Mahashivaratri; chanting; self-awareness

The Adiveda Weekly #33

Feb 12, 2023

Hari Aum Sadhakas!

The fourteenth night of the dark fortnight of every lunar month is known as Shivaratri – the night of Shiva (next week on the 18th of February). As it is the night before the new moon, it is usually the darkest night of the month.

The Hindu way of life

Mahashivaratri is not a real festival. Festivals are celebrations with various social and cultural activities such as dancing, singing, games, wearing new clothes, visiting mandirs and of course enjoying the many types of food offerings made to the deities. However, on the day of Mahashivaratri, devotees fast, instead of feasting. Instead of becoming bhogis or lovers of worldly pleasures, they become yogis or ascetics. They fast and do penance to earn the grace of Shiva – the Adi Yogi, the first ascetic. They not only abstain from food until the ritual is completed at 2 am but also from all forms of worldly enjoyments.

Reflection of the week

“Mahashivaratri gives us an opportunity to experience that vastness or unlimited energy that Shiva signifies, which is responsible for the construction as well as the destruction of all creation.”

For your everyday practice

Aum Namahshivaya!

⁣Make every night a Shivaratri and connect with the Shiva Tatwa in you by chanting Aum Namahshivaya eleven times before sleeping.

For your health and well-being

Self-awareness is a superpower.

Before any intervention can actually be taken to improve one’s health, one needs to have awareness around the need for improvement or change. One’s self-awareness is thereby the biggest intervention, without which nothing can actually be done to address or change a situation. Self-awareness is thereby a skill to start honing in oneself. It not only helps a person to take charge of their health, but to also stand out from the crowd.

By Dr. Poorna Menon, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

From Vanamali Mataji’s desk

On the night of Mahashivaratri, the planet is tilted in exactly the right angle for people living in the northern hemisphere of the world to feel an upsurge of energy. This energy can either be directed towards spiritual activities or be dissipated in commonplace actions. The Hindu tradition never lost any opportunity to give a push to the individual to accelerate his move towards the divine. Therefore, the festival of Mahashivaratri was established to make use of this spurt of energy and give it a thrust in the right direction. This is the day when nature is pushing us towards our spiritual peak. It is to make use of this, that the rishis established this night-long vigil. This is the reason why we are asked to keep awake during the night and remain with our spinal cord erect so as to facilitate the movement of the energy upwards. Spiritual energy always goes upwards through the spinal column.