SHIVA, THE ISHTA OF MILLIONS

He is the One who existed even before the world began.
He is the One who has been prayed to, even when He was unseen.
And ever since the very first time He chose to make His presence known, Shiva has been loved by millions.
Records about Him from ancient folklore are very interesting;
He is the perfection of opposites:
Supreme spiritual Guru, but warrior Chieftain,
Ascetic, but perfect husband,
Mendicant, but householder,
Meditative, but intoxicated,
Master of yogic stillness, but King of dance;
Shiva is the fountainhead where paradox reconciles.
In the Hindu pantheon of Gods, He is called the destroyer,
And yet, known by the beautiful symbol of creation, the Shivlinga. Shiva is a storyteller’s delight.

Once, a bhakt went to shiva and asked to worship him.
Shiva asked, " out of so many Gods, why did you choose me?"

'My Lord, the rishis say that one must choose the Ishta, with whom one can himself resonate, with whom one can himself identify"

" Yes"

“So, i thought while choosing my Ishta, that although God is one, His attributes are different in His different manifestations. Your form held a particular appeal for me. I was awed both by your appearance and character. Here was a lord, with no kingdom, no material acquisitions, no riches, nothing, yet he was bestowing gifts upon others. Here was a God sitting serenely in meditation, a technical God? Someone who loved his wife and children, and was so much at ease with Nature. Someone who loved the forests and the hills, the rivers and the springs and all the beings, that lived in them. I loved the way you let your hair hang loose, and was intrigued at your informal attire.i could relate to you , my Lord, as a humanly endearing man, like any family man." answered the Bhakt.


Shail Gulhati is the Author of the books :

SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said.SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller. part 2 (Humesha)
is available on Amazon
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07HVY1PPS ( India)
and
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HVY1PPS ( USA )

Shaivism Today Soul Speak ( 5 ) Matrix in Hollywood, Matrika for Shaivite Rishis.

                                           MATRIKA

The Matrix  REVISITED IN SHAIVITE TERMS.

One of the most brilliant films of our time,The Matrix, leaves an indelible impression on whoever views it.
It reminds us about what the Upanishadic wisdom had always told us:
The world is a sort of dream, the actual reality is something else; And our purpose of life, is to find that reality.
 
Awakening into that Reality is known by different names, such as Moksha, Nirvana, Bodha, Satori, Enlightenment ,
Self -realisation, God consciousness and so on. Till we find that Truth, we go on in endless cycles of a maze, stuck in the matrix, taking it's illusion to be our reality.
And indeed, this Truth was exhorted by the pathfinders of all tribes and cultures, at all times; be it the ancient Mayans, or Egyptians, the Zoroastrians, or the Tao of Chinese , or be it the more recent Sufis, the Sikh Gurus, the Western mystics like Teresa of Avilla, down to the most modern saints like Vivekananda,Yogananda, and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. All of them alluded to this dream- like state from which we have to wake up, in order to know the 'Other world' as being actually our eternal abode.
Interestingly, in Kashmir Shaivism there is a very similar word to matrix,called Matrika.
The ancient Kashmiri Shaivite Rishis taught, that such is the very play of Shakti, who is seated in the middle of the mystery of all things, ज्ञानाधिष्ठानं मातृका॥४॥ Jñānādhiṣṭhānaṁ mātṛkā||4||

She is called Matrika ( or Maya) because she is unknown to everyone ,except those who have meditated deeply enough, and been graced with her Darsana. ( like Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa)
Why is it that She is revealed only to some?
All things come from Prakriti- Mother Nature, but society is too involved with the inert elements of Prakriti, like gold and silver; the elements that glitter with a worldly lustre. We remain so involved in decorating ourselves with these, that we miss the more subtle vibration of the elements of life forms; we miss reaching the higher and more subtle elements which raise the level back to divinity..

But here is the difference between the ancient Rishis and the modern scientific simulation theorists: Rishis say that the whole play is a Lila , and there is great hope in the end:
Once Matrika is known as the Shakti of Shiva Himself, She stops acting like Maya, lifting the veil of Divinity which had hitherto covered our vision, She transforms to the ' Guiding Mother' and stops her illusions over our fickle minds;We begin to know Divine luminosity instead of mundane glitter,
And then, all things shine forth clearly as expressions of the same one God! It is very interesting that this film also has a wonderful soul called Trinity, who virtually acts as Neo's Shakti, so too, in our own life Ma Shakti does guide us constantly, this is her Anugraha- grace. So, for the Rishis, this play was not designed by some sinister computer geek, but a beneficent Source Consciousness.

In the film, Morpheous ( The preceptor- or Guru) asks Neo
( The seeker) if he would like to have the blue pill or red pill. The red pill and its opposite, the blue pill, are popular cultural symbols representing the choice between:
Red pill:
Knowledge, freedom and the (sometimes painful) truth of reality .
Blue pill :
Falsehood, security and the blissful ignorance of illusion .

And this indeed, just like Sri Krishna said to Arjuna in His song divine, the Bhagvad Gita, is the proverbial choice we all need to make.

Do we wish to live in a dream like state of this world, without knowing God? In which case we will have to accept all the joy or pain that it gives us. Or would we like to know God, and then live with an awareness in this same world, knowing well that joy or pain have no permanent relevance,as long as we remain focused on God.

So too, quite in contrast to the normal obsessions ( Blue pill) of society-  Gold and silver, fast cars ,positions of power, and forever making contacts, self aggrandizement in the name of leadership, attention seeking in the garb of charity, and so on! Sadhaks, choose instead, to seek the quiet repose of knowing the inner Self. They learn to magnify the inner adornment of the Spirit itself.And thus make good their escape from the  'Delusion System'

Aum Namah Shivaye. Aum Shakti Namah.

 Shail Gulhati is the Author of the books :
SHIVA, The Ultimate Time Traveller.
The Yogi and the snake
Shiva Poetry
NAAM ROOP- A Tribute to the Divine
And Life Said. Available on Amazon E books :
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07HVY1PPS  ( India) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HVY1PPS ( USA)