Scientific perspectives on rebirth

This paper is concerned with the way in which monistic ?aiva ideas about the body relate to religious practices. For the ?aiva monist, the body is both identical with the pure consciousness of ?iva and is a result of the projection of his consciousness as the hierarchical cosmos. This paper examines how these ideas are reflected in ?aiva religious practices focused on the body, which intend to realize the body as divine. In this connection ?aiva visionary yoga and the transformation of emotion and instinct are considered. But perhaps the most striking and controversial use of the body is in the practices of the esoteric ?aiva liturgy, which uses desire as a means of expanding consciousness beyond the limits prescribed by vedic orthodoxy.