What is Aham and Who is Shivam?

Shivam means Shiva + Aham equals to Shivam, In reality there is no two it appears to be two but, both are one, Shiva is the name given to the Self and the Universal consciousness, which is beyond name, time and form, in Sruti, Smriti, Tantra and Purana this state is termed in various names like in Purana - Shiva, Tantra - Bhairava and in Vaidika - Rudra all of them are one and the same only the names differ, the methods differ, the path differs but, the state of consciousness remains the same and available for everyone, our Yogis have touched different dimensions of one undivided universal transcendental consciousness through different methods.

All those methods and the paths have come to us through Adi Guru, Adi Natha, or Adi Yogi, from Adi guru to Ascetics and through such realized yogis it has come to us, this is for our wellbeing, to celebrate our lives and to lead a holistic way of life.In our yogic or Srividhya samaya tradition Lord Shiva is the Adi Guru, here Shiva ultimately means undivided universal transcendental consciousness which is subjective in nature, one cannot perceive it through the five senses, cannot understand through intellect, it is immeasurable but all pervading, omnipotent, and omnipresent. If I narrate it in this way you cannot understand because Shiva can't be understood, thats why many methods have been given to us in the yogic path so that one can choose his, as per his Nature and ability, if you are an emotionally centered being you can experience Shiva through Bakthi/ Devotional path, If you are Intellectually strong then you can choose Jnana/ Wisdom path, if you are a mixture of both then you can choose Kriya yoga path, significantly every path has its own beauty and significance but being a Sadhak you need to choose the right path for your subjective journey.

Aham is a barrier, it’s a barrier to all kinds of spiritual path and progress that leads you towards divinity or Universal consciousness, Aham literally means Ego! it means I’’ identity, identifying oneself by his/her name, appearance, gender, profession, social status or the form, Aham has no form but it holds and tries to own all kinds of forms; recognizing and realizing one’s true formless form is the motive of Shivarathri celebration, a celebration towards self-realization which will lead you towards Liberation.

In simple way Aham to Shivam means "Lose yourself to be found again to your true self” to find true self one should lose his/her Ego identity or find some other way to transcend it. In other words, “Ego is a barrier between the individuality & divinity, Aham to Shivam is a subjective journey from self to selflessness”Why on Shiva Rathri night?

In our country everyday is a celebration for one or the other reason, the reason could be Victory over Evil or Historical events or Birthdays or Maha Samadhi or Seasons based on cultivations because our Yogis have realized that this life itself is a celebration but there are two Nights that significantly occurs during every Luni solar month and they are not limited for celebration but for self-realization, those nights are Shiva Rathri and Nava Rathri, as we know every month we have one Navarathri & one Shivarathri, because these nights are meant for sadhana, for spiritual practice, and from Practice to Perfection( Sadhana to Siddhi ).

On this night, the universal vibrant energy will descend further down to earth which can be Achieved or experienced with very less effort from the sadhak.

As we known we have just completed our sadhana of Mathangi during Magha masa (Feb & Mar) Navarathri, end of this lunar calendar we get Maha shiva rathri, a great night, the fourteenth day of every lunar month or the day before the new moon is known as Shivarathri.

Among all the twelve Shivrathris; Mahashivratri, the one that occurs in February-March is of the most significant for sadhana and siddhi.

Shiva is available at Dwa dasha anthara!

As I said on this night shiva consciousness is available just at our Dwadasha anthara, it means a distance of twelve fingers or about 10 inches above the head and all around the body, in the space on this night the northern hemisphere of the earth is positioned in such a way that can give rise to the Kundalini energy sending it naturally to its peak in the Sadhaks, the result of it is spiritual experience, a experience of true self or experiencing in the absence of experience, this night one can touch shiva and embrace the shiva consciousness effortlessly, on this night the nature will push you towards the spiritual peakShiva rathri as seen in many ways.

In our culture and in our tradition shivarathri is observed in many ways like in Yogic tradition, In Vaidic tradition, Puranic point of view, ascetic point of view and as a householder, Shivarathri is very significant for people who are on the spiritual path. It is also very significant for people who are householders and for ascetics and celibates.

For householders Shivarathri is just a festival, a reason to celebrate life and this day is Shiva’s wedding anniversary and also the day he drank the Karkotaka Poison, for the spiritual seeker or the sadhaks it is the day for sadhana, a verily possible night for Self-realization, for ascetics and celibates it is the day to unite with shiva consciousness, union with the universal consciousness means Shivarathri, in this tradition we have established a certain festival which is celebrated during night. To allow this natural Kundalini energy to find its way, one of the fundamentals of this night celebration is to ensure that you remain awake with your spine erect and chin up in other word Shakthi will find her way towards Shiva to realize that “Shiva is static Shakti consciousness and Shakti is dynamic Shiva consciousness” for we samaya followers both are one but not the same.

What is Vigyan Bhirava Tantra?As proclaimed Vigyan means Science, Tantra means technology Bhairava means Consciousness, so, it clearly says that Vigyan bhirava tantra means a profound scientific technique to experience consciousness for self-realization.

There are many such yogic tantra scriptures available but mainly there are 64 Tantra Yogic scriptures, these yoga tantra scriptures are available to learn and practice but one among them which is considered to be beyond religion, belief, religious rituals, religious dogma, religious bias and conditions, it is the purest form of spiritual yogic techniques and the scripture is Vigyan Bhirava Tantra a chapter from RudraYamala Tantra.

As I mentioned Bhairava means consciousness which is beyond the limitation of space, time and form, Desa uddesa avisesini – this state is indescribable, one has to experience it. Shivarathri is the right time for such experience.

In this tantra there are 112 secret and sacred yogic techniques that are recorded as they are revealed to Devi Bhairavi by Lord Bhairava, here there is no more mysticism, the mystic knowledge is revealed by the lord for our well being through Devi Bhairavi and has reached us through many Yogis and Ascetics, these 112 techniques are categorised into three categories so that Sadhaks can tread on their respective subjective journey with less effort and one can easily identify that which category one can practice based on his abilities, one should know that “ Commencement of science begins with faith and behind all faith lies it's science because when a human being is capable of understanding the phenomenon it is science and when he does not understand, faith takes over” Vigyan bhirava also is a scientific technique to realize the Shiva consciousness through the ancient scientific traditional techniques to be practiced on this auspicious night of Maha Shivaratri.

I personally welcome you to Spend the time around Mahashivratri to enhance and deepen yogic practices and to realize your True Self.

“Darkness alone can bring light, light cannot bring darkness but, light cannot be seen without darkness” Celebrate Shivarathri, a long dark night of the year.

Sri Prasad

Jai Guru Dev