Shiva
The Wild God of Power and Ecstasy
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"The east Asian religions do not treat good and evil as totally distinct ontological realities, for they are
nothing but illusion (maya) or the play of (lila) of God. Therefore it poses no great theological dilemma
that Shiva can appear as God or as Devil. The form in which God appears is but a reflection of the
soul of the beholder. Zarathustra, however, saw the nature of reality differently. In his awesome
vision, the universe becomes fundamentally divided into truth/falsehood, good/evil, white/black, and
God/Satan. An unbridgeable chasm splits the two halves of the universe, and the individual human
being, caught in the middle, is called upon to make her own ethical, moral choice between them - a
choice of either/or."
"For the end of time, Zarathustra prophesied a final battle between the forces of good and evil, in
which Ahriman and the damned hosts will be defeated and banished forever into the pits of fiery hell.
Another deliverer (Saoshyant), a savior like himself, will appear just before this apocalypse. Then the
dead shall rise for their final judgment. As they cross a razor-sharp bridge over into paradise, their
own conscience will appear to them as an angel if they are good, or as a demon, terrifying them and
causing them to plunge into a lake of fire below, if they have been wicked. Another image is that of a
molten stream of metal that will torment the evil but will feel like soothing, warm milk to the just.
Finally, the earth will disappear in a great conflagration."
"Somewhere in his rambling lectures, the rather unorthodox Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh
(Osho) claimed that there are basically two religions in the world and that the Iranian Plateau is the
dividing line between them. Indeed, west of the divide, the diverse Judeo-Christian-Islamic
confessions dominate, while east of the divide, the worldview of Hinduism-Buddhism-Jainism-Taoism
holds sway. On the one side, good and evil are seen as irreconcilable opposites, calling for a
strenuous effort to root out the evil pole. On the other side, the absolute opposition of good and evil
makes no ultimate sense, being but a reflection of the state of the isolated ego, which sees all threats
to its continuity as evil. The inflated ego, even when it wears an altruistic mask as a national, group,
racial, or family ego, is bound to see its existence as a merciless struggle against death, darkness, and
obliteration. From its perspective, everything is wrong with the world. But the real Self is not the
limited ego. According to the Hindus, the true Self, identical with Shiva, rests eternally in total Being,
Consciousness, and Bliss (Sat-Chit-Anand). Once freed from our ego prison, whether one is
incarnated in a physical body or not (Shaivite philosophy considers even that to be an illusion, for our
being is eternal), then everything is as it is - that is, everything is Shiva."
"All is Shiva; all is God. But each form, each appearance has its own power, its own character, its
own potential. When one is not enmeshed and attached to the fascinating dance of Maya and her
countless forms of illusion, then one can realize this. Then sinner and saint, good and evil are equally
part of Being. From such a perspective, all appearances are but the child's game that the greater Self
plays for its own entertainment. In this game, it can take on any role and any state of being. Thus God
can put on the mask of the Savior, the good shepherd, Mother Mary, the Great Goddess, the Ahura
Mazda, the Good God; but he can just as well wear the mask of a murderous Bhairava or a frenzied
Kali, and thus, by the drama of confusion and suffering, show those who have also violated their
dharma, the way to Benares, where the fires of purification burn and the waters of cleansing flow. This
is how Shiva can be the "devil" and still be worshipped with loving devotion, just as Ramakrishna
worshipped black Kali as his "loving Mother," or, in Mahayana, and Vajrayana Buddhism, Buddha
can appear as a bug-eyed, fire-breathing demon and still be honored by the devout. These terrible
appearances are only mirrors place in front of the mad, illusion-driven ego. For Shaivites, all the
wonderful, terrible, and awesome images that magically make our reality are but facets of the one
Self. For the devotees of Shiva, the ultimate goal is not just to be good, to heap up the merits of good
karma and go to heaven - though there is nothing to speak against such worthy aspirations; it is
self-understood that one follows the path of virtue. For the Shaivites the goal is to see through the
divine masks and recognize the Self; the goal is moksha, liberation from the bondage of finite
existence, the release from the incessant wheel of illusion, samsara."