Monism of Siva according to Linga Purana (Chapter 75)

In a question and answer session, a guru asks the question of Niskala, Nirmala, and Nitya 

Siva who becomes Sakala Siva or assumes Sakalatva (State full of attributes). Niskala = no parts

or attributes; Nirmala = devoid of impurities; Nitya = eternal.

Suuta (Suta) says Siva is Pranava and Vijnana (Om and knowledge). The heaven constitutes

his head; the sky his umbilicus; the moon, the sun and the stars his eyes; the quarters his

ears; the nether worlds his feet; the ocean his clothing; Devas his arms; the constellation his

ornaments; Prakrti his consort; and Purusa his Linga. The Brahmins, Brahma, Indra, and Vishnu

came forth from his mouth; the Ksatriyas his thighs; and Sudras feet. Puskara Avartaka

(personified lotus cloud) and other clouds are his hairs. The winds took their birth from his nose.

The Sruti and Smrti are his gait. 

Saiva Siddhanta concepts expressed here are derived from Sivagnana Bhodam and Tiruvarutpayan.

According to Saiva belief, Mahadeva (The Great God, Supreme Siva) destroys the universe, beings, gods including Brahma, Vishnu and Siva (adjunct status of the same Gods). Saiva Siddhantists consider Supreme Siva, Paraparam (Beyond the Beyond, Supreme Supreme) as their God of gods; lesser Siva, one of the Holy Triumvirate, is a mere god of the triad. The students from the west believe that Saiva Siddhantists selectively elevated the status of Siva of the earlier Triad to the Super-supreme status. Supreme Siva (Param, Sivam) stays, while Brahma and Vishnu come and go in this and many other countless universes.

The Suddha Tattvas encompass the entire gamut of Siva's presence in Arupa, Rupa-Arupa and Rupa forms. Sivam and Sakti holding Nada and Bindu respectively come under Arupa form; Sadasiva, RupaArupa; and Mahesvara with his surrogates (Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra), Rupa.   

Henotheists of Hindu religion are of the belief that Siva and Vishnu are of equal status, though Siva and Vishnu may stride up and down the parallel hierarchal ladders of their respective sects; Siva and Vishnu do not knock each other's ladder for supremacy; they switch their relative vertical positions with amity according to the sects.

1. The world consists of He, She, and It, which are subject to three events: appearance, preservation and dissolution (birth, life and death). There is an agent behind these events. The agent of dissolution removes Anava mala (ego, ignorance and failure of the soul to know that Para Siva is the hypostasis) from the individual Pasu and confers liberation; persistence of Anava Mala results in rebirth. He (the agent) alone is the Supreme Being.

2. Maya and Karma are the unwelcome companions of the soul during life. Maya is like a mire; the soul acquires the body when it enters the mire of Maya; the embodied soul wallows in the mire of Maya during life and obtains release from it upon death. The soul may come back into the mire again and again or receives grace and eternal freedom, once Anava Malas are  expunged. (Author's input.) The Supreme Being is the exclusive agent or warden of Panchakritya (five functions), which brings him so close to the individual souls that he and they form a close-knit unit; yet, He is unattached. He is endowed with Will, Knowledge and Action by which he subjects the embodied souls to birth, life and death. In life, they enjoy or suffer the fruits of their Karma. S

3. Maya confers a body to the soul by virtue of its Tattvas (building blocks). The embodied soul, because of the five senses, enjoys the world during waking state; it is aware of dreams but has vague memory of them; it neither feels hunger, nor eats, nor acts during deep sleep.

4. The soul is neither an internal organ, nor a shroud of ego. It perceives by the internal organs, just as a king knows the state of his kingdom through his ministers. Soul maintains the same relationship when it comes to five states of consciousness: wakefulness, dream sleep, deep sleep, Turiya, and Turiyatita.

Go to BG Chapter 12 Devotion for explanation.

5. The perceiving senses carry messages from the external objects to the mind. The senses have no knowledge of either the external object or the soul; the latter perceives through the mind and the senses. Soul knows neither itself nor God.  As magnet moves and draws the iron, God's Grace moves and draws the soul, though he remains immutable.

6. God is unchangeable and eternal Sat. God can never be an object of knowledge; He is Siva-Sat.

There are three kinds of knowledge: Pati-jnana, Pasu-jnana, and Pasa-jnana; these are based on the trilateral relationship between Pati, Pasu and Pasa. Pati is the Lord, Pasu is the individual soul, and Pasa is bondage imposed by the sense organs. He is beyond the perception of Pasajnanam and Pasujnanam; therefore, he is called Siva. Since he is knowable only by Patijnanam, he is Sat, Siva-Sat or Cit-Sat. Pasajnanam is lower knowledge acquired by the soul through sense organs derived from Maya in Sakala State. Higher knowledge is Patijnanam; the lower cannot reach the Higher; the lower cannot comprehend the Higher; therefore, it is pasajnanam, which is not really Jnana or knowledge. Since Pasajnanam is considered in the context of Patijnanam, it received this misnomer.

1. IruL, darkness. We are pulled by the passions of the world and Pasa (impurities) and that centrifugal pull is Pasajnanam, the pull or knowledge of pasa (fetters or bond)  also known as IRUL (darkness). Knowledge derived of the world is pasajnanam, which has no value for liberation.

2. Marul, confusion. Tugged by God (Siva) and the world, the soul is confused and becomes introspective and looks within for self-knowledge or knowledge of its own nature. This is Pasujnanam, or introspective knowledge, which causes confusion in the choice the soul has to make.

3. Arul, Grace. The soul has won over Irul and Marul, gave up darkness and confusion, seeks knowledge of Pati, the Chief, the God, or Siva and receives Grace.  This is Patijnanam.

Human bondage and senses (Pasa) cannot comprehend him; the soul (Pasu) that is burdened with Malas and senses cannot comprehend him; one with Pati knowledge (knowledge of the Supreme Siva, Brahma Vidya) can comprehend him.  Monism of Siva according to Linga Purana (Chapter 75)

Monism of Siva according to Linga Purana (Chapter 75)

In a question and answer session, a guru asks the question of Niskala, Nirmala, and Nitya  Siva becomes Sakala Siva

or assumes Sakalatva (State full of attributes). Niskala = no parts or attributes; Nirmala = devoid of impurities;

Nitya = eternal.

http://tamilmagazines.net/aanmegamalar-weekly-march-4-2017

All-pervasive, outside of himself, not knowing anything other than himself, Sivam worshipping himself, abiding in a highly spiritual temple in the middle of Madurai offers prosperity and welfare to his devotees.

The Tattva is the all-pervasive Sivam in his disguise performs Lila and finds himself. Ātmapūja as stated in the Upanishad is the Tattva shown by Siva in this temple. This lofty Tattva of non-dual state (monism) transcends Time and Space (காலப்பெருவெளி) and presents itself in the form of a mere Liñga, representing a fragment of peerless Guru in this temple.  This is the temple where graceful Siva himself shows how to worship İsa.  Ekan Anekan Iraivanadi Vazka = ஏகன் அநேகன் இறைவனடி வாழ்க = He is one and many = homage to god's feet): God in conformity with these words presents himself as Lord Somasundarar, king Sundara-Pandiyan, Liñga form and Mīnākshī's consort.

Generally, in Siva temples, worship of Liṅga form is the rule. Here God Somasundarar joins Mīnākshī in the worship of his own Ātma-Liñga in the sanctum sanctorum: This is rare anywhere else.  Liñga's Gomukhī is usually on the left side. Here in the sanctum sanctorum, Sundareśvarar looks at Mīnākshī in the Lingam depiction. This temple is noted for its Murthy Sthalam and Tirtha Sthalam.  The deities are Jura Hara Lingam, Brahma, Kālabhairavar... Presiding Amman plays a dual role of Naduvur Nāyaki and Madyapuri Nāyaki in two separate shrines.