Salvation

Devotion to the Divine improves all areas of your life, including your health, energy, wealth, and relations. But beyond those material benefits, devotion can give you a sense of salvation which helps you live fearlessly and accomplish your life’s purpose.

Definition of Salvation

Before explaining how devotion to God leads to salvation, we need to define the term. It has three meanings in the Vedic literature:

1. “Better life next time.” This means that one’s next birth is more auspicious, with a life that is comfortable and conducive to rapid spiritual progress. (This is discussed in Bhagavad Gita verses 6:40-45.)

2. “Heaven”, that is, a very long lifetime spent in a heavenly world such as “Shivaloka” or “Vishnuloka”.

3. “Moksha” (or “Nirvana”), which means liberation, the escape from the cycle of “samsāra” (death and rebirth).

The Shiva Boons project adds a very important 4th meaning: Salvation means knowing that you are “saved” in the timeframe of this current lifetime. Salvation is gained by knowing what is true, so that you have no fear of what the future brings (including in an “afterlife”). In order to have knowledge, one needs evidence.

Such evidence would include having an inner subjective experience that is undoubtable, unshakable, and undeniable, such as yogis and rishis claim to have. But the Shiva Boons practice seeks to provide more tangible and objective evidence, such as obtaining a boon. In this regard, we specifically seek evidence that Shiva (who is all-blissful and favorable to devotees) exists. And the best form of evidence would be a boon from Shiva.

Repeating any Sanskrit mantra (or a name of God) leads one towards salvation (however defined). For this project, the name of “Shiva” is considered to be most efficacious. And the suggested mantra is:

This mantra invokes both Shiva and Shakti. Shiva is the supreme divine masculine principle, and Shakti is the feminine principle. Shiva is Purusha which is pure consciousness, and Shakti is Prakriti, which is matter, the universe, and Nature. Together they are a Unity which makes up all that exists. This mantra balances and unifies Shiva and Shakti.

Whatever mantra one uses, it should be repeated silently in activity using the instructions given on the Mantra repetition page which explains how to use mantras in activity, what kind of mantras can be used, and the benefits that are gained.

On a future web page, we will discuss using mantras other than the one given above, and explain how one might choose a more optimal mantra for oneself. For instance, a follower of Vishnu could use the mantra given on the Name of Rāma page.

One should try to accomplish all one can in life, including gaining a boon from Shiva. But life is short (though existence of the Self is eternal), so one also needs to know that mantra repetition is conducive to a better next lifetime because it helps set one’s final thought for reincarnation (as explained in Bhagavad Gita 8:6). It’s also an easy means for offering one’s actions to the Divine which frees one from the bondage of karma.

If you have not already done so, you will certainly want to learn the procedure for gaining Boons from Shiva in order to give you the evidence you seek to be assured of salvation.

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Appendix

Regarding the mantra “Shivāya namaḥ”: it is found in the Shiva Purana chapter 1.17 where it’s said to be suitable for people of all walks of life (unlike the similar mantra “Om namaḥ Shivāya”). It is a “five-syllable” (sanskrit “panchakshara”) mantra and is not prefixed with “Om”.

Mantras used during daily activities should probably not be used with “Om”, because “Om” is very “inward”, it withdraws the mind from the world, as explained on the Mantra repetition page. These daily activity mantras are used without any counting or concentration, and are not intended for meditation.