I just got back a couple of days ago from a mystical 21-day spiritual retreat called Shivoham Inner Awakening in Cambodia by a living incarnation, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (fondly known as Swamiji). This body is still trying to settle in from the alchemy process and the high energy space we were taken into. Frankly, many of us couldn’t even articulate exactly what happened to us but we just knew that Swamiji worked on our physiological evolution instead of psychological evolution.
In this article, I attempt to piece together the elements of the science which I am able to capture with my intellectual understanding and experience. I’ve deliberately avoided the subjective mystical experiences in this article as they are very personal to individuals. This Shivoham transformational process happened for 450 participants who attended this programme from over 40 countries. Literally we were a sample which represented the world.
- Unforgettable Opening/Closing Shivoham darshan – There is a statement that is used – Connecting with the divine with eyes closed is meditation, connecting with the Divine with our eyes open is darshan. A darshan is a powerful energy transmission to record a file deep into our core which opens up to trigger a remembrance at the time when we exit this body. The effect is the same as doing the conscious death process but this time it was through a darshan. The images of the opening Shivoham darshan and closing Shivoham darshan shall remain deep in our core.
- Working straight on the Source unit – Swamiji explained that we are all made of lines and sounds, but through our conditioning it gets recorded chaotically in our muscle memory and bio memory, thus in life we experience ourselves chaotically as well. In this program, he used many different mandalas/yantras i.e the sacred geometry, mantra (vibration/sound), and tantra (using both together as a technique) to awaken the Kundalini energy (the inner potential energy within us which resides in the root energy center, Muladhara chakra) and harmonize our muscle-memory and bio-memory so that we can experience the truth of Shivoham -“I am divine”, the ultimate experience of highest possibility. These techniques are from the Vedic scriptures which work on our physiology which He Himself experienced to achieve enlightenment.
- Deep friendliness and inspirational ambience – It is not a joke to be able to handle 450 adults and 50 kids from different culture and religious background. Swamiji was radiating such friendliness and openness in answering our questions such that many of our doubts and fears just melted away. Trust happened at the being level, we just know that He is the master who can help us in our spiritual transformation. Cambodia was the perfect setting because of its historical connection with Vedic tradition as a temple-based civilization. Many temples were built by the enlightened kings and masters at that time creating a rich intelligent civilization. This place provided such an inspiration because the space which made them build such grand Vedic temples such as Angkor Wat temple with granite stones and skin carving on stones was unimaginable. The context of Shivoham was set knowing that we are endowed with tremendous possibilities.
- Vedic Mantras and Yantras – Vedic Mantras are sacred sounds from the Cosmos while yantras are the line representation of the Cosmos. Through the process of aligning our muscle memory and bio memory to the Cosmic Source, Swamiji made us go through 6 yantras. The first yantra was the Bindu yantra which represented Shiva – consciousness and we were asked to visualize the expression of possibilities as Shiva. The second yantra is Trikona yantra which is aimed at awakening the Shakti (Devi energy) in us which is responsible for expression or being active. He explained that Shiva is consciousness who does the 5 roles of Cosmos – creation, maintenance, destruction, putting people in illusion and liberation but it is feminine energy that makes these 5 dimensions become alive. The third yantra is Kalabhairava yantra – the Lord of Time, which is the energy on which the memories are stored in space. Kalabhairava is one of the most powerful expression of Mahadeva (Shiva). He is the energy on which all the memories are stored. Space is the energy where all visualizations are stored; Time is the energy in which all memories are stored, all the word documents are kept with Kalabhairava, all the visuals are kept in space, Nataraja. When we align our sound with Time, the Ananhata dhvani (unstruck sound of the Source) starts happening in us. Next, we worked on Space. It is only through Time that we can enter into Space and finally experience consciousness. The fourth yantra is the most powerful yantra of all – Sri Yantra which is the cosmic representation of Shiva and Devi in line form, the geometrical visualisation of Mahedeva’s inner space. It is only through the Manifest (Shakti) that we can experience the Unmanifest (Shiva), hence Devi holds the key to open the door to reach Shiva – Consciousness. All the earlier preparations led us to awaken the 43 energies in our body – represented by the 43 triangles in the Sri Yantra. Once awakened, one starts expressing astha maha siddhis (8 extraordinary powers) and 16 other powers as seen as the petals of lotus. Then we were so fortunate to be gifted with a very rare initiation i.e. we were initiated into the most sacred mantra – Shodasi mantra of Sri Vidya Sampradaya (lineage) which comprises 16 sounds of Cosmos. The 16-sound Shodasi mantra, is the root from where the cognition starts. All the good, bad, right, wrong, positive, negative, neutral, whatever, everything starts from these 16 sounds. Traditionally it is so sacred that it is only passed down to disciples by enlightened masters via words. These 16 sounds exactly coincide with the 16 points in our brain energy circuit. Once initiated, it aligns the cognition to the cosmic intelligence and one starts expressing extraordinary powers. The fifth yantra we experienced was the Mahadeva yantra, this is the exact yantra when Mahadeva initiated Nandi into Shivoham. The language written was prakrit, a language before Sanskrit was created. The sixth yantra was Mahakaali yantra, Mahakaali is the embodiment of Divine Cosmic Mother radiating auspiciousness. The last process ensured we are established in Shivoham state forever in deep fulfilment before sending us back to the world.
- Shivoham can only be gifted by a living avatar. However much we try, the truth is man can’t make it by himself, he has to be given. Aham (I am) cannot be Shiva, only Shiva can make Aham into Shivoham (I am Shiva). Those who made it to this retreat were blessed with the state of Shivoham out of Mahadeva’s compassion. Avatar is a person who directly descended from super consciousness and radiates the satgunas (all auspicious qualities), Swamiji is one such rare living avatar happening in our time. Don’t miss Him.
- Right understanding of Self experientially. This powerful alchemy of Shivoham made one experience the true Self and how powerful you are inside, nothing called “impossibility’’ exists in possibility. Shivoham makes you feel there is so much in you, even you will feel the mystical dimension of you. When you start feeling the higher dimensions of you, you just fall in love with you. Life will never be the same anymore with this shift in cognition. Wherever you go, you radiate courage, strength, completion in your inner space, you will simply enrich people to discover the joy of Shivoham.
In essence, Shivoham is the best gift one can receive from God – the alchemy of becoming a divine being. You become so SURE of yourself that nothing will ever shake you from outside. Namaste 😀