Shri Shiv Puja (The Pure Siprit)

C e n t e r H e a r tD e i t y : Shri Jagadamba
G r o s s ( p h y s i c a l ) l e v e l : Center of cardiac plexus, part of left
plexus, sternum bone.
Manifestation (controls): Breathing, breasts
Q u a l i t i e s : Mother of the Universe, physical
mother, sense of security, creation
and nourishment of antibodies.
No. of Petals: Twelve (12)
Associated Day: F r i d a y
Associated Color: P u r p l e
Associated Planet: Venus
Associated Element: A i r
Associated Gem: Ruby
Associated Symbol: Flame
Place on hand: L i t t l e f i n g e r s
Causes of Catch / Obstruction
Fanatisicm, fantasy, spiritualism, black magic & ESP, false gurus and false knowledge.

L e f t H e a r tD e i t y : Shri Shiva, The Sp i r i t - Atma,
( S h r i P a r v a t i )
G r o s s ( p h y s i c a l ) l e v e l :Heart organ, and left cardiac
p l e x u s .
Manifestation: Heartbeat (Anahat - sound that is
without percussion).
Q u a l i t i e s : Existence, life, joy, aft e r
Realisation Attention-Truth -Joy
(sat chit ananda).
Place on hand: Left li t t l e f i n g e r s
Causes of Catch / Obstruction
Extreme physical/mental activity, heartfelt bad relations
(especially mother ’s), outside Attention, Hatha Yoga,
drugs, no seeking, no faith in God, anti-God activities.
R i g h t H e a r tD e i t y : Shri Rama (Shri Sita)
G r o s s ( p h y s i c a l ) l e v e l :Cardiac plexus (right side)
Q u a l i t i e s : Dutiful life as father, husband,
brother, Gracious, auspicious
boundaries mantained
(Maryadas).
Place on hand: Right l i t t l e finger
Causes of Catch / Obstruction
Father or fatherhood problems, emotional aggression,
arrogant or inconsiderate behavior, unlawful domination.

INTRODUCTION
Whena a child is born, the first thing that it respond to is the
Spirit of its mother. At the moment of his birth he is not aware
of his body or that of this mother, but he is aware of the Spirit.
The moment he comes out of the womb he suffers a shock,
and his first reaction is to get back to the womb. At this stage
his mind, conditionings and ego aspects are not developed.
He is pure Spirit, and it is this pure Spirit that finds comfort in
the Spirit of this mother and through that comfort, sustenance
in the new alien environment. This response is true love or
unconditional love, it is not a conditioned response, but the
sheer joy of the fusion of two Spirits.

QUALITYThe Heart Chakra is the home of the Self, the Spirit, Atma - all
meaning the same thing. Time and again Shri Mataji has
stressed that “You are nothing but an eternal Spirit”. In this
way she is telling us that we have to realise and become our
Spirit, and leave behind the futility of the illusion we live in. We
start the process of becoming our Spirit after realisation, as
we start to lose our false identifications with our body, mind,
and feelings. Only after this enlightenment can we take our
Attention to our Heart and cleanse it. The Spirit can only manifest
when our heart is open and clean, at which point we feel
the eternal joy of the creation and the meaning and purpose of
our place in it. We clean our heart through our pure Desire,
and through our Attention. Saying Affirmations such as “I am
the Spirit” are effective in this process, but it must not be
mechanical action.
Love
Pure love, which enlightens us all, is the real quality of the
Heart Chakra. In the unrealised state we rarely love for love’s
sake. Because of our conditionings we confuse feelings of
love with those of possession, sex and selfishness. Pure love
is detached, it gives without interest. Like the tree which gives
shade to one and all, it is without prejudice and motive. True
love is the quality that emanates from the Spirit and not from
the body or mind. When we talk of loving someone, we should
understand the direction in which this love is flowing. Bodily
attraction is physical. It can arise out of sex appeal, or the
conditioned response to a dream image of a prince charming
or even from an artist’s or ad-man’s projection. There are even
those who exercise seductive arts to ensnare a good “catch”.
We can see this in whose who indulge in excessively trendy
fashions. These people are especially at risk in their relationships
because they relate not as two Spirits, but as two fashionable
physical forms. This kind of physical attraction is not
true love because it comes from the mind, and mind does not
love - it merely wants. When the want of the mind is attained,
then the novelty wears off. For instance a child is excited and
attached to a new toy, but after a few days as the novelty
wears away, the excitement dies. The same occurs with relationships
which are based simply on physical attraction. That
which is illusory cannot love or be loved, it is a fancy of the
eyes which Shakespeare aptly described:
Tell me where is fancy bred
Or in the heart of in the head,
How begot, how nourished?
Reply, reply,
It is enlightened in the eyes,
With gazing fed, and fancy dies
In the cradle where it lies.
Merchant of Venice, Act III (2)
When the groom enters the house of an Indian bride, she
welcomes him at the threshold and offers worship to his Spirit.
Thus the marriage is a spiritual union. Without recognition of
the Spirit marriage results in transitory relationships of the
make and break kind. This casual state in turn adversely affects
the heart center and causes insecurity. Hence, instead
of confidence between the husband and wife, an undercurrent
of fear runs between them. A lot of the problems of insecurity
in our seciety comes from these sort of emotional traumas
and not just from things like money worries.
Love is often mistakenly taken as restricted to male and female.
In fact love is the flow of life in all limbs, between children/
parents, brothers/sisters, friends, old people, etc. Where
many people share and care, then the whole society opens
up its heart centre. It becomes a collective society and changes
the world. This is the power of love. Love is the principle behind
all creation, all vibrations. We say that God is love and
love is God, because in its depths we cease to be. In true love
there is no “I” and “You”, there is simply the merging in the
Spirit. In this state we experience true human unity, the true
oneness of life. Physically we can apprear as different colours,
shapes, characteristics, but as we become the Spirit the drops
all become one ocean, with the vibrations dancing in different
rhythms, taking different patterns, breaking and remaking again
in a perpetual cosmic dance. Hate and jealousy develop an
anti-current which flows against the cosmic rhythm. Where
there is love there is growth, celebration, joy and evolution.
S e c u r i t y
A lot of problems arise from fear. If we have self-confidence,
we have strong defences which protect against base desires
and negative outside influences. If we live in fear, then our
natural immune system is weakened and we become vulnerable
to allergies and disease. Our personality grows and shines
when our heart is strong, and we approach life with a will to
win like a warrior. When we weaken, we become trapped in
the cage of fear, afraid to venture out and experience the joy
and wonders of the kaleidoscope of life. We attract to ourselves
what we give out. If we have a constricted heart, then
we are likely to attract corresponding people and to perpetuate
the problem. Hence it is important to be strong and grounded
so that we can nourish our relationships. Where a mother’s
love has been denied in childhood, it is possible that a fulfilling
relationship can bridge the gap. A strong heart center is the
basis for a healthy personality. Nourished with love, we emanate
warmth and happiness. Love is nature’s way. Through
love, the seed attracts nourishment from the soil and comes
to life. The warmth and love in a doctor adds to the healing
power of his cure. The patient feels better just by being with
warm and loving people. The vibrations of such warm people
attract us like honey attracts the bee. It is the love which
becomes compassion which makes us reach out without thinking
to help mankind. It is a spontaneous act, not an intellectual
decision.

R e l a t i o n s h i p sOur relationships with our parents have their place in the Heart
Chakra. Our physical mother has her place on the left heart,
and our father has his place on the right heart. Once we realise
that our parents have this place within us, we don’t try to run
away from any problems in any way, we face up to our responsibilities
towards them. At all times we should treat them with
the love and respect which is their due. Parents should likewise
raise their children in a pure life, which will encourage
their spiritual development. They should love them without attachment
and fear, knowing that they are the trustees of their
children. If parents do not practice what they preach, they
cannot set a proper example to their offspring. Parents should
be respectable, in order to be respected themselves.
How we get on with our spouse is also a matter of the heart.
Where one partner dominates the other, or is possessive, then
the love is stifled and the relationship is disturbed. Vibrations
of the Spirit’s love must have the freedom to flow, and each
partner must respect one another and not block the other’s
growth by force of personality or will. As the relationship flourishes
and gains in understanding, both husband and wife realise
their equal status, their position as two wheels on the same
chariot. In situations where the female is unable to make her
full contribution to the household (for instance where the man
thinks he is superior because of this physical advantage and
wage earning capability) she can develop a suppressed anger,
which in itself can be directed towards the children or
develop into neuroses.
The family unit is important to society, and the foudations of
this unit are respect, love and duty between the members -
parents and children. If the family ideal collapses then the
society will soon follow. We just have to witness the problems
of violence and substance abuse amongst children in societies
where the family has become neglected priority. One of
the main causes of insecurity in the West, and its consequent
‘rat-race’ mentality is the fear that as an old age pensioner
you will end up in an old people’s home - forgotten. This
is a sad situation. Money cannot buy emotional security, and
a society which respects old age as a kind of childhood where
love and care are of paramount importance will have a much
more stable existence. Man of the most respected spiritual
civilizations (such as the American Indians) have held a special
reverence for their elders as sources of wisdom and direction

TRADITIONThe seat of the Heart Chakra is located in the Brahmarandra
at the crown of the head (in the Sahasrara). This is where Shri
Gauri (the Kundalini) in her form of Shri Parvati is united with
Shri Shiva. Shri Shiva presides as the witness in the left Heart
Chakra, controlling our very existence. This center, therefore,
has to be treated with the greatest respect and understanding.
In the center Heart Chakra resides Shri Jagadamba, the
Mother of the universe. Here, in our faith in the Mother aspect,
rests our sense of security and protection. Lord Rama inhabits
the right Heart Chakra. He exhibited the ideals of behavior
as a husband, son, brother and ruler. He re-established the
status of women in the household, and clarified the principles
of dharma. He also exemplified the boundaries of conduct (or
Maryadas) within which we should operate in order to deepen
our Spiritual growth. These guidelines show us the power of
discrimination and help us to protect the protocols of the Spirit.
He also laid out the concept of duty; child to the parents,
parents to the children, husband to wife and vice versa.
GROSS PHYSICAL ASPECTThe heart is the pump of the body, hence any mental and
physical excess strains this center and can lead in advanced
stages to a heart attack. Using the body as an instrument of
athletic display fatigues the heart center. Excessive athletic
competition simply develops into an ego oriented thing, with
no real gain at the end of it. In a similar way modern Hatha
Yoga is a form of athleticism which has no correlation to the
Spirit, and this too can harm the center. The sages of old
developed certain exercises for correcting the spinal problems
caused by wrong living, thus aligning the body to its natural
form in preparation for the search for knowledge of the Spirit.
This led to the development of Hatha Yoga schools, and thence
to the modern form of ‘Yoga’. Unfortunately today Hatha Yoga
is mistaken for spirituality. People spend hours doing all kinds
of asanas (positions). By standing on our heads (or wearing
white/saffron robes or being vegetarian or whatever) we are not
going to know God. The word Yoga means Union in Sanskrit,
and the union is that of our Kundalini with the all pervading
Divine energy. God is realised when the Kundalini evolves
through right living, deed, thought and action.
If we treat our body like a gadget we become like a gadget.
Excessive right side activity in such pursuits as Hatha Yoga
can dry out a person, and make his personality cold and without
love. Moreover extreme cases may harm the Spirit by neglect
and cause the person to suffer heart attacks as the Spirit
retreats. Suffering is often mis-identified with purification. We
are led to believe that if something hurts it must be good for us
(‘no pain, no gain’), while anything that is nice is evil. This
numbs the left heart, which is the seat of the Spirit. Both self
denial and self torture are against the dignity of the Spirit.

CONDITION OF THE HEARTInsecurity and fear can lead to palpitations and breast problems.
Excessive activity or planning dries us out, and again
can lead to problems of this center. In a similar way, indulging
in any of the extreme ascetic disciplines or physical activities
which concentrate on the body to the exclusion of the Spirit
should be avoided. Breast cancer and other female problems
can be related to the suppression or unjust treatment of women.
In exteme cases fear and insecurity of the center heart can
lead to neuroses and allergies.