The mantra which has already been given to you is the most powerful one
There is a verse composed by Bhatrhari
It is called Subhashith in Sanskrit
It says
Amantro aksharo naasti
Nasti moolam anaushadi
Ayogya purusho naasti. Sanyojak tatra durlabhaha
It means, there is no letter which is not a Mantra
Each letter is a mantra
From A to Ksha each alphabet is a mantra
Similarly, there is no herb which is not a medicine
Root and leaf of any tree has medicinal value
Likewise every person, every individual has some merits/talent
Everyone has merit
But Sanyojak tatra durlabhaha
But it is difficult to find someone who can coordinate/integrate these merits in an individual
There are only few who can identify the herb suitable to each one
It is not that herbs has no medicinal value. It has the qualities of medicine
But only very few people know what suits whom and when
Similarly, there are some merits, talents and skill in each one of us
But not everyone knows how to harness these talents and get the most out of it
One cannot assign the job of cooking to a good tailor or assign driving a vehicle to a good cook,
Delegate the job in which one is expertise
It is the lack of integration of talents
It is the same with mantras also
There are some intense mantras
And there are soft mantras also
Every letter from Aa to Ksha is a mantra, and how does the mantra become letter?
If the initiation is given by the one who does Sadhna, it becomes mantra
Hence, during mantra initiation / deeksha, what mantra one gets,
assume that as the powerful mantra Right?
Om and Om Namah Shivaya
I tell everyone to chant the mantra Om Namah Shivaya
Chant Om Namo Narayana
These are Panchakshari (5 lettered) and ashtakshari (8 lettered)
Actually it is called Shadakshari (6 lettered)
When Om is added, it becomes six
Om Namo Narayana is eight lettered
And then Gayatri mantra
There are mantras
But those who can combine the mantras are very rare
Gurudev, what is the significance of staying awake on Shivratri?
Staying awake means you can even win over sleep
We sleep throughout the year
Only one night try staying awake
But I cannot say this in the present situation
This was a matter of ancient times
But now, it has become difficult to sleep
Today, the reverse state is the problem
People go through Shivratri on daily basis
And if thoughts occupy, it is Shivratri everyday
And for the one who is stuck to internet or TV serial and stay awake,
any night is a Shivratri
In the ancient times, it was said that,
to have control on one’s sleep and dream,
one can observe Masa Shivratri, that is Shivratri in every month
Don’t observe Shivratri every month, try it once a year
Even now people stay awake in north India and also here in south India
Some people stay awake on Saturdays
This means awakening your inner self
We presumed it as staying awake the whole night
When you merge with Shivtattwa, you are awakened from inside
Your consciousness awakens
This is awakening
When one feels the presence of Shiva,
consciousness blossoms
Awakens
Consciousness which was in a sleeping state, awakens again
Consciousness becomes energetic and starts manifesting
So, this is why we stay awake.
I do not tell you to stay awake during Shivratri
If you stay awake on Shivratri, you may got to sleep during day time
In the ancient times, during Shivratri, people stay awake the whole night
and do not sleep till the next night
You are not supposed to sleep during day
But in the present situation, our body has become so weak
that you will go to sleep in the day after the staying awake the whole night
This was not the case
And in those days, there was not much work
other than work in their own fields, people did not have to move from one place to another
So people stayed awake
Both during day time and night
Harvest season would have been over. There was no earning.
They are yet to receive rain
So there was not much work
During Shivratri there was no harvest and farmers would wait for the rain
After Chaitra, during vaisakh monsoon starts and then they sow seeds and the crop grows
Rituals were also connected to nature
In the month of Margazhi, December, people in Tamil Nadu go to temple as early as 4 O’clock in the morning
Temple closes by 7 O’clock
Poojas happen early morning
and they distribute hot khichdi(Prasad) to devotees
It happens even today
Morning they set out for procession in streets
They sing Keertanas , eat prasad
But the same rituals are impossible in Rishikesh, Allahabad, Delhi
Due to freezing cold you cannot even open your mouth leave alone singing Keertans
It is not possible in the cold climate
This ritual is not practiced there
There is no ritual of taking bath in cold water early in the morning for nagar sangeertan
Some people practice Maagmela as penance
In Allahabad also some people do take bath in the morning
Many also take dip early in the morning
That is a different matter
Rituals were practiced on appropriate time
What is more important is that do not hurt your body too much
I had a visitor saint who did not have food for the past one year
He has been active in the Naramada Bachao movement
I advised him to have food
He was young and just 35-40 years
He was not able to walk
He was so weak that he needed support to walk
Why should one give so much trouble to the body?
Giving too much pain to the body…
You have seen people prick their skin and tongue with needles, trishool, standing on one leg
These are all tamsik practices
Lord Krishna has said in Gita
Karshiyantam shareereestam
I am staying in your body and these tamasik practices are hurting me
It is hurting the soul
So do not practice such tamsik tapasya
Tapasya/penance is necessary
What is Tapasya?
We should accept that Tapasya is hard, we do not like it, still we are practicing, because it is good for us
Causing hurt on one’s own body, is not considered tapasya
But do not misuse my advice as an excuse to be lazy
Do not say that Gurudev has said not to hurt the body so I should lie down the whole day
Let us see
All these are wrong
Do not be lazy and also do not hurt your body too much
How can I help my wife get rid of tamasik dhriti (laziness)?
Nature functions with Sattva, Rajas and Tamas together
If there is not even any one of these qualities, life will not move,
world will not move
So if someone has tamogun, you be in sattva guna
Opposite values are complementary
You do not try to change her
Then you will be in the state of Rajas
When Rajas and Tamas combine,
there will be conflict
So you be sattvik. Right?
Gradually both of you will acquire some rajas, then it becomes alright
How to differentiate fear and intuition? Both seems to be true
Fear is an emotion, but intuition is alertness
It is so diverse that we cannot put the emotions that emerge within us together in same category
It is like a jungle
There is a song………
Our emotion are complex
and our master is walking through this maze
The song says so.
Was this composed by Swami Vivekananda?
Kuvempu.
Here there was a great poet, Kuvempu.
He composed it.
So you move on
Do not sit and try to analyse the emotions
Keep moving forward.
Gurudev, you recently visited the Statue of Equality in Hyderabad
to commemorate the 11th century social reformer and saint Ramanujacharya Ji.
How important is it to bring historical figures to the forefront through such monuments?
Whether it is a monument or not, historical figures always have a philosophy to present to the world, to reform the world
And they are all inspirational
So one can be inspired by all these stories
That is necessary
To be inspired by various philosophies, various life incidents
See thousand years back Swami Ramanujacharya opened the doors of temples to dalits
And he did not accept dalits
He said everybody is same
One human family
What we are saying today, same thing he said
Thousand years before that Adi Shankara has said that
So time and again this sort of reform must happen
So people think, for thousands of years there has been no reform, they are wrong
Our country and the dharma here have always undergone reforms
Can you share the story of how you chose the swans and the sun as our beautiful Art of Living logo?
Well, then you will ask me what it represents, what it is and I leave that for you to guess
You can guess whatever you want
Because logo or symbol is more universal
Instead of limiting it to some specific ideals or philosophy
I would leave it to you to form your own ideas
Ok?