Maha Shivaratri is a night of deliverance for everyone as Lord Shiva sheds His grace on all who sing His name in praise and even on those who accidentally hear His name being praised.
This all-night vigil - on March 8 - falls on the moonless night in the month of Masi (between February and March).
Spiritual seekers, consisting of Yogis and ordinary Siva devotees, converge on the precincts of the temples to witness the Linga abhishegam (ritualistic bathing of the lingam with various ingredients). The main activities of this prayerful night is the abhishegam, chanting and meditation.
All Hindu temples across the globe and here on our South African shores will be abuzz with devotional singing, chanting, spiritual discourses, dancing of the Shiva Tandava (cosmic dance of creation) and meditation - all contributing to a spiritually charged atmosphere.
The Om Namashivaya mantra will charge the atmosphere with its powerful vibrations. A mantra is a combination of sacred syllables that forms the nucleus of spiritual energy.
The act of staying awake all night on Maha Shivaratri in dedication to Lord Shiva is considered particularly meritorious and the devotee is blessed with great boons of success, happiness, prosperity, intelligence, and physical, spiritual and mental wellbeing.
The special planetary conjunction on this sacred night makes it easy for the spiritual seeker to tap into the cosmic energy with which Lord Shiva is synonymous. Scriptures describe Lord Shiva as the most mysterious, compassionate, complex and profound conceptions of the One Supreme being - the silent creator, sustainer and dissolver of all existence who is pure light, love, energy and consciousness.
Maha Shivaratri is a stark reminder that we are spiritual beings enjoying the human experience. Spirituality can be described as a perception of life based on the wisdom that there is more to life than what is perceived by the five senses, that there's more to our consciousness than just the brain, that there's more to the universe than just physical matter, that there's more to existence than just this body and its needs.
Maha Shivaratri celebrates, among others, Namashivaya's manifestation as a limitless lingam of light, His convergence with Shakti to form Ardhanaishvara, and the performance of the Nadaraja Tandava (cosmic dance of creation).
On this night, devotees are urged to maintain an upright position during meditation to receive Lord Shiva's revitalising energies. This night should be a night of awakening in the spiritual sense of the word.
Our collective prayer should be for national good governance and global moral regeneration.
Guru Kriba Vayapuri is an ex-school principal, Hindu priest, social activist, and religious and cultural leader.