{"id":1567,"date":"2020-07-03T23:56:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T23:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/?p=1567"},"modified":"2020-07-04T16:58:44","modified_gmt":"2020-07-04T16:58:44","slug":"shiva-dancing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/shiva-dancing\/","title":{"rendered":"Shiva dancing…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Living in these troubled times, my thinking mind wants to make sense of things, fight for and protect its beliefs…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…but, in introspection, “Shiva dancing” is what popped into my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Shiva

Image by Enrique Meseguer<\/a> from Pixabay<\/a><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I love the Hindu religious traditions, and regrettably, I am familiar with only the big overview – Brahman, the ultimate reality of the universe, and the Trimurti, which act IN the universe: Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer. (This is a link to a very short primer from BBC<\/a>.) I think of the Trimurti as the experience within the universe – things are created, then are valued and maintained, and inevitably destroyed to make way for yet another cycle of change. (…and my apologies to all for my limited conceptualizations of these ancient and profound teachings). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, here’s what came up, a metaphor of 2020 as Shiva dancing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shiva Dancing\n\nAll the symbols of safety, tossed,\nLike leaves in the wind.\nDoes accepting authority imply consent?\nLook here, look there, all certainty, toppled.\nWhat is there to trust?\n\nShiva dancing\n\nOpposition to oneness cresting\nAs a giant tsunamic wave.\nBlow out all the allure of separation,\nFace the fear, the guilt, the shame it spawns.\nBurn out the ego energy, \nSurrender to the tsunami,\nLet trust float the shell.\n\nShiva dancing\n\nAsk the symbols of coveting,\nWhy are you here?\nQuestion authority's source -\nWhere do I go for safety?\nWhy would I look for truth \nin the constantly changing?\n\nShiva smiling, Brahma approaches\n\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
As I ponder the words, I deeply feel the sense of a need to surrender control, AND, to question authority, authorship, source. We look to authority for safety and order, but under who’s authority am I? What is my source, my authorship, in which I should trust?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then the reminders of the underlying Oneness, of all. On the level of Oneness, I understand everything is for the good, even though, thinking, I can’t see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shiva upturns the table, Brahma is waiting to create the next level of our collective experience as we evolve toward the realization of Oneness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Different  framing and imagery, but I see these underlying truths in all the great world religions I know. The confluence of all these wisdom teachings – we are not our bodies, our real selves are truly One Self, created by the Creator of All – gives me a great sense of comfort.  As contrary as they may seem to cultural conditioning, I believe they point the way to the ultimate purpose and experience of humanity, a continual evolution to Truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Living in these troubled times, my thinking mind wants to make sense of things, fight for and protect its beliefs… …but, in introspection, “Shiva dancing” is what popped into my mind. I love the Hindu religious traditions, and regrettably, I am familiar with only the big overview – Brahman, the ultimate reality of the universe, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[161,163,164,162],"class_list":["post-1567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spirituality","tag-shiva","tag-shiva-dancing","tag-trimurti","tag-troubled-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1567"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1577,"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1567\/revisions\/1577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/5startimes.com\/cjsalvar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}