SHIVA
Action and Existence
Action is inevitable in this existence; everything acts. The general experience of life is only in the form of actions, which encompass any sort of movement or change continuously taking place in the physical realm with matter, energy, and in the mental realm with thoughts.
Natural and Intentional Actions
There is a kind of action naturally happening in this entire existence. Additionally, the human mind tends to act intentionally, and the choice of action in individuals exists in everyone. Natural actions include the movement of galaxies, stars, and planets, the change of seasons, the movement of subatomic particles and electromagnetic waves, the natural creation and dissolution of vegetation and other living beings, the process of evolution, the expansion of the universe, and the unintentional thoughts in individuals.
Intentional choice of action among individuals includes the movements performed through thoughts and bodies to achieve specific goals like survival and happiness. In the event that an individual lacks clarity on why it's required to survive or seek happiness, even actions appearing intentional can be categorized as natural. Survival and happiness are not eternal among individuals, yet there seems to be a consistent requirement for the same, as every being inherently wants to survive eternally and remain fulfilled eternally. Lack of realization of eternity within self takes the form of some requirement to fulfill.
Shiva is the unchanging eternity within everything and everywhere.
Shiva and Shakti - The Nature of Existence
There is a kind of action naturally happening in this entire existence. Additionally, the human mind tends to act intentionally, and the choice of action in individuals exists in everyone. Natural actions include the movement of galaxies, stars, and planets, the change of seasons, the movement of subatomic particles and electromagnetic waves, the natural creation and dissolution of vegetation and other living beings, the process of evolution, the expansion of the universe, and the unintentional thoughts in individuals.
The entire changing aspects of existence, including the physical matter made up of earth, fire, water, air, the space in which they exist, and the time in which they change, are just various manifestations of energy. This entire changing energy collectively is called Shakti. Therefore the entire existence can be understood as just Shiva and Shakti.
Ignorance and Suffering
Maaya is Shakti in the form of confusion in individuals regarding the intention of actions and what exactly is required to attain the natural quest of eternity in the self. Mind is the fundamental origin of intentional actions and also the house of confusion regarding dissatisfaction even after actions are performed to attain eternity in the form of happiness. The development of the mind in humans today is a result of the evolutionary process of chasing eternity in the form of survival. Living beings that wanted to survive developed the mind as it is in humans now, just to survive eternally. However, as physical mortality seems inevitable to humans, the quest for eternity shifted from survival to happiness, as survival is now more easily taken care of in humans. During this process, certain actions appeared to give momentary fulfillment, such as sexual pleasure, which arises from the process of reproduction. Other actions giving fulfillment arise from a lack of knowledge of the self. Certain actions, like associating oneself with some identity, give a sense of fulfillment beyond survival and an illusion of eternity. With many impressions in the mind, sometimes just relaxing mental activities by injecting external chemicals into the body's biological process creates an illusion of eternity. However, nothing stays forever, which creates confusion regarding the exact action that can lead to eternity. Many humans do not realize this basic fundamental problem itself and continue to suffer.
The actions performed without knowledge of reality have been repeated so many times that the algorithm has taken the form of automation, which takes place almost unconsciously. The intellect doesn't touch the unconscious mind where the tendencies of desires reside in the form of likes and dislikes. The further encouragement of desires became the tendency of greed, the incapability to achieve the desire became the tendency of anger, and the object or means of desire became delusion. Recurrent achievements create the tendency of pride, and similar achievements in others create jealousy. All of this happens unconsciously, further sowing the seeds of ignorance and suffering. The process becomes so strong that the mind plans and creates such situations in life so as to nurture those tendencies making the individual totally helpless. The situation is so deeply pathetic that even this knowledge to the intellect doesn't make any difference in the actions stemming from the tendencies. The tendencies manifest a new body even after death to perpetuate the action. Mere knowledge isn't enough to get out of the loop; a specific practice to reverse train the mind is necessary for an individual to get out of the loop.
The entire changing aspects of existence, including the physical matter made up of earth, fire, water, air, the space in which they exist, and the time in which they change, are just various manifestations of energy. This entire changing energy collectively is called Shakti. Therefore the entire existence can be understood as just Shiva and Shakti.
The Play of Creation and Dissolution
Existence is the multiverse cyclically creating, preserving for a specific time period, and dissolving. Just like how the entire mass is nothing but energy, the Shakti in this accumulated form, which keeps happening as creation and dissolution, the entire changing energy is nothing but the result of the eternal consciousness - Shiva. If we imagine the exact point between two cycles of creation and dissolution, the particular point is pure consciousness - Shiva, which is neither in time nor in space, as the creation of time and space has not taken place, and the infinite energy remains totally silent and static. The energy is subjected to this process only through Shiva - the consciousness. But the nature of energy being not remaining static but being always dynamic, the point of nothingness doesn't hold, and again the movement takes place, giving rise to the entire new creation. The only dimension available for Shakti to exercise its nature of continuous dynamism even in the lack of time and space is Shiva - the consciousness.
The energy in its total static form is completely conscious of Shiva. But to accommodate the movement, the Shakti spreads across the entire spectrum of Shiva, which makes Shakti manifest into various levels of consciousness. Shakti has nothing else but Shiva to act. The cosmic bodies, the lifelessly appearing gross matter, is nothing but Shakti manifesting in the form of the lowest levels of self-consciousness. Even the non-living objects are conscious, though in a very subtle and small way, but Shiva is the basis of the formation. These objects sensing eternity, form the mind, try to evolve without having the capability of realizing the true self - Shiva. And this process of life evolution commences to attain the true eternal self - Shiva. Nothing is different from each other. The species manifested at various spectrums of consciousness display different physical and mental characteristics in the process of evolution, and humans appear to stand at the top. For Shiva, nothing is really changing; it's his own infinite Shakti pretending to lack consciousness due to its dynamic nature to accommodate its natural property of continuous movement. For Shiva, this is just a play; nothing really is happening.
Yoga
The practice of self-realization is called Yoga. The total cessation of mental activities will directly lead to the reality, Shiva. But for that, not only the mind needs to understand this entire unified theory but also needs to touch the unconscious part where the tendencies have accumulated and totally delete them. In the event of not-so-powerful tendencies, even this deep knowledge is enough to realize, which is Gyan Yoga. But when the rising tendencies in an individual, accumulated through innumerable birth and death cycles, are not affected by the outer knowledge, further deeper techniques of meditation can delete them slowly. This is Dhyan Yoga. Even if the individual, by mere understanding of this concept, does not allow their actions to look for eternity in the outer activities and lets nature play its game, the tendencies cease to exist, which is Karma Yoga. However, by the time this understanding arises, the mind completely takes over control and it becomes almost impossible not only to understand what exactly is happening but also it indulges in a totally meaningless life and continues to suffer..
Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti Yoga starts with the basic belief that there certainly exists a perfection beyond humans. One way of understanding something above humans is taking the examples of natural forces like the characteristic of fire, which burns irrespective of the situation, making it perfect in its own nature. If we call the governing bodies of natural laws as devtas, then fire is Agni Devta, which follows the law perfectly. There must certainly exist an ultimate species that is the result of Shakti manifesting with complete consciousness. That species must be above everything, as it possesses total Shivatva. It can be the only one in its category, unchanging and perfect, leaving no scope for evolution. This entity should be the first and last entity of creation and dissolution, literally eternal as it is the form of Shiva itself. Shiva, when realized in a form during the process of creation and dissolution, is what everyone calls God. That entity must be above all the devtas governing this entire universe, controlling the infinite energy. That is Mahadev. There exists a natural attraction towards him in this process.
Mahadev is the lone doer.
Accept the fact that Mahadev is the only doer, and the doership of everything else is a mere illusion. The will to act in individuals is the style of doing things by Mahadev. Just like how a power socket at home or substation in the area can be in an illusion of being the power generator while the power plant is the actual generator. Similarly the sense of doership in individuals is an illusion. And that illusion creates a further illusion of a sense of experiencing the action. Even the power-generating plant uses the wind to rotate windmills but cannot be attributed to the doership.
Bhakti is the surrender of all intentional actions realizing that there is only one doer. However, mere understanding of this won't cease the tendencies and unintentional desires will still arise. So there comes the necessity for sadhana - the practice.
One way of practicing Bhakti is - Shravana - listening. Listening to what? All we have about this grand unified reality of existence is only the name - Shiva. Continuously listening to the name - Shiva clears the tendencies. This cannot be an intellectual or logical explanation but can only be an experience. When the creator aspect Brahma and the preserving aspect Vishnu were clueless about their jobs in this existence, Shiva was the first sound that arose as the ultimate reality, and the entire knowledge emerged from that name. Whether the power of the name is conceptually understood, culturally passed on, or believed with devotion, it doesn't even matter if there exists any basis for it, just the continuous listening to it makes the impression of truth in the mind, which will clear the tendencies from the roots. When the mind becomes clear, the experience goes beyond pain and pleasure, and the pure Sat-Chit-Ananda is realized which cannot be explained in words. Only gratitude and love towards him remain.
Only if you are intellectually convinced without a single doubt in mind and truly love to live the ultimate reality, visit us at any time between Friday night and Monday morning where the name - Shiva will be played continuously. Free food and stay will be provided.
Satyam - Shivam - Sundaram
The only practice is to do absolutely nothing. Follow no routine, eat, sleep as you wish. Food will be available 24x7. Along with Shiva name chanting, some other verses/ mantras will be the part of the entire non stop audio channel broadcast throughout the weekend, mere Shravana of which is the immersion into Shivatva.
The entire broadcast will be only in the Sanskrit language and volume of the speakers will be the same throughout the period of stay.
No luggage will be allowed inside including cell phones. New clothing will be provided to the visitor for free of cost which they can take with them.
Nonetheless, the only expectation from the visitors would be to totally commit to preserve the self controlled physical, mental and behavioral purity throughout the stay for their own good.
Please visit www.shivabhakti.com for booking. Only one individual is allowed to visit per weekend. Total solitude with an effort to ensure that an uninterrupted state of peaceful seclusion will be provided during the period. Due to availability of only one property, the booking window will be closed 3 months prior and confirmation will be given 1 month prior to the booking. The inconvenience is regretted and it is only to provide smooth functioning of booking, travel, stay and return process.
Caution:
During the stay, there might come intense time periods, not necessarily for everyone but a particularly righteous individual in a certain state of awareness and equanimity, when the old storage of cravings and aversion will be flushed out in the process of purification of mind. These episodes might be psychologically painful. Complete inaction and no reaction is the only recommendation to progress further.
Contact Info
Phone
Address
+91 8921662428
Srikantha Nilayam, Raja Nagar, Plot no. 21, 22, dwarpudi road, near Gotlam railway station, Dist: Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh - 535003