I sit in the presence of the LordI see just divine beauty
A serene look to his chamber
Wetness, warmth, stillness within
Yet in this silence
Lies subtle grandeur
Lord Shiva sits in deep silence
Upon his linga pedestal
There is beauty in his form
There is beauty in his being
There is calm in his vicinity
His aura is honey sweet
His self glows alive
In the lamp light of my heart
This beauty that i see
A single path to divinity
We stare at each other
There is only silence between us
Not a sound to come in between
Not a human to intervene
Such a state is so divine
That only the mind can create
A door that opens within my head
To allow the Lord to enter.
I am left speechless
I see his many signs
I know he is here to protect
I know he is real
I am waiting for my turn
To leave this world of misery
There is more to His world
There is more that I can see
I sing this divine tune
Listen to it if you can
I can only tell you
There is some truth to His divine plan
I have no words to explain
I have only experiences to deliver
If you can realize the potency of this truth
You are blessed to be here.
I sit here silent in deep contemplation, outside is the war of faiths, a war I do not know who started. One kind kills, another converts and yet a third has forgotten the meaning of tolerance. And then I look at us, people in their daily lives, and wonder why no one makes the time to realize passionately the beauty of the Lord within. Surely the Gods are not political figures.
High stress lives, fight for survival and an endless rat race, the destination of which I still do not know. Yet to be in this society, is to be stuck in this vicious whirlpool of emotions, desires, powers and wealth, like a thoughtless herd of cattle, everything guided towards self assertion, self worth and self proclamation.
And yet there is a simpler approach, not so tangible but workable. It is a path of dedication, sincerity to none other than the self and far more virtuous. It involves just one thing, Prana pratishta of the mind which is a conscious effort to be in a state of meditation and regularly contemplate on the character of the chosen deity, till one becomes Him/Her…all this while we still grind through our lives.
On the one hand the mind dwells on the day’s activities, and on the other hand it slips into simple contemplation of Sada Shiva, of Isana, Tatpurusha, Vamadeva, Aghora… two worlds working in the mind simultaneously yet belonging to the same visible reality. How then do we describe the real within our perception? The mind, that which controls all of us, will listen if we teach it consciously and systematically.
And when the discipline sets in, we realize the presence of the other world, full of beauty and appreciations (these are experiences to me, but just words that you read right now). This is a state where every mantra has the hidden beat of the mrydangam embedded in it, where every syllable delivers the divine picture of the Lord in graceful dance, every drop of realization leads us back to the silent garbha griha within our imagination and makes it real and every beeja mantra wakes the potency of the divine within us. How then can it be ignored or be proved until we step into it on our own? Our ancestors only tried to recreate that, tried to teach us methods and disciplines for faster spiritual growth, tried to envision the supreme being that they saw and yet it doesn’t seem to make sense anymore… because we created the limitations in our minds.
If we do not apply ourselves, we have no one else to blame. If we do not make the time now… it’s going to be too late. This puzzle takes a lifetime or more to solve and any amount of reading is not enough. Application is the key, action is key, passion and sincerity is key and for all this, realization of its value is key.
Photo courtesy: Michel Rojo, flickr.com
23 comments:
Kavitha, The Yogis, that is, the 'wise' people, say like Buddha, who apparently dared to do in-depth studies - despite resistance from the infinite other varieties of apparent human beliefs and behaviours - and reached the essence/ the central idea of human life, realized existence of immortal creator (described by the word ‘Shiva’, which is opposite of ‘visha’ the poison that is responsible for mortality) within the ‘self’…
However, naturally inefficinet physical senses and analytical power were believed to be responsible for the variety that one apparently sees and comes to believe – and expressed as ‘Maya’ that is illusion - and, therefore, they advised firm faith and belief in the one and only one Formless - call It by any name!
Joshi Uncle,
Isnt this true beauty in one's own worship.
That we do not wish to propagate. That we feel that true love and surrender is enough.
That we feel experiencing divinity's various forms and nuances of character is more than enough
That the blessing of going beyond all other humans is so private that it cannot be taught in a mass
That the journey is actually so lonely that it doesnt matter who thought what
That the essence of this truth is getting mixed with how to live principles?
IF only we knew the "what" we would concentrate so much on the "how"
This bliss a feeling so ever lasting, such a divine high, that the world really falls flat in front of its potency.
Regards
Kavitha
Kavitha, The basic problem with human race at any time appears to be that no character ever seems to have understood His purpose, that is the purpose of the unique formless Creator, who is represented in physical form by Trimurty Shiva the three-in-one God, in the eternal drama on earth…
Even in the Gita, when Arjuna (model in Dwaperyuga of yet to be fully evolved Sun to one-third aspect of Trimurty Shiva, i.e., Brahma the Creator - at the end of Satyuga only) asks Krishna (model in Dwaperyuga of the Centre of our galaxy) why he continued to work every second when he said he had nothing new to achieve in either of the three worlds?
He is indicated to have replied that as he represented Vishnu the Preserver (the other one-third of Trimurty), he did so because if he were to stop working the entire universe (being dependent on him) would collapse and he would then become the Destroyer (the role that believably is performed by the third one-third, that is Shiva, the mrityulok, or Earth, that eternally supports ever changing temporary life forms)…
The Gita indicates the only purpose of human life on earth to seek the Formless Creator and His physical forms. In the view-point of the wise ancients, the Formless being unseen, a dot, is possible to be felt at any time, but only through the ‘sixth sense’, if properly cultivated, say through Yogic ‘exercises’ – however it normally remains beyond physical senses of the masses at large, particularly during Kaliyuga…
Thus ‘Time’, Mahakal, is believed to be the nodal point around which the drama revolves eternally…no one knowing what He the all knowing seeks!
The above-mentioned three-in-one God, or Trimurty Shiva, or Brahma-Vishnu-Mahesh, with the loveable character Krishna the ‘makhan chor’ (literally the one who liked butter, i.e., the essence of cow’s milk and, therefore, the friend of milk-maids and cowboys of Mathura), and still believed as Vishnu’s representative who is thus indicated as responsible for the ‘samudra-manthan’ or ‘churning of the milky ocean’ indicates importance given by ‘wise ancients’ to our galaxy of innumerable heavenly bodies, stars and planets etc., that revolve around its centre for billions of years...
Also, in the present, it is believed that our galaxy houses a super gravity ‘black hole’, which thus relates Krishna (meaning ‘black’/ kala or ‘kali’, indicated as believably the ‘destructive force’ that resides in the heart of Shiva that is immortal earth) of Hindu Mythology, the ‘light of thousand suns’, with the heavenly body that is known as ‘black hole’ today, which thus contains our solar system, believably as the essence of the universe…
And, man, although temporary and existing for a negligible time, a soap-bubble-like existence, on earth is indicated bye the ‘wise ancients’ as a model of the universe, which is believably formed with the essence of the members of the solar system…
In view of above, it is thanks to a grand design that ‘you’ and ‘I’, temporary characters are given an opportunity to realize the omnipotent and omnipresent Formless God whose models we believably are – only if we evince interest in Him!
With the creator as Nadbindu, the point source of infinite sound energy located at the centre of the earth, at the back of one’s mind, ‘India’, with Kashi on the banks of Holy River Gaga on the surface of earth as the origin, is indicated by ‘wise ancients Hindus’ as the nodal point for development of human race.
Also, Yogis who withdrew to the isolation of the Himalayas (reflecting heaven n earth) realized human structure - believed as an essence or model of the universe, i.e., the enlarged form of the Creator in physical form – to be composed of the essences of selected members of our solar system, from Sun to Jupiter, with essence of Saturn the beautiful ring-planet as the Supreme Judge representing Sudershan-chakra-dhari Vishnu of the Hindu Mythology…
The exercise was apparently done by them to reach the formless within each temporary form, which was eventually resulted in Yogic exercises that believably helped develop the personality of each individual along the three axes of development called physical, mental and spiritual…
From the existing variety in ‘Nature’ They realized how the Formless has apparently is an all-rounder, a perfect one, that is, expert in all subjects, called a Siddha…
In view of the above, they also realized that to reach Him, any individual also must reflect similar characteristics, that is attempt acquiring ‘siddhi’ (expressed through ‘reading between lines’ and drawing the essence from the various possible interpretations), not expertise in just one or a few limited subjects only…However, no one was restricted from expressing his/ her views on any subject for the benefit of the patient one/ teh 'wise' who could tehn reach the essence!
Nothing in nature is useless, and everything is serving some useful purpose, and thus the saying, "They also serve who stand and stare."
One who is interested in ‘Truth’ is required to basically be aware that the ‘Nature’ is dynamic and ever changing. Thus it is clear that earth must not have been what it appears today – beautiful appearing at certain places and ugly at another. Of course, “Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.” Therefore, what looks ‘good’/ ‘beautiful’ to ‘you’ might appear ‘ugly’/ ‘bad’ to ‘me’, because the Creator/ ‘wise’ alone are all knowing/ more knowledgeable – absolute in respect of the Creator and relatively speaking in so far as us humans are concerned!
It is this apparent hierarchy that is the cause of confusion and a general feeling due to lack of knowledge that whatever appears easy to comprehend for one appears difficult to another! This phenomenon was expressed by the Yogis to happen on account of information/ energy, although recorded in all human forms - but at different levels or ‘chakras’/ ‘bandhas’ that is ‘locks’ – failing to reach the head…
Of course, they also researched and different sages suggested different approaches to overcome the hurdles created by the essence of planets that are ‘unfriendly’ to the concerned, although the ‘friendly’ ones are relatively weaker…The present day physicians also speak from experience that ‘constructive’ and ‘destructive’ forces work constantly throughout one’s life. And, only when ‘destructive forces’ become dominant, one ‘dies’…of course, they haven’t reached the stage of overcoming ‘death’ (release of soul imprisoned within temporary form – as per ‘Hindus’), although the ‘west’ is engaged in all out efforts to reach the cause of death and, therefore, ways to gain immortality!
One finds coloured, precious or semi-precious, gemstones/ garments being sported in 'India' for long.
Essence of the above thought could perhaps be seen in the ancients indicating human actions to originate in head (‘sahasrara chakra’) as thought, i.e., the action of conscious planning etc is apparently performed ‘mansa’, which might or might not result in performance of physical action by the lower body that utilizes, as tools, hands or feet etc...
Physical inaction (rest/ sleep), or action (karma), performed based on the thoughts is indicated to be attributed to the ‘commander’ or the leader, housed at the ‘Ajna chakra’ (or the ‘third eye’ - of Shiva the green earth)...
However, the thought might find ‘vacha’ that is verbal output - in prayer/ command depending on who is addressed…
Thus action was believed to be either mansa (thought), or karma (physical action), or vacha (speech) that utilizes the sound box provided in the throat, which is believed to be the house of essence of planet Venus (Shukra, and Shukracharya is believed to be the Guru of Rakshashas, crudely translated as 'demons')…Thus the ancients attributed the shortcoming in humans to get reflected through the tongue (‘Rasna ka dosh’) because of the presence of essence of a planet in the throat that is associated with Blue colour, Kartikeya's blue coloured peacock vehicle/ Neelamber Krishna when he was yet to be evolved to Peetamber stage, Yellow colour, considered as Guru, which is, however, associated with Ma Durga, or moon whose essence is believably housed in the head, the top most pedestal offered to Mother…
Best wishes to all on the occasion of 'Navratri'!
Navaratri wishes to you too Joshi Uncle and every one who visits the blog.
The association of color with various deities is very intriguing as am yet to identify any subtle logic to it.
FOr example, Ganesha should always be in yellow dhoti and green shawl. Its prescribed in the texts though it is not always followed. There was some sense to it which either has been lost along the way or yet needs to be figured out.
There are a lot of things like this... that we feel has been lost in time, but no... its very much here waiting to be interpreted but needs years of experience and dedication.
It is another field of thought altogether... and yes it is connected with chakras and it is connected with lotus petals of various kinds - 2, 4, 6 , 8 , 16 etc...
Regards
Kavitha
The problem in screening the ‘Truth’ that is ‘satya’ or ‘satva’ from innumerable ‘untruths’ is obviously on account of transmission losses over long time, through generations, and also misinterpretations etc. Hence the need to read between the lines to reach the events related with past.
Brahma, as per mythological stories, is believed to have been comfortably seated on a lotus flower that grew out of the navel of Vishnu - who lay in the middle of the ‘kshir sagar’ that is literally the ‘milky ocean’…
With the background knowledge we have today, the above symbolically indicates animation or revolution around some parent body of, say, numerous planets and planetoids etc. around our Sun. This can be confirmed from various other stories to be one of the ‘truths’…such as, the knowledge we have today, that our solar system lies within the outer periphery of our galaxy – just as cream is found to move outwards to the periphery of the centrifuge, and the ‘ancient Hindu belief’ of our solar system being realized as the essence of our universe, etc…The different numbers of lotus flower petals conveys the hierarchy between planets also just we find it among animals on earth as its reflection…and man was believed to be the model of the universe, and the human form is indicated to have ‘asht’ or eight (8 the number that symbolically represents animal head and the lower body) ‘chakras’ that house the essences of each of the selected grahas or members of the solar system…
Also we know today, as the ancients also knew it in Satyuga, believably to a greater depth than us in Kaliyuga, thanks to Time or Mahakal, that Gouri or white sunrays contain seven colours in the visible spectrum, expressed in short as VIBGYOR, besides various other forms of energy too…The ancients correlated eight directions with one planet each as its controller/ ruler and also eight different colours - one with each planet as its ‘essence’ or ‘satva’…
One can’t deny that we 'Indians', generally having darker skin shades, get ‘naturally’ attracted, or/ rather fascinated by the white skin of ‘foreigners’ from the ‘west’. And, would buy and apply various creams to also attain similar 'lily-white-skin' colour – and feel superior! Anbd, on the other hand also say, "Beauty is only skin deep"!
The Hindu mythological story related to ‘churning of the milky-ocean’, under the supervision of Brihaspati (ring-planet Jupiter that is relatively smaller than beautiful and bigger ring-planet Saturn) could be seen to, in fact, indicate the basic thought how ‘amrit’ or immortality was apparently achieved in the form of ‘devtas’, or ‘grahas’ in physical form, starting from zero space and darkness that would have existed in the beginning within the universal void/ space, when Nadbindu, i.e., energy related with zero time and space, hadn’t thought of ‘creation’ – perhaps to search its own origin…
The story interestingly mentions Mandar Hill, in the present day African continent, to have been the centre of material development, for it is similarly believed to have been the ‘stage on earth’, that is, the believable centre of activity by Homo habilis in Kenya. Anthropologists today believe the intelligent human race all over the world to have in fact their original home in Africa, the ‘Dark Continent’ discovered later by the Whites!
In the first stage of evolution or ‘churning’, believably there was emergence of poison that affected both the selfish as well as selfless people (terms used however were ‘rakshashas’ and ‘devtas’, respectively). It was apparently when Shiva/ earth had consumed all the poison/ absorbed pollutants that in the second stage with the combined efforts, the story indicates finding of gemstones, viz., Mani/ Manikya etc. (that we had discussed earlier also in some post)…
Mani that is the Red colour is popularly associated with the direction east, which getrs reflected in images of Kali, the ‘destructive energy’ believably housed in the heart of Shiva, that is centre of earth – in the form of Her tongue painted RED, the sign of danger commonly used globally as the ‘STOP’ sign at crossings! Similarly, Blue is related with direction ‘west’/ metal iron (and steel) and planet Saturn (Shani), the planet that is believed ‘friendly’ with Shukra, which is also related with material development, beauty in creative works of man, and also believed as the ruling planet by ancient Egyptians, who unlike ‘Indians’ adopting lunar cycle for all their calendar, used calendar based on Venus’ cycle!
this is very beautiful, thanks!
Thanks Mr Om!
Continuing, in view of earlier-stated, Hindus, therefore, based on overall knowledge at some given point in time, seem to have came to be known as such because of Indu the Moon - (as Guru the superior most, whose essence believably is housed within human heads at ‘Sahasrara Chakra’, and it is related with Yellow, or golden colour) - the heavenly body that as per the present day scientists also believably evolved from earth itself…And, ancient Hindus called Moon as ‘Shailputri’, the daughter of the Himalaya, besides many other names, including ‘Jagadamba’ the mother of earth, or ‘Ma Durga’, thus qualifying her as strong as a ‘durg’ that is a fort, and also ‘Mahishasur mardini’, indicating her as a source of knowledge that dispels the darkness of ignorance (that is represented symbolically by a demon who had buffalo-like physical strength but not the intelligence as that of a tiger that is relatively smaller in size, but is known as the king of animal world because of its better strategy and fighting skills... And tiger (Yellow skin with black stripes) is believed to be Durga’s vehicle)! Also, Ganesha the all rounder is believed to have the blessings of both Ma Gouri (the white sunlight that holds within it the guru or the yellow colour too) as well as Ma Kali!
Sun that is Surya is associated with Kings, as reflected in, say, Rama (the best character in human form in Tretayuga of duration 3x 432,000 years, the era that comes before Satyuga and thus was still not yet evolved heavenly body during that era and therefore Rama also didn’t reflect ‘perfection’ yet – as ‘Brahma’ as one of the aspects of the three-in-one God) being called a ‘suryvanshi king’, or belonging to King Raghu’s clan.
Suryavanshi kings were all famous for speaking (‘vacha’) the ‘Truth’, the characteristic believably related with Yudhister in Dwaperyuga and Shiva the Yogeshwar or Lord of Yogis in Satyuga, or being ‘siddhas’ themselves.
For this purpose they are indicated to have employed two Gurus or advisors – one for advising on day-to-day issues related with material life, and the other for ‘spiritual’ matters related with long term programmes. In Dwaperyuga, Dronacharya & Vidur were believably such characters, while in Tretayuga, Vishwamitra & Vashist…
Also this characteristic even today gets reflected to a certain extent in all our short term and long term plans. However, thanks to ‘time’, being Kaliyuga the Dark Age when believably Mahishasur rules and thus lack of overall knowledge. Mirabai, the poet Queen of Mewar, a historical character that too reached the conclusion that as a rule only fools become kings, while ‘educated persons’ turn into beggars. This inherent feature incorporated in the design might, therefore most of the time, result in outcomes that weren’t desired when plans were originally prepared by ‘experts’ and, of course, rarely by ‘siddhas’…which to a small extent gets reflected in some small scale trials in a certain region…
The Hindu mythological stories cryptically indicate the two Gurus to suryavanshi kings as Ultraviolet and Infrared energies that are associated with our otherwise cool Sun! They however referred them as Rahu and Ketu respectively! In the story related with ‘churning’, Rahu the rakshasha or demon reportedly got a sip of ‘amrit’ that would have rendered him immortal, but for Sun & Moon pointing the impersonation out to Vishnu (in the Mohini form distributing ‘amrit’ to devtas only). Vishnu then cut away Rahu’s head to result immortality only to the ehad of Rahu, while his inert lower body continued to also exist independently…the story thus points the head to mean the ‘harmful’ ultraviolet rays!
As part of the design, the knowledge acquired by sages in the remote past - apparently as part of the 'truth' - becomes available even in Kaliyuga.
Knowledge on Gemology, that is, the use of gems as a means to overcoming the hurdles created by the ‘unfriendly’ planets, is also available today – but what gem or set of gems is needed for each individual concerned, who wants to improve one’s efficiency, isn’t available at one place. Due to time and its vagaries, you would find different ‘astrologers’/ ‘palmists’, and so on, prescribe different gems for the same person, and hence the confusion and resultant rejection by the ‘present day scientists’…
In view of the above, perhaps there is need to research independently…a difficult appearing task when we generally want instantaneous results/ ‘miracles’, and in the process get most of the time fooled by anyone – ‘expert’ or otherwise as ‘luck’ would have it in store for you!
We had earlier seen how the three colours, blue, green, and yellow, are apparently believed related with planets Venus, Earth and Moon respectively and their essence believed house in human throat (‘Vishuddhi chakra’, as a guard that has control, or key, at the ‘Mooladhar chakra’); Third eye level (‘Ajna chakra’); Head (‘sahasrara chakra’) respectively and believably associated with nerves, muscles and fat respectively as ‘rasa’ or ‘essence’ of respective planets...
Thanks to the ‘present day scientists’, we have also learned the order in which the different planets revolve around our Sun (the ‘numero uno’, or number one). The closest, (number two member of the solar system) is Mercury. It is followed by Venus as the number 3 member. The third planet, or the number four member, is our earth (Shiva). Moon (Parvati the consort of Shiva is believed to form His left-half) could be imagined as the fifth member. The sixth member is Mars. The next member is a group of planetoid, which could be considered jointly as the seventh member. And Jupiter is the eighth member. It is followed by ring-planet Saturn as the ninth member, which is indicated as representing in physical form the ‘observer’, the Formless Creator, and the eight others that precede it as representing the ‘observed’.
Although, in so far as the physical order of the planets indicates Mercury (indicated association with Ultraviolet rays) as the closest to our Sun, however, the stories cryptically indicate Jupiter (to be associated with Infrared energy that also is associated with our Sun…
With the above logic - and location of Sun’s essence obviously indicated at the ‘solar plexus’ (‘Manipuraka chakra’) in human body - we can assume location of essence of Mercury housed at the chest level (head of Rahu, that alone is immortal, at ‘Anahat chakra’), and the essence of Jupiter (inert Infrared, the pure heat energy) at the navel level (‘Swadhistan chakra’)…
The story, however, indicates Jupiter as the nucleus from which Brahma that is our sun evolved. But, the story of Shani (Saturn) being responsible for cutting away of human head on infant Ganesha’s shoulders, and necessitating implantation of an elephant’s head in its place, symbolically conveys the last three ‘chakras’ and associated essences/ energies related with Asteroid (Red, below the navel level), Mars (Orange at ‘Mooladhar chakra’, located at the tip of the tailbone, attached with essence of Saturn also that normally remains unused or dormant, but can be activated by certain characters, viz. Ganesha, Hanuman, etc. from time to time, by allowing energy held up in the lower body by Venus in the throat, and make it reach the head doe wnlightenment, or ‘moksha’…
‘I’ would however suggest the solar plexus to house the essence of ‘white’ sunrays, for white pearl is believed to be associated with the essence related with gastric juices, and therefore Red, indicating low intensity of fire or energy, to be associated with Asteroids, located below the navel, which is referred, in Acupuncture, as the ‘rejuvenation point’…
In recent times, the Buddha reportedly acquired knowledge while seated under a ‘Bodhi Tree’ - apparently ‘doing nothing’ after having rejected the material pleasure he could have otherwise enjoyed!
The use of word ‘Bodh’ indicates knowledge that is acquired naturally, such that the knowledge gained is believed to be far superior to the knowledge one normally acquires through innumerable books.
It is also expressed as leading to attainment of enlightenment by human beings, through ‘tapasya’, that is, literally getting baked in the sun - like a brick made originally from dust, that is ‘clay’, and thus becoming physically strong! And human form was also believed made from dust, and hence the saying, when interring a body by ‘Christians’, “From dust to dust, etc…”
The particular tree was a pipal tree that belongs to the family of the Banyan... The ‘vat vriksha’ or the Banyan tree is referred often in the Hindu Mythological stories, e.g., Rama, Sita and Lakshamana, the characters belonging to Tretayuga, also believably lived - during Rama’s exile - at ‘Panchvati’, a location where five Banyan trees existed.
The banyan is remarkable for its horizontal branches sending down shoots which take root and form secondary trunks. And, although Buddhism took root in the soil of ‘India’ it spread far and wide on ‘secondary roots’, but, banyan-like, its original root virtually disappeared from ‘India’ (a hint from the Creator?)!
Even much before Buddha, ‘wise’ ancient Hindus, or sages/ yogis, who withdrew to the isolation of the Himalayan regions, irrespective of where they were born, apparently learnt more about the ‘Truth’ than the city/ town dwellers, for they got entangled with the demands of day-to-day material life that didn’t permit them much spare time. A house-holder was thus required to wait till his ‘worldly duties’ were successfully completed - if he desired to seek the ‘Truth’ and had for that sufficient physical strength and time, the cause of ‘drama’ of human life which only ‘lucky’ people could manage – even at a young age, such as cited examples of Prahalad, or Dhruva, and so on…
Although it is difficult to say how they arrived at it, Hindus believed since time immemorial in four eras of long durations, called Kaliyuga of a duration of 432,000 years and range of human efficiency varying between 0-25%, followed by Dwaperyuga of duration double that of Kaliyuga and range of human efficiency varying between 25-50%, and then similarly followed by Tretayuga of duration three times of Kaliyuga and range of human efficiency varying between 50-75% and finally an era called Satyuga of duration that is four times that of Kaliyuga and range of human efficiency varying between 75-100%…
The above is indicated as result of realization by Yogis by ‘viewing inwards’ within their inner self to reach the Formless that is related with time and space zero…that is, chieving a thoughtless stage...
This total duration believably results in a Mahayuga, or Kalpa, of duration of 4,320,000 years, i.e, 4.32 million years in one cycle. And, it is believed that over 1,000 cycles of such Kalpas are repeated, in reverse order, Satyuga through Kaliyuga, for the creator to review the History, or stories of His Past, as the observer to cover all 360 degrees of space during one day in His, the Trimurty the three-in –one God who is believably responsible for the unending cycles of creation, sustenance, and destruction…Thus a day of ‘Brahma’ works out to over 4 billion years (4.32x1,000, or maybe 1,080 that is 360x3)…and a day is believed to be followed by His one night of a similar duration, till another new day starts (just as its reflection in case of its models, that is animals that, of course, to a reduced scale have only 24 hours in one day that includes one night too)…
From the above-stated, the purpose of ‘meditation’ in human life appears to be to reach a thoughtless state gradually.
Identification of presence of five physical senses in humans, one each related with vision (eyes), hearing (ears), smell (nose), taste (tongue) and touch (skin) that help in overall identification of objects in ‘Nature’, and thus ‘look outwards’ naturally, which also thus results in distraction in an individual in reaching a thoughtless stage. It thus suggests purpose of ‘meditation’ to achieve the desired goal with the help of regular practice of performing minimum, and also innocuous tasks that keep our senses away, for at least some time in a day, from functions related with day-to-day life of meeting the basic economic need of food, clothing and shelter, which normally doesn’t permit any time to spare…
However, it is seen in the present that purpose of meditation doesn’t appear to be known as the masses generally get involved ‘blindly’ in the rituals only…Krishna in the Gita is also thus seen to blame lack of knowledge as the cause of ‘wrong’ acts…
And, the ancient ‘wise’ realized ‘lack of knowledge’, or/ rather achievable knowledge to be related with ‘Time’ in terms of Yuga, as the maximum of efficiency range during a particular Yuga , or the maximum achievable utilization of potential in humans considered as 100% only at the end of Satyuga, was realized as just 1/4th or 25% only…
And, today it is generally accepted by some in ‘India’ that the ‘observer’, the Formless Creator, who is believed to be reviewing His past stories of successes and failures during evolution in four stages (with a view to achieving perfection that is ‘amrit’ or immortality - described in the story of ‘churning’) that the ‘present’ perhaps reflects the stage when ‘churning’ had just started – as indicated apparently by emergence of pollution, or ‘poison’ in recent times only and increasing in all aspects of the environment.
Shiva - who was believably rendered immortal thanks to His Consort, or ‘better half’, Parvati - apparently had consumed it for the benefit of ‘life’ on earth during the period of evolution. The unchecked increase of pollution in the environment was explained by the realization that review is being done in opposite direction from Satyuga to end of Kaliyuga. Thus what He, and also His images in human form view today are the events that happened at the beginning stage of Kaliyuga!
The status can perhaps be better appreciated from a comparison with a physical event of, say, observing an ignorant person (lacking in overall knowledge) walking downhill, which is obviously relatively easier than when climbs up (as reflected in our attempts to make life easier with the help of instruments), and wondering why he/ she is not reaching the peak despite long passage of time!
Thus in the present, although we continue to apparently see the status of human race deteriorating for long, although appearing relatively slowly for many years in the remoter past, it now appears to be deteriorating at a much more rapid rate…
The phenomenon also can be seen similar to a ball that is thrown upwards forcefully, reaches a peak and stops, after which it gradually appears to speed up to a greater extent before it strikes the ground…and so on…It is said that a small hint suffices to the wise!
Kavitha, the disadvantage of writing is that many words are required because one doesn't come to know whether the person(s) addressed is satisfied with the explanation or not...particularly when few ask questions!
Sorry for the long loud thoughts!
Kavitha, ‘I’ had once expressed in your blog that talking about human being as an instrument (vide the Gita), or understood as super computer in the present day terms, each person is a ‘mobile library’ (also understood as a ‘Temple of God’ by Hindus), ‘I’ give below an extract from a news item received through the internet…
“Santa Monica, California - In the Living Library books are people and on October 18 from 12-4pm the shelves of the Santa Monica Public Library, Main Library, are full of people. A Buddhist, a teenager, a nudist and a raw foodist are just a few of the people who will be available to check out for a 30 minute conversation at the Santa Monica Public Library's first Living Library. The Living Library idea is simple – a personal conversation can break down prejudices and pre-conceptions and dialogue fosters understanding and tolerance…”
Although sometimes ‘I’ get a feeling that no one is really interested in the ‘Truth’, because ‘truth is bitter’, ‘I’ continue to react when ‘I’ feel at least ‘Hindu thoughts’ need to be pointed out…and hence the following reaction to an article sent this morning to ‘my newspaper’ (with some minor corrections incorporated therein)…
‘Wanted: Intelligent Aliens – because humans cannot think beyond themselves’, by Olivia Judson (10/4), shows the writer isn’t aware of ‘ancient Hindu thoughts’ - perhaps just like the ‘wise editors’ in India too refuse to do so under the influence of the ‘west’ – the direction that is believably ruled by Saturn, ring-planet for west, but ‘Yogeshwar Vishnu’ the only super conscious supreme being for the ‘Hindus’, but understood as Satan by ‘Christians’ as its misnomer – Saturn being slow, although it is well known that slow and steady only wins the race!
However, the supreme being’s thoughts are believed to get reflected through then, at a certain point in time during evolution, yet to be evolved Venus (Shukra the rakshasha of Hindu Mythology, crudely translated as ‘demon’ today, but in fact in reality the Army general of the devtas) who doesn’t permit all and sundries to reach super intelligence, the Mother (Parvati or Moon that rules the human head), unless ordered by Shiva, Her consort and the overall commander, whose essence is believably housed at the location in all humans conveyed as the Ajna Chakra/ Third Eye of Shiva!
Jai mata di! Thanks to Her we humans are the aliens, but rendered unintelligent because of EARTH and are allowed only temporary existence to seek the immortal one who resides within each physical form – but loves to fool its best model – MAN!
Thus Vishnu alone is the exception to the belief of the ‘west’ that one cannot fool all the people for all the time!
‘Hindu philosophical thoughts’ suggest one to seek the ‘truth’, or/ rather, the ‘Absolute Truth’ within the self…Attempting to reach myself, ‘I’ find ‘I’ cannot see my face directly. And, ‘I’ also know from my pictures in the photo album that ‘I’ am changing every second, and that ‘I’ have changed tremendously over the last few decades…
At any given point in time, even to know my external face, that is the ‘index of my mind’, ‘I’ have to take recourse to a plain mirror only – and not a ‘magical mirror’, because ‘I’ am aware from experience that only a plain mirror can reflect my almost true image or reflection – except that my right side appears to be my left side in the mirror, and vice versa…
Only ‘I’ can perhaps correlate my mental status with any out of innumerable different looking images in the album, at different stages of my evolution from a helpless child, at the mercy of my mother and other well wishers to an old man, once again at the mercy of my children and my well wishers - although there are certain pictures where ’I’ appear ‘mature’. And, ‘I’ am sure that at no time ‘I’ could say definitely that ‘I’ didn’t need help from someone or the other…In fact, it is said that the person who rises to the top of the pyramid does so by climbing on ‘innumerable dead bodies’ that apparently form that pyramid!
Dear All,
Where is this Shivalinga located (the one in picture with a Somaskanda panel at the backdrop?
I am Chandrasekaran, a new subscriber to this blog, part of an NGO we started 2 years before to create the database of dilapidated temples in India and then try to educate the rural mass and renovate such temples.Behind our efforts are the founder trustee, ex-ASI chief, dr.T.Satyamurthy. It is REACH FOUNDATION and our links are:
www.conserveheritage.org
http://reachhistory.blogspot.com and
http://templesrevival.blogspot.com
Members can send us data of such temples and its background,contact persons and we can give them technical help in renovating the temple in its old grand way and methods!
NAmah Shivaya!
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