SHIVOPAYA

 

SHIVOPAYA

Dear friends,

Yesterday, we put up a picture of a Shiva statue in Nepal, sent by member Dimple prakash. Another member ,Rishi sanjay tiwari, then sent me this beautiful pic of the same statue, where Shiva is enveloped by a scaffolding, giving us a glimpse of what the process was before it became ready for full Darshan; How it was made, how man likes to 'see' his God, decorate Him, love Him, present his own idea of the great ideal in an idol.

Shiva smiles at the efforts of the children to do this 'make up' on Him, just like the ganas smeared bhasma powder on Him before his marriage.

While the word scaffolding itself originates from 'construction' and refers to the temporary platform that is set up for builders to stand on while they construct heights larger than themselves, Interestingly, in education, scaffolding is a way for teachers to provide support while students master new concepts and skills!

And this is the Lila of Shiva:

Since none can ever fathom Him fully, He Himself gives us His teachings, visions of His Dhyana bliss and Spanda creativity.

Not only to Devi Parvati in Amarnath, the ganas in Kailash, but also to great bhakts like rishi Vasugupta in Kashmir, He personally comes and gives the Siva sutras- which may easily be understood to be the scaffolding to Himself, that is why the sutras are also called Shivopaya- the upayas of Shiva.

Aum Namah Shivaye.

~ Shail Gulhati: Shiva and Mysticism.