Shivam and Shiva Sidhdhantham - Some Perspectives

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Shivam and Shiva Sidhdhantham - Some Perspectives

 

Shaivam (http://www.shivam.org)

Shivam is the religion that worships Lord Shiva. Shaivam a very old religion

in the Hindu family of religions is very rich in its philosophies. With its

vivid branches very well integrated into the root, it becomes the feast,

oxygen and life of many philosophers. With the matured philosophies standing

on the great vedantic and sidhdhantic strong bases it presents to its

followers the great paths to the Blissful Supreme called Shiva.

 

In the Shaivam there are many doctrines shaiva sidhdhantham, kAshmira shaivam,

vIra shaivam, vedAnta shaivam and many others. These are the contributions of

very many scholars who prospered under this shaiva discipline. Shaivam is one

of the most followed discipline of sanAtana dharama in many of its forms. For

most of the shaivites apart from the vedas the Agamas are the scriptures of

importance. The Shaivites worship the Supreme as formless, symbol and through

many forms all leading to the Ultimate Attributeless Supreme.

 

Shaiva Sidhdhantham (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2583/introduc.html)

In shaiva sidhdhantham God is called pathi, all the souls (creatures, all

lives except pathi) which take birth and die are called pachu(pashu)s, the

bondage is called pAcham (pAsam). The pAcham can be classified into three -

ANavam, kanamam, and mAyai (ego, deed and effects, illusion). Only these three

things exist. Now the relation between them. It is the pAcham that brings

suffering to the affiliated things. Due to the affiliation with pAcham the

pachu suffers, and the affiliation is without origin. (that is by nature pachu

is impure with pAcham). The pathi is never affected by pAcham. (pathi never

gets affiliated to it). When pathi approaches pachu (blessing the pachu) the

pAcham that binds the pachu making it suffer, is driven off. It is like a leaf

loaded with snow. Due to the weight the leaf is pushed down (to suffer). When

the sun, pathi comes the snow of pAcham escapes with the leaf coming up and

smiling with the sigh of relief. In the presence of pathi pAcham won't stay

with pachu. (like in the presence of sun snow disappears from the leaf). The

thiruman^dhiram, which is one of the very old scripture that talks in detail

about the sidhdhantham.

 

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Unique spiritual savants (An Article from Hindu)

Source: An Article from the Religious Section of The Hindu taken with

permission: "Copyrights

2000 The Hindu & Tribeca Internet Initiatives Inc. The Hindu: 22-01-2000

=============================================

Among those who turn Godward during their worldly sojourn with the conviction

that the objective of human birth is to put an end to bondage which causes

rebirths, there are two types. The first kind has very little stock of

spiritual merit but they have yearning for liberation and hence require the

guidance of a teacher (Bodha Guru) who can direct them so that they can

progress on the spiritual path. But their spiritual evolution is possible

only till a certain level. The second type of spiritual aspirant is the one

who has gained a lot of spiritual merit and thus is ready to be initiated by

a spiritual teacher (Avabodha Guru). The desire for liberation is very strong

in him and he longs to meet someone who can enable him to envision God.

 

The meeting of Swami Vivekananda and Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is a classic

example of such a Guru and a disciple. Narendra as he was known then wanted

to meet ``one who has seen God'' and it was his intense craving for that

ultimate experience which took him to his Guru Ramakrishna. What is essential

is that the Guru must be a realised person and the disciple must have the

maturity to benefit from such a Guru.

 

In his discourse, Sri Sivakumar said that Tirumoolar, a great Saiva mystic,

had stated categorically that if the Guru or the disciple did not have the

necessary maturity their association would be counterproductive like the case

of the blind leading the blind. Siddhas are Self-realised souls who can with

their spiritual power initiate those who have attained spiritual maturity.

There has been a hoary tradition of Siddhas in the Saiva tradition and their

origin can be traced to the Vedic times and to Lord Siva Himself.

 

The singular contribution of the Siddhas, besides their primary status as

spiritual savants, is to the field of medicine. According to traditional

accounts the number of Siddhas runs into lakhs spanning the four Yugas.

Primarily they are 18 and this number is indicative of the groups within them.

The Tevaram songs mention Siddhas and the Agattiyar Tevara Tirattu is a

manual codified by Sage Agastya who is one of the pioneers in the Siddha

tradition. It is believed that Lord Siva sent Agastya to propagate the Siddha

system for the benefit of humanity.

 

Tirumoolar is the next Siddha of importance. Traditional lore says that he

lived for 3000 years engaged all the time in yogic contemplation and composed

his work Tirumandiram, which is in 3000 verses, at the rate of one verse

every year. That he was a realised soul well-versed in Siddha practices is

evident from his biographical accounts and also his work which is an inspired

hymn of great spiritual merit.