sat chit ananda

~Shiva Nataraja~
Lord Shiva
in the dance of ALL
is seen with His consciousness
emanating and taking form
through His aspect as the
Goddess Shakti (flames)

शिव 
Shiva

Shiva is one of God's given, "proper" names. It means "auspicious one." Auspicious means promising success, opportune, favorable; an auspicious occasion.

Paramashiva refers to Shiva as Universal Consciousness. "Parama" means supreme.

~ ... ~ ... ~ ... ~ ... ~ ... ~ ... ~

सच्चिदानन्द
sat chit ananda
being consciousness bliss

These three words fill me with ecstatic delight! They describe my Beloved. There is no more basic description of God. He is being, consciousness and bliss.

Being

God is, has being. God exists, "sat." Sat is eternal; it never changes. Sat is real. Everything is real, and made out of...

Consciousness

Everything is made of God's consciousness (chit). Everything. There is nothing that is not God. The creative consciousness (power) of God is often worshiped as feminine, as the Devi (Goddess), who is chit shakti, literally "conscious (divine) energy." She moves, she does. She is what all this is made of. Jaya Shiva Devi.

If everything is real, then what is illusion? Illusion is seeing many where there is only One. This is a part of the play.

God is free in every way. He chooses to contract his consciousness into the many forms of the universe. Eventually he takes it all back, dissolving it back into himself. Eventually he begins again. Why? Because it pleases him. Everything I do pleases God, pleases my true Self. Then... offering what I do to him creates a shower of delicious bliss. Then this... finding him inside myself is the eternal fountain of supreme bliss.

Bliss

The nature of Paramashiva is bliss. Why does music bring about bliss? Dance? Art? Parenthood? Where does the bliss come from?

Bliss that is uncovered during situations in life can be claimed at the source, where it has no beginning and end. To identify with Shiva as my Beloved and my true Self is... bliss.

~ ... ~ ... ~ ... ~ ... ~ ... ~ ... ~

"Shiva can be understood in a more personalised and abstract sense. Abstractly, it stands for Brahma, the 'Absolute,' and may, in this sense, be prefixed by Parama, meaning the 'highest' or 'supreme.' This is the transcendental aspect of Shiva.

Shiva Shakti

"The 'power' or 'energy' of Shiva [remember chit? consciousness??] is characterised as a feminine consort, Shakti. Although Shiva and Shakti are often represented as distinct deities, they may best be understood as the static and dynamic poles of the creative process. Shakti is not separate from Shiva. It is his consciousness, the intensity, power and purpose to create."

 ~ Shiva as the Central Theme of Hatha Yoga, (Indianetzone)