INITIATION (DIKSHA)

According to Shaivite philosophy, a patient requires a physician and medicine and in the same way, a human being (fettered or embodied soul) requires a Spiritual Master and initiation to get cured of earthly sufferings and limitations. Physicalailments are not only curable but also of short duration, but spiritual disease is a chronic ailment lasting many cycles of births and deaths. The condition of a fettered soul is dismal spiritually but the glamour of worldly pleasures lulls him into forgetting his real captivity. The object of Agam Shastras (mystical scriptures) is to impart the knowledge which cannot be gained through the senses. Real spiritual knowledge cannot be acquired through logic and reason, so the door to super-sensuous knowledge is unlocked and the sleeping Kundalini awakened by the living technique revealed by the spiritual master. This is called ‘initiation' or diksha .
In Shiva Philosophy diksha is the living technique of communing with the Divine. Fromdiksha flows the Divine Knowledge which cuts worldly bonds. In a Tantric teaching called Rudrayamalam , it is stated that he who has not been initiated cannot acquire Divine Knowledge and hence the best state after death. Therefore it is most important that one should, by all means, get himself initiated by the perfect spiritual master. Further stressing the importance of initiation, this scripture says- those who do chanting and rituals without having been initiated derive little benefit, just as seeds sown among stones do not germinate.
In one of the Agams the importance of initiation is described as follows:
“As iron is transmuted into gold when it is penetrated by rasendra (fluid), even so is the individual ego converted into the Divinity by diksha . His karma being burnt by the fire of diksha , he becomes free from the bondage of karma and once the fetters of karma have been removed, the jiva (embodied soul) becomes Shiva”.
‘No amount of worship, without diksha , can give Divine Knowledge, so one should by all means get himself initiated so that the mantra (‘Word') becomes efficacious”.
‘One cannot derive any benefit by repeating a mantra learnt from books; on the other hand, injury is incurred at every step”.
‘Having acquired the Mantra from the Guru (Perfect Master), it should be cultivated in the disciple's consciousness. The fruition of spiritual practices is dependent entirely upon the Guru.”
The grace of the perfect Master works as a panacea for the disciple. This is why the Guru is called the Deliverer, that is, the one who delivers the disciple from all the bonds and sufferings of worldly life.
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