In today's meditation,
We'll be contemplating consciousness.
The philosophy of Shaivism says that consciousness is always at the center of everything.
It's never on the periphery.
Consciousness is the hub and heart of every experience.
And the sages have called consciousness Shiva.
Today we'll be meditating on the world as a play of consciousness.
We'll be trying to feel into that space where we can recognize that consciousness is everything.
And everything is consciousness.
The great sage Baba Muktananda said,
Shiva pervades everything without being different from anything.
How can anything be other than Shiva?
The Parashakti Chitti spreads everywhere in the universe.
She is matter in material objects and consciousness in conscious beings.
She takes on attributes yet is without attributes.
It is she who is sporting everywhere.
How can there be anything different from her?
In the universe that is only Chitti's play,
What can be impure or unclean?
So when we start to recognize things as consciousness,
When we play hide and seek with consciousness,
When we find it,
When we recognize it,
Consciousness purifies and uplifts everything.
Close your eyes and turn within.
And notice already that subtle feeling of upliftment or relaxation or peace that occurs as the current of the mind,
Which normally moves out into the world,
Starts to travel inward and become reflective.
Notice your inner world and feel into it with your inner senses.
So we're not looking for anything in particular here in this moment.
Just observe your inner world with your inner senses.
What thoughts,
Memories,
Images,
Or words are in your inner space?
What people are you carrying with you?
Breathing in deep and breathing out long.
And as you breathe in deep and breathe out long,
Your whole being is poised to embrace your own inner power,
The power of consciousness.
Because consciousness is always at the center of everything,
Contemplate the idea that wherever you are is the center of the universe.
If you are in Paris,
France,
Then Paris,
France is the center of the universe.
If you're on 14th Street in Manhattan,
14th Street is the center of the universe.
Feel,
Visualize,
Or imagine that wherever you are is at the center of everything.
And now examine the quality of consciousness.
What is the quality of your inner world?
So if you are feeling angry,
Anger is at the center of the universe.
If you're feeling peaceful or loving,
Love is at the center of the entire cosmos.
Notice what you're feeling and where you're feeling it.
And because the goddess Chitti,
Consciousness,
Has traveled out from the center to manifest every layer of reality,
Whatever is in the center,
Whatever quality consciousness has pervades the world.
So if anger is at the center of your experience,
The world is permeated by anger.
If love is at the center of your experience,
The universe is drenched in love.
Reality is so porous that it takes on the qualities of whatever is near.
And consciousness is the nearest,
Dearest thing.
Shaivism says that everything is consciousness and consciousness is everything.
And that we are Shiva.
We are consciousness.
Because you are the center of the universe,
Because consciousness is at the center of the universe,
You have incredible power.
What we feel and think permeates every level of reality.
And now we'll contemplate our identity as Shiva.
We'll feel the power of Shiva and consciousness by honoring our inner space with the repetition of the mantra,
Om Nama Shivaya.
Om Nama Shivaya.
I honor my higher self.
Om Nama Shivaya.
Salutations to that which I am capable of becoming.
Om Nama Shivaya.
I honor the Lord who lives within.
Om Nama Shivaya.
I am ultimate reality.
I am loving awareness.
I am consciousness itself.
You can begin internally repeating the mantra,
Om Nama Shivaya,
At a pace that's comfortable for you.
You can fill the mantra with your deep feeling or intention.
And allow that deep feeling or intention to move,
To be enshrined in the center so that it might permeate everywhere.
Say the mantra,
Om Nama Shivaya,
For power.
Say it for peace,
For love,
For blessings.
Let the body,
The mind,
The energy,
And the breath be suffused with the mantra,
Om Nama Shivaya.
And if the mind wanders away or gets distracted,
If it starts to pick up items on your to-do list or anxieties or worries you have over the future or drifts into the land of memory or past impressions,
Honor those thoughts or feelings or memories as consciousness,
As Shiva.
Shiva has taken the form of every thought,
Of every feeling,
Of every memory.
And you can honor and bless each thought with the mantra,
Om Nama Shivaya.
And if you recognize that you're no longer favoring the mantra above other thoughts,
Just compassionately bring the mantra back to the center without any negative self-talk.
Bring the mantra over all other thought currents,
Om Nama Shivaya.
Om Nama Shivaya.
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Om Nama Shivaya.
Om Nama Shivaya.
