The Sanātana Dharma, or “eternal faith,” known today as Hinduism, is a family of religions that accept the authority of the Vedas. Its four principal denominations are Śaivism, Śaktism, Vaishnavism and Smārtism. The Supreme Deity for Vaiṣṇavites - Lord Vishnu is God. For Śaivites God is Śiva. For Śāktas - Goddess Śaktī is supreme. For Smārtas, liberal Hindus, the choice of Deity is left to

Śaivism proclaims:God Śiva is Love, both immanent and transcendent, both the creator and the creation. This world is the arena of our evolution, which leads by stages to moksha, liberation from birth and death.Since the inner intent of all religions is to bind man back to God, Śaivite Hindus seek not to interfere with anyone’s faith or practice. We believe that there is no exclusive

God Śiva is all and in all, one without a second, the Supreme Being and only Absolute Reality. He is Pati, our Lord, immanent and transcendent. To create, preserve, destroy, conceal and reveal are His five powers. As Absolute Reality, Śiva is unmanifest, unchanging and transcendent, the Self God, timeless, formless and spaceless.He is our personal Lord, source of all three worlds.

Gaṇeśa, Kārtikeya, Indra, Agni and all the 330 million Gods of Hinduism are beings just as we are, created by Lord Śiva and destined to enjoy union with Him. The Gods are souls of high evolution.The devas are benevolent beings of light abiding in the higher Antarloka. They help to guide evolution from their world between births.

Our soul is God Śiva’s emanational creation, the source of all our higher functions, including knowledge, will and love. Our soul is neither male nor female. It is that which never dies, even when it’s four outer sheaths—physical, prāṇic, instinctive and mental—change form and perish as they naturally do.The soul body matures through experience,ultimately realizing Śiva totally in nirvikalpa samadhi.

Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will, creating his own destiny. The Vedas tell us, if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Reincarnation, punarjanma, is the natural process of birth, death and rebirth.At death, we leave the body through the crown chakra, entering the clear white light and beyond in quest of videhamukti.

The path of enlightenment is divided naturally into four stages: charyā -virtue and selfless service; kriyā -worshipful sādhanas; yoga - meditation under a guru’s guidance; and jñāna, the wisdom state of the realized soul. Jñāna is divine wisdom emanating from an enlightened being, a soul in its maturity, immersed in Śiva-ness, the blessed realization of God, while living out earthly karma.

There are three worlds of existence: the physical, subtle and causal, termed Bhūloka, Antarloka and Śivaloka. The Creator of all, Śiva Himself is uncreated.As supreme Mahādeva, Śiva wills into manifestation all souls and all form, issuing them from Himself like light from a fire or waves from an ocean.The universe ends at Mahāpralaya, when time, form and space dissolve in God Śiva.

The intrinsic and real nature of all beings is their soul, which is goodness. Ultimately, there is no good or bad. God did not create evil as a force distinct from good. He granted to souls the loving edicts of dharma and experiential choices, thus to learn and evolve.Āṇava, karma and māyā are the source of the seeming suffering.