culture & traditions | festivals

The whole creation is the dance or play of Shiva

(Shiva tandav), the dance of one consciousness,
which manifested into a million species in the
world.

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Rishimukh February 2007

Shiva means your very Self, the purest Self, your

innermost core. Shanta means quiet, peaceful
and innocent.
Like you have the breath inside your body, the
same breath (or air) is all around. In the same
way, you have picked up a little bit of life here
and there and given it a name, yet life is everywhere. Space is everywhere, but we build a wall
and say this is the space of a room. We create the
space from a big space. That big space, the big
mind in you, the big I in you, is Shiva.
In Shiva temples, Shiva is symbolically represented by the linga. There are three genders; male,
female and neutral. The Divine is beyond these
three genders, so the Divine is called Ekalinga, or
one gender. What is that one gender? The Self,

Shivaratri is when the Shiva tatva and the shakti become one.
Shivaratri is auspicious because
the environment is more alive.
the Atma. Beyond the body, mind and intellect,
and beyond the likes and dislikes, that Self is only
one, it is Ekalinga. Linga means identification or
sign. Only because of a certain sign, you identify
something as male, female or neutral. Ekalinga
means only one sign. Divinity is beyond the peripheral differences of gender. Ekalinga is the
Lord of the Self.
On Shivaratri, it is the total energy which comes
into the whole universe. Shiv Shakti (the energy
of Shiva) comes from all the lingas and merges
on Shivaratri. If you chant, Om Namah Shivaya
and think of Lord Shiva the whole day, you get
rid of all sins; and only then can good activity
start. That is why, a few months after Shivaratri,
you have Vaishnava day. On that day, punya
(good merit) increases. Shiva means good or
benevolent. Ratri means that which gives rest,
takes you into its lap and comforts you. Night is
the time when everything in the environment

becomes quiet and peaceful, and the body gets

tired and goes to sleep. Shivaratri is a rest which
is so deep. When the mind rests with the Divine,
in the lap of the Divine, then that is the only real
rest. Ratri is that which gives relief from the three
types of problems. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti three types of peace are needed; peace to the
body, mind and soul (adhyatmik, adhibhoutik
and adidaivik). Only in the presence of all three
can there be complete peace.
Like the mind, memory and intellect, Shiva is
also a tatva (element or principle) in us. Shivaratri
is when the Shiva tatva and the shakti become
one. Shivaratri is auspicious because the environment is more alive. That is why you do not
sleep on the night of Shivaratri.
Shiva has been associated with destruction; but
transformation, change for the better, can only
happen when something is destroyed. Shiva is
the factor of transformation. Shankara means
one who gives peace and does so much good.
Sham means peace and good and kara means
one who does that. It is interesting that the
names Vishnu and Shiva have meanings that
are opposite to their jobs. Vishnu means the one
who destroys everything, but Vishnus job is to
protect; Shiva means one who gives so much
peace and joy, but Shivas job is to destroy.
The whole creation is the dance or play of Shiva
(Shiva tandav), the dance of one consciousness,
one seed, which manifested into a million species in the world.
The whole world moving in an auspicious rhythm
of innocence and intelligence, is Shiva. Shiva is
the permanent and eternal source of energy, the
one and only eternal state of Being.

Rishimukh February 2007

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