Shunya (Nothingness)-void
Sham S. Misri
Lal
Ded was a great Yogi, a true Shaiva follower. In her wanderings, through the space she
observed big black holes and deep fissures. She cautions all the spiritual
saints daring to undertake such an adventure, to travel through the space that
they must avoid dangerous routes and move ahead with care. The black holes are
objects in the space, which are so dense and gravitationally strong that
neither matter nor light can escape them. However, energy is released, as
matter plunges into the hole’s deep gravity well.
Loob
maarun sahaz vyatsaarun, Dro'g zaanun kalpan traav;
Nishi
chuy tay duur mo gaarun, Shuunyas shuunyaah miilith gav.
In
the above vakh she says: “Realization is rare indeed; seek not afar; it is
near, by you. First slay Desire, and then still the mind, giving up vain
imaginings; then meditate on the Self within, And lo! The void merges in the
Void. Lalleshwari had attained the highest goals of spirituality. She says that
concentration on the Lord’s name and meditating on one’s real self is the key
to get rid of the worldly desire. She had a clear imagination that achieving
the status of being one with the Lord was not so hard for everyone who wanted
to reach there. The main hurdle in the achievement of spiritual goals is one’s
own incapacity. Lalleshwari has a clear message for a simple devotee ---- your
Lord is nearer to you than everything else! Never imagine Him to be far from
away! Just keep under control the fiery body emotions. There is no need to seek
Him anywhere else. He is there inside your loving heart. The individual soul is
an essential part of the supreme. Once it achieves the essential realization of
self, it takes a swift flight to meet the Lord and become one with Him. Atma
becomes one with Paramatma. Shunya merges with the absolute. Human being loses
its personal identity and becomes one with the Lord. All duality between the
ordinary soul and the supreme soul is finished. Lalleshwari had attained this
experience and there was nothing further unattainable for her.
“Shuniya” or a
“zero point” is where the mind become
still and you become the observer. This way you are not the ripple of the
waves, but stillness in the depths of the ocean. Shuniya
is a deep, meditative state of consciousness where the 'separate' self-identity
softens into stillness. This state of being is so pure and clear that it is
often referred to as a state of 'zero'. In Shuniya, the greater aspect of
'Self', or the 'higher self', is available and the experience of oneness is
realized. The characteristics of
Shuniya are inbuilt. The features of shuniya are graceful, soulful, neutral,
sensual, accepting, and allowing. There is no judgment, expectation, opinion,
pushing, or intellectualism. It is a pure form of love. In this state of
consciousness, the Infinite is in charge and what happens is limitless.
The Masters of Kundalini Yoga, say
that the highest state of consciousness is called ’Shuniya’, where the ego is brought to complete stillness. A
power exists there. We do not hassle or try to act. With folded hands of
devotion, Infinity acts for us. In that state of “zero,” if we can focus our
mental projection on a clear intention, which acknowledges our higher self and the
Creator within us, it will be so.
There is
no miracle. The mind is infinite when it concentrates the magnetic energy of
the psyche. There are only two things: energy and matter. Any composition,
permutation of any energy into matter and matter into energy, can be caused by
a disciplined mental concentration. That mental concentration is in you, it is
not outside.
Gurus
precheome sassi latey, Yas nu kenh vanan tas kyah naav.
Pritschaan
pritschaan thachis tu loosis,Kenh nas nishi
kyaahtaam draav.
In
the above vaakh, Lalla says I requested my spiritual guide, a thousand times,
with consciousness: "He that is nameless, how that nameless is named?”
Since the curiosity to know is a worship of higher order, it implies a belief
in the existence of higher power, without which there could be no worship. It
was by gradual process of thought that Lal Ded wanted to become conscious of a
new force, for establishing the identity of the Lord. As her soul was in
anguish she asked and asked till she became tired, mute and silent. Lo! The
nameless non-existent and invisible became the source of her realization. This
is the beginning of her awakening in spiritual bliss that paved way to enter
into the realm of ecstasy, and, that resulted in the realization of ‘something evolved out of nothing.’ It
was all puzzling but great and wonderful. The Guru directed her in seeing that Nameless within self.
The
vakh clearly state that when Lal Ded asked her master (Guru) a thousand times
what the name of the nameless was and when she had exhausted enquiring
repeatedly, she suddenly got awakened to the truth of her enquiry. The truth
that was revealed to her was that the ultimate goal of man was only to be one
with the universal void (Shunya). The truest truth of the universal Lord is His
nothingness. The truth of the total realization of man is getting lost in this
sea of nothingness and becoming an indivisible part of the whole.
Again,
in another vakh:
Shunyuk maidaan kodum paanas, Mye
lalli, roozum na bodh na hosh;
Vezuyi sapnis paanay paanas, Adu kami hilli pholli lalli pamposh!
Here
Lalla says: “I travelled far beyond in the space, leaving behind me reason and
sense. Then, came upon the secret of the Self; All on a sudden, I experienced a
feeling of strange delight. I suddenly lost the entire intelligence, in the
bliss of ecstasy. I started realizing my own true spirit rising to the heights
of spiritual kindness.”
Lalla
says: “I travelled alone extensively the higher reaches of my Lord’s influence.
The sights and scenes were so enchanting that I lost my conscience. But soon I
was awakened to the delicate secrets of my inner self. Thus I Lalla with such a
humble background was escorted into the crowning glory of celestial
emancipation.”
Shunya
is a broader concept of the Supreme Lord. It is not anyway comparable to
nothingness in its ordinary sense, because, it holds in its purview the whole
cosmos as an influence of the Lord. Lalleshwari was a highly awakened soul who
had achieved all the goals of divinity. In the ecstasy of her achievement she
says she toured the extensive fields of Shunya, the Lord’s influence during her
celestial journey so much so that she lost all the consciousness of her body
sensations but soon upon gaining the awakening of her real self she gained the
greatest satisfaction. The achievement is beautifully compared by Lalleshwari
to the lovely blossom of a lotus field on the muddy surface of wet lowland
which indicates her down to earth background and her subsequent achievement
high up into the skies.
Shuniya is not some fancy mysterious yogic
term. Through meditation, we can train our minds to respond with a steady
consciousness instead of reacting from fluctuating emotions. Through meditation
we can reach that still point where we merge with the Infinite and create our
own extensive reality. Miracles are developed in the soil of Shuniya.
