You Are Divinity
tayāpūryāśu mūrdhāntam bhanktṿā bhrūkṣepasetunām | nirvikalpam manaḥ kṛtvā sarvordhve sarvagodagamaḥ ||
Center unclutched between the eyebrows Experiencing omnipresence of Shiva Consciousness. You are Divinity. It is a beautiful subject. This is the very message of the Shiva sutras. Shiva sutras are techniques given by Shiva, Rejuvenator of the Hindu Holy trinity, to his consort Parvati to realize the divine. There are 112 techniques in all. Sutra means technique. Message of Shiva sutra is that 'You are Divinity'. Let us enter into the sutra and see what Shiva wants to tell us today.
It is a beautiful sutra. Sometimes I try to avoid Sanskrit. I straightaway give the English translation and enter into the sutra. This is the translation of the eighth sutra. Today we are working on the eighth sutra.
Center unclutched between the eyebrows Experiencing omnipresence of Shiva Consciousness.
Yesterday, Shiva gave us a technique to work on breath through intellect. For the people who are intellectual, scientific, logical yesterday's sutra will help them and they can work on that.
He is giving a technique today for the people who are more emotional; who are heart oriented; who are centered on the heart center; who don't care much for logical thinking.
Tomorrow he is working on the deeper level beings, the people who are being oriented. Tomorrow he will give a technique for the people who are neither intellectual nor emotional but who are more intuitive. The next sutra gives a beautiful technique to work in the being level.
I think for the first time devotion or bhakti is given as a spiritual technique for transformation. Almost all the literature related to meditation or Vedanta is philosophical in nature. They always avoid giving importance to devotion. There are some Vedanta statements that go to the extreme of saying devotion is nothing but fantasy. There are some books that condemn the experiences of Meera. There are so many Vedanta books that condemn devotion.
Shiva is not here to contradict or condemn anybody. He is here to help every type of being to fulfillment. He is the ultimate Master. He tries to help every type of human being from where he or she is. Wherever they are standing, he goes to their level. From there he brings them to the ultimate experience.
If we read the commentary on the Brahma sutra given by Shankara, an enlightened Master from Bharat, he condemns every other system. Shankara tears to pieces all those who believe in duality or dvaita, that God and man as separate entities and who are bhakti or devotion oriented. He completely shakes the foundation of their whole system of beliefs. If we read Shri Bhashyam, Ramanuja's commentary on Brahma sutra, he shakes the whole foundation of Vedanta. Both Shankara and Ramanuja are enlightened masters.
Actually Ramanuja looks sharp and intellectual. He looks more logical than Shankara. I had always thought that people who are devotion oriented would be less logical. But Ramanuja proved that to be incorrect. Even though he is devotion oriented, his logic is sharper and deeper than that of Shankara. Actually the quality of logic is such that it gets better as it gets updated. Whenever we write something the person who writes after us can always oppose it. He can write much better than us since he knows our logic now. Because Ramanuja came after Shankara, he was able to penetrate much deeper than Shankara. The fight between Ramanuja and Shankara has not ended in Bharat. It goes on till this date. I was shocked to see this fight continue between the believers of Shankara and Ramanuja. Constantly somebody goes up, somebody comes down. At the time of Shankara the whole wave of intellectual people rose. At the time of Ramanuja there was the bhakti or devotion wave.
People come and ask me: Who is really truthful? I tell them: Be very clear, whenever there is a debate, never think it is a debate between devotion and intellect, and never think it is a debate between Vedanta and bhakti. It is a debate between these two individuals. Whoever is more logical will win. It is not the philosophy that wins. Both philosophies lead to the same ultimate experience.
I think Shiva knows what is going to happen in the future. That is why five thousand years ago he has solved this problem between bhakti (devotion) and jnana (knowledge) with this single sutra. With this one sutra he has solved the whole problem between the head and the heart.
He says:
Center unclutched between the eyebrows Experiencing omnipresence of Shiva Consciousness.
He says through devotion you can experience the ultimate enlightenment. Earlier he had talked only about being unclutched. Knowing the knower is the ultimate experience according to Vedanta, Hindu philosophy. When we explore this sutra, we can see how beautifully he has connected the Shankara and Ramanuja philosophies, the head and the heart. How beautifully He starts from where people are and leads them to the ultimate experience.
All believers in dvaita, the people who speak on duality, they condemn people who believe in vedanta as mayavadis (people in delusion). They condemn people who believe in non-duality, advaita, that God and the Self are one and the same. All these people who are in the line of non-duality*, advaita, condemn people who are in the line of bhakti* as lilavathis (game players). Both of them constantly fight and waste their energy. Here Shiva beautifully synthesizes these two approaches. He gives the ultimate respect to devotion. He is gives great respect to the path of devotion. I think he is the first Master on the planet earth, maybe the last Master to declare that devotion is one of the ultimate techniques to become enlightened.
People who are in the line of devotion miss experiencing the ultimate. Usually they just stop with the form of God. And the people who are in the line of ultimate experience they miss the joy in life. They are so dry, so boring. If you go near them, you will feel depressed. These are the two extreme kinds of people. People who are devotion oriented are very lively. They sing and dance and enjoy. But the problem is they miss the ultimate experience. They just stop with dancing and singing. People who are goal oriented, enlightenment oriented they will be very strong; they stick to their path. But the problem is they miss the joy of life or the ecstasy or the experience of beautiful devotion. Somehow nobody was able to connect these two. The fight goes on and on. Sometime it goes to the extreme.
The other day one of our devotees was telling me about his experience. He told me: Master, after attending the last meditation camp now I don't feel like mediating on the form. The form is not coming to me. I am experiencing only pure energy.
I told him: It means you are really blessed by the God or deity on whom you are meditating. When you meditate on a form you are meditating on divinity. When you reach the formless energy, you are divinity. You are not meditating on divinity. You are divinity. It is complementing each other. It is not contradicting.
Five thousand years ago Shiva solved this problem between the head and the heart. Besides synthesizing, he helps us. He encourages us to jump into the ultimate from where we are. The beauty of Sanatana Dharma, the eternal path of which Hinduism is a part, is not only that it accepts us as we are but it also gives us the jumping pad. We can just take a quantum jump into the experience from wherever we are standing.
That is why I tell people that sanatana dharma not only accepts all other dharmas, different spiritual paths leading to higher truths, it welcomes every dharma. It doesn't care about where we are standing. It always looks at the possibility of how we can jump from there. That is why in sanatana dharma we do not have the concept of conversion. We don't believe in conversion. We don't even have an idea about conversion. All that can happen if we go to some enlightened master is that he can help us take the ultimate jump from wherever we are. No question of conversion arises. We don't believe in conversion. No ritual to convert is available in sanatana dharma. People will be amazed to realize this.
Sanatana dharma is the oldest religion and it never had any idea about conversion. Because we feel that conversion is psychological violence. We are torturing the person psychologically by converting him. All conversion happens through fear or greed. It is purely based on fear or greed. Either you give him some benefits or you threaten him that something will be taken away from him. So no conversion is purely spiritual. When it is purely spiritual there is no need for conversion. The spiritual masters will do this job of giving you a jumping pad to take a quantum jump into the conscious experience.
Here Shiva is such a great spiritual master he is giving you the jumping pad. Let me tell you, this is the only book that does not have an introduction. It does not condemn any philosophy. There is no kandana mandana throughout this book. Kandana mandana means condemning or pulling down the other system. I have not read a single vedanta text without kandana mandana. Throughout this book not even in one place Shiva is condemning any other system.
That is why I say he is giving completely the essence or the pure spiritual truth. This whole book is completely filled with the spiritual truth or essence of spirituality. He is not influenced by any political strategy. He is not influenced by any political system. He is not influenced by any organized religion. He is pure consciousness available to all of us to take the quantum jump into the consciousness. Not even one line condemns any religion or any system or some truth.
We can't even say he does not condemn because there was no other sect or religion at that time. We can't say that because he gives solutions for all the problems. This implies that all the problems existed. Otherwise why should he give the solution? The moment we read a book about dropping addiction, it is clear that in that society addiction was present as a problem. When Patanjali says that astheya, not stealing, is a vow it implies that there were many thieves at that time. Otherwise what is the reason for Patanjali to say that not stealing is one of the important vows? When he says that astheya (not stealing), ahimsa (non violence), brahmacharya (staying in reality), aparigraha (no greed) and satya (truth) should be one's vows we should be clear that these problems existed.
Here when Shiva gives a solution for the problem, we should know that the problem existed. He is such a wonderful being, such an amazing expression of enlightenment. Even if Shiva is a concept, I can tell you one thing the person who conceived that idea is unimaginable. According to me even if he is an imagination, it is the ultimate imagination or the ultimate expression of human consciousness.
Somebody asked me: Master, how do you know that Shiva wrote this book? I told him whether or not it is written by Shiva, one thing is sure such a great truth if it can come out of somebody; he is truly in Shiva consciousness. There is no doubt about it. So who ever published this book is worthy of being called as Shiva. He is that state of Shiva. In Buddhism, whoever achieves enlightenment are called Buddha. It is a state, not a name. Same way, Shiva is a particular state not a particular person. Whoever achieves that state they become Shiva. So, there is no need to become confused whether it was really written by Shiva or somebody wrote it and added the Shiva's name. Don't bother about where it is coming from. The very expression shows the experience.
Throughout the Shankara Bhashya of the Brahma sutra at least a hundred sutras condemn all other systems. Shankara has taken every system and has cornered every system with his logic. Ramanuja, Madhva or other acharyas have done the same thing. But Shiva does not condemn even a single system.
One more thing: Shiva did not condemn strange cultural practices such as piercing the body and torturing oneself. He uses even those as techniques to take a quantum jump. He does not condemn anything. He is like an unabridged dictionary of spiritual technology, of spiritual techniques. He has collected all possible methods to take the quantum jump into the ultimate consciousness, into the pure consciousness. He is not concerned about fights. He is not concerned about the differences. He is simple, beautiful and pure intelligence. Besides accepting all the groups, he is giving the launching pad for every being to take the quantum leap into the ultimate experience.
A small story:
There was a Vedanta bookshop. Devotees came there to buy books. There was the Shankara Bhashya, Shankara's commentary on Brahma sutra place side by side with Ramanuja Bhashya, Ramanuja's commentary on the Brahma sutra. A customer who went to buy the books asked a volunteer working in that bookshop: Sir, what is the difference between these two books, since the title reads Brahma sutra on both books?
The volunteer said: Oh! Just forty-five rupees.
The whole problem is just forty-five rupees, a dollar, worth. When you start, the truth it is not even forty-five rupees worth.
Here Shiva is not bothered about the differences. He is straightaway providing you the launch pad for every being to take the quantum leap into consciousness. That is why I tell you, I think he knows human beings well. Not only has he predicted the problems of all times, he has also given solutions. All other prophets, all other prophecies, predicted only problems. Whether it is Nostradamus or any other great person they only predicted problems. Shiva is the one and only master who besides predicting the problem gave the solution as well. He gave the technology also to experience it. Let's enter into the sutra.
Center unclutched between the eyebrows Experiencing omnipresence of Shiva Consciousness.
Shiva is the only master, such a great master, who besides giving respect to devotion turns the devotion towards us. He is such a great energy that he straightaway helps people to turn the devotion towards them and to direct the devotion towards themselves. That is why Shiva bhakti, the devotion towards Shiva is very easy and it is more oriented towards the spiritual experience and meditation. The more we start our journey towards Shiva the more he will again and again put us towards our energy. He will turn us towards ourselves. He will constantly turn us around to look into ourselves. He uses his form only to create inspiration in us. The moment the energy is created he just puts the energy back into us. Shiva is such a wonderful being. Throughout his teachings, he completely accepts us as we are. He turns the energy directly on us.
That is why almost all those people who believe in advaita, non-duality, will be Shiva bhaktas. All those people who speak about duality will be Vishnu devotees. All the yogis, people who speak on yoga will be Devi devotees. These are the three major groups. All the yogis will be the bhaktas of Devi. All the dvaita followers will be the bhaktas of Vishnu. All the vedanta followers*, the enlightenment focused people will be the devotees of Shiva. Throughout the Shiva Sutras in every step Shiva inspires you to enter into yourself. This sutra* tells us how the bhakti or devotion towards Shiva takes a turn as devotion towards yourself, and how it leads you to know the knower.
Center unclutched between the eyebrows Experiencing omnipresence of Shiva Consciousness.
Now you need to do two things. First you need to have deep devotion. One important thing, as far as the devotion is concerned, whether is towards God or towards Guru or towards ourselves, it liberates us. We don't have to bother to whom we are devoted.
The very quality of devotion is enough to liberate us.
People come and ask me: Master, there are so many so many Gurus what to do? How to choose the right one? How to know whether somebody is enlightened or not? I tell them never bother about whether they are enlightened or not. There is no scale to measure whether somebody is enlightened or not. Because only one enlightened person can recognize another enlightened being. Whatever scale we may have, it can't be foolproof or completely truthful. The only one way to know is to see if we feel connected to him. If you really feel your heart is vibrating with him, if you feel that you are in tune with him then even if he is not enlightened don't bother, go behind him. Even if he is not enlightened you will become enlightened.
Be very clear: Even if the master is not enlightened you can become enlightened. Even if your master is enlightened but if your heart is not feeling comfortable and if your being is not in tune with him he can't help you. Forget about him.
It is all about your heart. It is all about our being. If you feel connected to him don't hesitate. Just jump in, fall into his being, just drop into that ocean. Even if he is not enlightened you will become enlightened. It is because our very devotion, our very surrender has got the quality to liberate us.
Please be very clear, the sutra does not say with Shiva bhakti, it just says with unclutched devotion, with pure devotion that is untainted by thought shafts. He doesn't say we should be devoted only to Shiva, it doesn't say we should only be devoted to Krishna, doesn't say we should be devoted only to Rama. It doesn't say only if we are devoted to Devi; he says with unclutched devotion.
In the next word he is turning the whole devotion to our self. First we need to have devotion, next turning the whole devotion towards our self. He is beautifully taking us step by step into the enlightenment experience.
Let me tell you few things about this devotion towards Shiva; how we can use that Shiva bhakti, the Shiva devotion, as a launching pad to realize the ultimate divine. As I was telling you this one example, even if the Guru is not enlightened the very devotion can liberate you; your very devotion can take you beyond everything. Because it is the quality of devotion that liberates, not the quality of the person to whom you are devoted.
We can see that this was true in the life of Sri Ramakrishna, an enlightened Master from Bharat. He was devoted to a stone. He had strong faith and devotion to the Kali image. It was the stone image of Devi, the Divine Mother. Even if it is a stone, when we are intensely devoted to it, it liberates us. He was completely liberated. Not only was he liberated but he also liberated thousands of people. He helped and gave enlightenment to thousands of people.
Sri Ramakrishna's disciple, Vivekananda says beautifully: If we can produce one Ramakrishna we can have not one stone or one temple but thousands of temples. Be very clear: It is not to whom or to what we are devoted the very devotion is the energy. The very devotion helps us experience the truth.
I would like to tell you one more beautiful story. I just love to narrate this story.
There was a man in Varanasi. He was staying on the banks of the Ganges River in Bharat. Varanasi is the religious capital of Bharat. In this city, the floating population is three hundred thousand people every day Three hundred thousand people enter into that city everyday just to touch and have the blessings of Shiva, who is the residing deity of the main temple in that city. You will be surprised the only income of that whole city, the only reason for the development of that whole city, is a few temples of the city. All these things can happen only in Bharat. Cities grow around temples.
Even the village in which I was born and brought up, if we see the value, the amount of money, time and energy spent on building the village temple and compare with the amount of time, money and energy spent on building the remaining village, it is not even ten percent. If they have put hundred rupees, hundred men and hundred percent energy in building that temple, they would have invested less than ten percent of money, ten percent of men, and ten percent of energy to build the remaining village. You may be amazed. Twenty-five acres of built-up area, built entirely of granite stone while all other houses have been built of wood, cement and bricks.
In this beautiful city of Varanasi there lived a man called Ramdas. He was a very simple, innocent and uneducated person. He wanted to have initiation from a priest. He thought that priest was enlightened. Somehow he devoted himself to that priest. Not only that priest was not enlightened, he was also not interested in accepting this illiterate man as a disciple.
But this man's devotion was such that he did not even realize this about the priest and the priest's attitude towards him. He decided: I should take initiation from this priest. Let me do something. Then he somehow came to know about the initiation process. Initiation meant that the disciple will touch the feet of the master and the master would place the feet on the head of the disciple and give the mantra, a holy word to repeat. This is how initiation is done.
This man thought: Let me go early in the morning and lie down on the steps leading to the Ganges when the priest goes to the river to take a bath. Because it is dark when he walks he will not know where he is stepping and he will put his feet on my head. He will somehow step on me. So it will be a blessing.
One more thing we need to understand to follow this story. In Bharat there is a habit, a strange habit. When we make a mistake, we say Ram, Ram or we say Krishna, Krishna. The words that we repeat are very powerful.
Let me tell you a small story to help you understand this:
A remote county village priest became rich overnight and bought a Mercedes Benz. His neighbor the next county priest was not able to understand how this priest became rich overnight. So he asked the other priest: What happened? How did you become rich?
The priest said: One small technique. When I gave my Sunday sermon I prayed standing in front of the audience. I saw suddenly the whole group was hypnotized. I gave one instruction: Let all of you empty your pockets. And they all emptied their pockets. That is how I became rich. The other priest said: Oh! That is the technique. Let me try it and see if it works for me.
After one month the priest with Benz car went around driving the Benz, but the second priest did not have any luck. The priest asked: What happened? The technique did not work?
The second priest answered: Oh! Don't ask me about what happened. Like you I also prayed. One moment suddenly I realized that as I was holding my rosary and praying, people were completely hypnotized. I could see their heads moving along with the rosary. If the rosary moved this side their heads also moved to this side. If the rosary moved the other side their heads also turned to the other side. The whole congregation was hypnotized. I was about to give instruction to empty their pockets. Suddenly the rosary fell and I shouted: Shit!
I am still cleaning the church.
Be very clear: The words that we use when we are unconscious show our mental setup.
Let us come back to our story of Ramdas.
So it is expected that any devoted person would use the words related to God or sacred words even when he is unconscious; even when he does something wrong. So Ramdas also expected that his chosen Guru would also repeat Ram, Ram or Krishna, Krishna when he steps on him by mistake since he was spiritual. He thinks: I will take that word as a mantra. He will put his feet on my head and as he slips he will say Ram or Krishna or some God's name, and I will take that as mantra.
Next day, he went down to the Ganges steps. Early morning at four o'clock he laid himself down there. It was the same path that the priest used to take to come to the river. Almost everything was working. But one thing, he missed. The priest came, he walked in the same route and he put his feet on Ramdas but because he is not enlightened as Ramdas thought, instead of saying Rama or Krishna he shouted in irritation: Oh buffalo! Hey buffalo!
But Ramdas is such a sincere person that he had decided whatever his master uttered was his mantra. I will repeat this word 'buffalo' as my mantra. He repeats that word buffalo. He chants: Buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo, buffalo. Continuously he repeats it. Just because of his devotion the story says Devi appeared and gave darshan to him in the form of a buffalo.
If it is just a story we won't believe it. We would say it is just a story for inspiration and forget about it. This is a historical incident, an incident that happened. There is history behind this incident so you can understand the power of this devotion.
The next year during the festival time they tried to bring Devi in a procession. They tried to bring the Devi idol out of the temple door. The door of that temple was ten feet high and the idol was only three feet high. But when they tried to bring out that Devi, the idol did not come out of the doorframe. It was stuck. Physically there was nothing obstructing it. These priests tried their best to bring it out. This priest who initiated Ramdas also tried hard. The Devi did not come out.
Ramdas was there at the festival. He shouted: Hey, don't you see? The horns of the Devi are hitting the doorframe. Just lower the idol a little bit and then she will come out. He was able to see Devi appearing to him in the form of a buffalo. And the horns of that buffalo were hitting the doorframe. That was the reason the idol was not coming out.
It is very difficult to believe logically that all these things are possible. Let me tell you one or two more incidents with this historical proof then it may you may be able to understand. He shouted: Oh! Priest! Oh! Master! Why don't you lower the statue a little bit? The horns of the Devi are hitting the wall. The priests shouted at him: Fool! Don't you have eyes? What are you talking about? Where are the horns of Devi? Keep quiet. Your being allowed here itself is too much! Get out!
Then they tried their best. She did not come out. Finally Ramdas felt disturbed that they were hitting the Devi's horns on the doorframe. He just went, by force he pressed the idol down by half a foot and immediately the idol slipped out of the door. The story says Devi gave him darshan in the same form of a buffalo on which he had meditated. Besides giving darshan, she proved to the whole world through this incident that whoever meditates on whatever form with whatever name, the divine appears to them in that same form, in that same way.
In memory of this incident they have a beautiful buffalo created in a silk carpet, which is hung next to the Devi temple that you can see today. If we go to Varanasi on this festival day, they will hang a big curtain on which they have embroidered a buffalo in a silk curtain. And the puja is done to that form also. This is done in memory of this Ramdas, who was a great devotee of Devi; and who got enlightened meditating on Devi in the form of a buffalo.
Not one, there are thousands of incidents where we see God appear to bless his devotees. One more thing, the person from whom he took the mantra, the priest himself was not enlightened. He never had the darshan of Devi. But the devotee Ramdas, just because of his devotion not only had the darshan of Devi; he was able to communicate with the ultimate.
Be very clear: Don't bother about whether the master is enlightened or not. The very devotion, the very surrender, the sincerity, has got the power to liberate us, to enlighten us.
There is yet another incident. A great devotee called Kanakadasa lived in Udipi, a famous pilgrimage town from the state of Karnataka in Bharat. He belonged to a lower class and because of his birth status he was not allowed to go inside and pray to Krishna through the front door. So, Krishna turned around and blessed him when Kanakadasa sang to him from the rear window.
Be very clear: Again it is not story. It is history. Till date the statue faces its back to the front door. Even today the statue of Krishna in the famous Udipi temple looks to the back of the temple. He is called Kanakthvaara. Through the small rear window he gave darshan to Kanakadasa. You can see God only through the small window to this date. There are thousands of incidents where the devotion leads the people to experience the ultimate.
You should understand one thing: we can argue logically about whether these stories are true or not. But these stories create such a deep emotion and devotion in our being that devotion is worthy, that it is such a great gift; that even if these stories are not factual it is okay. The devotion that these stories inspire will lead us to the truth. That is the reason I always tell these people: Do not bother about the factuality of these great stories because logically you can never say this is right or this is wrong and you may never verify them as facts.
One more thing, we always think if some so called scientist says it or if it is written in some logical way then it is true. If a saint says or writes it is always biased or it is written out of vested interests. We should understand one important thing: Saints, sages, devotees and spiritual beings do not have any vested interest. Their life was never dependent on influencing or impressing anybody. But these so called scientists their life constantly depended on influencing, impressing the people who funded them.
Be very clear: In Bharat the saints and sages and rishis and spiritual Masters were never under the influence of business people or politicians. Vaisyas (business class) and kshatriyas (ruling class) both were kept away from the brahmanas (scholars and priests). It is the brahmanas who were in the top rung of society. The brahmana saints and sages and rishis and devotees were given more respect. They were in the top seat. They were ruling. They were guiding the politicians and businessmen. So they had no vested interests. They are given all best things of society without any necessity to prove themselves. So they had no vested interests.
However with these scientists, if we look deeply into the system, things are more complicated because they always have to work to fulfill the vested interests of those people who fund them. These are the business people, the vaishyas and the people who are ruling the country, the kshatriyas and the politicians.
Be very clear: That was why in Bharat the research and development in the spiritual plane was completely kept away from politicians and business people. Both were kept away from the research and development. Any intelligence if it has to take the quantum ultimate jump, if it has to be useful to the common mass in a complete way, it should not be disturbed, it should not be interfered with by the vested interests of those who rule the country or people who finance these things. Neither the business people nor the politicians should be allowed to enter into the research. Only then it can go in the line of truth and express the truth alone to the common mass.
That is why I always tell people that with science there are more illogical superstitions and more dangerous outcomes than spirituality. Even if it is little illogical even is it not a fact according to your logic, spirituality has always led people towards the ultimate truth of global peace and global bliss. It led to transformation, its ultimate purpose. So-called sciences even if factual do not lead you anywhere.
One more beautiful story:
Do not validate with your logic, whether it is a fact. When it happened? What is the year, date? Whether it happened in the morning or evening? Usually in the East we have something called purana not history. History is totally different from purana. History means date, time of the incident and the incident itself. Whatever happened in the level of length, breadth, and depth is recorded. But in the puranas, not only what has happened in the length, breadth and depth, we record the impact of that incident in the time and space. That is why we feel the puranic incidents are exaggerated.
For example, consider Hitler taking birth and another ordinary man taking birth at exactly the same time. Based on physical factors such as length, breadth and depth both events are the same. But Hitler's influence on space and time was totally different from the influence created by an ordinary man. The birth of an ordinary man and the birth of Hitler if we see from the view of history, length, breadth and depth both are the same. But if you see the influence on time and space, Hitler's influence is totally different.
In Bharat, in the east they try to record as puranas in which they give importance to the influence that person created in time and space. They did not give much importance to the incident itself, which is in the dimension of length, breadth, depth. That dimension was not given much importance. But the dimension of space and time was given more importance. It is because the rishis or enlightened beings were able to penetrate and see the influence or impact of that incident in time and space. Krishna took birth the same time as Sisupala with the length, breadth and depth both being the same. But why Krishna is given so much more importance? Why a big beautiful book is written about his birth? It is because Krishna's influence in space and time is totally different from the influence created by Sisupala.
Be very clear: History can never be complete unless it covers space and time also. Whatever you call as history is incomplete and not only that it is biased. Whoever wins the war records history. If Hitler had won the war, history would have totally been different. So whatever we think of as facts or history or we are taught as history, be very clear: It may not be history.
Puranas are the history recorded by the people who are able to see the impact of an incident in space and time, by those who don't have any vested interests. The were not influenced by business people or politicians. That is why puranas sometimes look illogical, for a man with the normal logic, one who is with the ordinary intellect; who can relate only to the facts and figures.
They describe beautifully when Krishna took birth, all the devatas (minor deities) and all the Gods and Goddesses appeared on this earth and blessed the planet earth and had the blessings of Krishna. We can't verify where they all assembled, which hall they booked, who conducted the party, what all they served in the party and who hosted the party. We don't have a record of it. We can't start verifying whether this is a fact or not. But one thing is sure: It is the truth. By creating these statements, by uttering these statements all the Gods and Goddesses have appeared on the planet earth and blessed the planet earth they mean so much of auspiciousness has happened. Just by this single person appearing on this earth so many good things are going to happen.
Till now we can feel Krishna's influence in Bharat, in the Hindu community. In Bharat I can say he is practically the greatest hero worshipped by billions of people over the ages. To date even after 5000 years still his influence can be felt in every village of Bharat. The rishis knew the impact of what happened because of this incident of his birth in space and time. They knew the impact. We don't. That is the reason why we feel the puranas are exaggerated. It is done deliberately so that we will be able to understand the importance of these incidents. These exaggerations should be understood and accepted as an instrument towards the truth. We can't verify these incidents. And if we try to verify, we will be in trouble.
That is why I tell people when some theory is proposed, in the East, it is never questioned immediately whether it is a fact or not. They have only questioned the utility of the hypothesis, the utility of the theory. How this theory is going to contribute to our growth? They were never violent. They did not want to pull the other man down. They give enough space. They give chance for every being. They just see what can be done with this theory. Can the theory really help us? That is the reason so many people have taken the quantum jump. In that spiritual incubator called Bharat so much of enlightenment, so much of spirituality, so much of conscious growth has happened.
Now let me tell you another small beautiful story.
Then we will enter into the technique itself. Because it is all about devotion, I want you to understand the importance of devotion. One more thing we need to understand: We always think people who take to the path of devotion are foolish and immature. We always think by being logical, by being very steady or cool, we think we are intelligent. Let me tell you one truth clearly. To doubt we don't need intelligence. Any fool can doubt. Only fools doubt.
It is very easy to doubt. Any fool will start only with doubt. Only to trust, we need intelligence. We need integrity; we need courage only to trust. We need to take the risk only when we trust. To doubt we don't need to take the risk. Doubting is a simple thing. Any fool will do that only because there is no risk involved. Go on analyzing, analyzing, analyzing, doubting, doubting, doubting. Nothing needs to be done. Our logic is trained to doubt.
Never think you are a great if you constantly doubt something. Some people think they are great because they can doubt me. I tell them: Any fool can doubt me! It is easy. I am not speaking with respect to me alone, with respect to anything. To doubt we don't need intelligence. All we need is little ego which all of us have enough of. All we need is little foolishness and little ego that we have enough of. Only to trust, to have devotion, to feel connected we need intelligence. We need to take the risk. We need to be courageous, only then we can trust. We can take the jump. Otherwise it is impossible.
I tell people: Never think people with devotion are not courageous. We always have an idea that people with intellect are courageous people. People who can doubt are courageous. They are cowards. That is why constantly with every step they analyze, logically question and doubt. Be very clear: Let doubt not be associated with courage. It is a pure cowardice. Cowards doubt. Blessed are those who can take the risk of jumping; who are courageous enough to trust. Only to trust we need courage. Because when we trust we take the jump. It is a big risk. Ordinarily we can play a safe game in doubting. We don't need to take any risk. Just stand aside be a watcher and play the safe game. And we know to what extent we can go and when to go back.
When our intellect reaches its peak it becomes intelligence. When our emotion reaches its peak it becomes devotion and trust. When our being reaches its peak it becomes enlightenment. Through the purification process of sadhana (practice) and tapas (penance) if our intellect reaches its peak performance, it becomes intelligence. If our emotion reaches its peak it becomes trust and devotion. If our being reaches its peak it becomes enlightenment.
To doubt we don't need intelligence. We need foolishness which we have enough. Only to trust we need courage. Trust should be associated with courage not doubting. People think just because they can doubt the spiritual system, or they can doubt some tradition, they can doubt some spiritual Guru, they, can doubt some book; they think they are courageous. Never think you are courageous because you can doubt the truth of some book, some of the spiritual Gurus, or some of the spiritual techniques.
The present day youth believe they are very daring when they tell me: I am a very courageous person. I don't care for my mother's beliefs. She believes in God. I don't care about those things. I doubt everything.
May we never feel we are intelligent or courageous because we doubt. To doubt we don't need anything. We don't need courage. Only to trust and take a quantum jump we need courage. Only to have devotion we need courage. Only to have trust we need courage.
There is one more story where Shiva came down and he arranged dates for the disciple. Shiva did first dating service. He tried to help one of his devotees. He did the ambassador's work of representing one of his devotees.
This is a beautiful story.
The name of that devotee is Sundara. Sundara means handsome man. He is a great devotee of Shiva. Let me try to describe an incident in the life of a great devotee called Sundara who lived in South Bharat in Tamil Nadu. He wants to marry a particular girl. He wants to impress her. He tried his best. But she was not attracted to him. Somehow he was not able to get her attention. So he went directly to Shiva of whom he was a devotee. He says: Master, please do something. I want to have her attention.
That is the beauty of Shiva. If it were some other Master he would not have entertained these thoughts. But Shiva is such a beautiful energy. He is life affirming. He is life positive. He is not life negative. He says: All right, don't worry, I will do something. Then he goes in the dream of that girl and he says: This man is handsome, and a very honest person. He tells her all good things about this man, and tells her to marry him and assures her that she will have a good life. He inspires her, finishes everything and comes back.
Then Shiva comes to Sundara again and says: See I told her all lies about you. I know you are not honest. I know you won't be faithful to her. I know what all you will do. But even then I lied. Please take care of my words. Please try to act according to my words so that she doesn't feel that I lied about you. He tries his best and convinces Sundara to act accordingly. Finally Sundara also says: I will try my best to act according to your words.
The marriage happens. As usual within six months, honeymoon is over. That is why it is called honeymoon. Not honey sun. How long will the moon last? Sixteen days. And this emotion will also stay only for sixteen days. Now he feels bored. He starts looking around.
Again, after six months Sundara goes to Shiva and says: No, no I don't want to live with her anymore. I want to see the next person. Shiva is terribly annoyed. He says: What nonsense? Finally Shiva says: I will not allow you to stay in the same town, because I have given big words about you to her. At least go out so that I can save my face. So Sundara starts wandering. In the name of going to the different Shiva temples he starts his so-called spiritual journey. His wife is very intelligent, she knows him well. So she takes a promise that he should not marry anybody. She will not let him go if he did not promise her. So Sundara was left without a choice. He promised her not to marry any one else and went away. He thought: Ah! After all what is there? It is just a promise, mere words.
He came to the present day Chennai. Still the place where this incident happened is there. It is just beautiful sweet memories where all these great leelas (divine play) happened, where God walked as an ambassador for a human being just because he is a devotee, just because he feels connected to him. It is the utmost respect paid to the devotion. Whether it happened or not who cares? But even the concept that so much of devotion is possible and so much of respect is paid to the devotion of the devotee, is such a wonderful thing. Just to understand the truth you can cherish all these things. It can transform your being. It can just make your heart so beautiful and so light. Even if it is story, it is okay. It is a beautiful story. You can cherish it.
Sundara fell in love with another girl. Now this girl is also not ready to give her attention to him. Somehow he is not a fortunate fellow. He doesn't know the technique or knack of getting attention from girls. He is not able to get her attention. Again Sundara goes to the Shiva: Oh! God please do something. Shiva goes the second time. He says: Alright second time also I will do something.
This time he does not appear in the girl's dream. He goes in the waking state itself. The story says he walked without his sandals, because an ambassador cannot go with upper cloth and sandals. Ambassador means you are a servant. So when Shiva starts walking Sundara says: Hey! Now you are my servant, drop the sandals and upper cloth. So Shiva leaves both outside the temple and starts walking in the street. Since Sundara says he should go without sandals and upper cloth, only then she will believe that Shiva is his servant, Shiva goes without both. He leaves the trishul (trident) and the trinetra (third eye) and goes as a servant to that girl's house.
The girl was shocked to see the Lord of the universe Shiva himself coming to her house without the upper cloth and sandals. She says: Oh Lord! Whole world serves you. Why do you become a servant of somebody? What happened to your upper cloth and sandals? Shiva says: I am the servant of my devotees. So I have come to represent one of my devotees as his servant. She says: Even before you tell me the purpose of your visit I assure you I will do what ever you want me to, but please first wear your upper cloth and the sandals. I can't bear to see you without the upper cloth and the sandals and that you serving somebody.
Then Shiva says: Oh! I am very happy now. I have now done my job. Please marry Sundara. That's why I came. I have come here as his ambassador to represent him. I want you to marry him. She says: Just for the sake of your upper cloth and sandals, I'll marry him. Please wear your upper cloth and sandals. I can't see you as a servant of somebody. And the story says both of them got married.
Again after six months Sundara goes to Shiva and says: Now I feel the first one is better, I want to go back. Actually I have seen many couples after a divorce of two or three years they feel like living together again. Anyway Shiva says: Don't talk to me. Don't tell me anything more. Enough of all this nonsense! I can't do anything. Don't bring anything to me now. Either you live or get lost. I can't do anything. Then Sundara says: No! No! How can you say this to me? I am your devotee. How can you ask me to get lost? You have to do something.
It is a beautiful conversation that takes place between Shiva and Sundara. I can't translate the whole thing. But I can at least give the story. Sundara says: No! No! You have to do something for me. I am not able to forget her. I want to go back and live with her.
By now the second girl whom Sundara married came to know that he is already married. Now she creates trouble for him. She tells him: You can't leave this city. You can't leave this town to go back to her. She is very adamant and nagging.
And the story takes a totally different turn. Finally she won the game. She said: Tomorrow morning you have to promise that you will not leave the city. Not only simple promise, because she already knows he promised once to that girl and did not keep that promise. Now she says: Come and promise in front of Shiva. If you don't keep that promise Shiva will punish you. Shiva only made this whole drama, so come and promise in front of him. Now nothing could be done. What to do? Anyway because of the nagging he accepted to do as she wanted.
But Sundara tried to play a little intelligent game. He told Shiva: Oh God! Please do something. Tomorrow I am coming to this temple to promise in front of you. I have only one small request. Don't be in the temple. You have done so much for me; just do this last one thing. Don't be in the temple. Go and sit near a tree. There is a tree near the temple. Just be under that tree. So that when I promise in front of the temple that promise will not have any power. Even if I go beyond the promise I will not be punished.
Now Shiva says: You fellow, I have done so much for you. And after all she is also my devotee. And I have to be a little truthful to her also. But his compassion for his devotees is so great that he says: All right, I will not be in the temple. I will go away to the nearby vanni tree. Shiva says: I will go and stay near that tree; don't worry. He disappears.
Then he goes to that girl and says: Sundara is very intelligent. He is playing a double game. He told me to go and be near the vanni tree. Anyway after all he is my devotee so I have accepted to be near that tree. You do one thing. You are also my devotee and I cannot cheat you. You don't take the promise from Sundara in front of the temple. Come to the tree and take that promise. Bring him to the tree and tell him to promise in front of the tree. And she says: All right.
Next day morning, she brought him to the temple. Sundara says: Let me promise in front of the temple. She says: No! No! I don't want you to promise in front of temple, if you go beyond the promise you will be punished. Come near that tree and promise. Even if you do something wrong I don't want you to be punished. After all you are my husband. And Sundara says: No! No! No! I will promise only in front of the temple. She says: No! No! No! I want you to promise me in front of the tree.
Finally you know who wins. Naturally only the woman wins. Sundara goes near that tree and promises in front of that tree: I will not leave this town. The promise is taken. Anyhow now Sundara knows he is bound, because Shiva was sitting there under that tree when the promise was made.
The story says that after six months Sundara got tempted again to leave the city. Again he was not able to control himself. He left that city. As a punishment of not keeping the promise given to Shiva, he lost his eyesight. And again he goes to Shiva and says: What happened? See I am your devotee. What happened to me? Do something. Then finally the story ends saying that Shiva himself called both the women and pacified them and blessed both the women and restored Sundara's eyesight and. He helped all of them to live happily with him. Finally gave Sundara enlightenment or ultimate liberation.
The sweetness or beauty of these stories is that it creates so much of life, it creates so much of devotion, it creates so much of joy in our being and we relax for few minutes from our logic, which is constantly nagging us. Our logic is constantly torturing us. These few stories can create devotion that can straight away help you to know and knower.
Now let us go into the second part of the sutra.
Center unclutched between the eyebrows Experiencing omnipresence of Shiva Consciousness.
Shiva is now turning the devotion towards our self. Devotion towards the Rama, Krishna, Shiva, and Devi is easy to feel. But turning the same devotion towards ourselves is difficult to feel; because we are constantly condemning ourselves. We do not accept ourselves. Here Shiva turns the devotion to you. Shiva's job is very easy because he is speaking to Devi who is his beloved consort and she is already devoted. Straightaway he says: Now experience me in you. But I am speaking to you all. First thing I have to do is to create that devotion. That is what I was trying to do. Create an idea about the importance of devotion.
Now we'll have to move to the second step. Turn the same attention or devotion or energy towards ourselves. May we be completely devoted to our being that can be felt as you center yourself between your eyebrows in the two spaces between breaths.
As I was mentioning yesterday in the early sutras, we always experience ourselves in the gaps between the two breaths. We are the Self without any identity. As of now we have two identities: The identity that we project about ourselves to the world and the identity that we project about ourselves within ourselves. We meet our ultimate self that is not these two, which is beyond these two in the center of breath. Whenever the incoming breath takes a turn as outgoing breath or the outgoing breath takes a turn as incoming breath, in both these junctions we touch that pure inner space, which is beyond both identities that we carry in our life.
We carry two identities. One is ego, superiority complex that we constantly show to the outer world. We always show more than what we think we are. The second identity is inferiority complex that we carry within our self; we always think we are in some way insufficient, imperfect. The idea or identity that we carry about ourselves is one and the identity that we project to the world is the other. When we go beyond these two identities, we experience our true identity every moment between every incoming and outgoing breath. Every single moment that we center on the spaces between breaths we experience that neutral space where we are beyond identity, beyond our mind. He says: Be devoted to that space.
Now we all know how to be devoted to Shiva. Sit in front of Shiva's statue and completely offer ourselves. Surrender to him and relax. Or sitting in front of Rama, we know how to be devoted. But now he says with that utmost devotion, sit in front of our space, our own Self. He asks us to relax into ourselves. He is asking us to accept our Self and put our attention between two breaths, in the neutral space. It is just a wonderful technique to experience the neutral space. He says through this experience me. Through this the being is constantly experiencing everything. He says through this achieve the ultimate enlightenment.
First thing we need to create tremendous devotion towards Guru or God, and turn that devotion towards our Self. I always tell people: When we express that devotion towards the master, invariably the master always turns the devotion towards us. The other day one of our devotees was telling me: Master, the other day when I started trusting you suddenly I realized I am able to trust myself.
In Bharat, we now regularly have the fire walking ceremony, in which people walk on live burning coal. It's just to express the power of devotion and trust. Before the ceremony everybody has tremendous trust in me, because I am the first one to walk. I walk first then everybody follows me. After such a ceremony one of the devotees shared her experience. She said: Master, before the fire walking I trusted you. After the fire walking I am able to trust myself.
There are so many people here who walked on the fire. There are so many sitting here who did the fire walking. Please raise your hand. Let us see how many of you came to the ashram and did the fire walking. Big number! People were shocked to see such a long distance, at least 21 feet, live charcoal. You can't escape. Eight hours earlier itself we started burning the coal, so that it will be live and hot charcoal. The fire pit is prepared in a very traditional way with wood and charcoal. You have to walk on that fire bare foot. Don't think they walked with shoes or socks. You cannot wear anything on your feet.
She told me: Before the fire walking, I trusted you. Now I am able to trust myself. A real Master does this. He turns the devotion towards us. When we are devoted to him; he just turns the whole devotion to our self.
Shiva is turning the whole devotion to our Self that is constantly available to us every moment in the center of the two breaths. In the center of two breaths every moment, we experience the space without identity. But we are afraid to be without identity. That is why we don't relax in that space. We just jump and catch that other breath. Between the incoming breath and the outgoing breath we have that space, where there is no breath and no mind. This is our Self without identity. We are afraid to be without identity. That is why we take a fast forward jump. We don't relax in that space. We are not happy with that space. We are uncomfortable with that space because identity means life for us. Especially for the vested mind they can't imagine themselves without identity. They can give up anything but not the identity. That is the basic thing.
I tell you: When we relax from the identity we show the outer world and the identity we show to ourselves we will experience the ultimate Self. We achieve the enlightenment that is the Self. It is beyond both our identities. The identity we show the outer world behind which we are constantly running, to keep which we are constantly dying and the identity which we show to our self on which we are constantly working, which constantly nags us are all pure lies; not impure lies. Be very clear both are lies. We are constantly suffering with lies. We are constantly wasting our life with lies. We are constantly struggling with lies. Now Shiva is putting us in the space where truth expresses itself beyond the lies. He is leading us from the fact to the truth. He is giving us the ultimate technique.
Center unclutched between the eyebrows Experiencing omnipresence of Shiva Consciousness.
Let us enter into the mediation technique given by Shiva to experience him.
Please understand the technique. With unclutched devotion means with the deep devotion without any objective just be aware of gaps between incoming and outgoing breaths. That's all this technique is about. Between every incoming and outgoing breath our self shines by itself. The truth reveals by itself.
We are supposed to sit with unclutched devotion, the way we usually sit in front of your God or Guru. The big problem is we don't know even that. If we know that then we can turn back into this. We never sat with devotion. We sat with greed to get something or with the fear of losing something. We sit in the office with the greed to make money or with the fear of losing money or losing some comforts. We always sat only with the fear or greed. Even in the lectures we sit with the greed to acquire more knowledge. That is why we do not know how to sit with unclutched devotion. Now at least let us try.
Upanishads say: Sitting with intense devotion is itself a technique. That is why the word Upanishad means just sitting. Upanishad means sitting near. The literal translation of the word Upanishad means sitting. So we are supposed to sit with unclutched devotion. We can do one thing. We will have devotion towards something, may be to some God or some Guru or may be our own mother, rarely our wife or our husband. We may feel connected to somebody in a small way. Somewhere we must feel some devotion. There is no doubt about that. For a few minutes we can remember how we feel connected to that person; how we feel connected to that Guru, or how we feel connected to that God or anything for that matter. With that same mood just sit and watch the breath, watch the gap between the breaths. First few minutes we will take to feel connected.
Mostly we feel connected to our mother because mother is such a beautiful being; she showered so much on us. We may ideologically feel connected to her or we may not feel connected to her now after growing up because of our own ideas. But we can't say that she has not done anything for us. We can't give up our love or gratitude for her. Today we may have ideological connection to her or we may have ideology different from her. That is different. But we can't deny her great contribution in our being. So may be we can feel connected to our mother.
If we had some Guru already or we experienced some love, some connection with some Master, some Guru then we can feel connected to him. Or if we have experienced some devotion or connection to some God we can feel connected to that God. First few minutes we will take to remember the person or God who creates deep devotion in us. If you feel nothing creates devotion then I can't do anything. I don't know. But surely there will be something that creates devotion. It may perhaps be your father or mother or some friend, even some young age friend or some teacher, who inspired you. Somebody will be there. Or some leader would have inspired us in some way.
First we will take a few minutes to feel connected towards them. So it will be two steps. First creating the devotion means feeling connected, opening up our heart to some being. The second is concentrating or turning that same connection or attention towards the gap between the breaths.
We will do this as two steps. First step we will sit and remember the person who contributed something to our life. We can even remember even two or three persons. Sometimes we may even have two or three persons, beautiful mother, wonderful Guru or to some God. We can even remember four or five. Who ever we feel connected or whoever we feel utmost devotion, remember them or remember their contribution towards our life and feel connected to them. This is creating the utmost devotion.
Next we will turn that awareness towards the center on the two junctions of breath. We will experience Shiva Consciousness within our Self by doing this.
Let us close our eyes. Sit straight. Let us remember all the people who have created a deep devotional feeling in us who reside in our heart who are inspiration sources for us to whom we turn whenever we feel we are dry; whenever we feel we want to rejuvenate ourselves. Let us remember the people who add a little juice in our life. Now let us turn towards them and feel connected deeply to them. Let us feel deeply connected with our whole being. Let us be still with utmost devotion to that person or that being. Let our whole being melt in devotion. With deep devotion let us be aware of the gap between the incoming breath and the outgoing breath. Let us center on the two junctions of breath.
Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi(may peace be with you).
Relax now and open your eyes. Through this great truth and this technique may we experience Shiva Consciousness. Let this technique lead us to the experience. Let us be one with the divine and radiate eternal bliss.
Q: Can you explain the difference between yoga and tantra?
Both tantra and yoga are techniques to awaken you. They have the common aim of liberating you from the bondages of this world so that you can realize the inner divinity within you.
All humans are bound by fear and greed. These are the primal emotions that control all of us. Both arise from the muladhara, the root chakra. Both are needed for what you think as your survival.
Greed and fear can also teach you. When faced fear can strengthen you. When understood greed can become achievable desire. Yoga chose the path of fear to teach. Yoga just controls you and corners you. At some point you are awakened. You understand that you are dreaming.
Tantra chose the path of greed to teach you. It gives you, fills you and suddenly you understand that you are dreaming. Both ways, whether you are with greed or with fear, the theme or the idea is to put your attention on your Being. It is to turn your awareness on your Being. Whether it is fear or greed, we need only one thing to awaken us.
In tantra they say that to achieve the state of enlightenment there are two ways, either you have to make all your dreams into reality or you should understand all your reality is nothing but a dream.
Technically both are part of the Agamas, literature that is parallel but separate from Vedic literature. Yoga is one of the paths recommended in the Agamas for divine worship. Tantra is part of the Sakti sect of the Agamas, one of the three sects. The other two are the Shiva and Vishnu sects.
The objective is the same but the approaches are different, though not all agree with this. There are many who refer to Tantra Yoga classifying Tantra as a pat of Yoga. There are others who consider them totally separate. Yoga is a far more defined approach, whereas Tantra is much more subtle.
Both Vignana Bhairava Tantra and Patanjali's Yoga Sutra were expressed as sutras in epigram form. Both are difficult to interpret without deep understanding. The similarity stops there. Each of the sutras of Vignana Bhairava Tantra or Shiva Sutra is a technique for liberation. Each technique can be practised and realized. When understood and internalized these techniques can help reach the goal quickly, sometimes instantaneously.
On the other hand Yoga Sutras are definitions, instructions or commandments for behavior and action. Each one shows a pathway that needs to be followed. Realization of goal may take time. However, the journey itself can be fulfilling. This is why I refer to Yoga as 'uniting' rather than the traditional translation of 'union'. Yoga as I see it is a process, it is a verb, and it is a journey. What we teach as Nithya yoga is based on this principle. It is the perfection of the asanas and other elements that is the goal of Nithya Yoga, but the process itself is the goal. Nithya Yoga aims at adding life to your movements, instead of adding movements to your life.
Both Tantra and Yoga require a master's help to realize the goal. In the case of yoga this can be delegated as the process is based on knowledge. In the case of Tantra it is essential for the Master to initiate the disciple since the techniques are deeply mystic and subtle. Unless the master himself is enlightened it would be difficult for a disciple to make headway in the tantric approach.
At a deeper level, Yoga starts with the assumption that one is incomplete. Yoga wants to mold you in line with its assumptions and commandments. It is based on the assumption of a master that if you do it the way he did it, you too will succeed.
Tantra on the other hand accepts you as you are. Tantra is a flow that you enter into unlike yoga, which is a mould you are fitted into.
Your master can decide what is best for you. Yoga is better suited for an intellectual person. Tantra is better suited for a being level person.