We are Powerful Creators: A Reflection on the Pratyabhijñâ-hrdayam
The Theosophist Magazine, May 2025, Vol. 146, Issue No. 8, page 36.
I WAS listening to an audio reading from a speculative fiction book about the demise of the forests of the world, when a particular passage brought to my attention something I had been feeling for a long while. The protagonist had the feel- ing of being jarred and wanting to escape from the current world around her when she navigated any city or town she was in. That is my shared reality. Everywhere I go there are endless cement sidewalks, buildings, and strip malls, all along both sides of a street, a few straggly saplings in a median or one tree doing its best to reach away from the sidewalk by which it was planted because it has no space for its trunk to expand. Drivers frantic, honk- ing, dodging crazily through lanes of packed traffic. They rush ahead at the peril of everyone else on the road. I see a string of birds clinging to electric wires overhead and wonder how it is for them to sit on so much voltage.
At my computer, I unknowingly have signed up for ads just from making a search for some item; my junk mail folder has a hundred emails to delete. When I type documents, words appear before I type them, words I don’t want, so I have to erase them. I cringe at the invasion of my privacy. I cringe at the hardness of the world around me. I turn off the news because all I hear are angry voices blaming others for what is.
When did I buy into this insanity? How can I create an environment I love living in?
In trying to answer these questions, I have been reading a commentary on the Pratyabhijña-hrdayam,(1) an ancient Yoga text. This commentary elaborates on what the Shiva Sutras say:
Everything is God (Consciousness). There is nothing else. Only our under- standing sees it otherwise. All these billions of manifestations of the bil- lions of people on Earth are nothing but the One showing up as billions of worlds. The individual whose nature is this all-pervasive Consciousness (God) in a contracted state, embodies the universe in a contracted form.(2)
I see that my thinking has indeed been distorted: right/wrong, good/bad, evil/ divine: According to Shaivism, my aversion is simply a contracted thought form of the Absolute. I can adjust my judgement, take a more humble approach, and recognize that nothing is better or worse than anything else; what is going on is simply the play of billions of abhasas (projections) tangibly manifested. They may not feel in sync with my own abhasas but all are equally God. I feel myself relaxing into a state of peace as I access this elevated understanding. It takes discipline to change our habitual understanding but we can do it. We can see any experience or belief as simply the play of Consciousness; not set in cement.
There is another teaching from Shaivism that is pertinent to this exploration. This is that God’s power is fivefold, including creation, sustenance, dissolution or destruction, concealment, and the bestowal of grace. Each of these powers exists in each of us. It follows that each one of us is a powerful creator, sustainer of our abhasas, and we have the power to dissolve one creation, to pause and consider whether using specific words or actions will give the result we are seeking, and then the grace of inspiration comes in to illumine our minds, compelling us into another abhasa.
The Shiva Sutras tell us each person lives in their own creation. However, the Universe also has its abhasa which created and sustains the world — with love for the whole of its creation. Human selfish- ness has manipulated the natural order to try to fit our colliding abhasas. In working against God’s abhasa of sustaining his creation with love, we have instead through selfishness and greed caused a great deal of pain and conflict. Those who have snatched power and dominate others with- out concern for the impact on the whole have made our lives, and Mother Earth’s, very challenging.
Most of us have maintained the illusion that we have no power over what is and that some other person will fix it. But we are each also guilty of trampling over others to get what we think we need, while at other times we allow ourselves to be victims and do nothing because we feel powerless. We wring our hands and then boil over with our frustration. Our planet is certainly reeling in disarray. We experience and see around us horrific natural- and human-made disasters. So many people are in pain, angry, and act- ing out in a war against what we ourselves have enabled by giving our power away — unlike Nature.
The natural world is in communion with the Divine and there is order inherent in the Divine abhasa. Each created being in the natural world does that which God gave it to do, playing its part well. Even with the obstacles humans put in place that restrict the natural order, nature has its abhasas and rolls out what is the divine will, adapting and making adjustments. In Nature there is a lot of noise and action just as we experience in our cities. For example, in Costa Rica, the jungle is so noisy at night that it is like being in the middle of a traffic jam in New York City! The natural world is very busy but in Nature it all works together, each living thing following its given path with a willingness to surrender as needed. The unadulterated natural world is a thriving world — there is creation and sustenance. There is death and there is concealment. There is grace — the power of the divine restores what needs to be restored, such as new growth after a fire. After earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and fires, Nature is resilient and comes back quickly and abundantly. The natural world follows God’s will and God wants his world to thrive. When fire burns, trees give up their lives; when water runs, the earth gives it a path; when sunlight and water combine, plants grow. Even when humans lay cement over the earth, it does not complain or fight back. Instead we see tiny flowers growing out of a crack in a cement sidewalk. God wants to sustain its creation.
We know that humans are driven by self-centered thought. We encroach on Nature without concern. We now know that plants send out alarms for miles and they also cry. Something is terribly wrong when we give our abhasas so much significance, making ourselves the ultimate authority, thinking we have a better plan. The impact we humans have, whether for the good or not, is immense.
Of course, the result we have gotten from our current abhasas need not continue if we embrace the wisdom of Shaivism. Understanding that what we choose to believe and think creates how we feel and what we do, why not shift into right understanding. We can alter our actions; each of us can choose that which is beneficial to ourselves and to the whole. Each of us has the fivefold powers within and each one of us can change our world when we take hold of this power.
Start in your own life. Can you em-brace tolerance and patience for what is, while having the courage to take a step in a direction that will give you more peace and joy in your own life? You can use your God-given powers to create order and harmony in your own life.
The wisdom of the Pratyabhijna- hrdayam helps us shift into seeing that whatever thoughts and beliefs we may be entertaining are just a play. When we understand rightly, we can loosen our grip on what we think is so important. We do not need to let our endless abhasas run our lives. We can discipline ourselves to create new ways of living. Instead of be- moaning in despair or surging ahead with- out considering where we are heading, when we stop and listen to what wants to happen, we can choose to live in a way that considers the whole.
The wisdom of these ancient texts can transform our actions when we have right understanding and when we act to benefit ourselves, others, and future generations. We can use our power to create peace within us, love for others, and joy to be a part of this great adventure called life.
You know what to do. Take the wisdom of the ancient sages to guide you. Take back your fivefold power. When we realize these ancient teachings are pointers to help us thrive, we can embrace them. letting them guide us. The rest of creation will thank us for taking a right-size place in the world. We have the fivefold power and we have the power of will.
Thought is a contraction of an Intelligence that is much vaster and wiser than us with our contracted consciousness. It behooves us to listen. Start creating that which brings you peace, love, and joy. Each one of us can impact the world for good. We have this immense power within. God is waiting and watching.
Endnotes
1. The Pratyabhijna-hrdayam is a commentary on the Shiva Sutras (the foundational text of Kashmir Shaivism) to help us understand the concise sutras.
2. The Splendor of Recognition, by Swami Shantananda, p.89, Sutra 4.
“I, the One Lord,
through My Play of Darkness and Light
bring forth everything in sight.
All created things are but
sparks of My Divine Light.
A part of Me, of My infinite Self,
lies hidden in all things.”
Ms Kamala Nellen, formerly a professional dancer, has studied Yoga philosophy for over four decades. She is currently an author, coach, and Yoga teacher, and is the author of Working In: The Elite Athletes’ Guide to Working Out from the Inside.
