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 Maha ShivaratriModerators: Moderators Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
| Yoga -> Philosophy and Religion | Message format |
Cyndi |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 5098   Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Tomorrow we will celebrate Maha Shivaratri, one of the holiest nights of the year. It is the night dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva. Literally, Shivratri means, The great night of Shiva. SHIVA AS DESTROYER In the trinity of the Divine Manifestation Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva Lord Shiva is the one who destroys that which is old and impure in order to make room for a new creation of that which is pure and divine. Lord Shiva annihilates our egos, our attachments and our ignorance. Many fear Lord Shivas destructive capacity, and yet it is destruction for the purpose of regeneration. Without death, life cannot begin anew. Without the annihilation of old habits, attachments and ego, we cannot progress toward the goal of God realization. Unless our vessel has been emptied of all that is old, negative and impure, it cannot be filled with divine qualities. There is a beautiful story of a man, a spiritual seeker who was eagerly in search of enlightenment. He had performed many years of sadhana and study and felt that he was ready for the final 'touch'. Thus, he went out in search of the Guru who could grant him true enlightenment. Everyone told the man that high on top of a certain mountain lived an enlightened master who could bestow enlightenment upon his disciples and devotees. The seeker traveled weeks on foot to reach the Master in his cave on the mountain top. Upon arrival he fell down at the Master's feet and proclaimed his earnest wish for enlightenment. The seeker proceeded to tell the Master of all the sadhana he had done, that which he had learned, that which he had experienced and that which he felt he still needed to obtain. The Master listened silently. When the seeker finally finished his long explanation of his own spiritual experiences, the Master said, "Let us have a cup of tea." The seeker looked shocked, "A cup of tea??" he exclaimed. "I've practiced for years, meditated for years, searched for months and walked for weeks in order to reach you so I could finally be granted enlightenment. I do not want a cup of tea. I want to be liberated!" However, the Master calmly insisted that he first have a cup of tea. The Master placed a cup on the ground, next to the seeker, and began to pour hot tea from the kettle into the cup. When the tea reached the rim of the cup, the Master did not stop pouring. Rather, he kept pouring and pouring, even as the tea filled the cup and began to flow over the sides of the cup, out of the saucer and onto the floor of his cave. The seeker jumped up as the hot tea touched his knees. "Stop," he cried. "The cup is full. It cannot hold any more. Please stop pouring tea. It is all going to waste all over the floor." The Master sat down and said to the seeker: "You are like this tea cup. You are so full of what you think you know, what you think you've achieved, what you think you've seen and what you think you need, that there is no room for me to teach you anything. Until you empty yourself of your own ego and your own illusions, my teachings will only go to waste like this tea on the floor." Lord Shiva empties our cup of that to which we are attached, so that we may be re-filled with true awareness, true knowledge, true Divine light. Thus, it is not destruction for destruction's sake. It is destruction for the sake of re-creation. CELEBRATION OF MAHA SHIVRATRI The holiday of Shivratri is frequently celebrated by performing special Shiva puja and Abhishek as well as by remaining awake at night in meditation, kirtan and japa. During the course of the night, the Abhishek can be performed every three hours with water, milk, yogurt, honey, etc. Bel (bilva) leaves are frequently offered during Shiva puja, as it is believed that Maha Lakshmi resides within them, and it is considered particularly auspicious to offer them on this occasion. It is said that the offering of Bel leaves on the occasion of Shivratri is so auspicious that even one who offers them unknowingly (as in the case of the hunter Suswara) will attain liberation. THE MEANING OF ASH Bhagwan Shiva is portrayed with ash on his forehead, and devotees of Lord Shiva frequently apply sacred ash to various parts of their body. This symbolizes two things. Everything that today has a form on the Earth once was ash in the ground and again will be reduced to nothing but ash. Therefore, the ash serves to remind us that all that we are, all that we do, all that we earn and acquire will only be reduced to ash one day, and therefore we should live our lives dedicated to God and dedicated to serving humanity, rather than to the accumulation of temporary possessions and comfort. When we apply the sacred ash or see it, we are reminded Ah yes, it is only by the grace of Lord Shiva that I am still here today, and that I have not yet been turned to ash. It is His grace that my home, my family and my possessions are still with me and that they have not become ash. Therefore, I should remember Him, pray to Him and devote myself to Him. LORD SHIVA AS THE "MAHA DEVA" - SWALLOWING THE POISON The stories and the messages of Bhagwan Shiva are innumerable; however, one of the most important is the story of how He for the sake of humanity swallowed the poison which emerged from the ocean. The story says that the devas and their brothers, the demons, were churning the ocean together in search of the pot of the nectar of immortality. However, after a great deal of effort, what emerged was not nectar, but poison!! This happens frequently in life as well. When we embark upon a divine plan or when we undertake a noble challenge, frequently before the success comes, before our effort bears fruit, we face failure or condemnation or seemingly insurmountable hurdles. Yet, we must never give up. The devas and demons knew that in order to continue churning, and ultimately to unearth the Divine nectar, they could not simply toss the poison aside. Someone had to drink it. But, naturally, no one was willing to drink the poison. Everyone had some excuse for why he or she was too valuable to be sacrificed. Finally, Bhagwan Shiva came forward, very calmly and with serene poise. He said I will drink the poison if it will preserve peace in the family and enable my brothers and sisters to attain the nectar of immortality. After drinking the poison, and thereby enabling the churning to continue, Bhagwan Shiva held the poison in his throat hence the name Neelkanth which means Blue Throat and sat peacefully in meditation for eternity. HOW TO DEAL WITH THE POISON IN OUR OWN LIVES In our lives, in our families, so much poison emerges between parents and children, between husband and wife, between in-laws. We wait and wait for the divine nectar to emerge, but it seems that only poison comes. So many times people come to me, complaining, But why should I always be the one to compromise? Why should I always be the one to sacrifice? Why should I always say Im sorry? Its not fair! On this night of Shivratri, as we worship Bhagwan Shiva, it is also the night that we must pray for the strength to take his message to heart! Let us not only worship him, but let us emulate him. He who is willing to peacefully swallow the poison, he who is willing to sacrifice for the family, for the community and for humanity is the true Mahadeva. Bhagwan Shiva went to the Himalayas, to the land now called Neelkanth to meditate after he drank the poison. The message is that when poison emerges in the home, when poison emerges anywhere in our lives, when we feel like if we swallow it we will die, but if we dont drink it then the fight will continue the secret is to meditate! You dont have to go to the Himalayas. Just create your own Himalayas. Wherever you are. First, be the one to accept the poison. Be the one to sacrifice, apologize and concede humbly. Then go, sit and meditate peacefully. This is not weakness, but strength. Poison always comes; obstacles always come. When we work for good causes, when we embark upon divine work, the poison always comes before the nectar. However, we must never get discouraged. We must never give up. If the devas and demons had forfeited the churning at the sign of poison, the nectar of immortality would never have emerged, and it would have been a tragedy for the world. Similarly, we must always have faith that the nectar WILL come. It is only a matter of time. We must be willing to churn and churn, no matter what comes be it poison or nectar. On the night of Shivratri as we remember the churning between the devas and demons for the nectar of immortality, we must take anoter lesson to heart. After the nectar emerged, the demons tried to abscond with it. Thus they would be ever more powerful and ever more able to destroy their brothers, the devas. However, through a series of divine interventions, the devas emerged the victors and the ones with the gift of immortality. The night of Shivratri is especially auspicious for winning this same battle within ourselves the battle between good and evil, between right and wrong, between poison and nectar, between death and immortality. Let us use our puja, our prayers, our meditations on this night to pray for divine intervention so that within ourselves the good might vanquish the evil, the nectar within us might emerge, rather than poison, and that we too may be carried from death to immortality. May God bless you all and all of your families. With love and blessings. | ||
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| Bay Guy |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 2479   Location: A Blue State | I hope your celebration goes well! The Master sat down and said to the seeker: "You are like this tea cup. You are so full of what you think you know, what you think you've achieved, what you think you've seen and what you think you need, that there is no room for me to teach you anything. Until you empty yourself of your own ego and your own illusions, my teachings will only go to waste like this tea on the floor." Lord Shiva empties our cup of that to which we are attached, so that we may be re-filled with true awareness, true knowledge, true Divine light. Thus, it is not destruction for destruction's sake. It is destruction for the sake of re-creation. That's a great story, too. Knowledge begins with the admission of ignorance. ... bg Edited by Bay Guy 2006-02-25 4:14 PM | ||
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| this is a little bit creepy... after weeks of beating around the bush, today i finally went through all my crap, and am getting rid of another portion of what i don't need... i suppose at this point, though, things like this should be entirely expected, as opposed to strange. out with the old in with the new. | |||
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| kristi |
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Veteran Posts: 258 | Cyndi - 2006-02-25 11:21 AM "Tomorrow we will celebrate Maha Shivaratri, one of the holiest nights of the year. It is the night dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva. Literally, Shivratri means, The great night of Shiva. " This great night has already started in my country and it is a shiny and warm (mid)night right before the great day! Thank you for the nice post, Cindy ! And for bringing the "Himalayas..." in my home tonight. Kristi | ||
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| GreenJello |
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| Thanks for posting this Cyndi I really enjoyed it! | |||
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