Hari Aum.
Om Namah Shivaya. Salutations to Lord Shiva.
Today is a sacred day in the Vedic spiritual calendar. It is a day (or rather, a night) that is sacred to Lord Shiva.
Shiva is one of the great manifestations of the Supreme Being or God. The yogis say there is one God who has numerous names and forms. Some of these names and forms are more well-known than others. Shiva is among the most beloved forms of God.
The name Shiva means auspiciousness. Shiva and Narayana are one and the same Being according to the Advaita Vedanta tradition of yoga. Although identical in nature, the form of Shiva is different from Narayana (every form of God is unique).
The form of Shiva is that of a yogi, a renunciate. He represents the highest spiritual nature, the turning away from material desires. He represents wisdom and discernment-- the ability of the mind to tell the difference between right and wrong, light and darkness. He represents strength, immense spiritual strength, the ability to perform tremendous spiritual austerities for the good of all.
He is described as the Lord of the world, the Supreme Father, the benevolent one who is easily pleased (Ashutosh). His appearance is beautiful and dramatic. He wears an animal hide (representing conquest of the lower animal nature, so difficult to conquer), while ashes from the cremation ground are smeared all over His body (representing detachment from the world). He hold the trident (representing the threefold nature of material existence; sattva/goodness, rajas/passion and tamas/ignorance) and the drum (representing sacred sound). His garland is a cobra with five heads; these five heads represent many things including the five great elements of Creation (space, air, water, fire, earth), the five senses and five pranas (type of energy) within the human body and so on. He is the origin and master of the material world represented by the serpent resting on His neck.
Shiva is particularly associated with the destuction of evil, with the removal of impurities from the mind, with the cleansing of one's nature. Like Krishna, He is also associated with music and dance. All the sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet are said to have emanated from His drum a the beginning of Creation. A the end of a cycle of creation, it is said that He dances an extraordinary dance-- the dance of dissolution of the material world. As a result of this divine dance, all Creation is dissolved back into its origin, namely Himself, and remains latent within Him until He choses to create again.
His wife is the Goddess Parvati, who also has many wonderful names and forms. She is described as the Mother of the universe, both gentle and nourishing and also fierce and powerful. She is also particularly associated with the destruction of evil (especially in Her form as Durga or Kali). Shiva and Parvati are two aspects of one God, inseparable from each other, and are therefore often worshipped together.
The world needs the blessing of Lord Shiva today more than ever. War has broken out again and there is much misery. Not only this, there is talk of nuclear weapons being placed on standby-- unthinkable madness.
Those who start wars never seem to understand that wars never solve problems, they only create new ones. The damage from this war, not just physical but also to the minds and hearts of people, will take years if not decades to heal from. Let us pray that this madness comes to an end as soon as possible. Let there be peace.
We ourselves are a microcosm of the macrocosm say the yogis. Just as there are big wars in the outside world, there can be big wars within us too. The solution to war, whether within or without, is prayer and devotion to God, according to the Gurus of all traditions. Peace, both inner and outer, can be ultimately found only in God.
Om Namah Shivaya.
Om Trayambakam yajamahe, Sugandhim pushti vardhanam,
Urva rukamiva bandhanan-mrityur mukshiya mamritat.
This is the famous Maha-mrityunjaya mantra which is addressed to Lord Shiva, invoking Him as the auspicious one who nourishes all, and requests Him to grant us realisation of our true immortal nature.
I wish you all a spiritually fulfilling Shivaratri. May Lord Shiva bless us all.
Om Namah Shivaya. Om Sri Durgayai Namah.
Om Sri Gurave Namah.
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
P.S. This is a link to a beautiful book by my Guru Sivananda about the glories of Lord Shiva (available for free on the Divine Life Society website):
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