Loving all is loving the Lord of all.
This year, 2014, Shiva Ratri falls on 27 February. Ratri means night, which is a mystic term for a quiet, reflective mind, free from fear, worries, expectations and frustrations. The inner gaze in devotion to Shiva takes away all agitations of the mind. Devotion is to know that as agents of action and reaction we are part of a larger whole, that is Shiva, and have to interact with an abiding feeling of embedded responsibility towards all creatures that constitute our environment. Shiva is the Lord of all living and non-living entities. On the Shiva Ratri night, when the world sleeps, the vigilant devotee awakens to the truth that he/she is in love with the dance of Shiva, manifested as this expansive universe. Loving all is loving the Lord of all. On this most auspicious day, Shiva opens the third eye and destroys the evil that soils our minds and souls. The devotee, who keeps vigil till the wee hours, is redeemed from the thralldom of self-assumed limitations and uplifted to the land of freedom and bliss. OM Nama Shivaya; Shivohum.
Love,
Swami Bodhananda