Generally, in most parts of the world, anything that people refer to as divine is always referred to as good. But if you read through the Shiva Purana, you cannot identify Shiva as a good person or a bad person. Nobody can be more horrible than Shiva! The worst possible descriptions have been given to him. There are descriptions of Shiva having walked around with human excrement on his body. He went through everything any human being could ever go through. A complex amalgamation of all the qualities of existence has been put into one person because if you can accept this one being, you have crossed life itself. The whole struggle with one’s life is we are always trying to pick out what is beautiful and what is not, what is good and what is bad. But you would have no problem with anything, if only you could accept this man who is a terrible combination of everything put together.
He is the most beautiful, but he is also the ugliest. He is a great ascetic, and also a family person. He is the most disciplined, but also a drunkard and a drug addict. He is a dancer, and he is also absolutely still. Gods, demons and all kind of creatures in the world worship him. The so-called civilization has tried to conveniently eliminate all those un-digestible stories, but this is where the essence of Shiva is. There is nothing that is repulsive for him. Shiva sat on a dead body to do sadhana as an aghori. Ghora means “terrible.” Aghori means that which is “beyond terrible.” Shiva is an aghori – he is beyond the terrible. The terrible does not touch him, nothing repels him. He is an all-embracing kind, not out of compassion or any other emotion as you might like to think, but simply because he is like life. Life is naturally all-embracing. The problems of whom you can embrace and whom you can’t are only psychological problems, not life problems. Even if your enemy is sitting next you, the life in you has no problem. What your enemy exhales, you inhale. Your friend’s exhalation does not feel any better than your enemy’s. The problem is only psychological. Existentially, there is no problem.
So an aghori is not in a state of love. The spiritual process in this part of the world never taught you about being loving, compassionate, kind or anything like that. These not even considered spiritual – these are social aspects. Being kind and smiling at people around you is a family and social business. A human being is supposed to have that much sense, so no one thought it was necessary to teach such things. An aghori is an embrace with the existence, not out of love – he’s not so superficial – he is in a life embrace. He treats food and his excrement the same way. He treats the dead and the alive the same way. He treats a well-preserved body and a rotting body the same way simply because he wants to become absolute life. He does not want to be trapped in his own psychological process.
Some time ago, I had a guest from Australia. I was driving him around in Mysore to show him a few places. The way this person was, if I drove fast, he would say, “Shit!” If I braked, he would say, “Shit!” If he saw something beautiful, he said, “Shit!” If he saw something ugly, “Shit!” If he liked something, “Shit!” If he didn’t like something, again, “Shit!”
I was just listening to this, thinking, “Why do they go on chanting this like a mantra throughout the day? Maybe they are constipated and they are trying to invoke themselves? That should be over in the morning, why are they dragging it through the day?” Then I observed this person. When he was worked up, he said, “Shit,” and he settled down. So I did not want to disturb it. Anything that is working for anyone, I do not want to disturb it. If it works, it is fine.
We say Shiva, he says, “Shit!” The difference is only cultural. “What? Are you equating Shiva and shit? This is the highest, that is the lowest. Are you equating these two?” I am not equating the two. It is just that in your mind, can you store Shiva in one place and shit in another place? In your mind, everything is together, especially if it is stored alphabetically, Shiva and shit must be next to each other.
It is with a very deep understanding of life that we have arrived at the sound that we call as Shiva. We know the sounds “Shi-va” can do incredible things to you. If you are receptive enough, this sound can be explosive – just one utterance will explode within you in such a powerful way. It has that kind of power. This is a science that has been understood from a very deep experience within ourselves. We have looked at it in great depth.
The sound shi in “Shiva” fundamentally means “power or energy.” In the Indian way of life, we have always symbolized the feminine as power – Shakti. Somehow, the English language found the same word to describe the feminine as “she.” Shi fundamentally means Shakti, or “energy.” But if you just go on doing too much shi, it will take you off balance. So va in the mantra is added as a damper to slow it down and keep the balance. Va comes from vama, which means “mastery.”
In the mantra “Shi-va,” one energizes it and the other balances or takes control of it. Undirected energy is of no use, it could be destructive. So when we say “Shiva,” we are talking about directing the energy in a certain way, in a certain direction.
The word “shit” also starts the same way. Somehow, accidentally, they discovered the word and held onto it. We have looked at it in great depth as a science and we know the sound can do incredible things to you.
So when you say “Shiva,” it is not about religion. Today, the world is divided in terms of which religion you belong to. Because of this, if you utter something, it looks like you belong to some “party.” This is not religion, this is the science of inner evolution. You don’t have to worship Shiva. I don’t. I am worshipful towards everything, but I have never said a prayer in my whole life. When I say “Shiva,” for me it’s everything. When I utter “Shiva,” whatever I wish to know is here for me. If I sit here long enough, just with one word I will know the whole existence. It is because of this that I walk through life with such ease – just Shiva. You must know the strength of that. Don’t get lost in your logical mind. This is not that kind of nonsense. This doesn’t belong to that genre. This is a way of going beyond where you are. This is a way of stepping beyond the boundaries that human beings are supposed to stay within.
We are vagabonds who will not go by the rules set by nature. Nature has set some laws for human beings – they have to be within that. Breaking the laws of physical nature is spiritual process. In this sense, we are outlaws, and Shiva is the ultimate outlaw. You cannot worship Shiva, but you may join the Gang.
He is the most beautiful, but he is also the ugliest. He is a great ascetic, and also a family person. He is the most disciplined, but also a drunkard and a drug addict. He is a dancer, and he is also absolutely still. Gods, demons and all kind of creatures in the world worship him. The so-called civilization has tried to conveniently eliminate all those un-digestible stories, but this is where the essence of Shiva is. There is nothing that is repulsive for him. Shiva sat on a dead body to do sadhana as an aghori. Ghora means “terrible.” Aghori means that which is “beyond terrible.” Shiva is an aghori – he is beyond the terrible. The terrible does not touch him, nothing repels him. He is an all-embracing kind, not out of compassion or any other emotion as you might like to think, but simply because he is like life. Life is naturally all-embracing. The problems of whom you can embrace and whom you can’t are only psychological problems, not life problems. Even if your enemy is sitting next you, the life in you has no problem. What your enemy exhales, you inhale. Your friend’s exhalation does not feel any better than your enemy’s. The problem is only psychological. Existentially, there is no problem.
So an aghori is not in a state of love. The spiritual process in this part of the world never taught you about being loving, compassionate, kind or anything like that. These not even considered spiritual – these are social aspects. Being kind and smiling at people around you is a family and social business. A human being is supposed to have that much sense, so no one thought it was necessary to teach such things. An aghori is an embrace with the existence, not out of love – he’s not so superficial – he is in a life embrace. He treats food and his excrement the same way. He treats the dead and the alive the same way. He treats a well-preserved body and a rotting body the same way simply because he wants to become absolute life. He does not want to be trapped in his own psychological process.
Some time ago, I had a guest from Australia. I was driving him around in Mysore to show him a few places. The way this person was, if I drove fast, he would say, “Shit!” If I braked, he would say, “Shit!” If he saw something beautiful, he said, “Shit!” If he saw something ugly, “Shit!” If he liked something, “Shit!” If he didn’t like something, again, “Shit!”
I was just listening to this, thinking, “Why do they go on chanting this like a mantra throughout the day? Maybe they are constipated and they are trying to invoke themselves? That should be over in the morning, why are they dragging it through the day?” Then I observed this person. When he was worked up, he said, “Shit,” and he settled down. So I did not want to disturb it. Anything that is working for anyone, I do not want to disturb it. If it works, it is fine.
We say Shiva, he says, “Shit!” The difference is only cultural. “What? Are you equating Shiva and shit? This is the highest, that is the lowest. Are you equating these two?” I am not equating the two. It is just that in your mind, can you store Shiva in one place and shit in another place? In your mind, everything is together, especially if it is stored alphabetically, Shiva and shit must be next to each other.
It is with a very deep understanding of life that we have arrived at the sound that we call as Shiva. We know the sounds “Shi-va” can do incredible things to you. If you are receptive enough, this sound can be explosive – just one utterance will explode within you in such a powerful way. It has that kind of power. This is a science that has been understood from a very deep experience within ourselves. We have looked at it in great depth.
The sound shi in “Shiva” fundamentally means “power or energy.” In the Indian way of life, we have always symbolized the feminine as power – Shakti. Somehow, the English language found the same word to describe the feminine as “she.” Shi fundamentally means Shakti, or “energy.” But if you just go on doing too much shi, it will take you off balance. So va in the mantra is added as a damper to slow it down and keep the balance. Va comes from vama, which means “mastery.”
In the mantra “Shi-va,” one energizes it and the other balances or takes control of it. Undirected energy is of no use, it could be destructive. So when we say “Shiva,” we are talking about directing the energy in a certain way, in a certain direction.
The word “shit” also starts the same way. Somehow, accidentally, they discovered the word and held onto it. We have looked at it in great depth as a science and we know the sound can do incredible things to you.
So when you say “Shiva,” it is not about religion. Today, the world is divided in terms of which religion you belong to. Because of this, if you utter something, it looks like you belong to some “party.” This is not religion, this is the science of inner evolution. You don’t have to worship Shiva. I don’t. I am worshipful towards everything, but I have never said a prayer in my whole life. When I say “Shiva,” for me it’s everything. When I utter “Shiva,” whatever I wish to know is here for me. If I sit here long enough, just with one word I will know the whole existence. It is because of this that I walk through life with such ease – just Shiva. You must know the strength of that. Don’t get lost in your logical mind. This is not that kind of nonsense. This doesn’t belong to that genre. This is a way of going beyond where you are. This is a way of stepping beyond the boundaries that human beings are supposed to stay within.
We are vagabonds who will not go by the rules set by nature. Nature has set some laws for human beings – they have to be within that. Breaking the laws of physical nature is spiritual process. In this sense, we are outlaws, and Shiva is the ultimate outlaw. You cannot worship Shiva, but you may join the Gang.