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Path to Siva

Uploaded by Sivason on May 22, 2017
Path to Siva A Catechism for Youth Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami A richly illustrated catechism of Saiva Siddhanta for youth, drawn from the Master Course Trilogy, exploring how to…Full description
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 S
eekers ask: “Who am I and where did I come from?” They inwardly know they are more than just another person with a particular name who was born in a certain place. They sense that they are more than their body, mind and emo-tions. They want to understand, “Did I exist before I was born? Will I exist after death?” The answer given in Saivite Hinduism is that we are each a divine soul on a wondrous journey. We are an immortal body of light that has lived many lives, had many bodies and personalities. Gurudeva explained, “When the soul has had enough experience, it naturally seeks to be liberated, to unravel the bonds. That begins the most wonderful process in the world as the seeker steps for the rst time onto the spiritual path. Of course, the whole time, through all those births and lives and deaths, the soul was undergoing a spiritual evo-lution, but unconsciously. Now it seeks to know God consciously.” Our soul was created by God Siva out of Himself, like sparks ying forth from a re. Like the sparks and the re, we are both the same and different from Siva, our source. We live within His  boundless creation, this unthinkably vast cosmos which is lled with His divine presence. Siva is the life energy in the birds, in the sh and in the animals. His being ows through all we see and experience. Our Vedic rishis have assured us that “God is the Life of our life.” We are all beautiful children of God Siva. Deep within, we are one with Him this very moment. We came from God, live in God and are evolving into complete unity with God. Siva created each of us in a perfect state, but we have to discover that perfection within us to be whole. By seeing the life energy in all creatures and in all people, we are seeing God Siva in action. By drawing close to God, we draw nearer to our immortal soul. Siva is all and within all.
1
Who Am I and Where Did I Come From?
8
GURUDEVA:
 When we realize that we have come from Siva, the way back to Siva is clearly defined. That is half the battle, to realize we came from Siva, live in Siva and are returning to Siva. Knowing only this much makes the path clear and impels us to return to Him, to our Source, to our Self.
   s   h   u   t   t   e   r   s   t   o   c   k
  A  Y  O  U  N  G   W  O  M  A  N  R  E  F  L  E  C  T  S  O  N  O  N  E  O  F  L  I  F  E  ’  S  M  O  S  T  P  R  O  F  O  U  N  D  Q
UESTIONS. THE ANSWER MAY TAKE HER AN ENTIRE LIFETIME TO FIND, BUT THAT ANSWER IS THE M
 O  S  T I  M P  O  R T A N  T D  I  S  C O  V  E R Y S  H  E O  R A N  Y O  F U  S  W I  L  L  E V  E R M A K  E . 
 
 L
ife has a purpose. We have taken this birth in a physical body to mature into our divine poten-tial. This life is one more chapter in a maturing process that has been occurring over many past lives. All souls are on this same journey. The deepest part of our soul, our essence, is and has always been one with Siva, but our soul body is still maturing. We are like a tiny acorn growing into a mighty oak tree. We grow by learning to control our mind, body and emotions. The stronger we get,
 the more we sense
our Sivaness. At rst we learn from our suffering to avoid more suffering. We turn fear into fearless-ness, anger into love and conict into peace. We then learn to serve. Seless service is the beginning of spiritual striving. Through our seless service, we come into deep understanding and love of God. We can then see that the world we live in, the people we relate to and we ourselves are none other than Siva. Finally, we learn to meditate deeply, to quiet the mind, nd peace and silence within ourselves, and watch ourselves going through all our experi-ences like watching an actor in a movie—knowing that our true identity is the soul, the watcher. That practice brings us to the realization of God within us. At the end of this evolutionary journey, we are fully one with God—no difference remains. We call this ancient path of spiritual striving San Marga, the “True Path.” It is a path of service, worship, yoga and wisdom. Just as a train reaches its destination by fol-lowing the tracks, we reach our innate perfection and freedom from rebirth by following the San Marga.
2
Where Am I Going? What Is My Path?
  A  C  Y  C  L  I  S  T  H  A  S  P  E  D  D  L  E  D  I  N  T  O  T  H  E  C  O  U  N  T  R  Y  S  I  D  E  B  E  Y  O  N  D  H  I  S  K  N  O  W  N  T
ERRITORY AND STOPS TO REST AND GET HIS BEARINGS, TO DECIDE WHICH FORK TO TAKE. TH
 E A U  M O  N  H  I  S  C O  M P  A S  S  I  N  D  I  C A T E S  T H  A T D  H  A R M A I  S  T H  E W A Y F O  R W A R D  .
GURUDEVA:
 We are the undying consciousness and energy flowing through all things. Deep inside we are perfect this very moment, and we have only to discover and live up to this perfection to be whole.
   s   h   u   t   t   e   r   s   t   o   c   k
 
10
 K 
nowing God is life’s highest goal, reached by mature souls following a spiritual path. Just as only the most highly disciplined climb-ers reach the summit of Mount Everest each year, only a few mature souls reach life’s highest peak in this life. That is because souls were not created all at once. There are old souls and young souls. Older souls have matured over many lifetimes. They have enjoyed life’s pleasures, suffered all the many sor-rows and faced countless challenges. This process has made them strong, like the mountaineers, and ready for the nal ascent, ready to become one with God Siva. As we mature, we become kind, generous, understanding and truthful. Anger, fear and jealousy no longer control us as they once did. We become wise and loving. Reaching this maturity moves us toward life’s true purpose. Eventually we no longer need the experiences of Earth, so we do not need to  be reborn. Instead, we continue to evolve and serve humanity in the heavenly worlds in our subtle body. This graduation from the cycle of reincarnation is called moksha, which means freedom, release or liberation. But before we attain moksha, we must experience the highest goal of raja yoga—the real-ization of the Self, God. After Self Realization, you no longer see yourself as just someone from some place. Instead, when you look inward, you see Siva. When you look at other people, you see Siva. Al
l souls will
achieve moksha, but only a few will do so
in
this life-time. Hindus know this and do not think
that this
life is the last. While seeking to perfect themselves through service, worship and yoga, they know there is also much progress to be made in fullling
li
fe’s other three goals: righteousness,
we
alth and enjoy-ment. Even moksha is not the end of our path. After liberation from rebirth, the soul body continues to evolve in the inner worlds until it fully merges with God. Jiva (the soul) becomes Siva, a union called
vishvagrasa.
 Being on an ancient path followed by countless souls gives the serene feeling that every-thing is all right as it is, that everything is perfect.
 3
What Is the Ultimate Goal of Life?
GURUDEVA:
 Each soul discovers its Sivaness, Absolute Reality, Parasiva—the timeless, formless, spaceless Self God.
  A  S  E  E  K  E  R  S  T  A  N  D  S  I  N  A  F  I  E  L  D  A  T  D  A  Y  ’  S  E  N  D ,   A  R  M  S  H  E  L  D  W  I  D  E
BEFORE THE SETTING SUN. HIS JOY IN THAT MAGICAL MOMENT OF BEAUTY AND APPRECIATION
 I  S  T I  N  Y W H  E N  C O  M P  A R E D  T O  T H  E B  L  I  S  S  O  F T H  E I  N  N  E R L  I  G H  T .
   s   h   u   t   t   e   r   s   t   o   c   k
 

 A
religion is a system of belief about God, soul and world. Throughout history, seekers around the world have tried to understand the nature of things. They struggled to unravel the mysteries of the mind, of ultimate reality and the purpose of life. They puzzled about the cause of suf-fering and the way to relieve it. They analyzed good and evil, virtue and vice. These quests for truth have produced various systems of thought. Those based on a belief in God or a holy presence are called reli-gions or faiths. Today there are about a dozen major religions in the world and hundreds of smaller ones. Of Earth’s 7.4 billion people, six billion are followers of a religion. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Chinese folk religion and Buddhism are the ve largest. Many traditional cultures have ancient faiths. Most reli-gions have sacred texts, called scriptures. Hinduism’s primary scriptures are the
Vedas
. Buddhists have
the
 Dhammapada,
 Christians look to the
 Bible
 and
Muslims have the
 Koran.
 Scriptures, and the teach-ings of saints through history, dene how life should  be lived and what happens when we die. Each faith has its places of worship, priesthood and holy rites. Religions are not all the same. Their beliefs and prac-tices differ, often greatly. Of Earth’s major religions, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism are East-ern. Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam are Western. There is a vast difference between East-ern and Western religions, with Eastern goals being unitive and introspective and Western goals being dualistic, extroverted. Eastern faiths tend to see God in all things, and everything as sacred. Western faiths tend not to believe that God pervades every-thing, and make a strong distinction between what is sacred and what is profane. While Eastern faiths hold to karma, reincarnation and liberation, the Western postulate a single life for the soul, followed  by reward or punishment.
4
What Is a Religion?
  A  N  E  N  C  Y  C  L  O  P  E  D  I  A  O  F  R  E  L  I  G  I  O  N  S  I  T  S  O  N  T  H  E  B  O  O  K  S  H  E  L  F ,   W  I
TH A VOLUME DEDICATED TO EACH MAJOR RELIGION. EXPLORING ANY OF THEM WILL REVEAL
 G R E A T C O  M P  L  E X  I  T Y C O  N  C E A L  E D  B  E N  E A T H  T H  E S  I  M P  L  E T I  T L  E .
GURUDEVA:
 Religion is the connection between the three worlds, and temple worship is how you can get your personal connection with the inner worlds.
   s   h   u   t   t   e   r   s   t   o   c   k

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