John's World...Shiva's Universe



Western theology tends to view the concept of destruction in negative terms. Destruction is see as the just desserts of God’s wrath or the impetus to have stronger faith. Destruction is often viewed as an exceptional event and farm from the norm.

Many Eastern religions (Hinduism and Buddhism in particular) view the notion of destruction differently. Within the canonical beliefs of each philosophy is the belief that destruction is (in many cases) a positive event, a natural occurrence, and the only impetus for creation. For example, in Buddhism we use symbols and wrathful deities to represent the destruction of negative attributes.
Shiva, for those who may not know, is commonly referred to as the God of Destruction.  He represents one third of the Trimurti (Brahma and Vishnu being the other two).  He is the husband to Parvati and the father of Ganesha.  He is well known as being both a demon slayer and a great yogi. 

I took the time this week to travel to the Indiranagar section of Bangalore to visit the Shivoham Shiva Temple.  The temple honestly has a bit of a “theme park” feel to it.  You pay your admission/donation, enter a long, dark corridor, cross a parking lot, and enter the main temple area featuring an incredible 65 foot statue of Shiva.  Finally seeing the statue is breathtaking.  The statue is set behind a backdrop made to look like the Himalayas (Shiva’s abode). 

To the sides of the statue are several cloisters featuring stalls manned by pundits (priests) ready to run you through a number of pujas.  I had just come to see the statue.  I had no idea that my admission/donation had gotten me the opportunity to participate in no less than NINE pujas that morning.  I knew I was blessed before I came.  Now I must be SUPER BLESSED after that. 


Following the pujas,  I had an opportunity to sit down and talk with one of the pundits and talk about Shiva, meditation, and God.  He started by guiding me through a breathing meditation.  We then had a nice discussion regarding God, man, and self.  He mentioned something that I found quite profound.  GOD + SELF = MAN; MAN – SELF = GOD.  That piece of wisdom, with all due respect, resonated more with me than the pujas, tikkas, and healing rocks I participated in earlier.  


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