God, Lord Shiva, Our God
"Mahadeva, Rudra, Ishwar, Mahayogi. The formless God of regeneration, as represented by the three tilaks. They represent the union between Shiva and Parvati resulting in creation. All other Hindu Gods are believed to have descended from Him, the Supreme Being."
~ Anonymous
God has so many names yet is nameless. God has so many forms, yet is formless. God is inside us, inside everything that has an atom. God is in a rock, a car, the ocean and your emotions. God created this all.
I call God 'Shiva', so I will be doing this during the rest of this topic. Look at the bottom of this page for the general explanation of words you will crossing.
Why Shiva? Well Shiva is a Hindu God. Out of all the religions of the world, Hinduism, though there are many sects and denominations, is the one I have been drawn to my whole life. Shiva has come to me through songs, artists, books and a number of other ways.
Shiva comes to us all. To describe it more precisely, Shiva is here, we decide to open our eyes and see him. I will be using the 'him' word, even though Shiva is non-gendered, yet all genders. Its just simpler to call Shiva 'him'. Shiva has many names, a few are; Maheshvar, the great Lord, Mahadeva, the great God, Shambhu, Hara, Pinakadhrik, bearer of the axe and Mrityunjaya, conqueror of death. But Shiva is the name I use.
The sect of Hinduism that most appeals to me and my soul is the S'aiviam sect. Let me clarify the correct way to say S'aivism, I will be spelling it how it sounds in english, Shaivism (Shay-vism) from now on. Shaivism is the oldest of the four main sects of Hinduism, within Shaivism, there is six main denominations. The one I look to is 'Shaiva Siddhanta'. This school of thought, is most popular in south-eastern India. Shaiva Siddhanta as translated in the book 'Dancing with Shiva' means; "Final conclusion of Shaivism." Shiva's most known image is the 'Nataraja' "Lord of the Dancer." Om namah shivaya or the Panchakshara Mantra is the mantra most used by those who worship Shiva.
Saiva Siddhanta Church which was founded in 1949. This is the Sanskrit name, in English it roughly translates into; "The Church of God Siva's Revealed Truth."
He also founded the Himalayan Academy in 1957 and the popular magazine Hinduism Today in 1979, which reaches 39 countries, has over 100 reporters and journalists and dozens of photographers and artists working for it worldwide.
Hinduism Today was invited to Harvard University to participate in a project, that will be created to help educate high school children about different cultures and religions. Also, the 'United Nations' committee asked 'Hinduism Today' to be involved with the Earth Charter.
Hinduism has been around before the written word. Many claim to know around what date Hinduism came to, but noone really knows. One thing most agree on is, Hinduism is from God, not from man. Hinduism was once called simply 'Santana Dharma'. The word 'Dharma' translates into; "that which contains and upholds the cosmos." 'Santana Dharma' translates into; "Eternal Religion" or "Everlasting path." Here are a few quotes from websites, explaining the origins of Hinduism;
"Hinduism is called Sanathanam, in other words the origin of Hinduism cannot be traced out. It has been as if from the beginning of human development in our part of the world. Hence, it is not easy to define what Hinduism is. Neither therefore is it possible to say who started it and who propagated it. Hinduism was not founded by any one person, nor was it revealed to any single person or prophet."
"Hinduism is one of the three religions thought to have been around from prerecorded times."
"Sanatan Dharma or Hinduism is considered to be the oldest religion that is still adhered to by millions around the world. No one knows how old is Sanatan Dharma, and there is of course no one founder."
"Hinduism, the world's oldest religion, has no beginning - it predates recorded history. Hinduism has no human founder."
One website I visited, explained Hinduism very simply. It stated; " Hinduism is a broad label and is difficult to define with any exactness, but it is used by scholars today to refer to the traditional religious beliefs of the people in India, both past and present."
Shavism Siddhanta, which I will be calling just 'Shavism', has a belief system, as do all other religions. The idea is that Shiva is all and transcends all. The soul is created by Shiva, and is destined to become one, to merge with Shiva. Shaivism does not believe in hell or damnation. This is a man-made idea to scare people into religion. Everyone becomes one with Shiva eventually.
Its pretty simple and straight forward. Of course there are fundamentalists in every religion. There are Buddhists and Hindus killing each other. There are Jews and Muslims killing each other. There are Catholics and Protestants killing each other. The list could go on. Religion is what has started almost every war, at least one school of thought trying to conquer another, and behind most schools of thought is a religion, interpreted in a certain way.
The people who have guided me to Shiva, are few. Nina Hagen, the singer, who has been mentioning Shiva in her music from almost at the start of her career, in the mid-late 1970s.
Gurudeva's book - 'Dancing with Shiva' has allowed me to put a lot of my walls down, when it comes to the concept of Shiva, myself and the world. I have read this book almost as many times as I have read Marianne Williamson's - 'A Return to Love', which also assisted me in my journey.
People get confused with Hinduism. They say 'so many gods' and such. I will not get into this discussion, as of yet, I will just be speaking of my personal experience, as I have throughout my website.
I have placed a few tattoos ( Right Arm & Back ) on my body, in praise to Shiva and Kali. I have named my dog/pet companion Shiva after Shiva and Nina Hagen's daughter Cosma Shiva. Shiva's full name is an actual mantra, or prayer. Om namah shivaya. This can be spelled many ways, but this is the one that sounds much like it reads. But it is much easier to just call her Shiva, or one of my other names I call her. 'Bunny' or 'Bun-Bun, seems to make her tail wag a lot, and she answers to these names to.
'Namah Shivaya' means Adoration or homage to Shiva. Praise Shiva. 'Om' means yes or verily. This could be spelled AUM, which is what it actually sounds like when spoken. This is a very sacred sound. This represents the Divine.
To say 'Om namah shivaya' is as special and sacred to me as the 'Lord's Prayer' or the 'Hail Mary' may be for a Catholic.
Here are some quotes from Gurudeva that explain basic Shaivism;
"God cannot seperate Himself from us. This is because God is out Life."
"Our energy and God's energy are the same."
"We are inwardly already one with God."
"All motion begins in God and ends in God."
"God Shiva is Love: both immanent and transcendent, both the creator and the creation."
"God is both manifest and unmanifest, dual and nondual, within us and outside of us."
"God Shiva is all and in all, one without a second, the Supreme Being and only Absolute Reality."
"We are all beautiful children of God."
"God is the Life of our life."
There are many sacred texts in Hinduism. To them, these are akin to the Christian Bible.
Here I will place some my favorite words from one of these sacred texts.
Gurudeva explains that we learn with our hearts, not in books. When speaking on the subject, he states; "They know that Shiva is found in the heart, not in books. They seek Him there."
From the 'Yajur Veda'
"Lead me from unreality to reality. Lead me from darkness to light. Lead me from death to immortality."
"Whatever exists and wherever it exists is permeated by the same divine power and force."
"All this universe is in the glory of God, of Shiva, the God of love. The heads and faces of men are His own and He is in the hearts of all."
"God is, in truth, the whole universe: what was, what is and what beyond shall ever be. He is the God of life immortal and of all life that lives by food. His hands and feet are everywhere. He has heads and mouths everywhere. He sees all, He hears all. He is in all, and He is."
"Perishable is matter. Immortal the Lord, who, the One controls the perishable and also the soul. Meditating on Him, uniting with Him, becoming more and more like Him, one is frees at the last from the world's illusion."
"He is the God of forms infinite, in whose glory all things are, smaller than the smallest atom, and yet the creator of all, ever living in the mystery of His creation. In the vision of the God of love there is everlasting peace."
"He, the Self , is not this, not this. He is ungraspable, for He is not grasped. He is undestructable, for He cannot be destroyed, He is unattached, for He does not cling to anything. He is unbound, He does not suffer, nor is He injured."
"In Him exists neither action nor organ nor action; no one is found His equal or superior to Him. His supreme power is revealed in manifold forms; inherent to His nature is the working of His strength and wisdom."
Keep in mind that there are many sects and denominations along with numerous interpretations of Hinduism. I again typed a word for how it sounds i.e. S'iva or Siva or Shiv is pronounced Shiva.
Also, again, keep in mind Gurudeva explains that we learn with our hearts, not in books. When speaking on the subject, he states; "They know that Shiva is found in the heart, not in books. They seek Him there."
*Word Pronunciation Chart*
S'iva = Shiva (Shee-va)
Shiva = God
Satguru S'ivaya (Shee-vaya or Shee-viya) Subramuniyaswami = Gurudeva
Him = non-gendered God, Shiva
Remember, even within theologies, no one agrees 100% on everything that is
taught or discussed. These descriptions are very general and simple. Also there are many sects, denominations, interpretations and relationships within Theologies and its seekers. I suggest you do your own searching, there is alot of information in books and on the web.
HELPFUL LINKS
"Our Mission is to promote awareness of Earth Spiritual beliefs through fellowship, celebration, and community service."
A Journal Exploring Gay Men's Spirituality
"For the worshipper, Shiva is everything. There's a sort of outdated idea of a creator, preserver, and destroyerdividing up the functions. But for a believer, Shiva does all of that."
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