" Salvation ... "

To all those people doin' lines, 

Don't do it, don't do it. 

Inject your soul with liberty, 

It's free, it's free ...

Salvation, salvation, salvation is free. 

Salvation, salvation, salvation is free. 

Ah, ah, ah, ah ...

Salvation, salvation, salvation is free. 

Salvation, salvation, salvation is free. 

Ah, ah, ah, ah ...

~ The Cranberries ~ Salvation ~

***

According to a generic definition, salvation is being saved or protected from harm or being saved or delivered from some dire situation.  In religion, it is the saving of the soul from sin and its consequences.  

What if salvation was considered as a continual process ... when one stage is complete, another is entered ... where one welcomes the Divine to teach her/him.  Teachings of love and compassion, inspiring and empower new patterns of reaction and interaction.  Teachings that involve breaking old habits of ego protection and negative behaviours.  Teachings of forgiveness.

You see most people think that “when this happens, my life will be complete, fulfilled and purposeful”.  They wait for something external to make them happy or free them from feeling fear or lack.  And this search for salvation from a state of dissatisfaction or insufficiency is perceived as a heightened sense of aliveness and psychological gratification.  The problem is that this type of satisfaction is short lived so the sense of fulfillment will once again be projected on an imaginary point away from the here and now.  An illusion of salvation in the future.

Some feel that true salvation mean life in all it fullness.  As Eckhart Tolle explains “It is to be who you are, to feel within you the good that has no opposite, the joy of Being that depends on nothing outside itself. It is felt not as a passing experience but as an abiding presence. In theistic language, it is to "know God" ― not as something outside you but as your own innermost essence. “

Salvation is not a doing but an undoing ...

Instead of looking towards a “time” where salvation will occur, living in the present is where we hold our power.  I believe to be saved is to stop supporting our illusions and to cease the fire within us of anger, attack, and guilt that has consumed our minds.  I believe salvation means we stop inventing excuses of why we are not worthy.  I believe salvation is freedom to express pure love ... freedom from suffering, freedom from fear, freedom from attachment, and freedom from lack ...

" Maha Shivratri ... "

Today my parents and I had the opportunity to join fellow Hindus and celebrate Shivratri, an auspicious moment in reverence of Lord Shiva.  Referred to as Maha Shivratri, this occurs every year on the 14th night of the new moon during the dark half of the month of Phalguna.  Shivratri (Sanskrit ‘ratri’ = night) is the night when he is said to have performed the Tandava Nritya or the dance of primordial creation, preservation and destruction.  The festival is observed for one day and one night only.

We travelled to our local mandir and participated in the ceremonial offerings of milk, rice, sindoor, fruit and other foods all whilst our Pandit-ji narrated ancient scriptures.  We chanted the sacred mantra dedicated to Lord “Om Namah Shivaya”, meaning “I bow to Shiva”.  

Out of interest, it has been said that if this powerful mantra vibrates continually in your heart, then you have no need to perform austerities, to meditate, or to practise yoga.  To repeat this mantra you need no rituals or ceremonies, nor must you repeat it at an auspicious time or in a particular place.  This mantra is free of all restrictions. It can be repeated by anyone, young or old, rich or poor and no matter what state a person is in, it will purify him.

Hindus believe that the worship of Lord Shiva with devotion and sincerity absolves a devotee of past sins.  The devotee reaches the abode of Lord Shanker, lives there happily and is liberated from the cycle of birth and death, attaining moksha or salvation.

Yet to truly understand the origins of Shivratri, we have to look at the ancient Vedic literature.  Accordingly, Shivratri comes from the great mythical churning of the ocean called Samudra Manthan, from which a pot of poison emerged.  The poison was so potent that it had the power to destroy the whole Universe.  The Gods and demons were terrified so when Lord Shiva was called to protect the world, he drank the deadly poison but held it in his throat instead of swallowing it.  This turned his throat blue and since then he came to be known as Nilkantha, the blue-throated one.  By drinking the poison, Lord Shiva sacrificed himself for the safety of humanity ... hence Shivratri celebrates this event by which Shiva saved the world.

So regardless of your spiritual practice, today can be an opportunity to expand your consciousness.  The Calgary Hindu Mandir is open from 8am till 2am ... and whether you are a devotee, participant, volunteer or observer, you are bound to experience higher vibrational energies just being present ॐ