Yogi Ashwini explains the evolution of the magnificent energy that is Shiva, by going back to the beginning of the creation
Nature has its way of providing for balance in creation. Darkness is nothing but absence of light. Similarly, silence is nothing but the absence of sound. It is the duality in nature, the coexistence of positive and negative, that gives meaning to the existence of the whole or purna. What if there exists the entirety of positive and negativeIJ Then the two will balance each other out completely, the net result being shunya and also purna. There would be everything yet nothing. The only form that could fit such a description is the formless — Nirakaar, Para Brahma. This is the swaroop of lord Shiva.
What then is the dancing male form, or the half-man half-woman, or a sadhu clad in loincloth with body smeared in bhasmaIJ Are Nataraja, Ardhanareshwar and Neelkanth mythsIJ let us dwell upon the infinite energy that is Shiva, let’s go back to the beginning.
When the creation began, there existed just one supreme consciousness that manifested as Adi Shakti. From her emerged anything and everything; from her emerged Shiva. Interestingly, the first physical manifestation of the creation was the sound of Om which emerged from the damru of Shiva; his dance of creation gave form to the universe. Thus, what manifested was Shiva and the energy responsible for this manifestation was also Shiva.
Adi Shakti in all her glory then chose to be the consort of Shiva as Shakti or Parvati. While the entire creation (including Shiva) draws its energy from Shakti, Shakti sans Shiva is just pure energy that requires a vehicle to channelise itself. The complete evolution thus becomes a union of the two, Ardhanareshwar or Shiva who granted half his body to Shakti.
This evolution is seen as the awakening of kundalini in humans. The process involves rising up through the chakras, what rises up being kundalini or shakti, a semi-dormant force residing at the base chakra. For this to happen, Shiva seated at the highest chakra has to come down and unite with Shakti at every subsequent chakra. The samudra manthan where both amrit and vish were produced during the churning of the ocean is the awakening of kundalini.
Amrit is the union of Shiva-Shakti that bestows salvation. The vish or venom produced as an equal and opposite necessitates the role of guru in evolution. It was Shiva as Neelkanth who took in all the vish and preserved it in his throat, for maintaining the balance, for the existence of amrit. Shiva then becomes the granter of salvation. When the eyes are shut, one experiences a vast limitless expanse of space, the chittakaash, wherein lies everything perceivable and unperceivable. Strangely though there exists no space between the eye and eyelid. That is, there is everything yet nothing.
The night of Mahashivratri has a special significance as the energy patterns of this day resonate with the energy of Shiva. For a spiritual aspirant this is the night of sanatan kriya and mantra sadhna. The guru, who monitors the shishya at every step, gives him a specific mantra and kriya to practice at the right muhurat (time) on this night. The amazing psychic experiences that follow bring results worth the effort of several lifetimes, in just one night.
The writer is the author of the book, Sanatan Kriya: The Ageless Dimension