Anandway: Blog

Q: What is the significance of a Jyotirlinga?

#SriSri: ‘Jyoti’ means flame. The consciousness of a saint is like a flame. In the older days, wherever the saints stayed, they established these Jyotirlingas. They asked people to come there and meditate. If you see, the form of god is like a light and like a stone. He is the light within us. To make people aware of this the Jyotirlingas were established. People would go there, sit, pray and meditate – then they would discover their being. These places were called ‘Jyotirlingas’ because it is where people realized that they are the form of 'Jyoti' within. To identify these places, they called it Linga. What is a Linga? It means to identify. It is a marker. When a child is born, how do you identify whether it is a boy or a girl? You identify it by looking at the genitals. They give the sign of the gender. That’s why the genitals are also called the ‘Lingas’. Linga means the sign. Like ‘Gau’ means cow, thought and movement. How has the name for the cow been given as ‘Gau’? That is because the cow moves. Knowledge, movement, thoughts & liberation - these four are the root of ‘Gau’.Similarly, Linga means the identification. The genitals are the identifiers of the Gender. Similarly, the Shivalinga is the identification that there is God in the world. It is the identification for the God. You place a stone there; by looking at the stone you would remember the god which is in the form a flame; that which is omnipresent. These places were called Jyotirlingas, because there were saints present at the places. In the presence of Saints in the satsang – people would meditate and would find their light within. The Flame doesn’t refer to the flame of a lamp - but that we are ourselves are light. This is how the song – ‘Shivoham, Shivoham’ originated.
Then, these were spread throughout India for the people who could not travel from the North to the South or from the East to the West. In every corner of the country these 12 Jyotirlingas were created. From the Himalayas to Rameshwaram; from Vadiyanathdham to Gujrat these were established. This means at all these places the saints were present and they would help people in identifying the ‘Jyoti’. This is the significance of Jyotirlinga.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in today's Satsang at Art of Living International Ashram:

The effect of time is both on matter and mind. You keep an apple over time, it starts rottening, right. And when you look at any object you can find out how old it is. So like that time has an impact on matter too. Our body changes with time. Similarly time also has an impact on mind. This seldom people notice. How you feel in the morning is different from how you feel in the afternoon and it is different from how you feel in the evening. And how you feel in the night is much different and how you feel in every morning is more different, isn’t it?

The state of mind and the feeling also changes. Similarly thought pattern also gets affected by time. Winter, summer, spring all affect the mind differently. Ancient people did an in-depth study about it; how the moon affects the mind; how the moon is moving around in different constellations, different degrees of moon has a definite impact on the mind. That’s what they call ‘tara-bal’, ‘chandra-bal’, how it impacts. So moon is in one constellation for two and a half days, then moon moves to the other constellation. So in two and half days there are changes; the moods of the mind, mood swings, everything, it’s favourable or unfavourable vibrations, you feel like that. Then the question comes ‘are we slave of our mind?’ I say ‘No’, why because there is something beyond the mind, that is the ‘intellect’. When intellect is strong, it overcomes the impact of the mind. When intellect is weak, then the emotions overtakes the mind. And what if intellect also gets affected? It does get affected. Then there is something beyond the intellect and that is the ‘self’, that is ‘Shiva Tattva’! Shiva is a master of the time, ‘maha-kaal’, ‘grand-time’. So take refuge in the shiva tattva or the atma tattva or the self, higher self. The impact of time is minimised, both on the mind and on the body. So time impacts the mind, and time has definite measurements.

Time has impact on mind, similarly our company also affects us. What we hear that impacts our mind. The people with whom we are affects us. If we are in good company then it has good impact on us. If we are in bad company then negative feelings like anger, jealousy, etc., affects us. Good company gives a good feeling and in bad company the mind gets muddled up in complaining about the person, talking ill about somebody is negativity. All this is called bad company. Mind gets affected by time and company we keep. Then what is the third thing: food. Food is secondary, food is not that important. If the first two are okay then it can man over the menace of food. Company, Time and Food.

Now you observe your mind, whether any ups and downs are there going on right now. Hence, those who know time are called ‘devagya’. They know about time. All this is as per divine will of time. Rule of time is divine, related to gods, those who know time are called ‘devagya’.

What is above God, is ‘brahma-gyaan’! Brahma gyaani is much above devagya. Brahma gyaani is being centered in ‘self’ or ‘aatma’. What I am is what you are and what is everything else too. This firm experience and faith brings brahma gyaan; then nothing can shake you. Even if it appears that it is shaking but actually it is not, it makes you strong. Brahma gyaan is bigger than all other gyaan. All this satsang is brahma gyaan. ‘Shabd brahma gyaan’, take everything and proceed further together.

Q: Please tell us about the seven spiritual cities in India and their relationship with chakras in the body.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Yes. Seven cities in India correspond to seven centres or chakras in our body: ‘Ayodhya Mathura Maya Kashi Kanchi Avantika Puri Dwarakavati caiva saptaide moksha dayika’ Maya or Haridwar ¹ corresponds to the mooladhar chakra situated at the base of the spine. When the jadata or lethargy goes and enthusiasm begins, you commence your journey. Haridwar, the starting point, is the door to the house of the Divine.
Kanchi ² corresponds to the swadhisthana chakra situated behind the genitals, as the presiding deity here is Kamakshi, the goddess of kama or desire.
Ayodhya ³ corresponds to the third chakra, the manipura, situated in the navel region, where joy, generosity, greed and jealousy manifest. All these emotions are connected to Ayodhya. It was the jealousy and greed of Kaikeyi that made Rama take vanavas. Ayodhya is also known for the generosity of Rama. The joy of Rama's return to Ayodhya is celebrated as Diwali. Joy, generosity, greed and jealousy meet in the nabhi pradesh, Ayodhya. Ayodhya also means where there is no fight, where it cannot hurt.
Mathura ⁴ is anahata, the heart chakra. The heart is associated with three emotions: Love, fear and hatred. Mathura symbolises the love and devotion of the gopis for Krishna, as well as of the fear and hatred of Kansa, all matters of the heart.
Avantika, also called Ujjain ⁵, is related to the vishuddha or the throat chakra. Ujjain is the city of art and literature. Poet Kalidas hailed from Ujjain. It is also the city of Vikramaditya, of grief and glory. We feel gratitude in the throat region - we get choked. Kashi ⁶ represents the ajna chakra situated between the eyebrows. Kashi has always been the seat of knowledge. That's why the ajna chakra is also called gyana chakshu, the third eye. Kashi is the city of pundits and scholars.
Dwaraka ⁷ represents the sahasrara, the crown chakra on top of the head. Dwarka literally means: ÒWhere is the door?Ó The door is irrelevant if there are no walls. Infinity has no walls. Krishna left his body in Dwarka. Sahasrara also means thousand avenues. It means the pathless path. The path to liberation begins at Haridwar and culminates at Dwarka.
The soul is called Purusha. Pura means a town. Purusha means one who lives in the town. The Purusha is unbound and infinite. But the Purusha experiences bondage with all the negative emotions. Positive feelings with knowledge are liberating. Positive feelings without knowledge create negative emotions that are stifling, hence one experiences bondage. When you observe the prana moving through different centres associated with sensations, the negative feelings cease to exist and one is liberated from bondage.
The seven sacred rivers are the Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Godavari, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. Together with the seven sacred cities, they are linked to the seven sacred spots within you.

Haridwar, Kanchi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Ujjain, Kashi and Dwarka

The first among the Navadurgas is Shailaputri. Shaila means stone, and putri means daughter. Praying to this aspect of Mother Divine brings strength (like a stone). It brings commitment. When the mind is wavering, chanting the name of this Devi Shailaputri helps the mind to be centered and committed. It gives us strength, courage, and composure.

Read more at http://www.artofliving.org/navratri/navdurga

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