Merging with the Supreme: Shiva Sutra 3.21
The Pricelessness of the 3 Jewels— the Teacher, Teaching and Sangha, is in their ability to guide us back to the path of our practice, and towards the goal of our enlightenment. In a way, these 3 jewels are like a GPS system that keeps us going in the right direction— we go to class, or do our practice, and then we walk through our life and slowly but surely start to stray. We look back at our GPS via another class, or scheduled sit, and get back on track. This is how we make our way towards the Summit— but at a certain point in our practice you lose reception— that is, you reach a point where you can no longer simply rely on an external tool to do the work for you, and you have to surrender within yourself even more deeply to activate your Inner GPS system. That’s where this Sutra takes us, to the point on the path where we must merge completely with our practice in order to ascend to the next level.
Rough Class Transcript:
Quick Review
We learned from the last sutra that the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep are like a sword that we use to cut through and carve out our reality. In between our swash buckling, we place the sword in its sheath, and have the opportunity to experience a different state of being, described as the Turya State. This state, where the sword of the mind rests in the sheath of the heart, is like an oil made of nectar, that not only nourishes the sword within it, but our whole state of being.
Close your eyes and allow the awareness you normally keep in your head to sink down into this ocean of nectar in the heart. Feel yourself being deeply nourished, every nook and cranny of your awareness is lubricated and refreshed in sheath of this experience.
We were instructed in Sutra 3.20 to expand this nectar into the 3 states. Though this sheath naturally oil our awareness at the entries and exits of our reality— for example, your morning and evening sit nourish you, but is that nectar present in the middle of your day. Or, you might be excited to start or finish a project, but where is that excitement during the project? Our work as yogis is to find a way to hold and spread this nectar into the other three states:
“The fourth state (turya), which is filled with pure knowledge, pure light and the ecstasy and joy of turya, must be sprinkled and expanded just as oil expands when it is poured on a smooth surface like a piece of cloth. For just as oil spreads on this surface, adhering to it, so in this way a yogī must expand the state of turya into the other three states.”
As was said before, to spread this nectar we must “hold” the Turya state as we enter and exit the many sheathing and unsheathing moments of our day. To pull your focus inside as you are about to engage externally, and to follow your focus inside, and keep it there, when that event comes to an end.
“The yogī must prolong turya in such a way that its nectar becomes established and pervades not only in the beginning and the end but also in the middle of these three states. And the means to accomplishing this in all three states is to “hold it.” Hold it at the time of entry and hold it at the time of exit. This nectar of turya (turyarasa) must be properly held with full awareness so that it is expanded in the center of these three states. ”
Simply taking one conscious breath before talking can help you draw that nectar of the heart up, and then taking time to breathe while you talk can help you stay connected inside. When you’re finished talking, let your awareness actually turn within, and pay attention to what the next person is saying, or to a slight pause that naturally occurs.
You can also try to pay attention to the spaces between events, such as when walking from one room to another, or driving from point A to Point B— let your awareness remain sheathed in these in between moments so that when you arrive it will draw that nectar into your reality.
And finally, trying to bring more awareness to the space between the waking and dreaming state itself, both by doing practice as you fall asleep, and doing a little practice before you leave bed in the morning. Just tapping into that nectar, until it starts to permeate.
Sutra 3.20 sets the stage for the work, and gives us practical approaches to expand the space of Turya in our lives, but Sutra 3.21 tells us more about ‘how’ we hold that nectar.
“The yogī who is merged in his self must enter completely with his mind filled with great awareness.” Ie. We must ‘merge completely’ in order to allow this nectar to permeate our reality.
On the Hero’s journey of enlightenment, we are ascending a mountain of Karma to ultimately gain the perspective of enlightenment. We use physical tools to navigate the initial aspects of the journey— like healthy living, asana practice, and seva. Those become a foundation in our practice, and guide us towards a higher elevation, where we learn to use subtler tools of awareness like pranayama, mantra and silent meditation. These tools are like a GPS system, keeping us climbing towards our enlightenment.
And Just like following a real GPS system, you walk or drive through your life, then we check in with our GPS to make sure we are on track. We sit in the morning, then we live our waking state, and then sit in the evening, and live our dreaming state. We might get off track, but our GPS guides us back on the path.
In a way, this also mirrors the transition that is occurring in our tradition right now. We all have the luxury of a having a living breathing GPS called Babaji. You could say, in fact, that GPS stands for Guru Positioning System, in that your Guru keeps you on track when you start to stray. We can check in with our Guru during practice sessions and energetically be lifted and placed back on the path. This also goes for times in all of our sangha programs, as they are an extension of the Guru’s Shakti. You can log in, and with minimal effort be air lifted back onto the path— even if you are resistant! This is the nature of the three jewels— Teacher, Teaching and Sangha. They are jewels precisely because of the power they have to keep us on track towards our inner realization.
This Sutra affirms this path from physical to subtle, but then extends our journey into the Supreme: “When he establishes and resides in the awareness of his God consciousness in the waking state (jāgrat), the dreaming state (svapna), and in the state of deep sleep (suṣupti), then the gross movement of his breath enters into the subtle movement of breath and the subtle movement of breath enters into that which is supreme, where he experiences the supreme motion (spanda) in his own nature. (Netra Tantra 8.12)”
This “Supreme Experience” lies beyond the physical and subtle— and requires a unique kind of work and tool. Basically, the summit we are ascending goes beyond the reach of our GPS, and to go any further will require a level of surrender that hasn’t been asked of us yet. There is a scene in every great adventure movie, where the character has to let go of the tools or map that got them there, and find the resolve within themselves to complete the journey— this is that moment for us as a sangha, and for all yogis according to the Sutras.
Imagine tossing your phone on the ground because it won’t help you anymore. Dropping your backpack of tools because youre beyond their elevation. You stop waiting for a chopper to fly in and save the day and you start walking up, not down, the mountain. As you can imagine, in this moment, you begin to merge with your destination— or it might be more fitting to say, your destiny. You finally begin to use your own being, your own awarenesss, as the tool to guide you.
And according to the Sutra that precisely when it appears— an internal guidance system. No screens, no batteries, no softwares updates— its Shiva’s GPS, and it literally exists within you, as your very being. As Babaji says, you step off the cliff and go up.
“When mind (mānasaṁ), individual consciousness (cetanā), the energy of breathing (śaktiḥ), and ego (ātmā), disappear, then that formation of Bhairava is found existing there.”- (Vijñānabhairava 138)”
This is to say that literally when these outer distractions disappear, the inner one illuminate.
That’s the tool and experience this Sutra is here to give us— one gained only by merging. There’s no button for this device, though, to access it, we are taught, you have to let go of external attachments— then it appears.
Or here in the Jnanagarbha Stotra: “O Mother, “when, in ordinary daily life one repels the actions of the mind and shatters dependence on the senses, by which one is enslaved, causing one to follow them according to their every wish, and instead diverts their senses towards God consciousness, then by your grace they instantly achieve that supreme state of God consciousness, which floods them with the unparalleled nectar of bliss (ānanda).”
“Set aside the gross means such as the holding of breath, concentration and contemplation, and by means of the thoughtless process, maintain one-pointed thought merged in the self (svacitta). ” - Netra Tantra
The timing of this Sutra could not be more fitting for our current journey as a Sangha. Babaji is still with us, but simultaneously, is encouraging us to ascend higher in our practice, to begin exploring the space beyond the reach of our minds and devices. If we get off track, we can walk back down and reconnect through our traditional means— but this is the time to apply yourself to new heights— to go after the summit you have been envisioning for your entire life. To merge with your practice in a way that scares you, to go after the it with full resolve. The energy is there to support you, both in your ability to attempt it, but also in your ability to achieve it. What does this look like for you in your life? The Sutra tells us, that’s the place to start.
“Keeping the activity of the mind apart, one must unite that activity in God consciousness. Then this bound limited being (paśu) will realize the state of Śiva and be liberated (muktaḥ). Thereupon, he is beyond the ocean of repeated births and deaths. (Svacchanda Tantra 4.437)”
You don’t have to try to ascend this mountain all at once— you just unite this resolve within the activities of your life. Merge with your mission a little throughout the day, and watch as you begin to climb past your perceived limitations, towards a summit of Samadhi.