Shiva Sutras 3.26, 3.27, 3.28 & 3.29 - Secrecy is the Secret!

Shiva Sutra 3.26

Sariravrittir vratam

In the previous sutra we learned that enlightened yogis remain in the physical body until death. The moment of death for each and every physical body is allotted by its particular destiny. The liberated do not evaporate into white light or ascend to any heaven - rather they wait until the time allotted to that individual body ends. And during this period the mere maintenance of the body is said to be a ‘virtuous’ act.

“Just to exist in his body is a virtuous act…because while he remains in his body, he is intent only on performing the supreme worship of Lord Shiva (the Oneness, God consciousness) in each and every action of his life. [SLJ]”

Immersed in God consciousness enlightened yogis perceive the whole universe as their own Self. The God-within permeates and pervades all, and therefore every act in every moment becomes imbued as the Sacred. Those who have achieved God consciousness will worship God everywhere, while talking, eating, sleeping, and all the mundane activities of normal every day life.

Even though they seem like ordinary human beings, the enlightened ones are not ordinary. They are “somewhere else…although this yogi’s body is existing in the inferior field of individuality, this yogi is actually established in God consciousness. [SLJ – Svacchandra Tantra 4.389]”

The enlightened ones appear as ordinary men and women. They are not surrounded by white light, and do not need flowing robes or magical ornaments to tell the world they have become God consciousness. They may appear ordinary. They may be walking by us and we might never notice them. However they are not like us, they are not at all ordinary.

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Swami Lakshmanjoo explains the very concrete reasons why humility and even secrecy are essential for the enlightened. The enlightened must not publicize their achievements. “He must be known to the world as an ordinary person. As long as he does not publicize his spiritual state, he is there. Otherwise he is carried away from God consciousness. [SLJ]”

Our individual experiences with the Oneness belong only to us. The good and noble man never reveals to others the intimate details of his love for the woman he adores and respects. So we too must keep our own moments of sweet subtle bliss in the secret part of our Heart.

I’m sure that most of you have actually experienced this for yourselves. The moment you tell your friends of some wonderful inner experience, you realize that you cannot properly convey its essence; and in doing so you feel that somehow the essence of the experience has been squandered, lost to you. And what is worse, telling your dear ones often only serves to make them feel a sad envy.

The cause of this is as usual - God. It seems that the Creator has placed many checks and balances along the path of our return to God consciousness. Just as the siddhic powers can become insidious traps that draw us back out into delusion, so displaying our enlightenment before the world is fraught with unintended consequences.

Ghoratari, Ghora & Aghora Shaktis

The Oneness has created three types of energies. The first category of energies is known in Sanskrit as ghoratari. They are inferior because their function is “to cause the individual to enter into the depths of the darkness of ignorance. [SLJ]” We are all familiar with these ghoratari because even though we may never have been conscious of their activities, they have been manipulating us all our lives and holding our consciousness in Samsara, the repeating cycles of birth and death.

Ghora energies are the second and medium class of energies. The ghora shaktis “cause one to stand still. These energies will not allow the individual to enter into the state of God consciousness. [SLJ]” Jaideva Singh defines these energies as the Shaktis that draw the embodied soul into worldly pleasures. Each of you will know them as you experience them personally, and because they know precisely how to seduce in accordance with our inherent weaknesses.

The third and supreme class of energies is termed aghora and they carry us to God consciousness. We must move above the other two, and win the support and grace of these wonderful aghoras. Secrecy is the secret! The enlightened yogis who keep their achievements to themselves are embraced by these aghora energies.

“The supreme aghora energies of God consciousness always embrace that yogi who lives in such a way that he remains absolutely unknown as a yogi. They carry him to God consciousness, where he is forever established…because this state of God consciousness has come forth from a secret point and he is residing in a secret way of life. [SLJ – Kulapancasika Shastra]”

My understanding of this need for secrecy is that God consciousness is subtle, beyond the sense organs, the five senses and the mind. It is beyond words to describe. Even though we learn from many, ultimately we seek God consciousness alone in the cavern of our own Heart. We come Home alone in secrecy. Therefore secrecy is the essential key to holding onto our treasure.

“That yogi, on the other hand, who is known to everyone as an elevated yogi, is not embraced by these aghora energies. They shun him and consequently, he is carried away from God consciousness. [SLJ – Kulapancasika Shastra]”

The enlightened yogis must continue to walk along the ‘razor’s edge’ for while they remain in a body they can be seduced back into partial delusion. Spiritual pride is an ever-looming pernicious danger. Humility is our greatest and only sword against the abyss of spiritual pride.

Even his disciples must not know the depth of the master’s realizations. “The master must absolutely conceal his spirituality within his nature and not expose it to anyone. [SLJ]” Thus we see how easily great masters can fall.

Shiva Sutra 3.27

katha japah

The enlightened yogi remains in God consciousness and therefore the ordinary talk of daily life is experienced as the recitation (japah) of mantra [SLJ].

When you have reached Home, the Oneness, God Realization, and become immersed in your real nature, every moment of even your ordinary daily life is imbued with God consciousness. Your everyday conversation is felt to be a prayer, an offering, your mantra.

Shiva Sutra 3.28

Danam atma jnanam

“During the remainder of his life, his reason for living is giving his real knowledge of God consciousness to others. [SLJ]” For the rest of his life the enlightened yogi lives in the fullness of his consciousness. This state of enlightened Being has the power to destroy differentiated perception in others who are ready to come Home.

Some yogic heroes are said to have the power to “reveal the reality of God consciousness to others by merely looking (darshana) or touching. [SLJ]” However only those who have become enlightened and who can live immersed in God consciousness can help to illumine others.

Shiva Sutra 3.29

Yo’vipastho jnahetusca

Only the master who has become the player of the wheel of energies (shaktis), and is no longer played, can “become the cause of inserting knowledge in others. [SLJ]” Aspirants who are under the influence of maya and are played by the sense organs cannot impart wisdom to others. They are not able to protect themselves from delusion, so how can they possibly protect others? [SLJ].

The Sanskrit for this ‘wheel of energies’ is Shakti Chakra. This wheel consists of the energies of cognition and action. These energies are ‘played’ by masters who are immersed in God consciousness. As ordinary people we are ‘played’ by these energies that lead us from one ephemeral desire to the next.

We are played by the five senses and seduced by what we see, hear, etc. so that we are always dragged around from one sense experience to the next. Eventually we realize that none of these pleasures is fulfilling, nothing lasts, and every pleasure turns to pain, as old age, sickness and death steals every temporal illusion from us.

The master knows and lives in the Reality that all these sense experiences are like mirages in the desert. They are merely the illusory appearances of the One taking form in time and space, varying frequencies of waveform rising and subsiding on the Ocean of Consciousness. The master is not seduced by these fleeting appearances. He/she is not “played’ by their siren song.

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Swami Lakshmanjoo

Swami Lakshmanjoo: Shiva Sutras, The Supreme Awakening, With the Commentary of Kshemaraja, Revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo, and edited by John Hughes; Universal Shaiva Fellowship, 2002.

Jaideva Singh: Siva Sutras, The Yoga of Supreme Identity, Text of the Sutras and the Commentary Vimarsini of Kshemaraja Translated into English with Introduction, Notes, Running Exposition, Glossary and Index; Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1979 and reprints.