Does Lord Shiva answer?

[ashwink]

Originally Posted by The Necromancer

Namaste.

Shiva knows what is in our heart before we even pray. He knows what we are going to ask even before we do and He catches our tears as they fall.

If you'd like the academic answer, Lord Shiva is known as Ashutosha, or 'one who is easily pleased'. Our devotions and prayers to Him make Him happy and when He is happy, he's much more likely to make us comfortable and peaceful in life.

However, Lord Shiva's boons are more like a wish granted by a genie in that it becomes 'be careful what you wish for'.

Take the case of Bhasmasura. He prayed to Lord Shiva for countless years (it doesn't happen overnight) for the boon to burn people to ashes - a purely greedy petition/prayer.

After a while, Shiva was pleased with his prayers, gave him darshan and bestowed the boon.

As soon as that happened, Bhasmasura started burning everything to ashes, including trying it out on Lord Shiva Himself, who realised He had created a monster, but couldn't undo it because the boon also came with a condition that nobody else could ever kill Bhasmasura, so Lord Shiva went and sought the protection and advice of Lord Vishnu, who came up with a plan.

Disguised as a very beautiful and tempting seductress (Mohini), Lord Vishnu then approached Bhasmasura, leading him into a hypnotic, sexual and sensual dance - sort of like the dance version of 'Simon Says'...Bhasmasura was blissfully unaware of what was happening and during the dance, Mohini placed her hand on top of her head...Bhasmasura followed suit and immediately burned himself into a pile of ash.

Suffice to say, when Lord Shiva beheld Mohini and Her dance, He became infatuated as well...and that story is like the 'Mills and Boon' of the whole Shiva Purana. lol

So, Lord Shiva is pretty selective and careful about what boons he gives out now and to whom...but like Vinayaka said, he is grateful to Shiva for those things he has in life, without needing to ask for any more.

So am I, but the only thing I would ever want/ask is for Him to never let this love fade away again - never let me get caught up in materialism so much again that I forget Him.

Aum Namah Shivaya

It is simply belief. I have tried. He wont answer.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by ashwink

It is simply belief. I have tried. He wont answer.

Namaste.

It all depends on the question(s) asked and the faith (more than belief) and keeping an open heart and mind to receive the answer which may/not be what we, as mere mortals, ever expected. If unconditional love is there, it just keeps getting better.

Yeah, it sounds like a karmic cop-out, does it not?

However, if the question/plea is pure and comes from a 'good place' for benefit of the spirit, and the question keeps getting asked with unwavering devotion and surrender, over and over again, eventually Lord Shiva will get tired of hearing it because it disturbs His meditation and He'll come and tell you that Himself...then you can ask Him anything on the spot.

All I have ever asked is to always serve, love and to never let me forget this moment...I totally forget all the questions I ever had at that point though.

Aum Namah Shivaya