post 10

WHAT IS SHAKTI? 

The power of self-knowledge, which is what eradicates ego, is called grace, which is the infinite love that we as we actually are have for ourself as we actually are. This is the supreme and only real power, in front of which the unreal power called māyā cannot stand. This power of grace is what is personified as the goddess Śakti, who is the consort of Śiva, but who is actually none other than him. In other words, God and his power of grace are one, indistinguishable and indivisible.

In verse 19 of Upadēśa Taṉippākkaḷ Bhagavan says:

"[What is experienced as] śānti [peace] in inward look itself is [what is experienced as] śakti [power] by outward look. For those who investigate and know, they are one."

That is, both infinite power and infinite peace are our real nature, so the true form of power is only peace, which is a state not of doing anything but of just being. As Sadhu Om used to say, the motionless power of a dam holds water in the reservoir in a calm and peaceful condition, but if the dam is not sufficiently strong, it will crack, thereby disturbing the peaceful state of the water and allowing its power to flow out through the crack and create havoc. Likewise, the supreme power is the state of self-abidance, which is the peaceful state of just being, and the rising of ego is like a crack in the dam, which disturbs the peace of just being and releases its power to create phenomena, which cause endless havoc.

Therefore the power of creation, which is ego or māyā, is not the supreme power but arises only due to weakness. The supreme power is the power of absolute peace, which never allows any room for ego to rise and create phenomena. Ego and its creation do not actually exist, but they seem to exist in the view of ego so long as it does not investigate itself keenly enough to see what it actually is.

Therefore having risen as ego, the only wise course for us now is to surrender ourself entirely by investigating who or what we actually are.

Michael James

2 Feb 2019

 https://happinessofbeing.blogspot.com/2019/02/in-dream-there-is-only-one-dreamer-and.html