WESAK 2008 - New Age Festival of Spiritual Unity and Blessings
Lectures, Teaching & Meditation On 17th,18th May 2008,9:30 am to 5:30 pm
venue: The auditoriam of the Indian Society of International Law, opposite the supreme Court 9, Bhagwan Dass Road, New Delhi.
Moon Light Meditation
19th May 2008, 6:30pm to 9:30pm Venue:97-A Eastern Avenue, Sainik Farm,New Delhi. For Reg:Poonam Sharma: 919313034752,Snigdha Nanda: 919818291375. More Detail>>
When we pursue happiness, it eludes you. However, when you recognise that happiness is the natural state of the soul, all you need is to eliminate all that comes between your happiness and you.
By
Anupama Bhattacharya Photographs: Gireesh G.V. I
saw cascades of energy coming down from outer space, in which particles were destroyed
and created in rhythmic pulses; I saw the atoms of the elements and those of my
body participating in this cosmic dance of energy; I felt its rhythm and I heard
its sound, and at that moment I knew that this was the Dance of Shiva, the Lord
of Dancers. —Fritjof Capra, Tao of Physics
Chidambaram,
the heart of the universe (chit-heart, ambaram-universe), is where
Shiva, manifesting as Nataraja,
one of the trinity of Hindu deities, performs the cosmic dance. It is also the
heart of a world that is a manifestation of purusha, the eternal,
cosmic man.
As you approach the Nataraja temple in this
quaint town of Tamil Nadu, 250 km south of Chennai in southern India, you are
taken aback by four gigantic towers (135 ft) with seven storeys that guard it
on four sides. The architecture inside is no less fascinating. Rows after rows
of pillars with intricate carvings, surrounded by 10 sacred pools, seem to create
an ambiance of space—vast, limitless. You are drawn in, deeper and deeper,
until you stand at the center of the universe, facing Nataraja, the creator,
the destroyer, the keeper.
The shrine is spread over an
area of 51 acres and houses a rare crystal lingam. There is also
aRatnasabhapati Nataraja made of gems, rubies, emerald and stone.
The main shrine or the Chitrambalam (also known as ChitSabha)
is the place where Nataraja dances the tandava of
creation, destruction, grace, dissolution and blessing.
According
to mythology, Shiva first performed AnandaTandava
(the dance of bliss), to enlighten some sages who had been so immersed in
their scholasticism that they had forgotten the existence of God. This
AnandaTandava was later revealed at the JnanaSabha, one of the shrines of Chidambaram. Myth has it that, at a
particular time every year, Shiva still performs the dance here.
At
first glance, the statue of Nataraja is like any other classic piece
of art—graceful and eye-catching. The beauty begins to unfold, layer by layer,
as the magnificence of creation and the wonder of destruction are understood.
Nataraja symbolizes the ultimate reality that is eternally
molding this world of maya or illusion, creating myriad nebulae
with the beat of a drum and destroying a mega-universe with a graceful turn of
the finger. The dance of Shiva is the dancing universe, the ceaseless flow
of energy that mingles and meanders into the infinite cosmic soul. It is the dance
of sub-atomic particles—the building blocks of creation. Here, the Ardhanarishwar
Shiva, symbolized by a male earring in the left and a female earring in
the right ear, blends the yin and the yang and transcends them.
This
transcendence is mirrored in the ultimate balance of Nataraja. As
the upper right hand, holding a drum, strikes the primal sound, nebulae after
nebulae shoot out from the dancing form, stars are born and shaped, and the first
seeds of life germinate in the cosmic cradle, waiting to bloom. The right lower
hand showers blessings on the blossoming creation, asking it to arise and understand
its purpose. With knowledge comes truth and Nataraja crushes Mulayaka,
ignorance manifest, with his right foot—his left lower hand pointing at his
raised left foot, defying the law of gravity, symbolic of liberation, moksha.
With
life, death can't be far behind. The awakening is now symbolized by a deluge of
fire leaping out from his left upper hand, devouring the trembling cosmos with
licking tongues of flame. One by one stars die, burning suns extinguish their
lights. In the eternal darkness, Shiva unties his matted hair and dances
the tandava, trampling upon the entire universe—a raging, raving
force demolishing existence. Destruction was never so beautiful.
In the final silence, when there is neither existence nor non-existence, enlightenment
dawns. Free at last from the fetters of delusion, Nataraja dances
the AnandaTandava, the ultimate dance of joy. The
primal sound of the drum echoes again, a tiny spark bursts into a star. Another
universe is born. The cycle repeats itself. And Nataraja, blissful
in the ecstasy of existence, dances to eternity.
I
saw cascades of energy coming down from outer space, in which particles were destroyed
and created in rhythmic pulses; I saw the atoms of the elements and those of my
body participating in this cosmic dance of energy; I felt its rhythm and I heard
its sound, and at that moment I knew that this was the Dance of Shiva, the Lord
of Dancers. 
According
to mythology, Shiva first performed Ananda Tandava
(the dance of bliss), to enlighten some sages who had been so immersed in
their scholasticism that they had forgotten the existence of God. This
Ananda Tandava was later revealed at the Jnana
Sabha, one of the shrines of Chidambaram. Myth has it that, at a
particular time every year, Shiva still performs the dance here. 
At
first glance, the statue of Nataraja is like any other classic piece
of art—graceful and eye-catching. The beauty begins to unfold, layer by layer,
as the magnificence of creation and the wonder of destruction are understood.
This
transcendence is mirrored in the ultimate balance of Nataraja. As
the upper right hand, holding a drum, strikes the primal sound, nebulae after
nebulae shoot out from the dancing form, stars are born and shaped, and the first
seeds of life germinate in the cosmic cradle, waiting to bloom. The right lower
hand showers blessings on the blossoming creation, asking it to arise and understand
its purpose. With knowledge comes truth and Nataraja crushes Mulayaka,
ignorance manifest, with his right foot—his left lower hand pointing at his
raised left foot, defying the law of gravity, symbolic of liberation, moksha.
With
life, death can't be far behind. The awakening is now symbolized by a deluge of
fire leaping out from his left upper hand, devouring the trembling cosmos with
licking tongues of flame. One by one stars die, burning suns extinguish their
lights. In the eternal darkness, Shiva unties his matted hair and dances
the tandava, trampling upon the entire universe—a raging, raving
force demolishing existence. Destruction was never so beautiful. 
