Har Har Mahadev!
I am Coach Dish.
A heartfelt welcome to you on the first evening of our sacred seven-day Inner Pilgrimage towards Mahashivratri.
Before we settle in,
Let me just tell you quickly what we are doing here.
We are embarking on a seven-day Inner Pilgrimage.
Many of us carry Shiva in our hearts from childhood,
In the stories told by our elders,
In the morning chants that filled our homes,
In the profound silence before a Shiva Linga.
We know him as Bholenath,
The Compassionate One,
As the great ascetic,
Deep in Samadhi on Mount Kailash.
But the ancient rishis and the Shiva Sutras reveal a deeper secret.
The Shiva we offer our devotion to is the same consciousness that animates your breath at this very moment.
The destination of our devotion is in Truth,
Our own Self.
Shivoham.
I am Shiva.
That is not a statement of ego,
But the ultimate realization of Advaita,
Of non-duality.
That our true nature is pure,
Limitless consciousness.
For these seven days,
We will walk this inner path together.
We will use the sacred forms and Leelas,
The stories of Shiva,
As mirrors to recognize who we truly are.
We are going to take a journey from the chaos of your daily life straight into the silence of the void.
But today,
We don't just talk about Shiva.
We meet a form of Shiva within us.
We begin with Shiva as Thanu,
The unmoving,
Eternal pillar,
The axis of the universe.
Imagine a time of chaos.
Everything is shaking,
Unstable,
Frightening.
In our stories,
When this happens,
Shiva doesn't fight the chaos.
He doesn't run from it either.
He becomes something the chaos cannot touch.
A pillar of light,
An unshakable mountain.
He becomes the center that holds everything together.
Your life has chaos.
Thoughts shake you.
Emotions shake you.
The world's noise shakes you.
But what if,
Like Shiva,
You have an unshakable mountain inside you?
What if you could find that center right now?
This isn't just a story.
This is your inherent nature.
Some might even go to say it's your birthright.
And today,
We claim it.
So,
Let's begin.
Get comfortable.
And I don't mean rigid yoga statue comfortable.
Sit in a way that doesn't make you hate me in three minutes.
Let your eyes close.
Now,
Do a quick scan with me.
Check your shoulders.
Are they up by your ears,
Like you're wearing them as earrings?
Drop them.
Seriously,
Let them fall.
Check your jaw.
We love to clench our jaw.
It's where we store all the things we didn't say today.
Unhinge it.
Let your mouth hang open slightly.
Feel the back of your neck.
Imagine I have a little string attached to the crown of your head,
And I am gently lifting you up.
There.
You are the pillar arising.
And for a few moments,
Just notice your posture.
Just being.
Now,
I bet right now,
The thoughts are getting louder.
It will bring you problems,
Memories,
Plans,
Such as,
Did I lock the door?
Is this working?
My knee itches.
Well,
That is completely normal.
This is its job.
The brain is a survival machine,
Not a peace machine.
It's looking for problems.
Don't fight it.
Shiva's teaching here is Sakshi,
The witness.
You are not the chaos.
You are the awareness that watches the chaos.
Just treat those thoughts like notifications on your phone.
Ping.
Oh,
A worry about tomorrow.
Swipe left.
Ping.
Oh,
Boredom.
Swipe left.
You don't have to read the message.
You just have to swipe it away and gently return to your body,
To your breath.
In the Shaivite tradition,
Shiva has many forms.
You probably know the dancer,
Nataraja.
But before he dances,
He is Tano.
It translates to the pillar,
The unmoving one.
The teaching is this.
The universe is Spanda,
A constant vibration.
Everything moves.
Your thoughts,
Your cells,
The stock market,
The weather.
But to survive the movement,
You must have a center that does not move.
If you try to chase the spinning wheel,
You get dizzy.
You have to become the axis.
So I want you to imagine your body is slowly surrendering to your seat,
To the earth beneath you.
Feel the gravity pulling your hips down into the chair or the floor beneath you.
Let your arms get heavy like lead.
If you wanted to lift your hands right now,
You couldn't.
It's too heavy.
You are sinking into this moment.
Feel your whole body held by the earth,
Feeling heavy,
Solid,
Ancient.
The world outside is the weather.
But you,
You are the mountain.
The mountain doesn't apologize for the storm.
It doesn't try to fix the wind.
It just sits there,
Witnessing,
Unmoved.
Be the mountain.
Be the mountain,
Rooted and surrendered.
Are you still with me?
Or did you float away to have a conversation with your boss in your head?
It's okay.
Come back.
Feel the weight of your butt in the chair or the cushion beneath you.
That's real.
The conversation in your head is not real.
Come back to the weight,
Right here,
Heavy and surrendered.
That's the practice.
Keep coming back to the body.
Now,
Let go of the mountain.
Let all the sounds,
Thoughts and stories soften.
But keep the feeling.
What's left when the sounds fade?
What's left when the images fade?
Just rest in this awareness,
Pure consciousness,
A silent,
Knowing presence.
There is nothing to do,
Nowhere to go,
No one to be.
Just this.
Okay,
Well done.
Take a massive breath in.
Feel the lungs until they press against your ribs.
Deep in breath.
And let it out with a loud sigh.
Make a noise.
Alright.
Before you open your eyes,
Just notice.
Do you feel a little heavier?
A little less frantic?
That is the anchor.
You can access this anytime.
When the world tries to spin you,
Just remember the gravity in your hips,
The solidity beneath your feet,
The warmth in your hands.
Now,
Slowly open your eyes.
Welcome back.
Today was about stability,
But tomorrow,
On day two,
We meet Neelkanth,
The alchemist.
We are going to take this stability and learn how to deal with the heavy stuff.
Anger,
Frustration and stress.
I'm going to teach you the blue throat technique to hold fire without getting burned.
You are on the path.
The path is Shiva.
Om Namah Shivaya.
