How to worship Lord Shiva

[Shivani Devi]

I agree that the Vedas are the last place to start...even though I pretty much started there myself. *laughs*

It all depends on how deep your thinking is, how fast you can process information and to what level you're prepared to go, but I can give you the 'short-version' of it as it applies to Lord Shiva.

The God "Shiva" that you see in my avatar, that is common everywhere in India as an artistic representation, is based on a description of Shiva from a book called the Shiva Purana (please read that one first), but 'Lord Siva and His Worship' basically covers every story and mantra in the Shiva Purana anyway...it's almost like a translation of it...sorta...

Anyway, the Shiva Purana was written long after the Vedas.

The first Veda is called 'Rig Veda' and is probably the most important one because everything important seemed to come from it, in the way we perform our rituals, fire sacrifices and whatever, and acknowledging 'The Sun' or a Solar Deity (Hiranyagharbaya) as the 'powerhouse of the world'.

In the Vedas, there is no 'Shiva" but there is a 'God of the whole cosmos' called Maha Rudra - literally translated as "The great howler".

Maha Rudra later became associated with Shiva as being akin to Sadashiva or Lord Shiva's 'cosmic manifestation' or 'cosmic form' and also the notion of total non-dualism or Brahman Absolute.

The only other mention of a 'Shiva-like' Deity, was a local tribal spirit called Pashupati which has a convoluted meaning as being 'beloved of the beasts' which also refers to the human soul being in a 'bound' or 'unbound' state according to perception...much like Schrodinger's Cat. The tribal deity Pashupati was also later associated with Shiva through other related symbology at the time.

Now, in as much and as far as the Vedas are concerned, that is all you need to know about Shiva and that is all I really took from it all, to be honest.

If you want to learn about Shiva and all, read the Shiva Purana. If you want to learn all of the esoteric stuff, you read Tantric texts about Shiva and Parvati/Kali.

Whatever you do, don't read the Upanishads because they'll just totally confuse the issue even more, unless of course you are actually in that whole frame of mind to understand and accept the whole notion that you are whatever it is you are worshiping.

There we go, Vedas/Vedanta/Shaivism 101 for all interested.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Shivani Devi]

There is an apt story, all about this "Shiva Worship" and why Shiva Ratri is celebrated.

Once upon a time, there was a hunter (I forget his name) who was out in a forest hunting deer to feed his family.

He had to be out around dusk, because that was the time the deer came out to feed...anyway, he was out in the forest hunting deer, when he saw one and it was approaching him, unaware of his location.

He pulled out an arrow from his quiver, placed it in his bow...and just before he was about to shoot the deer, the deer saw him and spoke; "Wait, STOP! oh please, dear hunter, do not kill me. I, too have a wife and two children to support and if you kill me, you better just kill us all because my death will be the end of them also, do you mind if I bring my wife and children here? you can kill us all then".

Now the hunter thought, "yeah, cool even MORE deer for the table" so he said "go ahead and bring your whole family, that would be good".

Anyway, he put his arrow back and the bow down and waited...and waited for the deer to return...he started to think the deer tricked him, but he waited more and it was getting dark...it was the darkest night of the year and it was pitch black and getting very cold...very cold...and the hunter was only clothed in a loin cloth...

The hunter started to hear the sounds of lions and jackals and snakes and other nasty things and he became very afraid...it was pitch black, he could see nothing and there were no deer...how stupid could he be?

So, he felt around and realised he was very close to a tree. He couldn't tell what type of tree it was, but it happened to be a Bilva (Bael) tree - a tree that is very special and sacred to Lord Shiva (Bilva leaves are used to worship Shiva)...anyway, being very fearful, the hunter decided to climb the tree to put him off the ground and out of harm's way.

When he reached a safe branch, he just sat there waiting for the deer to come back and he figured he'd have to wait until light now to head back because he couldn't see a thing anyway...he waited...it was dark, freezing and he was still scared..

So, to amuse himself and pass the time, he started plucking the leaves off the tree and dropping them to the ground...he kept this up and up...and because he was starting to suffer the effects of hypothermia, his shivering wracked his whole body and became audible...he was going "shiv...shiv...shiv...shiv...etc" whilst plucking these bilva leaves off the tree and dropping them to the ground..."shiv...shiv...shiv..shiv...etc".

Now, unbeknown to the hunter, there was a Shiva Lingam...a very old Shiva Lingam at the base of that Bilva tree...so most of the leaves the hunter was dropping ended up falling on and around it, while he was unknowingly chanting a mantra...he kept this up for hours and hours on end.

Eventually the deer came back with his wife and family...and the hunter saw them, grabbed his bow and arrow and was about to shoot again...the deer just said "do it, kill us if it makes you happy...if our death means you can live because you can't take just one of us without taking all".

The hunter had a total change of heart and put his bow down...he couldn't bear to shoot the deer and wondered how he could see them when he couldn't see anything else around him.

It was that moment, the deer transformed into Shiva, Parvati and the two children.

Shiva said "you have been unknowingly worshiping me all night, so a boon is now yours".

The hunter wanted no more than for himself and family to be comfortable in life, in full remembrance of Shiva.

So Lord Shiva made it that way, the hunter became a very successful gardener and the night became known as Maha Shiva Ratri.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[LoGronn]

That's a very inspiring story thank you The Necromancer. It also answers my questions too.