Devi Parvati attained enlightenment by uttering “Shiva” only once. As Shiva revealed the secrets of the sutras to Parvati, Sadhguru guides us through the process of breaking our limitations and evolving into true seekers.
Sadhguru: Shiva imparted very subtle sutras to Parvati. As the teaching went on, Parvati started forming opinions. So, Shiva told her, “With these opinions, you won’t get anywhere. There is nothing to understand in what I am saying; there is just something to relate to and experience.” Parvati then asked Shiva, “How do I break my opinions, ideas and, resistance?” He replied, “Just utter my name with every cell in your body – all resistance will break.”
This is an opportunity to break the karmic grip of past memory over you and become a much more receptive human being. Try uttering the word, the sound, and the sacred syllables Shi-va through every cell in the body. The utterance can be done in three different ways. One is civilized, another is with medium intensity, and yet another with absolute intensity. If you do it the civilized way, you are on your own. If you do it the medium way, I will hold your hand. If you do it the extreme way, you will not be there – only I will be. It is up to you.
Before we enter the subtler dimensions of the sadhana, it is important that your energies flow freely. If you are too identified with your physical body, nothing else will move. This is an opportunity to go all out. You decide how far you want to go.
Sadhguru chants Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, Shivaya
Sadhguru: Devi shifted from one expression of emotion to another. When she assumed her furious form, she became uncontrollable and went on a spree of destruction. To arrest this destruction, Shiva himself went and laid down on the ground, in her way, to stop Devi. In her fury, she killed him too. Only when she killed him, she realized what she had done, and using her energy, she once again infused life into him.
As a part of the sutra, Shiva had said, “All these emotions are not you. They are just a play of energy.” So, Devi said, “You say all these emotions are not me, but in my experience, it looks like these emotions are my very nature. As you saw, when fury overtook me, I even killed you.” Shiva said, “You are well beyond these things. What you went through right now is just a play of your energy. This is not you.”
Devi asked, “How do I realize that this is not me?” Then Shiva gave her a simple process. He said, “Utter my name on an ever-ascending pitch. You will know that what you went through right now is not you. These emotions are just a play of energies.”
Sadhguru: You too can utter the sound “Shiva” like this. Close your eyes, give yourself a hundred percent to it, take in as much breath as you can, and utter the sound “Shiva” in an ascending pitch.
Questioner: While chanting “Shiva,” my mind is distracted. I have many thoughts about what is happening and what I think should happen. What to do?
Sadhguru: A true seeker has no particular attitude, expectation, opinion, belief, or philosophy about anything. Most of the so-called seekers in the world are seeking God, enlightenment, or heaven; they assume they already know all about these things. These are not real seekers. A seeker is one who has realized that he does not know. Only then are you a genuine seeker.
You may know how to survive in the world, make money, and manipulate people or situations for your wellbeing. But, you do not know an iota about life. If you come to this conclusion and have no particular attitude, expectation, belief, or opinion about anything, then just a simple method is enough.
Parvati realized her ultimate nature by uttering “Shiva” on an ascending pitch just once. She did not repeatedly chant “Shiva.” Why did it work like that for her? Why are you yelling, and still it is not happening? The difference lies in the level of receptivity. Receptivity simply means not to clutter yourself with opinions, emotions, and thoughts. When you come to the understanding that you really do not know, then whatever thoughts come, are of no significance.
When you think you know, your thoughts and emotions seem very important. When you realize you do not know, you naturally ignore whatever your thoughts say. You can apply a simple method: Look at all your great ideas, all your great emotions, everything about you and see that it is all utterly stupid. If you think it is smart and intelligent, you will not be able to drop it. Only when you realize you are utterly stupid, can you keep your thoughts, emotions, everything aside. Now the explosion will happen.
