Living with Śiva

The Purpose of Life

SŪTRA 1: LIFE'S HIGHEST PURPOSE

Śiva’s followers strive for God Realization as the first and foremost goal of life. They learn to dance with Śiva, live with Śiva, merge with Śiva. Deep within, they discover their eternal, immortal oneness with God. Aum.§

SŪTRA 2: FOUR NOBLE GOALS

Śiva’s followers are ever mindful that life’s purpose is to wholeheartedly serve God, Gods and guru and fulfill the four traditional Hindu goals: duty (dharma), wealth (artha), love (kāma) and liberation (moksha). Aum.§

SŪTRA 3: SEEING ŚIVA'S ENERGY IN ALL

Śiva’s devotees bask contentedly in Śiva consciousness, seeing the pure life energy in every person, animal, bird, reptile, fish, insect, plant, tree and even microscopic intelligence as Supreme God Śiva Himself. Aum.§

SŪTRA 4: ONENESS WITH THE SATGURU

Śiva’s devotees strive to be inwardly one with their satguru, acknowledging the paramount need for a spiritual preceptor to guide them on the upward climb, the straight path that leads to Lord Śiva’s holy feet. Aum.§

SŪTRA 5: SEEKING WHILE STRONG

Śiva’s devotees heed the ancient wisdom: “The physical body does not last forever. Age prowls like a leopard. Before the limbs lose their vitality, one should take to the auspicious path to the Self.” Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§

Facing Life’s Challenges

SŪTRA 6: LIVING CONTEMPLATIVELY

Śiva’s devotees cultivate a contemplative nature by meditating daily, seeking the light, drawing the lesson from each experience and identifying with infinite intelligence, not with body, emotion or intellect. Aum.§

SŪTRA 7: ACCEPTING OUR KARMA

Śiva’s devotees accept all experiences, however difficult, as their self-created karma, without cringing or complaining. Theirs is the power of surrender, accepting what is as it is and dealing with it courageously. Aum.§

SŪTRA 8: FLOWING WITH THE RIVER OF LIFE

Śiva’s devotees live vibrantly in the eternity of the moment and flow with the river of life by giving up negative attachments, releasing the pains, injustices, fears and regrets that bind consciousness in the past. Aum.§

SŪTRA 9: PURPOSE, PLAN, PERSISTENCE AND PUSH

Śiva’s devotees approach each enterprise with deliberate thoughtfulness, and act only after careful consideration. They succeed in every undertaking by having a clear purpose, a wise plan, persistence and push. Aum.§

SŪTRA 10: MOVING THE FORCES OF THE WORLD

Śiva’s devotees, by remaining steadfast on the path, upholding the yamas and niyamas and relying on their indomitable will, move the forces of the world, and are not moved or affected by them. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya. §

Yoga in Action

SŪTRA 11: THE LION-HEARTED ONES

Those who live with Śiva fulfill life’s purposes by placing heavy demands on themselves from within themselves, never shirking their duty to religion, family, community or planet. Jai, they are the lion-hearted. Aum.§

SŪTRA 12: EXCELLENCE AND NONCOMPETITIVENESS

Those who live with Śiva endeavor to be their best in whatever they do, to excel and make a difference. Even so, they remain apart from the demeaning and contentious “winners and losers” spirit of competition. Aum.§

SŪTRA 13: TEACHING THE FIVE PRECEPTS AND PRACTICES

Those who live with Śiva teach children the five precepts: God as All in all, temples, karma, reincarnation/liberation, scripture/preceptor; and five practices: virtue, worship, holy days, sacraments and pilgrimage. Aum.§

SŪTRA 14: GUIDING AND NURTURING CHILDREN

Those who live with Śiva personally guide their children’s spiritual and secular education. They teach and model respect, share what happens each day, have fun together and shower love and hugs upon them. Aum.§

SŪTRA 15: ZERO TOLERANCE FOR DISCORD

Those who live with Śiva have zero tolerance for disharmonious conditions. In the home and beyond, they settle differences when others can only disagree. Jai, they are all instruments of peace. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§

The True Values of Life

SŪTRA 16: GIVING AND GRATITUDE

Those who live with Śiva render to those in need help that is loving, selfless and free from all expectation of repayment. They are constantly grateful for all they have, never complaining about what they don’t possess. Aum.§

SŪTRA 17: BEINGS OF JOY AND COMPASSION

Those who live with Śiva are honorable, cheerful, modest and full of courtesy. Having removed the darkness of anger, fear, jealousy and contempt for others, their faces radiate the kindly compassion of their soul. Aum.§

SŪTRA 18: SEEKING INNER LIGHT AND STILLNESS

Those who live with Śiva attend close to His mystery. While others seek “name and fame, sex and money,” they seek the clear white light within, find refuge in the stillness and hold Truth in the palm of their hand. Aum.§

SŪTRA 19: GUARDING AGAINST INSTINCTS AND INTELLECT

Those who live with Śiva keep the mountaintop perspective that life on Earth is an opportunity for spiritual progress. They never lose sight of this truth by becoming infatuated with instinctive-intellectual pursuits. Aum. §

SŪTRA 20: DIRECTING THE POWER OF DESIRE

Those who live with Śiva know the great power of desire and thought, and choose theirs wisely. They also know the infinitely greater power of those who conquer desire by desiring only to know God. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§

Spiritual Disciplines

SŪTRA 21: HOLDING A DAILY VIGIL

Worshipers of Śiva perform a one-hour daily vigil, ideally before sunrise, in a clean, quiet place, after bathing and donning fresh clothing and holy ash. This vigil is optional on weekends and when traveling or ill. Aum.§

SŪTRA 22: MORNING SĀDHANAS

Worshipers of Śiva, during their daily sādhana vigil, conduct or attend pūjā, chant the Guru Mantra and 108 repetitions of their mantra, study scripture and perform haṭha yoga, concentration and meditation. Aum.§

SŪTRA 23: YOGA AS A LIFELONG EFFORT

Worshipers of Śiva practice basic yogas (bhakti, karma, haṭha and japa) as their guru instructs, throughout life and more as life goes on. They know self-mastery yokes the fire within with That which quells the fire. Aum.§

SŪTRA 24: CAUTION WITH ADVANCED YOGAS

Worshipers of Śiva who qualify may perform advanced yogas (kriyā, rāja and kuṇḍalinī), but only with their guru’s guidance, for unless harnessed, kuṇḍalinī can manifest base desires, disease, egotism and joylessness. Aum.§

SŪTRA 25: WARNINGS AGAINST ANGER

Worshipers of Śiva who are victim to anger or hatred refrain from meditation, japa and kuṇḍalinī yoga. They confess sins, do penance and engage in bhakti and karma yoga to raise consciousness. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§

Personal Disciplines

SŪTRA 26: SHARING RICE WITH OTHERS

Lovers of Śiva, before preparing any meal, place in a vessel one handful of uncooked rice. This modest sharing is offered at their satguru’s tiruvadi each full-moon day to be shared by him with the less fortunate. Aum.§

SŪTRA 27: DAILY OFFERINGS FOR THE TEMPLE

Lovers of Śiva keep a box in their shrine into which they place a few coins each day for their favorite temple. They bring or send this love offering to their Śaiva temple each year during its Mahāśivarātri festival. Aum.§

SŪTRA 28: KAVADI AND OTHER PENANCE

Lovers of Śiva so inclined may perform kavadi during Murugan festivals where custom allows. They may also lie on beds of nails, walk on fire and undertake otherpenances to build character and atone for sins. Aum.§

SŪTRA 29: KEEPING CLEAN SURROUNDINGS

Lovers of Śiva keep their home and work environment clean and uncluttered to maintain a spiritual vibration and not attract negative forces. They seek fresh air and sunshine and surround themselves with beauty. Aum.§

SŪTRA 30: INSTRUCTIONS FOR SLEEP

Lovers of Śiva sleep with the head placed south or east after chanting and meditating to prepare for a great journey to the inner worlds. If awakened, they sit up and meditate before returning to sleep. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§

The Nature of God

SŪTRA 31: A PHILOSOPHY WORTHY OF PRIDE

Śiva’s followers take pride in the fact that the philosophical basis of their peerless lineage lies in the unity of Siddhānta and Vedānta. This mysterious dance of dualism and nondualism is called monistic theism. Aum.§

SŪTRA 32: LIVING AND PREACHING ŚIVA'S PATH

Śiva’s followers of my lineage study, live and preach to the world our peerless theological doctrine, called by various names: monistic theism, Advaita Īśvaravāda, Advaita Siddhānta and Śuddha Śaiva Siddhānta. Aum.§

SŪTRA 33: GOD'S UNMANIFEST REALITY

Śiva’s followers all believe that Lord Śiva is God, whose Absolute Being, Paraśiva, transcends time, form and space. The yogī silently exclaims, “It is not this. It is not that.” Yea, such an inscrutable God is God Śiva. Aum.§

SŪTRA 34: GOD'S MANIFEST NATURE OF LOVE

Śiva’s followers all believe that Lord Śiva is God, whose immanent nature of love, Parāśakti, is the substratum, primal substance or pure consciousness flowing through all form as energy, existence, knowledge and bliss. Aum.§

SŪTRA 35: GOD'S IMMANENT NATURE AS PERSONAL LORD

Śiva’s followers all believe that Lord Śiva is God, whose immanent nature is the Primal Soul, Supreme Mahādeva, Parameśvara, author of Vedas and Āgamas, creator, preserver and destroyer of all that exists. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§

The Nature of Souls and World

SŪTRA 36: GAṆAPATI, FIRST AMONG THE GODS

Śiva’s followers all believe in the Mahādeva Lord Gaṇeśa, son of Śiva-Śakti, to whom they must first supplicate before beginning any worship or task. His rule is compassionate. His law is just. Justice is His mind. Aum.§

SŪTRA 37: MURUGAN, LORD OF YOGA AND HARMONY

Śiva’s followers all believe in the Mahādeva Kārttikeya, Son of Śiva-Śakti, whose vel of grace dissolves the bondages of ignorance. The yogī, locked in lotus, venerates Murugan. Thus restrained, his mind becomes calm. Aum.§

SŪTRA 38: GOD CREATES SOULS WHO ARE ONE WITH HIM

Śiva’s followers all believe that each soul is created by Lord Śiva and is identical to Him, and that this identity will be fully realized by all souls when the bondage of āṇava, karma and māyā is removed by His grace. Aum.§

SŪTRA 39: THE GROSS, SUBTLE AND CAUSAL PLANES

Śiva’s followers all believe in three worlds: the gross plane, where souls take on physical bodies; the subtle plane, where souls take on astral bodies; and the causal plane, where souls exist in their self-effulgent form. Aum.§

SŪTRA 40: KARMA, REINCARNATION AND LIBERATION

Śiva’s followers all believe in the law of karma—that one must reap the effects of all actions he has caused—and that each soul reincarnates until all karmas are resolved and moksha, liberation, is attained. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§

Evil and Expressions of Faith

SŪTRA 41: THE FOUR PROGRESSIVE STAGES OF THE PATH

Śiva’s followers all believe that the performance of charyā, virtuous living; kriyā, temple worship; and yoga, leading to Paraśiva through the grace of the living satguru, is absolutely necessary to bring forth jñāna, wisdom. Aum.§

SŪTRA 42: THE ILLUSION OF EVIL

Śiva’s followers all believe there is no intrinsic evil. Evil has no source, unless the source of evil’s seeming be ignorance itself. They are truly compassionate, knowing that ultimately there is no good or bad. All is Śiva’s will. Aum.§

SŪTRA 43: TEMPLE WORSHIP CONNECTS THREE WORLDS

Śiva’s followers all believe that religion is the harmonious working together of the three worlds and that this harmony can be created through temple worship, wherein the beings of all three worlds can communicate. Aum.§

SŪTRA 44: ŚAIVISM'S MOST POWERFUL VEDIC MANTRA

Śiva’s followers all believe in the Pañchākshara Mantra, the five sacred syllables Namaḥ Śivāya, as Śaivism’s foremost and essential mantra. The secret of Namaḥ Śivāya is to hear it from the right lips at the right time. Aum.§

SŪTRA 45: ŚIVA IS IN ALL AND BEYOND ALL

Śiva’s followers hold as their affirmation of faith Anbe Sivamayam Satyame Parasivam, “God Śiva is immanent love and transcendent reality,” a perfect summary of Śaiva Siddhānta’s exquisite truth. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§