Many sages, each with their own convictions, have sought to describe the Supreme Lord, Shiva. Some declare him to be constant, unchanging through all time, while others insist he is inconstant, ever shifting. Some see him as formless, beyond all shapes and boundaries, while others perceive him as possessing form. There are those who say Shiva is invisible, hidden from all eyes, while others know him to be visible, manifesting in myriad ways. Some claim he can be expressed in words, while others maintain he is utterly inexpressible. To some, he is of the nature of sound; to others, he exists beyond sound itself. Some regard him as made of pure thought, others say he is free from all thought. Some declare him to be knowledge incarnate, others describe him as consciousness itself. For some, Shiva is knowable, accessible to the mind; for others, he remains unknowable, beyond all comprehension. Some call him the supreme, the one beyond all, while others say he is the other, distinct from the supreme. Thus, despite these many distinctions and descriptions, the true nature of the Supreme Lord remains undetermined among the sages, obscured by the diversity of their convictions. Yet, those who surrender themselves completely to the Supreme Lord, offering their whole being, effortlessly come to know Shiva, the ultimate cause. Bound by the fetters of ignorance, beings remain trapped in suffering, turning endlessly within the cycle of existence, much like the rim of a wheel in motion. But when an ignorant person shakes off both virtue and vice, he becomes stainless, attaining the highest equality. The bondage of the atomic self does not arise from Shiva. It is produced only by Māyā, by nature, or by knowledge, taking the form of ego. Shiva is untouched by mental bondage, by bondage of consciousness, or of the senses. He is not bound by the subtle or gross elements—not at all. Neither time nor its divisions, neither knowledge nor destiny, neither attachment nor aversion bind the infinitely radiant Shambhu. He has no fixation, nor do good or bad actions bind him, nor their results, nor the pleasure and pain that arise from them. He is not connected by intentions, nor by the impressions of actions, nor by enjoyments, nor by impressions of enjoyments, nor by anything pertaining to past, present, or future. Shiva has no cause, no agent, no beginning, no end, no intermediary; neither action nor instrument nor object nor result exists for him. He has neither friend nor foe, neither controller nor instigator; neither master nor teacher nor protector, neither superior nor equal. He is untouched by birth or death, by desires or undesires, by injunctions or prohibitions, by liberation or bondage. Whatever is inauspicious never exists for him at any time; all auspiciousness is ever present, for Shiva is the supreme Self. Established in everything by his own powers, Shiva remains unshaken in his own nature; thus, he is called the immovable. Since the entire world—both stationary and moving—is established by Shiva, he is remembered as Sarva, the one of all forms. Knowing this, one is never deluded. Salutations are offered to Sharva, Rudra, the supreme, the great Person, golden-armed, the blessed one, golden-lord and ruler. He is the Lord of Ambikā, Īśāna, bearer of the Pināka bow, riding the bull, the one Rudra, the supreme Brahman, the Person, dark and tawny. He is to be contemplated in the center of the heart, as small as the tip of a young grass blade, within the space of the heart—golden-haired, lotus-eyed, reddish and coppery. This god descends, gentle, with a blue neck, golden, serene, terrible, mixed, imperishable, immortal, and undecaying. He is the supreme Person, the blessed one, destroyer of death; free from consciousness and unconsciousness, transcending all manifestation, beyond the highest. Because of Shiva’s unsurpassed nature, the wise declare that his knowledge and sovereignty are supreme, and that he stands as the highest among all lords. At the beginning of each cosmic cycle, it is he alone who instructs the vast expanse of scripture to the Brahmas who arise with each creation, all of whom are subject to the limitations of time. Even among teachers bound by time, Shiva is the teacher of all; he is the Lord of all lords, transcending the bounds of time. His power is pure and inherent, surpassing all; his knowledge is incomparable and eternal, and his form is absolutely self-fashioned. His sovereignty is without equal, his bliss is supreme, his strength, radiance, might, patience, and compassion are all unsurpassed. For the one who is complete, there is no personal purpose in creation and the like; the sole fruit of all his actions is the welfare of others. The syllable Om is the uttered name of Shiva, the supreme Self. Among words like Shiva and Rudra, Om is indeed considered the highest. From the utterance of Om, which expresses Shambhu, the supreme attainment is surely gained by its recitation—of this there is no doubt. Therefore, those who have mastered the scriptures call the one-syllabled Lord as such, recognizing the unity of the signifier and the signified, as do the wise. Its components are declared to be four in the head of the Veda: the sounds 'a', 'u', and 'ma', and also the resonance (nāda). The 'a' is said to be the Rig Veda, the 'u' is called the Yajur Veda, the 'ma' is the Sāman, and the resonance is remembered as the Atharvan. 'A' is the great seed, rajas, and the creator with four faces; 'u' is nature, the womb, sattva, and the preserver, Hari. 'Ma' is the person, the seed, tamas, and the destroyer, Hara; the resonance is the supreme Lord, beyond qualities and action, Shiva. All this, in its entirety, is expressed by these three syllables; by the half-syllable, he reveals the Self of Shiva. There is nothing beyond him, nothing smaller or greater; like a tree standing firm in the sky, by him alone is all this filled, by the Supreme Person. His power is inherent, his knowledge unique in the universe; it shines forth in manifold forms, like the radiance of the sun.