Shiva Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Yoga === Shiva is considered the Great Yogi who is totally absorbed in himself – the transcendental reality. He is the Lord of [[Yogi]]s, and the teacher of [[Yoga]] to sages.{{sfn|Kramrisch|1981|p=[https://archive.org/details/manifestationsof00kram/page/22 22]}} As Shiva Dakshinamurthi, states Stella Kramrisch, he is the supreme [[guru]] who "teaches in silence the oneness of one's innermost self (''atman'') with the ultimate reality (''brahman'')."{{sfn|Kramrisch|1981|p=[https://archive.org/details/manifestationsof00kram/page/23 23] }} Shiva is also an archetype for ''samhara'' ({{lang-sa|संहार}}) or ''dissolution'' which includes transcendence of human misery by the dissolution of ''[[Maya (religion)|maya]]'', which is why Shiva is associated with [[Yoga]].<ref name="inv07">{{cite book|first1=Krishnan|last1=Ramaswamy|first2=Antonio|last2=de Nicolas|first3=Aditi|last3=Banerjee|title=Invading the Sacred|page=59|isbn=978-8129111821|publisher=Rupa Publication|year=2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/samhara|title=Samhara, Saṃhāra: 18 definitions|date=3 August 2014|access-date=12 August 2021|archive-date=12 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812235650/https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/samhara|url-status=live}}</ref> The theory and practice of Yoga, in different styles, has been a part of all major traditions of Hinduism, and Shiva has been the patron or spokesperson in numerous Hindu Yoga texts.<ref name=shivayoga1 /><ref name=shivayoga2 /> These contain the philosophy and techniques for Yoga. These ideas are estimated to be from or after the late centuries of the 1st millennium CE, and have survived as Yoga texts such as the ''Isvara Gita'' (literally, 'Shiva's song'), which [[Andrew J. Nicholson|Andrew Nicholson]] – a professor of Hinduism and Indian Intellectual History – states have had "a profound and lasting influence on the development of Hinduism".<ref>{{cite book|author=Andrew J. Nicholson|title=Lord Siva's Song: The Isvara Gita|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IAEvAwAAQBAJ|year=2014| publisher= State University of New York Press|isbn= 978-1438451022|pages= 1–2}}</ref> Other famed Shiva-related texts influenced [[Hatha Yoga]], integrated monistic (''Advaita Vedanta'') ideas with Yoga philosophy and inspired the theoretical development of [[Indian classical dance]]. These include the ''Shiva Sutras'', the ''Shiva Samhita'', and those by the scholars of Kashmir Shaivism such as the 10th-century scholar [[Abhinavagupta]].<ref name=shivayoga1>[a] {{cite book|author1=Vasugupta|author2=Jaideva|title=Śiva Sūtras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j4SOIISR9PUC|year=1979|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-8120804074|pages=xv–xx}};<br />[b] {{cite book|author=James Mallinson|title=The Shiva Samhita: A Critical Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hlQRnDOr178C|year=2007|publisher=Yoga|oclc= 76143968 |isbn=978-0971646650|pages=xiii–xiv}}</ref><ref name=shivayoga2>[a] {{cite book|author=Jaideva Vasugupta|title=The Yoga of Delight, Wonder, and Astonishment: A Translation of the Vijnana-bhairava with an Introduction and Notes by Jaideva Singh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aVc5JCnO1VgC|year=1991|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0791410738|pages=xii–xvi}};<br />[b] {{cite book|author1=Vasugupta|author2=Jaideva|title=The Yoga of Vibration and Divine Pulsation: A Translation of the Spanda Karika with Ksemaraja's Commentary, the Spanda Nirnaya|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQwtCrGERjkC |year=1980|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0791411797|pages=xxv–xxxii, 2–4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=David Smith|title=The Dance of Siva: Religion, Art and Poetry in South India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fTLlcGlkdjkC&pg=PA237 |year=2003|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0521528658|pages=237–239}}</ref> Abhinavagupta writes in his notes on the relevance of ideas related to Shiva and Yoga, by stating that "people, occupied as they are with their own affairs, normally do nothing for others", and Shiva and Yoga spirituality helps one look beyond, understand interconnectedness, and thus benefit both the individual and the world towards a more blissful state of existence.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jaideva Vasugupta|author2=Mark S. G. Dyczkowski|title=The Aphorisms of Siva: The Siva Sutra with Bhaskara's Commentary, the Varttika|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o6-n4ulAsdIC|year=1992|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0791412640|pages=7–8}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page