Nandi, the Bull

Posted in the school Whatsapp site

Message forward by Padmini Natarajan

Sharing a beautiful explanation about Lord Shiva's vehicle Nandi and meditation.

Generally we see Nandi sitting directly opposite the main door of the temple where Shiva's idol or the Shivalingam is located.

He is not waiting for him to come out and say anything.

He is in waiting.

Nandi is a symbol of eternal waiting, because waiting is considered the greatest virtue  in Indian culture.

One who knows how to simply sit and wait is naturally meditative.

He is not expecting anything. He will wait for ever.

Nandi is Shiva's closest accomplice because he is the essence of receptivity.

Before you go into a temple, you must have the quality of Nandi--to simply sit.

So, just by sitting there, he is telling you, 'When you go in don't do famciufl things. Don't ask for this or that. Just go and sit like me'.

The fundamental difference between Prayer and Mediation is that  Prayer means you are trying to talk to God. Meditation means you are willing to listen to God

You are willing to just listen to existence, to the ultimate nature of creation.

You have nothing to say, you simply listen.

That is the quality of Nandi--he just sits, alert, not sleepy. He is not sitting passively. He is very active, full of alertness, full of life, but just being--that is Mediation!

Me: Yes, I agree. Absolutely. Am trying. Watchfulness. Watching oneself. To listen and not to talk.

Friend: Examining all choices and options in one's mind and choosing the correct response and not reacting.

Me: And watching birds is a lot of fun. You know impersonal enjoyment. That is also mediation because I am not doing it out of self interest. Not 'sukha' but 'ananda'. An Argentinian Swami, Madhurananda had made the distinction between 'sukha' and 'ananda' many years ago, at Mayavati.

Me: I read the Nandi post in detail now. It is beautiful. In temples too we are performing all the time. I mean you have to give the right donation of the purohit will be annoyed. I care more about the purohit than I do about God. Yes, prayer is clamour and self interest. I want to mediate but break out into prayer asking for this and that so that my worry and stress may end. I am not receptive. I am shutting out God's voice and I must stop doing that. Nandi is also humility. Let us all be like him.