Lord Shiva is personified as the destroyer or transformer in the Hindu trinity of gods known as Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh (also known as Shiva).

The abstract form of Shiva is depicted by a Shiva linga, while the statues which represent him depict him in the form of a beautiful yogi who is adorned with snakes, ashes and tiger skin, and always immersed in deep meditation.

The Sanskrit word Shiva means “the auspicious one” or one who is eternally pure and not affected by the three gunas (qualities) of nature. While there are many hymns and mantras dedicated to Lord Shiva, Om Namah Shivaya is one of the most well-known mantras in Shaivism.

Om Namah Shivaya is also known as the Panchakshara mantra (five syllable mantra excluding Om), or great redeeming mantra. The mantra means “I bow to Shiva, the supreme reality and pure consciousness that exists in all”.

These five sacred syllables correspond to the five elements from which the human body is formed. Na is associated with the earth element, ma to the water element, shi to fire, va to air and ya to the ether element.

As we repeat this powerful mantra each syllable purifies its specific element. Ultimately it allows the body and mind become pure, allowing one to obtain full benefits in their spiritual practices.

This mantra has no restrictions and can be chanted by anyone at any time in their life. It has the power to free one from any type of sins and break the bondages of the mind.

As the mind is purified and freed from its ignorance, one experiences the true wisdom: Shiva, the supreme bliss is nowhere but within us!

In this video you can hear how she tackles the issue of gay relationship with ease and simplicity. A young boy asked Gurumaa if his sexual preferences would be a hindrance in seeking God’s love.

Gurumaa explains that it is only due to one’s attachment with his/her body that such feelings arise. It is true that the normal dictum in the society gives permission and acceptance to heterosexual relationships only. This is what the majority prefer and homosexual relationships are considered unnatural.

It is also a norm of the society that the majority rules and has the power to pull the strings. This is why homosexual relationships are openly condemned.

An individual’s sexual preference has nothing to do with God’s love. Everyone is a unique creation of God and thus will always be His beloved. It is only the body consciousness that makes us aware of the differences between sexes in humans.

At the level of the mind and spirit one is neither male nor female. The soul is always pure, that is the basic nature of the soul. A soul is neither male nor female.

God’s love reaches the soul; it is not for the body, it is for the real YOU. So it does not matter whether one is male or female or what sexual preferences one has. If anyone loves God, God too reciprocates. God’s love is unconditional.

If one is happy within one’s own self and with the choices that one has made, then what others have to say should not matter much. Just as it is not right to be judgmental about others, one needn’t be too over critical about one’s own self too, trying to meet the standards set by others.

This body is only an outer covering, a garment worn by the soul. The inner conscious or soul is what one needs to take care of. It is essential to be at peace within.

Gurumaa believes that everyone has the right to make their own choices and live by it in full honesty. It is the soul that can connect with God, not the body.

Aren’t you lucky that you have an opportunity to seek God and feel his presence? Animals feel each others presence and can love each other. We also do the same, but we have an additional blessing, we can love God as well. We love the finite persons, but we also have the capability to love the infinite, the invisible God.

In this video, the Enlightened Master – Anandmurti Gurumaa gives the example of thread in a piece of cloth; which can be separated from the cloth, but cannot be separated from cotton.

Similarly, when we are in the cloth, we have worldly relationships with others, but the common factor with us is the cotton.

Even when we separate from the worldly relationships, we still have the relationship with God in the same way that the thread continues to be part of the cotton.

In this triangle, we have the world, ourselves and God. Everything comes from God and when the thread gets weaved into a cloth, it becomes the “sansara”.

When we complete our self-discovery, we move away from the “sansara” and realize that our real relationship is with God. It is already there, we only have to become aware of it.

Spiritual practices revolve around discovering this relationship. Sages say there is no bliss in the finite, bliss is only in the infinite. Once the self is realized, we gain the absolute knowledge, beyond which there is no truth.

We are fortunate that we have started off on this path of self-discovery, and with the help of the realized Guru, we are sure to attain it!

One of the devotees asked Anandmurti Gurumaa that, in the morning after doing yoga asanas, her legs shake in some standing postures. But it vanishes if she changes the posture.

This happens only for small duration and with the passage of the day, nothing happens. But why does this happen to her even for small durations? What should be done by her to overcome this?

Gurumaa elucidates the fact that, it is just the weakness of our nerves. Here the word nerves indicates ‘Nadi’ and not the literal nerves. It may also be due to weakness of the biological nervous system. When it is weak, then we definitely cannot hold the postures (especially the standing postures).

In standing postures, our mid-brain is being challenged and our cerebellum is working more. In a way, we are using our cerebellum, when we are standing in yoga postures like Vriksh Asana, Gomukh Asana, Taad Asana, Veera Bhadra Asana, Trikon Asana, Parasthit Trikon Asana etc.

But if our nervous system and muscular system is not that strong, it would definitely be a challenging job to stay upright and in poise.

Gurumaa further suggests that with practice, the energy will develop and the body will feel more empowered. One should do regular practice for this. A practitioner of yoga asanas can take small breaks and do Shava Asana in between other asanas which are to be done.

‘Yoga Asanas’ or ‘yogic exercises’ must be regularly and consistently practiced. It really requires the most sincere and dedicated efforts on the part of the seeker to do the yoga asanas correctly.

Click here to learn the right approach towards ‘Yoga Asanas’ by Anandmurti Gurumaa.

Many seekers come to ‘Gurumaa Ashram‘, where they are taught the right ways of doing asanas and are helped to gain at both neurological as well as physical level. This has benefited many people by guiding them the ways to live a happy and long life.

We keep suffering from some long and deep rooted habits in life. Smoking is one such habit. Even after repeated efforts, we fail to get rid of such bad habits of the mind. The mind keeps on playing its games. But if one honestly makes a dedicated effort, then one can get rid of such habits in no time at all.

So, what can a person do to overcome such games of mind? Precisely speaking, how can one get rid of his/her deep rooted bad habits and addictions?

One of the devotees asked Anandmurti Gurumaa that due to the bad company of some of his friends, he got into the bad habit of smoking. Despite trying hard, he is not able to get rid of it? What should he do?

Gurumaa explicates to the questioner that if you really think that smoking is a bad habit, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to drop this habit. The questioner is not able to quit smoking, because deep inside in the heart , he enjoys doing it. Somewhere inside, his mind is relishing the smoke.

It is the moral and ethical conditioning of the questioner’s mind, that makes him feel that smoking is a bad thing. Actually, bad or good is something which people have defined. Those who say that despite making efforts, we aren’t able to quit smoking, need to look inside their minds, ‘Don’t they really enjoy doing it?”

The day one realizes that, “Smoking is bad for my lungs; it will kill my lungs and alveoli (tiny sacs for holding air in the lungs). It will increase the carbon dioxide in my blood and will badly affect my health if I don’t quit it.”

That would be the last day, when a person would pick up the cigarette like James Bond and enjoy the smoke as the hero of a film. So as long as we enjoy it, we will do it.

Out of ignorance, such people harm their own health, and also end up hurting the feelings of those around them.

But can a person help others to control their anger? Why do certain people, despite being religious, end up hurting the people around them? Find out in this video, what the enlightened master – Anandmurti Gurumaa says in response to one such question.

A student asked Anandmurti Gurumaa that -

“I am a tenth class student and my dad is spiritual, he has also taken ‘diksha’ (initiation) and he is also doing ‘japa‘ (mantra chanting) daily from last 10 years. But day by day, he is becoming rude and doesn’t have any control on his anger.”

“Sometimes he says such things which makes me cry. I want to know how he can control his anger? What should I do when he speaks something which he really does not mean. Can any changes come in him after attending your ‘dhyan yoga shivir’ (meditation camp)?”

Gurumaa explicated that being spiritual and being a religious person; are very different things. The person who performs his/her ‘pooja’ (spiritual worship rituals) everyday is a religious one. But such persons do not perform their religious practices with love and devotion.

It seems that the questioner’s father is a religious person who performs his ‘japa’ (mantra chanting) everyday, but the japa which is done without warm feelings, affectionate heart and devotion can never reap any fruits at all.

To overcome anger, the first and foremost thing is, one needs to realize one’s flaw and take control of the whole situation. Then one can work upon one’s own mind and overcome the anger. Until and unless, one doesn’t understand the reason behind one’s anger, one cannot come out of it.

And if one is not able to understand what errors of personality are there, then one definitely needs the guidance of a master. A master identifies the mistakes, the errors, the flaws of the human mind and then guides the person to come out of that.

But that too is possible, only one takes a pledge to come out of the anger of one’s own mind.

Gurumaa suggests the questioner that if her father himself comes to her and listens to her discourses attentively, then he may realize that he has to come out of his anger. Then there is a possibility that he would stop saying those things in anger to his own daughter and other persons.

Our behavior is one of the most important aspect of our personality. Balanced behavior with others is a key to happy life.

No doubt, we cannot fulfill all the expectations of people around us. And we shouldn’t expect anything from them either. Then, what is the key to live a balanced life? How should we behave selflessly with the people around us?

One of the devotees asked Anandmurti Gurumaa that since a short while she has been acting in a selfish manner with her friends. How has this change come about? They complain that she should behave in a more mature way with them.

Gurumaa says that if we are behaving in a selfish way, it just signifies that we had a streak of selfishness in ourselves, which has now come up.

As such, there is nothing foreign in our mind at any time. Actually, whatever we have cultivated in our mind, at certain stage of life those things show themselves up. And we think that our mind is behaving in some strange way than never before.

In order to lead a harmonious life, we need to be natural and open with others. The questioner needs to be communicative with her friends.

Although at times, it is also important to act in a selfish way. For example, one should not just imitate others or make popular choices just for the sake of being accepted in a group.

One should use the intellect to choose what is right and what is wrong. But selfishness should not become a barrier in our communication with people.

‘Corporate stress’, ‘academic stress’, these are terms which have become common-place today. Modern man and specially the youth is under tremendous stress to perform.

Aren’t you one of the tribe today who wants to perform well in life? Doing well in studies, getting a good job, finding a good partner, all these issues cause us tremendous worry and stress all the time. Even getting through the daily grind becomes a burden!

Wouldn’t you want to experience something wonderful before the day ends, or during your afternoon break, which could rejuvenate you and totally refresh you, so that you are rearing to do another day’s work?

What is that wonder drug? Just 45 minutes of your time and you rise totally clean and fresh. Anandmurti Gurumaa takes you on such a journey.

You are watching the video of the reaction of a Youth Retreat participant who tells you about Yoga Nidra – the 45 minute refresher which totally relaxes you so that you feel as though you have just had a night’s sound sleep.

In Yoga Nidra, you are totally awake and aware of the melodious voice of Gurumaa, which gives you instructions on visualization and breathing patterns.

Lo and behold, as you keep on following the instructions and undertake this journey which takes you to different parts of your body, very soon you find yourself coming to the end of it and you feel as if you are just waking up after a night’s sound sleep, energetic and full of vigor.

The resolve which you make at the beginning and end of the meditation only reinforces what you want to fulfill in life.

Participants of the Youth Retreat at Gurumaa Ashram felt the same way and they are now proud owners of a Yoga Nidra for Youth CD, which they practice everyday and have completely removed the word ‘stress’ from their dictionaries.

They are enthusiastic and confident about their studies and work, performing well and finding time to practice their hobbies as well.

One of the major tools which Anandmurti Gurumaa gives us during the Youth Retreats is the Tratak meditation. Gurumaa offers a new lifestyle which helps us to conserve our energy and improve our performance.

Did you know that awakening of the pineal gland enables the mind to perform optimally? All the practices given by Gurumaa are a means to invoke the higher powers. You receive their blessings and find tremendous new avenues opening up for yourself. The sky is the limit!

Tratak meditation involves staring at a candle or the picture of a God or a saint, sitting with your spine erect. This enables you to receive powerful vibrations from them.

You can even fix your gaze on a small red or black dot, drawn on a piece of paper; which you can put on the wall at your eye level.

But, how long should one stare at these objects? If your eyes start watering and burning, Gurumaa says you must gaze at the object of Tratak as long as you can do it comfortably. Once you are uncomfortable, you can gently close your eyes for a few moments and then open them again.

You have to decide whether you want to be a genius or a fool in life. If you opt to be a genius and have the desire to make your life a success, go for the Tratak gaze every day.

Furthermore, she tells us what kind of vibrations take place in the course of chanting mantras; how they affect our glands and help them to release the right kind of chemicals and hormones – which create peace and happiness!

Thinking positively can ensures optimum health and make you a reservoir of energy. Directing good feelings towards God, the target of the mantra, makes you stress-free. Wouldn’t you like to know the method of creating happiness within you?

Right now, whenever we feel sad we try to uplift our mood by visiting a mall, watching a movie, going out with friends, attending parties or receiving gifts. But Gurumaa guides us how with mantra japa we can order home delivery of happiness and joy whenever we feel like it and wherever we are.

A common complaint of ours is that the mind wanders while doing mantra japa. To combat this, the master reveals five points of concentration which ensure that the mind remains one-pointed while doing the japa (chanting).

So, do you want to channelize your mind and energies and become a topper? Then practice mantra japa (chanting) regularly.