Namaste.
During my short hiatus, I've been watching a lot of youtube videos on the celestial origins of Hindu Gods...and there was one I really had to scratch my head over...there was a lot of it that made sense and was true as far as I was concerned, but a lot of it was total rubbish too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp7qT379OS8
They started off refering to Shiva as a 'She' and that got under my skin a bit, but I also thought it was fair enough...Shiva can be a "He" a "She" a "He/She" an "It" or just "Shiva"...everything and nothing; all in one...Brahman. However, lacking any positive male role models in my life, I also found the greatest of all male role models out there (and inside here) and so, after being initially uncomfortable with Shiva being called "She", I found an uneasy truce within...I mean, Shiva is really a 'hermaphrodite' and we pretty much all know it.
It was also said how Lord Shiva appeared as the Egyptian God Thoth and the Greek God, Hermes...which I have also been saying for quite some time now myself, so this was just a reinforcement of it...and of course the name "Hermes" is where "hermaphrodite" comes from...Hermes and Aphrodite....Shiva and Shakti combined...as represented by Hermes' Staff of Caduceus with the two Kundali snakes, Ida and Pingala intertwined...so, I was pretty cool with that, and I could see both of these beings as being "Avatars" of Shiva, but not necessarily Shiva Him/Her/Itself.
Where I came unstuck, was when they said that Shiva was a being who infiltrated the Gods to become a God...when, as far as I am concerned, there are no "Gods" apart from the "God" whom I lovingly label and nickname "Shiva" and I worship Him in Saguna form as a representation of everything He is beyond that (but also including it). He is Purusha, Prakriti and Purusha/Prakriti - which then becomes Ishwara....and yes, He has a temper and gets angry...and yes, He is everything mentioned by the narrator of the video...but that is only the leela or the Divine play OF Shiva...just like when somebody you love gets angry, you still love them regardless. It also doesn't make Him any more/less of a 'God'...because then one starts ascribing human attributes and qualities to something else totally outside/beyond the scope of them.
I had the feeling that at any moment, a Bible verse would pop up about "false Idols" and such, but that never eventuated and I'm reminded that what is "true" and what is "false" are only concepts in the minds of mortal men anyway in relation to an omnipotent Divine Being. Maybe this is my own personal cognitive dissonance coming through as well, but compared to the narrator of that movie, I totally accept Lord Shiva without judgment...even "knowing" what He is according to the minds of men...those who gave 'form' to Rudra in the first place...but He (and I'll stick with that) is so much more than all that.
It was also said that Lord Shiva couldn't be God because He was only the 'God of certain things'...like the Arts, Music, Knowledge, Yoga, Nature, Dance, Creation, Destruction...which then begs the question...if He is the God of all that, then what is He NOT the God of? LOL
I don't think Shiva is a "Being who became one of the Gods" but I do believe that a long time ago, there was a 'Being' and from where, I don't know...but He was a shapeshifter and took the form of quite a few beings throughout history...and He didn't say "worship ME as God" but showed them how to find that "Shiva" within their own hearts and souls...thus He was also known by that name...and also Thoth...and Hermes. For me, the concept and the image of Shiva is not God...just one tiny representative aspect of Sadashiva...or even that which goes way beyond any name given to describe it and yet, by all labels and definition, it still is Shiva and through Shiva, I can experience God directly.
Then, of course another like the Narrator will say "that's just because you are a devotee blinded by love"...as opposed to another who is not, blinded by ignorance, I guess.
There's even a debate going on right now on Youtube between Sri Sri and Sadhguru about whether Shiva is an actual 'corporeal being' or not and the debate gets quite heated. Sri Sri says that "Shiva" is only a name given to formless Consciousness....but if so, why not just call it Chidakasha? (formless consciousness)? why label it "Shiva'? On the other hand, Sadhguru says that Shiva is Adiyogi and appeared on earth a few times to teach mankind...all I can say, after hearing both sides of it, is they are both right...and they are both wrong.
Anyway, that's all from me today and thank you for reading.
Om Namah Shivaya