Mahashivratri

Shiva tatva relieves you of all agony .

The word 'ratri' in Sanskrit connotes that which relieves you from the three types of agony - Ethereal, Mental and Material. This brings rest to the three instruments: the body, mind and speech.
The festival most sacred to Shiva devotees falls on the fourteenth night of the new moon, during the dark half of the lunar month of Phalguna, some time between February and March. This is Mahashivaratri or the great night of Shiva.
Shiva means good, benevolent. Ratri' means that which gives rest, takes you into its lap and comforts you. Shivratri is that which brings such a deep sense of serenity and benevolence.
Shivratri literally means that night which infuses the Shiva tatva, or the transcendental, into the three instruments. Samadhi is often referred to as Shiva Sayujya, the presence of Shiva, a concept that's difficult to explain. Kabir Das calls it the koti kalpa vishram, a billion years of rest consolidated in a moment. It is like the deepest possible rest with alertness one could have, which brings freedom from all identities.
Shiva tatva is Omnipresent. The whole point of realisation is to be conscious of it in its depth, yet to be awake to its non-dual glory, in one's awareness, in the depth of Samadhi. It is as if a wave is being skilfully conscious of the vastness of the ocean. The jagran in Shivratri is not just forcing oneself to be awake or watching movies or singing bhajans aloud. It is all about keeping awake and being inward... and reaching the witness consciousness by being consciously aware of the inner rest that sleep anyway brings on an everyday basis. When you surpass a certain layer of sleep, the rest of samadhi or Shiva sayujya happens.
It is only wakefulness that brings out this knowledge in the consciousness and Shivratri is the night to celebrate the wakefulness of one universal consciousness without falling into the unconscious sleep state. Breaking the pattern of unconscious sleep gives you a glimpse that you are not a mechanical apparatus but a legend in the creation. To recognise the Shiva tatva , you have to be awake.

The eternal being, lord of the universe, supreme ascetic, the non-dual being, the cosmic dancer, the destroyer and the protector – Lord Shiva.

This year H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji celebrates Shivratri in Kollam, Kerala.

For devotees in Mumbai we have organized Shivratri celebrations.

We will have Rudra Puja, Meditation & Satsang the 23rd February 2009 at Dahisar Sports Foundation Ground, Opp Vidya Mandir Road, C.S.Road, Dahisar (East) Mumbai. At 6.30pm .

Rudra Puja will be performed by Swami Vishnupaad Ji & Veda Acharyas from Art of Living. World renowned singer & guitarist Shri Vikram Hazra will lead divine celebration & music after the Puja. People can take a sankalp in the Rudra Puja being performed.

Contact 310 99 999.

Pearls of knowledge from Vishwas Bhaiyya - 3

Bhaiyya also spoke about an individuals Aura and charkas. And how your Aura is wide when your sadhana is perfect. Then the presence of the person speaks. He said you are 99% presence and your actions and words speak only 1%.
He ended by giving an example of a clock.A clock works because all its hands are joint in the center. That is the reason it shows the correct time at that particular time. But if it is not attached to the center it will be scattered, neither will it show right time nor will it be able to move beyond a certain area.
Same way in our life, the center of the clock is our GURU and we are the hands and the numbers 1to12 arethe opportunities or goals we want to achieve. If we are joint to the centre ie the GURU we will automatically get the right things at the right time. But if we are not attached to our center ,we will run in two directions, say three directions but miss out on all other opportunities. GURU will help you get the right opportunities at the right time and thus achieve all your goals systematically.

Pearls of knowledge from Vishwas Bhaiyya - 2

Vishwas Bhaiyya mentioned that according to him there are only 5 major professions which and individual must pursue:

1. Art of Living teacher
2. IPS
3.IAS
4. Army,navy,Air force
5. Entrepreneur

Our gurukul system was also based on these 5 aspects and so the country was so happy. The Guru in those days chose the profession for their students according to their abilities.

He then went on to speak about about the difference between dispassion and moksha. Moksha means liberation and dispassion means vairagya.Though both are closely related,dispassion can come because of various reasons like smashan vairagya, vairagya out of vivek is good but difficult to achieve. He narrated a story of Lord Rama who at the age of 16 felt totally frustrated after seeing that in childhood people fool you by showing moon and feeding, in toddler they fool you with the watchman, when you are young you are fooled by desires and in old age the body fools you, even when you die you need 4 people to carry you. He was amazed with the amount of dependency one had on others. At this point of time His guru came and gave him the right knowledge and showed him a way out. So even for the master of the world a Guru was required to get that knowledge at the right time. Then after knowing everything Lord Rama went through the whole drama of getting married, going for the vanvas, crying laughing as a PLAY. He was free….he knew how and why everything is happening to him.

Pearls of knowledge from Vishwas Bhaiyya - 1

This is a series of excerpts from knowledge sessions with Vishwas Bhaiyya.

In this knowledge session he spoke about, Intension,Attention and Manifestation.If your intensions are clear and you put attention on it,i.e .act on it, it has to manifest for you. He said whenever you go to do any thing go with the intension that I want to do it to help myself and the other person too. Not only for selfish reasons. He also said that WHEN YOU PLAN FOR YOURSELF,GOD LAUGHS.WHEN GOD PLANS FOR YOU,YOU CRY. Instead enjoy each moment of your life.Know that God is the best person to plan and you live life as it comes.Feel free and happy and no one will be able to shake you. Know that everything changes.

Make your desires your need.It must not be with the intention that she has that so I want it, but make it your need. Eg: You want a 3bed house so that you can accommodate more people or because you need it for your family not because some one else has it.

P.S: All the readers of our blog should listen to Guruji's talk on Intention, Attention and Manifestation. This is a suggestion from our dear Vishwas Bhaiyya.

New Years Message from Guruji