How Maha Shivratri is an opportunity for inner transformation

Story of creation

Eons ago, there was a time, when the entire space was filled with utter darkness, it was an endless void, and a great nothingness was the only reality. Shiva – the eternal consciousness, primordial god, lord of the universe, Adi Guru, Adi Yogi, Mahadev – we know him by many names, came out from his deep (Dhyan) meditation and started his dance (Tandav) - the eternal dance of creation.

With his dance, the cosmic energy started vibrating and gave birth to this vast and endless manifested cosmos. Countless universes came into existence from Shiva’s eternal nothingness, many sustained and quite a few dissolved back into the same great nothingness. And as we know, this process of creation, sustenance and dissolution is still going on. Though we say eons, but when it comes to Shiva, time has no meaning because he is Mahakaal; the lord of time, the creator of time and the time itself.

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Maha Shivratri is the celebration of this day when Shiva for the first time did his Tandav and the entire creation sprung forth into existence.

One of the beautiful insights of this story is that Dance is the beginning of creation. Dance is a flow and, in that flow, the creation, the movement, the manifestation happens. Many times, we get stuck with our repetitive thoughts, uncontrolled emotions, patterns of mind and negative tendencies, and we become too stiff, devoid of all mental flexibility. In that state, our movement of growth, progress, evolution and awakening stops. We just become like breathing rock. So, to break this stiffness, all we need to do is just dance like Shiva, dropping all that is unnecessary, forgetting all that is binding us, throwing all our masks, and opening our hearts to Shiva’s eternal blessing and becoming one with this beautiful creation of Shiva and Shakti (the primordial energy).

Quest for immortality

There was a time when both Devas (the affirmative and nurturing force of life) and Asuras (the negating and destructive force of life) were fighting to be immortal. The great Samudra Manthan (churning of the ocean of milk) was organised because it was believed that by churning this ocean, the great nectar of immortality would arise, drinking which immortality can be attained. But in place of this expected nectar of immortality, came the deadly poison (Halahala), it had the potential to destroy all life. Devas and Asuras got really terrified and prayed to Lord Shiva. Shiva who is the epitome of innocence and compassion, looked at the situation, went ahead and drank this deadly poison. At that very moment, to protect Shiva and to stop the poison from going into his being, Maa Parvati - the eternal consort of Shiva and the primordial Adi Shakti, pressed Shiva’s throat and blocked the poison from going into his body. This turned Shiva’s throat blue and he got another name from all his devotees - Neelkanth (the blue throat one). With this display of the highest compassion, Shiva saved the entire existence from annihilation.

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To celebrate this occasion and pray to Shiva for his abundant grace and protection, in Bharat we celebrate Maha Shivratri.

One of the beautiful insights of this story is our constant struggle to be immortal, yes, it is somewhere deep within every human being. This quest for immortality pushes us to accumulate wealth much more than we need, just so that our future is secure. This quest for immortality binds us to not live in the present but constantly prepare for the future. This quest for immortality, compels us to craft enduring legacies, ensuring that our name lives eternally through the lasting impact of our creation. And this quest for immortality in our subconscious also creates all kinds of fear in us, the biggest of which is the fear of death. Maybe the whole process of creating our offspring is also an aspiration for immortality, as through our children a part of our genes lives forever.

Marriage of Shiva and Shakti

After Sati’s (Shiva’s first wife) death, the great lord became an absolute recluse. He entered into deep meditation for ages. Sati later took rebirth as Maa Parvati; she had intense love and devotion for Shiva and wanted to marry him again in this life. She herself is Adi-Shakti, an integral part of Shiva. Maa Parvati does severe penance for years together to bring Shiva out of his meditation and convince him to marry her. Finally, Shiva, pleased with her dedicated devotion, agrees to marry her and once again, Shiva and Shakti reunite.

So, Maha Shivratri is also the day to celebrate this great reunion of Shiva and Shakti.

One of the profound learnings from this episode is that both masculine and feminine within each one of us must unite and come to a perfect balance. These opposites must meet, only then the true joy of life will reveal itself to us. Human mind is usually attracted to choosing one extreme, it doesn’t stay in the middle, it doesn’t perceive the whole. Mind needs to be awakened, so that it can absorb the apparent duality of Shiva and Shakti. All the fragmented parts of our perception get united then and our divided mind comes to a state of perfect balance. This is when we attain real immortality and become one with Shiva – once again.

Aum Namah Shivaya.

The author is a visionary spiritual teacher, leadership mentor and public speaker. He works in the areas of creating awakened leaders, bringing consciousness to education and running regular spiritual talks and retreats. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._