A Time to Awaken

This painting is about awakening to our higher conciousness, our spiritual reality. This piece began by reading a name someone had written in my enquiry book. I had a stall at a local expo called ‘Nourish Your Soul’ and while I had temporarily left my stall, I had a book for people to use if I wasn’t there. When I picked up the book and saw the name, I suddenly heard the name Shiva and saw a vague vision of a male figure facing me with a circle of circles surrounding him. I was very curious, so even though this person had not asked for a painting, not knowing that much about Shiva, I decided to go ahead with the painting. I had a large canvas at home that I had picked up from the local hospice shop, and it had been painted in acrylic with the word NAMASTE and a lotus flower. This would be perfect to use. So I prepared the painting by going over it with a few coats of white, then I did a couple of coats of gold paint in a brushed effect that reminded me of wood grain. 

I roughly drew out a figure and then started to paint it using just red, blue, gold and white as my colour palete. This choice too was intuitive. I also used turquiose to surround the white orb. I felt this was to attract the eye to focus on this orb and meditate on its meaning. My own conclusion is that the white orb represents purity of heart. It is one of the main spiritual teachings I have learnt during my life, the importance of cleansing ones heart of defilement, any trace of corrupt desire. When one wants to go on a spiritual journey towards truth, this is an important first step. In the writings of the Baha’i faith and in other Faiths it is a prodominant theme: 

“A pure heart will take us close to God.” - Dr M.V. Anantapadmanabhachariar (Hindu devotee) 

“Ceasing to do evil, Cultivating the good, Purifying the heart: This is the teaching of the Buddhas.” - The Buddha

“O SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.” - Bahá'u’lláh

“…Cleanse the mirrors of your hearts from the dross of the world and all that is therein, that they may reflect the resplendent light of God….” - Baha’u'llah

“May your hearts become clear and pure like unto polished mirrors in which may be reflected the 

full glory of the Sun of Truth.” - ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

There is a lot to study about Shiva. A couple of things that stood out to me is that the word Shiva can mean nothingness. The word shivoham means the consciousness of the individual. I like this, as it reminds me of the phrase God Conscious, being conscious, alive, and always aware of the omnipresence of God. 

The other aspect that stood out to me was the unusual symbol I intuitively painted above Shivas head. I then did some research, and one of the main aspects of Shiva is a trident he carrys that looks very similar to this symbol. It is called the Trishula and is commonly used in Hindu and Buddist imagery. It has a huge amount of meaning. 

In the human body the trishula represents the place where the three main nadi or energy channels meet at the brow. The main channel is the central one that is usually depicted slightly longer than the other two. This symbol is placed on the painting where the crown chakra would sit. That is our main chakra of connection to the divine or higher conciousness, our higher self, the divine spirit. 

The use of the mandala surrounding Shiva further enhances the aspect of our infinite selves, as mandala usually represent the universe in Hindu and Buddist symbolism and literally translates from Sanskrit to mean circle. There is a beautiful Baha’i quote I will end with about the universe that says 

“Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form when within thee the universe is folded?” - Baha’u'llah