Thursday Satsang via Zoom: “Shivaratri Commemoration” – March 11, 2021
Thursday Satsang via Zoom – March 11, 2021
“Shivaratri Commemoration”
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
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7:00 p.m. – Guided Meditation with Swami Radha Bharati
7:30 p.m. – “Shivaratri Commemoration”
“A Shivaratri Message” from Swami Ritavan Bharati
During this Shivaratri time, resolve to return to the light of life and love in your meditations.
Remember your Shiva-sankalpam, “Tan me mana shiva sankalpa astu”.
(That which is the absolute knowledge, that which is the reservoir of the mind-stuff;
That which is memory and steadfastness and sustenance;
That which is the light hidden within all beings;
That without which no action can be performed.
May that, my mind, be filled with beautiful, benevolent, beneficent, peaceful, Siva-like, divine thoughts, feelings, sentiments, emotions, resolves.)
They are all contained in the word ‘Shiva-sankalpam.’
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 their 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 perform 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 disolved 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).
Read here the essay ” Shivaratri Explained” by Swami Veda Bharati.
Listen here to “Shivaratri Manasa Puja”