DHYAN FOUNDATION

The word Shiv consists of 'shav', which is a dead body and 'i', which is Shakti – the force which runs creation. This force needs a vehicle or a body to manifest into, so shav becomes Shiv and a child is born. The night of Shivratri has the power to give birth to your thoughts. It is a night of birth, a night of merger; a night of creation, a night of manifestation and a night of thought fulfilment and the one who can give you this experience of Shiv is your Guru. Being born in the land of Bharat, I have grown up hearing stories of Shiv and Shakti; I was told that Shivratri is a night of marriage of Shiv to Shakti, an auspicious and potent night. I would see elders in the family keeping a fast, making offerings, singing prayers to Shivji…for me Shivratri meant a holiday from school. I could not see the sense in celebrating an event that occurred centuries and maybe millennia ago. For me, Shiv and Shakti were protagonists of a puranic story, I was ob...

यह लेख संकलन लखनऊ में प्रकाशित किया गया था |

The ever-powerful goddess’s presence can be traced across the globe in numerous religions, myths and texts. As per modern historians and geologists, the world as we know today was one big landmass called the ‘Pangea’ many thousand years ago. If one reads the creation story in various cultures, they talk about a flood and a saviour. So then, does it mean that all of us—geographies and cultures irrespective—have common roots, a common origin, and are governed by the same energy? As per Vedic philosophy, there are three aspects of Creation: creation, preservation and transformation, and to run these functions the Divine energy assumes the triple form of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh, with the propelling forces Saraswati, Lakshmi and Durga respectively. Interestingly, these pieces of evidence are not limited to the Indian subcontinent but can be found all across the globe. In this article, we will trace the presence of Durga or Adi Shakti cross the world map. Another name f...

Make your connection so powerful that every time you undergo pain, He experiences it too and is forced to look at you and give you what you desire. If we look back in history, some of the most amazing scientific feats are attributed to Bharatvarsha, be it the concept of “shunya” or “purna”, mechanism of solar system, the law of gravitation, Pythagoras theorem, science of metallurgy and more, all were mastered by the Vedic seers. Some of the most wondrous pieces of architecture were built thousands of years ago by the Vedic masters and remain unparalleled in this age of modern technology. Not just this, the strength of their bodies and the abilities they possessed is unheard of in present times as are their descriptions of paranormal and direct interactions with gods and goddesses. Why is it then that so many invasions have taken place and so many times our temples have been looted and plundered, when we had such an advanced culture with so much knowledge? Take a...

Shiva is often described as adi, unborn; anant, endless; akhand, indivisible; nirakaar, formless. Yet, shivling has a form. Why is that? Shiva is beyond birth and yet He has a form. And this form was brought into creation by Adi Shakti. Adi Shakti manifested itself and then created gravity around it through a whirling motion, through rotation, or ‘pradikshina’. Rotation is the basis of gravity, of magnetism, of the energy of prana that is in every microcosm of Creation. When something rotates, it creates a pull or magnetism around it. When you do pradikshina of a Shakti, you are able to relate to it very easily. This practice is used in advanced sadhnas of Sanatan Kriya. When Adi Shakti created the force, yoni manifested. And shivling manifested in that yoni. A shivling encompasses the entire brahmand (creation). When you do sadhana on the shivling, then the entire creation unfolds in front of you, and you are able to access any energy therein. A specific kriya in Sanatan...

Shiv is the doer and may be likened to a vehicle. If you remove ‘i’ from Shiv, it becomes ‘shav’ (corpse). The ‘i’ represents Shakti, which is the fuel that energises this vehicle to perform action. Shakti is the force of the physical world. Shivratri is the night of merger of Shiv and Shakti making a complete whole. Shiv and Shakti pertain to manifest creation and arise from the unmanifest. The journey back to the unmanifest can be carved only through their complete merger which is the ultimate purpose of yoga and Sanatan Kriya . A practical example of merger of Shiv and Shakti is the institution of marriage where the merger of male and female leads to manifestation of a new life. If there is a mismatch in this merger of male and female, or Shiv and Shakti, the marriage remains incomplete. This imbalance is evident in the progeny who will exhibit anti-social and undesirable behaviour and traits. The rishis of yesteryear explained how incompleteness sets into the child in t...

Centuries ago Lord Shiv is said to have revealed himself to his true devotees in the form of a jyoti or a light. On their request for Him to reside by them for eternity, He installed Himself near them, as a linga, which is now known as Jyotirlinga. In this series of articles we will take you through the 12 Jyotirlingas as described in the following Sanskrit shloka (Dwadasha Jyotirlingum Strota) – सौराष्ट्रे सोमनाथं च श्रीशैले मल्लिकार्जुनम्। उज्जयिन्यां महाकालमोङ्कारममलेश्वरम्॥ परल्यां वैद्यनाथं च डाकिन्यां भीमशङ्करम्। सेतुबन्धे तु रामेशं नागेशं दारुकावने॥ वाराणस्यां तु विश्वेशं त्र्यम्बकं गौतमीतटे। हिमालये तु केदारं घुश्मेशं च शिवालये॥ एतानि ज्योतिर्लिङ्गानि सायं प्रातः पठेन्नरः। सप्तजन्मकृतं पापं स्मरणेन विनश्यति॥ एतेशां दर्शनादेव पातकं नैव तिष्ठति। कर्मक्षयो भवेत्तस्य यस्य तुष्टो महेश्वराः॥: द्वादश ज्योतिर्लिंग स्तोत्रम् Sri Baidyanath Jyotirlinga is situated in Deogarh in the Santhal Parganas area of Bihar. In fact, Deogarh is also known as Baidyanath,...

"On the night of Shivratri, it is easiest to connect with the forces of Shiv and Shakti, leading to the highest merger. Once the merger is complete, nothing is impossible,be it manifestation of thought or desire, or mantra siddhi" - Yogi Ashwini #Shivratri  celebrations at Dhyan Foundation ashram and centres on 24 Feb, 10pm onwards.  To attend, register at 9911185002 / 9953754934. Or register online at http:// www.dhyanfoundation.com/ mahashivratri-yagya.php  — with  Yogi Ashwini .

“Whenever and wherever there is a decline in righteousness, O descendant of Bharata, and a predominant rise of vice – at that time I descend Myself. In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to re-establish the principles of dharma, I advent Myself epoch after epoch” Since the beginning, Lord Vishnu incarnated in various forms on earth from time to time. Whenever there was a disbalance in Creation, it was ensured that the avatars worked on rectifying it. The avatar was bespoke of the yuga as the yugas needed to change with time. He took birth as a Brahmin (Parshurama) to annihilate the corrupt Kshatriyas, as a prince(Rama) to slay the demon king of Lanka and as a cowherd(Krishna) who executed the cunning Kansa and steered the Pandavas to victory. Lord Vishnu is said to have ten avatars (dashavatars) in the present cycle of four yugas. Now, being the Kalyug, is the time when the tenth and the final avatar of Lord Vishnu will take birth on Earth...

The sun rises, and sets, and rises again the next morning. Water evaporates, falls back as water, and evaporates once again. The tree blooms, sheds leaves, and bears fresh leaves once again. It is an unending cycle, with no beginning or end, just like the source, the shivling which is an oval, the journey of the spirit being a continuous spiral motion up and down the oval with no beginning or end, the destination of journey being merger with the core. All aspects of creation reside in this form– the good and the bad and the evil. Sunrise too is shiv, sunset too is shiv. In the realm of shiv, there is no distinction. It is up to an individual what part he/she chooses to access. Let us look at the swaroop of shiv parivar. Shiv holds Ganga in his locks which signifies purity, the neck is adorned with Mund-maala (garland of skulls) which is a form of Mahakaal that signifies impurity and at the bottom is urik or vaak charm, again signifying impurity (mrit shareer or dead body)....

The article was published in The Pioneer.

Yog is your relationship with your Guru . A shishya according to his capacity, establishes a relationship with the Guru, then it is the task of the Guru to make him/her rise above that relationship to a state where there are all relationships and yet no relationship. Sati, born to Daksha Prajapati, was the incarnation of Adi Shakti herself, and performed great austerities to win the Adi Guru Shiv himself, as her husband. Her penance was rewarded, her decision however was not well-received by her father, King Daksha. The king cut-off all communication with his daughter after marriage since he did not approve of Lord Shiv as his son-in-law. Once, a grand yagya was being conducted at King Daksha’s palace where all the gods and goddesses save Lord Shiv and Sati were invited. Sati requested Lord Shiv to accompany her for the yagya . Lord Shiv refused since they had not been invited and he advised her also not to go. Sati however insisted that a daughter does not need invitation...

  It is a scary experience. The first reaction of the passengers usually is to grab their seats tight, some of them fasten their seat belts and some even put on the oxygen mask. But then, would it prevent the plane from crashing? Or would it save them in the event the plane crashes? No. You have boarded the plane and are now moving with the energy of it. The control over the plane is not in your hands, you are a mere passenger. No matter what your social status, how many assets and wealth you possess or how good you look, you cannot save the body or the physical assets. What should you do then, when you realise the plane is crashing? People tell me, will you pray for it not to crash? Maybe your prayers get answered and the plane does not crash that once. But then, how many times and for how long may this work? The physical is temporary, it is bound to go. There is no one I know, who had been able to hold onto anything they collected. The plane has to crash some day. Y...