Two processes are recommended for exhausting one’s karmas, Tapasya and Titiksha.
Tapasya means to burn or heat. It is purifying every part of the body through a particular process. It is undergoing a process of suffering spontaneously and willingly. In the Bhagwad Gita different forms of tapasya, physical, mental and emotional austerity are given. Continue reading
When one reads or listens to the story of the Ramayana, one wonders why Ravana have ten heads? In order to understand this incredible fact, one has to go to the origin of Ravana. Ravana’s grandfather was a Rakshas. His name was Sumilah was the leader of the Rakshasas, who considered themselves guardian of the forest way of life. This way of life was one of extreme cunning and one had to be strong. They had no code of conduct. The rakshasas did not perform Tapasya or Yagnas. They lived in the present. Continue reading
The bow of Shiva was the creation from the conversation between Shiva and Shakti. It was a perfect bow, the outcome of Tapasya and Yagna. Tapasya was like the shaft of the bow and Yagna was like the string of the bow. Individually Tapasya and Yagna cannot create a bow. Too loose the bow is useless, too tight the bow will break. To create a bow, the shaft has to bend and the string has to be taut. Therefore, the bow was created, by joining tapasya and yagna. It was a symbol of all relationships, of all man and woman in marriage, and of king and kingdom. Continue reading
Shiva meditated on Mount Kailash, which was barren, and he was covered in snow. Shiva became the supreme tapasvi as he had destroyed hunger. Prakriti took the form of Shakti and said to Shiva, “Hunger distinguishes creatures from being alive and dead. You are a corpse as you have no hunger. Vegetation happens when there is water and soil. An animal seeks food to satisfy his hunger.” Continue reading
Can enlightenment come at any time?
Swami Satyananda Saraswati’s answer.
“Enlightenment can come at any time. It may at first seem like a flash from time to time, until it finally stabilizes itself. It is not predestined. It is not one’s will. It is not an outcome of one’s sadhana, which means purity, tapasya or vairagya. It comes unannounced, it can come to a person on the street and bypass a saint who has been meditating for a long time. Continue reading