Understanding the deities

[Guest guest]

Dear Friends,

 

In all the sacred texts of the religions, there are the themes of

pornography, cruelty and bloodshed, as well of love and compassion.

I've been reading a little about some of the Hindu deities, and

these themes are prevalent in them too, and it is these themes which

have been responsible for the suffering and pain of many. For

example the Goddess Kali, to whom babies have been sacrified, and

Lord Krishna, who had many wives, and the story of Lord Rama, and

Shiva the Destroyer, the Creator, the Enjoyer. Also, Mohammed had

several wives. There is much killing in the old Testament.

If the deities are fear-inspiring, how can there be simutaneuosly

love and joy?

If God is love, why do people follow religions that cause cruelty

and suffering to others, and are the cause of so much hate?

How can the contradictions of the principles and the behaviour, the

love and the cruelty be explained?

 

 

Here are 2 quotes that I liked very much, and that beautifully

describe the dance of Shiva.

 

I am the pure form of Joy — clean; pure; immaculate. I am the Cosmic

Dancer and the Master of rhythm in music. Out of My Compassion I

devour the poisons of the Universe, and at the End of all things, My

Dance destroys all that is not pure Spirit. I am the Destination of

your spiritual seeking, Lord God of All. When My presence is

awakened in you by Kundalini, you experience Me as Silence, Absolute

Joy and Peace. There is no duality between My Shakti and Myself. We

are inseparable, like the moon and the moonlight. OM, I am neither

the mind, the intelligence, the ego, the chitta nor attention;

neither the ears nor the tongue, nor the senses of smell and sigh;

neither ether nor air, nor fire, nor water, nor Earth. I am eternal

bliss and awareness. I am Shiva. I am Shiva

http://www.adishakti.org/subtle_system/anahat_chakra.htm

 

 

" In THE SYMBOLISM OF SHIVA'S Cosmic Dance is hidden a deep

understanding of how our universe works, from the tiny atom to

inconceivably immense intergalactic spaces. Shiva's unending Dance

of Creation, Preservation and Destruction is art, science and

religion merged as one. When we behold His Dance, the world is seen

as it truly is--sacred. Every happening within it is His Divine

Will. "

 

From " SIVA'S COSMIC DANCE, An Introduction to the World's Most

Ancient Religion, Saivite Hinduism. "

http://www.mahadev.org/