Spiritual Growth: 6 Secrets from Lord Shiva

Secrets of Spiritual Growth

• How humility defines true spiritual wisdom
• The power of devotion in overcoming inner obstacles
• Why satsanga transforms spiritual seekers
• Lord Shiva’s unparalleled love for Sri Rama
• The dangers of seeing differences in the divine
• Tulsidas’s teachings on surrender and grace

Spiritual Growth suggests increase in Divine Love 

The words of Goswami Tulsidas reveal the nature of Love. In Love, there is no shift of opinions, the person who loves does so irrespective of the response from the object of love. Any expression which is not within the domain of love, changes as seasons change and depends on time, place and circumstances. Such expressions of convenience are shallow and are incapable of holding their worth before love.

Kagabhushundi Maharaj and the Ire of Bhagawan Shiva

After Sri Bhushundiji (Kagabhushundi, the Crow Devotee of Lord Rama) arrived at the holy place of Ujjain, he accepted a spiritual master to further his spiritual life. Sri Bhushundiji’s Spiritual master  was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and humility incarnate. Sri Bhushundiji was initiated through the sacred Shiva mantra, by his spiritual master. After the ceremonious attainment of the Shiv mantra, Sri Bhushundiji started chanting the mantra with new vigor. 

However there remained certain impressions ingrained within him which were unsuitable for his spiritual growth. He had formed a firm opinion in his heart that Lord Shiva was superior to Lord Rama. His yardstick to measure greatness amongst the gods, remained as one of the greatest impediments in his spiritual journey and presented roadblocks on his spiritual path. 

However the spiritual master of Sri Bhusundi belonged to the category of the highest class of masters who was extremely humble and regarded no differences between Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. According to the Holy Scriptures, seeing a difference between Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu is called a “Nama Aparadha”, an offense against the holy name. 

With this offense in the heart chanting the holy names of Bhagawan, even a zillion times over many lifetimes, shall bear no fruit. Hence it is best to be under the guidance of a qualified Guru and obey him in the mood of a servitor so that “Nama Aparadha” does not stick to us.

Owing to the shortcomings in the heart of Sri Bhushundiji in those times, he developed certain complexes within his heart and approach, as he continued chanting the Shiva mantra. Finally the result of the complexities of the Ego within Bhushundiji was the insult of his spiritual master which came down heavily on him as the curse of Bhagawan Shiva. You can read the complete story here.

This is because Lord Shiva is the custodian and the direct representation of Guru Tattva, the Guru principle. Bhagawan Shiva is more concerned about the Guru principle which is present in every genuine spiritual in flesh and blood. He is not as much concerned about someone’s Bhakti towards Him, if that comes at the cost of the devotee insulting the Guru. This can invoke the wrath of Bhagawan Shiva and that is what exactly happened in the case of Bhushundiji.

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A Paradox: Association of  Elevated Saints is easy to get and yet very rare

There are two quotations in the Sri Ramcharitmanas which appear contradictory. At one place in the Manas, it is said that getting the association of elevated saints is easy. At another place in the Uttara Kand of the Manas, it is said that obtaining the association of saints is extremely rare. 

One may start wondering as to how the two statements appear in the very same scripture. The meaning to be extracted from these seemingly opposing statements is that, getting a saint for association is easy, yet, to benefit from the saint in the way it is intended to, is extremely rare. 

To explain this point, we have this elucidation. There may exist a highly realized sage who stays in the nearby village. Daily, a number of people approach him and enter into a conversation with him. Most people are worried about their jobs or their son or daughter’s marriage or a disease in the household and so on. Can this qualify as satsanga (holy discussion)?

How many people go to the sage and enquire about the purpose of life and enquire with him about the possibilities open to attain God. Is he not the right person to whom these questions are to be put to? Now the question is how many people are really interested in knowing the Truth about life?  Are there any takers?  

There are certain other people who only go to validate their knowledge about God and Life with the sage. They are least interested in taking a humble position and enquiring from the sage or seer, his view and deep Realizations about Life and God. One is not ready to become an open vessel to take the words of the seers as words of Grace. 

If the seer agrees with one’s opinions then he becomes a high quality saint otherwise the sage becomes a charlatan in the eyes of the questioner. This is their misfortune. This explains the context of the apparently contradictory statements about Satsanga.

Bhagawan Shiva and the Nature of His Consort

The Ramcharita Manasa has the chronology set by the stories of the spiritual masters. The order of the Manas begins initially with the story of the Supreme Spiritual Master Lord Shiva and His better half Sri Sati Devi. It then proceeds to the story of Lord Shiva and the next incarnation of Devi Sati who is Sri Parvati. 

The story of Lord Shiva and His consort Sri Sati begins with the story of Maharaja Daksha, who is Sri Sati’s father. He was a king with exceptional qualities and also the son of Sri Brahma, the Creator. However it were these very qualities that pumped up his egoistic demeanor. Sri Sati had two associations, one was with her extremely pompous father, the kingly son of the Creator himself and the other was with her husband, Lord Shiva who is all auspiciousness, the Supreme Lord Himself. 

Although she was associated with the Lord, she had received Her body from Daksha who was full of himself and so, this quality she inherited from Her father.

Bhagawan Shiva’s Earnestness in Hearing Rama Katha

Sri Sati, being the daughter of King Daksha, the Son of Sri Brahma, could not be relieved from the defect of bodily ego. The entire Ramcharita Manas finds its beginning in the story of Lord Shiva and Sri Sati. Once Lord Shiva, along with His eternal consort Sri Sati, walked through the jungles of Dandakaranya, in the modern state of Maharashtra, in order to take the benefit of Rama katha (राम कथा The stories of Lord Ram). 

It is interesting to note that Lord Shiva, is known as the Acharya (आचार्य teacher) of Rama Katha and here He is, trying to hear Rama Katha from the sages of Dandakaranya. The Ramcharitmanas opens with the statement that there are four orators of Rama Katha, in all. 

The Mood of the Ancient Orators of Rama Katha

In the first case when Lord Shiva renders the story of Lord Rama to Mother Parvati, he begins by saying that, this is the tale that has been rendered by the crow-sage Kagabhushundi to the king of eagles, Sri Garuda.

When Sri Kagabhushundi renders the tale of Lord Rama to Sri Garuda, he begins by saying that I am rendering the same tale of Sri Rama that Lord Shiva rendered to his wife Parvati.

When Sri Yajnavalkya renders the tale to his disciples, he says I am narrating the story of Sri Rama, the same one which Sri Kagabhushundi narrated to Sri Garuda and which Lord Shiva narrated to his dear consort Sri Parvati.

When Goswami Tulsidas is narrating the tale of Sri Rama, he says that I am narrating the same tale of Sri Rama, which I have heard from my Guru. Now who can decipher the beginning of the tale of Sri Rama?

Hence there is no chronological sequence to the tales of Sri Rama, it is a narrative with no beginning nor end. The whole world proclaims that it is only Lord Shiva who is the original narrator of Rama Katha, but Lord Shiva never accepts this position in all humility.

When someone approaches Goswami Tulsidas and praises him for the great work Sri Ramcharitmanas, he says that I am a mere parrot who is reciting the verses of this great work, as the Master taught him.

Now since Goswami Tulsidas is taking the position of a parrot who recites the high class verses of a great work, one gets interested in knowing about the master who has trained this parrot named Goswami Tulsidas. The answer to this question is that it is indeed Lord Sri Ramachandra, who is the Master, teacher; who has trained this parrot known by the name of Goswami Tulsidas.

Bhagawan Shiva’s utter Humility

Continuing the story of Lord Shiva; Lord Shiva enters the jungle of Dandakaranya to hear Rama Katha from the lotus mouth of Sri Yajyavalkya, accompanied by his consort Sri Sati. As a background to this interesting tale, it would be worthwhile to compare the original abode of Lord Shiva, Mount Kailash and the forests of Dandakaranya, where Lord Shiva has descended in order to hear the tales of Lord Rama. 

We must know that Lord Shiva was the original, the most ancient narrator of the tales of the Ramayana. When he was the orator, he did not even have an audience for His very first narration. With the desire to narrate the tales of Rama, he wandered in the mountains of Kailash. He was overjoyed to find a lone Banyan tree. 

He was happy that he had found His audience. Now here is an orator, who goes all by Himself and clears the space beneath the tree, with His own hands and creates his own seating place under the tree. Have we heard of any popular orator who, all by himself, makes his own seating place before an oration? 

Here is, the most ancient being, the greatest of Gods, Lord Shiva, the original Guru, the Master of all spiritual masters, clearing the space under the banyan tree all by Himself. It is at this time that Sri Parvati finds Her husband ready to deliver the Ramcharitmanas. She takes full advantage of this golden opportunity and rushes to seat Herself at His feet and takes Her position as the second person other than the Banyan tree to hear the immortal tale of Sri Rama.

The Metaphysics of Satsanga (Holy Association)

The point made about the location of Mount Kailash is that, it was an ideal circumstance when the orator, Lord Shiva considered Himself fortunate that He was blessed to have a banyan tree and Srimati Parvati as His audience, while the Banyan Tree and Srimati Parvati felt that they were blessed to hear the tales of Lord Rama from the Lotus mouth of the God of gods, Lord Shiva. There is a metaphysical aspect in this theory of satsanga (सत्संग). 

When the orator considers that the audience is superior to him and considers them as a representative of the Supreme Lord and also the audience feels, at the same time that the orator is a representative of the Lord who is delivering the tales of the Lord, a divine confluence emanates from such an association, the ideal satsanga.

On the other hand, if the orator feels superior and claims his stake for having been offered the position as a speaker in satsanga, only his ego shall speak and the results of such an association shall only poison the mood of satsanga. 

On the other hand if the audience feels that they know much about the subject and do not take a subservient position, their corrupted minds shall doubt the knowledge of the speaker and all the purity of the satsanga will be filtered away thus leaving a bad taste, for an experience.

Hence Mount Kailash, is a representation of such a place where both the orator and the audience have considered the other, as being the direct representatives of the Lord and therefore the confluence of satsanga in Mount Kailash, stands unrivalled in its supramundane mood.

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