Shiva has two forms:
One as Adinath, who meditates in serene isolation atop Mount Kailash, (Could be same as Mount Meru - Spine); and presumed to be the centre of Earth
and
The other is Vishwanath, who mediates in the affairs of man in the marketplace called Kashi. .....The main deity is known by the name Vishwanatha or Vishweshwara meaning the Ruler of the universe. The temple town that claims to be the oldest living city in the world, with 3500 years of documented history.
The lingam of the Shaivism tradition is a short cylindrical pillar-like symbol of Shiva, representing Shiva as the generative power, all of existence, all creativity and fertility at every cosmic level and which establishes the inseparable relationship of Shiva-Shakti,
One more...Is the ultimate sada shiva who is beyond these ...He is consciousness. He is white because it's the ultimate truth....The purest one...His one of expansion is Shankar who is husband of Parvati...
Om Namah Shivaya!
7 mysteries Revealed about Shiva :
🌺1~ Why Snake?
Snakes are a symbol of awareness.
You can't be asleep with a snake around your neck!
🌼2 ~Why Ashes?
To remind you of the impermanence of life; knowing that we live life fully.
😊3 ~Is the Moon an Ornament?
The moon and the mind are connected. To be happy in all phases of life, you have to have a say over the mind.
🌹4~ Why Damru?
It has the same shape as the symbol of infinity. Shiva is the unbound infinite consciousness!
🍁5~ Trishul - A Weapon?
Shiva rules over the three gunas represented in the trishul. Yet he encourages everyone to do their dharma - to act and stand up for truth.
🌈6 ~Blue Bodied
The sky is limitless and so is Shiva.
The sky is blue and Shiva is blue too.
🌝7 ~What about Ganga?
Ganga represents gyan (knowledge). Wisdom dawns naturally when you are established in the Shiva.
Har Har Mahadev! There is God in everyone or Everyone is God. Every life has a hint of Lord Shiva. Shiva is nothing but that deep state of peace, calmness and inner stability.
Our culture, traditions, and festivals have a deeper meaning. All of them are associated with a specific divine energy. This divine energy is given a name and form for us to understand the virtues, qualities, and its blessings clearly. One among these energies, and the presiding energy, is Shiva. Shiva can be split into:
Sha + ee + Va
Sha stands for shareeram or body
ee stands for eeshwari or life giving energy
Va stands for vayu or motion.
If the ee is removed from Shiva, it gets reduced to sha+va or shava, which means a lifeless body. We also use the term shavasana in yoga, where one is motionless and in an absolute state of rest.
While Shava is motionless or lifeless, Shiva is with the potential of life. Anything with Shiva is with life and anything without Shiva is shava: lifeless.
So, Shiva is auspicious, Shiva is life and Shiva is potential. Shiva is all-encompassing - the universal soul or consciousness. This realization of the eternal fact that Shiva is an energy, tattva, leads to ananda, bliss.
As many metaphors there have been to describe the visual appearance of Shiva, there are more names to describe the attributes that he is known to embody. Shiva can only be experienced and lived through.
Shivratri means night of lord Shiva. Shivratri is celebrated on 14th day of every month, one day before the new moon. Among the 12 shivratri celebrated in a year, Mahashivratri is the most important one generally celebrated in February or March depending upon the planetary position. MAHASHIVRATRI: THE NIGHT OF SHIVA. The annual festival of Maha Shivarathri is dedicated to Shiva, and is particularly important in the Shaivism tradition of Hinduism. Unlike most Hindu festivals which are celebrated during the day, the Maha Shivaratri is celebrated at night.
“Every Mahashivratri is meant to wake up every particle of your body. The festival is a wake-up call to move away from conflicts and move towards truth, beauty, peace, and benevolence - the ethereal qualities of Shiva.”
- Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
"Ratri also means that which gives relief from the three types of problems: problems to the body, to the mind and to the soul - adhyatmik, adhibhoutik, and adidaivik. The three types of peace are needed, to even get that deep rest: first is material peace. If there is fighting around you, or any disturbance around, then you can’t sleep/ rest. Second, you need peace in the body, mind. Third, you need peace in the soul. Without any one of the three, deep rest is incomplete. So, that which gives rest from all three aspects- physical, mental and spiritual is ratri/ night. And Shivratri is the night of that transcendental divine consciousness, which brings solace to all layers of consciousness. This night is symbolic of the merging of Shiva and Shakti, making the environment more alive. Thus it is beneficial to stay awake on Mahashivratri. This night brings a sense of deep serenity and benevolence. Any meditation done on this day is a hundred times more effective.
It is also astrologically linked: when the sun and moon are in a particular alignment, it helps to elevate the mind. Mahashivratri is the wedding of the material and spiritual. Meditation gives us access to something that is beyond the scope of the mind and intellect. There is a point during meditation when we can experience space: a space of nothingness and love. This experience takes us to the fourth level of consciousness that is also called Shiva."
Eating light food, chanting, meditating, realizing the presence of Shiva as a tattva permeating through the universe and within us is the crux of Mahashivratri. If one performs the Vata Kriya (alternate nostril breath) during the week of Maha Shivaratri, or at least on that one day, all the above Vatas as cleansed and lubricated. ... This is the reason we stay awake during Shivaratri, so that the body is not horizontal, and is instead vertical.
Mahashivratri is an occasion to remember the eternal truth of Shivoham, meaning ‘I am that principle. I am Shiva. I am the truth, benevolence, eternity, beauty.’
HAPPY MAHA SHIVRAATRI 👏
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