Language of mysticism
Shiva has a trishula or trident representing three gunas: Satva, Rajo and Tamo guna.
Satva is the one, pure quality, Rajo is activity where ego plays a role, and Tamo is darkness, laziness. All three have a role but don't become a victim of any. When you sleep, it is tamo guna; sleep must be part of your routine, but not right now while you are listening to me... that's what I mean by have control over your gunas.
Rajo guna is sign of activity, so you have to sit for meditation actively. But that doesn't mean scratching your head in meditation is activity. Again rajo guna has been misplaced here. Those roles have to be played in the respective places. For some people Sattva guna means getting addicted to purity.
Four people were in a boat. On reaching the shore, they took the boat with them, carrying it on their heads. A monk asked, "Why are you carrying the boat?" They said, "The boat has helped us cross the river. We're so grateful that we're taking it along wherever we go." After the boat is used, it should be anchored on the shore, not lugged around. Then gratitude becomes a form of bondage.
If you have yagnopavitha - sacred thread on you, and when you take sanyas or monkhood, as per the tradition, you have to tear them down. It is difficult as you have been wearing the thread all through and chanting the Gayatri Mantra. Then suddenly when you take sanyasa you are to tear the sacred thread! Even that attachment has to be renounced. Attachment to both what is good and bad has to go away.
Buddha said that gratitude is beautiful, but don't be foolish like the boatmen carrying the boat in the name of gratitude. Then the boat becomes a burden instead of a means of navigation. Therefore be master of all three gunas or qualities. Learn to let go; that is the meaning of trishula or trident.
What is there on the trishula? A damaru - a drum tied to it. The whole system of Sanskrit grammar seems to have emerged from the damaru. Panini wanted to write grammar sutras. He was meditating for this purpose. The intuitive quadrant of his brain opened up. He seemed to have tuned in to the celestial dance of Shiva during the sandhya or twilight time. As Shiva was dancing with his damaru, Panini created the grammar sutras.
How did Panini get the idea when Shiva was dancing? How do you log on to websites or to broadcasts over radio or television? It is when you have the medium or receiver.
Studies show that when music is created, it remains in existence – it never disappears. Energy cannot be destroyed. It exists in some form or the other. We don't have the apparatus right now to discover them. That is all. Therefore, meditation is an apparatus and in the apparatus are your receptors of intuition, which science refers as the "D" quadrant of your brain.
The brain has four quadrants: "A" of logic, "B" of planning, "C" of kinesthetic and playfulness and "D" of intuition. When you meditate, research has shown that the intuition brain cells opens up, and then you see more than what others can see. That is why Walt Disney looked at the mouse and created Mickey Mouse. Somebody looks at waste and creates wealth.