SHIVA (HIS EVOLUTION)
Lord Shiva is to all men all things. His universality and adaptability have preserved His place in the hearts of men for millennia.The elemental Lord of the Wind, He personified the cataclysmic forces of nature and was the Lord of Destruction. He took on the form of the Cosmic Dancer, His movements creating the ever changing faces of the world.
For the nomadic herdsmen of the Indus Valley, whose primary concern was for the care of their animals, primordial Shiva developed into the Protector of Beasts. Even the Mother Goddess, so revered by the agricultural community, felt His presence and became His consort. The cylindrical symbol; which originally represented the formlessness of Nature, gradually evolved into His phallus and the womb of the Fertility Goddess, its female counterpart. His linga was worshipped as the source of all Creation from which the seeds of existence emanated.
The forest dwelling hermits who renounced society emulated Him as the living Prince of Yogis, the ever vigilant ascetic. When threatened by invasion and religious persecution, He inspired the naked ash-covered mendicants to take up arms for the preservation of the faith in His name.
Thus throughout history, the manifestations of Shiva have fulfilled the spiritual needs of a developing civilization. With the dawning of the Space Age, Shiva continues to adapt to the changing circumstances of the world. As primitive belief systems and superstitions quickly vanish, His essence will survive to be worshipped in its purest form, beyond all phenomena, the clear vibrant energy of perfect consciousness.