SHIVARATRI

We offer ourselves to the Lord by bathing the shivalingam, by offering all that we have to the Lord. We say, “Here, you gave it all to us. We surrender everything back to you.” When we pray like that we don’t have any attachment, we don’t have any things to worry about because they are not ours anymore, they are His. This is surrender. The aim of every human being is for God to reveal Himself within. You have to let go of your egoism. You have to let go of all the things that stand between your realisation and your Self. Therefore, surrender happily everything that stands in between to Lord Shiva!

In the Hindu tradition, we call Shiva ‘the destroyer’. He destroys everything. People might get scared a bit when they hear ‘the destroyer’. But it’s always for a good cause. Whatever he destroys he always gives the opportunity to recreate. At the end of life we face death, and we are so scared about death, but this is the time when Shiva comes. He enables the soul to be born again. He gives the opportunity for all the things you have not done just to make it. If you have not reached the level of realisation, he gives you the chance to try again. He gives the opportunity all the time. But each one of us should try our best to come to the point of realising God completely – to realise who we really are.

I will explain you a little bit about Lord Shiva and the shivalingam. Let me start with the lingam which represents the three gunas in man: sattvic, rajasic, tamasic. Most of the shivalingams are divided into three parts. In the Shivapurana, is said that Shakti always resides with Shiva. The upper part is Shiva and the lower part is Shakti, referring to the kundalini together with shesha, the snake. It is the perfect combination of the two aspects which are in each one of us, the male and the female. It’s also the day and the night. This reminds us that we are not just the body. We are the consciousness of God, whom we will find by surrendering completely to Him. We will find Him when our heart is completely open, without any doubt, without any “buts”.

Here is a beautiful Mahashivaratrisong.....