Philosophical Conclusions§
Our ancient monistic Saiva Siddhanta school of Hinduism possesses a rare synthesis of devotional theism and uncompromising nondualism. In fact, our theology is called monistic theism. It equally exalts heart-melting temple worship and mind-transcending yogic revelation. It teaches that God is both within us and outside of us, the Creator and the creation, immanent and transcendent. Gurudeva summarized our theism beautifully, “Being the first and perfect form, God Siva—the Primal Soul, the manifest and personal Lord—naturally creates souls in His image and likeness. To love God is to know God. To know God is to feel His love for you. Such a compassionate God—a being whose resplendent body may be seen in mystic vision—cares for the minutiae such as we and a universe such as ours.” ¶Gurudeva also knew the great truth of monism, that man is not apart from God: “God Siva is everywhere. There is no place where Siva is not. He is in you. He is in the temple. He is in the trees. He is in the sky, in the clouds, in the planets. He is the galaxies swirling in space and the space between galaxies, too. He is the universe. His cosmic dance of creation, preservation and dissolution is happening this very moment in every atom of the universe.” He explained, “The primary goal of monistic Saivism is realizing one’s identity with God Siva, in perfect union and nondifferentiation. This is termed nirvikalpa samadhi, Self Realization, and may be attained in this life, granting moksha, permanent liberation from the cycles of birth and death. A secondary goal is savikalpa samadhi, the realization of Satchidananda, a unitive experience within superconsciousness in which perfect Truth, knowledge and bliss are known. Deep within our soul we are identical with God this very moment, for within us are the unmanifest Parasiva and the manifest Satchidananda. These are not aspects of the evolving soul, but the nucleus of the soul, which does not change or evolve. They are eternally perfect and one with God Siva. We are That. We do not become That. Paramaguru Siva Yogaswami taught us, ‘You are Siva. I am Siva. All are Siva. Even as Siva is immortal, so too are we.’”§