Affirmation · “The Subconscious Says Yes”
Om Namah Shivaya
Keep Shiva in continual remembrance by repeating ‘Om Namah Shivaya,’ carrying devotion wherever one goes — because the living body, not a built shrine, is the true temple.
Om Namah Shivaya (Basava) in brief: Take the name “Om Namah Shivaya,” spoken softly then turned silently within, repeated slowly and sincerely; when the mind wanders, return it. Remember you need no built shrine — your own body is the temple, and wherever you stand is holy. Weave the name through the day so remembrance of Shiva becomes a continual undercurrent, until it keeps turning on its own. Keep it gentle, attentive, and portable.
What it is
This practice joins two of Basava’s core moves into one. The first is the repetition of “Om Namah Shivaya” (“Om, salutations to Shiva”; also given as Shivaya Namah) as a constant reminder of one’s devotion — the name kept turning in the mind through the ordinary day so that Shiva is never far from awareness.
The second is Basava’s radical relocation of the sacred: the body itself is the temple, so this remembrance needs no building, priest, or appointed hour. His most famous vachana states it plainly — “The rich / will make temples for Siva. / What shall I, / a poor man, / do? // My legs are pillars, / the body the shrine, / the head a cupola / of gold” (trans.
A. K. Ramanujan). Carry the name, and you carry the temple with you. The practice operationalizes repetition installs patterns (The Inner Creates the Outer: a phrase returned to often becomes a self-sustaining inner habit) and attention is creative (The Inner Creates the Outer: what awareness is kept on shapes the inner state).
The Method
Drawing on Basava’s teaching of the name as constant reminder and the body as temple — described faithfully in our own words:
- Take the name. Use “Om Namah Shivaya” (or the shorter Shivaya Namah). Begin with it spoken softly or whispered, then let it move inward to silent repetition.
- Repeat with attention, not as machinery. Return to the name slowly and sincerely, resting attention on it. When the mind wanders, bring it gently back. Quality of attention matters more than count.
- Remember the body is the temple. Hold Basava’s conviction: you need no built shrine — your own living body is the temple, and wherever you stand is the holy place. The name is worship offered from within that temple.
- Weave it through the day. Beyond any set sitting, let the name surface in spare moments — walking, working, waiting — so that remembrance of Shiva becomes a continual undercurrent, a devotion carried everywhere rather than confined to a ritual slot.
- Let it become self-sustaining. With persistence the name keeps turning under its own momentum, an inner remembrance that runs quietly beneath activity — devotion become habit of the heart. (Sourcing note: Basava’s endorsement of “Om Namah Shivaya / Shivaya Namah” as a constant reminder of devotion, and his vachana naming the body itself as the temple, are established and faithfully described here; the step sequence is description, not reproduction of a specific liturgy.)
Source & Lineage
Basava (c. 1131-1196 CE), the central figure of the Lingayat / Veerashaiva movement, taught a direct, portable devotion to Shiva that dispensed with temple, priest, and external image.
He commended the name “Om Namah Shivaya” as a constant reminder of devotion, and in his vachanas — signed “lord of the meeting rivers” (Kudala Sangama Deva) — he made the famous claim that the living body, not a built monument, is the true shrine, closing: “things standing shall fall, / but the moving ever shall stay.” The portable name and the body-temple belong together: both move the sacred out of the building and into the person.
The Traditions' versions
The same core move — repeat a divine name until it becomes continual remembrance — recurs across traditions: - Japa / mantra repetition (Hindu) — repeating a name or syllable, often with a mala, until it runs on its own.
- Om Namah Shivaya (Muktananda / Siddha Yoga) — the same Shaiva mantra in a later lineage.
- The Jesus Prayer (Hesychasm) — repeating Christ’s name until it becomes self-acting “prayer of the heart.”
- Dhikr (Sufism) — remembrance of God through repeated divine names.
- Nichiren chanting (Nam-myoho-renge-kyo) — rhythmic devotional repetition.
Common refinements
Mechanical rushing. Racing through repetitions for a high count defeats the purpose; attention and sincerity matter more than speed or quantity.
- Confining it to a slot. The strength of Basava’s version is portability — if the name never leaves the cushion, the “constant reminder” is lost. Let it surface through the ordinary day.
- Forgetting the body-temple. Reduced to bare repetition it loses Basava’s point; pair the name with the felt sense that wherever you are, the temple is already present in your own body.
- Forcing or straining. Gripping the phrase tensely creates strain; the repetition is gentle and natural, a return rather than a clench.