Great Devotees of Lord Siva 75B

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OM Namah Sivaya

 

 

 

 

Lalleshwari

 

The Great Mystic of Kashmir

 

The greatness of Lalla lies in giving the essence of her experiences in the course of her Yoga practices through the language of the common man. She has shown very clearly the evolution of the human being, theory of nada, the worries and miseries of a jiva and the way to keep them off. The different stages of Yoga with the awakening of the Kundalini and the experiences at the six plexi have been elucidated by her.

 

Much can, indeed, be said on her work as a poet and more, perhaps, on her work in the spiritual realm. But at a time when the world was suffering from conflict - social, political and economic - her efforts in removing the differences between man and man need to be emphasised.

 

The composite culture and thought she preached and the Orders she founded was an admixture of the non-dualistic philosophy of Saivism and Islamic Sufism. As long back as the 13th century she preached non-violence, simple living and high thinking and became thus Lalla Arifa for Muhammadans and Lalleshwari for Hindus.

 

She was thus the first among the long list of saints who preached medieval mysticism which later enwrapped the whole of India. It must be remembered that Ramananda's teaching and that of those that came after him could not have affected Lalla, because Ramananda flourished between 1400 and 1470, while Kabir sang his famous Dohas between 1440 and 1518, and Guru Nanak between 1469 and 1538. Tulsidasa did not come on the scene till 1532 whereas Mira flourished much later.

 

 

Sayings of Lalleshwari

 

 

My heart I parched as farmers parch the grain

And from that fire there came a wondrous boon

And Shiva in a flash I did obtain

 

 

I, Lalla, entered through the door of the garden of my mind

And saw Shiva and Shakti united into one, O joy!

There I became immersed in the lake of nectar

And died even while I was still alive

What will now death do unto me ?

And then I, Lalla, attained the supreme state.

 

 

We have been in the past

In future also we shall be

Forever the sun rises and sets

Forever Shiva creates and dissolves and creates again.

 

 

Practice constantly to absorb the manifested, The world of form merges into the void The void dissolves, the One ineffable remains- This is the truth to learn, O Batta!)

 

The mind-horse gallops over the skies, Momently traverses a million miles. Consciousness-bridle will hold it in check, Control the wings of the airs that go up and down.

 

Shiva is the horse, Keshava the saddle, And Brahma becomes the stirrup. The yogi through his yoga will come to know, Which God will dare to mount this horse

 

The unimpaired sound, the void of the sky, The One with no name nor family nor caste, Just the Self-aware Sound and the Dot eternal That God alone will mount this horse.

 

The mind-horse I reined in and put on course, Holding him still with the ten air-channels. The mystic moon melted and downwards flowed. And the void was absorbed into the void!

 

 

 

Sivaya Namah