A Beautiful Life Magazine

My Journey With Lord Shiva

By: Goddess Prachi

Being a child born in a Hindu family I grew up in a rich Indian culture, becoming a part of so many religious rituals and ceremonies.

I was always told that in order to follow spiritual path one must live a detached life. However, I always wondered what was detachment and how can this be attained or how can I practice this in my daily life? I kept reading articles, blogs and watched YouTube videos but nothing made sense to me. Being a child born in a Hindu family I grew up in a rich Indian culture, becoming a part of so many religious rituals and ceremonies. Most of the religious practices were very seriously passed on to me from my elders in the family and community. I was very happy and enthusiastic to learn and practice them but was completely unaware of the true meaning and essence they carried. For instance, I was told that fasting on certain days was considered auspicious and performing fasting in a prescribed manner would please the deity the fasting was attributed to and that it would bless me with a good fortune. One of the fasting that I practiced for years was for Lord Hanuman (a fierce form of Lord Shiva) wherein on every Tuesday I had to eat only one full meal in a day and that too without salt. This practice continued for 5 years without any breaks. I was very young when I did that and at that time all I knew was that I was performing a good deed for which I shall be rewarded later in my life. At that time, I did not realize that I was practicing an aspect of detachment which was learning to live without what we consider essentials in our life. Salt is the basic ingredient in most recipes, at least in Indian cuisine, absence of which spoils the taste of that dish. Likewise, there were numerous rituals and religious practices that I used to follow, which actually had magnificent spiritual significance in our life and on our life energies.

I started to investigate about his origin and life, and as I moved deeper, I began to realize that subconsciously I had started to identify some of my hidden feelings that had remained unanswered for a long time. The attachment was so profound and strong that in a couple of months I became his staunch follower.

Let us fast forward my life to the point where I was introduced to Lord Shiva which changed my life altogether. While growing up I knew who Lord Shiva was but never paid much attention to him as I was strongly devoted to Lord Hanuman. To me Shiva was married to Goddess Parvati and had pet called Nandi who was a Bull and was his vehicle. He had one festival for himself which was Mahashivratri and he was worshiped by offering milk and water. Beyond this I never took interest nor did he attract me in any way. So, one fine day I was introduced to a mythological serial that was based on the life of Lord Shiva and I started watching a few episodes. After watching 8 to 10 episodes, I felt drawn towards the ideology that was portrayed about his lifestyle. I started to investigate about his origin and life, and as I moved deeper, I began to realize that subconsciously I had started to identify some of my hidden feelings that had remained unanswered for a long time. The attachment was so profound and strong that in a couple of months I became his staunch follower.

Karma is a word that is hard to define in my opinion because its relevance and implications vary within the context it is used.

Lord Shiva has been believed to be a hermit who lived in forests, crematories and snow-covered mountains meditating for days, months and years continuously. At that time, he was not married and lived a life, principles of which were based on detachment, void from illusions and cycles of Karmas. Karma is a word that is hard to define in my opinion because its relevance and implications vary within the context it is used. We will discuss that in depth later but for a general understanding Karma refers to ones Actions (physical and non-physical). It is also interpreted as a ‘cause and effect’ aspect of the Law of Attraction which further explains its cyclic nature and leads to the theory and belief of past lives and reincarnations. Lord Shiva is also the lord of time and space, known as Kal Bhairava, and is therefore considered to be beyond these dimensions. Shiva or Siva is a term that means ‘that which is not’; physical and non-physical; beginning and the end and the journey in between; born and unborn; light and darkness; limited yet limitless; life and death; everything that human senses can perceive and beyond such limited sources of perception; He is the Source, that when manifests takes the form of Life and when unmanifested the energy that sustains this Life!

To be continued...

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