Namaste,

Thank you again to everyone in their willingness to help me understand things in context.

I really enjoyed this text. It seems that in this text that Shaiva not seen primarily as a destroyer at all. Briefly he is described as a destroyer of evil or as both a creator and destroyer; lord of all things.

Is Shaiva depicted as more a destructive entity in other texts, perhaps some of the epics? Or did westerns just completely misrepresent him?

I have arranged to visit a local temple on Friday and plan to spend some time in meditation there, assuming that is okay. I don't know if mantra chanting is okay. What would you all recommend as far as how to allow for experiencing Shaiva's presence through a temple visit?

Thanks, Liang