Mahashivarathri

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

Mahashivarathri

This marks the twenty-first Mahashivarathri at the Isha Yoga Center. In the yogic arithmetic, twenty-one is an important number because, essentially, this is seen as the eighty-fourth cycle of creation. Noticing the nature of how our human structure is built, we identified eighty-four asanas. The significance of eighty-four is also related to the relationship between the earth, moon and sun. Our physical manifestation and the relationship between the planet and the moon are very important. If one completes eighty-four years, the energy body reaches a certain level of maturity, and its need to immediately seek another physical form is lowered. So, eighty-four years is considered a full span of life.

Eighty-four is made into four quarters; these are the four padas of life. We have now completed the first pada; that is, twenty-one years of celebrations. Twenty-one years ago, on the first Mahashivarathri at the Isha Yoga Center, we were in a small hut with a little over two hundred people. It was a fabulous night, many wonderful things happened. From this small event, we have turned Mahashivarathri into a major event. It is because of your love and support, and the Mahadeva’s Grace, that Mahashivarathri has become a major event at the foothills of the Velliangiri Mountains, and I hope that everyone who has put their efforts into making this happen will work towards keeping the maximum number of people not just awake, but striving for some kind of awakening within themselves. This night is a tremendous possibility.

Let this night, in some way, be a turning point for you to move towards your awakening.

On this twenty-first Mahashivarathri, it is also our fortune to have installed the Adiyogi statue at the entrance of the Isha Yoga Center. In record time, probably forty-eight days, our team of sculptors manifested a twenty-one foot tall Adiyogi statue. It is an incredible feat; they did not sleep or let many of us sleep this whole month because they were working day and night. And on this night, our wonderful artists kept everyone electric and alive with their tunes. Zila Khan poured her heart out for Shambho, and Parthiv Gohil kept everyone dancing through the night. It was truly a glorious evening.

Let this night, in some way, be a turning point for you to move towards your awakening. However intelligent, capable or strong we are, without an element of Grace in our lives, there will be no success. Genuine success will happen only when there is Grace. Otherwise, you will have all the parts but no lubrication, and that machine cannot function. The immense Grace of the Velliangiri Mountains, the Dhyanalinga and Mahadeva – allow this to nourish and live through you. We do not know what you can and what you cannot do in your life, whether you will become the richest man in the word, the most beautiful woman on this planet, climb Mt. Everest or race with Mr. Bolt on the 100 meter track. But every one of you can strive to become a wonderful human being; nobody can deny that to you. I want you to do a simple process as a part of this Mahashivarathri. Write down three things you think make a wonderful human being, and make it a reality in your life. Do not do what I think, please do what you think is the highest. In this life, if you do not do what you want, it will become a wasted life. So, please make these three things a reality for yourself, and and in a year’s time we will meet again with a transformed you.

Love & Grace,