By Ashwini Guruji
We relate to our self as the body that we see in the mirror. We see that body, because of maya. If there is no maya, there will be no body. Maya is the attraction that keeps us glued to the world that we see around us. We are attracted towards things—our self, our senses, our family, job, relationships…that is why these things are there and so is the body. The day this attraction finishes, that is, if maya ceases to exist, whatever you are not attracted to anymore, you will leave that. If you are not attracted to your body then you will leave the body, if your attraction towards family stops then the family will be left, a particular food, friends, family, anything which you are no longer attracted to will be left, this is maya. The thing which we are attracted to, which we are bound with, that is with us—we are in bondage of body that is why we have a body. The minute this bondage finishes, we will leave the body. The concept of maya is the concept of the entire creation.
What is this body?
We normally say it is the five elements. That is, the five elements—earth, water, fire, air and ether combined with the ego and certain gross senses make the body. These elements form the basis or adhaar of the major chakras of the body, earth for mooladhar, water for swadhisthan, fire for manipoorak, air for anahad and ether for vishuddhi. In our chakras the mool or aadhar or basis of Mooladhar is prithvi (earth) element. Thus, it encompasses the entire creation—earth, water, fire, air, ether and we have to rise above this. Above ether is the par-tattva, the agya chakra, which is between the eyebrows.
Our body is a reflection of the entire creation, like this creation has elements, so does our body. Just like earth forms the core of the creation, the muscles and bones comprise the earth element and form the core structure of our body. After earth, if you look around you see water, similarly after mooladhar there is swadhisthan which is the water element. At the bottom of oceans, there is no light, there is total darkness and as you start rising in the ocean, you see light. Similarly in our body, after swadhisthan there is manipoorak, the agni tattva. Agni tattva does not just mean fire, agni is also light (responsible for vision), agni is also the digestive fire responsible for digestion, it also manifests as the sexual energy. The effect of earth and water elements on the body is limited to the physical and is minimal, but fire forms the basis of all the energies/shaktis in our body. The shakti to see, vision, is also due to fire element. If jaap of manipoorak chakra is done properly, then the eyesight can never deteriorate. Manipoorak is the adhar of all the kriyas of drishti, especially the shaktipath through drishti. In fact, the ability of door-drishiti, which we call clairvoyance, also originates from the agni tattva because we can take the energy of light to any distance even with our eyes closed, we can see wherever and whatever we want to because there is light, there is an awakening.
So as we come up from the earth to the ocean and rise above the ocean, we find light- that is the fire element. Now above that is air, the wind that blows above the water and land. In Ayurveda, air element is considered the most dangerous as it is said that 2/3rd of the diseases are caused by an imbalance in the vaat dosha or the vayu. Just observe the air element in nature, how swiftly it moves, reaching from one place to the next in a matter of seconds. Of the three doshas of vaat, pitta and kapha, vaat is the most mobile, diseases caused by it become severe in no time.
If you keep going up in creation, next you see the akash or the ether. All the other elements lie in this akash. Similarly, fire, earth and water are contained in the air element, earth and water are there in fire, and earth is there in water. As you move up, the elements which are below merge with the element above, that is, the element above holds the capacity to include the elements below. Just take the example of earth in physical creation, it will ultimately merge with the water, which is called mahapralay. Above the ether, lies the par-tattva or Shiv, which has all these tattvas within it. So, to influence any of these elements, one need not go down to these elements, if there is a problem in any of the five elements, one can go to the par-tattva under sanidhya of Guru and easily control them through it.
All the elements can be controlled from top, that is why it is said 'Omkar bindu samyuktam…', which means everything is there in that omkar, it is a bindu, the par-tattva, nothing else. '….Nityam dhayanti yoginam' which means the yogi's dhyan is always on that par-tattva and not on the elements below. A yogi has an association with the lower elements also, but he controls them from the agya. He has control over his senses and the associated urges, and he is able to do that from the agya. This is the point of the bindu in which everything is present. That is, the entire creation is in Shiv but where is shiv?
All the other five elements are there inside you and you can feel them using the science of mudras. If you increase the air element, you start feeling nervous and will start burping, if you increase the fire element your temper will shoot up suddenly, if you increase the ether element you will have a feeling of expansion, but what about Shiv, which is the aadhar? Where is Shiv?
We only find what we require. All of us are five senses, smell, taste, sight, touch and sound. So, these five senses are there in each one of us and each of these is controlled by a chakra. Sense of smell is controlled by mooladhar, sense of taste by swadhisthan, sense of sight by manipoorak, sense of touch by anahad and sense of sound by vishuddhi. For our daily pleasures, what we do from morning to night, these five are sufficient and we do not need anything above them. So, when we do not need anything above them, how will we see Shiv?
Until there is an awakening of agya, you cannot see Shiv because Shiv is beyond the five tattvas. He is the par-tattva in which all the tattvas reside. You may be given the experience a couple of times forcefully, but till you have control over your basic senses, till you elevate to the level of agya, it will not happen to you naturally. Till you keep evaluating everything in life with these five senses, then you will not be able to go above them, even the thought to find Shiv will not come to you. even though Shiv is right here, sakshat, but you will not be able to see Shiv because that vision is not there, the third eye has not opened because you are bound by the other five senses. Shiv is in the whole of brahmand and the whole of brahmand is in Shiv, but where is Shiv?
A yogi has the Sakshatkar of Shiv but the one who is bound by the five senses cannot have it because he is bound to some other sense. Let me give you an example, if you see a man and woman walking holding hands, some will think they are having an affair, some others will take them to be brother and sister, still others may think them to be a mother and child. Different people seeing the same thing will have different perceptions about it depending upon the chakra by which they are bound. A person at anahad will see them as brother and sister, the one at swadhisthan will think of them as lovers. A yogi, the one who is at agya, will call it a relationship of Shiv-shakti, he just will not see anything except Shiv and shakti, this being no exception and the merger of Shiv and Shakti is creation and separation is dissolution.
An ordinary person cannot see that because he is stuck at some other chakra and because of that cannot think beyond a physical relationship. What you see, will tell you your level and capacity. The day you see Shiv and Shakti, that day, understand, that you have come in yog, whatever anyone may say. But before that you may meet the most powerful people of the country every day, you might know everyone in the whole world, but you are still here, you are nowhere beyond this because you cannot think beyond this. You do not understand Shiv, you do not know shakti because there is no awakening in you.
Yog is done for that awakening and not for the basic senses. When the awakening happens, all the pleasures of the five senses come within it, you can get anything that you want just by accessing the agya, but without that it cannot happen. You cannot do yog by merely thinking with your brain, it doesn't happen that way. If you want to travel somewhere, you do not have to pack your bags, the one who is in yog will sit here and travel around the world and beyond, just by closing his eyes because he is beyond these elements and not bound by them and the one who is still stuck here will be happy packing bags and thinking about the trip he is going to take. It is important for you to understand what yog is, and take it seriously, otherwise you will waste your birth. The entire creation is right in front of you, the body is just this and this body is inside Shiv which is making the body function. Shiv is at agya but where are you? Till the time you do not give first priority to yog, till then you will not see Shiv and Shakti. You will only see these senses, and you will keep moving in circles in these senses only, even after doing yog for 100 years!
