Mahashivaratri Puja. Chianciano Terme (Italy), 16 February 1991. Today we have assembled here to worship Sadashiva, which is reflected within us as Shiva, as the spirit. He is reflected in our heart, and as you have seen that the goal of our life was to achieve this state of spirit. The other day I was reading some books how it was done, this Self-realization, to know the spirit, and how people were tortured. First of all they’re asked to somehow or other deny, defy and condemn their body. Now, if the body wants to have comfort, then it was said that first try to sleep on the carpet, not on the bed. Then still, it’s not enough; then from the carpet you go to a mat – still it’s not enough. Then from that maybe, you move down to the Mother Earth, sleep on the Mother Earth. Still if the body is not alright  then you start sleeping on the stone. But still the Himalayas are far away, because Shiva resides in Kailasha. So you go to Himalayas and sleep on the ice. This was the minimum requirement. Then it was said that you are fond of good food, you want to have sumptuous food, you eat a lot, alright ; so you deny everything that you like, to begin with, all that you like. For example, Italians cannot eat pasta! Then deny that. But that’s not sufficient. After that, you start eating things which are very bitter. As in Read More …