is always and eternally separate from Shiva. One
can realize one’s Shiva nature at the core of one’s
soul, but souls are eternally separate from one
another and separate from Shiva. In this sense
Saiva Siddhanta is a completely dualistic system.
Pashu is the individual self that strives to realize
its “Shiva nature.” Pasha are the bonds of KARMA
that hold one. Knowing one’s Shiva nature confers
liberation from birth and rebirth. Shiva can be
realized only by worship, knowledge, and the aid
of a GURU.
Saiva Siddhanta is characterized by its abject
devotion and the sense of helplessness of the indi-
vidual self in the face of a supreme that it can only
understand, but with which it can never merge.
Grace plays an important role in Saiva Siddhanta.
There is an element of the system that speaks of
Shiva/SHAKTI, or the divine masculine/divine femi-
nine, which constitutes the totality of Shiva; this
differs from the similar tantric idea, in which there
is a complete identity between the level of the soul
and the ultimate.
Further reading: S. N. Dasgupta, History of Indian
Philosophy, vol. 5 (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1975);
T. M. P. Mahadevan, The Idea of God in Saiva-Siddhanta
(Madras: Annamalai University, 1955); S. N. Singara-
velu, Glimpses of Saiva Siddhanta (Madras: Saiva Sid-
dhanta Perumanram, 1992).
Saiva Siddhanta Church (est. 1957)
Founded in 1957 in San Francisco, California,
by Satguru SUBRAMUNIYASWAMI (1927–2001), the
Saiva Siddhanta Church promotes temple worship
and propagates the teachings of SHAIVITE Hindu-
ism through a temple/school complex.
The church serves Shaivism worldwide by
initiating monks, publishing the writings of Sub-
ramuniyaswami and other Shaivite teachers, lead-
ing pilgrimages to holy sites of Shaivism, and
promoting the study of Hinduism among Hindus
and non-Hindus. Since 1957, centers have been
established throughout the world. The Sri Subra-
muniya Ashram in Alaveddy, Sri Lanka, begun in
1949 by Subramuniyaswami, serves the needs of
the Shaivite community near Jaffna.
In the first years of the church in San Fran-
cisco, monastics lived in apartments near the
church on Sacramento Street and were self-sup-
porting. Later, as the church grew, monks were
able to live lives of cloistered study.
At their inception, the temple and school in
San Francisco offered Hindu education through
classes taught by Subramuniyaswami. The church
transcribed and printed the lectures and sermons
of their leader and disseminated these in a series
of lessons, called the San Marga Master Course.
As part of its mission to promote contemporary
understanding of Shaivism’s scriptures and teach-
ings, the church also established the Himalayan
Academy, its publishing house. Today the SAN-
NYASIS (renunciants) of the church design, typeset,
and illustrate the publications of the Himalayan
Academy in Kapaa, Hawaii.
Temple worship is fundamental to Shaivite
practice and has been central in the history of the
church. Worshippers are encouraged to develop
devotion (BHAKTI) to the congregation in each
family’s shrine room, and in daily life. In addi-
tion to the Ganesha Temple, dedicated in 1957
in San Francisco, California, Subramuniyaswami
founded Kadavul Hindu Temple at Kauai Aad-
heenam on the island of Kauai on March 12, 1973.
A number of images of deities from the Shaivite
tradition are in the temples, and PUJA is celebrated
several times each day. All major Shaivite festival
days are observed through the year.
Publications include a partial translation in
American English of Saint Tiruvalluvar’s Tiru-
kural, a book on Lord GANESHA, a progressive
four-part series of premonastic and monastic vows
concluding with the vow of SANNYAS (total renun-
ciation), and a catechism and creed for Shaivite
Hindus, which are Lessons One and Two of the
San Marga Master Course.
In the early years of the church, families lived
largely in and around the city of San Francisco,K 376 Saiva Siddhanta Church