Night out

Viswamitra · Mar 6, 2016

What a night! I know this night comes every year but how excited I get every time I approach this wonderful night. It is time to get connected with the one I love the most and get really high late at night. Spend the time wisely with loved one, focus on becoming thoughtless, soaking in high energy, singing in rhythm together recognizing the source for each one of us are only one. Monday, March 7th is Shivarathri and I could not wait for this day to arrive.

Shivaratri, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is celebrated on the moonless night of the month of Phalguna, which is the fourteenth day in the krishnapaksha or dark half. Owing to a special planetary conjunction, spiritual practices done on this day are considered to be especially auspicious and beneficial. There is a reference to this in one of the Puranas, where Shiva himself tells Parvati Devi [the Divine Mother] that this day is particularly dear to him, and that those who perform the prescribed austerities on this day will be freed from all sins. Mahashivratri is very significant for people who are on the spiritual path.

Well, the night is dominated by the moon. The moon has 16 kalas or fractions; and each day when it wanes a fraction is reduced, until it is annihilated on new moon night. After that, each day a fraction is added, until it completes itself on full moon night. The moon is the presiding deity of the mind; Chandramaa manaso jaathah - "Out of the mind of the Purusha (godhead), the moon was born." There is a close affinity between the Manas and the moon; both are subject to decline and progress. The waning of the moon is the symbol for the waning of the mind; for the mind has to be controlled, reduced and finally destroyed. All Saadhana is directed towards this end. Manohara - the mind has to be killed - so that Maayaa may be annihilated and the reality revealed.

Every day during the dark half of the month, the moon, and symbolically its counterpart in man, the Manas, wane, and a fraction is diminished; its power declines - and finally, on the fourteenth night, Chathurdashi, there is just a wee bit left, that is all. If a little extra effort is made that day by the Saadhaka, even that bit can be wiped off and Manonigraha (mastery of the mind) completed. The Chathurdashi of the dark half is therefore called Shivaraathri, for that night should be spent in the Japa and Dhyaana of Shiva, without any other thought either of food or sleep. Then success is assured. And, once a year, on Mahaashivaraathri night, a special spurt of spiritual activity is recommended, so that what is Shavam (corpse) can become Shivam (God) by the removal of this dross called Manas.
On Shivaraathri, the mind must become Laya (reduced into nothing). Lingam means that in which this Jagath attain Laya - Leeyathe; that into which this Jagath goes - Gamyathe. Examine the Linga; the three Gunas (primordial qualities) are represented by the three-tiered Peetha (platform); the Lingam above symbolizes the goal of life. Lingam means "a symbol", the symbol of creation, the result of the activity of the three Gunas and of the Brahman (supreme reality) which permeates and gives it meaning and value. When we worship the Lingam, we should do so with faith in this symbolic significance.

Every word, every form used in the Shaasthras has a symbolic meaning, which gives it value. The word "Prapancha" which we use so freely to indicate this "created world" means, "that which is composed of the Panchabhuuthaas - the five elements of earth, fire, water, wind and ether." Take the word "Hrudhayam" used for "the heart". It means Hrudhi (in the heart) ayam (He). That is to say, it means not the organ that pumps blood to all parts or the body, but the seat of God, the altar where Shiva is installed, the niche where the lamp of Jnaana is lit. Again, Shiva does not ride on an animal called in human language, a "bull!" The bull is only a symbol of divinity standing on the four legs of Sathya, Dharma, Shaanthi and Prema.
Shastras say, when we finally enter the seat of the divine, there are two guards who would let us in and they are known as Sama (control of the mind) and Dama (control of the senses). In fact, the entire life is a dress rehearsal to learn entering the seat of the divine. Whatever name it is called, doesn’t matter. Control of mind and senses can’t be achieved in one day by practicing it on a Shivarathri Day. In fact, we are seeking help to achieve this goal by praying to the divinity one night when the mind (moon) is least active. It helps us to manifest the fourth moving away from three gunas that would help us reach One that is never born and never dies. Mind is the cause of Bhavaroga (body consciousness) and its silence is where we see the deep ocean of love.

Frankly, this night out is to remove the darkness of ignorance thinking the reflection of light in the moon (mind) as the real light and seek real knowledge to find the infinite energy.

jayasala42 · Mar 6, 2016

Dear Viswa,
Wonderful message on the eve of mahashivarathri.Now a days it is said that people are becoming too materialistic and lack devotion.but more than ever,there are many many
journals like Bhakthi, shakthi etc publishing articles on such topics,Two years back I read an article in Tamil about the spiritual significance of Shivarathri tale.
We would have heard about the story of hunter who stayed the entire night on a Vilva tree along with the animals he hunted during day time,unknowingly plucked leaves and dropped dropped them down.They fell on a Shivalingam just below the tree and the hunter attained heaven.

The Scriptures record the following an inner meaning of the Chitra Bhanu story.
It is an allegory. The wild animals that the hunter fought with are lust, anger, greed, infatuation, jealousy and hatred. The jungle is the fourfold mind, consisting of the subconscious mind, the intellect, the ego and the conscious mind. It is in the mind that these "wild animals" roam about freely. They must be killed. Our hunter was pursuing them because he was a Yogi. If you want to be a real Yogi you have to conquer these evil tendencies.
The hunter was also called Suswara.
It means "melodious". The hunter had a pleasant melodious voice. If a person practices Yama and Niyama and is ever conquering his evil tendencies, he will develop certain external marks of a Yogi. The first marks are lightness of the body, health, steadiness, clearness of countenance and a pleasant voice. This stage has been spoken of in detail in the Upanishad.

The hunter or the Yogi had for many years practised Yoga and had reached the first stage. So he is given the name Suswara.

His birthplace is Varanasi.
Now, the Yogis call the Ajna Chakra by the name Varanasi. This is the point midway between the eyebrows. It is regarded as the meeting place of the three nerve currents (Nadis), namely, the Ida, Pingala and the Sushumna. An aspirant is instructed to concentrate on that point. That helps him to conquer his desires and evil qualities like anger and so on. It is there that he gets a vision of the Divine Light within.

The climbing of bael tree and all other details are also furnished in a spiritual fashion.

Vilva leaf has three leaves on one stalk.

The tree represents the spinal column. The leaves are threefold. They represent the Ida, Pingala and Sushumna Nadis, which are the regions for the activity of the moon, the sun and fire respectively, or which may be thought of as the three eyes of Shiva.

The climbing of the tree is meant to represent the ascension of the Kundalini Shakti, the serpentine power, from the lowest nerve centre called the Muladhara to the Ajna Chakra. That is the work of the Yogi.

The Yogi was in the waking state when he began his meditation. He bundled up the birds and the animals he had slain and, tying them on a branch of the tree, he rested there. That means he had fully conquered his thoughts and rendered them inactive. He had gone through the steps of Yama, Niyama, Pratyahara, etc.

On the tree he was practising concentration and meditation. When he felt sleepy, it means that he was about to lose consciousness and go into deep sleep. So he determined to keep awake.

His wife and children are none other than the world. One who seeks the Grace of God must become an embodiment of love. He must have an all-embracing sympathy. His shedding of tears is symbolical of his universal love.

In Yoga also, one cannot have illumination without Divine Grace. Without practising universal love, one cannot win that Grace. One must perceive one's own Self everywhere.

The preliminary stage is to identify one's own mind with the minds of all created beings. That is fellow-feeling or sympathy. Then one must rise above the limitations of the mind and merge it in the Self.

Why did he pluck the leaves?
That is mentioned in the story only to show that he had no extraneous thoughts. He was not even conscious of what he was doing. All his activity was confined to the three Nadis.

The leaves, represent the three Nadis. He was in fact in the second state, namely, the dream state, before he passed into the deep sleep state.

He kept vigil the whole night, it is said.
Yes, that means that he passed through the deep sleep state successfully.

The dawning of day symbolises the entrance into the Fourth state called Turiya or superconsciousness.

It is said that he came down and saw the Lingam.
That means that in the Turiya state he saw the Shiva Lingam or the mark of Shiva in the form of the inner lights. In other words, he had the vision of the Lord. That was an indication to him that he would realise the supreme, eternal abode of Lord Shiva in course of time.

Now the story continues. He goes home and feeds a stranger. A stranger is one whom you have not seen before. The stranger is no other than the hunter himself, transformed into a new person. The food was the likes and dislikes which he had killed the previous night. But he did not consume the whole of it. A little still remained. That was why he had to be reborn as King Chitrabhanu.

Going to the world of Shiva (Salokya) is not enough to prevent this. There are other stages besides Salokya. These are Samipya, Sarupya and finally Sayujya.

Though it appears to be an ordinary story, many of us are not aware of the spiritual significance.
This is a rough translation of what I read in Tamil.Yoga experts may give better comments.

Jayasala 42

Balajee · Mar 6, 2016

Wow, didn't know Shivratri had so much of phiolosophy behind it. But in northern India the day is celebrated with intake of Bhang (One of the two festivals in which this cannabis product is consumed) whichn makes people lose control over their minds. The reason for its consumption is that it is Shiva's favorite tipple.

Viswamitra · Mar 6, 2016

Dear Balajee,

There is a lot more as described by Smt Jayasala which couldn't be explained briefly in one snippet. Frankly, the objective is to become thoughtless and stay focused on divinity when the moon (mind) is least functional. The people in North India consume cannabe products for the very same reason. It is my understanding that when a person is under the influence of cannabe products, he becomes thoughtless and whatever he wants to focus on, he can do to the exclusion of all other thoughts. It is equivalent of torchuring the body to focus the mind. Angapradshna, piercing the tongue, etc. belong to the same category.

Viswa

shobhamma · Mar 6, 2016

Thanks Viswa, Jayasala Balajee for so much info on Sivaratri.

Viswamitra · Mar 6, 2016

Dear Smt. Jayasala:

Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story with the explanation of the significance. I happened to read that only recently and no matter how many times I read this, I feel like reading it again and again. There is nothing I can say more to what you have already mentioned but I thought it is worthwhile mentioning what Sadguru said about Ida, Pingala and Sushumna.

The Ida and Pingala represent the basic duality in the existence. It is this duality which we traditionally personify as Shiva and Shakti. Or you can simply call it masculine and feminine, or it can be the logical and the intuitive aspect of you. It is based on this that life is created. Without these two dualities, life wouldn’t exist as it does right now. In the beginning, everything is primordial, there is no duality. But once creation happens, there is duality.

When we say masculine and feminine, we are not talking in terms of sex – about being male or female – but in terms of certain qualities in nature. Certain qualities in nature have been identified as masculine. Certain other qualities have been identified as feminine. You may be a man, but if your Ida is more pronounced, the feminine may be dominant in you. You may be a woman, but if your Pingala is more pronounced, the masculine may be dominant in you.

Bringing a balance between the Ida and Pingala will make you effective in the world, it will make you handle life aspects well. Most people live and die in Ida and Pingala; Sushumna, the central space, remains dormant. But Sushumna is the most significant aspect of human physiology. Only when energies enter into Sushumna, life really begins.

Fundamentally, Sushumna is attribute-less, it has no quality of its own. It is like empty space. If there is empty space, you can create anything you want. Once energies enter into Sushumna, we say you attain to Vairagya. “Raga,” means color. “Vairag,” means no color, you have become transparent. If you have become transparent, if what is behind us is red, we turn red too. If what is behind us is blue, we turn blue too. If what is behind us is yellow, we turn yellow too. We are unprejudiced. Wherever we are, we become a part of that, but nothing sticks to us. Only if we are like this, only if we are in a state of Vairag, then we will dare to explore all dimensions of life when we live here.

Right now, we are reasonably balanced, but if for some reason the outside situation goes crazy, we will also go crazy in reaction to that because that is the nature of Ida and Pingala. It is reactive to what is outside. But once the energies enter into Sushumna, we attain to a new kind of balance, an inner balance where whatever happens outside, there is a certain space within us which never gets disturbed, which is never in any kind of turmoil, which cannot be touched by the outside situations. Only if we create this stable situation within ourselves, we will dare to scale the peaks of consciousness.

Viswa

Viswamitra · Mar 6, 2016

Dear Shobhamma,

Thank you for your response.

Viswa

jskls · Mar 7, 2016

Nice write up on Shivaratri. Especially the one on energies though I read your post voice I was hearing was another Sadguru's. I was not Siva devotee but Shivaratri has given me good experience. Thanks for sharing.

We used to know a Siddhar who had a Shivaling made of mercury. It was about 2 inches but when held in hand it would weigh like a brick and needed to be held in both hands. We have spent Shivaratri night sitting upright seeing the abhishekam for this mercury linga at SriKalahasthi temple. I have had prasadam too though my gold chain turned black prasadam didn't affect us. It was a wonderful experience to watch the abhishekam for the small linga. For the past few years I have tried to be at the temple on this particular night. Hopefully will have that blessing this year too!

Agatha83 · Mar 7, 2016

Dear Viswa,

I only know that Shivaratri is an auspicious day, a day on which Shiva married Parvathi. But the finer aspects of the festival which you have delved deep, just goes beyond my head. Thank you for elevating lesser mortals like me lacking spiritual knowledge to a much higher level with your absolute knowledge.

satchitananda · Mar 7, 2016

Thanks Viswa and JS Ma'am for the wealth of information you have provided about Shivrathri. It is really so interesting when one understands the symbolism involved in the various practices being followed.