9.15.2008

Hrudaya Kamalam, the lotus of my heart blooms

Shiva consciousness brings alive an enhanced feeling of bliss that is awakened when the hrudaya kamalam blooms. But what is Shiva consciousness.

The path into Shiva consciousness is one that leaves behind misery and trouble, no matter how much the reality of it continues to stay.
Shiva consciousness means welcoming Lord Shiva to reside within oneself.
Shiva consciousness means, being aware of his subtle presence during the hours of consciousness.
Shiva consciousness renders an emotion so strong, that all else looks trivial and the world is just a place to float in and out of.
Shiva consciousness means a certain power, that subdues the outer world in front of one self
Shiva consciousness means a reality, quite different from what is normally perceived.
Shiva consciousness is the realization of inherent rhythm in each mantra that sings his praise.

As one sinks into this ocean of bliss, into this world of emotion where the only thought is goodness and the heart melts so much that it just brings forth the Ganges forming tears in one's eyes, Shiva consciousness is a state that is achieved only when we try hard enough.

Its then that the light of enlightenment glows from within. One descends into serious worship, invoking each jyothir linga that reduces our sins to ash.

To the twelve Jyothir lingas I worship,
Every morning and every evening
I surrender myself to this divine grace
To rise within me in divine energy
To lift me into another realm of consciousness
One of peace and tranquility
I worship Shiva Trayambakeshwara
In twelve forms so divine
To wake within me and rise
The lotus of love and bliss
My hrudaya kamalam
My lotus heart, that beats in the rhythm of the mantra
The beeja mantra in each syllable
Om Na Ma Shi Va Ya

I rise above all humanity
I rise above all misery
I grow in all the eight directions
I am sadashiva
Within me rises the nature of Shiva
The bindu, the center of his consciousness
The energy that represents him
Within three layers of my heart that blooms
He holds me, my blooming self,
He is my golden stem
While i glow in the morning light
The walls of my earthly presence
Break forth with divine grace
The lotus of enlightenment blooms at last

I am Shiva, pure consciousness, I am Shiva, the subtle self, I sit on the throne, his peeta that resides at the center of my heart, my hrudaya kamalam.

The eight directional hrudaya kamalam is the lotus with eight petals, each facing a cardinal direction. Each petal houses an akshar of Lord Shiva's beeja mantra. The center of this flower, one that I describe in sacred yellow and worship, houses the very Lord himself, the pure Linga of Sadashiva. This powerful form, this powerful nature of the Lord can be touched and realized within the consciousness of the blooming hrudaya kamalam, the path to which is through the divine hymns of the Rudram.

16 comments:

JC said...

Shivoham! Tat twam asi!
I am Shiva and so yoiu are! The whole universe is Shiva only - His Virat that is enlarged form!

The wise irrespective of 'Time' realize the above as the 'Truth', whereas humanity at large fails to realise it at all times. That's because of 'Maya' that is illusion, said the wise!

JC said...

As part of ‘my’ loud thinking, ‘I’ understand that in reality I am endless formless energy, a component of the infinite unborn and unending one. But ‘I’ appear in the ‘present’ to have a physical form, (as an image of the Formless that is reflected like as if by a ‘man-made magical mirror’), which by design was different from ‘yours’ apparently in the long past of the Trimurty Shiva the three-in-one God, Mahesha or Bhootnath the ‘Lord of the ghosts’, or the Bholenath or Simple God – the unique Formless, called Mahakal the controller of apparent time, although itself related with zero Time!

During this life span, one can meet ‘me’ at ‘my abode’, or at ‘my working place’, and so on, because ‘I’ am (in reality, was) apparently mobile. But, if ‘I’ the apparently mobile one desires to meet It, the real one, that is the Supreme Formless, ‘I’ have to go back to ‘zero’, that is ‘I’ must reach a state of zero thought, or at least minimum thoughts (as attained through ‘meditation’) perhaps just to have a glimpse of It, the ‘Absolute Truth’, (just as a reflection of it ‘I’ goes and has Ganpati’s at Siddhi Vinayak Temple in Mumbai, say) although ‘I’ would ever fail to know It’s purpose in allowing me anywhere, wherever 'I' is located, to have a glimpse of It’s enlarged form, that is the Universal void filled with innumerable Heavenly forms since eons!

The ancients therefore called me Apsmara Purush, that is, the one who cannot recall one's past!

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Very beautifully put, Joshi uncle. I would give anything for that one glimpse of Lord Shiva.

Sometimes I really feel, reflecting on the state of apasmara purusha - its a curse to be human.

Regards
Kavitha

JC said...

Hi Kavitha, Human form is supposed to be the ultimate – an image of Creator Himself/ Herself/ Itself!

The problem is on account of ‘Time’ , Kaliyuga, that does not allow reaching the self (as in Satyuga) as reflected by Earth (Gangadhar Shiva/ Chandrashekhara)!

'My' perfect form is Earth which 'I' get to see at all times, at will, irrespective of the Yuga! In fact, there is no place on it or even in space from where ‘I’ don’t get to see it - maybe only its part face and not the whole, llike 'my' passport-size photo!

JC said...

Kavitha, Although the 'wise' ancients said that all physical forms are made up of the five basic elements, even with the ‘western view-point’ today, ‘I’ have the same elements gone into making of my physical form that are found upon/ within earth…my skeleton is made up of Calcium, and iron is found within my blood (besides many other elements) and so on!

'I' make temples with stones - borrowed from some quarries. 'I' install stone idols/ lingas inside these.

Thereafter, 'I' use the special energy absorbed by the idol(s) on account of the temple's orientatin and pyramidal shape of the 'vimanas' - to energise my self when 'I' do 'shastang pranam' in front of it - lying prone on earth/ masonry flooring...Thus, at that moment, 'I' act like the dust that covers earth's surface!

But, once 'I' sit in a chair, 'I' lose my head!

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Hahaha, yes... we lose our head for most of our waking hours.

But talking about the stone idol inside the sanctum of the temple, the "power"/"energy" that we consider supreme is not restricted to it alone.

The temple is not just the surrounding stone that houses it but instead its the very character of the deity inside.

How? the ground plan of the temple is not just any old geometrical form but the very root of the yantra which is the mathematical approach to defining the given deity's nature. Hence just looking at the stone inside the sanctum is not doing enough justice.

Secondly, the stone is a visual representation of the attributes of an energy, the character of which is defined by the yantra embedded within it. and the outer temple ground plan follows a similar plan.

If we cannot see, it doesnt mean it doesnt exist. I finally found the answer to my desperation to wanting to know temples... i am at peace now. I have finally got the answer to a question that had haunted me for the last 12 to 14 years.

Peace now means a lot to me.

Regards
Kavitha

JC said...

Kavitha, The ‘wise’ said that one who has ‘nothing’ (material, or realized formless creator within self and surrendered in It) can alone sleep peacefully!

Even the ‘west’ realized, “Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown”.

Talking of power emanating from 'chair', Hindu mythological stories, also similarly, talked of Vikramaditya’s Throne, which only valorous and intelligent kings, like Vikramaditya, deserved (may be, he was a fictitious king). Still later Raja Bhoj, although considered nowhere near Vikramaditya in valour, was considered fit to occupy the throne because of his humility…

Man needs some justification to satisfy him...

JC said...

The Yogis, who tried to reach the state of ‘amrit’ that is ‘immortality’ of the physical form too (like that of basic immortal or unending energy that in reality matters, for it is related with time and space ‘zero’ with which the Formless Creator is related), came to realize (or, in fact, were given to understand) that physical forms are illusory, a result of Yoga (the union of pure energy and sound energy converted into matter), called Yogmaya of Vishnu! And, Vishnu literally is an atom of poison! But, the drama appears to be unending thanks to Shiva, that is, the opposite of ‘Visha’ the poison, literally the one who can consume poison!

In view of the above, the physical world is apparently conveyed as a result of projection of the past events that had in reality happened within zero time, but is apparently being projected in apparent time – a task that is possible only for the perfect Supreme Being that is immortal…Some characters apparently get to experience the ‘truth’ thanks to ESP, the extra sensory power they have ‘naturally’ – they are thus apparently see the ‘future’ events…

JC said...

In Hindu mythological stories, 'Brahma' (an aspect of Trimurty Shiva, or Mahesha) is generally indicated as seated on a lotus flower that believably evolved from the navel of Lord Vishnu to start with...

‘I’ feel that ‘kamal’ that is lotus flower in Hindu Mythology refers to ‘chakra’, eight of which are generally believed by Yogis to be housed within the human body, representing the essences of eight selected members of the solar system – from Mooladhar at tail-bone end and Sahasrara at the head level...

Hridaya kamal (or Hrudaya kamal, as it is pronounced by Maharashtrians) is the ‘charka’ or energy centre that believably is housed at ‘heart’ level, and is also called ‘Anahat chakra’, the immortal or unending one.

It is generally believed that total energy is relatively easily brought up to this level, which manifests itself in the subject acquiring king-like powers, that is, relatively more material…

It is believed that lifting the total energy to still higher levels through Yogic exercies, i.e., Vishuddhi at throat level, Ajna at eye level) needs much more efforts, while the actual goal of all Yogis believably is making the energy reach the highest, that is, ‘Sahasrara Chakra’ level in the head.

It believably only then helps to reach the ‘Absolute Truth’, the zero time and space…also called merger of the soul with supreme soul...

JC said...

In the average man’s day-to-day life today - with attention predominantly only on meeting one’s basic needs: of bread, clothing and shelter - one can perhaps imagine the energy to generally rise at best to the solar plexus level, that is, ‘Manipuraka Chakra’. It is, anyway otherwise also, as per ‘wise’ ancient Hindus, believably more relevant in Kaliyuga, literally the ‘Dark Age’, that is believed to represent the ‘present’, called the ‘Christian Era by the ‘west’ the direction that rules the present and therefore followed by the whole world under its influence …
As per ancient ‘Hindu Belief’, it perhaps reflects the chaotic status it would have believably stood at the beginning of ‘churning’, that is, start of the process of evolution of the universe form zero time and space - when poison was believably wide spread. This phenomenon can otherwise also be physically observed at all levels of human activity (referred as ‘adharma’ by the ancient Hindus) and reflected in the present day status of environment, almost globally – when air, water, food items, etc all are thoroughly polluted…

Kavitha Kalyan said...

The comparison of the Hrudaya kamal with the anahata chakra is simply superb. Much as i was aware of it, i didnt apply myself enough.

Talking about the representation of the lotus, at different levels with unique number of petals at each level, i am intrigued as to why a conceptual comparison is being made to a "lotus". Is it that the character of these power centers resembles that of a lotus?

Or is there more to this form than what meets the eye?

I am questioning what is being taken for granted. Though we would like to end the conversation at yes.. there are lotuses at each chakra, I would like to ask... why lotus... and why not something else.

Regards
Kavitha

Aswin Kini said...

Hmm, a very good question, why only Lotus and not anything??? Well, Lotus has been synonymous with many gods and goddesses in Hindusim. Lakshmi devi is always shown as if she sits on a Lotus. Lord Brahma is shown to be sitting on a Lotus, Lord Vishnu is shown holding a lotus in one of his four hands. Even many old paintings depict Lotus as a synonymous member. Maybe the wise old elders had a hidden meaning behind it.
Even if you look at various temples, some of the pillars contains paintings of gods with lotus. Perhaps we should do a bit of research on this.
Why did our elders give such importance to the Lotus???

Is it perhaps, because the arrangement of petals in the lotus resemble the nine chakras in our body?????
Uncle Joshi, could you please explain??

JC said...

Through observation, one can perhaps realize how different beings are obliged to use symbols (alphanumeric/ graphic) for communication with other life of the same kind. For example, different human languages, used as a means of communication, are developed with the help of (alphanumeric) symbols. Also, for example, the same animal is seen to be expressed though different alphabetic symbols by different language speaking persons A Hindi speaking person learns to realize ‘billy’ (written using ‘devnagri script’ though, although to an Englishman the word would convey the name of a male!) to convey a particular animal that an English speaking person understands only when one writes or hears ‘cat’ spoken in a predetermined manner! Thus it is only a matter of ease what language you are exposed to right from your birth…

Also, one gets to learn that planets (‘grahas’), or all heavenly bodies in the solar system, rotate around their own axis while these also revolve around some parent body also. Thus when thinking of symmetry or balance, at some stage the parent body, the Sun, can be visualized to exist at the centre while planets could be imagined to exist in equal number to its left as well as right. Thus, maybe, the ancients, who attempted entering the mind of the balanced or inert creator, saw a lotus represent our dynamic solar system, which the ancients realized as the essence of the universe…Also, perhaps ‘through the eyes of the creator’ they saw lotus to communicate graphically, and therefore not needing words, the unique beautiful flower that grows from mud, i.e., life sustained by earth and water - the two of the five basic elements of the five (Panchtatva) that believably went into the formation of all the physical forms with fire received from our Sun…

JC said...

Talking of ‘control of mind’, amidst the apparent hustle and bustle created, thanks to the apparently appreciable present day ‘rapid advancement in IT (Information Technology) - just over the last few decades itself - can we mentally reach a state expressed by: ‘I’ am not here (a sentence although grammatically correct but apparently wrong in terms of its usage!)?
If we could do that maybe it would then have perhaps been possible to at least visualize - to some extent - the background status of the Yogis in the Himalayan region at a certain stage in the past, perhaps long ago when the human population hadn’t exploded to the ‘present day stage’ when some of us are almost obliged to sleep (dog-like?) on the foot paths of Metros, say, Mumbai/ Delhi etc., who thus sometimes become victims of ‘modern day city life’…
And, also with regular practice of this exercise, one could perhaps come to realize the pleasure the ancient Yogis, detached from the urban life style, believably would have then experienced – that they called ‘eternal bliss’!

JC said...

The ‘truth’ that ‘I’ have come to believe over some decades of churning of mind is expressed in a comment ‘I’ sent to the author of an article appeared in my newspaper, with a copy of it to the editors as well, as below...

“I refer to The Speaking Tree Article appeared in the TOI today the 20th instant...

'I' find that the essence of 'Hindu Belief' reduces to the realisation of the unique Observer and the innumerable observed, apparently comprising the infinite universe, as the same. The Observer was apparently realised by the 'wise' ancients as the 'Absolute Truth', the unending Formless, reviewing the innumerable transitional and thus 'mortal forms', called the 'truths', the various forms of His Past that get projected in His, or 'the Third Eye of Shiva'...

It is, by design, similar to my reviewing an album of my photogrphs exclusively - from, say, my birth to the 'present' (as its reflection), or even right from my inception in my mother's womb as it has apparently become possible with the advancement in IT in the apparent 'present', which however is constantly changing, and moving backwards to the beginning of the 'evolution' - with a Big Bang or Brahmanad...”

JC said...

In ‘my’ eyes, therefore, the answer to the question: Who am I? is that I am assisting Him, that is, Shiva the formless, in reviewing through ‘my’ imperfect eyes also His Own History – like He is getting to see through innumerable other eyes too...Although it is over a limited duration and therefore reflecting some limited cross-section of time in Kaliyuga, that is His imperfect stage at the beginning of the evolution…

Both of us thus are also getting to review rest of the ‘life forms’ on planet earth, the perfect image of His own as these existed then in the past, and therefore ‘I’ could also visualise because of Time and its characteristics properties His/ my own History of evolution from pure energy to the physical universe/ earth – for believably, as per ‘wise ancients’, I am one of His Own, although imperfect, images !