COIMBATORE: “As much as 40 percent of the country’s people are named Shiva. You can even call a dog by the name. Because you and the dog are made of the same matter,” said Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev during his speech during the Mahashivaratri celebrations at the Isha Yoga Center, near here.
Lakhs of devotees attended the celebrations, which lasted from Monday evening to Tuesday morning. Millions watched it on television.
The word ‘Shiva’, Sadhguru said, means ‘that which is not’. “It is nothingness which is the basis of all physical creation. One needs to be in a state of abandonment to experience the possibility of this night,” he said.
On Mahashivaratri, there is a natural upsurge of energy in the human system and it is important to keep awake with one’s spine erect, he said, and urged everyone to use the opportunity to experience true awakening and not just let the night pass as period of wakefulness, soon after he welcomed the audience. Sadhguru also explained the meaning behind the five fundamental forms of Shiva - Yogishwara, Bhuteshwara, Kaleshwara, Sarveshwara and Shambho.
Stressing the importance of yoga on this auspicious day, he said yoga could help people transcend boundaries of individuality. “What is and what is not you is not fixed. If the idea of individuality is not transcended with the help of yoga, you will have a wrong perception of your existence and nature,” he explained. As Sadhguru concluded his address, the Isha brahmacharis, who are students of Isha Samskriti, chanted Adi Shankara’s Nirvana Shatakam to powerful drum beats.
Following the discourse and cultural performances, Sadhguru’s DVD ‘Poetic Fling’ was launched by fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee.
As midnight approached, Sadhguru conducted the midnight meditation and chanted the maha-mantra ‘Aum Namah Shivaya’.