Dancing with Śiva

They call Him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni or the heavenly sunbird Garutmat. The seers call in many ways that which is One; they speak of Agni, Yama, Mātariśvan. §

Ṛig Veda 1.164.46. VE, 660§

Him who is without beginning and without end, in the midst of confusion, the Creator of all, of manifold form, the One embracer of the universe—by knowing God, one is released from all fetters.§

Kṛishṇa Yajur Veda, Śvetāśvatara Upanishad 5.13. UPH, 407§

The Primordial Vastness is the sky. The Primordial Vastness is the sphere of space. The Primordial Vastness is the mother, the father, the son. The Primordial Vastness is all the Gods, the five sorts of men, all that was born and shall be born.§

Ṛig Veda 1.89.10. HP, 114§

May I attain to Vishṇu’s glorious mansion where the faithful rejoice, where, close beside the Strider, within His highest footstep springs the well of purest honey.§

Ṛig Veda 1.154.5. VE, 152§

I am the ruling Queen, the amasser of treasures, full of wisdom, first of those worthy of worship. In various places, divine powers have set Me. I enter many homes and take numerous forms. §

Ṛig Veda 10.125.3. VE, 97§

He who bestows life force and hardy vigor, whose ordinances even the Gods obey, whose shadow is immortal life—and death—what God shall we adore with our oblation? Who by his grandeur has emerged sole sovereign of every living thing that breathes and slumbers, he who is Lord of man and four-legged creatures, what God shall we adore with our oblation?§

Ṛig Veda 10.121.2-3. VE, 71§

When a man knows God, he is free: his sorrows have an end, and birth and death are no more. When in inner union he is beyond the world of the body, then the third world, the world of the Spirit, is found, where the power of the All is, and man has all—for he is one with the One.§

Kṛishṇa Yajur Veda, Śvetāśvatara Upanishad 1.11. UPM, 86§

Whatever exists and wherever it exists is permeated by the same divine power and force. §

Śukla Yajur Veda, Īśa Upanishad 1. EH, 45§

Recognition of the world as the manifestation of Śakti is worship of Śakti. Pure knowledge, unrelated to objects, is absolute.§

Devīkālottara Āgama, Jñāna-āchara-vichara 14. RM, 112§

When milk is poured into milk, oil into oil, water into water, they blend in absolute oneness. So also the illumined seer, the knower of the ātman, becomes one with the ātman. §

Devīkālottara Āgama, Jñāna-āchara-vichara 14. RM, 112§

Let us worship Him, the pure-formed One, the cloud which, emitting a rain of unthinkable joy, satiates the hearts and eyes of its followers, as if millions of rain clouds had poured down, the stay of the Great Silence, called by many names, described by many religions, the embodiment of ineffable degrees of spiritual happiness. §

Tayumanavar 1.2. PT, 14 §

O God of mercy who performs the dance of illimitable happiness in the hall of inconceivable Intelligence! O thou Preceptor who art named Nīlakaṇṭha! O thou Preceptor of wisdom who art of the form of Vishṇu! O thou Preceptor who art of the form of the four-headed Brahmā, the author of Vedas! O thou who discharges the duties of a Preceptor in all religions! O thou who as Preceptor enlightens in love those followers who have implored thee not to abandon them. §

Tayumanavar 6.5. PT, 34 §

Worship, by offering sweet-scented flowers, the God who is the Infinite Lord of all. Give reverence to your tradition’s God, who the whole world and all that lives pervades. Before the body falls, revere the God who both the One and many has become. §

Natchintanai, “The Wisdom...” NT, 202 §

Whatever you see, see as Śiva and do not be distressed, O mind! Those who are free from agitation and who the senses five control will surely win the bliss of Śiva. The path prescribed by your religion you should always tread, and live in changeless, silent contemplation. Whatever you see, see as Śiva. §

Natchintanai, “Whatever You See...” NT, 68§