Mahasivratri: The Night of the Yogi/Yogini ~ World Yoga Day

Once a year, a powerful time vortex presents itself for us to attain enlightenment with ease.

This is the day/night of Mahasivratri. For a yogi/ni, Mahasivratri is the “Day/Night of Yoga”, the time to transcend, transform, evolve and attain liberation. Mahasivratri has been observed as the single most important vortex of time by the yogis and householders in India for thousands of years. Based on the planetary alignment with earth and the lunar cycle, this vortex of time holds the objectives of yoga as being the Spirit having the human experience; as being ‘liberated’ from the limits of the mind and as having the grace of Source in our daily realities. This year of 2012, Mahasivratri falls on Feb 20^th.

In practical realities, Mahasivratri offers:

- An ideal time to detox the body
- The time to ‘detox’ the mind as in letting go of the past and karmic imprints of limitations
- To create an intent of resolution and a supreme prayer
- An inspiration to awaken the yogi within
- A potent time to break free from the stagnancy of life to enable us to evolve into a life more attuned to our higher purpose with ease
- To awaken to the joyfulness of “Being” a person of higher consciousness and thereby imbibing all the qualities of higher consciousness as in abundance, harmony, love and wisdom

In the Western world it is truly beautiful to witness the growth of yoga as a practice, as an exercise and as a lifestyle itself.

A drop of honey will lead to the honey pot. Practicing yoga does naturally provide benefits of health and less stress, but beyond it all is the experience of gravitating towards Source expressed in words such as “Freedom”, “Oneness”, “Blissful”, “Inspired”, “In the Now” etc. When we go deeper into the science of yoga to understand yoga as a journey through consciousness, we realize that words such as ‘liberation’ and ‘enlightenment’ are not distant concepts but an amazing experience we can have in our daily realities. Observing Mahasivratri does ease us into awakening the potential underlying objectives within yoga.

The worship of Lord Siva (Lord Shiva as in North India) is essentially advaita, which means: awakening to the Oneness of Source as in whom we are and as in everything we perceive. Si is the Spirit that we are. Va is the Goddess, that of experience. SiVa is the awakening experience to be the vast void that holds all the universes. This awakening is related to the experience of being the Spirit – the vast Soul that is beyond our “I” identification, SiVa. This is the root understanding to Lord Siva, the male and female within each of us. Likewise, “yogi” refers to the feminine counterpart yogini as well.

In the spiritual depth of India, most yogis who undergo deep tapas, (meditative penance), seldom coming out for months all together, take a break from their meditative state on this one day. These Sages come out to bless humanity during this period of Mahasivratri. For one on the path of yoga, this is the night to experience and actually be the Eternal Yogi.

This day of Mahasivratri is calculated based on the lunar calendar when our consciousness easily condenses into divine awareness during this period. From the yogic perspective, the moon directly influences the mind and our consciousness.

Each month, the new moon and full moon energies changes to its own uniqueness as the Earth rotates around the Sun in its oval shaped orbit through the year. Each day of the moon cycle holds a specific nature and in the mystical traditions of yoga, each day is attributed to a specific Goddess that holds a unique facet of energy based on the moon phase. Each full moon and new moon period holds a specific vortex of energy. New moons hold the consciousness of Lord Siva, the Spirit experience and full moons hold the awareness and the mind, the energies of Lord Vishnu. Every month, there is one Sivratri – a potent time to meditate and worship deeply and once a year, the grand Mahasivratri (maha means great) near the new moon period.

Mahasivratri and Turiya: One of the key observations during the night of Mahasivratri is to stay awake all night. In reality, it is not about being a weekend warrior staying up all night singing, chanting and dancing, but about training ourselves to go beyond the mind and its sleep pattern through meditative practice. At the time vortex of Mahasivratri, we are able to experience the ‘sleepless sleep’ state with less effort.

The many objectives of yoga from the original intent of the Sages unravel with the experience of Turiya and the grace of Mahasivratri.

1. When we unite the limited mind with Source, we ‘yoke’ the unlimited potential to expand human realities to its mastery as an artist while painting.
2. When we realize that we are the Infinite Spirit dwelling in the body as the “I Am” experience, we are able to attain the highest perspective of realities that surround us and attain the radiance of blissful being.
3. Upon realizing that our body is a shrine that houses our Soul, well-being as good health flows naturally with us.
4. Upon climbing above the mind as Spirit having the human experience, we realize the oneness of humanity, oneness of all the living and ourselves as the Oneness that is many. We awaken to the potent angelic nature of realization to be compassionate.
5. We are blessed with the attainment of higher consciousness that is causal in abundance, love, inspiration and fulfillment to all our aspirations.
6. We awaken to the wisdom of karma, dharma and our highest purpose on planet earth. We become the angelic beings recreating heaven here on earth.

When we utilize yoga as a tool to consciousness, we realize that the journey is beyond the mind and the natural states of consciousness that is sleep, being awake and dreaming.

For a yogi/ni, to climb above the mind’s rooftop is to enter a realm of higher consciousness that is called “Turiya”. The Sages describe Turiya as the “sleepless sleep”. Most of us touch the state of Turiya with and without awareness as when doing the most joyful, inspired thing that we are passionate about. At this moment, we are most divinely aligned.

Any saint or holy man and woman in any religion or culture have the ability to bless reality through words and intent. This is because they are in touch with the higher conscious mind that is in union with Source, the mind state of Turiya. In deeper meditation, as we journey through the states of being awake, dreaming and sleeping, we realize each facet of the mind in levels of consciousness. The yogis dive beneath these layers within to go beyond the mind, the thought patterns and karmic imprints to the state of Turiya, the state of sleepless sleep. In the state of Turiya, the yogis climb into timelessness to intensify the “I Am” experience. In Mahasivratri, the key to celebrating Lord Siva is by staying awake all night long to experience the yogic state of the mind, the Turiya. This higher conscious state of Turiya is the hidden experience that we are to be blessed with during Mahasivratri when staying awake through the night singing, meditating or chanting.

For more info on observances of Mahasivratri here. www.WorldYogaDay.co

Mastery of Consciousness.

As consciousness grows, so does our ability to think clearly from harmony, bring focus to priorities and create the power of intensity within intent.

These are certainly amazing and exciting moments we share together. With tools of consciousness such as meditation, yoga, tai-chi and all other inward-rewarding-conscious activities becoming ‘popular,’ so is our collective consciousness expanding faster than ever before. So what does this mean for each of us reflected as the realities we unfold?

Consciousness and its mastery is attuned to the word “Siddha.” The Siddhars are the Sages journeying beyond enlightenment, the mystics of the yoga tradition. From the Siddhars, the masters of consciousness, the insights of consciousness are the ultimate tool to transform our human limitations to Angelic Beings.

Photo: Painting of Ancient Lineage of Meditative Depth by Nandhi.

1. Consciousness is Empowered Realities:

As consciousness grows, so does our ability to think clearly from harmony, bring focus to priorities and create the power of intensity within intent. Manifestation of any desire is through the strength of passion, focus and sustenance of the underlying intent. Those of higher consciousness hold the empowerment to manifest with ease as a natural divine gift as they utilize the thinking process effectively.

However, greater than even the gift of extraordinary focus is the ability to see from outside the box. Conscious beings like Einstein attribute the ability to conceptualize beyond their mind to unraveling of greater truth.

Quote from Nandhi’s upcoming book, Be The Prophet, “In the entwining of joy, focus and surrender is genius that springs from our heart as the most perfect ‘music.’ Joy is Mother Kundalini’s sacred fire; focus is the mind’s fixation to source as in bhakti (divine love); and surrender is the vastness of void that accompanies the knowing. The subtle essence of heart’s music is wisdom, the poetry of the Now.”

2. Consciousness is Abundant:

The Siddhar saying goes as, “Lord Siva’s favorite disciple is Goddess Laxmi and Goddess Laxmi’s favorite God of worship is Lord Siva.” This means, when we are detached (as in being Spirit), abundance of that we are detached to comes to us in ease. Likewise, when we are abundant (as in grace of Goddess Laxmi), we are detached. It is sad to see many spiritual beings be suffering from poverty and actually swear by poverty. This poverty could be attributed to the vows of poverty they took of past births and their present attitude towards abundance.

An oil lamp used on the altars of most households has inscriptions of Goddess Laxmi over it. The reason is that when our lamp is alight, we manifest a solution to any of our need. So when a yogi sits in a cave to meditate and his body needs food, someone will bring the yogi food.

When Gautama Buddha was born, the astrologers saw from his birth horoscope that he was a highly realized soul- so they named him Siddhartha, i.e., In Sanskrit, Siddhartha means one who is a Siddha, a conscious being or a master of consciousness. It was only natural that such an elevated being should have been born in the midst of plenty, as in a royal family. Where consciousness is, abundance always is. Where collective consciousness is, the nation prospers.

3. Consciousness is Freedom:

All poets, philosophers and writers throughout ages find one common aspiration as the most mentioned- it is freedom. This freedom is that to be happy, blissful and be the immense Spirit of infinite consciousness. The original role of any spiritual teaching is freedom to “Be.”

Unfortunately, religion, belief systems and cults have stood in the way of an individual reaching towards Source by curtailing the freedom to be the wisdom behind the “I Am” experience. Consciousness forever grows and the wisdom of our unique Now of consciousness is greater than any sacred scripture there ever was.

The first freedom is that from our own mind, the belief of the past and our own karmic veil that keeps us from understanding the vastness of whom we are as the Spirit having the human experience.

4. Consciousness is Oneness:

The consciousness Christ spoke about was from deep love that expressed oneness. This love was from the ability to see God in every human. That consciousness of Christ was way ahead of his times two thousand years ago for which he was crucified. Consciousness grows perpetually and is still growing. The deeper our realization of God, the more of God we see in all living creatures.

The first trait of a conscious person is that of compassion towards all living beings. When we understand the wisdom of Oneness to not kill another living being, the food we eat will carry more energy to expand consciousness. When Oneness is understood so will we understand that race, sexual preference, culture etc. from not just tolerance, but appreciative over differences we might have. From Oneness, the word “love” becomes more meaningful as unconditional and from the heart.

5. Consciousness is Purpose:

When we awaken to the vastness of the “I Am” experience, we are then reminded of our human body that has a shelf life. The next question then is, “What am I here on Planet Earth to do?” As we journey through consciousness, we come to realize our individual highest purpose that has all the passion and joy in it even just to dream or think of it. Coming into the ‘knowing’ of purpose, we attain the blessings of inspiration that enables well-being, fulfillment and evolved grace in our life. Consciousness then becomes action and a reality. The collective reality of conscious folks in the world then creates heaven here in Planet Earth.

6. Consciousness is being the Spirit:

Siddhar Kakapujundar (pictured here),  Siddhar Rajaswamy's Guru, explained the meaningfulness of this human birth by way of this story:-      
When Siddhar Rajaswamy was in the forest with his Guru Kakapujundar , in the evening time, Siddhar Rajaswamy saw many wild animals and birds come and sit beside them as he and his Guru sat to meditate or do the sacred fire (yagna). Siddhar Rajaswamy asked his Guru, “Divine Guruji, It is truly heart touching to see all these animals and birds come towards us and sit so peacefully without fear around us. There is more to all this that I can see. Could you tell me about it?”
Siddhar Kakapujundar said,
“Angels are highly evolved Spiritual Beings but they evolve slowly into even higher realms as compared to the human evolution. In being human the evolution is quicker the moment  consciousness is attained. With attainment of consciousness, the conscious person constantly does good and evolves fast. 

Yes, of course there is much more to understand this evening from the yogic perspective. 

Twirling around us is the peace of ourselves and all Angels too. The animals and all creatures come to bathe in this  light. 
Like all living beings gravitating to their innate wholeness, even the Angelic Beings seek to evolve. They seek to evolve by assisting conscious beings, the living masters. Angelic Beings twirl around conscious beings, wanting to serve and guide the conscious master. 
At the moment when a  master of consciousness is meditating all the Angelic Beings circumbulate around the pillar of light activated. 
When a conscious being performs a good act (dharma) the Angelic Beings, too benefits from the merits of  good action. Through the dharma done by the higher conscious being, the Angelic Beings evolve. A higher conscious master is many as one with many Angels serving them. 
The human birth and its evolution towards consciousness is the reward that even Angels desire. Use the human birth for all its potential”  

Consciousness is the awake awareness of being the Spirit having the human experience. The Spirit is the "We, the many as One."

This inner wisdom explains how spiritual beings have legions of angelic beings and Source serving them to attain the highest aspiration for humanity. This Spirit as experience is our own inner bliss of being in the Now.

Teachings of Mastery of Consciousness:

http://nandhi.com/masteryofconsciousness.php

A Wealth of Consciousness.

Consciousness and wealth—spiritual & material—are not just related, but rather interwoven as one flowing energy field. When there is peace and harmony, abundance of all good things flow naturally—not just for individuals, but also for whole nations.

There has been so much global dynamics springing from the colossal debts USA has and the global politics of economics that shape this. The debt is $14.6 trillion and climbing. That is roughly $47,000 debt for every US citizen.

Is there a need to be worried? What will happen next to the nation, the global economics and our own individual reality? What will happen if a rogue nation like China, armed with economic strength, gains the upper hand to threaten our individual freedom?

These questions and thoughts can be brought to the right perspective if we can understand consciousness as being the wealth that will always gain precedence over any temporary upheavals. 

Photo: Oigs

If we can gain insights into the history of consciousness, we know we will not fail. We are consciousness that is victorious. Always!

India had been an economic super power for over 2000 years prior to being colonized by the British Empire. This “super-power” status was conferred based on the size of the entire global economy being less than 50% of that of India, the global economy of that period of course included a relatively developed China. Compare this to the 50-year maximum time of the “super-power” status of the USA that in its heyday constituted only 15% of the global economy.

This enormous wealth of India was driven by a foundation of harmony from within for centuries. Economic strength grew due to the inner harmony, the result of the absence of wars, especially in South India. Isolated from invasions for thousands of years thanks to the three oceans of the south and the Himalayas of the north, the Indian subcontinent sustained a society where spirituality was a foundation on which enterprise prospered along with science. The Indian subcontinent provided and still provides the sustaining and nurturing environment to not just a few spiritual seekers, but to over 3 million sadhus, or spiritual recluses.

Consider these facts of an inherent consciousness:

- During its years as a “super-power,” India did not invade/plunder or evangelize another of its neighboring countries. All of its neighbors were trading partners and culture & philosophy flowed naturally.

- Wars were civilized. Wars were fought within the Indian subcontinent with an attitude of being civilized, i.e., no

Photo: DB King

civilian casualties, no killing prisoners of war, hostilities ceased every evening to tend to the wounded etc. Sadly, this code changed with the advent of the Muslim invaders from 1200 A.D. onwards who came to plunder India and forcefully enforce Islam on the conquered people while committing atrocities that violated the ethics of war. With the advent of British imperialism, all ethics of war were done with.

- Throughout the years of India’s history, anyone and everyone stepping on the shores of India were treated as welcomed guests of honor. India is the only country that not only welcomed the Jews but also ensured that they were protected and that their trade was encouraged. This is exactly the policy that East India Company took advantage of to later colonize India (see the video below).

- With Islamic invasion & European colonization, the original language, religion and culture of entire nations were obliterated completely and replaced by that of the conquerors.India was the only exception. Even after being ravaged by over 800 years of Islamic rule and then British / Portuguese / Dutch colonization, nearly all its native languages, indigenous cultures and religion are quite intact (as in comparison to Latin America/Africa/Middle East etc.).

- When Mahatma Gandhi started his freedom struggle in India, the British felt threatened almost immediately as the vast majority of the Indian population were agreeable to the concept of ahimsa — non-hurting, non-harming and non-killing as a non-violent path to attaining freedom. Ahimsa as a concept was untried as yet in human history. The Indian freedom struggle through violence was well in place before Gandhi’s presence. What baffled the British and the press was how, without modes of modern communication,  huge crowds would form and wait for hours before Gandhi arrived at any destination. The freedom movement had the whole of India responding to Gandhi’s call to be the “soul-force” from the beginning — that eventually led to Britain’s decision to leave India as a friend. Consciousness still won over steel, guile and greed.

The material wealth extent of ancient India:

When the British got their first administrative hold in the Indian subcontinent starting with what is today Tamilnadu, the British knew that they would conquer the rest of India with the financial “profits” they made. They

Photo: COD Gabriel

realized that they had the revenue of the world’s richest region of those times.

In 1803, the East India Trading Company (later taken over by the British government) made 13 million pounds as its profit (approx $5 billion in today’s value) from a territory that later expanded over nearly 25 times in size. This “profit” grew compounded each year by a minimum 100% and sometimes 1000% each year — over each year at the minimum, year after year as newer territories were annexed—until the entire Indian subcontinent was under the empire. Newer methods of appropriating money from India were devised—until India gained Independence in 1947.

In between, India footed the entire bill of the UK’s First and Second World Wars cost apart from the costs of all the other wars fought by the British. If we sum up the amount of wealth taken out of India directly and indirectly from 1800 to 1947, by comparison, the current US debt of $15 trillion is minuscule.

Consciousness, however, moves in cycles and is not the monopoly of any one culture or country.

The ancient consciousness of the Indian subcontinent is embedded in the science of yoga, meditation and the essence of realizing oneness — ahimsa. This cycle of goodness for consciousness is now beginning again. The enormous wealth that was with India in the form of stored consciousness through being a super-power for over 2000 years was not depleted as wealth, spiritual and material, is created through consciousness.

When we meditate, do yoga or do any practice that calms the mind to harmony, we experience peace. Thoughts from a mind of harmony are always innovative, abundant, nurturing and inspiring.

As thoughts of the Sages from the East, we wish all to know that even a $100 trillion is still minuscule compared to collective consciousness that can be transformed to abundant material realities in a moment.

The immenseness of spiritual abundance is a power that has come of time and no one person, no nation and no ignorance can stop its manifestation to be the radiance of material abundance.

May we all evolve in our awakening to the harmony of oneness behind each thought. May we all unfold abundant realities in our lives that fulfill, inspire and bless us with well-being, contentment and enterprise that enables the goodness of abundance.