Between a Poornima night and another night, there is a lot of difference. People who are a little mad know the difference very well! Let’s look at why this happens.It is like turning up the volume on the microphone. The talk remains the same, but suddenly, it is louder and clearer. The energy is a little higher on the full moon day. Similarly, if there was a little madness earlier, when you increase the flow of energy, everything seems to be magnified. It is not just madness that is magnified. If you are peaceful, you become more peaceful. If you are joyous, you become more joyous. Whatever is your quality, it is enhanced. People only notice madness because most people are in that state!
What makes the energy a little higher? One factor is that there is a certain aesthetic quality. Anything that you look at, if it is beautiful, your receptivity to that object suddenly becomes greater. Anything that you consider ugly, the moment you look at it, your receptivity comes down. The full moon has a certain aesthetic quality, which definitely improves your receptivity. Another aspect is that the planet has moved into a certain position in relation to its satellite, which makes the vibrations very forceful. The tides rise on this day because of the gravitational pull of the moon. The water is spilling over and trying to “jump” up. Similarly, your blood is also trying to “jump”. When the circulation of blood increases in your brain, whatever is your quality gets enhanced.
Now, there is a lot of difference in the quality of meditation on Poornima and Amavasya. On Amavasya nights, your energies are supposed to be roguish. Poornima nights have a more subdued quality, which is more subtle, pleasant and beautiful—more like love. Amavasya has a grosser nature. Poornima has a subtler nature. The kundalini also behaves like this: on Poornima, it moves very gently and on Amavasya it moves in great bursts and thrusts.
Poornima is a tremendous presence. The presence of the moon is so clear that wherever you look, everything becomes translucent. The vibration and feel of the full moon is very different from the moon in other states. The Ida and Pingala within you also function in a different way. The prana, or vital energy, flows in a different way because the vibrations have changed.
If you have some mastery over the sun and moon within—the Pingala and Ida—the beauty of Poornima can remain with you every day. Or you can choose Amavasya every day. Or you don’t choose at all: whatever is happening in nature, you enjoy all the stages of life as they are.
While Poornima is a tremendous presence, Amavasya is an absence. A logical mind always thinks presence is powerful and absence means nothing. But it is not so. As light has power, the absence of light—or darkness—has its own power. In fact, it is more powerful than light, isn’t it? Night is more overpowering than day because darkness is just absence. It is wrong to say that darkness exists. Light is absent and that absence has an overpowering presence.
Even in your own consciousness, when you become meditative, it means you have become absent. When you try to be present, you have no presence at all. But when you become absent, there is tremendous presence. The same is true with Amavasya. Gradually, the moon has disappeared, and that absence has created a certain power.
For an aggressive person, Amavasya is an important aspect. For a person who is more sensitive and subtle, Poornima is an important aspect. Both have their own power. In terms of qualities, Poornima is love, and Amavasya is aggression. But we can make use of both. Both are energy. Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic, a bestselling author and poet. He was conferred the Padma Vibhushan in 2017. Isha.sadhguru.org