Namaste and thank you too!
Very beautiful quote from the Muṇḍaka Upanishad.
The Upanishads basically refer to an impersonal consciousness called Brahman, give it nice personal attributes and then conclude by saying "you
are that"....I wasn't a 'He' the last time I looked anyway. lol
I don't know how far my ego will ever let me accept all this though, because I am only just a very small, humble part of what 'that' is and not 'that' in totality and entirety. This will never change.
In the Vedas, Shiva is known by another name, Rudra. He is also called Mahakala.
Shiva originated in Mojendro Dharo and Harappa some 5,000 years ago as a folk deity called Pashupati - akin to the Greek God, Pan.
He is still known by that name today.
He was the God of nature, of wild beasts, music and the arts and of the bound and liberated state within the heart of man. Pashu= bound and Pati = liberated.
He became part of the Samkhya tradition after the whole Vedic era and popularised into form through all the Puranas and visions of various saints and sages.
Yeah, they didn't get it quite right either...pretty close, but way off the mark! I saw a picture a while ago by an artist and I was like "yep, that's a little bit closer to it, but still quite a bit off too".
Om Namah Shivaya