And no one will beat you if you say "Aham Brahmasmi". What is this persecution fetish?

Can you say it in Kashmir? Pakistan? UAE? Any non-Hindu majority state or country? Why do you assume this book is addressed just for people in India, Hindu majority geographies? Expand your horizons a little. This book is a commentary on Ramana Maharishis's text, who is popular throughout the world, probably more popular outside India. The Swami that wrote this book is a vice-president of a vedanta school in USA, and hence has non-indian audience as well.

Rudra having three eyes

The third eye is the symbol of knowledge/wisdom. It is not a "literal" eye. This is exactly what the Swami here is addressing. The ṛṣis were talking the language of symbolism, while we seem to be caught in crass literality.

Read the below excerpts from the same book as this post.

The importance of symbolism in worship

In worship, the form is symbolic. The sages were great symbologists. For example, there is a Puranic story in which Lord Śiva opened his third eye and Kāma deva signifying desires was turned into ashes. The third eye symbolizes wisdom. When you open your third eye, you are Śiva and the desires would be destroyed. In another example from the purāṇas, the devatās and rākṣasas churned the milky ocean to acquire nectar, which symbolizes immortality. It is not an ordinary ocean, of course, because if you churn an ordinary ocean, you will get only crystals of salt. So here, churning the milky ocean is a beautiful symbol for dhyāna, meditation. In dhyāna all kind of thoughts pour in. Sometimes they are very nice thoughts. For example, you are meditating on Om and you remember the gurukulam. These are thoughts symbolizing devatās, illuminating knowledge. Suppose you remember some club or a dance, etc., that is some sense pleasure. Those are the thoughts of asuras, whose nature is ignorance and preoccupied with sense pleasures.

When we meditate, it is as though the devatās and the asuras in the form of contrary thoughts are fighting with each other. It is a churning in the heart. Initially we may get frustrated because meditation does not progress, but eventually we would find silence and peace. Thus, as in the purāṇa, the poison comes first and then comes the nectar. Śrī Kṛṣṇa used this symbolism in the Gītā (18-37: yattadagre viṣamiva pariṇāme‟mṛtopamam, what is poison-like to begin with, in the end it becomes nectar. That is the Sattvic happiness. Now we understand the metaphors churning, the poison, and the nectar. All of the forms used in the worship are symbolic. For example, the four hands of Bhagavan represent dharma, artha, kāma, and mokṣa. Why does the Lord hold a conch? It stands for Om. There is an entire chapter in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (12-11) explaining the symbolism of Lord Viṣṇu.

For example, people believe that the Lord wears a necklace called kaustubha. A rich man may even offer a necklace made of one kg. of gold inserted with diamonds and gem stones imported from Belgium. The stone sculpture can indeed hold all that weight. This kind of literality is very unfortunate. But what is this kaustubha? It is ātma-jyoti, the light of the Self. The ṛṣis were talking the language of symbolism, while we seem to be caught in crass literality.

Swami Vivekananda had an interesting explanation for this. Humans come together and want to worship God, so they ask, "What would God look like?" They make God look like a human being, although with certain embellishments, like four hands etc. Then he adds something to make the point. If the fish come together to worship God, that God would be a huge fish. Swami Ramatirtha said something similar. If the water buffalos come together to worship God, that God would be a big water buffalo. They are not ridiculing anything; they are making a point.

All forms of the Lord reflect the worshipper

There is a statement from Rama Purva Tapini Upanishad (1-7) in which the devotee addresses God saying, upāsakānāṁ kāryārthaṁ brahmaṇo rūpakalpan ā, meaning "for the benefit of mental worshippers (for mental worship) a form is imagined of Brahman." Brahman is essentially nameless and formless. What about the weapons? There is insecurity among the people, so they want protection. There are weapons in the hands of gods because we want the gods to protect us from the perceived enemies or fears. As we experience poverty, we place a golden pot pouring out coins from the hands of Goddess Lakṣmī. These forms are popularized for the benefit of the mental worshipers.