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“You have three steps: one slow, one medium fast, and then faster. That is how the energy increases.”
“If you go faster and if the pitch of the bhajan goes higher, the energy level will be higher.”
“You should not let the energy get down. You have to sustain the level.”
“If you play well, with energy and with increasing pitch and tempo, then Swamiji can show you what astral bodies are and what bhava samadhi is.”
Read more about what Shivabalayogi had to say about Bhajans and about Bhava Samadhi.
Read
the complete chapter on bhava,
"Bhava Leela",
from the book
Shri Shri Shri Shivabalayogi Maharaj, Life & Spiritual Ministration,
the biography of Shivabalayogi first published in 1981,
by Gen. Hanut Singh.
Bhajans
During Swamiji’s programs, the hour of meditation is followed by an hour of bhajans. The root word bhajana in Sanskrit means worshipping. Bhajans are a combination of song, prayer, and consciousness raising. The words of most Indian bhajans are the many names of God. Bhajans can be considered songs of worship to God.
Bhava Samadhi
Bhava can be translated as trance. Samadhi is a spiritually advanced state of consciousness in which one is so absorbed in inner consciousness as to lose all awareness of the body and time. Bhava samadhi is when a higher spirit or astral body enters the body and places a person in trance. The depth of the trance may vary, but it is quite possible to lose body consciousness and experience samadhi. People in trance may dance ecstatically or move around seemingly erratically. It depends upon the spirit in them. What is common to all bhava samadhi is the feeling of spiritual bliss.
Shivabalayogi need not be present physically because he can induce bhava samadhi through his presence in an astral body. The astral bodies of the ancient maharishis, gods, and goddesses are eternal and they hover around those who practice yoga. As they hover about, the yogi through the power of tapas shakti can induce the astral bodies to enter the physical body and produce a spiritual trance. The experience is one of bliss and it purifies the body physically, emotionally and spiritually. The depth of the bhava experience varies with different individuals and depends on the spiritual maturity of their minds.
Some may resist the idea of another spirit taking control of the bodies and putting people in trance. Our reassurance is the uniform experience of those who have been in bhava and who describe how wonderful the trance was. Swamiji explained that bhava samadhi is very beneficial to one’s spiritual development. He assured people that there was no need to be afraid. Trance inherently throws out any evil presence that we might have.
As General Hanut Singh wrote in his 1981 biography of Shivabalayogi:
“Those who are blessed by Shri Swamiji with Bhava derive a number of invaluable benefits; these are as follows:
(a) Diseases, including chronic diseases, are cured.
(b) God-consciousness is instilled.
(c) The ego sense is subdued and is replaced by a spirit of
self-surrender
to the will of God.
(d) An absolute and implicit faith in God is instilled.
(e) Pain and misery, due to mental or physical causes, are removed.”
Bhava Samadhi, Divine Play, Spiritual Ecstasy A four and a half minute program collecting film and video of bhava samadhi taken over three decades in Adivarapupeta, Bangalore, Madras, Anantapur, Dehradun, Sambhar Lake, and Farrukhabad in India. |
