Shiva's First Arrow

Sage Lakulisha, Preceptor of the Pashupata tradition, taken at Jageshwar Temple, Uttarakhand.

The first time Shiva’s arrow pierced my mind, it would be in his fierce form, Virabhadra.

More than 10 years ago, I was organizing a yoga asana intro workshop for an acquaintance, who was the teacher. She was addressing a group of eager participants, and I was just walking around making sure everything was in order…

While explaining the origins of the Warrior poses, the teacher was recounting the story of Shiva and Daksha, the grand yagya, the great immolation — leading to the eventual beheading of Daksha. I was familiar with the Virasana, but hearing the story spoken out loud... in an instant, like a sudden inhale, a very clear vision manifested in my mind’s eye: a bunch of young students sitting under a large tree, me amongst them, listening to an older guru speaking about something joyful…

At that moment I knew, a quiet secret had been set into to motion. Yet this ‘seed thought’ (samkara, I now know) would take another 3 years before it would germinate. Yoga and its practices would slowly seep into my life, body, and awareness. Naturally, it evolved into Tantra. That acquaintance would become my first initiating teacher.

Years later, I can still feel the shock of familiarity from that precise moment/memory. It felt like an arrow straight into my mind, and you are forever changed, you can never unsee what you now know.

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Like the Goddess, Shiva too, has many forms: Pashupati, the Lord of the Wild, and Dakshinamurti, the Primordial Guru, are the two Shiva-forms that my Teachers hold dear in their respective lineages. In recent years, Kaal Bhairava, the fierce protective Lord of Kashi, has risen into mass awareness, and that is a good omen.

After 18 months of intense preliminary sadhana, my teacher decided to initiate me into the path of Mrtyunjaya, Shiva’s form as Conquerer of Death. I had not asked, it just happened on a random full moon day in India. I wept in my heart, remembering Markandeya and the Devi Mahatmya… how everything was so beautifully and divinely interwoven. #iykyk

Shiva as the Primordial Healer is fascinating. In the Rudra Sukta, he is described precisely as that, ‘Prathamo Daivyobhishak’, ‘first and foremost healer of the gods’.

Why does it matter to me? Because healing and the esoteric understanding of the physical body has always been a very personal endeavor. My first ‘spiritual job’ 18 years ago was energy healing in the Egyptian modality of Alchemy. That was how I encountered many of students today, from back then. What called me to healing-work was my own failing health at the time. Over the ensuing years, through multi-layered modalities, bodywork, homeopathy, conscious exercise, a deep examination of my relationship with food, purpose-driven sadhana and paradigms shifts — now it has once again brought me back to the topic of health and healing, bodily awareness and integration, embodied spirituality — and the very shakti of wellness itself.

And thanks to the completion of our recent 40-day Great Ganesha Sadhana… so was born the ‘108 Names of Shiva: A Path of Healing’

Through 11 Mondays spread over 4 months, we will look into the nuances of each of his sacred Names, while slowly constructing a workable mantra sadhana for you (based on your level of understanding). The purpose of this Shiva Sadhana will be wellness, healing, and integrating (your karmic experiences). You may choose to subsume this practice later into your daily sadhana (or not).

Lastly, I would also like to include a favorite Shiva book as a study companion alongside the 108 Names. Each Monday, we will read through a few pages, then added commentaries. I’d recommend you purchase the book beforehand (instructions upon registration) but it won’t be compulsory.

For more details on this healing journey, see here.

Om Namah Shivaya. One day I will tell you the story of Shiva's second arrow, the one that struck my heart...

Till then, Kailash blessings.