By Swami Chinmayananda
Shiva, one of the Hindu Trinity, represents Brahmn, Supreme Reality, in its aspect of annihilator, the other two aspects being those of Vishnu, the one who maintains and protects and Brahma, who creates. Shiva symbolises constructive destruction in the continuous process of creation, preservation, destruction and re-creation. Brahmn is described as the substratum upon which all creation, sustenance and destruction take place. This continuous chain of creation and destruction maintains the entire universe. The destruction of the morning is the creation of the afternoon, the destruction of the afternoon is the creation of the evening, and the destruction of the evening is the creation of the night. As a result of this chain of destruction-creation, day and night is maintained…
Shiva is also known as the eternal Lord of meditation. With a serenely peaceful countenance, he sits in deep meditation on top of the world, facing south – on Mount Kailash in the Himalayas -- as Dakshinamurti, dispenser of supreme knowledge. The term dakshina means that divine power of subtle perception generated in a fully integrated, pure intellect. When this power flows towards the vasana-conditioned hearts of disciples, it is said to be ‘turned southward’. Shiva thus assumes the form of guru and sitting on the peak of Kailash, turns southward to serve all seekers.
The meditating Shiva is a seen against the background of the snowcapped Himalayas. The white snow represents the absolute purity of His mind. His posture symbolises the ideal of harmony and poise experienced by a realised person. In that state of perfection, He is in total harmony with the external environment and happenings.
A life of harmony is attained by rising above a limited, egocentric view of life and expanding the mind so as to accommodate a constant awareness of the totality of the world, the entirety of humankind, and the vastness of universal problems. A life of harmony brings to one’s heart an inward peace and poise. By consistently living in harmony with the outer world, you gain sufficient poise and the problems and challenges of life do not affect you at all. Shiva sitting in meditation is a figurative representation of an ideal ‘man of poise’ who remains ever unaffected by all surrounding disturbances.
A ‘man of poise’ is not to be construed as living a life of ideal acceptance or unintelligent surrender to external challenges. On the contrary, such a person is dynamic and serves as the leader of all beings. Shiva’s eyes are half closed; indicating that He is fully conscious of all that is within and without. He understands the world outside to be only a reflection of the Self within. A realised person is one who has overcome the ego and kept it under perfect control. In contrast to such a one, worldly persons are victimised by the demands of ego. The glory of a ‘man of perfection’ is, therefore, in transcending the ego.
After grasping the objective knowledge of Truth, one has to retire to a quiet place for contemplation. Thereafter, spiritual knowledge can be communicated to others only in gradual doses, since their power of understanding the abstract knowledge is limited. This idea is indicated by the fact that the Ganga water descends from Shiva’s locks in a trickle. A dip in the sacred Ganga, therefore, is considered sacred, for it implies (in a metaphorical sense) that the seeker has cleansed the ego and become one with Supreme Reality. Abridged from ‘Siva’.