• Table of Contents
  • Psychology of Silence by Swami Veda Bharati
  • The Method for Inner Study by Swami Rama
  • Sangha Talk by Swami Ritavan Bharati
  • Deepening Your Sadhana by Pandit Hari Shankar Dabral
  • Silence: The Illuminated Mind by Himalayan Yoga Publications Trust
  • Ten Days Silence in SRSG by Shunyaa Tsai
  • Retreat with Swami Tat Sat Bharati by Srila Devi
  • July Retreats at SRSG
  • Dear Yoga Mentor, My Question Is…
  • Meditation in Christianity by Beatrix Dekkers-Heezius
  • Dance Workshop & Maha Shivaratri by Carolyn Hume
  • 2018 Events and Beyond
  • Full Moon Meditation Dates
  • Location of our SRSG ashram
• AHYMSIN Newsletter Archive

Dance Workshop & Maha Shivaratri

by Carolyn Hume

Maha Shivaratri is observed annually at Swami Rama Sadhaka Grama (SRSG) with an all night practice and vigil, including the chanting of the thousand names of Shiva. Sometimes the vigil takes place also at Sadhana Mandir and the Virbhadra Temple.

Jay Prakash Bahuguna took photos of this year’s observations, both the preceding dance workshop and the all night vigil, some of which can be seen in this article, and through them provides a visual record of these days in 2018.

I did not have the privilege of attending the observances this year, but still carry in my mind an all night vigil with Swami Veda Bharati and other sadhakas, which was spiritually charged and permeated with silence. Swamiji chanted the "Nirvana Shatakam" or "Atma Shatakam" by Adi Shankara; this had been heart-held by me even before I physically met Swami Rama and Swami Veda in this lifetime. This is Swami Veda’s translation:

Mano-buddhy-ahankaara-chittaani naaham…

I am not mind, intellect, thought, or ego;
Not hearing, taste, smelling or sight;
Not ether or earth, fire or air,
I am the soul of Knowledge and Bliss –
I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

I am not that which is called prana, nor the five vital airs;
Not even the seven components of the body
Nor the five sheaths; nor the five organs of actions.
I am the soul of Knowledge and Bliss –
I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

I have no aversion or clinging, greed or delusion;
No envy or pride, duty or purpose;
No desire, no freedom.
I am the soul of Knowledge and Bliss –
I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

I am not virtue or vice, not pleasure or pain;
Not sacred word or pilgrimage, not Veda or sacrifice;
I am not enjoying, enjoyable, or enjoyer.
I am the soul of Knowledge and Bliss –
I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

I have no death or fear, no distinction or caste;
No father, no mother, no birth;
No friend or relation, no master or disciple.
I am the soul of Knowledge and Bliss –
I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

I am changeless, formless,
and through all-pervadingness omnipresent;
I am not touched by attachment of senses;
I am not freedom nor knowable.
I am the soul of Knowledge and Bliss –
I am Shiva, I am Shiva.

Also the date when Swamiji took his 5 year vow of silence, 10th March 2013, was Shivaratri.

This year Dr. Prakriti Bhaskar taught a dance workshop dedicated to Lord Shiva as Nataraja at SRSG 12 – 14 February 2018 and wrote, “…Let the mystique of Shiva, the primordial yogi who is also the supreme dancer Nataraja, lead you to the great auspicious night of awakening, MAHASHIVARATRI.” Nataraja is “Lord of the Dance”, the dance being the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution.

It brings to mind Swami Rama talking of the atman, the soul, being like the hub of a wheel, “It doesn’t move, yet it creates all the movements.” and “Our individual soul is beyond all movement.”

Slideshow

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