Maha Shivaratri — The Embodiment of Nataraja

* The following are excerpts from Transcendental Journeys – A Visionary Quest for Freedom, a book by Omananda

It did not take long before my imagination switched and a portal opened within me. I was visually and energetically guided upwards through white marble temple steps to enter a golden diamond chamber, where consecrated spirits united the masculine and feminine aspects of myself in a divine marriage ceremony. Without resistance, I entered into a space of non-dualistic oneness, and a grand vision of the Nataraja, the dancing form of Lord Shiva who performs the divine dance known as the Tandava, merged with my individual consciousness. I then became Shiva and danced the dance of fire, destruction (of ignorance) and spiritual renewal. The Tantric Sutras began channeling through me, one by one, as I embodied them and was branded by this ancient Hindu mysticism.

  Shiva’s powerful dance came with sacred universal insights that suggested cosmic information as a mirrored reflection to the phenomenal world that my bodies physical senses could still perceive. The expanded consciousness that lasted seemingly forever was also firmly grounding, with total awareness in the present moment. The visual experience can be imagined as being fully conscious and dancing inside a ring of fire, with all inner worlds being endless and truthful, while all outer worlds are the infinite possibilities of Maya that represents all created illusion in the phenomenal world. The Nataraja, or dancing form of Shiva, reflects the outer perceptions with inner receptions and evokes an internalized ever-present truth. What is perceived through the physical senses creates an instant internal non-ordinary experience. This process submits truthful ever-changing and adapting data in enlightening contemporary form, along with wisdom.

….

* This story has been published in Transcendental Journeys – A Visionary Quest for Freedom, the multimedia book by Omananda.