 Mahasivaratri is of both spiritual and scientific significance. Shivaratri means the 14th day of every month, that is one day before Amavasya or the No Moon Day. There are twelve to thirteen Shivaratris in a year. Of all the Shivaratris, the Shivaratri that appears in the month of Magha during February-March is known as the Mahasivaratri or the Great Night of Shiva. In the northern hemisphere on this planet, on that day there is a natural upsurge of energy within the human system. Every life form experiences a certain upsurge of energies within themselves. This upsurge of energies can be truly made use of only by those creatures who have their spine erect. Our fortune of being human is we are the only species here who have graduated to that level of an erect spine. If you look at the evolutionary development of various species, you will notice that moving from invertebrate to vertebrate is one significant step and another significant step in the evolutionary process is a spine moving from horizontal positions to vertical positions. The true development of the brain happened only after the spine became vertical. As an Mahasivaratri night, there is a natural upsurge of energies keeping the spine vertical throughout the night has immense benefits. It is of great benefit particularly to those on the spiritual path but this is also significant for people who are in family situations and also for the ambitious in the world. For those on the spiritual path for the yogis, this is the day when Shiva transcended all the movement within himself and became utterly, absolutely still. On this day, his third eye opened and his perception blossomed. What we are saying is these two eyes are sense organs. They can show you the physical realities around you but if you want to see the basis of this reality, if you want to see the subtler reality which is beyond the physicality of nature, if you want to know this, you need another dimension of perception. The dimension of perception which is beyond the physical is known as the third eye. So this is the day which facilitates your journey towards the opening of your third eye or a deeper dimension of perception within yourself.