7 Secrets of Shiva
Devdutt Pattanaik ends his book ‘7 Secrets of Shiva’ redefining Shiva as the god who deconstructs and reconstructs rather than as the destroyer. From an Eastern perspective, this makes sense as we cycle from life to life in our journey to liberation; liberation that can only be achieved when we have outgrown our fear.
Right back in the first of these seven blogs, Imagination and Shiva-Linga, I wrote,
“It struck me as strange then that Patanjali, in ‘The Yoga Sutras’, tells us that imagination is one of the five inner obstacles (Vritti’s) which form the patterns and blockages of our cycle of thoughts that need to be mastered.”
This reminds me that it is the outer obstacles (kleshas) we first need to work on, which bring calmness and stability – those of ignorance, ego, attachment, aversion and fear of death – in order that we can then Master the 5 Inner Obstacles (Vittri’s).
When we gain a true perspective, free of cultural prejudices, we are able to move beyond ignorance. Seeing our own biases helps us move beyond the ego. When we begin to dissolve the ego we drop attachments (to the body and to the mind especially) and aversions (learning to live a simple life, and to surrender). The act of surrender allows us then to move away from the fear of death (by being fearless and expendable).
We can then see the inner obstacles drop away through right information and countering wrong information (through Gnana Yoga – the yoga of the intellect that is beyond knowledge accumulation). This gives us a firm grounding from which to shift away from fantasy and illusion (maya) towards imagination that is connected to our higher wisdom.
“This is the message of the Shiva-linga. It is the yogic journey. The journey to sat-chitta-ananda; tranquillity, when the mind stands in its true nature, purged of all prejudice.”
In turn, this allows us to connect to that state of deep sleep (especially through the practice of Yoga Nidra) that takes us towards Samadhi, shifting beyond a life that is lived based on memory.
This is liberation.
And this brings us right back to where we started in the first blog,
“Only the human mind, blessed with imagination, can challenge the laws of nature, withdraw from it and even break free from it. This is moksha, or liberation.”
Pattanaik illustrates this through Nataraja; Shiva as the dancer, using the symbolic language of dance and movement to convey what the literalism of words can’t. Allowing us to deconstruct maya (illusion). We see this in Yoga Asanas as the Shiva Dancing Pose, helping us move beyond fear, not by control, but by recognising our True Nature, and the cyclical nature of everything; where all things die and are reborn.
Bringing it all together
Devdutt Pattanaik shows us that Nataraja (Shiva) is giving us a choice. We can spend our lives in ignorance, spellbound like the monkey is by the rattle-drum, going round and round the hamster wheel of meaningless activities, full of busyness and distraction.
Or, we can introspect and reflect on what shapes us. Asking why we act as the petrified Deer or the dominant Lion. In Transactional Analysis they speak of the Drama Triangle where we act as the Persecutor, the Victim or the Rescuer. Shiva helps us realise each of these are based on fear thinking. There is no villain, victim or hero once we outgrow fear; once we destroy fear we are free. This is liberation.
Connect on Twitter / Instagram / Facebook
Message me direct if you are interested in yoga, therapeutic yoga, kundalini tantra yoga, tantra practices, trauma-informed coaching, spiritual coach, gay coach, mindfulness and behavioural coaching, Reiki or stress management robert.pinktantra@gmail.com
See my personal development / personality profiling book DISCover the Power of You published through John Hunt Publishing Ltd, 2017. ISBN: 978-1-78535-591-2
And for those who enjoy historical fiction, stories of underrepresented life’s, see my first novel Fermented Spirits published through Austin Macauley Publishers, 2022. ISBN-13: 978-1398437159