Want to Expand your Consciousness? Then Let's Begin the Destruction
Shiva, The Destroyer and our need for purification
Hi there,
Go inside any yoga studio or tantra school and I am sure you will find a statue, an image, a little something of Shiva. One of the Gods in the Hindu triumvirate, Shiva, the Destroyer, is certainly the most famous one, at least here in the West.
So many have heard of Shiva but know almost nothing of Brahma, the Creator, or Vishnu, the Preserver. Even in India, the amount of temples dedicated to Shiva is mind-blowing- whereas temples dedicated to Vishnu are fewer, and, for Brahma, even hard to find. Despite there being many different doctrinal theories of why that is so, I have established my own: the thing is, what we humans need in order to expand is to be destroyed.
“No matter what your life situation is, Shiva is always relevant — that is why he is Mahadeva. Shiva, a solution not for petty problems but for Liberation.” Anonymous
Search & Destroy
What is Shiva destroying? The destruction of Shiva is if anything destruction of illusions. Another fundamental concept in Hinduism is Maya, the veil of illusion that surrounds us, that makes us believe in something that is not real. The matrix, the development of personality, self-image, negative ego, culture, among others. That is what working with Shiva is all about.
Illusions are there confusing us, clouding us, preventing us from seeing reality clearly. They are things that are out there, but do not fully belong there. Like dirt on a mirror, all we need to do is to get a piece of cloth and clean it. Illusions are here to make sure we are doing our work, for only when we do can we see past them. To get there, illusions are tests of our will, as well as our dedication to love, truth, and wisdom.
“You dislike some things and want to remove them from the face of the Earth. This is Maya, the Karmic trap. But it turns into Leela, the Karmic play, if you are aware that there is a universal intelligence bigger than your intelligence. The universe has brought those things into existence and the same universe wants you to try and remove those things.” Shunya
That is why illusions are beautiful, dazzling, and we get so attached to them. That is why it is so easy to get caught up in the status quo. To live in a certain way, following social rules and conditioning. Get that job, get that apartment, relax by having that drink, and never question anything. Keep following the current of illusions. If illusions were not dazzling, it would be easy for anyone to break through them and they wouldn’t make sure we have expanded and liberated ourselves- and that is not the point. Like the famous story of Plato’s cave, one needs to want to see and then get out of the cave — and most people are too scared for it. Therefore, we stay stuck in our cave. In a way, we are just fine in the cave- but not fully fulfilled.
Liberation is if anything liberation from ourselves, from how clear we can see, how pure we can be, and how fully we can live in truth. It is by breaking illusions in practice that we expand our consciousness, our love, our wisdom.
Oh, Sweet Destruction
I find the word destruction, although real, a bit tough. Because at the end of the day, energetically, nothing vanishes, and nothing is fully destroyed: things are transmuted, dissolved, and become something else. This is the work of purification.
No wonder Shiva is all about the element of fire; spiritually, the ultimate element of purification. The way we let go of illusions, of what is blocking us, is through purifying ourselves. Purifying the physical, mental, emotional, and pranic bodies.
"At times there will be fire; this we can’t avoid. But it’s up to us to decide whether it will consume or it will purify. " Cristen Rodgers
Let’s face it, we could all have some more hygienic practices. I don’t mean here the brush your teeth and clean your apartment (although these do have strong effects on our bodies), but more the getting rid of social conditioning, traumas, and limiting beliefs that we all carry and prevent us from being more loving, authentic and connected.
Again, we become our true selves by unbecoming all we carry that is distorting who we are. As Umbanda (an Afro-Brazilian religion) says, their religious ceremonies are nothing but a cleansing job, putting order in our internal house.
“The offering up or cleaning up ego stuff is called purification. Purification is the act of letting go. This is done out of discriminative awareness. That is, you understand that you are an entity passing through a life in which the entire drama is an offering for your awakening.” Ram Dass
Creating and Preserving
When we are cloudy, full of illusions, it is easy to get confused and not know what we want. Or we “know” what we want, but that “desire” is full of ego, based on fears, looking for acceptance, in desperate need of external validation, proving how worthy we are of love and attention. Living in illusion, we carry a false understanding of what our heart truly wants.
The same goes for what we take care of. When we are not pure in our hearts and motives, we preserve things not out of love and taking care of what is precious, but out of fear of not having, of losing, of scarcity. That is the traditional fear of leaving a job, a relationship, a life that we are not satisfied with: we preserve it, even though we know it is not what we want.
“Those who fit in social constructs are loved and respected in society. Those who don’t fit are labeled destructive. They get love only from Shiva because He knows that there can be no construction without destruction.” Shunya
In our own journey to become Godly Creators and Preservers of love, we destroy what is not true, what is not working so that in the process we get to learn to create better next time. One of the most famous ways Shiva is depicted is through dancing, or ‘Anandatandava’, the Dance of Bliss, which symbolizes the cosmic cycles of creation and destruction, as well as the daily rhythm of birth and death. This is destruction we receive with open arms.
It is not that not being purified creates suffering, as much as it does not allow fully loving and pure manifestations to take place. And that is why it is so important in yoga and spiritual traditions to not cause harm. Don’t be fooled, it is really hard to not cause harm, and it requires purification.
Purification is the first step, the way forward from “stuckness”, and suffering, the way to release from what is not serving anymore, from all lies we tell ourselves, our stories, our narratives, for it releases us from illusions.
When we release from illusions, we start making space to see and live in truth, what is really there. To listen to our hearts and souls. To feel what we have been avoiding. To see what was always in front of our eyes, but were too confused and scared to see.
“The spiritual journey is one of continuous learning and purification. When you know this, you become humble.” Sogyal Rinpoche
Purification unclogs our channels, so to speak, so our true nature can for once circulate freely. That is become by unbecoming. It allows love, courage, clarity, and all other virtues that have always existed in every single one of us to be heard and seen, simply because it reduces vices like fear, insecurity, and greed.
Purification Techniques
Purification techniques are many, and a simple “yoga purification techniques” search can give you enough to work on for a lifetime. In my own practice, I give preference to purification techniques for the mind. Although purifying the body and the nadis through yoga asanas and eating certainly helps, in my personal experience eating some sugar and coffee is definitely less detrimental for expansion than having a rigid mind or an easily triggered nervous system. Here I share a few simple techniques that are among my favorites.
1 Uddyana bandha
Uddyana bandha is a hell of a purification technique from yoga, as it works on so many energetic levels that it is kind of ridiculous. Uddiyana means “to rise up” or “fly.” The practice involves “sucking in” the stomach area (here is a YouTube tutorial). And it directly improves our digestive system, which is not only responsible for the digestion of food but all kinds of energies. More than that, the movement is shooting energy from our lower body up to our upper body, creating more clarity and a calmer nervous system. There are many more benefits to this technique, and my tantra guru tells us all to do this 15 minutes a day every day. If you are beginning with purification techniques now, do five minutes a few times a week and progress at your own pace — there is no rush, and this technique is really powerful.
2 Pranayama
Pranayamas are breathing exercises where we consciously regulate the breath in a specific way for a specific energetic purpose.
The breath is a major purification tool when used consciously. Air is the element of the heart and simply consciously breathing into the heart before any practice has great effects.
Exercises like Kapalbhati are especially purifying. In Kapalbhati, one focuses on the exhalation and exhales forcefully and vigorously. In this way, the inhalation happens automatically.
PS Avoid doing Uddyana bandha and Kapalbhati at the same session as it is too much. Focus and depth are better.
3 Trataka with candlelight
This is a simple but powerful pratyahara (foundational exercise for meditation). Trataka exercises are shared in yoga as well as in many mystery schools. In fact, this is the first technique I learned when I joined my first mystery school when I was 14 years old- and I still do it regularly.
In this exercise, you simply focus your eyes on a selected object. In this case, we focus on candlelight. Fire carries the power of will, courage, purification, and determination.
Sit with a straight back and place a burning candle at eye level at a distance of around half a meter to one meter from your face. This should be done in a closed room to ensure a steady flame. First, close the eyes for a few seconds, then open them and gaze at the flame. Continue doing this without moving the eyeball and avoid blinking. When your eyes are tired or watery, relax and close them, and as you close them, see the afterimage of the flame. Then open your eyes again and repeat the procedure for about 15 minutes.
4 Meditation
Pure and simply, meditation is a tool of purification of the mind. When we purify and wake up the head center, the soul and the personality are coordinated and fused, and in this way, we get much more inner alignment. When done consistently over long periods of time, meditation awakens the centers of force in the etheric body and stimulates the rise of kundalini in a consistent and safe manner. That is why the emphasis in all esoteric schools is laid upon meditation.
"If you are in a hurry, if you are in haste, you will never know the taste of meditation. The taste of meditation needs great patience, INFINITE patience. Meditation is simple, but you have become so complex that to relax it will take time. It is not the meditation that is taking time — let me remind you again — it is your complex mind. It has to be brought down to a rest, to a relaxed state. THAT takes time." Osho
5 Shake
Shaking the whole body is fun, activating, and brings us energy. By shaking we get things that were stuck moving. It is a way to heal stress and trauma, and get unstuck. Shaking activates the parasympathetic nervous system and signals to the brain that we can relax. It also activates the lymphatic system of our body, which helps our body get rid of the toxins. Not a traditional purification technique per se, but we can always make new traditions.
Putting in practice
A way to work with these is to build your own purification practice, putting blocks of the above techniques together to your liking. For instance, I have lately been doing some shaking followed by trataka early in the morning, and I always do uddyana bhanda whenever doing yoga. Plus, meditate daily.
Not only are these techniques purifying but they are also activating, bringing an extra kick of disposition to the day. Also, some of these techniques support each other. You might notice it is much easier to sit in a 15-minute silent meditation and go really deep after shaking and doing uddyana bandha.
Final words
Purification is a long process. Even though you can get some first benefits fast, keep doing it, for decades of conditioning has brought much to be cleared within each of us. It is like cleaning a house after a huge party: it requires quite some effort to get it clean, and it is not because we might have cleaned it once, that it automatically keeps clean forever. There are dishes to do every day, and the same goes for our being.
We are all endless pots of love, light, and wisdom, and the more we purify, the more these energies get to circulate within us naturally.
Purification is a simple process. None of the things above take much, and yet most people do not put the effort. Part o that is the attachment to illusions and fear — negative ego. That takes willingness.
“Ego can climb mount Everest, not mount Kailash. Because Kailash is inside you. Climbing it means end of Ego. Why would ego go towards its own end? Ego is just happy listening to stories about Kailash and Shiva.” Shunya
Doing one practice one single day does not do much. But the way is not to do ten practices a day every day either. Patience is needed: cultivate inner listening, and pursue your path out of truthfulness, and not out of ego.
Do not allow simplicity to blind you — these simple techniques are extremely powerful, and if you do more than you can take, they can bring you more energy than you can circulate and destabilize you. That is not the path.
Willingness, persistence, patience, yes. But also joy, softness, and acceptance. Or are you going to miss the fun of dancing with fire?
"When the moment is ripe, it happens. It is not your doing — it is a grace; it comes from god. That’s why in the old scriptures it has been called revelation. That is exactly the meaning of paragyan: it is revealed to you — not that you uncover it; it comes of its own accord… a gift, a grace. So become mote and more passive. That’s what meditation is all about: sitting silently, just sitting, doing nothing, waiting for the unknown to come… waiting with great love, longing and patience… waiting as if it is going to come this very moment, but yet ready to wait even if it comes in eternity. That is the paradox of a longing trust, a waiting heart." Osho
See you next week,
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