<\/p>\n
Four stages define the path which we follow, one after the other. Unlike this hiker who leaves one rock behind to step onto the next, we keep the previous stages alive as we stride forward.<\/em>\u00a7<\/a><\/p>\n SHUTTERSTOCK<\/small>\u00a7<\/a><\/p>\n W<\/samp><\/span>hen created by Lord Siva, the soul is young and immature. Its process of \u201cgrowing up\u201d over many lifetimes happens in four stages. This is much like the development of a lotus flower. First it sends its roots into the pond\u2019s mud, then it grows a stem and leaves that reach the water\u2019s surface. Finally it blossoms in the full sun. Yet each previous stage of growth is still there supporting the flower. Siva\u2019s grace guides this process so that we learn and grow toward the light through experience, under the divine law of karma. As the soul progresses through each stage, it becomes less instinctive and more spiritual. Siva is continually creating souls, so at any point in time, there are on the Earth young souls, adolescent souls, middle-aged souls and old souls. The four\u00a0padas<\/em>, stages of maturation, are\u00a0charya, kriya, yoga<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0jnana. Charya<\/em>\u00a0is good conduct and humble service, attending the temple and helping with temple chores. Here, the main work is harnessing the instincts and developing virtuous qualities.\u00a0Kriya<\/em>\u00a0is the stage of devotion, or love of God, expressed through home puja and temple worship.\u00a0Yoga<\/em>\u00a0is the period of meditation and inner striving under a guru\u2019s guidance. At this stage, the temple is a sacred space for contemplation as Siva\u2019s veiling power gives way to His revealing grace.\u00a0Jnana<\/em>\u00a0is the wisdom state, where the realized soul sees himself as one with the temple Deity. These stages are also experienced in each lifetime. As children, we learn good conduct, as summarized in the yamas and niyamas. Then we are taught worship, expressing heart-melting devotion for God, Gods and guru. Next, we may learn to meditate, with the goal of gaining true wisdom. The four padas are not alternate ways, but progressive steps on a one path called San Marga. Nor does the soul give up the practices of one pada when it enters the next. Thus the mature soul in jnana is a paragon of wisdom, yoga, devotion and virtue. The greatest yogis still love and worship Siva.\u00a7<\/a><\/p>\n GURUDEVA:<\/small><\/strong>\u00a0Some people think, \u201cWhen you get to the yoga stage, you don\u2019t have to do the worship, you don\u2019t have to do the service. You just do the yoga.\u201d In our Saiva Siddhanta philosophy, when you get to the yoga stage and the jnana stage, you still enjoy the worship, you still enjoy the service. These are dear and intricate parts of your life.\u00a7<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Four stages define the path which we follow, one after the other. Unlike this hiker who leaves one rock behind to step onto the next, we keep the previous stages alive as we stride forward.\u00a7 SHUTTERSTOCK\u00a7 When created by Lord Siva, the soul is young and immature. Its process of \u201cgrowing up\u201d over many lifetimes happens in four stages. This is much like the development of a lotus flower. First it sends its roots into the pond\u2019s mud, then it grows a stem and leaves that reach the water\u2019s surface. Finally it blossoms in the full sun. Yet each previous <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-path-to-siva-a-catechism-for-youth","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.revers-sun.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u00a7<\/a><\/p>\n