Atma Svarupa Mahadeva

Shiva Dhyana Sloka We chant dhyana slokas to meditate on Lord Shiva before chanting Sri Rudram that describes Lord Shiva in three different perspectives. 1. Eka Roopa  (sloka 1 to 4) Initially we look upon the Lord as a person (as a personal god). Therefore the initial description of the Lord is as a person with hands and legs, asanams and ornaments etc. 2. Aneka Roopa or Viswaroopa  (sloka 5 to 6) Once we evolve enough then this perspective changes. The Lord should not be seen as one particular person but Lord must be seen as total creation endowed with all the forms of creation. 3. Aroopa or Nirguna Brahman  (sloka 7 to 8) Once we have evolved sufficiently then we have to go beyond the viswaroopa also. We have to learn to appreciate the same Lord as formless, attribute less, the absolute nirguna brahman. We can choose our personal god or Ishta Devata from different names and forms, viz. Shiva, Vishnu or Devi.   After doing sufficient puja to Shiva or

Swami Paramarthananda lectures  Shivaratri is considered to be a very auspicious day. The word “Shiva” itself means the auspicious one. Therefore Shivaratri means “night of auspiciousness” during which we worship Shiva. HE is the embodiment of auspiciousness, who is the embodiment of Mangalam, and who is the embodiment of Ananda. By worshipping Shiva today we can attain all the purusharthas – artha, kama, dharma and moksha. And on this day Shiva puja is done in the form of rudra abhisekham. Sri Rudram is supposed to be a very sacred mantra occurring in the Vedas. Sri Rudram is the glorification of Lord Shiva who is none other than Rudra, which means one who removes all sorrows or pains from one’s mind. “Ruth” means “dukham” and “dra” means “remover”. So the very meaning of Rudram is ‘remover of sorrow” and so we chant Rudram and do abhisekham today. The glory of Rudram is mentioned in Kaivalya Upanishad: a person becomes free from pappas and sins he has committed. Rudram not on

The Vaisnava tradition is primarily a tradition of  bhakti , or devotion to God. Nārada defines  bhakti  as being of the nature of intense love for God:  Sā tvasmin parama premarūpā . The sage Śāndilya defines it as supreme attachment to God:  sā parānuraktir-īśvare .  Two types of bhakti have been described by the teachers of bhakti:  vaidhī  and  rāgānugā .  Vaidhī bhakti  involves  worship  and other rituals as instructed by the scriptures, whereas in  rāgānugā bhakti , intense love for God is fundamental, and rituals and  worship  become secondary.  The  Vaikhānasa Āgama  deals primarily with  vaidhī bhakti , while Pāñcarātra Āgama teaches both  vaidhī  and  rāgānugā bhakti . Vaikhānasa Āgama The Vaikhānasa school of Vaisnavism claims its origin from the sage Vikhanas or  Brahma , the Creator himself. The Vaikhānasas are primarily a community of temple priests, and their mode of  worship  is essentially oriented towards Vishnu. The Vaikhānasa Grhya Sūtras prescribe f

Osho quotes People ordinarily think that forgiveness is for those who are WORTHY of it, who deserve it. But if somebody deserves, is worthy of forgiveness, it is not much of a forgiveness. You are not doing anything on your part; he deserves it. You are not really being love and compassion. Your forgiveness will be authentic only when even those who don’t deserve it receive it. In fact I would like to make the statement that the man who is unworthy deserves more than the man who is worthy. The man who does not deserve, deserves more, because he is so poor; don’t be hard upon him. Life has been hard upon him. He has gone astray; he has suffered because of his wrong doings. Now don’t you be hard on him. He needs more love than those who are deserving; he needs more forgiveness than those who are worthy. This should be the only approach of a religious heart. The question is not whether anybody is worthy or not. The question is whether YOU have the consciousness, the abundance of