Shiva Shakti-the Hinduism take on Twin Flames

In ancient Hindu scriptures,Shiva shakti is known to be the power of transformation and liberation. It is one of the main three forces and is personified in the Hindu god,Shiva,the transformer and destroyer of evil;while the feminine Shakti energy is represented by his consort,Parvati. Now, the masculine Shiva represents consciousness. The feminine Shakti is the activating and energizing principle. The two are said to unite in the crown chakra,sparking transformation in the form of spiritual enlightenment.Now there is a background story to the divine couple of Shiv and Shakti. One day,Brahma; the God of creation,looked around and realised that nature had lost its luster. The world was stagnated.This irked Brahma to approach the great feminine force,Shakti for help. Shakti told Brahma that she would be born in a human female form to bring Shiva back into the world. Brahma was lost without Shiva's presence and Brahma could not create ideas as his creativity and imagination were blocked out. This is when Shakti was reborn as Parvati.

Her whole life, Parvati had a special love in her heart for Shiva. As a young girl,she sat in the meadow fluttering her eyes at him, placing flowers at his feet, day dreaming about him opening his eyes, feeling his love's embrace.However, the dreams were not manifesting into reality which caused frustration in her. This was when Parvati decided to approach Lord Kama;the God of love and she asked Lord Kama to shoot an arrow in Shiva's heart to arouse him. Lord Kama did the needful and this woke Lord Shiva from his deep meditation. With a roar, he opened his third eye and fire shot out and incinerated Kama. Then,lord Shiva closed his three eyes and retreated inward.Fear cloaked Parvati as her plan had failed. Parvati,then decided to meditate from here on.

For thousand years, she stood on one leg in hot coals and the other leg in the cold snow. Her tapasya grew inner heat and her own power grew so strong that Shiva deep in his meditation,felt her presence and awakened from his meditation. Parvati gained attention from Shiva as her inner light was brilliant and shining on as brightly as the sun and she was beautiful. Parvati went down on an inner journey.

Along the way,we fall down,tip over,get twisted and arrive wiser. Parvati represents that part of us that never gives up. She shows hardwork and inner discipline that are necessary for growth. Furthermore, Parvati took many births to reach Shiva. It means she had to learn lessons in every birth to attain self realisation and ultimately reach a higher level of consciousness.

It is also believed that Goddess Parvati found it hard to break Shiva's meditation and win his attention.However,through her devotion and the persuasion by the sages and devas,Parvati was able to win over Lord Shiva into marriage and away from asceticism.The marriage was solemnized a day before Amavasya in the month of Palgun. The day of the union of Lord Shiva and Shakti is celebrated as Mahashivratri every year.

The Shiva is the masculine,very often depicted as the masculine or the god in us. Shiva is also this capacity for awareness,pure awareness,consciousness and emptiness.Then there is the Shakti, that is the feminine,that is the flow,that is the yin to that yang.As we begin to understand the dual nature that resides within ourselves we can move towards the dissolution of duality. The cosmic union of these two forces makes us experience life as an equanimous whole.