In Shiva Yoga, Mark Griffin guides a full-day Intensive in deity yoga—a devotional-technological practice that uses the same inner mechanics as Guru Yoga, but places Shiva (specifically Bhairava, the wrathful universal form) in the “prime seat” at sahasrara (the crown).

He frames Shiva-Shakti as the living current of the lineage—connected through Bhagawan Muktananda and Nityananda—and describes Shiva’s signature as centrifugal dispersion: power arising from the center and spreading in all directions. The day’s transmission is organized through Bhairava’s “speech” as five rays (the fivefold powers of God):

1. Creation (origin)
2. Maintenance (sustaining)
3. Withdrawal (dissolution of form into emptiness)
4. Veiling (maya; apparent separation of creator and creation)
5. Grace (Shaktipat; awakening / illumination)

A central practical emphasis is orientation: in most kundalini narratives, Shakti rises to unite with Shiva; in Shiva Yoga the movement begins at the top—Shiva is drawn to the crown and pours downward through sushumna, saturating the system and kindling kundalini at the base. The practice is stabilized by deep bellows breath and the SoHam polarity: So resonant at the base of the spine, Ham at the crown, with the living space between.

Griffin structures the Intensive as a “mystical conversation” with clear stages—like visiting a powerful host and entering with good manners:

• Initiation: clear obstacles and generate the mandala internally/externally; establish contact at sahasrara.
• Development: deepen the conversation as Shiva’s grace descends and the channels open.
• Resolution of opposites: arouse kundalini so descending Shiva and rising Shakti move simultaneously, turning the whole being into a field of points of resolution along ida, pingala, and sushumna.
• Completion: release the samyama (the held linkage of concentration/meditation/interconnection), let go of attachment to both the deity-connection and personal identity, and allow attention to flow into emptiness—the underlying unifying force beneath all formation.

The closing teaching is subtle but firm: the final stage is not just “ending” the session; it is parting correctly—releasing the psychic link, allowing the yoga’s energy to remain within you, and sealing the work through dedication (offering the virtues of the practice for the benefit of all beings), alongside a personal moment of prayer, vow, and gratitude.

In Griffin’s presentation, deity yoga is a rapid method: intimacy with a higher plane “uplifts” the practitioner toward the deity’s level, not by belief, but by sustained contact—until the relationship becomes absolute merging.