Śiva’s devotees cook and eat in the balanced, varied, vegetarian, Indian āyurvedic manner, enjoying healthy, unprocessed, freshly cooked foods. Occasionally, they may partake of cuisine from other world cultures. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees eat with their fingers to energize food. They chew well and include the six tastes daily (sweet, salty, sour, pungent, bitter and astringent) and a balance of protein and carbohydrates at all meals. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees adhere to the āyurvedic principles of eating at regular times, only when hungry, always seated, at a moderate pace; never between meals, in a disturbed atmosphere or when angry or emotionally upset. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees are forbidden to eat meat, fish, shellfish, fowl or eggs, but they may regard as regrettable exceptions unseen traces of nonfleshy ingredients, such as eggs and gelatin, in packaged or restaurant foods. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees know that a good diet is the best medicine. They drink two liters of water daily, minimize fried foods and avoid junk foods, white rice, white flour, processed sugar and degraded oils. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§
Śiva’s devotees eat in moderation. Meals seldom exceed what two hands cupped together can hold. If hunger persists, another handful may be taken. Eating right extends life and maintains higher consciousness. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees may fast for twenty-four hours on water, herb teas or fruit juices each Friday or twice a month on pradosha. Longer fasting, such as a festival penance, is done only with the guru’s or a doctor’s sanction. Aum. §
Śiva’s devotees know wellness is balance. If the imbalance called illness occurs, they apply self-healing, then resort as needed to such arts as āyurveda, acupuncture, chiropractic, allopathy, prāṇic healing or massage. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees do not indulge in inordinate concerns about food, undue physical worries or extensive personal health studies other than āyurveda. They avoid extreme diets, except under medical supervision. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees keep strong and healthy by exercising at least one half hour each day through such activities as brisk walking, swimming, dancing, salutations to the sun, haṭha yoga and vigorous work. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§
Śiva’s devotees are forbidden to smoke, chew tobacco or inhale snuff. They know nicotine’s deadly, addictive power and value health and longevity as primary to fulfilling good karmas and serving the community. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees are forbidden to use drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, heroin, amphetamines, barbiturates, psychedelics and marijuana, unless prescribed by a licensed physician. They know their devastating effects. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees educate their children to say no to any and all known or unknown illicit drugs offered to them, whether by friends or strangers. Pure and well informed by caring parents, children avoid these dangers. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees know that drugs may awaken simultaneously the chakra of divine love and those of fear, confusion and malice, producing vast mood swings and a stunted intellect. They dread this chemical chaos. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees stand against drugs and never mix with those who use them or listen to talk extolling them. The drug culture and its demonic music erode the very fabric of human character and culture. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§
All strong and intoxicating distilled alcohols are forbidden to Śiva’s devotees. They may moderately partake of the family of wines and beers, including honey mead, for these are wholesome when properly enjoyed. Aum.§
Even in moderation, Śiva’s devotees do not drink alcohol in solitude, when depressed, angry or under extreme stress. When one is emotionally unstable, alcohol inhibits the ability to confront and solve problems. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees gently enforce temperance among peers whenever necessary. They know that those unable to observe moderation may have to abstain entirely and restrict themselves to nonalcoholic beverages. Aum.§
All Hindu women, respecting customs of decorum and demureness, refrain from drinking alcohol in public. During pregnancy, they abstain completely to protect the health and well-being of their unborn child. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees know that if, despite the help of peers or elders, alcohol becomes a spiritual obstacle or a burden to family or community, the preceptor is duty-bound to deny the privilege altogether. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§
Śiva’s ardent souls honor and conscientiously fulfill the duties of each of life’s four progressive stages of dharma: student (age 12–24), householder (24–48), respected elder (48–72) and religious solitaire after age 72. Aum.§
Śiva’s ardent souls recognize that the natural human life span is 120 years. They confidently plan ahead at each 40-year juncture. Elders counsel, as needed, persons in life transitions, around 40 and 80 years of age. Aum.§
Śiva’s ardent souls grow old gracefully, without fear, knowing that the soul is immortal and the mental body does not age, but becomes stronger and more mature, as do the emotions, if regulated stage by stage. Aum.§
Śiva’s ardent souls intensify religious disciplines after retirement, give guidance to younger generations, teach, encourage, uplift, serve the community in various ways and support endowments to educate the young. Aum.§
Śiva’s unmarried men and widowers may renounce the world after age 72, severing all ties with their community and living as unordained, self-declared sannyāsins among the holy monks of India. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§
Śiva’s devotees give spiritual counseling to the terminally ill who are blessed with the knowledge of death’s approach, showing ways to resolve the past so that Śiva consciousness is their bridge during transition. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees facing death perform vāsanā daha tantra, reconcile with and seek forgiveness from anyone they have offended, lest they leave unresolved kukarmas to go to seed and bear bitter fruit in future births. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees who are dying concentrate on their mantra and find solace in the holy Vedic teachings on the soul’s immortality, ever seeking the highest realizations as they consciously, joyously release the world. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees welcome life-saving medical interventions, but in their last days avoid heroic, artificial perpetuation of life and prefer not to die in a hospital but at home with loved ones, who keep prayerful vigil. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees strive at the moment of death to depart the body through the crown chakra and consciously enter the clear white light and beyond. A perfect transition culminates in God realization. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§
Devout Hindus always cremate their dead. Burial is forbidden by tradition. Embalming is never permitted, and no autopsy is performed unless required by law. Ashes are ceremoniously committed to a river or ocean. Aum.§
Śiva’s devotees arrange swift cremation, ideally within 24 hours. The fire and accompanying rites sever ties to earthly life and give momentum to the soul, granting at least momentary access to superconscious realms. Aum.§
At the death of a Śiva devotee, family and friends gather for funeral rites in the home. They prepare the body and arrange for cremation. On the seventh day, the deceased’s picture is honored, and food is offered. Aum.§
Family and friends of a deceased Śiva devotee hold amemorial on the thirty-first day after the transition and again one year later, cleaning the home and making food offerings to ancestors and to the departed. Aum.§
Knowing that the soul is deathless, Śiva’s devotees never suffer undue or prolonged sorrow for the departed, lest they bind these souls to Earth. They rejoice in the continuing journey of loved ones. Aum Namaḥ Śivāya.§