Being empty and Being in a state of offering

Sadhguru : It has been almost sixteen years since we consecrated Dhyanalinga. Sixteen is an important number in the yogic system. When Adiyogi transmitted his knowing, he explored and expounded one hundred and twelve ways in which a human being can attain to his ultimate nature. But when he saw the time it would take for his seven disciples to grasp these 112 ways, he divided them into seven parts of sixteen each.

When the seven disciples had grasped these sixteen ways, Adiyogi said, “Now it is time to go and share this with the rest of the world.” They were completely overwhelmed because they could not think of a life without him. When they were just about to leave, he said, “But what about Guru Dakshina?” In the tradition, the disciple must make an offering before he leaves. It is not that the guru needs the dakshina – he wants his disciples to leave with a sense of offering something precious, because in a state of offering, a human being is at his best. These seven people were bewildered – what to offer him? Except for the loincloth they wore, they had nothing.

Then Agastya Muni said, “I carry sixteen gems within me, the most precious kind. These sixteen gems that I received from you, I offer to you,” and he placed these sixteen ways at his feet and became empty-handed. The other six took the cue and offered back the sixteen ways they had gathered from Adiyogi and also stood empty-handed. You must understand this – their life’s aspiration was to gather this knowledge, they spent eighty-four years of heart-breaking sadhana to earn this – and in one moment, they put it back at his feet and stood empty. They left with nothing in their hands.

This was the greatest aspect of Adiyogi’s teaching. Because they went empty, they became like him. Shi-va means “that which is not.” And they became “that which is not.” Otherwise, they would have carried these sixteen ways like a crown, marketing it to the rest of the world. Because they became empty, all one hundred and twelve ways found expression through all seven of them. Things they could have never grasped and did not have the capacity for became a part of them simply because they offered back the most precious aspect of their life.

So, sixteen is an important number for us, and there are certain things we will be doing with Dhyanalinga to make him more available during the next sixteen-year phase. Very few people have really consumed it, but it is a tremendous storehouse of knowledge; nowhere else has it been done like this. The form of it is very, very unique. It is time people become more sensitive to him. I am not saying this with any disregard, but people come like tourists and sit for fifteen minutes, and at the end they ask, “No Prasadam?!” Or, “When is fifteen minutes going to be over?” Other people go through fifteen minutes like a moment. If you come like a tourist, so what? But if you leave the world like a tourist, that is a pathetic state. Before you leave this world, that which made this world happen should be yours – at least a little bit. If it is not yours, all you are left with is a lump of earth (body) – which they will anyway take back.

If something is ignited within you, if something more than the warmth of your body is on, then in the coming year we will offer possibilities to tweak up the way Dhyanalinga functions for you – whether you are living in the ashram, or just here for a short period of time. It is my only endeavor that you should experience something more than your physicality. This will not happen by you seeking experiences, but by preparing yourself to become receptive. Your Sadhana is your lifeline. I am with you.

Love & Blessings,
Sadhguru

Source Link : http://www.ishafoundation.org/blog/sadhguru/spot/sixteen-years-dhyanalinga/

Sadhguru on why Maha Arati procession is taken every month for Linga Bhairavi Devi.

Sadhguru : Here in Isha, Dhyanalinga is that tower of energy.
I do not know how many of you experience it that
way. One lady from the United States said, “All I
see is one big black peanut.” Since this phenomenal
tower of energy has to last very long, it has to be
subtle. Anything that you make outwardly energetic,
like Devi, will not last long, unless you maintain it
every day. You must recharge her on a daily basis –
otherwise, she will not live. That is why those who
are around Devi need a lot more dedication and
devotion to keep her going.

People who take care of the Dhyanalinga temple
only take care of the temple, the premises, and
the people who come. They do not take care of
Dhyanalinga in any sense, because he does not need
any care. If no one takes care of him, he will still be
the same. This is a completely different format. But
with the Devi temple, it is not just the temple and
the people – Devi herself is being taken care of on a
daily basis. And if you do not take care of her well,
she will go into a fit. I hope they will have the sense
to see to it that she does not go into a fit.


tower of energy – Dhyanalinga. That is why she
is positioned the way she is. Everything else we
create now, wherever we put it in the world, also
draws sustenance from that. Dhyanalinga is a fullfledged life.
Practically, there are difficulties, but in
theory, if we want, we can build a body of flesh and
bone for him, and make him come alive. When we
explored these things in great detail about 20 years
ago, during the Wholeness Program in 1994, people
said, “Sadhguru, you must make him alive.” I said,
“No,” because if you make him alive, then he will
have to go for dinner; he will want to sleep. All the
problems that you and I have, he will also have.

Devi exists by drawing sustenance from the main
As a life without a body, he has no physical issues,
which is good. He is a full-fledged life – all the seven
chakras, and more. Devi is only three-and-a-half
chakras. She is half a life, but a vibrant half – you
cannot miss it. You may not experience anything in
the Dhyanalinga because he is subtle. Devi is like
a slap in your face – you cannot miss it. However,
that kind of vibrance cannot stay for long unless it is
recharged on a daily basis.

Once a month, she comes out and makes direct
contact with Dhyanalinga because her sustenance
depends on that. Forever, the future generations
who will be here must ensure she always comes
to Dhyanalinga on full moon days and makes that
contact. No matter if rain is pouring, there is a flood,
or whatever else – she must still come. Whoever
will be around must maintain that, because this is
essential for her. Not that there are no other ways
to stay in contact with Dhyanalinga – there are –
but the procession is an important part. She has
to constantly stay in touch with Dhyanalinga –
otherwise, she will deplete. She likes to be strong,
energetic, and beautiful – if you make her deplete,
she will go into a fit. No one should be around when
she goes into a fit.

The Journey, on the pathway to The Dhyanalinga

The Parikrama

The parikrama, leading to the Dhyanalinga, communicates a sense of both artistry and spirituality. It comprises a central pathway, which is open to the sky, establishing a visual connection between the entrance and the dome, reinforcing the integrity of the relationship of spaces. The

central pathway is flanked on either side by covered aisles.

  

Patanjali

As one enters the parikrama, on the left is the statue of Pathanjali, the celebrated author of Yoga Sutras, regarded as the father of yogic sciences. The eleven-foot tall statue is deliberately placed in a sunken shrine, thus establishing an immediate relationship between the colossal identity of Pathanjali and the dwarfed viewer at the same level. The statue sculpted in black granite depicts a fusion of snake and man, symbolizing the dual nature of life. It also symbolizes the divine nature of man evolving from his earthbound nature. Hence, the sunken shrine depicts the snake below the earth and the man above it. The snake covering the head of the statue with its hood represents the raising of energies through the seven chakras, thus reflecting the objective of yoga.

Vanashree

  On the right is the Vanashree shrine, the feminine deity of the Dhyanalinga temple and a counterpoint to the Pathanjali shrine. In contrast to Pathanjali's sunken base, the Vanashree shrine is placed at a higher level than the pathway. The Vanashree, made of green granite, is a sculptural relief of a peepal tree. A gold leaf at the center symbolizes warmth and prosperity. The energies of the deity are such that it is especially beneficial for women and children to meditate in the vicinity of the shrine. The traditional Keerthi Mukha, the glorious face, finds place above the shrine of Vanashree.

Six artistically sculptured granite panels cover the aisles, illustrating the stories of six South Indian sages who attained enlightenment. Each panel captures a moment in these extraordinary lives. On the threshold are six images of meditative postures each carved into a triangular form, which indicate the Siddhi State of six spiritual chakras.

Sadhguru Shri Brahma

 1 :: SADHGURU-In my previous life as Sadhguru Shri Bhramha, I was known as Chakreshwara. For those of you from the state of Tamil Nadu, maybe you have heard of this. It means somebody who has complete mastery over all the hundred and fourteen chakras. It is because of that mastery that now we can have people blowing up everywhere like explosions. He was known as Chakreshwara because he exhibited certain qualities of his total mastery over the chakras. A phenomenally rare thing he did was, when he left his body, he left through all the seven chakras. Generally, when yogis leave their body, they leave through one particular chakra - whichever they have particular mastery over, through that they leave. Otherwise, depending upon their tendencies, they leave accordingly, but Sadhguru left his body through all the seven chakras. As a preparation for the consecration of the Dhyanalinga, he left his body through all the seven chakras.(Now the Birth of Isha foundation)

Sadashiva Brahmendra

2 :: Sadhashiva Brahmendra , the bodiless yogi, Sadashiva Brahmendra, cast a spell on the onlooker.
Sadashiva was a nirkaya, he had no sense of the body. And because he had no sense of the body, he did not think about wearing clothes, he just walked naked. He happened to walk into the king's garden while the king was relaxing with his queens. The king became angry, "Who is this fool walking naked in front of my wives?" He sent his soldiers to find out who he was. The soldiers called Sadashiva Brahmendra from behind, but he didn't turn back, he just kept on walking. The soldiers became angry and took out a sword and chopped off his right arm, but he still kept walking. He did not even break a stride. Now the soldiers were terrified, "This is not an ordinary man. We chopped off his arm and he keeps walking." So the king, soldiers and everyone else went and fell at his feet, and brought him back to the garden. Sadashiva Brahmendra lived there for the rest of his life. Even today, this place is preserved in a certain way.

Meiporul Nayanar

3 :: Meiporul Nayanar, a famous king who showed mercy on the murderer is also portrayed. carved as a staunch Saivite.

Akka Mahadevi

4 :: Akka Mahadevi,A moving scene of Akka Mahadevi in her love and dispassion, shedding everything, including her clothes as demanded by the king and moving into a sense of bodilessness.

Sadhguru:

Akka Mahadevi was a devotee of Shiva. Right from childhood she had completely given herself to Shiva and she looked upon him as her husband. A king saw her one day and she was so beautiful that he wanted to marry her. Akka refused but then the king threatened her, “If you don’t marry me, I will kill your parents.” So, she married the man but she kept him at a physical distance. He tried to woo her but she kept saying, “I am not married to you. I married Shiva long ago. He visits me and I am with him. I cannot be with you.”

This was too much for the king to take and one day he decided, “What is the point of having a wife like this? How does one live with a wife who is married to some unseen man, somewhere?” There was no formal divorce in those days and he was just distraught. He did not know what to do. So he brought her to his court and asked the court to decide. When the court asked her, she kept talking about her husband elsewhere. This was not hallucinatory, it was 100% real for her. Your imagination, if it is empowered by life energies, it becomes reality, 100%.

The king got angry because in front of all these people, his wife was claiming that her husband was elsewhere. 800 years ago, socially it was not a simple thing to take for a king. So in great anger, he said, “If you are already married to somebody, what are you doing with me? Everything that you wear, the jewels, the clothes – everything is mine. Leave them here and go.” Those days in India, there was no way a woman even thought of leaving her husband’s house at all. But in the full assembly of the court, Akka Mahadevi – a young woman of 18 years – just dropped all her clothes and left. She refused to wear clothes from that day onwards.

Akka Mahadevi wrote hundreds of beautiful poems about Shiva and her devotion. Her devotion was such that every day she begged him, “Shiva let no food come my way. Let my body also express the longing and anguish that I am going through to become part of you. If I eat, my body will be satisfied. My body will not know what I am feeling. So let no food come towards me. If food does come into my hands, let it fall down in the mud before I put it into my mouth. If it falls in the mud, the fool that I am, before I pick it up, let a dog come and take it away.” This was her daily prayer.

Devotees are a completely different kind of people. They just have one foot in this world. Their ways of living and the power with which they exist is completely other-worldly.

Source Link :  http://blog.ishafoundation.org/yoga-meditation/history-of-yoga/im-married-to-shiva/

 

Poosalar

5 :: Poosalar, a great Siva devotee who built a temple for him in his heart, A miraculous event where his inner temple found recognition

Kannappa Nayanar

6 :: Kannappa Nayanar, considered to be the first eye donor. He offers his own eyes to Shiva.

  The form of a yogi prostrating before the Dhyanalinga suggests the sense of surrender that is required to enter the Dhyanalinga space.

The parikrama ends at a vaulted tunnel that leads to the dome of the Dhyanalinga. Carved on the threshold of the entrance are two snakes with a single raised hood, indicating the non-dual nature of the Dhyanalinga. Over the vault is a seven-hooded monolithic snake, symbolizing the seven dimensions of life reaching the peak of consciousness.

Thanks for giving your precious time to read and explore about this wonderfull place and its aspects.PRANAM

Difference between Sadhguru and the Dhyanalinga

Sadhguru: There's no difference. It's just that I still have the problems of eating and sleeping. He doesn't. Otherwise, there's no difference, except that I can walk; he can't (laughs). Now, what you're referring to as the Dhyanalinga is the highest possible subtle body. It is at its peak vibration with all the seven chakras intact. It was consecrated by creating a certain vortex, which drew in enormous amounts of energy. Another difference is that I took three lifetimes to become like this; he managed it in three years. That's a big difference. The etheric body, or the subtle body, was constructed using enormous amounts of energy. If we had made it any more intense, it couldn't have retained a form; it was in that level of intensity. This was the peak of intensity that you could hold within the dimensions of a form. The Dhyanalinga is the highest possible being sitting there all the time, stable, steady, always the same way because he has no problems of a mental body, karmic body or physical body. He is always the same because he's just a subtle body.

In theory, it is possible to slowly construct a human physical body for the Dhyanalinga, and to create a being like that - somebody who will walk - if we're willing to work towards this. In theory, it is possible, but to get all the ingredients and all the forces together is an enormous job. Once we create a physical body, to sustain himself in such peak energies, he would have to do so many things. Above all, once you have a physical body, people's ability to experience what's beyond that will decrease, because once you see a person, you start judging - seeing what's right and wrong about him, what appeals to you or doesn't. All these judgments will take away your ability to experience that being. That's the huge difference. To create the subtle body itself took enormous amounts of work. If we want to create grosser dimensions of the body, we can create a very beautiful human being without him being born through a womb, because the subtle body is properly established. It would be like having Shiva back, alive, walking, but it wouldn't serve any purpose and would involve too much. It's very difficult to tell you logically or sensibly what this is all about.

This reminds me: when Vivekananda was a highly energetic and intense young boy, he was very skeptical and full of questions. He wanted to investigate everything. He had won many awards in debates and was always looking for more debates with whomever he met. When he met Ramakrishna he asked him, "You're always talking about God. What is the proof that there is God?" He was expecting some great explanation, which he obviously had the logic to break down, and he would defeat him. Ramakrishna said, "I am the proof." Vivekananda didn't expect this answer. He was expecting some explanation as to how there's a creation and a creator. So when Ramakrishna said, "I am the proof," he didn't know what to say. He sat there, bewildered. Ramakrishna thought this fellow's snooty logic was making him stupid. Vivekananda had enormous intensity, but he was missing the whole point. So Ramakrishna just took his foot and placed it on Vivekananda's chest. He lost all of his logic, and tears started flowing. Tears and Vivekananda were impossible. Logical people cannot shed a tear unless they're touched in their innermost depth. Tears just started flowing and then he said, "I'm very sorry I even asked you such a question."

Now, if you think logically, it seems impossible that there is no difference between the Dhyanalinga and me. Even if you have experienced the Dhyanalinga in some way for a moment, it still sounds absolutely egoistic for me to say this; but really, there's no difference. If you don't like it, I can't help it. Slowly you will see, as the days pass, I won't be interested in keeping up any façade for anybody's sake. We have done enough of that in order to bring about the necessary goodwill and understanding into people so that they could become receptive enough. We don't have to continue doing that for a lifetime. Those who are too logical and whose ability to live life is very much on the surface may fall off. I don't want them to fall off, but they may, because I am too blunt. It's all right. This is how it is.

When you go to the Dhyanalinga, just sit there - you don't have to believe or disbelieve anything. It's as if a good dinner is being served in front of you. You're not overly hungry nor do you dislike the food. Simply sit there, not trying to grab it. Just be willing, open, not making any judgments about the food in front of you. You must sit in front of the Dhyanalinga like that, not doing anything, but not putting your foot into the food either. Sit there with a certain willingness and openness; then you will see that this is not just a symbol. The Dhyanalinga is not just a stone standing there anymore . You will see it is like a living being in every way.

Somebody who doesn't have a physical, mental or karmic body, but only has a subtle body - spiritual or etheric body - can only touch you on that level. If we teach you Hatha Yoga, kriyas, or if we change your mental attitude through the programs, and you practice for some time, then you give it up, you will see, you will go back to square one. But once you're touched at the level of your etheric body, you can't get rid of it. Whether you live or die, it still goes with you. This is what initiation means. It's not just a bundle of instructions. The idea is to touch you on the level of your etheric body so that it can never be taken away, no matter what kind of life you live, or how ignorantly you live. The seed can't die; that's how it is put across. That's what an initiation means.

When you sit in front of a living Guru, you have many problems, judgments, likes and dislikes, because invariably you end up looking at his personality. People have left their Gurus for all kinds of frivolous things. This happened with J. Krishnamurti, a realized being and very wonderful man. There was a certain lady who was very close to him and deeply involved with his work. She was always around him and traveled to many places with him. Once when he was in Amsterdam, Holland, he went into a shop to buy a tie for himself. He was so meticulous about choosing a tie, because he was very conscious about everything and also what he wore. He could throw the tie away if he wanted to, but when he wears it, he wants it to be in a certain way. So he went into the shop and spent nearly four hours picking out one tie. He pulled out every tie in the shop, looked at it, put it on, and then said, "No." It took him four hours to select just one tie. This woman watched and watched and watched, and as minutes passed, in her mind his enlightenment receded. She thought a man who could be so concerned about what kind of tie he wears couldn't be enlightened, and she left him. Many such stupid things are done because of your judgments.

People have left their Gurus for even more frivolous things. This is simply because, in your day-to-day life, you are deeply caught up with your own physical and mental bodies. What has happened within you on deeper dimensions is not in your moment-to-moment awareness. Certain moments you know this is the deepest thing that has happened to you in your life. The rest of the time your mind will argue and prove to you that it's not so. With Dhyanalinga, you don't have these problems because it doesn't carry a physical or mental body. If you experience him once, every time you sit, you will look up to him reverentially. If he had a physical body, one moment you would be looking up to him reverentially, the next moment you would be judging him and condemning him for something. It's bound to happen. So he has come with extra advantages

The Multi-Religious Shrine - Dhyanalinga Yogic Temple _ Consecration Highlights every year on 24th june

Where all the religions of the world meet at one place. The Dhyanalinga. Shanthi. Shanthi Shanthi.

The Dhyanalinga Yogic Temple - The Past, Present and Future

Dhyanalinga - The Guru

With the seven chakras of the Dhyanalinga energized to the very peak, the Dhyanalinga is like a Guru to a seeker, touching him in a different dimension. For one to make use of Dhyanalinga as one’s Guru, a simple way is to just gaze at the Linga for a few minutes and then sit with eyes closed, not trying to visualize, not trying to imagine, not trying to bring back into memory.




It is important to imprint the form of the Linga into one’s inner situations, into one’s energy system, because Dhyanalinga is not a physical form, it is an energy form. One does not have to imagine or visualize or anything. It functions from within. Once you allow this to imprint itself into your system it is always with you, guiding you, making things happen to you on deeper dimension within you. It functions as one’s guru and for one who is seeking to do spiritual sadhana it will be extremely useful. One can clearly experience this.



When it comes to using the Linga, it does not mean that one has to always be in the sphere of the Linga. Once the form of the Linga has been imprinted into one’s system, wherever one may be, it function that way, irrespective of the distance. So one does not really need any assistance. It will always function that way. But if one does need assistance, one can use a small picture of the Linga. Just by looking at it, one can revive the impression. Or in terms of removing the other impressions which are there in one’s mind and body, a visual image of the Linga can help take them away.



The Dhayanalinga yantras also can assist in that way. But above all, once you are in the sphere of the Linga, if you take the imprint of the energy form into you, you yourself are like a yantra, you yourself are like a living temple. But the assistance of images, pictures and yantras can always be used.