Mysticism is not Siddhi. Occult is not Shakti. God is not Sadashiva. Hinduism is not just another Religion.

Many of us intuitively know that the God of Hinduism is not the same as the primitive God of Abrahamic religions.  But we have never been able to articulate precisely why. Hinduism is so much broader than the religions which are practiced only on Sundays or which are all about propagating your group identity. So we call it a “way of life” or “collection of religions” and so on and dilute it.    Even so called Hindus masters have started saying “all religions are equal” and “all religions are the same”.  Because they do not have the experience of various mystical dimensions and powers, they have started calling these either as  allegories or at best as just “technology” of the past which are not useful anymore. This could not be further from the truth.

For the first time in the universe an enlightened being , Paramahamsa Nithyananda, reveals the depths to which Shiva has explained in the Agamas about the Universe.   How God is not the same as Sadashiva. How Mysticism is not the same as the Siddhis (powers) which are talked about in the Yogapada of the Agamas and to a lesser degree in the Yogasutras of Patanjali. And how the so called Occult is such a poor demented word for Shakthis – the powers of Enlightenment.

5 Functions of the Divine

God as defined in Abrahamic religions as “Generator, Operator, Destroyer”.  But the Agamas define two more very IMPORTANT functions of the Divine – Throbava (putting into illusion) and Anugraha (Liberation).  Without these two functions God becomes an autocratic being who controls your life.  And God is not 60% of Sadashiva but actually only 10%. Because,  without the  principles of Throbava and Anugraha you can only understand 1 of the 11 dimensions of the Universe defined in the Agamas.  Without these two being understood, you will never be able to experience and become Shiva. And hence God becomes divorced from life, or becomes someone to be feared.

11 Dimensions of Physical Universe

We in the physical world are only aware of 1 dimension – where we can experience the dimensions of length/breadth/depth.   But the universe has 11 other modes of existence created by manipulation (removing or adding) of the three aspects of length/breadth/time  and the aspect of  space-time (space time is the effect of matter on space which is experienced as time).  Each of these dimensions are experienced in various spiritual experiences.  For instance Buddha’s Nibbana is the state where all dimensions of  length/breath/depth and space-time are present but inactive. But beyond that is the state of Sadashiva where all of them are present and active – the ultimate state of an incarnation.

Various Siddhis such as making an object disappear or making an object appear  to be there but not exist happens by controlling these dimensions. When the depth is removed from an object, it appears in space but  if you try to hit it, your hand will go through it. When you remove length and breadth from an object,  the object becomes invisible but you will hit it when you try to pass through that regions of space. Other siddhis such as teleportation, materialization and so on can be explained in terms of the 11 dimensions of the experiential universe  – the universe that is called the “Vyakta” or manifest part of the Sadashiva.

Various beings talked about in our Puranas – Gandharvas, Munis, Rishis and so on exist in one of these dimensions.   By moving ourselves to that dimension it is possible to communicate and interact with beings operating in that dimension.  Our Puranas are replete with accounts of interactions among the beings of various dimensions and even children being born of such interactions.

Hinduism also understood that the same principles apply at various spheres of existence – like inside your mind, in society, among communities, in the planetary level, at the atomic level and so on.  For instance the dimension of length when applied to the mind translates to verbalization or sound. The dimension of breadth similarly translates to visualization. Much of the confusion regarding Hinduism is the inability of the western compartmentalized mind to understand this truth of universality of the principles in different spheres of existence.

Mysitcism and the Occult are such poor words to describe the Siddhis and Shaktis. The words Mysticism and the Occult comes with so much negativity and are making something that is a deep science and which is you nature into a “novelty” or “circus magic show”

25 States of Consciousness

While  the western mind (by which we are all educated or messed-up rather) understands  – and even that very very  partially – three states of the consciousness  which are  – the waking state, dream state and the deep-sleep state, the  Agamas has gone much much deeper  into how the mind works.

Just like the  eskimos have 50 words for snow because they have experienced snow  in such depth, the Agamas define 25 states of consciousness. For instance the waking state itself can be subdivided into waking-dream state (where you are daydreaming) or waking-deep-sleep (a state of stunned stupor) and so on. Yoga Nidra is the state where the waking state penetrates into the dream state and this can help you to complete your deep suppressed incompletions and traumans.

Two more fundamental states of consciousness which are not even touched upon by the western mind are  Turiya and Turiyatita. Turiya is the state of thoughtless conscious existence. And when that state enters into the other states such as dreams or the waking state, it produces various levels of intuition, mystical experiences,  scientific discoveries  and so on.

Turityatita is the state even beyond Turiya where the Turiya state is strongly embedded with all the 11 dimensions of physical existence and this is the state – which when it enters into the other states –  produces various  powers or Shaktis  and so much more.

The combinational matrix of these 5 states (Sushupthi, Swapna, Jagrat, Turiya, Turiyatita) with itself produces 25 states of consciousness. Each state is unique and has direct relevance to your life and existence. Without knowing these, we live a very partial and confused existence.

The Puranas

It is only by understanding all these can one even begin to interpret the Puranas. What does it mean when Ganesha’s head was removed or added, what does Trisangu’s heaven (a heaven created specifically for one of the disciples of Vishwamitra) mean.  The Garuda Purana for instance describes the various emotions the being goes through in there different states of consciousness due to different actions. It has been wrongly translated into description of different “hell”s.

Even if we do not follow all of the depth of the truths of Hinduism – Sanathana Hindu Dharma, if we do understand how much depth it carries, and how the Kitergarden level religions can never compare to the depth of Hinduism, we have taken the first step towards our liberation.

“Understanding Jiva (25 states of consciousness), Jagat (11 dimensions of the Universe) and Ishwara (5 dimensions of Sadashiva; Understanding the whole matrix experientially and mastery over the matrix is the state of Sadashivoham”

Paramahamsa Nithyananda
Bengaluru Aadheenam, 09 Sept 2016

Stay tuned to HinduismNow for further articles elaborating on each of the various aspects of consciousness, the physical universe and the Divine.