SHIV YOG - What a Shiv Yogi must know
What does Shiv Yog mean?
Imagine a seed. Imagine a seed in the ground. Imagine it
being exposed to the elements. What happens next? There is a wonderful
transformation. A seemingly dead-looking seed transforms into a beautiful
life-giving tree. Yes, the elements have a role to play. Someone may even say
that the tree was hidden inside the seed but the fact remains no matter which
way you put it, the seed changes. In the same manner, men become great men with
their thoughts with their actions. Some men become great businessmen some
become great saints. Every seed transforms into a tree. And this transformation
of ordinary into extraordinary is called Shiv Yog.
Literally, Shiva means supreme consciousness and Yog
means union. Imagine it like a smart phone connecting to a Wifi network. Just
like Wifi enables the phone to connect to all the information in the world, in
the same manner people in a state of Yoga with the supreme are enabled to do
great things. Shiv Yog means the path to unification with the supreme. It is a
pre-religion phenomenon, which is defined again and again by great men in the
form of scriptures, difficult to interpret, but now through the grace of His
holiness Avdhoot Shivanand today’s generation can learn this path in its
truest, purest form.
How does practicing Shiv Yog help people?
If a man is overweight then because of his weight he will
suffer from lethargy heart problems, high blood sugar etc. if a man starts to
work upon his body and reduces his weight, he will find that overall all his
organs will start functioning properly because our body is an ecosystem of
organs. Similarly, if there is negativity in the mind, or emotional blockages,
then a person will not just experience psychological turmoil, he will feel
restless and burdened in every aspect of his life. This is because life is also
an ecosystem of our mind, thoughts and beliefs. Shiv Yog works at the core. It
helps people resolve the issues, which lead to the failure in this ecosystem.
One cannot say that only spiritual benefit will be conferred through meditation
because the fact remains that if you start focusing on any aspect of human
existence then all aspects become healed. For instance, through Shiv Yog
sadhna, a person gets peace and relaxation. A peaceful person will be more
understanding and loving in his relationships, leading to a happy family life.
A happy state of mind will enhance a person’s productivity at work, bringing
him more fortune and with more fortune, a person can meditate deeper without
tension of the future, hence achieving more peace and now imagine the same
cycle continuing till infinity but each time with greater outcome. So if a
person asks in which ways Shiv Yog will help me, I will only say in every
single way.
We would like to learn more about you. What made you
interested in Shiv Yog?
Unlike many saints, who become interested in spirituality
at some point in their lives and then take deeksha to be an ascetic. I was born
into asceticism since I remember, I was taught Shiv Yog, I ate Shiv Yog,
breathed Shiv Yog. When children are learning alphabets, I was being taught the
Vedas and upanishads. When children are busy playing sports, I was taught Yoga
and Kalri Pettu. Interest comes when you are attracted towards something that
normally doesn’t exist. But Shiv Yog is my normal. I learnt there was only one
objective of my life that like my father, in time, I had to teach the secrets
to the world. Children may have many dreams – some may want to be a doctor,
some may want to be an engineer but since the day I became sentient, I had only
one goal and that is to help people around the world, learn and embrace the
ancient and powerful teachings of Shiv Yog. Interests mean a hobby. For me,
Shiv Yog is my reason to live. It is my breath.
We would like to learn more about Shiv Yog, the
organization.
Shiv Yog is spiritual organization, not to be confused
with a religious organisation, meaning in religion, people are said to worship
a particular God or work in a particular manner. But in Shiv Yog, The only
thing important is belief in the supreme and that supreme can be in any form.
Through Shiv Yog, a person will find himself coming closer to his God and truly
experience all that is written as scriptures or told as fables. Hence Shiv Yog
is accepted, appreciated and celebrated by people of all religions,
nationalities and creed. In every continent, country and city, you will find
Shiv Yogis. A Shiv Yogi means a person who is serious about his evolution, his
spiritual growth and meditation. Shiv Yogis are good human beings who respect
all faiths and who meditate to become better. Through Shiv Yog, a person
follows the principle of 200% life. That means family values, success,
meditation and helping fellow human beings through selfless service.
There are programmes that are continually being held
worldwide. Please relate more on this. What do you envision for the future?
When I was a child, as my father focused on my spiritual
education, my mother wished for me to have a formal education as well. When I
went to school, I learnt that children are being taught everything about the
external world and nothing about the internal self. I learnt that children know
how to work computers, phones and machines but don’t know how to deal with
their own emotions. The result being that today machines are being more
sophisticated and humans being more broken. As the outer world progresses,
sickness becomes more complicated. Psychological disorders become more advanced
and the age of depression, anxiety and psychosomatic disorders reduces every
year. My vision is of a better world by helping people become better. Human
beings are highly evolved beings if given a chance and that is what Shiv Yog
does. It teaches people about the most sophisticated machinery on the planet –
our own self. My vision is that if each child is taught meditation. If each man
learns meditation, then the collective consciousness will start to turn towards
empathy, love and peace. Once there is compassion towards fellow men, then even
resources and science can be utilized for increasing the quality and expectancy
of life rather than as a tool for destruction. With each day that I work, with
each country that I travel, I learn there are more people like me who want to
evolve, who want to make the world a better place. And Shiv yogis around the
world increase, I see my dream slowly turning into a reality. Hence, the
urgency. I wish to raise people’s consciousness at a pace faster than with
which this age is trying to pull it down.
We understand that there are many projects in need.
Please expand on the projects that are currently taking place and how people
can offer their assistance.
Shiv Yog is a very fun, yet serious path. Fun, because we
believe if life must be lived, why not live it in such a manner that we
experience utmost happiness. And serious because we are very particular about
certain things. We are particular about:
(a) Our meditation because only through meditation
a person can raise his consciousness and gain deeper understanding of the
world,
(b) The wisdom of Shiv Yog because as we
understand this wisdom, our immunity towards negativity increases, enabling us
to overcoming sorrows more easily. And the last thing – Sewa (Service). Shiv
Yogis are very particular in efforts to make the world better. And in these
efforts, Shiv Yog has four main projects in which massive resources – monetary
and human – are pumped. The first of these is plantation: Plantation of
fruit-laden trees. Second: providing food, basic necessities to children and
families around the world.
(c) Adopting old age homes and
(d) Animal rescue and shelter in the form of one
of the biggest and most beautiful cow shelters made by Baba ji a safe haven for
cows, dogs, birds, cats and many other creatures.
Shiv Yog believes in self-sustenance and self-reliance
and hence no donation is ever collected for these projects. My father and I
travel the globe, taking meditation seminars where people pay fees. These
seminars vary – from week long to month long programmes – where each day my
father and I spend eight to ten hours, training these people to understand
spirituality and experience the deepest levels of meditation. Unlike the past,
where a person had to climb mountains to find a Guru to teach such secrets,
Baba ji and I travel and take these secrets to the masses. The paid programmes
help us generate funds with which we carry out the sewa projects and do free
programmes for people who cannot afford fees. Hundreds of people participate in
these programmes and contribute so that millions of people can be happy and
learn Shiv Yog. So if you wish to contribute, just be a part of such a
programme near you.
