Have your atma moorti, but also relate to the temple deity!
In Hindu tradition, there is a concept called atma moorti, meaning 'my own version of Shiva' (or any deity). It means, "He is just my own version; nobody else is allowed." This is called ishta nishtha or leela dhyana. Srimad Bhagavatam acknowledges this process as a very powerful spiritual practice. So having your own version of the Guru or God, and relating to it, is a very powerful process! It is called leela dhyana, literally 'living with Me'!
I have seen so many ordinary villagers in Bharat, living with their chosen ideal and living the highest form of enlightened life, without even knowing the words Integrity, Authenticity, Responsibility and Enriching! Without knowing any of these words, they radiate enlightenment! I tell you, just this one truth, ishta nishtha and leela dhyana, has made millions of Hindu villagers enlightened! Millions of Hindu villagers practice the presence of God. So understand, unknowingly, you are practicing the presence of God!
But understand one thing: My Ganesha ate, but I cannot go to the temple and make that Ganesha eat, because the temple Ganesha belongs to the whole world. I cannot tell the temple Ganesha, "I will put you in the well!" But, I can play with My own version of Ganesha. I can tell him, "I will put you in the well!" I can do anything I want with him! I tell you, with your atma moorti, spiritual life starts. But you should take care that when you go to the temple, you don't lose that feeling-connection with the temple moorti also! You should understand that the temple moorti has space for everyone!
KARPAGA VINAYAGAR TEMPLE for everyone!
When an enlightened person happens in the body, he brings all the great truths to life. He brings everything back to life. Sometimes people ask Me, "Why did you do so much tapas, so much of spiritual practices, Swamiji? Why do you need to do all these things, like puja and feeding Ganesha? You are after all born enlightened; You could have expressed Your enlightenment directly." Understand: expressing enlightenment is one thing; bringing all these truths back to life through every incident, through every ritual, through every technique, is another thing. That is the purpose of an enlightened being landing in the human body!
My spiritual life started with Ganesha. Ganesha eating the food I offered is the first spiritual experience that happened in My life. My first satsang was on Ganesha, and My first puja was done to Ganesha. I can say, My spiritual journey was successful and unfolded with all its glory, beauty and depth because of that! It was such an auspicious beginning… that is why My life is continuously extraordinary with auspicious incidents. I am trying to trace the day Ganesha ate the food I offered. We will declare that day as Annapurna Day in our mission!
Understand: this whole revival of deity worship, of Sanatana Hindu Dharma, which I am doing now, started with just one small Ganesha gifted to Me when I was three years old! If that same Ganesha or even a bigger Ganesha was gifted to Me when I was eighteen, I don't think this revival would have happened. Just that one Ganesha at the age of three got into My very bio-memory, became an experience. That is why I am able to transmit that experience to tons and tons of people, and this whole Sanatana Hindu Dharma is revived!
Just yesterday, one participant in the Inner Awakening program came and said, "Swamiji, it is so sweet to talk to deities and relate with them! I saw them blessing me, relating back to me, responding to me!"
I said, "Wow! I have done My job!"
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is experienced by millions worldwide as The Avatar of this day and age, bringing permanent, precious solutions from ancient Hindu sacred texts for the global crisis being faced today. His Holiness is reviving sacred yogic sciences from Sanatana Hindu Dharma - including awakening of the kundalini shakti - our own highest potential energy, the third eye, and the expression of extraordinary powers. He works tirelessly to awaken individuals and communities to their highest possibility - a stress-free life of high achievement, power, bliss and advaita... Oneness.
The life of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is a living example of the shastras that were written so long ago by Bhagavan Sadashiva Himself. Every teaching He elaborates on today is a result of His intense practice on Himself and the resulting success. Out of His extraordinary compassion, The Avatar landed on Earth to once again revive the sacred secrets from Sanatana Hindu Dharma.
Ever since the beginning of civilization, Sanatana Hindu Dharma has been the cradle of enlightened beings and highly advanced sciences. It is where the science of enlightenment and powers (shaktis) were lived and taught as a lifestyle. Sadashiva speaks on 463 various shaktis including:
- seeing through the third eye
- reading the past and the future through Akashic Readings
- creating alchemy products for spiritual evolution
- scanning bodies for disease and healing
- remote scanning for retrieving lost items
- levitation
- materialization of objects
The initiated disciples of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM express much more than just these powers through His powerful deekshas (initiations). These powers manifest from the 'feeling connection' and 'integrity' to the Divine, from the space of Oneness with the Divine. Through this, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM re-establishes the ancient era of power manifesting beings on the planet.
Bhagavan Sadashiva refers to this Oneness as shuddhadvaitam.
He reveals in Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra, sutra 113, dhāraṇa 87:
saṃpradāyamimaṃ devi śrṇu samyagvadāmyaham । kaivalyaṃ jāyate sadyo netrayoḥ stabdhamātrayoḥ ॥ 113 ॥
Translation
O Devi, listen to this sacred tradition, I shall reveal it you vividly, completely. Just keep your eyes completely wide open, do not see or perceive anything, by simply keeping it fixed with a steady gaze (on the reality within). By this, the state of aloneness [kaivalya], the Oneness that expresses as extraordinary powers and experiences will occur immediately.
Summary:
In this sutra, Sadashiva reveals the technique of experiencing Oneness with Him and from that Oneness awakening the powers of the third eye.
The shaktis cannot be unlocked by the reading or studying of the agamas. It can happen only through initiation from a living incarnation.
One cannot taste the nectar by speaking about it. In the same way, the science of Oneness and the powers revealed by Sadashiva in the agamas, can be tasted, experienced and celebrated only from the Guru, who gives us the nectar of Oneness with the Divine that he embodies.
A Nithyananda Gurukul Student explains: "The moment I close my eyes, I just get into the space of Oneness with Swamiji. When I get into that space it's a different realm, a different world altogether. So in that space it's that reasonless, causeless joy. Then when I am asked, 'where is the lost ring?' I just see the whole scene happening, like a playback video with audio. And the moment you express these powers, your whole body, your whole being, just gets into a space that cannot be described. So much of sweetness and calmness; nothing can shake you!" - Sri Nithya Sundareswarananda Maharaj.
SRI NITHYA SUNDARESHWARA NANDA MAHARAJ Balasanth of the Nithyananda Gurukul