Maha Sivaratri: Celebrating the Divine Marriage
Tonight February 12, 2010 marks the festival of Shivaratri which is celebrated in India and around the world. Shivaratri (Shiva's Great Day) symbolizes the anniversary of Siva's marriage to Parvati or Sakti. In the Tantric philososphy of Yoga Siva and Sakti are seen not as a God and Goddess in human form but rather as archetypal symbols of the masculine and feminine aspects of the One energy out of which everything arises. Siva represents the light of consciousness, pure spirit. And Sakti represents the play of creative energy through form and matter. So their wedding night from the Yogic perspective is a celebration of the union between spirit and matter. As human beings we are a beautiful expression of this divine union. And as conscious yoga practitioners we are offered a means through which we as individuals can express our appreciation for and awareness of this gift. Living with appreciation and with awareness is indeed the hallmark of living a yogic lifestyle - and our practice on the mat can be a vehicle for celebrating it.
Today is a good day to reflect on the union of Siva and Sakti within you. We can know our Siva nature through stillness and through reflection, in states of deep meditative awareness, and in flashes of insight that arise from within. We can experience our Sakti nature through surrender to the dynamic play of change and movement that is our daily life, in our enjoyment of sensual pleasure, and in our creative achievements. Both the mystery and the wonder off all that is unkown and the tangible reality of our own physical body are manifestations of the same powerful force that shapes the mountains, moves the tides, and keeps the planets orbiting the sun.
You are a magical being and that is worth celebrating!