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What Is the Nature of Our God Siva?
God Siva is all and in all, one without a second, the Supreme Being and only Absolute Reality. He is Pati, our Lord, immanent and transcendent. To create, preserve, destroy, conceal and reveal are His five powers. Aum
God Siva is a one being, yet we understand Him in three perfections: Absolute Reality, Pure Consciousness and Primal Soul. As Absolute Reality, Siva is unmanifest, unchanging and transcendent, the Self God, timeless, formless and spaceless. As Pure Consciousness, Siva is the manifest primal substance, pure love and light flowing through all form, existing everywhere in time and space as infinite intelligence and power. As Primal Soul, Siva is the five-fold manifestation: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; Rudra, the destroyer; Maheshvara, the veiling Lord, and Sadashiva, the revealer. He is our personal Lord, source of all three worlds. Our divine Father-Mother protects, nurtures and guides us, veiling Truth as we evolve, revealing it when we are mature enough to receive God's bountiful grace. God Siva is all and in all, great beyond our conception, a sacred mystery that can be known in direct communion. Yea, when Siva is known, all is known. The Vedas state: "That part of Him which is characterized by tamas is called Rudra. That part of Him which belongs to rajas is Brahma. That part of Him which belongs to sattva is Vishnu." Aum Namah Sivaya.
What Is God Siva's Unmanifest Reality?
SLOKA 17
Parashiva is God Siva's Unmanifest Reality or Absolute Being, distinguished from His other two perfections, which are manifest and of the nature of form. Parashiva is the fullness of everything, the absence of nothing. Aum.
Parashiva, the Self God, must be realized to be known, does not exist, yet seems to exist; yet existence itself and all states of mind, being and experiential patterns could not exist but for this ultimate reality of God. Such is the great mystery that yogis, rishis, saints and sages have realized through the ages. To discover Parashiva, the yogi penetrates deep into contemplation. As thoughts arise in his mind, mental concepts of the world or of the God he seeks, he silently repeats, "Neti, neti--it is not this; it is not that." His quieted consciousness expands into Satchidananda. He is everywhere, permeating all form in this blissful state. He remembers his goal, which lies beyond bliss, and holds firmly to "Neti, neti--this is not that for which I seek." Through pranayama, through mantra, through tantra, wielding an indomitable will, the last forces of form, time and space subside, as the yogi, deep in nirvikalpa samadhi, merges into Parashiva. The Vedas explain, "Self-resplendent, formless, unoriginated and pure, that all-pervading being is both within and without. He transcends even the transcendent, unmanifest, causal state of the universe." Aum Namah Sivaya.
What Is God Siva's Pure Consciousness?
SLOKA 18
Parashakti is pure consciousness, the substratum or primal substance flowing through all form. It is Siva's inscrutable presence, the ultimate ground and being of all that exists, without which nothing could endure. Aum.
Parashakti, "Supreme Energy," is called by many names: silence, love, being, power and all-knowingness. It is Satchidananda-- existence-consciousness-bliss--that pristine force of being which is undifferentiated, totally aware of itself, without an object of its awareness. It radiates as divine light, energy and knowing. Out of Parashiva ever comes Parashakti, the first manifestation of mind, superconsciousness or infinite knowing. God Siva knows in infinite, all-abiding, loving superconsciousness. Siva knows from deep within all of His creations to their surface. His Being is within every animate and inanimate form. Should God Siva remove His all-pervasive Parashakti from any one or all of the three worlds, they would crumble, disintegrate and fade away. Siva's Sakti is the sustaining power and presence throughout the universe. This unbounded force has neither beginning nor end. Verily, it is the Divine Mind of Lord Siva. The Vedas say, "He is God, hidden in all beings, their inmost soul who is in all. He watches the works of creation, lives in all things, watches all things. He is pure consciousness, beyond the three conditions of nature." Aum Namah Sivaya.
What Is the Nature of the Primal Soul?
Parameshvara is the uncreated, ever-existent Primal Soul, Siva-Sakti, creator and supreme ruler of Mahadevas and beings of all three worlds. Abiding in His creation, our personal Lord rules from within, not from above. Aum.
Parameshvara, "Supreme Lord," Mother of the universe, is the eternal, sovereign one, worshiped by all the Gods and sentient beings. So loved is Siva-Sakti that all have an intimate relationship. So vast is His vastness, so over-powering is He that men cringe to transgress His will. So talked of is He that His name is on the lips of everyone--for He is the primal sound. Being the first and perfect form, God Siva in this third perfection of His being--the Primal Soul, the manifest and personal Lord--naturally creates souls in His image and likeness. To love God is to know God. To know God is to feel His love for you. Such a compassionate God--a being whose resplendent body may be seen in mystic vision--cares for the minutiae such as we and a universe such as ours. Many are the mystics who have seen the brilliant milk-white form of Siva's glowing body with its red-locked hair, graceful arms and legs, large hands, perfect face, loving eyes and musing smile. The Agamas say, "Parameshvara is the cause of the five manifest aspects: emanation, srishti; preservation, sthiti; dissolution, samhara; concealment, tirobhava; and revelation, anugraha." Aum Namah Sivaya.
What Are God Siva's Traditional Forms?
SLOKA 20
Our adoration of the one great God Siva is directed toward diverse images and icons. Primary among them are Sivalinga, Nataraja, Ardhanarishvara, Dakshinamurti, Hari-Hara, Bhairava and the trishula. Aum Namah Sivaya.
Every form is a form of Siva. Tradition has given us several of special sacredness. The Sivalinga was the first image of Divinity. After it all other icons evolved from mystic visions. We contemplate God Siva as Parashiva when we worship the Sivalinga. Its simple elliptical shape speaks silently of God's unspeakable Absolute Being. We exalt Siva as Parashakti or Satchidananda, God's living omnipresence, when we worship any form of His never-separate Sakti, especially Ardhanarishvara, whose right half is masculine and left half is feminine, and in whom all opposites are reconciled. We adore Him as Parameshvara, the Primal Soul, when we worship Nataraja, the Divine Dancer who animates the universe. Thus we worship Siva's three perfections in three forms, yet knowing that He is a one Being, fully present in each of them. He is also Dakshinamurti, the silent teacher; Hari-Hara--half-Siva, half-Vishnu--and Bhairava, the fierce wielder of trishula, the trident of love, wisdom and action. The Tirumantiram declares, "Everywhere is the Holy Form. Everywhere is Siva-Sakti. Everywhere is Chid- ambaram. Everywhere is Divine Dance." Aum Namah Sivaya.
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