Shiva To Shankara

Many modern scholars say Shiva linga is a phallic symbol. Most devotees disagree. Who is right? To make sense of a mythological image one has to align the language heard stories] with the language performed rituals], and the language seen symbols]. This book also looks at the sexual metaphors.

As he explores the layers of meanings embedded in Shiva's linga, we discover why and how the Goddess transforms Shiva, the hermit, into Shankara, the householder.

A kite needs a string in order to fly through the sky. In a similar way, the Shiva Sutras offers threads to uplift our mind and let it soar to new heights. The Shiva Sutras describes the goal of life as: life radiating the light of inner joy. The Magic of the Shiva sutras is that each sutra is complete, offering us a way to go deeper into our own nature, which is joy. Step by step, with inimitable humor and wisdom, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar takes examples from everyday life to guide readers on this journey of innocence and love

A profound work of spiritual fiction with a heartwarming message Asananda, a monk belonging to the Order of Hope, is sent on a journey to the Himalayas by his guru to find the mystical Book of Shiva. Along the way, he meets mysterious tantrics, Vedic teachers, a bhikshu who walks backwards to discover his future, and people who seek liberation from remorse, suffering and the evil that haunts them. He becomes the instrument of the guru's grace, which opens the door to the universal soul and transforms life through unexpected miracles. Drawing on fables and myths from Eastern and European cultures, The Book of Shiva is a spiritual novel filled with extraordinary tales of freedom, serenity, loss and, most of all, wisdom.

About the Book A COMPREHENSIVELY RESEARCHED BOOK ON THE LIFE AND PHILOSOPHY OF ADI SHANKARACHARYA What is Brahman? What is its relationship to Atman? What is an individual’s place in the cosmos? Is a personalised god and ritualistic worship the only path to attain moksha? Does caste matter when a human is engaging with the metaphysical world? The answers to these perennial questions sparkle with clarity in this seminal account of a man and a saint, who revived Hinduism and gave to Upanishadic insights a rigorously structured and sublimely appealing philosophy. Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya (788–820 CE) was born in Kerala and died in Kedarnath, traversing the length of India in his search for the ultimate truth. In a short life of thirty-two years, Shankaracharya not only revived Hinduism, but also created the organisational structure for its perpetuation through the mathas he established in Sringeri, Dwaraka, Puri and Joshimatha. Adi Shankaracharaya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker is a meticulously researched and comprehensive account of his life and philosophy. Highly readable, and including a select anthology of Shankaracharya’s seminal writing, the book also examines the startling endorsement that contemporary science is giving to his ideas today. A must-read for people across the ideological spectrum, this book reminds readers about the remarkable philosophical underpinning of Hinduism, making it one of the most vibrant religions in the world.

An extensive examination of the underpinnings of the Shaivite Tradition • Reveals the influence of Shaivism on the Western world • Discusses Shaivism’s understanding of sacred sexuality • Presents the connections between Vedic poetry and metaphysics In Shiva and the Primordial Tradition, Alain Daniélou explores the relationship between Shaivism and the Western world. Shaivite philosophy does not oppose theology, cosmology, and science because it recognizes that their common aim is to seek to understand and explain the nature of the world. In the Western world, the idea of bridging the divide between science and religion is just beginning to touch the edges of mainstream thought. This rare collection of the late author’s writings contains several never-before-published articles and offers an in-depth look at the many facets of the Samkhya, the cosmologic doctrines of the Shaivite tradition. Daniélou provides important revelations on subjects such as the science of dreams, the role of poetry and sexuality in the sacred, the personality of the great Shankara, and the Shaivite influence on the Scythians and the Parthians (and by extension, the Hellenic world in general). Providing a convincing argument in favor of the polytheistic approach, he explains that monotheism is merely the deification of individualism--the separation of humanity from nature--and that by acknowledging the sacred in everything, we can recognize the imprint of the primordial tradition.

This is a mesmerizing magical journey of divine love... The purest of pure love between Lord Shiva & Gauri. An enchanting narration of the divine pastimes of a Handsome God & His Beautiful Consort; it is not just about their blissful times spent together, but is also an expression of the love between God & His Devotee. This is Gauri's journey of love... She is not just Lord Shiva's wife, but is also the greatest devotee of Lord Shiva! Gauri, from an ordinary human being became a Goddess solely through the Intensity of Her love for Lord Shiva! Through Her journey of love, She teaches us the true meaning of Love, Devotion & Surrender and gives this message to us all that whoever, with a pure heart & pious love like Hers will love God unconditionally, will definitely attain His Grace & Love, just like She did... because He resides in all of us, in our hearts, He is The Soul of our souls...In her all-consuming eagerness to please him, she started dancing with increased ardor; her feet moved very fast . . . the jingling of her anklets became louder than before; it appeared as if each & every pore of her being was reverberating with his name through that blissful dance, wanting to melt in him . . . eventually she lost all consciousness and fell at his feet like a fluttering butterfly! At that very moment the skies thundered, a cool breeze started flowing with the showering of a soft drizzle. Lord Shiva got up from his seat, bent down and with intense care & compassion, picked her up like a dainty flower in his muscular arms! Just by his mere thought, he created a beautiful cavern, the loveliness of which could only be a lover's delight! He went inside & sat down on a bed of perfumed red roses, gently placing his beloved along with him on that bed with her head resting on the soft pillow of his lap . . .

Shiva: Destroyer and Protector, Supreme Ascetic and Lord of the Universe. He is Ardhanarishwara, half-man and half-woman; he is Neelakantha, who drank poison to save the three worlds-and yet, when crazed with grief at the death of Sati, set about destroying them. Shiva holds within him the answers to some of the greatest dilemmas that have perplexed mankind. Who is Shiva? Why does he roam the world as a naked ascetic covered with ash? What was the tandava? What is the story behind the worship of the linga and what vision of the world does it signify? Namita Gokhale examines these questions and many others that lie within the myriad of stories about Shiva. Even as she unravels his complexities, she finds a philosophy and worldview that is terrifying and yet life affirming-an outlook that is to many the essence of Indian thought.