Contemplations from the 12th lesson on the Shiva Sutras.

SUTRA 11:   LOKANANDA SAMADHI SUKHAM

Be established in your own true nature, and the bliss you find there will be a gift to the world.

Here Shiva tells us that only one who is truly grounded in the peace and happiness of their truest, highest self (the Self or God Consciousness), can hope to bring peace and happiness out into the world.  So the degree to which we are established and connected to this blissful nature is in direct proportion to the level of happiness we are able to emit to the world outside ourselves. He's telling us, as Mahatma Gandhi later echoed, to "Be the change we wish to see in the world" and take responsibility for our own energetic output as a microcosmic reflection of all existence. At the same time Shiva reminds us that we can't give what we don't have; so if we wish to be a beacon of love and consciousness for all beings to benefit from, then first we must find an abundant source of such joy, tranquility and wisdom, which we can in turn, emanate and share.

 The great news is that we need look no further than inside ourselves for this plentiful supply; find the treasure in our chests and establish ourselves in our hearts, then BINGO!! We can be all singing all dancing bliss transmitters, sending out rays of higher consciousness automatically to all those within a certain radius. We'll be adding to the net total of love and consciousness on the planet just by knowing where to reside inside and then setting up camp there... in the heart, the pristine source of this universal bounty. 

 Happily this divine emanation is infectious and will impact on all those in our presence, as our brightly burning lamps naturally pass light and warmth to those other lamps in our vicinity.
 By cultivating and enhancing this connection to our true nature, we are tapping into the perpetual, causeless happiness which lives in us all, but can lie dormant in many. So our emission of love and truth via the heart then becomes a clarion call, inviting the world's joy to stir and become effervescent! There is no higher or better function a being can perform.

 As towering illuminants, humble and serene, we become a balm for the misery that is the fruitless search for happiness outside of ourselves... this epidemic affliction, a part of the human condition, is widespread but through establishment in the heart we become exemplary pioneers and spiritual guides. 

 We can be the teaching and we can be the change by energetically transmitting the higher knowledge that everything external will eventually crumble; so to seek happiness there is folly and vanity. From the deep seat of our hearts our wordless teachings will be that the only source of perpetual unalloyed happiness is inside... our true nature.

 So Shiva urges us to take care of business at an individual, cellular level, to keep reentering ourselves and gradually become more established there. This constitutes a lifetime's (or many lifetime's) work so the perfect pairing of patience and perseverance are required for this peerless and noble work. If we wish for  a world of love, truth, joy, peace and wisdom then we must heed the words of Mahadev and become established in our own true nature; making a blessed gift to the world.

LOKANANDA SAMADHI SUKHAM
    
~ by Elliot Donnelly (Yoga Sanctuary Student)

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