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Contemplations from the 4 th lesson on the Shiva Sutra Sutra 3: Yonivargah kalashariram ‘This body is a living piece of art, composed of the five elements of nature and borne from the womb of the universe’ In a world obsessed with body image, that has given rise to a collective insanity of insecurity and paranoia around our own forms, this sutra is a shot in the arm and a slap across the face. Shiva says, “Wake up and say thank you for the gift you have been given!”   This show of gratitude alone will be enough to send a new wave of vital energy through your veins. Take what you have been given, honour its uniqueness, don’t worry about what anyone else was given and make the absolute most of what you have!   This body is a rare gift of nature, borne from the womb of the universal mother; it is hardwired for ecstasy and programmed to take you to the highest knowledge of the Self. "This body that you so often complain about and wish was a litt...

Contemplations from the 3 rd Lesson on the Shiva Sutras Sutra 2:   Jnanam bandhah ‘Knowledge held on to, becomes bondage.’ The nature of your original mind is boundless empty openness. It contains, at all times, every possibility that ever was and will ever be, it is the source of all knowledge. It’s your BIG MIND, something like the Internet. Your personal mind or little mind is akin to a ‘PC’. On its own it can input, store and process information, which is useful but desperately limited. Yet, how would it be if you are able to connect the ‘PC’ of your little mind, into the Internet of the BIG MIND and download what you need when you need it! In this second sutra, Shiva is urging us forward, saying: “Forget what you think you know, for there is so much more if you are willing to let go. Your old knowledge is like a graveyard, stop resurrecting corpses of the past and come live in the aliveness of the present. Don’t let your mind hold onto knowledge and buil...

2 nd Lesson on the Shiva Sutras        Sutra 1:    Chaitanyamatma ‘We can realise our true nature to the extent that we raise our energy.’ The thoughts we have about the world and ourselves are nowhere near as personal as we might like to think. Thought is actually universally rooted. We become subject to certain qualities of thought according the level of consciousness we are currently functioning at. If our energy is low we become subject to all kinds of thoughts that we would simply not have or at least be less affected by if our energy was higher. The fears, anxieties, worries, judgments and insecurities we feel when our energy is low will either not happen or at least have less effect on us when we are vibrating on a higher frequency of energy. So you see, the level of energy we are vibrating at will attract to us certain kinds of thought. Even more importantly, when we are functioning on a high level of energy not ...

In our weekly Living Wisdom Sessions at the Yoga Sanctuary we are currently exploring the all-powerful Shiva Sutras. Each week Prem will post here on the Blog some inspirations from our explorations... 1st Lesson of the Shiva Sutras:     WHAT SUTRA ARE YOU HOLDING ON TO? Thought is not a problem, but the way we think can be. The way we think greatly determines the direction and quality of our lives. It matters how we think! A sutra is a thread. If we attach that thread to a rocket then the thread goes up but if we attach it to a rock it goes down.  Same with our thinking! Any thought we actively participate in thinking has the potential to take us up or down, elevate or crush us, liberate or bind us, nourish or poison us, open our heart or turn them to stone. The question is: what sutra am I carrying in my mind and how does that sutra make me feel? It’s not a case of driving out negative thoughts from our minds, no, this could b...