Moving Away
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM had always from early childhood had the dream of becoming a sanyasis, an ascetic mendicant. In his family when boys and girls were still in their early teens they were matched for future marriage. This was done as soon as the girls reached adolescence. A suitable match was selected within the family network. Very rarely was their any opposition to these arranged matches. Both girl and boy were constantly reminded of their relationship and as far as the family was concerned it was all a done thing; and so it was with the boy and the girl; they never considered any alternatives.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's elder brother had already been matched with a relative when he was about 14 and it was THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's turn now. With great fervor the family started discussing possibilities. One day an elderly relative, a lady, started discussing this in front of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM. The boy stared hard at her. This lady became uncomfortable and asked him why he was staring at her. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM continued to stare and looked hard into her eyes. She understood that he did not like her discussing his marriage and asked what he had against marriage and why he was upset. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM asked her rather rudely, and unusually for him, what have you achieved by marrying? The lady did not reply; instead she asked him what he wanted to be. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM promptly and without a trace of doubt replied that he wanted to be a Swami, a sanyasi. He drew a picture of what he wanted to be.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's mother had understood this for a long time. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was very close to his mother. Even when he was in his mid teens he used to lie down with his head on her lap and talk to her about his experiences. He used to spend a lot of time in the kitchen talking to his mother. On occasions when THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM used to laugh, joke and play the fool, he would find his mother suddenly turn sad and find tears in her eyes. It was as if she knew for certain that he would leave her and go away soon. In Hindu families, especially in such small town joint families as with THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's, sons continued to stay with parents even after marriage under parental control and under the same roof. Sons inherited the family wealth and needed to be part of the family; daughters on the other hand became part of their husbands' families once they were married.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM had been having the urge to leave home as a sanyasi since his early teens. By the time he was seventeen and had completed his diploma course in mechanical engineering in Tiruvannamalai he felt he was ready to leave. He felt that he could not continue living the way he was at home. His whole life seemed a lie. It was suffocating to live under social bondage.
Suddenly one evening the urge was so strong that he decided he needed to act immediately. He felt he had to jump out of the life he was leading and into the life he was seeking without further delay. He could not bear to continue living the way he did any longer.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM had to tell his mother first. He loved her deeply and wanted to make sure that her shock and suffering should be as little as possible. That night when the urge was so strong that he felt he must depart, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM went to his mother around 10 pm in the night. He asked her: what would do you if I died? His mother asked: Why do you ask such an inauspicious question? What is wrong? THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM said: nothing, no particular reason, I just need to know. His mother said resignedly: What can I do? I need to accept it if it happens. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM then told her that he wanted to leave home.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's mother burst into tears. Her body shook in sorrow uncontrollably. I knew that you would go away one day, she said. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM asked her whether she did not want him to leave. She said, no, I know that you want to go and I want you to do what you have always wanted to do in your life. I can not stop you from that; but I can not bear to see you go. What can I do?
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM felt overwhelmed at this unconditional love of his mother. She was in deep sorrow and yet she wanted for her son what he wanted. She did not wish to be in his way. Her innocence touched him deeply. She was innocent o f her own innocence.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM had not expected his mother to accept the reality of her losing him so easily. It was as if there was a divine hand in this. When one is intensely in tune with the divine, things fall in place and all obstructions disappear. When THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's father returned home from his work his mother told him what her son had told her earlier that night. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's father was angry with his mother. He felt that she had done something to annoy their son. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM told his father that there was nothing his mother or any one else in the family had done or said that led to his decision to leave home. He told his father that he had always wanted to lead a sanyasi's life and he felt that this was the time for him to leave home in that pursuit.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was fortunate that his parents were not sophisticated and corrupted by societal influences. They were naïve and innocent in many ways. All that they really wanted was that their son did what made him happy. They knew from the time of his birth when the family astrologer had predicted that he would be a raja sanyasin that he would leave home sooner or later. Their hope was that it would be later. They were concerned about how he will take care of himself as THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM had rarely ventured out of Tiruvannamalai; where he would find shelter and where he would find food.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM is worshipped today by millions. Back in 1995 when he was ready to leave home no one knew who he was. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM himself had no idea then what would happen to him. He knew that he wanted to be an enlightened Master, and he thought it would happen sometime before he died, perhaps when he was 70 or 80. He had no clue as to what existence had in store for him, nor did he know then that he was to surrender to Existence every step of the way.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM told his parents that he wanted to leave in a week's time. Back then he was clear that he would not come back South at all. His heart was set on spending his time in the Himalayan mountains. His father, though he did not say much and did not try to stop his son, made his displeasure and unhappiness felt by his attitude to THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's mother. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM tried to convince him without much success. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was sorry for his mother. She was being bu f feted between father and son; her husband felt that she was responsible for their son leaving home; she was heartbroken at her son leaving home. Both parents did not know when they would see their son again whether they would see him alive at all again.
Years later when THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM met his parents again and talked to them about his leaving home, his mother told him that they knew from his birth that he would leave them one day. They were happy that he would become a great sanyasi as predicted by the astrologer; but that they were not able to bear the parting.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's mother was also his first disciple. Whenever there was an issue that confused her she sought him out for counsel. Whatever she thought something was important, including what TV to buy, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM was the one she would turn to. Even then both his parents used to call THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM swami!
News spread amongst the close knit family circle of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM that he was leaving home. Friends and relatives gathered as if to condole. The house became a place of mourning. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM used to sit in a sofa in the center of the house and all visitors sat around him looking at him sadly and cry. They all knew that he would certainly leave and yet some would try and persuade him not to. The answers that THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM gave them were curt and honest and very different from his normally very polite behavior. This stopped them from asking more questions.
An Uncle asked THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM why he was leaving, are we not spiritual people? THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM shot back saying: You drink from morning till evening. What do you know about spirituality? The uncle shut up and left the house insulted. It was unusual for a boy to leave home at seventeen or a girl to leave home till marriage in rural Bharat. In many joint families the sons continue to live with their parents till the father dies and one of them takes over the family responsibilities.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM warned his mother that all the family wealth will disappear once he left home, as the wealth was there to take care of him. He told her not to be concerned as there would always be enough for her and his father to live comfortably but not lavishly. His mother was not bothered about the wealth issue; she was only worried about who will feed her son as he wandered through out the country.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's mother's family was quite spiritually inclined, though his father's family was quite the opposite. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's mother's father was THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's first inspiration, who carried him on his shoulder, told him stories, and created the first positive samskaras in the young boy. His grandfather told him time and again that he should be like a Prahlad, Dhruv or Markandeya, all masters who were enlightened before adolescence. One wonders whether he knew what was in store for the young child, who as he desired did have his first spiritual experience when he was still pre adolescent.
Some of the relatives suggested that THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM stay in a local religious institution that trained monks so that they will know he was safe and could keep an eye on him. His grandfather said that he would build an ashram for him so that he need not go anywhere to pursue his spiritual pursuits, as there was no greater spiritual center than Tiruvannamalai. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM laughed and told him that they would only let him stay there for two days; they would then ask him to come back home once a week, then twice a week and finally he might as well stay him; get a job and get married. His grandfather said, no, no, no one will disturb you. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM had no patience to listen to all this.
Some one than said let us get him married within two three days; let us select a girl. They started discussing what dowry to ask for! It was all a matter of family prestige. How can we let him do this? What will people say when they hear that a son has walked out of the family? Lots of discussions went on. Some people wanted THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM guarded so that he could not run away.
An uncle from Chennai (then Madras), his mother's brother, suggested that THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM stay with him in Chennai for a while before he decided to leave. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM thought that was a good idea. Intuitively THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM felt that this would help. He wanted to go north to the Himalayas. He knew that he had to start from Chennai by train to reach the Himalayas. It was also a blessing since he had already decided that he would not touch any money once he started his wandering. In a train in Bharat it is still possible to travel without a ticket whereas in a bus it is impossible, and to reach Chennai he had to travel by bus for which he would have no money. Things were indeed falling into place!
Before he left Tiruvannamalai THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM went to the temple of Arunachala, and stood at the sanctum sanctorum in front of Arunachaleswara. For the first time he felt the extent of the depth of his connection to Arunachaleswara. He did not feel he was going to miss Him. No; but he was sad he was going to miss all His festivities and functions. As he stood in front of his beloved Arunachaleswara tears flowed unceasingly from his eyes. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM could see the living energy behind the idol radiating compassion and blessing. The boy could hear the Lord blessing him: You will come back to me, you will come back successfully. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM prostrated before the idol and took leave with deep love and fulfillment. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM felt that Arunachaleswara was with him on this journey.
Whenever THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM traveled by bus from Tiruvannamalai he would keep looking back till the mountain Arunachala was out of his sight. This would normally take about half an hour after the trip started. This time as he traveled to Chennai the boy continued to see the mountain till he suddenly woke up when the bus reached Chennai and he realized that he had slept through the trip dreaming of his beloved Arunachala. His inner space was filled with the grace of Arunachala.
Chennai and Beyond
In Chennai THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM stayed with his uncle for a few days. Each day he would go to his uncle's factory with a person who acted as a guide and security guard, so that he would not run away. After a few days THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM suggested to this man that they should go the Kapaliswarar (Siva) temple in Mylapore and the man readily agreed. In the temple THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM gave the man the slip and melted away in the crowd. His real journey had started.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM went straight to a spiritual institution nearby where they allowed him to stay for a few days, telling him that if he wished to stay longer he would need to become an inmate of the institution, which the boy had no desire to do. He did not wish to be part of an organization without a living master present. When the masters are alive then the organization around them breathes, lives and flourishes as if it is a living organism. Once the masters are no more the organism too dies and the dead matter becomes an organization that then flourishes in hierarchy and bureaucracy. Wise beyond his years, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM wanted no part of any such dead institution.
While he was at this institution some one who knew him spotted THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM, recognized him and informed his parents. His father came to Chennai to talk to him, but found there was no choice except to accept the situation. At this institution, they gave him a kavi (saffron) cloth. He dressed himself in a three piece kavi robe, carried a long walking stick and a kamandalu (water pot) and set off to the central railway station. He got into a bus and was promptly asked by the conductor to get off, as he did want a person dressed in that manner in the bus. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM walked up to the front of the bus and got in, unseen by the conductor. He traveled to the station without any one asking him to buy a ticket, which in any case he could not have as he had no money. As he walked into the platform again without a ticket, Tamilnadu Express, the train to Delhi, was ready to depart. THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM got into a third class compartment. He was finally off, on a journey that he had dreamt for as long as he could remember.
During the journey various people gave THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM food. The train reached Delhi the third day morning. From Delhi he wanted to go to Hardwar, which is the foothill of the Himalayan range. The train was to depart in the evening and THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM decided to walk around Delhi. In the end he stayed in Delhi for a few days. He bathed in a road side tap and went in his wet clothes to a Siva temple near the station. The temple priest gave him food and a new set of kavi clothes. He then walked to Raj Ghat where Mahatma Gandhi is buried. By the time he returned to the station the train to Hardwar had already departed. He visited a few more temples and stayed the night in one of them.
The next day he took a day train going towards Hardwar and got off at a place where there was a temple to Sani (Saturn), who is supposed to be partial to sanyasis. A group of sanyasis were passing by and he followed them. From then on THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM traveled on foot, bus and train in that region, ate when hungry, and slept when he felt tired. This way he covered the entire Char Dham: Gangotri, the origin of river Ganga; Yamunotri, origin of river Yamuna; Kedarnath and the Siva temple; and Badrinath and its Vishnu temple. He met various kinds of ascetics, the naked naga sadhus, those who wore iron chastity belts, some with their heads buried in sand for days, and many others.
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM spent many days on the banks of the Ganga. He would enter the river after cleaning himself and sit on the banks mediating for hours. Merged in the ecstasy of meditation, one with the energy of this river of divine origin, feeling free of all bondage both in inner and outer spaces, with the vigor of youth in body and mind, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM spent days with no idea of any discomfort or pain, despite the very basic conditions of his life.
It was exactly the way imagined it would be and wanted it to be. In deep fulfillment and gratitude to Existence THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM fell in love with life; actually, he rose in love with life. When one is in love, true unconditional love, one feels inadequate for the other person. He felt deeply grateful to Existence and to Life for this wonderful opportunity to breathe, meditate, live and be joyful. He felt like a King with the accompaniments of a beggar; all he had other than his three piece kavi, kamandalu , rudraksha mala and stick was a small plastic bag containing vibhuti (ash) and kumkum (red powder applied to forehead).
THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM used to sit by the river with his feet in the water or leaning his head on the stick held supported by his thigh and shoulder. He would sing as his heart led him. People would give him food attracted by the grace of this young lad who looked regal in his simple kavi robes. In the north of Bharat people have always been partial to sanyasins and would always provide food and shelter to wandering monks.
We shall cover the details of THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM's parivrajaka, his wanderings, his enlightenment and the period that followed his enlightenment in later chapters of this biography. He wandered the length and breadth of Bharat, lived in caves, forests and graveyards, and subjected himself to severe forms of penance to realize the Truth of his identity.
However, as an enlightened Master he is the first to say that all that was perhaps not needed. In his case that was what the Cosmic power, Parasakti, had intended for him. He needed, as we read earlier to try out thousand of keys to figure out what fitted the lock of his own Self. He tells us, his disciples, that that is not necessary for us to do. At the time of our initiation as his disciples we have been given the right key by Him; that key is guaranteed to open our own locks of identity, if only we were to sincerely pursue the process of opening ourselves to awareness.
Fish see the Swan's reflection and wish to own it
Soon after his enlightenment THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM had a vision of the mission that he had been sent out to accomplish. He perceived this mission as an endeavor to transform people, their attitudes and mindsets through meditation towards the path of realizing that people are divine in nature. There was a strong impulse for him to go back to the South of Bharat where he came from, even though he had determined when he left home that he would not return. Along with these messages that came to Him, THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM as he terms it 'downloaded the vision of a Swan' soon after his enlightenment. That Swam is now the emblem of his mission center Dhyanapeetam. Dhyanapeetam was established and later extended to Nithyananda Foundation to teach people how to transform. The emblem that one sees on the Dhyanapeetam website as well as on this book and other publications as the logo, is the Swan that THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM envisioned.
In later days when THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM reflected upon the vision of this great Swan,
Paramahamsa, he had these insights to offer to us.
A great Swan, the Paramahamsa is flying high in the sky. Its reflection is seen on a series of ponds far below on the earth. The fish in the ponds see this reflection of the Swan and rejoice. The very sight of the reflection fills them with joy. Groups of fish start marking off areas which they claim are their own within which they want to capture the Swan's reflection. They build fences and compound walls to contain the reflection. Some fish build temples for the Swan. Some fish build ashrams. The fish hope to contain the Swan within these boundaries believing that the reflection will remain under their possession.
The Swan neither knows what is going on below upon the land, nor is it bothered about the drama of the fish. It continues to fly. It never lands.
Swan's shadow moving across the water is like the tapas, the penance and the parivrajaka, the wandering. It is of the Swan but not the Swan. The fish look at the reflection and think: oh, what the Swan is doing is so difficult; perhaps we too can fly; we too can go beyond social conditioning. Swan does not know the drama that is happening below.
Is the reflection of the Swan, the Swan itself? Is it 'i' or I? It's the shadow that the fish perceive as moving. The fish too move. The water too is moving. Fish can not distinguish between the reflection and the source.
When the reflection itself can not be understood, how can the real Swan be understood? Some fish feel they are getting enlightened. They feel that the closer they are to the reflection faster they will get enlightened.
If only the fish would raise their eyes they will see the real Swan, the source of the reflection that they are chasing. However, the reflection itself is so graceful, so beautiful that most fish have no motivation to look up. The fish are quite happy building walls and fences in the belief that they are able to hold the Swan and possess its reflection.
If they do look up and see beyond the reflection, they too will become the Swan; they will be enlightened.
The reflection comes and goes even as the Swan flies past the ponds and returns; in many forms: Jesus, Krishna, Buddha and others. Different angles, different perspectives, and different distortions. If the water is calm fish see one reflection; if water is turbulent they see another; when they move with the water they see yet another form. They argue with each other claiming that what each one sees is the real Swan; all by looking at the reflection. Each one's reflection is possessed by that individual fish or groups of fish, not to be shared.
They don't even wait till the reflection goes beyond the limits of the pond before arguing about the reality as they see it of the Swan. Swan just keeps flying, the fish just keep arguing. Fish miss the present.
Are the fish too part of the reflection?
When they do not see the swan's reflection the fish have no recollection of the reflection that had filled them with joy just a while ago. Their memories are short and they are back to their eating, mating, fighting and dying.
It is only when they see the reflection, and with it the joy it brings their spiritual drama begins. If they do not see the reflection there will be no Swan, no movement. Water does not hold imprints of the Swan. Water does not move with the Swan. Swan does not know about its reflection. Only the fish react. They react when they see the reflection.
Some fish make a website. Others bring out books. As the Swan's reflection crosses the pond, different groups say: We in Seattle own the reflection; we in Vancouver own the reflection; the reflection belongs to Bangalore etc. Yet very few fish look up. They are all so focused on and obsessed with the reflection.
Zen Koans, Buddhist Sutras, Sufi Stories, Christian Parables, Hindu mantras: all say the same thing; look up; look within.
When the fish come close to the reflection, the form gets distorted. They can not see clearly any more. Fish need to look up, look within.
When Truth is expressed facts are meaningless. Vision of the reflection by the fish is factual; vision of the Swan is Truth.
When one perceives with the intellect one is still far from Truth. One gets closer and then feels with the heart. When one gets closer, one experiences through the senses. When one gets really close, eyes no longer see clearly. What can be seen in only through the Being. What is seen through the Being is Truth; that is the witnessing Consciousness.
When the witnessing Consciousness is at work, what is right for you will happen. Every thought that arises will be fulfilled. What you see will be the Source, not the reflection. That is the level at which enlightened Masters operate. Siddhas, spiritual technology practitioners who are not enlightened, can also make their desires come true through visualization and such other techniques; however, they do not do it in conscious awareness, and can get into serious trouble by operating through their unconscious.
Some fish will write all this down. That will not be the truth. Truth is multidimensional. Any writing, however good, will only be two dimensional. Writing can only relate facts, not the Truth.
When THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM left home after his first spiritual experience, he had a clear understanding of how ephemeral social life was. However, his mind was not empty. It still had an alloying element that separated the near enlightened fish from the Swan. The wanderings and the penance burnt out the remnants of the alloy, the mind that was left behind purposely so that the final union could take place; so that THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM could become THE SUPREME PONTIFF OF HINDUISM BHAGAWAN SRI NITHYANANDA PARAMASHIVAM.
In the three articles that follow, I have attempted to share my own experiences as a disciple of Nithyananda. A process that was as powerfully short as it was powerfully life changing. The only certainty during this period was the sheer uncertainty of what was to happen next. It still is. Surrendering to a Master, my Master, has been a roller coaster ride; the only difference being that there was no downside. It was a constantly uplifting ride.