I might find my own self. Shiva, is the lord of darkness. That is the reason Mahashivratri is revered across this country as the most grandeur of celebration. It’s the darkest night of the year. It is also said that whatsoever little we know about spirituality has come from Shiva. All the practices, methods, techniques has come from him. Hence he is also referred as ‘Adi Yogi’, the first Yogi.

Shiva used to meditate for long hours and at times even months, years. Nobody knew what he was upto. He would just close his eyes, sit still and used to get lost. Lost as if never to come back to senses. Many people in those times, thought he has intoxicated himself with some drug that makes him go crazy. So, this gave birth to a practice where people would intake weed, hash or some sort of drug to get into states of meditativeness like Shiva. Though, Shiva used to refute such practices. It was mere by practice that he would get into those states, there was no chemical substitute for that. Though, this was ignored and still today it is said that Shiva used to intake such intoxicants to get into frenzy states. There is a whole bunch of people who follow this ritual and you can find them in Himalayas. They are referred as Yogis from Shaiva panth (path of shiva).

This has got no technical reference to this critique though there is a mental connect. I somewhere felt I belong to this creed of people who claim to be walking on the path of Shiva. The way I’ve lived my life, very energetically and at some times at the peak of energies, I strongly relate myself to them. This path is the path of death. Shiva used to emphasize more on death as it’s the most sacred experiences of all. It is said that your entire life condenses into that very moment of death. Death is one of the biggest taboo in our society. Though for Shiva, death is the only reality. Precisely, that is also one of the reasons that Shiva is said to be smeared in ashes all the time. In this culture, body of dead ppl are burnt in an isolated place and ashes of the same is considered as Shiva’s belongings. This is why you might find Shiva idols in every hindu crematorium. He is the lord of destruction. Death according to him happens only at physical level, though the impressions on one’s mind stays forever. When the energy takes birth again, all the impressions get imprinted onto that physical body. This is what is usually referred as ‘Karma’. It is a belief, that we live according to our past karma’s and what we do in this life decides our next life journey. If I state this premise to be true, then I would want to dissolve my past karma’s and make some new karma’s very consciously. It is also believed that one can escape this cycle of Karma and infact this is essentially the path of Shiva. It requires lot of efforts (sadhana) on one’s part to achieve this goal and even many lifetimes.

Shiva is said to be all that which is not. We experience the sense of sound only while we’re on this planet. There is no sound in the universe. It is silence that is prevalent that sound. Have you noticed, what we use as a medium of communication is nothing but sound. Though, we have formed a language around it and interpret it in our own ways. It is eventually all vibrations. We as a human being are also nothing more than a vibration. Is it not? When we say someone doesn’t match to our frequency, what are we trying to deduce that person to? A vibration with some frequency? Is it not? Yes. If this holds true and if we all are nothing but vibrations vibrating with certain frequencies, then it’s not wrong to conclude that we can also device a mechanism to read such vibrations and know all that is in and around this planet. This device has been derived thousands of year back in this culture with lot of deep study and analysis. It is known as Yoga. Essentially, Yoga means union. Union with one and all that which is. With this union, meditation flowers and one can experience the oneness of this existence. There is a whole science dedicated towards this kind of wisdom. Only that we have ignored it for long.

Shiva reveres snake so much that he allows him to sit on his neck and his hood stands at the same height as of Shiva’s head. He considers him at the same level of preparedness as Shiva is. What he wants to convey out of this? Probably, there is something beyond which is more to the eyes. We see snake as a reptile being. Though, in this culture, snake is revered nothing less than Shiva himself. He is worshipped along with Shiva. It is also said that, a snake is as alert and conscious as Shiva himself. He knows everything at energy level not like how we understand about knowing things, but at energy level he knows everything. Let’s say for an instance, there is an earthquake that is going to happen in japan, now a snake at Coimbatore might already know it energy-wise since we just deduced that everything is vibration & if one can observe the snake for long and is sensitive towards their movement, he can interpret and know such things.

Science says that there is a pineal gland right at the center of your forehead where your two eyebrows meet. So, when light falls on this gland, it becomes sensitive and one can get awake even if he is in deep sleep. In this culture, this pineal gland is referred to as ‘Third Eye’ of Shiva himself. This is the center of all intuitions. If this gland gets activated then one can even see & experience things that are beyond usual sensory perceptions. Though, yogis who have known says it’s not your third eye. It’s not even like an eye. It’s an amalgamation of many nerves which is a high centric point of energy. If one can channelize his energies towards this point, it gets activated and is very powerful. Shiva is portrayed to have this point activated by symbolizing it as an eye which can open up visionary powers. It is also a belief that this point being so powerful energy-wise, it should always be kept cool. So, people who know applies sandal paste in the morning at this point to keep it cool throughout the day.

Anger is a disease. If you know that you’re suffering from a disease then you should try treating that. It can only happen if your mind learns to be still. A still mind is as clear as a river that reflects the grace of moon. One can see beyond usual things when such stillness happens. With a disturbed mind, there is no clarity, the picture of moon in a disturbed river water would not be clear and will only cause confusion. With clarity comes fearlessness. With clarity comes love. Shiva is the epitome of anger. When he becomes angry, he wants to do just one thing- destruction. He is said to be the lord of destruction. Though this anger is not what we experience in our day to day life. It’s the peak of all energies and its well within his control. Whenever he wants he can get it activated and only by his own will he holds it back. He is said to express his despondency by way of dance which is called as ‘tandav ntriya’.

Yet, it is said that he is the most compassionate of all. Shiva is the most arduous of all to comprehend since at one point he gets angry at the prick of a pin and at some point he is the most compassionate of all. If you can comprehend him with all his expressions, then one can experience life beyond physical senses. I’m yet to experience Shiva with all his expressions though all I can say is- I’m not a devotee of Shiva, he is my life breath…..