Om Namah Shivaya -- I

[Guest guest]

All:

 

A respected member of our group has asked me to initiate a

discussion on "Om namah Shivaya". Here is an initiation to gather

the real meaning. Please feel free to add on.

 

"Om Namah Shivaya"

 

"Om Namah Shivaya" means literally translated, "I bow to Shiva", "I

bow to the Inner Self".

 

The idea is that the repetition of the syllables of the Mantra

gradually purifies each of the elements in our body. The Mantra has

the power to grant worldly fulfillment and spiritual realization.

Shiva denotes divine Consciousness, the Inner Self.

 

To further breakdown the elements:

 

OM consists of five elements:

 

* aah - oow - umm (three syllables)

 

* bindu (Blue Pearl)

 

* nada (the resonance that bathes the bindu)

 

 

 

NAMAH SHIVAYA consists of five elements:

 

* na (prthivi: earth, solidity)

 

* mah (ap: liquidity of water)

 

*shi (tejas: burning fierceness of fire)

 

*va (vayu: the air we inhale which nourishes us)

 

*ya (akasa: space, the dimensionality within which all can take

place)

 

 

 

FIVE ACTS OF LORD SHIVA:

 

* to create

 

* to maintain

 

* to destroy

 

* to conceal

 

* to gracefully reveal

 

 

 

FIVE FACES OF LORD SHIVA:

 

Na: Indra, the Eastern face (color is yellow)

 

Ma: Rudra, the Southern face (color is black)

 

Shi: Vishnu, the Western face (color is smoky)

 

Va: Lord Brahma, the Northern face (color is golden)

 

Ya: Skanda, the upward face (color is red)