Anugraha(Grace)/Shaktipata-Kashmir Shaivism

According to Kashmir Shaivism Anugraha(grace and Shaktipata takes place in nine ways:

1.tivrativra Shaktipata(Super Supreme Grace)
One attains the true self, real and true nature completely. The Grace is too strong for the body to resist; one has to give up one’s body(Death).He becomes a Master and elevates the hearts of the deserving disciples invisibly. He uplifts the mankind secretly. Once he is satisfied with his work, he submerges with Shiva according to his will .One who attains this form of Grace becomes super supreme Master.

2Tivramadyha Shaktipatha( Supreme medium Grace)
One attains the true and real self; but one does not leave body in this type of grace. One is said to be “Pratiba Guru”-master who is not made by master, but by his self(shiva),by one’s own grace. These masters live in their physical form to uplift the humanity. They are self-initiated masters.
One who is bestowed with this grace enters completely in the trance of Shiva-Shakti(Energy of Shiva).There are five signs in him, that are observed by people;
1.intense love for lord shiva.
2.Whenever he recites any mantra; the devta of the mantra appears before him at once; The fruits of the mantra are realized promptly.
3.control over the five elements.
4.His works are without any defects.
5.He masters all Shastras.

3.Tivramandha Shaktipatha(Supreme low grace)
By this types of Grace one’s mind desires to be at the feet of master. He gets a master who is all-knowing and perfect. There is no difference between his master and lord shiva. The master does not initiate him; but merely put his hand on his head or by just by the mere gaze of his master;. He becomes perfect and enters into transcendental meditation effortlessly at once. He becomes enlightened by the mere touch or look of his master.

4.Madhya tivra Shaktipatha(medium supreme grace)
By this grace one reaches at the feet of Master who is absolutely a perfect master.The disciple is initiated by the master unlike the above cases. The master gives him mantra and the way to tread. One gets enlightened partially; the disciple is not satisfied completely in his physical body. He gets his complete satisfaction after he leaves his body and becomes one with shiva at the time of his death.

5.Madhya Madhya Shaktipata(medium middle grace)
When lord shiva bestows this grace; an intense desire of achieving lord shiva rises in the mind of the disciple. One wants Lord shiva as well as the worldly pleasures and enjoyments of the world. He is initiated by an able master.Though the intensity of his desire is more on attaining the state of shiva,he attains bliss, but he cannot completely overcome his worldy desires . After the death of such a disciple; he enters the kingdom of paradise and enjoys the pleasures to his satisfaction. He does not come back to this mortal world; but is again initiated by the master there and he becomes enlightened and realizes the shiva and merges in him.

6.Madhya mandha Shaktipata(medium low grace)
There is an intense desire for attaining lord shiva as well as the pleasures of the world. He does not attain self-realization completely.After his death he enters the kingdom of paradise and enjoys to his satisfaction. After that he is born again in this mortal world and lives a short life(15-30 yrs).He focuses on lord shiva and devotes his short life to shiva and becomes complete with Shiva.

7.Mandha tivra Shaktipata(inferior supreme grace)
8.Mandha Madya Shaktipata(inferioir medium grace)
9.Mandha Mandha shaktipata(inferior low grace)
For 7,8 and 9 types of grace,one has to take many births, before one attains the state of shiva……

the “I” Philosophy(advaith vedanth)

To understand life’s mystery,
before one becomes history,
Keep in mind, Life, is a moving wheel,
A journey, a pilgrimage, only that remains,
Which is real, rest all die with age,
Be it hermit, king, queen or sage..

What is real and what is unreal,
What is truth and what illusion is,
Remains till, the jurisdiction of mind and thought,
To resolve the mystery, Drop the mind & thought,
The real “I” will unfold, the answers you sought…

When you realize, after a certain stage,
Bookish knowledge has confined you in a cage,
Wisdom, knowledge, intelligence or logic,
Has Chained your mind, and you are missing the magic,
To enter in the kingdom of the real “I”,
You have to drop the judgment of why?,

Thoughts, emotions, Happiness and sorrow,
Are illusions, which mind has borrowed,
And are subjective, The “I” I perceive,
Is shadow of the Real “I”,
The true “I” Is objective, so I see,
The real “I” is “HE”, who is always free..

Pain has never Touched the real “I”,
“I” has, was and is the boat,
And the destination, which helps one float,
Through the life’s rough Waters, helped those,
Who stumbled, felled, then stood, and firmly rose,
to “I” realization and become one with the real one..

religions

I have limited knowledge about religions. At the same time, I feel all the religions have many things in common like the concept of hell and heaven…world beyond death!
All the religions have segregated the function of god. Everything is a will of God and he has given responsibilities to different angels to execute his will. There are angels of death in all religions. There is also an idea of Satan in almost all religions. It does mean that god is above the idea of birth and death, heaven and hell and everything else which can be conceived by human mind.
In Hinduism God is segregated the most. There are 330million gods and goddesses who have different powers and responsibilities.Godess saraswati bestows us with knowledge, Goddess laksmi gives us wealth and prosperity. Lord Brahma is the creator, lord Vishnu is sustainer and lord Shiva is destroyer…
It is also said by some Hindu philosophers (maharishi Mahesh yogi) that all 330 million gods and goddess reside in us in our human body and human mind. Therefore our body and mind is the temple of god.
In Hinduism This whole world, the process of life and death is seen as Maya or illusion. In Buddhism and Hinduism there is a concept of wheel of life and death and law of karma or action. In Buddhism there is a concept of Dukha.It is seen as sorrow, hatred, jealousy, sufferings, diseases and craving for things that can’t be obtained. End of craving or desires is seen as nirvana in Buddhism.
Maya is seen as an illusion and at the same time Mahamaya is seen as a goddess.
There is also concept of brahm.Brahm means god, it also means universe and at the same time it also means illusion. Whole world and universe is seen as Maya. Life and death is Maya. It is said that without Maya there can not be life and death. Maya rides the chariot of five horses and these five horses represent five senses.
All religious scriptures give us knowledge and intelligence of some sort. There are Hindu philosophers who argue that our knowledge, Intelligence and contemplation helps us reach a certain level in spirituality and after a certain level one has to drop everything learnt so far. It is argued that people who are very religious seldom get nirvana as this sect of people use their acquired knowledge more often and this knowledge acts as an obstacle(maya) for them and holds them back to Maya.
It is believed that present age is 27th kalyug.One yug consists of four ages or era’s namely satyug,Treta yug,Dvapara yug and kalyug.Four yugas constitute one day and one night of lord Brahma. All major religions have one more thing in common…call it Armageddon or qayamat or pralaya i.e. destruction by nature’s fury.
From Markandeya Purana: “At the end of the night, when the inundating Pralay receded and the Lord awakened from His prolonged sleep, He began the work of creation again. It was even more amazing for Markandeya to see the inundating water recede and new creation taking place. He began to pray the Lord with folded hands. Pleased by his prayers, the Lord said that He always protected His devotees even during the most severe crises. Markandeya then asked about the appearance of the true devotees of the Lord. He also expressed his curiosity to know the reasons of their birth.”
In Shia Islam, Qayāmat means “The Day of Judgment” and denotes that God will raise mankind for Judgment. It is one of the Shi’a Roots of Religion (Usūl al-Dīn).
All dead from throughout history will be brought forth to life again, and judged for either hell, or heaven. Prior to this, the Mahdi, along with Jesus, will return to the world in order to restore justice.
In the Book of Revelation, God, ushering in the Great Tribulation judgments, commands seven angels to pour “seven vials of the wrath of God” upon the Earth. Armageddon then follows the pouring of the sixth vial (or bowl):
“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.”
In all the religions whether Christianity or Buddhism or Islam or Hinduism. The perception of god and God’s deeds are almost same. There is a pre-conceived notion about God. We say God is merciful, creator, lord, king and so on and so forth and at the same time we human beings are servants. If God is the creator, then who is the destroyer?
If God brings Happiness, then who brings sorrow and grief? If god gives life then who gives us death? In Hinduism Lord Yumraja is the god of death. In Christianity it is the angel azrael.Muslims call that angel iz’rail.

Well the idea behind the above writing is to perceive god in totality,i.e in good and bad.
It is often said that Satan is responsible for man’s evil deed. By the way” who created Satan?”
There are number of similarities in all the major religions. The difference I feel is the terminology and language. Sanskrit for Hinduism
and budhism,Arabic for Muslims and English and Hebrew for Christians and Jews. Languages are a part and parcel of cultures. It is not the teachings of religions which create disharmony but the medium in which the scriptures are written as people clinch to their cultures with as much sincerity as they follow their religions and are seldom ready for change. Different languages many times creates confusion and communication gap which further leads to misunderstanding. It is very important to have respect for every religion for a peaceful society and peaceful world .whatever may be the differences in religions and religious terminology, the basic teachings of all the religions remains same and more and more efforts should be taken in order to create bridges among all the religions for a better world for all.
There may not be uniformity in religions as every religion claims to be best, but there is uniformity in laws of god, or Allah or Paramatma…..or whatever name you call.