Thursday Satsang via Zoom and In-Person Viewing at TMC – February 16, 2023
“Shivaratri, A Celebration of the Many Aspects of Shiva”
with Stephen Parker (Stoma) PsyD, E-RYT 500
6:00-7:00 p.m.: Gentle Hatha Yoga with Susan Guthrie
7:00-7:30 p.m.: Guided Meditation with Stephen Parker (Stoma) PsyD, E-RYT 500
7:30-8:30 p.m.: An Evening with Stephen Parker (Stoma) PsyD, E-RYT 500
“Shivaratri, A Celebration of the Many Aspects of Shiva”
8:30 p.m.: Evening Prayers
8:40 p.m.: Snacks
Wherever there are Shiva temples, that Shiva there has a name. The ashram temple for Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama is named: Sadhakesvara, the Lord of the sadhakas – those who are aspiring to become as Shiva, those who are aspiring to know the truth of “Shivoham”. Within the walls resides “Sphatika-Jyotir-Linga” – ‘the linga of light’. The Temple and Crystal Lingam were given these names at the first consecration. As a meditation temple, here, a sadhaka performs their interior mental worship – manasa-puja. In this meditation, one dissolves all identification with name and form. Through pralaya, one withdraws his/her conscious identity with body, with senses, with sense-objects, with memories of the experiences of sense objects, so as to become that very jyotir-linga as Shivo ’ham – I’m Shiva, jyotir aham – I am a being of light.
Everyone who performs a worship to Shiva says – Shivo ’ham – I Am Shiva. Then, if you are Shiva, who is the worshipper? Who is the worshiped? This mystery is unveiled only when one truly enters “within”. In this internal worship – manasa-puja, each external devolute is dissolved into its corresponding cause. As our consciousness dissolves the external forms and as awareness moves into subtler and subtler energies, all that remains is the causal body – linga-matra, and then alinga – just an amorphous form of light, an amorphous form of the presence of energies. That subtlest form of divine being is called the linga – just an indication of a mere presence – like a crystal lingam. That is why in our Shiva temple you will find the crystal-lingam. It has no head, face, senses, arms, legs – they have all been dissolved and absorbed into the linga-matra the ‘mere presence’ of light reflected in the crystal. Shivo ’ham – I’m Shiva, jyotir aham – I am a being of light. (redacted from Swami Veda).
