Propelled by our longing, evoked by the descent of Grace, a state of Oneness with the Lord is revealed and we can experience true love and freedom. This is a state complete in itself, pervaded by a feeling of supreme bliss. The two-fold dynamic of Grace and longing, operating as one divine process. Śiva bestows Grace in the individual, invoking longing and devotion — and our sādhana is the response that actuates our knowing that source of Grace.
Our desire to know our highest Self may feel like our own longing, but in reality, it is the One Consciousness of God within us, wishing to know Itself, as us.
Śaktipāta/Divine Grace is an autonomous living force that incites the heart and spirit, causing longing and devotion, and the illumination of one’s TrueSelf.
The term Grace is essential to nondual tradition as it emphasizes the awakening of the divine power, which lies dormant within each of our hearts.
It is said that Śiva bestows Grace without regard to the merits or faults of individuals, nor to their knowledge or ignorance of the Self. Although that seemingly contradicts the need to make an effort to purify oneself or to show oneself worthy, the desire to purify oneself is already a sign of Grace. And when this spiritual longing begins to stir in us, it generally leads us to find a practice and a teacher who can help unfold that which is already within us.
Propelled by our longing, evoked by the descent of Grace, a state of Oneness with the Lord is revealed and we can experience true love and freedom. This is a state complete in itself, pervaded by a feeling of supreme bliss. The two-fold dynamic of Grace and longing, operating as one divine process. Śiva bestows Grace in the individual, invoking longing and devotion — and our sādhana is the response that actuates our knowing that source of Grace.
Sādhana is the response to the power of that liberating Grace providing each individual with the intent and power to respond to that Divine Intervention.
The highest act of God’s Grace is love: what greater love than to reveal the Divine union of our self with our Self.
May we all be seized by an all-consuming & intoxicating freedom: the ever-present awareness of constantly prostrating in reverence, longing, and devotion to our own divine nature, always abiding in it, while attending to it at all times. May we ascend, by the liberating power of Grace, to live in the Heart of God, immersed in and pervaded by our TrueSelf.
Sādhana is the ascent of knowing, love, devotion, and joy as the response to Grace. The determining factor is the intensity of response, i.e., the depth of our intent and surrender that expresses that wish.
To know one’s Self as that Supreme Being means to have become That, to be immersed in and pervaded by That.
Longing is then the power of the Lord in unwavering devotion as a means to an end, specifically the means for a disciple to attain the state of Oneness.
Devotion is no longer from the devotee to the Lord, but within the Lord Himself an end in itself, the result of a purification process enacted by the Lord, rather than a means in the hands of the disciple to attain the Lord. This is an unwavering devotion, not a craving for fruit of actions. It is the Supreme Śakti, stemming from the power of Grace, which only seeks to have one’ s TrueSelf revealed (anugraha).
Devotion is described as the immersion into the knowing state, “the shining forth of one’s own nature as non-different from the single Being underlying all things.” That Being is the Supreme Lord, Śiva or Parameśvara, consisting in all-pervading Consciousness.
Devotion is synonymous with meditation on one’s innermost Self.
“Reverence” refers not to the act of bowing to an external deity, but rather to the notion of immersion in the Lord, which ultimately results in identification with Him, and hence in liberation.
“Division” refers to the distinction between worshipper and object of worship. However, this division is self-created by the absolute Consciousness as an act of supreme delight and freedom.
“Internal Worship and Self-Reflective Awareness” means the object of devotion becomes the I-awareness, and the practice of devotional worship becomes a form of meditation on the Self.
The most accomplished recognition comes from being immersed (samāveśa) in the Supreme Self — the knowledge of one’s identity with and as the OneSelf, by turning one’s awareness back into That.
The highest form of devotion is surrender, the true sacrificial ground, in which there is no distinction between the one who worships, the object of worship, and the act of worship.
Devotion, the state of final emancipation, also referred to as “the state of Śiva” (Śivatā), is one in which any sense of duality has dissolved. It is in this state of Oneness with the Lord that one can experience true bhakti. Wholehearted devotion is that state itself.
Accompanied by the nectar of supreme bliss, devotion is not just a means but rather an expression of the goal itself.
Friend — hope for the Guest while you are alive. Jump into experience while you are alive! Think. . . and think. . . while you are alive. What you call "salvation" belongs to the time before death.
If you don't break your ropes while you're alive, do you think ghosts will do it after?
The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic just because the body is rotten that is all fantasy. What is found now is found then.
If you find nothing now, you will simply end up with an apartment in the City of Death.
So plunge into the truth, find out who the true Teacher is, Believe in the Great Sound!
When the Guest is being searched for, it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest that does all the work. . . Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity. Kabir
Oneness is the living experience of immersion in the Heart of the Divine. That the ineffable can be at once the singular reality of pure, undivided Consciousness, as well as the object of individual devotion and longing, is not a contradiction to the nondual understanding that God/dess is our essential nature.
The dynamic pulsation between the deep longing and exquisite anguish for the bliss of union contains many stages. This apparent duality is resolved by complete surrender, culminating in intoxicating joy where all differentiation and separation is dissolved.
I offer myself into the liberating power of Grace, so that I will live and serve in the Heart of God.
May I be seized by an all-consuming & intoxicating freedom: the ever-present awareness of constantly prostrating in reverence, longing, and devotion to my own divine nature, always abiding in it, while attending to it at all times. May I ascend, by the liberating power of Grace, to live in the Heart of God, immersed in and pervaded by my TrueSelf.
I AM THAT — which prevails everywhere, complete in Itself.
I AM JOY — the Deity of Eternal Bliss
I AM ŚIVA— I AM
Sacarācara parāpūrṇaṃ
Śivo’ham Śivo'ham
Sacarācara parāpūrṇaṃ
Śivo’ham Śivo'ham
Nityānanda svarūpa
Śivo’ham Śivo'ham
Nityānanda svarūpa
Śivo’ham Śivo'ham
Sacarācara parāpūrṇaṃ
Śivo’ham Śivo'ham
Sacarācara parāpūrṇaṃ
Śivo’ham Śivo'ham
Nityānanda svarūpa
Śivo’ham Śivo'ham
Nityānanda svarūpa
Śivo’ham Śivo'ham
Ānando'ham
Ānando'ham
Ānando'ham
My Interpretation: I Am.
Hara Hara Mahadeva Shambo (Bom Bom)
Kashi Vishwanatha Gange
Translation:
I call the names of The Great Lord Shiva Who lives on the Banks of the Ganges at Kashi.
I merge my awareness in my Divine nature.
Shivaya Namah
Shivaya Namah Om
Shambo Shankara Namah Shivaya
Girjia Shankara Namah Shivaya
Arunachala Shiva Namah Shivaya
Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram
Hare Ram … Sita Ram
"Victory to Ram, the eternal One, and to His consort Sita (Shri), the Divine Feminine Principal."
Tulsi Das (16th CE, author of the Hanuman Chalisa and the Tulsi Das Ramayana) likely chanted this mantra while sitting on the ghats of Varanasi, gazing out at the river Ganga and longing for a darshan (sight) of his beloved Ram and Sita.