Is man Shiva?

November 7, 2002

--- Sister Usha Devi <sisterusha wrote:

> Certainly I agree. Every woman is an avatar of the

> Goddess, and should be proud of this. We should all

I agree 100% that every woman is an avatar of the

Goddess. But what about men? Are men then Shiva? Or

can Shiva not have avatars except through the Goddess,

thus making us reflections of the Goddess as well?

What is everyone's take on this?

AUM

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November 7, 2002

of course! every man is both siva and sakti!! i will expand on this

later... rushing to work...

the very first verse in adi shankara's saundarya lahiri goes thus...

Mother, only by uniting with you, Ishwara (Shiva) is able to create

the world. If He is not united with you, He will not have the ability

even to stir. While so, how can one who has acquired no merit through

earlier good deeds, can even dare to salute or praise You, who are

worthy of being worshiped by Hari, Hara, Viri~nci and others?

how can sakthi create without siva? creation and procreation are two

sifdes of the same coin!!!

remember the key phrase in the bible...

"seed giving father"

kallidasa sings in raghuvamsha...

vaagarthaaviva saMpRktau

vaagarthaH pratipattaye |

jagataH pitarau vande

paarvatI paramesvarau ||"

"United are you

as word and meaning

O daughter of the mountain

and the ultimate Lord

I bow to thee both

the parents of the universe

Grant me the knowledge

of the word and its meaning!

siva and sakti are inseparable- like moon and moonlight! like

sandalwood and its fragrance! like sun and its rays ! so on and so

forth!!

please refer to shakti sadhana's web page on ardhanareeshweri !!!

om siva-shakti yukthaii namaha! (sree lalita sahasaranama

btw - siva is not an avatar!!

love -

in haste,

November 7, 2002

Thank you adi! A fairly crude example of how Shiva

cannot stir without Shakti:

I have noticed when out among just guy friends that it

seems fairly quiet, relaxed, not much happening. But

as soon as a woman enters the room, BOOM! Boy,

everyone start to get active, talkative, showing

off...it's like the woman raises the men's energy

level. I have a feeling that this works the other way

around too?

AUM

--- adi_shakthi16 <adi_shakthi16 wrote:

> of course! every man is both siva and sakti!! i will

> expand on this

> later... rushing to work...

>

> the very first verse in adi shankara's saundarya

> lahiri goes thus...

>

> Mother, only by uniting with you, Ishwara (Shiva)

> is able to create

> the world. If He is not united with you, He will not

> have the ability

> even to stir.

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November 7, 2002

If we are Shiva/Shakti (Ardhanarishwara) at our core

then why do our outward forms reflect one or the

other?

Is this the manifestation of our imperfection?

Is the perfected being an androgynous one?

If so, are we supposed to seek--WITHIN--the opposite

side to balance ourselves? Men seek their feminine

side and women seek their masculine side?

AUM

November 7, 2002

If we are Shiva/Shakti (Ardhanarishwara) at our core

then why do our outward forms reflect one or the

other?

>Why are the ocean waves of different sizes? It is the play of the ocean. This,

all of This, is That, the play of Consciousness.

Is this the manifestation of our imperfection?

>There is no imperfection. There is an upanishadic dictum:

Om purnamida purnamidam,

Purnat purnamudacyate

Purnasya, Purnamadaya

Purmevavashishyate

>From the perfect springs the Perfect

When the Perfect merges back in the

Perfect, only the perfect remains.

The great Trika Acharya Abhinavagupta 'solves' the riddle of pure verses impure

as follows...

Question: Is a thing by its nature pure or holy (shuddha) or impure/unholy

(ashuddha). Or putting it in terms, is an action by its nature right or wrong?

Abhinavagupta speaks thusly:

"Purity or impurity (shuddhi or ashuddhi) is not the essential quality or nature

of any object, because in that case the purification of a thing of which the

scriptures talk would be impossible as the essential nature of a thing can not

change. But [however] if it changes it is not essential. Purity or impurity have

therefore to be admitted to be ideas of a particular subject or person which are

firmly associated with a thing. It is why what is pure to one person is not so

to another. For the idea of purity of one thing and impurity of another is

inspired by the scripture in which an individual has faith. According to Shaiva

conception whatever is recognized to be one with the samvid (Consciosness) is

pure and what is not so recognized is impure. Hence to those who look upon the

whole universe as identical with Self, the distinction between pure and impure

does not exist."

i.e., the universe is a play of Consciousness and identical with that

Consciousness.

Let me give you another example: when you dream at night and have a nightmare,

is the nightmare the essential nature of your Consciousness? Assuredly the

answer is no, for you wake up and you say 'I had a terrible dream, but now it is

over'. Therefore, we can be assured that our essential nature, which is

Consciousness/pure Awareness, that perfection is inherent.

Just as the movie is played on the screen and people are attentive only to the

play of objects on the screen, still yet the screen remains unmoved or

unperterbed.

Again, though there are waves of all sizes and shapes on the surface of the

ocean, none of these waves, these dancing forms, changes the nature of the

ocean, which is water. Water is the essential nature of the waves, not the

forms.

Likewise, Consciousness/Awareness is the essential nature upon which all subtle

forms like thoughts and all gross forms like objects have their basis. The

thoughts and forms come and go, but Consciousness/Awareness upon which it all

arises from and merges back into, the essential nature, is never changed, It is

changless.

This play of play of Consciousness is called Maya Shakti.

Is the perfected being an androgynous one?

>The perfect is neither and both.

If so, are we supposed to seek--WITHIN--the opposite

side to balance ourselves? Men seek their feminine

side and women seek their masculine side?

>Women have predominance of Ida on the left, and men have a predominance of

pingala on the right. When that great realization occurs, breath and thought are

suspended and the inward and outward gross breath of ida and pingala merge into

one breath and rise up the sushumna. Sushumna is cessation of all difference,

including male and female. Though the play of Consciousness dances, for such a

one the Truth is obvious; such a one knows the stillness of the ocean depths and

the waves of the ocean surface are nothing but ocean.

Guru Om

Markandeya

November 7, 2002

I agree 100% that every woman is an avatar of the

Goddess. But what about men? Are men then Shiva? Or

can Shiva not have avatars except through the Goddess,

thus making us reflections of the Goddess as well?

What is everyone's take on this?

Shiva is pure Being, Shakti is pure dynamism or Shiva's reflective awareness.

They are one just as a coin has two sides. It is broken down into Shiva/Shakti

for the sake of the sadhak in order that one may initially grasp some

understanding.

An example would be at night when you dream. Shiva is the pure screen of

Consciousness; Shakti is the play of the Consciousness in the form of the dream.

They are one Consciousness/Awareness. This is the Truth, known by those pure

souls who know Bhairava Consciousness.

Pure Being is inert without Awareness, and Awareness cannot happen unless it

first exists, or is Being. The One Reality is called Shiva/Shakti, but this

reality is One.

Guru Om

Markandeya

AUM

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shakti_sadhnaa

November 7, 2002

namste shri markendeya!!!

i was so delighted to read your responses to shivadancer's queries;

very heart warming ....

it is so beautiful that you are able to Explian the prakasha-

vimarsha tattwa of kashmir shaivism in simple and easy to

understand manner...

one can explain the *absolute* only when *shakti* unfolds ...

TANTRIC GURU Gorakhnath refers to several stages Shakti progresses

through in HER manifestATION...

) Nija-Shakti: the Divine Power in its Original Absolute form,

undistinguishable from Pure Consciousness. In Kashmir Shaivism this

is called Citi or Cidrupini Shakti, and is of the same nature as the

Absolute, which is pure Cit or non-dual Consciousness.

2)Para-Shakti is the first very subtle impulse or tendency to

manifestation.

3)Apara-shakti is the first vibration (spandana) or internal push for

self-manifestation.

4)Sukshma-Shakti is the expression of pure I-ness within the Godhead.

5)Finally, Kundalini-Shakti constitutes the actualisation of a

distinct world-creative Power (Obviously, the term is used in a

different context to that of "Kundalini yoga").

" The stages of unfolding of Shakti are also the stages of the

unfolding of the Godhead. Each Unfolding constitutes a successive

Manifestation, as successive Expression of the Godhead.

In Hinduism generally, Shakti is called the Mother of the Cosmos and

of all beings, or simply "the Mother" (i.e. the Divine or Supreme

Mother). In a more philosophical sense, Shakti is the power of the

Absolute Consciousness to manifest. Without Shakti there could be no

creation. "

"There cannot be Creation out of nothing, for apart from the Absolute

("God" if you like) there is nothing; not even non-being. For if

there was something beyond the Absolute, then the Absolute could not

be the Absolute, because "Absolute" means there is nothing else, not

even "nothing".

Since there is no other being but the Absolute Reality, since only

the Absolute, the Godhead, exists, the Absolute in becoming Conscious

cannot become Conscious of anything else, but Itself. And this Self-

Consciousness is the beginning of Creation. "

"In Tantric Metaphysics, the Original Absolute or Ultimate Reality,

called Paramashiva ("Supreme Godhead") or Parasamvit ("Supreme

Consciousness") is described as prakasha. This is the Absolute

Reality as pure, static, nondual Consciousness. And just as Shiva is

Prakasha, so Shakti - the dynamic self-expression of the Absolute -

is Vimarsha. "

" Vimarsha is the self-contemplation of Prakasha, it is Prakasha

reflecting Itself, surveying Itself, Experiencing Itself. As one

Shakta Tantric text, the Kamakala vilasa, puts it, "Vimarsha is the

mirror in which Prakasha reviews itself"

IN TANTRIC TERMS, the light-of-lights is called Prakasha. It is the

source of everything in the universe and it projects onto the divine

mirror called Vimarsha, which manifests the physical universe into

existence. The combined function of Prakasha and Vimarsha creates

every personal reality possible with each being part of Ultimate

Reality called Parama-Shiva. (Feuerstein)

DEAR M, in this context, i would like to draw quote from the famous

kashmiri shaivite Abhinavagupta...

"the heart is the very Self of Shiva ... and of the ... Goddess who

is inseparable from Shiva. Indeed the Heart is the site of their

union (yamala), of their embrace (samghatta). This abode is pure

consciousness (caitanya) as well as unlimited bliss (ananda). As

consciousness the Heart is the unbounded, infinite light (prakasha)

as well as the freedom (svatantrya) and spontaneity (vimarsha) of

that light to appear in a multitude and variety of forms. "

The Heart of Shiva is not a static or inert absolute, however. In

fact the non-dual Kashmir Shaiva tradition considers it to be in a

state of perpetual movement, a state of vibration (spanda) in which

it ic continuously contracting and expanding (samkoca-vikasha),

opening and closing (unmesha-nimesha), trembling (ullasita),

quivering (sphurita), throbbing, waving, and sparkling (ucchalata).

The intensity and speed of this movement is such that paradoxically

it is simultaneously a perfect dynamic stillness.

"The Ultimate is spanda: it vibrates, it expands and contracts; it

manifests and reabsorbs; it is full of waves and waveless; it is full

of bliss and yet suffering occurs; it plays a game of hide-and-seek

with itself in which ignorance alternates with knowledge, and in

which enjoyment and liberation can coincide. "

borrowed from many sources...

thank you, deasr m!!!!

"Pure Being is inert without Awareness, and Awareness cannot happen

unless it first exists, or is Being. The One Reality is called

Shiva/Shakti, but this reality is One."

wow!!! the union of shiva-shakti as one reality !!!!!

love and blessings galore!!!

November 7, 2002

Thank you Markandeya!

I sometimes feel like this "play" of Shiva/Shakti is

like this big computer game like the Simms that They

are playing on the other side of the "screen of

consciousness"...that I am just one of billions of

characters in this thing that they are doing for fun,

moving us around, watching us, laughing... If so, I

wish They would stop hitting the "catastrophe" button!

It's not "play" from our perspective! "Hey You up

there! Stop it!" lol

Of course, They're not really "up there" but "in here"

and each of us realizing that This is all OUR OWN play

is a step closer to realizing the Absolute.

AUM

P.S. Did you write the Purana? I love your Chandi!

just kidding...gotta quit playing...(8^}

November 7, 2002

Good to hear from you friend. Ah, that play of Consciousness! In the last two

weeks we have had a Mother-In-Law gravely ill in the hospital, a grandaughter in

the hospital (both are out now), my vehicle was rammed from behind on an

off-ramp by my WIFE, the dryer went out, and today the push rod in my vehicle

blew, which may require a new motor altogether for that vehicle...Ah the play of

Consciousness!

The secret is remaining in the moment. We will come to rest in the 'within' that

you spoke of so well when we learn not to spoil the now, which is the only real.

We do this by not residing in the past, worrying about the future, or

fantasizing. When we have these three forms of delusion under control and remain

in the Real, the now, the mind becomes still, and this is the doorway to coming

to rest in that Abiding Awareness.

Thank you for the mail friend

Guru Om

Markandeya