SLOKA 145 FROM DANCING WITH SIVA
IS MONISTIC THEISM FOUND IN THE VEDAS?
Again and again in the Vedas and from satgurus we hear ”Aham Brahmasmi,” ”I am God,” and that God is both immanent and transcendent. Taken together, these are clear statements of monistic theism. Aum Namah Sivaya.
BHASHYA
Monistic theism is the philosophy of the Vedas. Scholars have long noted that the Hindu scriptures are alternately monistic, describing the oneness of the individual soul and God, and theistic, describing the reality of the Personal God. One cannot read the Vedas, Saiva Agamas and hymns of the saints without being overwhelmed with theism as well as monism. Monistic theism is the essential teaching of Hinduism, of Saivism. It is the conclusion of Tirumular, Vasugupta, Gorakshanatha, Bhaskara, Shrikantha, Basavanna, Vallabha, Ramakrishna, Yogaswami, Nityananda, Radhakrishnan and thousands of others. It encompasses both Siddhanta and Vedanta. It says, God is and is in all things. It propounds the hopeful, glorious, exultant concept that every soul will finally merge with Siva in undifferentiated oneness, none left to suffer forever because of human transgression. The Vedas wisely proclaim, ”Higher and other than the world-tree, time and forms is He from whom this expanse proceeds–the bringer of dharma, the remover of evil, the lord of prosperity. Know Him as in one’s own Self, as the immortal abode of all.” Aum Namah Sivaya.
LESSON 145 FROM LIVING WITH SIVA
SPECIAL TYPES OF MARRIAGE
The fourth type of marriage, like the first, is between those of similar educational backgrounds. Here, though, each is sophisticated, has professional skills and could be a wage-earner in his or her own right. Within these marriages, even though the skills may not be used, they are a potential source of income and security. This fourth rule book, which has been written more recently by the actions and experiences of various couples and the societies in which they live, is most important to elaborate on. Two fairly equally educated people should work in unanimous agreement, in partnership, in all things regarding raising of the children and management of the home.
The first three rule books are fairly well set, and society understands them. They have been functioning for hundreds and thousands of years. In the fourth type of marriage, men and women meet in equality through intelligence developed and cultivated through Western education, Western experience and the equal ability to be wage earners. The intellect, intelligence, has no sex; it is equal. To apply agricultural village traditions to these marriages would be to foster contention, misunderstanding and feelings of rejection, leading to possible separation. Two potential wage earners living together must themselves reach consensus on every issue.
The fifth type of marriage is more religious, more spiritual. Here the couple has blended together for the purpose of fulfilling religious aspirations, for ministry, producing sons for the monastery or future priests and pandits. These lofty marriages have definite guru involvement and swami involvement. The couple is intent on practicing yoga and serving their religion selflessly as missionaries, exemplars and teachers. My Saiva Siddhanta Church encourages each couple to write a two-part marriage contract. Part one is the mutual agreement, laying out the overall purpose of the marriage and the aspirations and goals that the union hopes to fulfill. The other part is a statement of the duties and responsibilities of each of the partners. This semi-corporate approach has proven successful in stabilizing many marriages, as each partner clearly understands his or her role.
Any couple following any of the other four types of marriage could move to the fifth at the right time. They would ultimately take the brahmacharya vrata, later in life, after a decision was made to have no more children, and then live together as brother and sister. This is traditional within Saivite culture and consistent with community expectations.
SUTRA 145 OF THE NANDINATHA SUTRAS
DISCIPLINING WITH LOVE
Siva’s followers, knowing that misbehaving children are discouraged, take time for play and encouragement, and ensure that discipline is respectful, reasonable and not based on blame, shame or pain. Aum Namah Sivaya.
LESSON 145 FROM MERGING WITH SIVA
STEWARDS OF VAST REALMS
The Gods are the controllers of these force centers within man. They live in the innermost areas of form. To enter the muladhara chakra, the aspirant must go through Lord Ganesha. And when the aspirant progresses to the manipura chakra, Ganesha will introduce him to Lord Muruga. Once this is accomplished, the devotee will worship Lord Muruga as the Be-All and End-of-All, just as Ganesha was worshiped when consciousness was in His chakras. Lord Muruga is the controller of the manipura chakra, the chakra of willpower, and the two chakras above it, direct cognition and universal love. Now we can begin to see that the aspirant has to proceed in consciousness through the three chakras that Lord Muruga controls and meet all the tests before this God will introduce him to Lord Siva. Lord Siva’s realm is chakras number six, seven and beyond. The aspirant still must go completely through the chakras of Lord Siva’s realm to become Sivaness–to experience His all-pervasiveness, and on into the essence of all essences, Parasiva.
The aspirant who dearly loves Lord Siva must finally go beyond Siva’s personal aspect to reach the impersonal side, and this is why, when he finally emerges from Parasiva, he is really a true bhaktar. He is the true monistic theist. In the world of duality, theism is in itself a duality. Theism is very compatible with the mind of man, which is duality itself. Monism, on the other side, is beyond the mind itself. Monism is timeless, formless, and it is spaceless as well. True monism cannot be conceived by the mind. Yet, the mind does know of its existence.
When the devotee has proven himself, the Gods begin to take notice. We meet a God as we go up through the chakras above the muladhara. We meet an asura as we go down through the chakras below the muladhara. A God appears as each higher chakra breaks open. As the muladhara opens and awareness comes through it, we encounter Ganesha. When we experience fear and anger, we meet and are influenced by the asuras of fear and anger. In the chakra that governs confused and selfish thinking, we meet and are influenced by the asura who rules this realm. Descending to the still lower chakras of petty theft, fraud and stealing, grand larceny, murder and violence, we would meet professionals in these areas.
There are always inner Gods and outer Gods, for each chakra is a realm of consciousness with its own inner and outer hierarchy. A chakra is a world, a sphere of consciousness. There are astral helpers and physical-plane helpers connected to each chakra. These spheres of consciousness do interrelate. A mentally healthy individual is functional in about three chakras, or spheres of consciousness, at a time. A person with severe mental problems would be in a single sphere of consciousness and could not deal with things that happened to him outside that area of the mind, or chakra.
When you meet the God or asura of a particular realm, it would always be a conscious meeting, but you may not always see the God or the asura. His presence would certainly be felt. Some symbol would appear, such as an image of Lord Ganesha, or of Lord Siva. A lot of people are open to Sivaness now and see Him through His images. Terrorists are seeing their asura gods in their guns, explosives and other weapons. At this time in the Kali Yuga, all states of consciousness are out in the open. All of the fourteen chakras are manifest in one way or another on Earth. It is a very intense time on the planet, and likewise a ripe time for spiritual unfoldment.
