Integrate and Evolve
na vrajen visecchakti-rmarudrupaa vikaasite I nirvikalpatayaa madhye tayaa bhairavarupataa ||
In the middle of that unmoving expanding energy space, be unclutched and witness Shiva Consciousness.
Shiva is taking us into the deeper layers day by day. Today he is taking us to a different dimension. Let's enter into the sutra:
The translation is,
In the middle of that unmoving expanding energy space, be unclutched and witness Shiva Consciousness.
The energy of breath should neither move out nor enter. When the center unfolds by the dissolution of thoughts, be unclutched, then you attain the nature of Bhairava, then one attains the nature of Bhairava.
Again this is also a technique related to breathing. Actually, first nine techniques of Shiva Sutra are related to breathing. First day itself I was explaining that breathing is the right place to start. That is the right place to begin the spiritual practice. There are so many masters who try to work on people on this planet earth. All the religious techniques, the puja, yoga, all of them start with earth, the physical part. Then there are some techniques related to fire, homa, yaga and such techniques to fall in tune with fire. There are also some techniques to fall in tune with ether. But the problem is that when you try straightaway to fall in tune with ether, akasa energy, sometimes you are not subtle enough to enter this subtle energy. You will not be able to grasp it.
Prana, the air, is the right space. Anybody can start from this space. Nobody will miss it. There are many masters who directly try to work on ether. A great master J Krishnamurti worked straightaway on the consciousness. He has always said that 'no technique is necessary, nothing needs to be done'.
The big problem is that he was not able get through because he was talking to people who were far less subtle. To them, listening to J. Krishnamurti became one more ritual, an intellectual ritual.
For 40 years or 50 years people used to go, sit and listen to him since he was a very powerful and logical speaker. His messages went above their heads. It's like he was sitting on the 10th floor and calling 'please come, come, come', but people do not know where the lift is or where the steps are. It's like he's telling you to come, but he has not given you directions.
He says, 'truth is the pathless land'. This is absolutely true. It is the expression of a realized soul. But I tell you, straightaway trying to work on the Consciousness may not help all the individuals.
Here Shiva is trying to work through the breath, through the prana. He is taking us to the same height as he is at, but with directions that work. He is leading us to the same height through proper methods, through proper channels, through proper techniques, by helping us to work on the breath. You are supposed to start where you are. You can only start from where you are located. You can't start where you have to end. You are supposed to end in consciousness, but you can't start in consciousness because you are not there.
If you are already there, why do you need all this teaching? You don't need anything. You don't need meditation.
Somebody goes to a great yogi and asks, 'Master, I want to learn meditation' Master says, 'No, no, first you have to master the yama, means first you have to practice yama and niyama as described in yoga sutra.'
'What is the yama, niyama?'
'Be truthful, practice brahmacharya, don't steal other's things, live a non-violent life. You have to practice all these things. Only then you can start meditation.'
The disciple asks 'If I can do all these things, why do I need meditation? If I can do all these things already, then why I need to meditate?'
When a master starts placing all his emphasis straightaway working on consciousness, he forgets that a person who can straightaway work on consciousness doesn't need anything. He doesn't need teachers. He doesn't need any help.
You have to start where you are. You can't straightaway think of the goal. Goal is truth. But, you can't start with the goal. Shiva is practical person. I have read thousands of spiritual books. If at all I am asked to choose a single book amongst the thousands, I will choose these Shiva Sutras only. It is the pure essence of the great truths, and not only that, he is so practical. He is taking us to the same height, but step by step. He is beautifully leading us step by step to the highest truth. Today, he is opening up, and declaring the highest truth, but not straightaway, only after preparing us first. With the first two sutras, he has prepared us. Now he is opening up with the truth.
navraje na vishaktir, maarat rupa vikaasite nirvikalpa dayam madye, dayaa bhairava rupataa
In the middle of that unmoving expanding energy space, be unclutched and witness Shiva Consciousness.
As I was telling you, the other day, a scientist is a person who creates a formula to reproduce the understanding that happened to him in the external world. Master is the person who creates a formula to reproduce the experience that happened to him in the internal space. Scientist is a person who creates a formula to reproduce the intellectual understanding related to the outer world.
For example, Newton saw an apple falling in his garden and all of a sudden he had some understanding. He had the glimpse of truth. Why the apple should fall? If we saw, either we would have picked up and eaten or forget about it. Why unnecessarily think about all those things. Why it falls? Why should it be attracted towards the earth? Anyhow he had some understanding. Why is it falling? He had the glimpse of truth. He created the formula for us also to understand the truth. He created a formula to reproduce the same understanding in us that happened in him regarding the outer world.
Master is a person who creates formula, who creates a technology to reproduce the experience related to the inner world. Here, Shiva is just reproducing the technology to achieve the bhairava consciousness, Shiva consciousness. He says 'one attains the nature of bhairava'. He says 'bhairava rupata'. You achieve me. You achieve the same consciousness in which I am staying. You achieve the Shiva consciousness. You achieve the bhairava consciousness. You become me!
There are so many levels of experience of the ultimate truth that is called mukti or liberation. These are salokya mukti, samepya mukti, sarupya mukti, and Sayujya mukti. Salokya mukti means the state in which you get to live around the master. It's like you stay in the same space in which the master stays. I always tell people, it's like becoming an Ashramite. You live around me. That is the salokya mukti. You enter into his loka, you enter into his world. That is salokya mukti. So lot of problems will be avoided because you don't have to think for your life. He will think for your life. So many things, so many responsibilities are taken over by him. He takes care of you. He takes over your responsibilities.
The next level is samepya mukti. This is living closely around him. I compare and tell people that this is the state of the crew members who always travel with me. That is samepya mukti. You are 24 hours around the master.
Third is sarupya mukti. Sarupya mukti is the state where you take the master's own form. You are in that same form and body language and you do what he does. It's like becoming an Acharya, a Nithya teacher. You do what I do, at least you try to. You become a teacher and start taking classes. This is sarupya mukti. That is why you can see in all the temples that the features of the guardian deities, dwarabalakas, will be almost the same as the main deity. Whatever weapons and accessories that the main deity is carrying, the same weapons and accessories these guardian deities will also carry. If the main deity is wearing naamam, vertical stripes on the forehead, then these guardians will also be wearing naamam. If the main deity is wearing the kumkumam, the red dot, the dwarabalakas also will be wearing kumkumam. This is sarupya mukti. They achieve the same swarupa. They are in that same rupa. That is sarupya mukti.
The next, last, and ultimate is sayujya mukti. You achieve his consciousness. You achieve master's consciousness. You become him. You start staying in the same space where he is staying. You achieve the same consciousness. Shiva doesn't believe in the other three levels of mukti. He doesn't believe in salokya, he doesn't believe in samepya, he doesn't believe in sarupya. Straightaway, he takes us to sayujya. He gives us the techniques to reach the sayujya state. Beautifully he says, 'bhairava rupataa'. You achieve the same consciousness in which I am staying. You achieve the same space in which I exist. You achieve the Shiva consciousness. You become me!