Shivaratri is when you repose in your being. You know night gives you comfort however frustrated you are. When you sleep you are not touched by frustration; sleep relieves you of pain, suffering, frustration, desires, fear, everything. There is no fear in sleep, there are none of these emotions in sleep because it relieves you from all these and it comforts you.
When we are awake we are so busy, we are caught up in so many things and when we are tired we fall asleep, we get into inertia but there is something in between. When you consciously repose in your being you encounter that which is magnificent, that which is universal, that which has no boundaries, that which has no time.
Shiva is beyond time and yet he is called Maha (grand) in time. You know you feel the timelessness, isn’t it? When you meditate what do you feel? When you take a dip into that emptiness that you are, that emptiness is full of all glory, all bliss.
We get so fried by our desires and our fears and our anxiety and wants and dislikes we need rest and that rest is what meditation is and meditation is that, which leads to Shiva tattva, the Shiva principle.
For a moment you will see all the activities and the entire phenomenal world as ephemeral, as temporary, it’s like a dream and the dream nature of everything lifts you to the reality that you are. You are that vast consciousness which has no limit and the way to realise that is devotion.
You know the divine accepts everything from you, you know whatever you have, offer it. You have guilt, offer it to the divine. Thoughts are flowers because it all belongs to the divine. So anything that is bothering you, anything that you hold on to within you, which is bothering you, anything you have in you, you have to simply let go, know that it is not yours, it belongs to Shiva. Shiva is very personal, yet he is universal, Shiva is beauty yet he is unseen, Shiva is in every particle of the being, everything that we see is Shiva.
Yet, what we don’t see is also Shiva. It’s the night that gives you the vision of infinity, in the day time you can not see infinity. In the night you see how many universes are there, how many stars? The glory of existence is visible in the night and in the night you don’t see many things right? In the same way, night takes you in its lap and comforts you and soothes you of every other emotion, good or bad and it’s the same in meditation.
When you go into meditation it brings relief to you, it uplifts you and that is what Shivaratri is about. Be awake inside and repose in yourself. Many devotees from time immemorial who have sung (Om Namah Shivaya), have seen that all their sins vanished. Just say “Om Namah Shivaya”, all the lack will disappear from you, with “Om Namah Shivaya” fears will fly away, just say “Om Namah Shivaya”, what more do you want?
When lack disappears, fear disappears, tiredness goes away you are left with bliss and pure bliss and that is Shiva. Shiva is: sat i.e. the truth, chit i.e. consciousness and anand i.e. bliss. The yogi finds it so obvious and the one who is not a yogi finds it just a hearsay or a story and it just goes above him. But a yogi knows it all and will say yes, that is correct. Right? So you are all yogis.
“Shivoham, Shivoham”, “I am Shiva”, “I am Shiva”, this “I” is nothing but Shiva and then “Sarvam Shivamayam Jagat” means everything here is filled with Shiva, is soaked with Shiva, is manifestation of Shiva”. These two feelings “Everything is Shiva” and “I am Shiva”, that’s it, done.
So for you to go deep in meditation, know that you are loved, Shiva loves you so dearly. You are loved and you are lovely because you are made by Shiva. So you have to be lovely, there is no choice. However you have been created, the creator is responsible, so however you are and that role that you have been given is given by Shiva and so it has got to be lovely, it has got to be beautiful! "You are loved" and "you are lovely"; see how the mind becomes free with these two understandings. Putting yourself in this positive, beautiful vibration, universal vibration of the mantras, of the chants, uplifts our consciousness in more than one way, in many many ways.
