SLOKA 109 FROM DANCING WITH SIVA
WHO ARE THE PRIESTS OF SIVA TEMPLES?
Adishaiva priests are the hereditary pujaris, who care for the temple and conduct its varied rites and rituals as humble servants of God. They are trained in the complex arts of worship, generally from a young age. Aum.
BHASHYA
Every temple has its own staff of priests. Some temples appoint only one, while others have a large extended family of priests to take care of the many shrines and elaborate festivals. Most are well trained from early childhood in the intricate liturgy. Siva temple pujaris are usually brahmins from the Adishaiva lineage, though in certain temples they are not. These men of God must be fully knowledgeable of the metaphysical and ontological tenets of the religion and learn hundreds of mantras and chants required in the ritual worship. When fully trained, they are duly ordained as Sivacharyas to perform parartha puja in a consecrated Siva temple. Generally, pujaris do not attend to the personal problems of devotees. They are God’s servants, tending His temple home and its related duties, never standing between the devotee and God. Officiating priests are almost always married men, while their assistants may be brahmacharis or widowers. The Agamas explain, ”Only a well-qualified priest may perform both atmartha puja, worship for one’s self, and parartha puja, worship for others. Such an Adishaiva is a Saiva brahmin and a teacher.” Aum Namah Sivaya.
LESSON 264 FROM LIVING WITH SIVA
GOOD AND BAD; LIKE ATTRACTS LIKE
What do we mean when we say there is no good and no bad, only experience? We mean that in the highest sense, there is no good and bad karma; there is self-created experience that presents opportunities for spiritual advancement. If we can’t draw lessons from the karma, then we resist or resent it, lashing out with mental, emotional or physical force. The original substance of that karma is spent and no longer exists, but our current reaction creates a new condition of harsh karma to face in the future. As long as we react to karma, we must repeat it. That is the law.
Good or bad is just a door, going one way or the other. So I say, ”There is no good, there is no bad; there is just a swinging door.” Good deeds siphon the collective good deeds of other good deeds. When the door swings the other way, mistakes siphon the results of past mistakes. Hatreds, the accumulated results of hating, are pulled up from way down there. Thus, one of the major keys to understanding the importance of good conduct relates to the release of seed karmas. Performing dharma–acting with correct thought, word and deed–siphons the results of previous patterns of behavior from the past and causes those seeds to sprout in this life. Like attracts like. These patterns then aid the individual by bestowing clarity of mind and a life in which yoga can be performed and truth sought. In the practice of yoga, the negative seed karmas can actually be burned up without ever having to be lived through.
Conversely, adharma–wrong thought, word and deed–siphons the results of past misdeeds, like attracting like. These seed karmas begin to bear bitter fruit, resulting in a miserable life and state of mind. The individual is immersed in confusion, wrong patterns of thought and is, of course, in no position to practice yoga, follow dharma or realize truth. He is simply immersed in samsara.
In His own way, Siva is bringing you into realization, into knowledge of yourself and of Him. He has given you the world of experience. Study your experience. Learn from your experience. If it is painful, that is also good. In the fires of experience, which are both pain and pleasure, you are being purified. It is Siva’s duty to bring you forward into the fullness of yourself. In doing so, you must go through much pain, through much joy. Both register on the scale as the same intensity of emotion. It is what caused it that makes one more pleasurable than another. Don’t be afraid of experience, and don’t be afraid to go through your karma. Go through it with courage.
Of course, you can minimize reactions to unhappy experiences by performing selfless service, which will create good karma. This is what you have to do to progress your spiritual life. Moksha–enlightenment and liberation from rebirth–is the ultimate goal of all souls. The exit is through the crown chakra. Go forward without fear.
SUTRA 264 OF THE NANDINATHA SUTRAS
DECISION-MAKING BY CONSENSUS
My devotees abide by ”consensualocracy.” All involved in a decision must unanimously agree and obtain the guru’s blessings before proceeding. No votes are taken based on the majority superceding the minority. Aum.
LESSON 264 FROM MERGING WITH SIVA
THE HIGH ”EEE” SOUND
Within the quantum level of consciousness there originates a vibration, a steady vibration, that can be heard with the inner ear as a high-pitched ”eeeee,” as if a thousand vinas were playing, as if all the nerve currents in the astral body, physical body and the body of the soul were singing in harmony. It is a divine combination of the ida and pingala tones blended together in the sushumna. Each lineage of gurus has embedded within the psyche of tradition a certain combination of sounds, and that listening to this mystic sound holds all devotees close to their satguru and all those who preceded him. It is also said that when one is in another birth, the sound is the same, and this will eventually lead the aspirant back to his spiritual lineage. Listening to the nada, as it is called in Sanskrit, or nada-nadi shakti, brings the threshold of bliss and shows that the balance of all karmas has been attained. Listening to the nada and tracing it into its source carries the seeker’s awareness to the brink of the Absolute. There are today mystical orders that do nothing but listen to the nada while looking at and enjoying the darshan of their guru’s picture.
Many sincere seekers wonder why they cannot hear ”eeeeee,” the nada, during their meditation, whereas others not only hear it during meditation but during the day when talking, shopping or just meandering through the garden. This is to say, it is there when awareness enters that area of the mind. The mind has to be made empty. That means resolving all unresolved conflicts within the subconscious. The striving to hear the nada will bring up unresolved issues. They may plague the conscious mind until resolved. At first you might disregard them and feel they will go away as abruptly as they came. But later, when they persist, and the major one is deception–yes, we can even deceive ourselves–we are inwardly forced to face up to, admit our secrets and make amends. When deception goes, the nada comes. When the subconscious is heavy, the nada and the brilliant colors it radiates fade. Failure on the path puts the nada out of range of the inner ear of the soul.
The mystical nada, it’s a medley of sounds, and each sound which is there has a color, but may be covered, as is the light of the mind of the soul, the clear white light. It is covered, but not permanently. Admittance of the mistakes, the experience of repentance and the performance of penance, called prayashchitta, lay the foundation for a reconciliation that will release the force of lower nature into the higher and uncloud the veil that hid the inner light, that hid the nada–that incomprehensible high-pitched ”eee,” sounding within the head, that incomparable source of inner security, contentment and outpouring of love. When you hear the nada, endeavor to project it in love’s outpouring to all those who are in your orbit of communication. They will feel the blessings when your divine love is projected through your nada into their nada. This is the height of selfless consciousness, universal love, a constant mystically outpouring and experience of oneness. The sushumna is nada and more. Nada shakti is. It just is.
