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Maha Shivaratri 2018

Join us for our Maha Shivaratri festivity on Sunday, February 25th at the Yoga Research Foundation in Miami, for an evening of spiritual discourse dedicated to Lord Shiva by Swami Jyotirmayananda, devotional music, and a delicious vegetarian feast. As a preview of what to expect during the celebration, here is an excerpt from Mantra Shiromani, The Crest-Jewel Of Mantra where Swamiji expounds on the mystic meaning of the form of Lord Shiva:

Lord Shiva is the Absolute Self presented in a personified form. As with all forms of Divinity revealed by Sages, Shiva’s form is a highly mystic and poetic portrayal of the Absolute Self. His head is covered with matted locks, representing the mysteries of spiritual life. They also denote the Himalayan Mountains, which symbolically represent the sublime spiritual thoughts arising out of profound meditation.

The Ganges River flows from Lord Shiva’s Head, representing the stream of Divine wisdom. On His Forehead is a crescent moon, symbolizing mastery over the mind. For most people, the mind continually sways between the pairs of opposites, ever waxing and waning; but for Lord Shiva, the crescent shape is perpetually present, eternally under his control.

The snakes on Shiva’s body represent Kundalini Shakti, the primal energy latent within each individual. The ashes that cover his body are a reminder of the mighty fire of wisdom that destroys the world-process.

Mystic Insight into the Form of Lord SHiva

Finally, the mystical stories of the Puranas describe Lord Shiva with a third eye. Although normally closed, this eye is opened during Shiva’s dissolution of negative forces. Shiva’s third eye is symbolic of intuitive vision, which destroys ignorance – the source of desire for ephemeralities and the cause of the world-process. It is for this reason that many artists portray Lord Shiva as a ghostly being decked with ashes, attended by goblins and skeletons. As the embodiment of Param Jnana (Absolute Wisdom) and Sanyasa (renunciation), Lord Shiva pays no importance to externalities – his piercing intuition strips the world-process of names and forms, leaving the non-dual Reality of Absolute Existence, Absolute Knowledge, and Absolute Bliss.

Om Namah Shivaya!

 

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