Shivashakti Om.

Shivashakti Om.  

Citizen of two worlds

This person you know lives in two worlds. In samAdhi he is one with the One, with Brahman, the Truth and merges with KRShNa, and the three Gurus- Sri Adi ShankarAcArya, Sri RamaNa MahaRShi and Sri RAmakRShNa. In this state there is the absolute certainty of awareness 'aham brahmAmsi' (I am Brahman), and since the various forms of the Divinity such as RAma and KRShNa are only names of the Nameless One, there is complete identity with them in samAdhi. But there is nothing to think or say or do in that state. 

Due to ignorance (avidyA) arising from past karma that has resulted in yet unburnt vAsanas (tendencies) this individual's mind emerges from that state of Bliss and starts to identify with a limited aspect of the Universal Mind (mahat) and identifies with a body. Due to impurities in this mind this individual is subject to kAma (desire) and when this desire gets frustrated he experiences krodha (anger). On attaining his desire through the senses he also becomes subject to  mada (intoxication). Attracted to the desirable and pleasurable aspects of the senses, identifying as a man he is also attracted to woman and to the acquisition of wealth to satisfy those desires. Occasionally he is also subject to lobha (greed). All this deludes him so completely that he comes under the sway of the sense objects presented as the external world which he knows in truth is nothing but a combination of name and form. Unable to see his true Self in others he names them as mother, father, sister, daughter and various friends etc. This delusion is moha and personified as the beautiful Mohini whose form VishNu assumed when the devas (gods of the senses) churned the ocean which is inside his body using the meru danDa (which is the canalis centralis or sushUmna) through the awakening of kuNDalini. All his demonic tendencies which are the asuras get easily deluded by Mohini and he is so attracted by the world as sense object that he loses all sight of Immortality that the beautiful Mohini is bringing to the devas. By grace of Guru and past austerity he sometimes remembers his true nature and the scripture and is able to conquer the asuras temporarily in meditation and then he enjoys the temporary bliss of heaven, sometimes even on earth. By further austerity of restraining the senses (devas themselves) he is able ascend and reach his true nature. There he sees that all other manifestations such as you and others are but his essential nature who have assumed other minds and bodies just by following different tracks from the source based on different karmas. But when this vision is not steady he is tossed and turned on the ocean of samsAra and takes them to be different. 

When the time comes for the prANas to leave his body his mind will depart with them and depending on the thought uppermost in his mind at that time it will either take on a new body eventually or merge permanently with the Absolute. If mergence is not in this incarnation then this individual will enjoy the pleasure of heaven for as long as his good karmas are exhausted and take another body and remembering his past austerity will begin again to purify the mind. Even merged in the Absolute he will be constantly manifesting as the embodied to the ignorant portion of the Universal mind that manifests as different minds and sees diversity. And yet it is also true that none of this is happening and it is all as unreal as the horn of a hare because he is always in samAdhi and in a non-changing unmoving state even if his mind does not perceive it so always owing to its forgetfulness of Devi, which allows Time to begin its play. For eternity is not a very long time but a state that is truly beyond and prior to the emergence of Time itself, while also being the substratum of Time. 

The only difference between the embodiment of the Absolute as me or you and that as Sri KRShNa is this: SrI KRShNa remembers and knows all his incarnations even while embodied, while the others do not. Therefore, the other embodiments cannot claim to be God in the waking state, whereas Sri KRShNa could. 

All sense pleasures are only a reflection of the Bliss of samAdhi.

All sense pleasures are only a reflection of the Bliss of samAdhi. But it is difficult to attain this Bliss, and even more difficult to sustain it permanently. So effort is needed to rest in the effortless state. Until the mind ceases to be outgoing, which happens only on the destruction of all vAsanas. The sequence of vAsanas beginning with aham then deha then putra and so forth. As long as the 'I am the body ' notion persists, all talk or advice regarding Self-Realization is empty words in the wind.

Devi is in everyone, but ...

Devi is in everyone but some forms are worshipped in the temple and some are brought home. Water used for washing clothes is not used for abhishekham. Discrimination is necessary.

If the world appears to you...

If the world appears to you, then there is *only* one person who needs to be enlightened, and that is you; and I am saying this to myself. As long as the world, which is nothing but the mind, is seen as non-different from the Self, the Realization has not become permanent. This is due to prArabdha karma. If one sees the world, then the degree of attenuation of karma or realization is proportional to the fraction of time and space in which one sees God. But this is not to be interpreted as mere religiosity, but in the practical way in which one treats other people and objects in the world. If everyone and everything is seen as nothing but the reflection of one's own Self, and is therefore treated with the greatest love and compassion that one would accord to oneself, that is the true index of seeing God in another person or in the world. Mistreatment of other living or non-living objects without understanding of dharma (which can even involve termination of bodily manifestation of another, or killing, provided the circumstances warrant the same under dharma) is not a sign of wisdom.

This entire Creation is one single thought ...

This entire Creation is one single thought in the mind of the Lord, created by Brahma, sustained by ViShNu and destroyed by Shiva. Each thought springs from the Self, the unmoving omnipresent Consciousness and is resorbed in it. This bodily existence is another long thought born of past desires. Desire is the root of manifestation. It is rajo guNa samudbhavah- born of rajas. How to enjoy with constant awareness? VitRShnA- without longing for that which was. So enjoy everything that which comes of its own accord but don't hanker for its permanence or sustenance. One can have this attitude only if one is truly devoid of desire. This does not mean one is devoid of enjoyment. After all bhoga apavargArtham dRShyam.

Insight into an aspect of Tantra

Man in his purest essence is PuruSha: he who burned the sin of ignorance through Self-Knowledge. Man in his purest essence in Shiva: the Auspicious One.

Woman in her purest essence is PrakRti: the Power of PuruSha in the form of the guNas, without which Creation is impossible.
Woman in her purest essence is Shakti: Power of the Shiva.

But when the jIvA descends into the body and thinks it is either man or woman by identification with the body and gender, it loses its Self-Knowledge.

The unawakened man is overpowered by PrakRti through Her power in the form of the senses. Therefore, he tends to think only through his lower two cakras: mUlAdhAra (root cakra) and svADhiShThAna (sex cakra).
He pampers his body and is attracted to the physical aspect of woman for the goal of pleasure through sex.

This undiscriminating man does not pause to assess the emotional, intellectual and spiritual attainment of the woman whom his senses are attracted to. Through actions propelled by past karma he may meet and couple with a woman of varying suitability, and spilling his seed, which is his most potent life force, he may beget children of varying quality. Caring for them and his wife, his time and effort are dissipated and he does not practice tapas and misses the ultimate goal of life, which is his spiritual advancement. This is samsAra.

The discriminating man controls his senses and shuts out the doors through which energy departs from the lower two cakras: mUlAdhAra and svADhiShThAna. He then performs tapas or austerity.

Usually water is below fire in an unawakened man because water is associated with the svADhiShThAna and fire with maNipUraka.

A tapasvI and yogi through the practice of yoga, specifically prANAyAma, is able to move prANa downward and apAna upward, reversing their usual positions. This is called heating the water from below in the Taoist tradition. By doing so, he converts the water to steam which rises. This is the awakening of kuNDalini shakti. This shakti ascends through the cakras and opens his heart at the anAhata, gives him clear and wondrous speech at the vishuddhi cakra, and great insight at the AjnA cakra. Reaching the sahasrAra he experiences great beatitude and Bliss.

Now when the energy descends in such an awakened man, it does not drip into the fire of the maNipUraka cakra, but the Yogi quaffs this nectar higher up.

Then descending in the path of Tantra he is able to spread his love, knowledge and insight to others.

Woman is attracted to the external reality and man through her heart, not usually through the lower cakras (as is the case with man). But similar to the undiscriminating man, the undiscriminating woman follows her senses and opens her heart to any man based on his looks, or his intellectual or other powers, not pausing to see if he is spiritually evolved. She then regrets giving her heart away foolishly and due to family commitments is unable  to pursue sAdhanA and attain the highest goal.

The discriminating woman does not give her heart away so easily, just as a discriminating man does not spill his seed at the first opportunity.

When a man of rare tapas encounters a discriminating woman, his energy descends first through her sahasrAra to her mind. She is captivated by his spiritual insights and entranced by his knowledge of the Vedas and scriptures. As his energy descends into her from her sahasrAra to the AjnA, she is filled with delight at their intellectual interaction. His speech is also sweet, considerate and free of anger even if she may err or do something that is offensive or hurtful. Then his energy descends to her heart cakra: the anAhata. Slowly each petal in the Lotus of her heart cakra opens by the loving energy that pours down from him into her heart. Then she opens her heart to him; and when a woman gives her heart, her mind and body follow of their own accord. This union of love is the highest in the physical world and thus a woman is led to the heights of spiritual attainment or sAdhanA regardless of whether she physically couples with the man, or not.

The union thus far is samaya and mishra part of Tantra. This union is necessary because the embodied  jIva has only half the knowledge of the world through the body and gender. It must unite either internally or externally with the opposite gender to gain full knowledge of the Universe.

In case that both are unattached, there may be physical union also, and that is the kaulava tantra. But the mere practice of physical union and its consequences of children is the painful way to reach sAdhanA and the final beatitude. On the other hand when practiced with true wisdom and dispassion as in the Taoist practices, it can also be productive of the highest enjoyment.

For advanced sages, the kaulava aspect could be omitted as it was performed in previous lives.