Enter the spring of bliss!

It’s the night of Shiva; the Lord of all Lords; the Maha Yogi. A night celebrating the silence of Shiva, the power of HIS presence; imbibing the supreme knowledge- Shiva; rejoicing in the spring of bliss- Shiva.

Shiva- the destroyer; Also, the cause for creation! Shiva- the Lord of meditation; the Lord of awakening! Shiva tatva means ‘to be awakened’. A night to shake up, wake up from all slumber; to dispel ignorance and bring in light- opening the doors to bliss! To freedom! For me, this Shivratri is about freedom. Freedom from all the inane, mundane worries, pains, aches that have tortured my body, mind and soul for lifetimes... Freedom from the numerous, sly tricks that my mind plays, successfully digressing me from the path. Freedom from the boredom that haunts me time and again. Freedom from routine; from everything that binds me, holds me... Routine- it binds; make something a discipline and all your freedom is restricted. The mind hates it... it will never let you hold the reigns in your hand- will wander here and there and ensure that the leash you so sternly tied around it, slowly and gradually falls away- rather you throw it away. The mind is very cunning- the more you tie it down, the more loop holes it finds! It doesn’t seem to tire of this game! Well, it wins so often, no wonder it loves the game, add to that the fact that we get fooled so easily and fall prey to its tricks. No sooner have we started on a routine, a discipline... than we feel constrained, restricted even stifled... and we stop the discipline... there- the small mind won again! How much longer? How many more such victories to the small, sly, wily mind? There is a very beautiful knowledge sheet by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Freedom and Discipline (Intimate Note to a Sincere Seeker- Vol 1). He says that the defence is regimented. There is no freedom in the defence services. Yet, they protect the freedom of the country. We often mistake freedom for freedom in action. That is the cause of the problem. Freedom is of the mind. Discipline is of action. So, this time, the wish is for Freedom in the mind, discipline in action. The prayer is for discipline... cause in the depth of the discipline is hidden the spring of bliss...