2 2 S p i r i t ua l i t y S t u d i e s 4 - 1 S p r i n g 2 0 1 8 I know not Shiva How can I speak of Him? Who Shiva is I know not, How can I worship him? I am Shiva, the only Reality, Like space absolute is my nature, In me is neither unity nor variety, The cause of imagination also is absent in me. Free from subject and object am I, How can I be self-realisable? Endlessness is my nature, naught else exist, Truth absolute is my nature, naught else exists. Ātman by nature, the supreme Reality am I, Neither am I slayer nor the slain. On destruction of a jar, the space therein unites with all space. In myself and Shiva I see no difference when the mind is purified. Brahman alone is, as pure consciousness. In truth there is no jar and no jar-space, no embodied soul, nor its nature. From subtle substance (Mahat) down to formed creation, There is nothing but Brahman; Most clearly do I see this. Where then is the division of caste? How shall I worship that Ātman great Which is neither personal nor impersonal. Taintless, above love and aversion, uncreated, All-pervasive, of the form of the universe, Having no attributes, yet not attributeless, That all-bliss Shiva, my Self. 3 The Sādhanā The usual recommendations for the yogic sādhanā are well described in yogic literature. Depending on the orientation of the sādhaka, he can choose from an enormous pool of practices. In relation with his nature, he may choose light, mild, medium or strict sādhanā. All usually goes well up a point, when a medium pratyahara and dhāranā is mastered. Pratyahara is difficult to will. It happens when the attention is brought under control by our intention. That in turn made dhāranā to occur. This phase of meditation will open the Brahma granthi (situated inMūlādhāra) and alsoVishnu ghranti (situated inAnāhata). When the dhāranā is nearing in quality to dhyāna, thenRudra granthi (inĀjñā) opens. Here is a crucial point mentioned by a number of authors (Vallalar 2013, 160; Timčák 2017, 1–5) – not only the vrittis or kleśas are to be relaxed from, but the attention, which is the most crucial function of the mental structure, is also to be relaxed, so that it does not attempt to present information from the other parts of the mind to the ahamkāra and also does not attempt to try to “explore” the areas between the mind and ahamkāra. If this is achieved, then the sādhaka has an even more difficult task: to relax from the individualized sense of consciousness and to melt into the Absolute. Ramana Gita (Ganapti 1966, IX:3, 88) relates that “the association of the Self with the body is called the granthi. By that association alone one is conscious of his body and actions.” This is one of the challenges beyond the Rudra granthi: To let go all associations with the mind and body (Fig. 3). This, according toMahanirvana Tantra (Unknown, 1913), leads to unity with absolute Being. Vijnana Bhairava (Unknown 2002, verse 82, 96) speaks about a similar process: “Either sitting on a seat or lying on a bed one should meditate on the body as being supportless. When the mind becomes empty, and supportless, within a moment one is liberated from mental dispositions.” Lakshman Joo comments that “this means when the mind is dissolved, he (the yogi) enters in the mindless state of God consciousness … Imagine, you have thrown away the body as if it is nothing. There is no support for this body. Then, when thoughtlessness arises, the yogi enters in an instant in the thoughtless state of God consciousness.” The atmosphere of Ozhivil Odukkam (Vallalar 2013, verse 111, 160) is similar: “Should you succeed even for a split second in reaching the state of absorption in the Self (nishta), which, as the pure state in which the discriminating consciousness has fallen away, is free of all limitation, ah! I am at a loss to describe it! Is the bliss that rises up then a thing of little account? It would be as if one accessed the (vast) ocean of milk through the tiny hole in a teat!”
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