These three forms of the Supreme Being are the three main meditation images. They have been broken down into many sub-images, which are so manifold that they may seem as numerous as the people on the planet. Since one’s ishtadevata (meditation deity) needs exactly to meet one’s emotional needs, there could theoretically be as many ishtadevatas as there are people.
An Intimate Relationship with the Divine
Your relationship to your ishtadevata needs to become as intimate as possible. A well-known passage of the Upanishads states, “In the core of your body is a lotus flower in which is situated a triangular shrine. In this shrine resides the true self, in which miraculously is assembled this entire vast universe with all its mountains, rivers, trees, oceans, stars and suns.”9 Since the entire universe is thought to be located inside the Supreme Being, this passage states that the Supreme Being resides in our hearts. From this point of view, the many different so-called gods are only devices that enable our individual psyches, which differ so much from one individual to another, to meditate on and identify with the one Supreme Being in our hearts. This brings us back to the purpose of mythology: when we listen to the myths and tales of ancient India and start to read the texts that describe them, we become more and more familiar and intimate with the various divine images. In due time our ishtadevata will be revealed.
Once you know your ishtadevata, you have your own private frequency through which you connect with the Supreme Being. There is no point in squabbling over which frequency — that is, which God — is better or more correct. The important point is that you find your frequency and enter into a relationship with the Supreme Being in which you find guidance and offer your service.10
There is great beauty and humility in the ishtadevata concept. Your ishtadevata is your way to access the Supreme Being, and its particularity reminds you that it is only your own limited view of the One. You cannot criticize or belittle somebody else just because you do not understand that person’s view of the Supreme Being. Again, there are as many ishtadevatas and routes to infinite consciousness as there are people on Earth.
True Religion
In a larger context, this is the basis for the practice of what I call true religion. To practice true religion means to recognize all religions, and particularly those that appear alien to us, as an emanation of and true path to the Supreme Being. A person who claims that truth is to be found only in the religion of his or her tribe is not religious but merely sectarian. A sectarian has an agenda, which is mainly to prove that a particular approach or religion is right or wrong. The emphasis of a sectarian is on controlling the behavior of other people. A truly religious person, in contrast, is not interested in the path through which you reach the Supreme Being but rather in whether you get there and how fast. The emphasis is on the Supreme Being itself and its ecstatic revelation to the individual.
1 Some traditional authorities consider the Western term myth derogatory when used to describe ancient Indian tales. This is because in modern usage, myth is also used to refer to an untrue but commonly believed notion. But this is not the primary definition of myth, which is instead a traditional story about the early history of a people or civilization, often including deities or other supernatural beings. The terms myth and mythology are used here strictly in the primary sense of the term.
2 The Sanskrit term arya means “noble.” It does not refer to ethnicity but denotes people who have a spiritual outlook on life and who accept that in the heart of every person, however foolish he or she may appear, is an eternal, divine self.
3 When Westerners first came to India they applied their knowledge of European culture to India. Since ancient European religions were polytheistic, Western observers projected this knowledge onto the Indian culture and called the Indians’ devas “gods.” This led to the belief that Indians worship many different gods.
4 Skanda Purana, I, 8, 20.
5 Arthur Avalon, Shakti and Shakta (Madras: Ganesh & Co., 1994), p. 288.
6 Ishvara is also listed as one of the 1,000 names of Lord Shiva, but the term is not used here with that meaning.
7 Grammatically the Brahman is masculine, feminine, and neuter simultaneously.
8 Not to be mistaken with the Brahman, the formless absolute.
9 Chandogya Upanishad 8.1.
10 From time to time Indian authorities such as Shankara had to come forward and outlaw some of these meditation images because they had led to some bizarre forms of worship (such as the thuggees). Shankara, his advice obviously not followed by everyone, limited “correct” worship to six divine forms: the Lord Shiva; his two sons Ganesha and Kartikeya (often called Murugan, Ayeppa, Subramaniam, Kumara, or Skanda); the Lord Vishnu (represented by his many avataras such as Lord Rama and Lord Krishna); the Goddess (known by many names, including Uma, Parvati, Durga, and Devi); and finally Surya, the sun.
Sanskrit: The Sacred Language of Yoga
In this chapter I invite you to take a closer look at the Sanskrit language. Sanskrit is both the carrier of the most extensive spiritual tradition of humankind and the language that the Supreme Being created to teach yoga and to guide human beings in their return to infinite consciousness. Learning at least the basics of Sanskrit is a fundamental part of one’s yoga practice and spiritual development; in this chapter I explain why this is so.
You may have heard of the great teacher Jiddu Krishnamurti, one of the few outstanding intellectual giants of the twentieth century. Krishnamurti spent most of his life circling the globe to lecture, never finding the peace and quiet he needed to realize a lifelong goal: to learn Sanskrit. Finally, at age ninety-five, knowing he had little time to live, he sat down to learn the language. Krishnamurti lived his life to the fullest, and while he proposed many provocative concepts, I’m sure that he died with a sense of satisfaction that he had given his all. The fascinating fact remains, however, that he did not just spend his final days gazing into the sunset but instead studied Sanskrit. It speaks volumes to us about the importance of this language.
Unfortunately, some modern Western yoga teachers have publicly stated that Sanskrit is of no relevance for modern yogis. This can be seen as another sad case of Westerners looting foreign cultures for anything that can be exploited for short-term gain — in this case, the practice of postures — and discarding in ignorance everything that seems too deep