Shivas Masquerade: Shiva Sutra 3.24

Can You Find Shiva?

Don’t forget to Breathe while you read this book, because Shiva is everywhere and nowhere you look.

Shiva’s Masquerade: Shiva Sutra 3.24

3.24. mātrāsvapratyayasaṁdhāne naṣṭasya punarūtthānam // When a yogī, in coming out from samādhi, also attempts to maintain awareness of God consciousness in the objective world, then, even though his real nature of self is destroyed by the inferior generation of self-consciousness, he again rises in that supreme nature of the self.”

Maya is the mask of shiva, and is literally everywhere you look, or even think. This cloak is so thorough that we will never discover Shiva through it, no matter how hard we try. The only way to unmask Shiva is through our practice. What we find is that it’s our own attachments that keep Shiva veiled, and that these attachments are always within our power to dissolve. In this way, though everything appears to cloak Shiva from us, nothing can truly mask our true nature. 

“Due to the impressions he has of what others think of him or expect from him and of his wanting to help others, to satisfy them with boons, he may lose his temper and become careless and uneven-minded, blocking his flow of God consciousness from the center of the three states of waking, dreaming and deep sleep. So, although he is aware of God consciousness in the beginning and in the end, he is played by this universe in the center, played by hunger, played by thirst, played by every aspect of daily life. Therefore, the one who desires to achieve the highest being should not be attached to these outer impressions. (Mālinīvijaya Tantra)”

Commentary: We get pulled into Maya’s  masquerade in a variety of ways— by what others think of us, what we think of ourselves, or simply the demands of thirst or hunger. When we get pulled into the masquerade, we get lost in the drama and lose our center. It might seem fun at first, but eventually its draining. 

“Supreme God consciousness should be sought with great effort in whatever is seen by the eyes, whatever is felt by speech, whatever is thought by the mind, whatever is perceived by the intellect, whatever is owned by limited ego, whatever is existing in the objective world, and whatever is not existing in the objective world. (Svacchanda Tantra 12.163–64)”

Commentary: Finding your center is how you find Shiva under the mask. You can do it right now with a breath, as you find the present. Holding the present, as we know is another story. Nonetheless, we are taught to seek this experience of the present with great effort whenever we are encountering the mind, senses and external world. 

“Whenever the mind flows out, he centers his consciousness on that one God consciousness. Because he feels the oneness of Śiva existing everywhere, if his mind moves here and there, even then it does not move at all because it moves in his own nature. Wherever he feels and experiences the existence of the objective world, he feels and experiences that the objective world is actually nothing but Śiva. (Svacchanda Tantra 4.313–14)”

Commentary: How do you get back to center? How do you find Shiva again? The Sutras say that we should practice thinking “This whole universe is one with myself,” in order to regain our center— but of course, such a valuable asset is not gained from external commands, but only through internal work over time. 

This is perhaps the most liberating moment of the Sutras, as it shows us that nothing can really keep us from our realization. And what’s more, it teaches that it is our own attachments that are the mask— not Shiva. Our true nature is Being, Consciousness and Bliss— not the drama of our mundane life. It is we who holds up the mask, and when we learn to let it go, we realize what lies beneath it. Of course, this takes practice, and its not easy— but it is possible. This is the Shambhava uppaya, to live in the world while still being immersed in your heart, that is our practice, our tradition.