The Cosmic Sutra🔗

Just to come away for a few hours to sit with his devotees, The Avatar put the daily functions of the cosmos on a smooth sailing auto-pilot. He sat on the stone ground of his courtyard surrounded by his devotees on all sides. Perhaps a slight chill was in the air but the intimacy of the moment - the sheer purity of the guru and shishya relationship - overwhelmed any cold. They sat so close to him, their beings completely full by the moment. Somehow, though there were at least 40 people around him, every single one felt their personal relationship with him stirring within them leaving them yearning for more.

“Actually each statement I am making now is a deity. Because they are yearning for my space, I allowed them to come down and be near me for sometime. That is why you are all understanding these truths now,”

“That means they are here now, Swamiji?,” said one young devotee, as if she suddenly became aware of various presences that she could not see. Bhagavan looked at her and said, “If you are understanding this, they have to be here” Her body flushed with joy and complete awe as she closed her eyes for a moment and prayed to them - the deities of these truths - to let these understandings remain with her forever.

Large paper boards were held up in front of Bhagavan as he filled in charts with the truths of the cosmos. While these were available in all of Sadashiva's works, never before had they been presented like this, in such a broken down, comprehensible manner. He made it clear that to continue to manifest powers, you must understand these truths thoroughly. You must know the laws of the cosmos - to know which way to proceed and what kind of patterns not to fall into. He presented the universe to these fortunate devotees with three main subjects: ishvara, jagat and jiva which are the Hindu versions of God, Universe and Self. Large paper boards were held up in front of Bhagavan as he filled in charts with the truths of the cosmos. While these were available in all of Sadashiva's works, never before had they been presented like this, in such a broken down, comprehensible manner. He made it clear that to continue to manifest powers, you must understand these truths thoroughly.

The disciples jumped at the opportunity. "Swamiji, all of us want enlightenment" one said. "No" he responded abruptly. "You cannot speak for all like that"

Another devotee said, "I would like it"

Bhagavan paused and then spoke, "You are taking this too casually. It is not some candy in the store. Now even if I give, you will take it for granted. The way you said, "I would like it"- it's too casual"

"Swamiji" finally another sincere disciple spoke up. "Please bless me to understand these truths completely so that I will get enlightened"

"Understanding these can directly lead you to enlightenment Because I am revealing them to you, I want to give you enlightenment"

He paused once, looked down and closed his eyes for a second. Then, in a very soft voice he blessed her, "Thathastu"

The entire scene was very unlike the manner in which incarnations have delivered truths in Hindu history. Krishna was in Vishwaroopa in the middle of the battlefield when he delivered the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna. Dakshinamurthy delivered truths in silence under the banyan tree to maharishis. But Avatar Paramahamsa Nithyananda adopted this intimate setting for the delivery of these truths. Soaking and overflowing with love, it was reminiscent of none other than the time he as a boy spent with Arunagiri Yogishwara. With this raw love in every inhale and exhale of the atmosphere, Paramahamsa Nithyananda spoke the truths of the cosmos.

Before it is revealed to the reader here, let them take a moment to bow down to the deities that represent these concepts. Those who lived in different lokas - dimensions - from the one humans are accustomed to. Those beings that were each great devotees of Sadashiva, for only through him, they attain the bliss of being revealed to ignorant minds. When they had heard that once again, Sadashiva was on Earth, dwelling in bhu loka, bringing those beings from darkness to light, their craving began building and building until it finally surpassed the floodgates of his graciousness. Sadashiva allowed them to be around him for a few human hours, a few ages in their time. Only then, when they land on Earth, does the knowledge of the universe grace the minds of humans. If the witnesses wholly understand these vast concepts, they owe it to those beings. They have to bow down to these great deities and be grateful for their love of Sadashiva.

The deities danced on Sadashiva's tongue as he spoke the truths of jiva (self), jagat (universe) and ishvara. He said

> "Visualize a gold wire ball, chaotically caught and > soaked in a nectar. That liquid is the avyaktha, the un- > manifest, component of Sadashiva. And the wires running > around is the vyaktha component of Sadashiva. Avyaktha > and vyaktha; one is vyaktha component of Sadashiva. > Avyaktha and vyaktha; one is a liquid gold and one a solid

gold. For both, the material is same. It becomes a solid due to Sadashiva's decision to enjoy. It can at anytime return to liquid. His decision of will to enjoy himself is the steam. That steam makes the liquid into solid. The steam is will-persistence. The will to enjoy himself in multiple ways is the steam which makes the liquid into solid within his own sphere and celebrates"

He began in this manner. He went on to describe the 25 states of consciousness, 11 dimensions of the universe and 5 actions of Sadashiva in the most elaborate, enlightening detail.

“I was not brought up at home. I was brought up in the temple.”

Hinduism responds. That is why this lifestyle produces the most passionate and fervent devotees. The power of peo - ple like Shakaracharya or Sri Ramakrishna can pierce through the arrogance of an atheist. It is in the very nature of Hinduism to produce the greatest kind of devotees in the world. Just because of one thing: Hinduism responds. It drinks the offerings of temple-goers and it gives darshan everywhere in the world, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the mountains of cotton candy created in dreams. It is not a one sided faith. Hinduism is a two way street where humans interact with the higher identity of themselves- Sadashiva.

The living deity of Ganesha that is still with Paramahamsa Nithyananda.

Since the very beginning, when he was known as Rajashekaran, Paramahamsa Nithyananda’s connection to Hinduism was fervent. No mere child will have passion as strong as he had for temples, deities and puja. The very first spiritual experience he had was at the age of three. Deities were integral to The Avatar’s life - as if he was closer to them and their lives than any other human he interacted with in this lifetime.

Inspired by the story of Nambiar Nandi, when Ganesha himself came down to eat the neivedhyam that Nambiar offered, as a young child, Paramahamsa Nithyananda, yearned to experience that himself.

He had described his intention then, “With Nambiandar Nandi, he did tapas, but in my case I was torturing Ganesha. I was doing kutarka. I was finding fault with everything external. So I decided, ‘till Ganesha eats, I will not eat. That is the most authentic decision I made. I will stretch myself. I sat so strongly with authenticity.”

The world around Paramahamsa Nithyananda's three year old body became hazy, blurry and glowing. He shared that in that moment, "I could see very clearly that my mind had raised to the level of bhaava samadhi - the zone where the solid is not solid, the liquid is not liquid. It was neither the formless, nor the physical form."

It had been three days since he last consumed food. The young Avatar simply sat and stared at a small stone Ganesha. Swimming in his love for the deity, he had forgotten the rumblings of an empty stomach. It was only when the hard edges of reality disappeared, like the hard edges of kutarka, that Ganesha appeared to enjoy The Avatar.

Paramahamsa Nithyananda remembers, "When I opened my eyes and saw- I promise- there was no food. The food had disappeared! I do not know if Ganesha had eaten it or his vehicle rat had eaten the food, but I knew that if he ate, I will be filled with the tremendous gift of faith. I saw the deity's mouth had pieces particles of the food. If Ganesha ate, he would give the prasada. The end fruitful result was tremendous trust, love and devotion. I had that prasada. I can be very sure Ganesha ate! The whole being was in ecstasy! As a three-year-old boy, this experience gave me such a strong confidence, and courage about the inner world. When I looked in, I got that even God comes down to fulfill our request."

Yogananda Puri is the man crouched by the tree, planting the Kalpavriksha Tree in Thiruvannamalai. Young Rajashekaran, The Avatar, is peeking his head out of the group of boys with a forehead full of vibhuti on the left hand side. This is the only photograph of Paramahamsa Nithyananda and Yogananda Puri together