“If we are going to realize this state of oneness at the end of our practice of meditation, why should we not understand it at the beginning and practice meditation with the awareness that everything is Shiva? This is how the great beings meditate, and, if we also learn to see with this awareness, our meditation will be great. To meditate in this way we do not have to undergo any difficulties. We do not have to make the mind still. We do not even have to close our eyes. Utpaladeva, the great sage and philosopher of Kashmir Shaivism, says: sarvo mamayam vibhava ityevam parijanatah; vishvatmano vikalpanam prasrepi maheshtah, One who is constantly aware that this entire universe is his own glory retains his divinity even if thoughts and fancies play in his mind.
Truly speaking, everything is Consciousness. It is only because of our sense of limited individuality that we see things differently. A man is Consciousness, a woman is Consciousness, a dog is Consciousness, a donkey is Consciousness, a stone is Consciousness, and a mountain is Consciousness. This is true understanding. This is the knowledge we obtain through meditation, and the moment we obtain this knowledge we begin to understand everything as it is.
In order to rid yourself of the feeling of limitation and obtain this understanding, you should practice the sadhana of Shiva. You should understand, “I am Shiva — God. It is God who is meditating, and all the objects of my meditation are God. My sadhana is God, and everybody and everything I see is God.”
For a long time you have had the awareness, “I am an individual being; I am small; I am limited.” This is why it is difficult for you to accept immediately the awareness, “I am God.” All your life you have been hearing that you are a sinner. Your teachers, all the holy books, and people pursuing different religious paths have been telling you that you are a sinner, and you have come to believe it. In this way you impose the idea of sin onto the Self, which is totally pure and free of sin. It is because one has this wrong understanding that one identifies oneself with the wrong things. That is why one cannot uplift oneself; that is why one cannot have faith in the Self or become one-pointed on the Self. Kashmir Shaivism teaches that when one begins to think, “I am this, I am that, I am a sinner, I am an inferior person,” one becomes poor in Shakti, and that is how one becomes an individual being,
…To rid yourself of wrong understanding you do not have to do anything new. All you have to do is meditate. The fact is that you meditate not to attain God, but to become aware that God is within you. Kashmir Shaivism says: nashivam vidyate kvachit, Nothing exists which is not Shiva. Where is that place where there is no Shiva? Where is that time where there is no Shiva? So even if you experience duality, even if you see diversity around you, consider yourself to be Shiva. Understand that it is Shiva who is eating, Shiva who is the food that is eaten, Shiva who gives, and Shiva who takes. It is Shiva who does everything. The entire universe is the glory of Shiva, the glory of the Self .”
Your own,
Swami Muktananda
Some philosophers say the Truth can not be known. Yet the Truth is always experienced, at every moment of our lives.” – Baba Muktananda
“Siddha Meditation is the recognition that everything you see, touch, hear, smell, taste, imagine, think, dream or in anyway experience is the same Divine Consciousness as your Self.” – Baba Muktananda
“God dwells within you as you.” – Baba Muktananda
The Heart of Conscious Living 