Conversion to Shaivism

8/20/2019 Conversion to Shaivism

1/13

Sanatana Dharma

Conversion to Shaivism

1) Does Shiva incarnate like Vishnu?

2) Are Vishnu and Brahma aspects of Shiva?

3) Where and hat is the Supreme A!ode of "ord Shiva# that $is devotees ill

o!tain after moksha %!asicall the e'uivalent of the Vaishnava(s Vaikuntha)?

) What are the main Scriptures of Shaivism# and do Shaivas accept the

Bha*avad +ita# the Bha*avata ,urana# and the Vishnu ,urana?

-) $o do e orship Shiva? Aside from pu.a to a lin*a and the Sacred

/antra %0m amah Shiva&a0)# ho does one *o a!out orshippin* $im?

) What are the !asic philosophical !eliefs of Shaivism? Do Shaivas !elieve

that Shiva actuall& e4ists or do the& !elieve that the 0true0 Shiva is

ourselves? Do Shaivas !elieve that Shiva and the soul and matter are 3

seperate entities# or that the& are all part of Brahman? etc5

6hank &ou a*ain# and ma& Shiva !less &ou5

m amah Shiva&a5

7astern /ind

89 cto!er 2889# 11:18 A/

amaste $aridas: ; adopted Saivism a!out 38 &ears a*o55 still ; am no e4pert5

As to the 'uestions &ou posed# ell555 &ou(ll *et a variet& of ansers as ithin

Shaiva there are di from the

point of vie of monistic Saiva Siddhanta5

1) no

2) not aspects# !ut same as# di


2/13

3) in the Sivaloka# soul mer*es#

) Vedas# A*amas# and others dependin* on variet& of Saivism %read the Siva

sutra thread on here) plus orks of various Saiva *urus

-) surrenderin* &our e*o to $im# throu*h pu.a# .apa# meditation# pra&ers

) All and in all pati pasu pasam all mer*e in monistic !ranches# in dualistic

!ranches# all continue separatel&

Aum amasiva&a

B6W# hat are &ou convertin* from? Don(t anser this if &ou don(t ant to5

$aridas

89 cto!er 2889# 11:21 A/

amaste5

6hank &ou for &our ansers5 As to the di


3/13

Shiva does not 0incarnate05 But the hole orld is $is manifestation# and $is

poer of merc& %anu*raha) is revealed in Sad*uru and A*ama5 A*ain# each

.;va is Shiva !& its nature and thus can !e termed as an 0avatAra05

67E2) Are Vishnu and Brahma aspects of Shiva?67E

Shiva as the +odhead has - poers or functions:

15 Sad&o.ata F Brahma F Srishtishakti

25 Vamadeva F Vishnu F Sthitishakti

35 A*hora F Gudra F Samharashakti

5 6atpurusha F /aheshvara F 6iro!havashakti

-5 ;shana F Sadashiva F Au*rahashakti

%ames ma& have di


4/13

/ain Scriptures of all A*amic schools of Shaivism %that means all e4cept

,ashupatas) are ShaivaA*amas5 All accept 2J SiddhantaA*amas# hile

6antric Shaiva 6radition adds BhairavaA*amas %considered to !e in

num!er) as the supreme revelation5 Apart from A*amas# there are fe other

essential sources considered to !e Shruti# such as Shivasutra5

,ashupata is a Vedic school havin* ,ashupatasutra as its main Scripture %in

addition to Vedic te4ts)5

A*amic Shaivism is not !ased upon paurAika te4ts# thou*h several

/ahapuranas are mostl& Shaiva %@rst of all# ShivaVa&upurana)5 ,uranas are

secondar& authorit& meant for people of limited understandin* and cannot !e

re*arded as primar& souce of doctrine and practice5

Some Shaiva traditions do accept Brahmasutra %and there are several

schools of Shaiva Vedanta) and Bha*avad*ita5 $oever these te4ts aren(t of

an& *reat importance5 f course Vaishnava upapurAnas like Bha*avatam %it is

not the same as Bha*avata as /ahapurana# hich is lost) have no

si*ni@cance for an& Shaiva tradition %as# for e4ample# Chandi or =alika

puranas aren(t authorative for Vaishnavas)5

67E-) $o do e orship Shiva? Aside from pu.a to a lin*a and the

Sacred /antra %0m amah Shiva&a0)# ho does one *o a!out orshippin*

$im?67E

6his depends upon particular school# !ut in an& case there is a kind of Io*a

%in a sense of spiritual practice and not *&mnastics)5

suall& there are four aspects of practice: char&A %rules of conduct)# kri&A%rituals)# &o*a %inner practices) and .nAna %knoled*e)5

67E) What are the !asic philosophical !eliefs of Shaivism? Do Shaivas

!elieve that Shiva actuall& e4ists or do the& !elieve that the 0true0 Shiva is

ourselves? Do Shaivas !elieve that Shiva and the soul and matter are 3


5/13

seperate entities# or that the& are all part of Brahman? etc567E

Vies of di


6/13

2) Are Vishnu and Brahma aspects of Shiva? Shaivism in *eneral teaches that

Brahma# Vishnu and Gudra are all parts of Shiva5 6he socalled 6rimurti e4ists

onl& in a manner of speakin*5 ;n truth# there is onl& Shiva# ho is knon as

Brahma# Vishnu# Gudra# /aheshvara and Sadashiva in various capacities5

3) Where and hat is the Supreme A!ode of "ord Shiva# that $is devotees ill

o!tain after moksha %!asicall the e'uivalent of the Vaishnava(s Vaikuntha)?

Shivaloka# as 7/ mentioned5 ;n Shaivism# Shivaloka is the hi*hest of the

seven orlds hich ma& also !e called Brahmaloka or Sat&aloka5 Be&ond

that# there is no loka as such# !ut oneness ith Shiva5 Shaiva monists !elievein complete mer*er %like a drop of ater mi4in* ith the ocean)# dualists

!elieve in a mer*er ith di


7/13

Ardhanarishvara# etc5 Shaivites also orship Shakti as nondi


8/13

amaste A*nideva#

; ould like to point out that this analo*& ma& !e misleadin*5 ,aradvaita does

not re.ect !heda !ut sees it as e4istin* in Consciousness alone5 Shaivism

doesn(t su!scri!e to the common Advaitavedanta vie of 0kevala0 Advaita5

Somehere Achar&a A!hinava*upta sa&s that ,aradvaita neither esta!lishes

nor re.ects !heda5 Shaiva Siddhas do not mer*e in void !ut realise their true

nature as Consciousness5 Due to this the& are perfect .;vanmuktas# ho

perceive this orld as manifestation of Shiva(s !liss5 But if e take literall& a

model of 0complete mer*in*0# e should assume that onl& videhamukti is

possi!le N hich certainl& is not the case5

&a.van

89 cto!er 2889# 83:38 ,/

$ari m

OOOOO

amaste A*nideva#

; ould like to point out that this analo*& ma& !e misleadin*5 ,aradvaita does

not re.ect !heda !ut sees it as e4istin* in Consciousness alone5 Shaivism

doesn(t su!scri!e to the common Advaitavedanta vie of 0kevala0 Advaita5

Somehere Achar&a A!hinava*upta sa&s that ,aradvaita neither esta!lishes

nor re.ects !heda5 Shaiva Siddhas do not mer*e in void !ut realise their true

nature as Consciousness5 Due to this the& are perfect .;vanmuktas# ho

perceive this orld as manifestation of Shiva(s !liss5 But if e take literall& a

model of 0complete mer*in*0# e should assume that onl& videhamukti is

possi!le N hich certainl& is not the case5

amaste Ar.una H AD5

Can ; make a recommendation? 6hese conversations are most e4cellent # and

&ou folks are knoled*ea!le5


9/13

Can &ou assist others ith the terms that &ou use? A =e& term that ill

unravel this post is !heda5 Without knoin* this# one is at a disadvanta*e of

comprehendin* the conversation5

Kor me# !heda is that of di


10/13

and from then on e4perience thin*s as Shiva# and e are literall& $im?

And @nall&

;s ever&thin* that is made of ph&sical matter an illusion?

6hanks a*ain for anserin*# and ma& Shiva !less &ou5

amaste $aridas#

Iou need not anser this 'uestion either# !ut ma& ; ask h& &ou(ve decided

to leave !ehind +audi&a Vaishnavism?

amaste

; decided to leave +audi&a Vaishnavism !ecause its main scripture# the

Bha*avata ,urana# contradicted the Vedas and panishads on some points#

and even loered the level of "ord Shiva to that of an easil& su!dued man

%one stor& states that Shiva as entranced !& /ohini and anted to cheat on+oddess ,arvati ith her)5 6his is also h& ; left Vaishnavism in *eneral5

7astern /ind

89 cto!er 2889# 8:1 ,/

$aridas : 6he !luethroated Siva is Dakshinamurthi# the ultimate meditator# ;

suppose5 $e is another form of Siva# or !etter &et# another a& that Siva

manifests5 6here is lots of s&m!olo*& related to Dakshinamurthi# of hich ;

kno 'uite little# !ut others ill help &ou5 ;t(s de@nitel& more common in

orth ;ndia5

As others have pondered# it is interestin* to !e convertin* ithin $induism#

or at least seekin* out5 /a&!e ;(ll start a ne thread5 Kor sure# if &ou look for

them# &ou ill @nd contradictor& scripture in ever& sect5 6hat used to !other

me5 ; once asked a sami that ver& 'uestion5 Gi*ht no ; can(t remem!er the

point that ; had found contradictor !ut he .ust lau*hed and said# 0;t(s all .ust

Siva(s dance50 ; took it to mean that e shouldn(t seat the small thin*s like


11/13

small contradictions# and sta& focussed on the !i* picture# hich is the

realisation of the Self +od ithin5 Aum amsiva&a

A*nideva

89 cto!er 2889# 8J:J ,/

amaste $aridas#

6he form of "ord Shiva that e see in pictures %the meditatin* !lue ascetic)#

is that is 0,ersonal0 or 0Supreme0 Korm ith all of $is attri!utes %such as

Vishnu(s ara&ana form)# and then all else emanates from $im %such as

Vaishnavas( !eliefs on Vishnu(s !reathin* in and out and created universes)?

Ies# mostl& e see Shiva pictures here $e is represented as an ascetic

seated in meditation ith matted locks and all the other s&m!ols5 6he a& ;vie this ima*e is that it is a pro.ection of the ima*e of a Saiva ascetic onto

Shiva5

;f &ou(re lookin* for more of a universal form of Shiva# that ould !e the

atara.a /urti# Shiva in $is cosmic dance of creation# sustenance and

dissolution5 Iou can read up on the atara.a s&m!olism on Wikipedia

%http:en5ikipedia5or*ikiatara.a)5

;s ever&thin* that is made of ph&sical matter an illusion?; ill leave it to

others to anser &our more philosophical 'uestions# !ut from m&

understandin* Shaivite philosophies all hold that the orld is as real as the

realit& of Shiva5

Aum amah Shiva&a#

A5

Ar.una

8J cto!er 2889# 82:3- A/

amaste $aridas#

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natarajahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nataraja


12/13

6he form of "ord Shiva that e see in pictures %the meditatin* !lue ascetic)#

is that is 0,ersonal0 or 0Supreme0 Korm ith all of $is attri!utes %such as

Vishnu(s ara&ana form)# and then all else emanates from $im %such as

Vaishnavas( !eliefs on Vishnu(s !reathin* in and out and created universes)?

; liked A*nideva(s anser re Shaiva ascetic pro.ection5 ,erhaps that is the

case ith this commonl& knon form5

All Shiva(s forms such as ilakantha# Bhairava# Sundareshvara# atara.a#

Shara!ha# /ahakala# Sharva# Gudra etc5 are aspects of Shiva that have

certain s&m!olism5

6here is no picture of Supreme Shiva since $e %$eShe) is !e&ond ever&thin*

and in ever&thin*5 But ; assume the 0*eneral0 hi*hest form %and one of the

most ancient) of Shiva hich is depicted is ,anchavaktra N since $e is

personi@cation of ,achakshari5 6hen# there are several 0speci@c0 forms hich

can !e seen as hi*hest %!ut a*ain not of Anuttara,aramashiva)# such as

/ahakala or =ameshvara N the& are !hairavas of three main /ahavid&as

%essential forms of +oddess,oer of Consciousness)5

Shiva has several representations in mantric form: ,anchakshari# avatmaka!hairava etc5

When e mer*e ith Shiva# are e then +od? As in# do e lose our identities

and from then on e4perience thin*s as Shiva# and e are literall& $im?

;n monistic Shaivism ever& .;va %au or nara) is Shiva onl& !& its nature# thusthere is no point of 0!ecomin*0 Shiva5 ;t is Shiva ho takes up all identities !&

$is on free ill5 6hus it is up to $im hether 0e0 lose or retain an& of these

:)

;n an& case# Shaivism accepts naratattva as one of three essential elements

of 6rika %triple Gealit& of Brahman)5 ;t is not an illusion# !ut function of

Supreme Consciousness5


13/13

;s ever&thin* that is made of ph&sical matter an illusion?

7ver&thin* is made of Consciousness and e4ists onl& in Consciousness as a

fact of perception5 6hus# ever&thin* is real5

; decided to leave +audi&a Vaishnavism !ecause its main scripture# the

Bha*avata ,urana# contradicted the Vedas and panishads on some points#

and even loered the level of "ord Shiva to that of an easil& su!dued man

%one stor& states that Shiva as entranced !& /ohini and anted to cheat on

+oddess ,arvati ith her)5 6his is also h& ; left Vaishnavism in *eneral5

; am ne to this Korum5 ; am a Shiva Bhakta5 What is $ari and Shiva# the& are

one and

Conversion to Shaivism

Documents

Transcript of Conversion to Shaivism