Be Empty

Teachings of TL      Contents & Introduction

Part 1>      Part 2 >     Part 3>      Part 4>     Part 5>      Part 6>     Part 7>     Part 8>    Part 9>

TL, family and friends - Shivaratri Day 1971

Most  of these teachings were written down, though not originated, to a large extent by myself.  Most of the earlier passages were written as a kind of précis of Tirtha Lal's teaching day by day in the very early years after I first met him as a rather naïve 22 year-old seeker around the beginning of 1971, and, as I remember, he would always check what I had written.

Reading them again at such a distance in time, I realise that in essence his teaching was always the same, however, the practice which he instructed us to follow at the beginning had more emphasis on the path of Bhakti or devotion, with morning and evening meditation focussed on the feet of the deity that he prescribed at initiation as the particular image and form through which to seek and approach the Supreme Reality in all. Along with this he urged us to think as much as possible about our deity and to develop the silent repetition of his or her name as a continuous habit throughout the day.

Some readers may recoil at the traditional 'guru-devotee' attitude and instructions that begin these teachings. Some, indeed, reject all gurus as some kind of super-salesmen with an agenda of ulterior motives, either for financial gain or worldly prestige. There is no  denying that there are always some such charlatans in any field, however if it were not for the writings and teachings of those we count to be genuine, who have truly gone beyond the universal human condition and have used their remaining 'life-energy' to point the way and inspire us to seek the Truth, we would have very little to go on.

In later years, as can be seen in 'Bed Crow', The Avadhuta Gita 1-60 and I and You, Tirtha Lal's teaching became more purely Advaitic, meaning 'not two', and emphasised the Supreme goal as the Self alone - as Emptiness - beyond all names and forms. My own feeling about the apparent dichotomy between this and the path of devotion to a personalised form or image of the Supreme, is that there is no essential conflict between form and formlessness. Indeed, as long as we retain any sense of individual existence, we remain within the realm of form - which includes even our 'concept' of the formless! The path of devotion is as valid, and difficult, as any other - and none of the 'Yogas' or paths are mutually exclusive. Ideally they all garner the emotions and mind and direct and invest their concentration in a single point of origin, to the exclusion of all else. I am firmly convinced that the successful pursuit of the path of devotion, involving the personification of the Absolute Principle in the form of God or Goddess, or any image, even a stone, can result in the devotee's ultimate vision of his/her deity and total absorption of their self in the utter bliss thereof. Yet it is the devotee's concentration and perspective of complete equanimity - developed through the practice of such surrender of the individual self or ego - that reveals itself, and indeed any and every object of its perception, to be nothing but the Self alone, leaving no trace of distinction, presence or existence of any 'other'.

In fact, Sri Tirtha Lal himself attributed everything in his own spiritual journey, in the absence of a guru or teacher, to his 'Father', Lord Shiva Mahadeva. He would compose a song to Shiva each year for the occasion of Shivaratri (some of which are included here) when he would sing this and give teaching and his blessing to friends and family at the picnic-style celebration in the woods on the other side of the Bagmati River from Pashupati Temple.  In perhaps one of the last photos of him (shown below) he is seated with his favourite picture of Lord Shiva behind him. God is the guru, and the guru is god. There is no doubt about it.

                                  Sri Tirtha Lal Mahanandhar                                                                         Lord Shiva Mahadeva

Apart from the Vedic pronouncement "Tatvamasi" (That thou art), it is common to find in devotional hymns and texts to Lord Shiva, the words "Soham" (I am He or I am That) and "Shivoham" (I am Shiva) - as in the famous refrain in Shankaracharya's Nirvana Shatakam: "Chidananda Rupa - Shivoham, Shivoham", meaning "I am the bliss of consciousness - I am Shiva, I am Shiva". (There is a beautiful rendering of this hymn here: https://youtu.be/UrZUQh6SpcQ and https://youtu.be/7FZFvFWztOA but I'm not sure how long these URLs will remain valid).

Herein lies the basis for reconciling the paths of devotion and Knowledge (Bhakti and Gyana) and the teachings you will find here. If any further explanation were needed, the story of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, (briefly told here) should be enough to convince anyone of the unity of destination of all paths and the role of devotion in teaching the aspirant up to the very threshold of complete and final enlightenment - beyond form or formlessness or any semblance of duality - in which all is one and indivisible.

For those however who find the idea of devotion hard to take, may I suggest that for 'God', 'Deity', 'Lord', 'Him' and the 'Supreme', you substitute Self, Awakened Mind, Emptiness, 'That', or any designation of your choosing, bearing in mind, of course, that any attraction, dedication of mind, feeling or degree of interest is, in fact, a form of devotion. "Where a man's treasure is, there will his heart be also".

Part 1>      Part 2 >      Part 3>       Part 4>      Part 5>      Part 6>      Part 7>      Part 8>      Part 9>