The challenge of not falling below the muladhara chakra. "Achieve freedom with responsibility," living in the box of dharma. Ahimsa and himsa: Patanjali advises: to overcome the propensity to do harm, cultivate the opposite action which his helping. Theism, Monism, Deities, chakras. Lord Ganesha stabilizes us in the muladhara; Murugan's blessings get us into the anahata. Lord Siva reaches down from the ajna and lifts one up. Master Course, Living with Siva, Lesson 272 Tirukural, Verse 90

Unedited Transcript:

Good morning.

Today's Living with Siva lesson which is Lesson 272.

"The Evolution Of Humanness

"Ahimsa, nonhurtfulness, is the essence of dharma, and the muladhara chakra sets the pattern of dharma. The muladhara chakra is a very interesting chakra, because it is the base center of energy and consciousness, and consciousness is energy, ever creating, preserving and absorbing. Karma is the self-perpetuating principle of cause and effect, shaping our experiences as a result of how we use our energies, mentally, verbally or physically. So, once we narrow down the individual awareness from freedom without responsibility, which is the lower nature, into the consciousness of freedom with responsibility, which is the higher nature, the individual awareness, or consciousness, must pass through the portals of the muladhara chakra and rest comfortably within the energies of its four petals. Four petals, of course, form a square. Three dimensionally, two squares put together with a space between can well be defined as a box. This box is defined as dharma."

Gurudeva's teachings are interesting in that they talk about the muladhara chakra and the challenge of not falling below it. Now who else talks about that, right? Everyone else talks about the higher chakras. Well the higher chakras, that's you know, really exciting. But this is like the basics of chakras, let's first stabilize ourselves here. You know, not fall down into the one below which of course is fear. And then the one below that is anger. We want to stay above them and want to, that beautiful phrase you know: "Achieve freedom with responsibility," and not and of the teen age approach of freedom without responsibility here.

And as Gurudeva's pointing out in the first sentence this "Ahimsa and nonhurtfulness is the essence of dharma, and the muladhara chakra sets the pattern of dharma." So, therefore, the practice of ahimsa, in thought word and deed, is an important part of stabilizing in the muladhara chakra.

"Briefly, at this point on the path to enlightenment we put our cumulative karmas into a box called dharma. Once encased within dharma, the various karmas may fight each other. As the individual progresses on the path, the box lightens and rises. The box of dharma is the base from which the aspirant must live at this point. Strictly contained, he may rise through the hole in the top of the box in consciousness, or open a hole in the bottom of the box and seek freedom without responsibility in the world of darkness. To seek freedom in the chakras above is the San Marga. To seal off the hole at the bottom of the box is his sadhana, penitent tapas, japa, bhakti and Sivathondu, all of which is eloquently explained in Merging with Siva.

"Who holds the lid on the box? Community, community pressures, both religious and secular. There are certain things you can do and certain things you can't do. The stronger ahimsa becomes at the family level, the more subtle it gets, and the violence gets more subtle. A careless word can cut the heart of someone you love, but someone not loved may not be wounded by anything less sharp than a knife. "

So that's an interesting point and what is it, the heart of a guest. The Tirukural has one: Even as the anicham flower can wither by the mere smell, (by someone smelling it) so too can the heart of a guest wither just with a look, you know. So if you can harm a guest just by the way you look at them, you make them feel unwelcome; you're harming them. So, you know, you can see how subtle harm can be. That's the point is, the closest someone is to you the more careful you have to be cause the harm comes in, even a tone of voice can be harmful to someone that's close to you.

So we need to be careful that, you know, we don't harm someone in a subtle way, is what Gurudeva's pointing out.

"Someone asks, 'I am trying to seal off the chakras below the muladhara, but whenever a trying situation comes up, the feelings of resentment and retaliation are paramount. What can I do?' When the feelings that come up amplify resentment, squelch reason and paralyze memory, (That's beautiful, huh?). When the feelings that come up amplify resentment, squelch reason and paralyze memory, we must assume that the box of dharma is empty and does not contain the cumulative sukarmas and kukarmas of this and past lives , and that he is not bound by dharma at all, or that it has no influence in guiding his future karmas. There are no excuses on this path. This means that the person has really not yet come to Lord Ganesha's feet. Therefore, vrata--he must take a vow and live up to it."

So Gurudeva's point is, if we're still, when faced with challenging situations, if we still tend to default to resentment and retaliation then we're not really in the box of dharma. If we're in the box of dharma, we don't go that direction; we're stabilized above that. Doesn't mean we won't get a bit upset and unhappy with the person but we're not going to get stuck in retaliation and resentment which, you know, can go on for days and months and years. That kind of feeling, you know. We just wouldn't go there if we're in the box of dharma.

"Ahimsa is a vrata. Rishi Patanjali called it the mahavrata, or great oath. When it is not lived up to, there are consequences. Remorse must be felt, apologies made, penance endured and reconciliation accomplished. The ego experiences embarrassment. All this and more occurs, depending on the individual's sincerity, steadfastness and resolve never to reenter the lower nature of himsa, hurtfulness, again.

"Those who have found it necessary to take the mahavrata of ahimsa and are prepared to make amends if they do not live up to it are well on their way to entering the muladhara and svadhishthana consciousness."

So, that's the key there: "And are prepared to make amends if they don't live up to it."

So, that's what Gurudeva's pointing out is we have, in this previous paragraph. If we're not living in the box of dharma, then, and someone hurts us, then we get stuck in resentment and retaliation. But if we are living in the box of dharma, then we figure out a way to resolve it. Perhaps we actually catalyzed it and we're blaming the other person. So we want to make amends, do what's necessary.

"Remorse must be felt, apologies made, penance endured and reconciliation accomplished."

So I'll read this part again since I jumped backwards.

"Those who have found it necessary to take the mahavrata of ahimsa and are prepared to make amends if they do not live up to it are well on their way to entering the muladhara and svadhishthana consciousness. Being penitent is rising to reason and remembering the dharma. Being belligerent is lowering to selfishness and, through confusion and anger, attaining his wants. To proceed further, he has to listen to the wise, listen to the swamis, read scripture, perform bhakti and do Sivathondu, selfless service. Those who remain prone to anger should not do raja yoga or any form of intensive mantra, japa, or pranayama amplification of the energies into higher chakras--lest that collective energy plummet into the corresponding lower chakras and be vented through fear, anger and jealousy."

Going down there: Fear, anger and jealousy. Down one at a time.

So that was, when Gurudeva wrote years ago in the, I guess it was in the 70's, he, writing that one on consciousness. What's it called? Chemical consciousness, remember? Chemical chaos, yes. Chemical chaos. He was very much against the general population using LSD for this reason. That it intensifies the higher chakras but if you're not a super-disciplined person and have super-control of your mind, that energy's going to go down and stimulate the lower chakras of fear, anger and jealousy. So you're going to have a terrible time unless you're a very unusual person. So most people, they would go down. So he said, you know, you can't do this. This is going to cause chaos. It's not a good idea.

Patanjali. I found a simple verse from Patanjali. We don't have to look at different kinds of samadhis this morning.

"For the repelling of unwholesome thoughts, their opposites should be cultivated." (Next verse.) "Unwholesome thoughts, such as harming someone and so forth, whether done, caused to be done or approved, whether arising from greed, anger or infatuation, whether mild, moderate or extreme, never cease to ripen into ignorance and suffering. This is why one must cultivate their opposites."

So that makes you think. Well, what's the opposite of harming, ahimsa. I mean himsa, harming. You know the opposite really isn't ahimsa not harming. That's like a neutral position. You know, here you are. You're over here you're harming someone. You back up, you're not harming, but that's not the opposite of harming. What would be the opposite of harming? Helping, right? So instead of harming someone, the opposite vibration is helping them. So, if you have an inclination to harm is overcome by the inclination to help. Or, the action of harming is overcome by the action of helping. It's the opposite. See, see how it works. So it's a, something to think about.

"The fourteen chakras (back to Gurudeva) have been described as a pole one must climb. The pole is heavily greased with ghee. It's a slippery pole. Therefore, the helping hand of our loving Ganesha, who reaches down from the muladhara, is needed to lift up the aspirant. It's the helping hand of Lord Murugan that reaches down from the anahata chakra, grabbing and lifting the devotee up. It is the helping hand of Siva that reaches down from the ajna chakra and lifts one up. One cannot do it alone. Total surrender to the Gods is the only way. Karma yoga, bhakti yoga, japa yoga is the way to attract their attention. The guru keeps the path in view, but he does not walk it for you. "

So that's an important paragraph in that it, it's our Saiva Siddhanta mixture of inner and outer, of Theism and Monism, of the Deity and the chakras. It's unusual mix. As you know we usually talk about Monistic Theism. This is a variant of that idea. Here we are, we're talking about the chakras and ahimsa and all of this. And then Gurudeva brings in the Deities, you know. So normally when somebody talks about the chakras they don't bring in, in the same paragraph, thoughts about the Deities. It's all inside. It's all meditation. That Gurudeva sees it as related. So, if we want to stabilize our self in the muladhara chakra, Lord Ganesha's blessings can help us do that. Not Lord Murugan's, not Lord Siva's. You know it's, the Deities are very distinct. So it's Lord Ganesha's stabilizes us.

If we're trying, you know if we're stable and doing well and if we're up further, we can get Lord Murugan's blessings to get us into the anahata. Nice place. Peaceful, calm. Nice place to live. But again it's the Deity's blessings that are involved. And then Siva gets us into the ajna. Siva reaches down from the ajna chakra and lifts one up. That's beautifully said.

So that's why, you know, Gurudeva says: Start with Lord Ganesha and get yourself stable first. And then, if that's really going well then you move onto Lord Murugan in terms of how it influences the chakras, you know. Of course, we do Siva puja every day but this is in terms of trying to get the blessings to be stable in the muladhara and then eventually be stable in the anahata chakras.

So, I have more but I think it's to be continued.

Have a wonderful day.