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In the Name of Shiva, the Most Glorious, the Most Obvious, the |
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SHRI SHIVA RAHASYA THE FIFTH LIGHT (Chapter
Five) 5 Wherein the Greatness of Shiva’s Divine Power is taught Lord
Shiva said: 1.
O noble ones! know that this World is like a Dream within a Dream. And many are those who are led astray by
the delusions of this World. But he
who is a master of the Dream becomes a master of the World. A King was once strolling through the
palace gardens on a sunny and delightful day.
Having walked for a while he wished to rest in the shade of a
tree. As he sat listening to the song
of birds, and enjoyed the pleasant colours and fragrance of various flowers,
vines and shrubs, he was overcome by sleep.
2. In his sleep he dreamed that he was a
beggar and forgot that he was the King.
He wandered from land to land begging for his food, clad in rags and
barefoot. Thus he passed a long time
until one day a Yogi came to him in his dream. The Yogi taught him the Perfect Knowledge
of the Self. Impelled by that Knowledge
the King remembered his true self and awoke.
3. The un-Awakened Soul, O great Sages! is
like unto that King, dreaming the dream of limited life. Thinking himself to be a mortal body and
being immersed in the material World, the Sleeping Soul is unaware of his
Self. But his other half, the Waking
Soul, is ever aware of his Self and wide awake.
4. Mortal men identify themselves with the
Sleeping Soul and therefore are as if asleep.
But the Yogi who is one with the Waking Soul, is ever watchful even
when he seems asleep. Whilst his body
rests on Earth, he goes to the Lofty Stars where he feeds to his heart's
content upon the Milky Radiance of Heaven.
Having fed upon that Splendid Light he becomes full of the Power of
God whereby he rises higher and higher until he finds That than Which there
is nothing higher: the Supreme Abode of Truth.
5. The Sleeping Soul is like the Moon and the
Waking Soul like the Sun. The Moon which is the left eye shines by Night, far
off from the Sun; and when the Sun, the right eye, rises, the Moon is
gone. But when the Fire of Knowledge
which is the Third Eye of Wisdom burns away both night and day, then Sun and
Moon become one and are seen by no one.
When neither Moon nor Sun are seen then the eye is not two-sided but
one. By means of that Single Sight he
who is one sees the True Man in the Sky.
He, verily, beholds Truth as It Is.
6. Knowledge is the Light whereby Truth
reveals Itself. Without Knowledge
there is no Truth and no Life. For
those that are devoid of Knowledge are as if asleep. And who can tell a sleeping man from a
lifeless stone? But he who sleeps not,
is ever awake. He is an Awakened and
Wise One (Buddha).
7. Verily, the Soul sleeps in stones, dreams
in beasts and plants, and is awake in man.
But he who is a knower of Truth is the true Waking One. He who has Knowledge has both Power and
Wisdom and is a Mighty One. He is a
Great Light that ever dwells amongst the Stars.
8. Earth is the abode of those who are asleep;
the Moon is the abode of those who dream; and the Sun is the abode of the
Awakened Ones. But the Abode of Shiva
is the Highest of all for therein Abides He Who Is Ever One. They who walk the Path of Earth stay asleep
and at the end of their life go down into Earth; those who walk the Lower
Path of the Moon go to the forefathers; those who walk the Higher Path of the
Sun go to the Radiant Ones. But they
who choose the Highest Path of Light, they come to Me, the One Supreme Sky of
Reality.
9. The Yogi who has mastered his dreams is a
Ruler of the World. Though born upon
Earth, he goes up to the Moon by the Power of his thought; he then traverses
the Night Sky and goes to the Threefold Sun; and further still he rises up
into the Great Sky (of Universal Consciousness). Thus he attains to the All-Encompassing
One. Having attained Thereto, he
abides in Everlasting Peace.
10. Earth, O Sages! is the World of Men (Manu
Loka). It is that which is seen by the
human eye. Therein live the dwellers
upon Earth and the inhabitants of other Planets. It is ruled by the Lord of Men (Manu Raja)
who resides in the Great City of Worldly Bliss (Lokananda Puri). Moon is the Supernatural World. It is the Astral World (Tara Loka) which is
seen by the Yogi's second sight. It is
the Otherland (Para-Desh) and the World Beyond this (
11. Night Sky is the World of Sleep (Nidra
Loka). It is thus called because it is
dark like as the Night Sky that lies beyond the Stars. Therein Souls rest at night and before they
go up into the Light. Its Ruler is the
Lord of Infinite Sleep (Ananteshvara) who resides in the City of
12. Sky is the World of Truth (Satya Loka),
thus called because it is boundless like the Sky and because therein dwells
the Great Truth, the Great Life, the Great Power and the Great Light: Supreme
Lord Shiva Himself and those who are One with Him. He resides in the City of All-Encompassing
Intelligence and Bliss (Chidananda Puri).
These, O you who are knowers of the Great Secret! are the Seven Worlds
with their Seven Capital Cities which are Greatest amongst Centres of Power
(Bala-Chakras).
13. In the midst of each of the Seven Cities
there is a Radiant Temple of Truth wherein lies a secret chamber. A great Stream of Living Light that runs
from Earth to the Highest Heaven joins the Seven Temples (Sapta Devalaya) to
each other like pearls upon a string.
The Yogi who enters the inner chamber of his heart and rises up by
that upward-going Stream of Light enters the Seven Temples of Truth and
obtains the secrets that lie hidden therein.
By the power of that Secret Knowledge he becomes a Universal Monarch
and Supreme Master Equal to Myself.
For I am the One in Whom all the Worlds abide and nothing exists apart
from Me. He who by means of Yoga
awakens to My Highest Truth is Ever One with Me.
14. O foremost amongst devotees! hear you My
Word of Truth. I Alone am the Creator
of the Universe, I Alone am the Protector of all Souls and I Alone am the
Annihilator of all the Worlds. I am
the Ever Living Universal Self. Though
everything exists within Me, I am seen by no one. For I am the Greatest God, the Inner Ruler
stationed in the heart of all. I am
known only to those who seek the Truth in their heart.
15. The Wonderful Cosmic Form along with the
Seven Worlds - Which has been witnessed by you - is My Own Projection. Verily, O noble ones! My Wondrous Might has
been clearly demonstrated by Me.
16. Stationed in the heart of all beings, I
animate the Entire Universe by My Power of Action according to My Infinite
Wisdom.
17. The Whole World moves through my Own Power
and follows My Will. As Lord of Time,
I govern the Universe made of elements.
18. O you of clear vision! by one aspect of
Mine, I Create the Universe and by another I Annihilate it, while at the same
time My Permanent Aspect remains eternally the same.
19. Although I have no beginning, middle or
end, I am the Activator of the Cosmic Play of Magic whereby, at the beginning
of Creation, I cause the interaction of Matter and Spirit.
20. Through the union of these two, the
Universe is born beginning with the Cosmic Intellect and the rest, whereby My
Splendour and Glory become manifest.
Out of My Own Immeasurable Light I fashioned all this: a most Glorious
Sight!
21. The Primordial Golden Seed of Life, the
Divine Sun of Consciousness who is the witness of all Worlds and who sets the
wheel of Time in motion, is My First Manifestation.
22. Through the Power of Time, I the
Ever-Living, the Immeasurable, the Undivided One, Appeared to My Self as the
Perishable, Measured and Divided Many like to a myriad rays flowing from the
one Sun.
23. As a Reflection of My Unmanifest Glory
Divine, I created Heaven where all is ever One: the World of the Mighty Gods
which is the Abode of the Deathless Lords of Light. Dividing Myself twofold, I Created the
first Couple Divine, the Lord (Ishvara) and Lady (Ishvari) of the Lower Sky,
and gave them dominion over all things that are born and die.
24. As a mirror of Heaven I Created the Lower
Worlds including Earth. I Created the
Sun, Moon and the distant Stars. I
Created rocks, plants, fish, animals,
birds and the race of
25. I made them of two kinds that they might know
separation when they are apart and unity when they are of one heart. Thus they are both two and one. Having created man kind, I commanded the
Radiant Gods who are Manifestations of My Own Light to instruct all men in
the secrets of Spirit, each and every one according to the power of his own
mind.
26. O noble ones! from the Gods down to a blade
of grass, this World I Created for the benefit of Man, who, like the Sky
reflected in a
27. I, the Self-Born (Svayambhu), Self-Existent
(Niradhara), Self-Manifest (Sva-Prakasha), All-Wise God, the Creator of all
the Worlds, bring forth the Universe through My Power of Creation and according
to My Divine Will.
28. I, the Infinite One, the Immutable Source
of all Worlds, protect the Universe through My Power of Preservation.
29. I, the Fiery One, Whose Essence is the
Dissolution of all temporary forms into the Great Eternity, Annihilate the
Universe at the end of Time.
30. It is due to My Own Divine Power that Fire
carries oblations to the Gods, food and other offerings to the Ancestors, as
well as performing the functions of cooking, heating and the rest.
31. Through My Own Power, the fire of digestion
consumes the food eaten by day or by night.
32. Through My Own Power, Water gives life to
all things that live.
33. Through My Own Power, Wind sustains all
those that breathe.
34. Through My Own Power, the Moon gives her
soothing light to men by night.
35. Through My Own Power, the Sun illumines the
World of men by day and brings them welcome rain.
36. Through My Own Power, men are born and
die. Through My Own Power, they live
according to each one's merits and demerits.
37. Through My Own Power, some laugh and others
cry.
38. Through My Own Power, Savitri, the Great
Prayer to the Sun illumines the heart of men and redeems them from sin.
39. Through My Own Power, Parvati, the Great Goddess
who is ever devoted to Me, awakens Spiritual Love in those who meditate upon
Her. Verily, she inspires all Souls
with her boundless Love of Me.
40. Through My Own Power, the Infinite,
Serpent-like Ananta rules over the Immortal Beings.
41. Through My Own Power, the Fire-like Samvarta
maintains the fires that burn underground and causes them to flare up in an
all-engulfing blaze at the end of the World.
42. Through My Own Power, the Fourteen Mighty
Ancestors protect those who pray to them.
43. Through My Own Power, all the Celestial
Beings are appointed to perform their various functions.
44. Through My Own Power, all the divisions of
Time from Universal Ages down to the briefest of time-units, arise and pass
away.
45. Through My Own Power, all four categories
of beings live their lives in their respective States of Consciousness.
46. Through My Own Power, all the Worlds,
Lower, Middle and Higher function according to their respective laws as
Commanded by Me.
47. All the different Universes of past,
present and future times exist for the fulfilment of My Divine Will.
48. The Material Energy and its products,
Higher Mind (or Intellect), Ego and Lower Mind, the Five Basic Elements of
Nature, Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether, and the human body too, operate as
per My Command.
49. What gives the body solidity such as in
bones, flesh, skin, arteries and hair, that is of the Earth. What gives the body fluidity such as in
saliva, urine, blood, semen and sweat, that is of the Water. What gives the body burning power such as
in hunger, thirst, digestive power, energy and heat, that is of the
Fire. What gives the body wind-like
strength such as in breathing, moving, growing, shrinking, and excreting,
that is of the air. And what gives the
body an aura of greatness, vibrancy, beauty, radiance and loveliness, that is
of the Ether, for Ether is like unto the radiant Sky and the essence of all
goodness in things physical.
50. All these Life-Principles constituting
one's body, mind, inner and outer life, are held together by My Unitive Power
of Yoga (Yoga Bala).
51. The World from The Universe itself down to
the smallest atom is held together by My Power of Unity.
52. As the Infinite Universe, even so the
individual Soul exists by the selfsame Power.
He in whom, by My Grace, the Power of Yoga is strong, his life is held
together and set in good order. But he
in whom it is feeble, his life is not in order and it comes asunder.
53. Verily, Yoga is living in Unity with
Truth. He who lives in Unity with
Truth can accomplish everything.
Therefore, Yoga is the Power whereby one attains the Four Goals of
Life: Righteousness (Dharma), Material Prosperity (Artha), Love (
54. It is by the Power of Yoga, which is Unity
with the Divine, that Divine Righteousness is established in man's
heart. It is by the Power of Yoga that
man's material life is kept in order.
It is by the Power of Yoga that man is united with the object of his
heart's desire. It is by the Power of
Yoga, too, that man is united with Me.
Thus, Yoga or Unity (Samyoga), which is My Own Divine Power, is the
essence of all life.
55. The human Soul, who enjoys the lower
Life-Principles and is regarded as the chief among them, takes birth, lives
and dies at My Command. By the Power
of Yoga, he attains Immortality.
56. The Power of Cosmic Magic, the true
Material Cause of the entire Universe, which enchants and fascinates all
embodied Souls, forever assumes new shapes according to My Wish. By the Power of Yoga, the enchanted Soul
awakens to Life Eternal.
57. Even the Spiritual Intelligence, whereby
Enlightened Souls, having overcome all mental delusions enjoy a vision of the
Higher Worlds, abides by My Will, I Who am the Greatest God and Lord of the
Yogic Power of Enlightenment.
58. O saintly ones! of what avail are
words? The entire Universe consists of
My Divine Powers and nothing else.
Through My Power of Yoga, I Create, Maintain and Destroy the Universe
for My Own Delight. It is born of Me
and into Me it merges again at the end of Time.
59. I am the Lord God, the Eternal,
Self-Luminous One. I am the Highest
Self, the Supreme Reality. I, the Lord
of Yoga, Alone Exist and Yoga is the Path that leads to Me.
60. Thus, immortal ones, I have declared unto
you this Supreme Knowledge of Yoga, whereby a living being is liberated from
the bondage of limited life (Samsara) and is United with Me, the Great God
and Lord of Immeasurable Life. Verily,
Yoga and Unity (Samyoga) are one and the same. Commentary to Chapter Five
5 (a). Moon and Sun are not seen: When the Sleeping Soul (here referred to
as the Moon) recognises the Waking Soul (Sun) as its higher half, the two are
united and merge in the Sky of all-pervading Consciousness. They are "not seen" because they
have been replaced by a new awareness that is higher than both.
5 (b). Sees the True Man in the Sky: He sees his own Self (the Original
Soul, Adi-Atma) in and as the Sky of Consciousness.
6. Awakened and Wise: Buddha means Awakened as well as Conscious and
also Wise.
7. Great Light amongst the Stars: Maha Prakasha (Great Light), which
can mean both a Soul who is eminent among other Souls or the Great Light
Itself Which is the Greatest among all other lights.
8. Highest Path of Light: The Path that leads to the Light of Divine
Consciousness.
10. Tara Loka: Star or Soul World.
The disembodied Souls are here compared to Stars due to their
star-like appearance. Hence the
leading entity of that plane is called Tara Natha which means Lord of Stars
and, by analogy, Lord of Souls.
13. Stream of Living Light: Stream of Consciousness; Consciousness is
the light of perception because it illumines things rendering them
perceptible to the senses, as well as the light of understanding whereby that
which is perceived, felt or thought is understood; and it is living because
it possesses the capacity to know and to act which capacity is the
fundamental attribute of life. In
Yoga, a thing that possesses knowledge or awareness and is capable of moving
or changing shape of its own accord is regarded as living. Consciousness is endowed with both a)
knowledge or awareness as it knows or is aware of both itself and the things
it perceives and b) capacity to change shape or move as when it creates
thoughts, feelings or sense perceptions.
Therefore Consciousness must be admitted to be a living thing.
23 (a). As a Reflection of My Unmanifest Glory Divine, I created Heaven where
all is ever One, etc.: God is Intelligence and the whole of Creation is
but a Manifestation of that Supreme Intelligence. At the highest level of experience,
therefore, Life is God's Own Pure, Infinite and Absolutely Free Intelligence,
and Its Awareness of Itself as such.
The first step in the process of Universal Manifestation is the
Awareness the Supreme Intelligence has of Its Own Power of Creation or
Manifestation and the Will to create or manifest. As such it is technically called Unity or
Non-Duality (Abheda), the Supreme Intelligence being so far completely free
of all difference or distinction. It
may be compared with the state of mind of an artist who has just come to the
decision to create a work of art without having as yet formed any notion as
to the details of his undertaking. The
second step represents the coming into existence within the Supreme
Intelligence, of a World of Beings known as Radiant Ones or Gods (Angels, in
biblical terms) who though possessing qualities that make them barely
distinct from the Original, Infinite, Unmanifest Intelligence, yet exist in
full Identity and Unity with It. This
stage therefore belongs to the state of Duality-in-Unity (Bheda-Abheda), with
an emphasis on Unity, and may be compared to the mind of an artist who has
only begun to form in his mind an outline of the work he intends to create,
which mental outline is not yet clearly distinguished from his other thoughts
but is still very much submerged in his mind.
The third step is that in which distinction - the awareness living
entities or Souls have of themselves as distinct from the Supreme Intelligence
and from each other - begins to gain prominence over Unity. This may be compared to the clear mental
image an artist makes of the work he is about to produce, immediately before
he begins his work. This Ideal World
may be said to constitute a model for the Physical World that is about to be
brought into being in the next and final stage of Creation. It is therefore inhabited by luminous
beings living in pairs and larger communities, just as those on Earth, the
difference being that they and the World they inhabit consist of pure intelligence
and energy (as opposed to physical matter).
For this reason, they belong to the Class of Higher Beings known as
Radiant Ones. The state of Pure Love
and Unity among Souls as well as between Souls and God that characterises
this World is exemplified by the Divine Entities called, Ishvara and
Ishvari. Like their human counterparts
on Earth, they are "both two and one". By contrast, on the higher planes, as the
Souls proceed higher and higher in their ascent to the One, the last vestiges
of duality are shed. In consequence,
the emotional need for living as a couple is no longer felt and the Supreme
Being is recognised as the True Soulmate of all Souls. This is a view that Yoga shares with all
other faiths once their teachings are put in the right perspective. Thus, according to the Quran, the righteous
will go to Heaven where they will be "wedded to dark-eyed
virgins". On the other hand,
Jesus makes it clear in the Bible (Luke 20:34-35) that on Earth, men
"marry and are given in marriage, but they who have attained Heaven
neither marry, nor are given in marriage, for they are equal to the Angels
(or Radiant Ones of the Higher Heavens, in Yogic terms)". Hinduism in turn teaches that upon
attaining Enlightenment, the Soul simply merges into, and becomes One with,
God. These apparently mutually
contradicting views are beautifully harmonised by Yoga with its teaching of
various layers of Heaven, each of them being inhabited by Souls who have
reached a different level of Spiritual development: in the Lower Heaven, a
Soul may still seek to form a close relationship with another Soul; in the
Middle Heaven this is replaced by an ever-closer relationship with the
Supreme; and in the Highest Heaven, Absolute Unity and Identity with The
Supreme is attained. Thus the
creational stage prior to the coming into being of the Material World belongs
to a state of Duality-in-Unity (Bheda-Abheda), with an emphasis on
Duality. Finally, the fourth and last
step in Creation is that of the Physical World including Earth, where
distinction or the awareness of difference and separation between created
beings and God is the only mode of experience. It is therefore technically called Duality
or Difference (Bheda).
23 (b). Dividing Myself twofold, I Created the first Couple Divine, the Lord
(Ishvara) and Lady (Ishvari) of the Lower Sky, and gave them dominion over
all things that are born and die: It is an established fact that man can
best relate to things that are familiar to him. For this reason, most people among the
ancient races worshipped the more accessible manifestations of the Supreme
Unmanifest Being Who remains beyond ordinary man's sphere of perception and
conception. These manifestations were
the First Divine Beings known to mankind.
They were revered as Ishvara and Ishvari in
24. I, the Lord, Created human beings beginning with the First Woman and
Man, Manu the Wise and Adorable Manavi of Many Charms: This is comparable
to the biblical story of Adam and Eve as the Ancestors of the human
race. However, the Bible states that
their son Cain, having killed his brother Abel, went eastwards of the Garden
of Eden where he took a wife (Genesis
26. From the Gods down to a blade of grass, this World I Created for the
benefit of Man: The creation of male and female, though representing the
last or "lowest" point in the Process of Manifestation, has the
function of awakening in the individual Soul the desire for Unity so that he
eventually returns to the original state of Absolute Oneness enjoyed by the
Supreme Intelligence or God. In an
ordinary, that is, Spiritually untutored individual the inborn tendency
towards Unity or Wholeness is largely unconscious and often misguided. Thus it may manifest itself as a desire to
consume large quantities of food, to accumulate material possessions, to
acquire more and more intellectual knowledge, to travel extensively or even
to have a large number of sexual partners.
In consequence, the individual is assisted in his journey of return to
Divinity (Shivatva) by various Higher Intelligent Entities known as Radiant
Ones (Devas), Lords of Light or Perfect Souls (Siddha Purushas) who help him
to focus his unitive or whole-making impulse and channel it in the correct
direction, that is, towards the Spiritual Wholeness that is found in Unity
with the Supreme. In those cases such
as in modern, materialistic society, where the individual has become
disconnected from a higher guidance, this is replaced by psychology,
psychiatry or conventional religion which can only ameliorate the symptoms
without addressing the underlying root causes of the condition. Indeed, in most cases, the human need of
Unity and Wholeness is often exploited and misused by various groups for
financial, political or religious purposes.
The higher perspective of Yoga which is the Original Science of Unity
(Yoga Vidya) alone can enable the Seeker to avoid such deplorable pitfalls.
49. What gives the body solidity such as in bones, flesh, skin, arteries
and hair, that is of the Earth, etc.: The Five Basic Elements of Nature
(Earth, etc.) described here as elsewhere in the Shiva Rahasya must not be
confused with the physical objects or substances whose names they bear. Rather, they are a form of energy (or
active intelligence) which assumes properties that give rise to, and are
commonly observable in, these objects and so are symbolically known by the same names. A more detailed description of their nature
is given by J. C. Chatterji in his excellent introduction to Indian
philosophy, Kashmir Shaivism. End of Chapter 5 and Commentary |