I amI am the fire
I am the water
I am the earth
I am the wind
I am ether
I am no longer "I"
I am and as a jiva I offer myself to the Lord
I am and through the path of fire I offer myself with prayer to the Lord
I am and through the path of water, I offer food to the Lord, I offer flowers and fragrance to the Lord
I am and as I sit, in the lap of the mother, mother earth cradles me on my journey to the Lord
I am and as I sing to the Lord, my breath is my path to awakening, sacred syllables fall like a garland of love for the Lord
I am not, I cease to exist, I have merged, I am one with the Lord, I am ether...I have but no form.
The elements, fire, water, earth and wind are but for me, a path to reach Lord Shiva. How then can I ignore this gift, how then can I be ignorant that I cannot see the path ahead, how then can I say I do not have the time?
The value of the pancha bhoota is as secretive as it is transparent. It’s as simple as it appears complex. Its as sacred as it is almost nonexistent. Yet, these are not my creation, these are gifts of nature, pure in themselves for me to clasp onto on my journey to the Lord, during worship, during puja.
I am torn between two worlds, one that I live in and that which saps my energy, the other I long to be in and I try hard to reach. Everything around me, my life, the people, the world and its problems, are these not all a making of my mind. It is an illusory world, one that would cease to exist, should I just not think about it? Yet, I churn in this ocean, yet I suffer karma, and yet Lord Shiva grants me the elixir to life, the path in to heaven hidden in this labyrinth of life.
I watch the fire, as it grows and climbs with each drop of ghee poured on it, my heart burns in this light of enlightenment as I imagine the Lord in ablution.
I offer fruit flower and a divine meal to the Lord, through the path of water, he accepts my offering, and takes in the essence of my offering blessing it as prasadam.
I offer my love, my adoration in the form of sacred syllables, syllables that are meant not to benefit my worldly existence but break my illusion and melt my heart into deep emotion towards divinity, each word expressing the purity of the Lord’s nature imbibing it within myself, I become He.
I offer myself, seated still in equilibrium, nothing shakes or moves as mother earth holds me still, my thought and mind reside in pure imagination of the Lord’s vision when I raise the Arti to view His divine presence.
I sink into my own, I leave this earthly self, I am just the mind, I am no body, I am just a power that merges with the supreme. I stay here in Samadhi, no time can control me, no force can destroy. I was, and now I do not exist.
I am the fire, I am the water, I am the earth, I am the wind, I am nothing. I am but a drop of imagination in the vast ocean of Lord Shiva's creation.
Related links:
A reflection on Lord Shiva
Expression in Abhinaya, the art of Bharata
Dip in the sacred river
Photo courtesy: Mellagi, flickr.com
