Another talk by Guruji – pure brilliance!
We all have three shaktis (energies) in us. They are ‘ichcha shakti’ (the energy of will), ‘kriya shakti’ (the energy of action) and ‘jnaana shakti’ (the energy of knowledge). We have disturbances or ups and downs in our lives because of imbalances in these three energies.
The jnaana shakti in you brings ichcha shakti, the will or desire in you. For example, you have a desire to eat rasagolla. You already know what rasagolla is. You have already savoured it. The knowledge of rasagolla brought the energy of desire in you. So you develop a desire to eat rasagolla. Once you have known what rasagolla is, after you get to know where it can be obtained, after the desire to eat rasagolla arose in you, will you sit idly? No! The kriya shakti or the energy of action follows you. You will go and buy it and eat it. In case you do not know where to get it, then you will make an effort to find out where you can get it. Then you will have lot of kriya shakti in you.
When there is kriya shakti and ichcha shakti, they lead you towards jnaana shakti, the energy of knowledge. You have curiosity. You do not know what exists inside the moon. You want to know what exists in the planet Jupiter. What is there in this creation? Most of our such desires are those about which we know almost nothing about. So you take a telescope and go to a planetarium and begin your research. All research depends upon ichcha shakti and kriya shakti. In order to acquire jnaana shakti or the energy of knowledge, research takes place.
In the same way, whereever there is jnaana shakti, ichcha shakti and kriya shakti follow. Jnaana shakti or the energy of knowledge is symbolised as Saraswathi, ichcha shakti and the energy of desire as Paravathi or Uma and kriya shakti as Goddess Lakshmi.
Brahma is the creator. What does the creator need? He needs knowledge. So jnaana shakti or Saraswathi is the consort of Brahma. Vishnu is the protector of all. What does the protector need? He needs Lakshmi, isn’t it? If you need to run an establishment, if you need to run your house, you need money. Money is Lakshmi. You need Lakshmi for sustenance. Ichcha shakti is Umakumari who symbolises change. You need to have a desire in life to change, to obtain liberation. For that Shiva principle to be auspicious, desire should be created in you. That ichcha shakti is Parvathi, also known as Eashwari.
Therefore, the whole world runs because of the presence of these three shaktis. Whichever energy is more in a place or in a person, that energy gets exhibited. When there is right knowledge, then the right desire arises in us. When there is right knowledge and right desire in us, then right action follows naturally. In that case, all activities that happen through us will lead to completion. Completion in activity will lead to completion in knowledge.
There should be a completion in desire too. If you desire something which does not exist, for instance, if you desire to see the horns of a rabbit, which does not exist in the first place, then what is the use? You had a desire, but there was a lacuna in the energy of knowledge. Now, if anybody decides to see or search for the horns of a rabbit, they are bound to get distressed.
People have ichcha shakti, the desire in them. Due to the wrong desire, usually one undergoes lot of misery. People would have become engineers and will be working as engineers. But if they keep regretting, thinking that they should have been a doctor instead, can they start studying for medicine now?
Many people desire wrong. They obtain a postgraduate degree from the University and then begin to study some other course. The moment they get a new desire they begin again. They never have contentment. They begin one job, quit it and move to another job and then again they move on to another job. They keep searching for contentment. What is this? There is ichcha shakti and jnaana shakti here.
Some have do not have kriya shakti and sit where ever they are and dream and think ”Oh! That should happen to me. It would have been wonderful if I had become a minister” or some other dreams to live happily. What happens to all such dreamers? They just sit and dream and dream. Kriya shakti is absent here. They sit in one place and calculate all the profits too. They sit idle and keep planning and talking too much. If you look at those people who talk too much, you can see that they would not have done much work. They do not plan even a single thing properly. They just keep advising everybody to do things that way or this way or keep claiming that they could have got many things done. They keep criticising people. If you tell them, ”Okay, you do at least something of it” then they say ”no” and just slip away and vanish! What happens in such people? They have lot of jnaana shakti, but zero kriya shakti. If kriya shakti disappears from a person, then that person is good as finished for life. Such people keep repeating their mistakes.
It is a very rare opportunity to see the combination of all the three shaktis. When all the three shaktis combine, then they say that the person has attained ‘siddhi’. We should bring about a balance of ichcha shakti, jnaana shakti and kriya shakti in us.
ezee123 says:
You are yours Guru’s Voice !
NIce reading.
November 9, 2006 — 2:04 am
Lakshmi says:
Thanks!
November 10, 2006 — 8:01 pm
arunshanbhag says:
ijk
Some time ago I had read about this in some of our scriptures and had been trying to apply it in my work and even in my running. I thought of it in a more linear manner:
Ichcha > Jnana > Kriya
(ijk)
(Ichcha) I first need to have the strong desire or passion or hunger to do something;
(Jnana) then the requistite background research and knowledge,
(Kriya) … then just go out and Do IT! Action!
Verily, when followed you achieve siddhi (success!)
I think most of us go about our daily lives in a similar manner; but I am amazed that our sages thought of these things so early on!
🙂
November 9, 2006 — 4:12 am
Lakshmi says:
Re: ijk
🙂 I don’t think the sages *thought* about it; it must have been cognized like all the scriptures came about, I guess.
Oh Arun, I’d love you to do the Basic course. It seems to me that you’d so totally enjoy it and integrate the techniques into your life…
November 10, 2006 — 8:03 pm
Anonymous says:
Its very true! Thanks for a great read.
-Anjali
November 9, 2006 — 6:27 am
Lakshmi says:
Pleased to share. Have we met before?
November 10, 2006 — 8:03 pm
meghainclouds says:
Thats the first time I have heard of Lakshmi as kriya shakti. Made sense. Nice explanation:-)
November 9, 2006 — 1:13 pm
Lakshmi says:
Glad you liked it!
November 10, 2006 — 8:03 pm
Anonymous says:
an interesting post. one thing that came to mind is – what is a shakti scientifically?
What would we quantify it as?
What is the basis of such a thing?
Bharat
November 9, 2006 — 11:23 pm
Lakshmi says:
Good question for Guruji. Make sure you ask when you meet Him!
November 10, 2006 — 8:04 pm
Anonymous says:
shakti is energy .Energy has a scientific formula.Have scientists seen energy ?No they havent.Yet they know and u know it exists.They have also coined various formulae for e.g Force = mass x acceleration or E = mc2. Because we see things working and we know they dont work without energy.Its like mind ..can you quantify mind for me? no ..you can quantify brain for me though ..but thats not mind is it…but we talk about mind all the time.Science cannot explain so many things it says exists ..we call them proofs though ..why?because someone assumed parameters ..gave them names and formulated theories.Science is full of abstractions …
gayathri
November 11, 2006 — 11:32 pm
Lakshmi says:
Nice explanation – should give Bharat something to chew on.
November 12, 2006 — 3:36 am
Anonymous says:
abt the formula F=ma ..F x Distance = kinetic energy ..dint give the complete formula earlier ;D
gayathri
November 12, 2006 — 4:13 am
Anonymous says:
Have scientists seen energy. Interesting question. Perhaps they have. My obvious choices would be Hiroshima – 6 Aug 1945 and Nagasaki 9 Aug 1945.
E = mc2. The meaning – every object that u see that has mass has energy – u are *seeing* energy.
Can we quantify the mind – perhaps we can’t today. But then again, 100 years ago, we could not create the sun at will either.
Yes, science is about abstractions, and it cannot explain many things it says exists. But then again, the alternative to science (if one may call it that for lack of a better word) explains very little as well. At least, it explains unknowns using other unknowns.
Proofs are not absolute – they are open to critique and revision – no matter how old and cherished they may be. That is not the case with many other things – they are absolute. Funny thought – according to science – nothing is absolute. 🙂
Bharat
November 13, 2006 — 5:58 pm
ishtyle says:
hehehe… i think, at least us bongs are innately programmed to love roshogollas, the initial experience merely confirming the intuition 😛
November 10, 2006 — 6:49 pm
Lakshmi says:
i think, at least us bongs are innately programmed to love roshogollas…
And one Bombay-born Mallu as well…:)
November 10, 2006 — 8:04 pm
Anonymous says:
if you have ever read the lalithasahasranam (1000 divine names of goddess lalitha) you will see a shlok or line of prayer which says lalitha is icha shakti , jnnana shakti and kriya shakti.she is the combination of the three powers or shaktis -lakshmi , saraswati and uma.She drives us towards right knowledge , right desire and right action.True awareness in a person is possessing the right knowledge , having the right desire and performing the right action .they also symbolise the 3 gunas.lakshmi-rajas , saraswati-satvik and uma-tamasik..they all have to strike a balance in a person then person attains moksha.easier said then done though.;D
gayathri
November 11, 2006 — 11:24 pm
Lakshmi says:
Thanks for the info! Have we met earlier?
November 12, 2006 — 3:36 am
Anonymous says:
i have commented on ur lj earlier ..yes
gayathri
November 12, 2006 — 4:02 am