Aham Brahmasami

https://raga.raksham.com/2019/03/08/nandi-bull-history-and-significance-vehicle-of-shiva/

Behold Him,

With a rolled palmyra leaf stuck into His earlobe,

The rider on the bull,

The wearer of the pure white moon on His locks,

Smeared with hot ashes from the cremation ground,

The stealer of my heart . . . the Supreme Shivaya

(Source: pg 12, Shiva: Stories and Teachings from the Shiva Mahapurana by Vanamali)

After 20 years, 20 July 2020 is Somvati Amavasya – a new moon day falls on a Monday in the month of Shravan. While offering my prayers on this auspicious day, I noticed a beautiful yet powerful connection with divine today- a ray of light and incense, all wrapping my crystal Shivling as if it is bowing to it and trying to say “Namaste Bhagwate Vishveswarya…. Shriman Mahadevaya Namah” meaning ” I bow to Lord of all Universe, I bow to Lord of all Lords... Shivaya“

_{July 20’20, Markham, 9:00 am}

We always say that “Sadaa Shivaya Bhajam” meaning always recite powerful five sacred syllables, na-ma-shi-va-ya but did we ever wonder “why” or is it just like other Hindu religious practices which we follow to protect us from all evils or to be benefited . The whole purpose of this web page is to explore reasons behind such religious ritual thus exploring Hinduism in a logical and reasonable fashion.

I understand that Hinduism is the complex faith without any rigid set of universal practices. Generation after generation, Hindus have been doing their own thing as per their family tradition and customs, however with onset of new age scholars and writers such as Patnaik, Eknath and Vanamali and modern spiritual gurus such as Sadguru, Om Swami, Nirmala Devi, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, we now have better access to Hindu knowledge not only translated in English but sort of demystified and decoded to certain extent too. Based on reading of articles by few, tonight’s aim is to understand the term ” Namah Shivaya” closely and relate it to other Hindu concepts.

So Why, Namah Shivaya ?

Namah means to bow, Shivaya means innerself. Namah Shivaya means I bow to my innerself, inner consciousness.

I bow to my own energy, my own kundalini (see note 1 below), my own awakening as I am microscopic part of bigger Energy called God/divine. Thus by bowing myself and looking inside me, I am bowing to the divine.

na ma si va ya is a five sacred syllables and each syllable has different meaning:

na represents earth, 🌏

ma represents water,💧

si represents fire, 🔥

va represents air and 💨

ya represents space.🪐

Thus, the whole meaning of the “Namah Shivaya” is I am just energy wrapped in five elements of nature, I began with these five elements and will end up in this five elements (source: https://www.scienceandnonduality.com/article/the-energetic-field-of-om-namah-shivaya).

Aham Brahmasmi is a term that is used in Hindu and yoga philosophy meaning “I am the Cosmos/universe/ energy/ union with higher self”.

Tat Tvam Asi term means “So are you”.

Relating to this to “Namah Shivaya”, it translates to me as:

I am not the body 👱🏼‍♀️, I am not the mind🧠, I am not the soul…👤

I am not the man 🙅🏻‍♂️ , I am not the woman🙅🏻‍♀️, I am not the mother, I am not the father…

These are all the labels assigned to me, these are the roles I play, but I am something beyond this, something more than this…Therefore I am That...That Energy..That Divine..🧘🏼‍♂️

I am That divine soul, I am That mountain in front of me, I am That Plant 🌱, I am That dog…🐕

Everything merges into everyone and That is me and I am that oneness🏵. I am the Namah Shivaya- 🔱 the five elements… So are you

Aham Brahmasami….Tat Tvam Asi… I am Divine, you are divine… we are all divine.. I see divine in you, me, him, her, it, every where and in every thing…

PS: When we are going through spiritual transformations, you transform as person, your thoughts about religion and life changes, you start following your soul, you loose the crowd. New people come in, old people come back, most of the times you shed off current relationships/friends and you choose to walk off from not so aligned energies. You do not turn into saint but still you prefer solitude.. It doesn’t need to be intense, lacking fun, but sometimes the path will be solitary where you might outgrow people, places, situations and experiences.

Life would evolve, unfold and bloom, eventually whole purpose of life will be clear but until then it is just solitude , unclear solitude yet peaceful solitude.

Enjoy this solitude, solitude with soul, solitude with Shiva, solitude with books, solitude with readings, solitude in walking bare feet on green grass, solitude in meditating while looking at rain, solitude with professional responsibilities, solitude with your family responsibilities, solitude in just admiring flower blooming in your backyard, solitude with your Tibetan singing bowl, solitude in just staring at the flame of a candle, solitude with you and your innerself (your namah shivaya)….