2. Attending Kadavul Nataraja Abhishekam or Puja Sadhana
The sadhana is to focus on experiencing God Śiva as a God of love, a God of compassion for all He has created. Attending the 9am Śiva puja in Kadavul Hindu temple on any day of the year can lead to this perception. However, it is easiest on the day of the month which is the nakshatra of Ardra. Ardra is the one day a month that a full abhishekam is given to the six-foot-tall bronze Nataraja in Kadavul’s main shrine, while the small sphatika lingam receives abhishekam daily. The most important ardra nakshatra day of the year is the one that falls in the month of mid-December to mid-January. This Nataraja festival is celebrated in all Agamic Śiva temples but most grandly at Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu. §
The description of Ardra Nakshatra clearly relates to the idea of compassion: “Teardrop star.” Astronomical constellation: Betelgeuse. This star cluster conveys ideas pertaining to: Tenderness, abundant feelings, flowing, dropping, melting, to be overwhelmed with. The teardrop refers to the rudraksha, or tear of Lord Śiva. Ardra confers concern for the suffering of others. It names the 6th nakshatra division. §
Quote from Gurudeva§
“Śiva’s followers all believe that Lord Śiva is God, whose immanent nature of love, Parashakti, is the substratum, primal substance or pure consciousness flowing through all form as energy, existence, knowledge and bliss.... His immanent love protects us, guides us, lifting our mind into the arena of useful thoughts and keeping us from harm’s way.”§
Supplementary Reading §
Living with Śiva, Lesson 315: Emissaries Of Lord Śiva§
Worship God Śiva and you will be filled with love. Become a member of the united Saivites of the world, who love one another, who take care of each other in England, in South Africa, in Nepal, in North America, in South America, in Mauritius, in Malaysia, in Java, in Fiji, in Trinidad and Tobago, in Guyana, in Suriname, in Sri Lanka and in India. It is this Sivasambhandam, this inner association of Saivites the world over, that is the strength for Saivites wherever they find themselves. In this technological age this must become an outer association as well. §
I urge all Saivites, devotees of God Śiva, to worship Him as the God of Love and, in doing so, to become beings of love. The great saints of our religion were Śiva bhaktas. They changed the world through their love of God. They did not need vast institutions to spread their message. They did not need riches or carts filled with books to spread their message. They did not need radio, television or the Internet. Their message spread because their minds were filled with direct knowledge, direct experience of God Śiva. Their message spread far and wide, though they perhaps never left their native village. They just evolved within it. You, too, are emissaries of Lord Śiva, and your love for Him is your greatest message. Simply love God Śiva and let that love radiate out into the world. §
We cannot forget that Lord Śiva is the uncreated God. He is the closest to you. He is nearer than your breathing. He is nearer than your heartbeat. He is the very Self of you, each and every one of you. Saivites love Śiva in that very way, as the Self of themselves. Being in all things simultaneously, at every point in time, God Śiva is in your fingers, He is in your eyes, He is in your heart, He is in your mind. As our great satguru, Śiva Yogaswami, said, “There is one thing that Lord Śiva cannot do. He can do everything, but there is one thing He cannot do. He cannot separate Himself from me.” That is the only thing that God Śiva cannot do. He cannot take Himself out of you. §
There are three things we must do: perform or attend puja every day in the home, attend a temple once a week and make a pilgrimage once a year. These three are the foundation of our Saiva Siddhanta. Plus, for those who are able, meditation and certain sadhanas are part of this worship. External worship builds a vibration within us, and that vibration is taken within, into deep meditation—internalizing the worship in worshiping God and the Gods within you and contacting them within the higher chakras until you realize that you also have always been the all-pervasive energy that pervades the universe.§
Additional Resources §
Living with Śiva, Chapter 45: Palaces of the Gods§
