3.16.2009

Sri Chakra Yantra - From Sri Nagar to Ujjain

The secrets of Tantra, the rituals, the powers, the sadhana, and the left path that was once followed in the devi cult apart from that followed by Aghoris towards Lord Shiva Kala Bhairava, leave us wondering about the enigmatic world that governs ancient Hinduism into the realm of higher knowledge.

Devi cult, steeped in enigmatic history and esoteric cult practices with popular followers like Adi Shankaracharya and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa completing their sadhana in this cult, and yet not recommending it to the masses leave me very curious about what is it that was taboo and was not meant for any lesser mortal?

This cult has brought to light, the art of love, the act of sex in ritual and the worship of the woman as the very incarnate of the Goddess and the man as that of Lord Shiva himself... its a silent ritualistic faith very secretive and yet very intriguing. The offering of creative juices, the practice of yogic poses and mudras to raise the self to higher spiritual level involving intimacy leave the layman blinking over what the depths of Hinduism can lead us into when the thick moral over of society is quite something else!

And all this goes back to the most powerful form of worshiping the Goddess - Sri Chakra.

It would be interesting to note that the Shankara matt are great followers of Kamakshi Amman, the Goddess of love, the consort of Lord Shiva. The principles of Advaita teach renunciation of desire towards flesh and lust and the Goddess is envisioned as the Mother rather than a divine consort. These great saints turn towards Shakti as their primordial source of energy and in the ancient times there were scattered across all Shakti Sthals, tantric peethas that were great centers of learning. Its unfortunate that what remains in the mind of the average learner is a fear, and respect for great Tantriks who are better known these days as great performer of magic, magic that we would love to stay away from. These powers invoked the goddess, raw Shakti to descend into the world of mortals and beat the unwitting who trespass into the way of these great sages. Tantriks were not that bad, they were phenomenal alchemists who knew astrology and the art of architecture and were most sort after to erect great temples assisting Kings who poured in their patronage toward religious propagation of faith.

At the pinnacle of this growth curve in the religious history of India, one man made a difference. Adi Shankaracharya brought these dangerous blood thirsty practices to halt and converted most of the bali peethas alias Shakti sthals into civilized centers of worship. And yet, deep mystery lies in two places, both of which were great Tantrik centers of learning, which once encouraged sacrifices of both human and animal to the Cult practice of Sri Vidya and also were great seats of learning in astronomy. And yet there is something strange in both of them!

Sri Nagar - On the banks of the river Alaknanda.

Here is no shrine covered by a man made temple! Here is a boulder that rests face down in the Alaknanda river. What makes this boulder so important, so eerie and so powerful? It is believed that this boulder has on its surface the very form of the Sri Chakra that demanded worship, signifying an ughra form of the Goddess that took the lives of any human who curiously set their glance on it without devotion. The Goddess claimed lives, by death and by bloody sacrifice that left an unsettling feeling in the minds of the masses. Sri Nagar, or the land of Sri Vidhya was a great center of tantrik practices of the left hand path and it took the Great Shankara to come and worship the Mother here in the 8th cen A.D. He is known to have performed a great ritual, one that appeased the Goddess and in the bargain turned the great boulder carrying her emblem face down into the river, hiding her very form from the world ever since. The pure waters continue to flow, the sacred rock rests in silence and all peace reigns again in this region, yet the form of the Goddess was mysteriously hidden from view. This sacred boulder is still worshiped, but the mother has hidden her divine Ughra form for ever.

Ujjain - Harasiddhis temple of Goddess Annapurni

This is the uncanny reality of the Sri Chakra, buried into a river bed in one place and displayed in all her flamboyance in another place. This is in the great city of Ujjain, one of the greatest Shakti Sthals that hosts the sacred shrine of Harasiddha Gauri, another form of Annapurni Mata. Though the exterior of this temple reeks of modernism of the times, the inner walls and ceiling speak of spectacular concepts in tantra. The sacred shrine within hosts the divine smiling Mother who decorates a sacred stone in vermillion and chandan. This is her form here, quite simple and yet powerful. Ujjain was a great seat of tantrik worship, and the original prototype of the Hindu Panchang(calendar) took its root here. It is believed that the
Bhumadhya rekha [possibly the prime meridian] passes through here and thus makes this town the seat of all astronomical learning and calculations [this information may not be authentic]. Here is where the link between the celestial world and human world is defined through the science of tantric astrology. The walls and ceiling of the Harasiddhi temple are a living library of astrological significance. Here the Sri Chakra has been described on the ceiling, with hundreds of deities in their personified forms within this elaborate diagram, quite the opposite of what hides deep and buried in the waters of the Alaknanda.

This contradiction to thought, this display of apparent difference between two shrines, of which both are great power centers and both were great seats of tantricism at some point in India history, now appear to be cloaked in divine innocence that one echoed a language of death sacrifice. Makes me want to ask, what is the Sri Chakra, what is the essence of the Goddess and what is her power that makes her so great, so deep, so unattainable and so potent that no mortal stands a chance except be her humble devotee!

Reference and image:
Tantra Unveiled: Seducing the Forces of Matter & Spirit
By Rajmani Tigunait

51 comments:

JC said...

Nice description, Kavitha!

As part of the Creator's script, the ancient 'imperfect' Yogis apparently also came to realise animal form to consist of a soul that alone was important - and the physical form was only an illusory exterior.

The kbnowledge of existence of heirarchy among the souls also apparenty at an intermediate stage due to their 'mental inclination' gave the idea to some of those to exploit the 'inferior souls' for 'selfish material interests', just as the reflection of 'truth', unconcerned of our 'real goal' of seeking the Formless, 'we' appear to participate in the 'rat race' blindly even today (particularly by copying the 'west' that as per 'wise ancients' is ruled by Saturn) and some of us would go to any depth for 'material gains', due to any apparent cause, viz. extreme poverty, greed etc the believable doors to hell!

A tantrik 'I' met in Assam in the Eighties told me how he had an 'inferior soul' of a young female under his control that provided information to him about any stranger even whom he encountered...

He told me he was the grandson of a once-upon-a-time-famous tantrik in Sadiya Town and while the grandfather was dying in one room, he was born in another room of the same house! However, River Brahmaputra washed out the town completely in August 1950 due to bursting of a naturally formed dam due to landslides in the Arunachal Pradesh...and forced him to save his life and do various jobs in Mumbai to fill his belly...

As per him perhaps his soul led him to become one later when he returned to Assam. He had apparently performed certain exercises for a number of days under some guru in a crematorium in some isolated village where the poor peasants sometimes used to stelthily leave their deads without the usual rituals related with cremation etc. performed as they couldn't afford it.

The tantriks waited for such dead bodies, particularly of some young female as the ideal for one could then easily control the soul by performing certain acts...Female forms were perhaps believed as 'mayavi', responsible for attachment of the human race with 'mayavi' or illusory earth!

JC said...

As 'I' said earlier, a water-fountain/ ('natural geyser' too) perhaps is the best example to visualise behaviour of apparent heirarchy among souls reflected by the drops of water...It is only the middle stream that reaches the peak (where one is sometimes seen placing a ping-pong ball that remains balanced, reflecting the goal of a Yogi). However, the other streams, particularly on the extremities, are seen to relatively a lower level...and resulting in the beautiul-tree-like overall appearance of the fountain...('Vatvriksha-like', which remains attached to 'earth' for a relatively longer duration - but not 'temporary human form' who is believably attached to the 'sky')...

JC said...

Understanding the system of souls would perhaps remain an enigma in the 'present' that is Kaliyuga, for the majority are 'Apsmara Purush' that is unable to recall memory of the 'past' fully, or (relatively more easily understood by an average man)instruments (Yantra) that have become faulty and incapable of functioning to their full design capacity as it apparently was at the end of Satyuga when the Creator (three-in-one God) attained 'perfection' that is immortality or supreme knowledge of the material world...and therefore liable to eventually get dumped in the 'junk-yard' and finally disposed of! Which is expressed by the word 'Pralaya' that is submergence during the 'Great Inundation' (water believably being related with Moon) or turning into ashes of the material by Shiva the Destroyer using 'His Third Eye', that is widening of holes in the ozone layer and thus earth experiencing the full blast of our Sun's fire (the aspect otherwise related with Brahma the Creator)...

JC said...

Human body is a wonderful design, a temple of the God within, that has the capacity to self cure itself of all maladies - but rendered ineffective due to lack of faith/ knowledge...hence the need of some physician or an elevated soul to apply some procedure using external tools (yantras) for curing the bodies concerned. The growing numbers of 'incurable patients' in hospitals perhaps tells a sorry tale, despite the believable 'advancement in Technology'...perhaps thanks to time, Kaliyuga the Dark Age...

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Nice way of putting it, yantras as external tools to clean the filth within.

But it comes with rules, strict rules that have to be followed and when people realize they might not be able to perform their best... they dont take to it. They fear it.

Its a thought, dont take something you cant deal with.

JC said...

Kavitha, Kaliyuga is also called 'Kalyuga' the age of machines/ tools (Yantras)...It gets reflected in use of instruments for all purposes related with day-to-day life today, which are multiplying in numbers believably in order to make human life more convenient, but in reality also adding to much more inconvenience at times (such as seen due to 'global warming')...

The 'wise ancients' had understood human form itself as an instrument that is capable of doing multiplle tasks...and today also the 'scientists' also realise tools for physical senses as apparatuses for various inputs/ outputs of information through energy/ chemicals etc. While human brain is realised as a super analogical computer, whose functioning to a much lower degree is copied and used in man-made digital computers - and believed as a great achivement of the human race!

'Krishna' explains his obligation to work every second as the whole 'Nature' is copying Him, in some heirarchical order, and, therefore, if He were to stop functioning the whole system would collapse and He in fact would become the 'destroyer' whereas His job is that of 'sustenance' of the life forms (during one day in the life of Brahma)at the behest of Vishnu teh Perpetrator!

JC said...

'I' might also said that as per Hindu mythological stories (in cryptical words), 'Sri' stands for (Nadbindu) Vishnu's consort, Laxmi (the material component), and also for Ganesha the son of Parvati the consort of Shiva ('bamangi' that is the 'left hand')...

Ring planet Saturn, the ninth member of the Navgraha, is indicated as the physical representation of Formless Vishnu that acts as the cut off planet, one of the nine planets whose essences are believably used in the structure representing a grand variety of physical forms, as 'life' on earth, the 'mrityulok', in which man is believed to head the list as the model of the universe, in which essence of Mars is housed in the mooladhar (reflected by Orange colour, formed of red and yellow the two different energy forms of 'Krishna') that is believed linked with Saturn's, which is also believably linked with that of planet Venus (Neelamber Krishna or blue colour) whose essence is believably housed in the throat (and is associated with Kartikeya the elder brother of Ganesha also)...

JC said...

Thus there are six chakras covered by Saturn, that is, Vishnu from 'mooladhar' (at the tail-bone end), up to the 'Vishuddhi chakra' (at the throat level)...and interestingly the Cassini probe indicates a six sided figure observed at the south pole of Planet Saturn!...

'Ajna chakra', at the eye level (between the brows) believably houses the esence of earth, the neutral green colour (in Hindi, 'Hari' or 'Hara') that is found in the middle of the visible spectrum while the golden yellow essence of Moon is believed to be housed in the 'sahasrara chakra'...having been given the highest pedestal within the human body that acts as the unique goal for all other energy/ information to be lifted by Yogis for salvation/ moksha...through Yogic exercises...

JC said...

However, as the exercises involve the believable three axes around which the human body has believably developed, (called the physical, mental and spiritual), it is quite intricate and, therefore, is beyond an average person who generally is so much involved in the 'rat race' that one therefore finds only a few minutes of spare time during a day. And that too is decreasing with the fast life-style one is forced to in order to keep pace with the Joneses as time moves downwrds like water...perhaps to reach the point of no return...

Hence, in view of the above, need to use mantra, tantra or yantra just as one uses the time tested recipes of the neighbours...

JC said...

As children 'I' used to get moved by certain stories, such as the Arabian Nights etc, where some djinn capable of fulfilling all one's material needs in a jiffy would appear in a lamp, or inside a bottle, and so on...

Later, 'I' also learnt about the reported power of the Shivlinga (believed to be a jyotirlinga) in Jageshwar Temple in the Himalayan (Kumaon) region. It originally is believed to have fulfilled wishes of each and everyone instantaneously - till Shankaracharya visited it and touched it. It reportedly resulted in the shivalinga to get embedded deeper into the ground and is since being visited by devotees with a view to fulfilling of their wishes in due course...

JC said...

Maybe, teh above phenomenon conveys the 'Absolute Truth', the Bhootnath (Formless) to be related with zero time, while bhootas as its components attached with matter are related with 'apparent time', which as in 'action replays', in man-made video systems, can be advanced over the desired time to show the desired minute details of any event that in reality happens over a short span of time...hence delayed reactions apparent in human life leading one to wonder why something happened although one hadn't done anything to deserve it (such as Rajiv Gandhi, a pilot in 'real life' with no experience in Politics became India's PM?

JC said...

Kavitha, 'I' had earlier also elsewhere keyed a 'true story' related with my the then ten-year-old daughter that happened on my mother's third death annivesary, the rituals for which were being performed by my elder brother as his duty since '78, and thus 'I' became wise of it only after the event...

Without any training as such in 'Tantricism', perhaps because of the so-called 'Sixth sense', she had conveyed cancellation of my flight from Guwahati to Imphal perhaps just at the STD of the concerned flight from New Delhi, the city where my mother had breathed her last thousands of kilometer away!

'I' had also indicated how this event virtually acted as a 'turning point' and led me to seek the 'Supreme Being'...and 'I' apparently eventually to my satisfaction heard the voice of the unseen/ unknown (spirits?) on two different occasions, at two different locations - Guwahati, and later at Delhi also...

As is well known, the Yogis apparently realised the Absolute Truth of real time as zero during which creation and destruction both apparently happened. And, thus obviously perhaps the various unending so-called 'truths' have to be merely 'illusory' - like projection of pre-recorded films on the 'silver screen'...and thus might only therefore convey the existence of a supreme being who alone is related with zero time and space...to us inferior souls that continue to also get a feeling of supremacy, called ego...and realsed by the 'wise' on account of being illusory images of the one and only supreme being - perhaps reflecting His stories with a view to projecting His path (like tangent theta curve) from zero to infinity, from Nadbindu Vishnu to His virat or enlarged form that appears as the infinite universal void that also holds our beautiful planet as its essence (Shiva) that holds 'Kali' the Black in its heart, ie., the essence of the original Nadbindu that is indicated as the centre of the universe too by ancient astronomers who showed earth as the centre of the universe...till the (mischievous Krishna that is reflected by direction) 'west' confused it with Sun, which in fact is the centre of our solar system...

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Adi Shankara came with a plan, one that changed our way of thinking, one that changed our very belief system. He must have had such power and conviction to walk around the countryside re-inventing the wheel at every shrine worth our time.

What a wonderful life he would have led, seeped in spiritual freedom, to go where ever and do what ever and hold dialogs in a different language with the greater powers appeasing them and bringing them down to calm

He lived all of 32 years, died younger than me, came and went by like the wind and changed everything after that. Strange Buddha too didnt last beyond 33. Christ died late 30s to early 40s? These men formed the world's standing religions today!

Who were these men? Were they incarnates of God coming by like the wind?

Why does my mind feel under utilized when i look at the performance of these souls who came as people?

What a waste of time of 30 whole years of my life!

JC said...

Kavitha, With the background knowledge 'I' gained with personal experiences as well as different essences of the various 'truths' received through innumerable Gurus (including the ones you have cited), such as 'Yogiraja Krishna' from the Gita addressed to all terrestrials including the meek and the egoists; Vedantis' thought of a Unique Formless Being (and His innumerable images), and say the age old adage, "He also serves (the purpose of God) who (just) stands and stares," 'I' have come to believe that although 'I' might appear to have wasted 70 years in the 'pres3ent form', 'I' am apparently here for His purpose since time immemorial, which unfortunately 'I' am unable to visualise and can only make different guesses at different times as my knowledge advanced, thus perhaps reflecting the nature of the Formless Creator too to a certain extent as Bhootnath Shiva perhaps progressed to eventually gain 'perfection'!

For 'my mind' only (and yours too), although imprisoned in this body, believably is free as per the essence, to the effect, "Where (even) Sun can't reach/ Only (a poet's) mind can!"

JC said...

I would like to add for your information that 'I' didn't bother about ritualistic practices and temples etc. (although 'I' had no problem in accompanying my relatives to visit the places of worship/ participate (detachedly) in the related rituals, for 'I' believed God was Formless and it wasn't my purpose to disturb Him/ It, for It mustn't have time for 'me' when It had to take care of the whole universe!

It was only when 'I' was around 40 years in age that my attention was whole heartedly attracted towards the Unknown, as 'I' have indicated earlier (and also just one of the incidents that was instrumental in 'change of my mind' that is "my apparent madness" - perhaps thanks to time being Kaliyuga!)...

Rwitoja Mukherjee said...

Buddha is said to have been born in563BC.He left home at the age of 29 and achieved Nirvana at the age of 35.He left his mortal body at the age of 80 in the year 483BC. Most of his family (stepmother, wife ,son,cousins)had become bhikshus and joined his order.Hinayana texts contain detailed information about Buddha's life collected from them and also from other people like Sujata,Swasti,who were fortunate enough to interact with him.

Kavitha Kalyan said...

There is science in ritual, there is a science in tradition and there is logic to that kind of existence.

I was once a rebel but the hidden logic of this traditional living (even orthodoxy) has taught me well when i dug into it to find out its true meaning.

Am all for ritual for i now believe after practice and experience that it does make a substantial difference to life. I will not demean ritual or its original purpose though i agree it has been diluted along the lines of time.

Yet it was an ancient principle and i live by it because i believe it has meaning and makes a difference to my current lifestyle.

We need to measure ritual by the yard stick of its original principle and not by that of those who attempt to lead the way these days.

I thought we had a mind of our own!

JC said...

Kavitha, Talking about logic, at some stage 'I' looked at the process of 'meditation' at home practiced by my father. [Althoug he wasn't a 'Bengali' in this birth, He apparently had 'darshan' of Ma Kali in person, near Kalibari in Shimla, when he was posted there. He therefore had became Her ardent, though silent, devotee and visited Kali Bari regularly even when he got posted to New Delhi. He made it a parctice to take us also along at times on certain auspicious occasions. The framed image of Ma Kali got transferred to me after he came to live his last one year of life with me and my family]...

The observation of the process of sitting undisturbed and immobile posture in a clean cozy corner of a room in front of various images - facing east or north; lighting of an agarbatti for a sweet smell; eyes closed to avoid any distractions; tinkling of a sweet sounding bell (to cut away any noise perhaps); and so on led me to believe it as an attempt to reach a near thoughtless stage n due course, by performing innaucuous actions related with the five physical senses that otherwise tend to distract one's attention and thus lead away from the desired goal...

It's a fact that performance of rituals (even though blindly) results in the devotee to forget for some time at least the basic economic needs...Thus basically it's a matter of controlling one's mind, in order to improve one's concentration power and thus lead one's soul to a higher elevation...It is like taking care of a tree right from the stage of sowing a seed to natural emergence of fruits as surplus food of the tree...

JC said...

As 'I' had earlier also narrated how 'I' virtually got crushed by the crowd one Krishna Janmashtami Day in the premises of the Laxminarayan Temple (popular as Birla Mandir) in New Delhi and was carried upstairs sandwiched between people without touching the ground and at that moment with my still to be evolved brain thought 'I' was dead! However, to my happiness, 'I' was virtually reborn when my feet touched the ground once again!

It was only later 'I' read it as a communication from God to be recalled when 'I' read how a massive star gets transformed into a super gravity Black Hole ('Krishna' the Black to a 'Hindu')...and how one such Heavenly Body is believed to be housed at the centre of our galaxy (and Hindus indicate Krishna also as Vishnu-like 'sudershanchakradhari' and human form is indicated to house 8 'chakras' or wheels...as the model of our universe that has innumerable chakras or galaxies...

JC said...

My father had lost both his parents by the time he was only 17 and thereafter was brought up by his two elder brothers. He narrated it many times how he had virtually acted as his father's eyes, for he had lost his eye sight at a certain stage in old age...

My grandfather, one day in 1922 (when my father was yet to be married), suddenly asked him to rush to the art teacher and get a painting showing Krishna playing the flute and standing in front of a white cow...

He said he didn't understand what the local artist meant when he uttered that his end must be near!

He returned with the said painting (that was seen by us also, duly framed when we visited our home-town) to his father's satisfaction...and at a certain point of time thereafter he asked my father to blow the clonch shell together with the tinkling of bell as 'Krishna' had entered our house, after which he expired.

In our home-town, traditionally, conch-shell is blown together with tinkle of bell since ages - and not alone (as Vishnu is believed to have conch shell in one of his four hands, as a symbol of loud sound used for creation and sweet sounding bell representing the ideal humans as His model)...And, a bell tinkled in my head also when 'I' learnt later, through reportings on the space travel of the Voyager, how the sound emanating from planet Saturn sounds like a mixture of tinkle of bells, chirping of birds, and drumbeats (bells and drums are traditinally used in some temples in 'India' since ages)!

In view of the above, perhaps as per some unknown script, Krishna the Natkhat Nandlal/ Kali who resides in the heart of Shiva have indicated their presence in our family...as my parents used to observe fast on Janmashtami and Maha Shivratri...and we, the siblings, also did so up to a certain period...till necessity of popping up of medicinal pills didn't permit us to remain empty stomach the whole day...

JC said...

Talking of the 'spiritual' world, 'I' would like to narrate, perhaps already done so earlier elsewhere also, how my mother became seriously ill when my parents came to visit the land of Ma Kali in the year '77 where our youngest brother was then posted...and also 'I' had the opportunity to see for the last time when 'I' visited them from the northeast...Almost one year later she returned to New Delhi where they normally stayed with our eldest brother...and was reportedly improving...'I' was informed of her pasing away through a telegram and joined the family for a few days alone, leaving my own family behind...

My father narrated how she was admitted in a hospital and one day when they were just chatting normally, she suddenly said, "They have arrived!" My father was seated in a chair near her bed with his back towards the door and, therefore, he looked back to see who had come visiting her. He was surprised to find no one at the door and therefore asked her who she reffered to. He says she just said, "No one!" It appeared as if someone had prevented her from telling him who the visitor (in Hindi, and Kumaoni dialect too, when one talks about some respectable/ revered personality, 'they' is used instead of 'he' addressing the person concerned) or visitors were...and then she didn't speak at all till she passed away after some hours...

JC said...

'I' was surprised to hear my mother tell my wife - the instant she met her after return of the marriage party that had departed from 'home' 4-5 days ago - that all those years she had taken care of me and now it was her turn to do so for 'I' wasn't worldly wise! And, of course, she devotedly looked after me, and perhaps taking care of us even now!

My mother was instrumental in introducing me to 'Krishna' for 'I', as a young boy that particular day, had gone to 'Birla Temple' to escort her so that she could perform rituals related with the 'Krishna Janmashtami' as other ladies had already gone there, without her and could join them there...

And it was my ailing wife who was instrumental in introducing me to Ma Kamakhya, at Guwahati in the Eighties...which 'we' eventually visited despite my resistance, because of lack of faith in any smaller god(s) than the Formless, for full five months of our arriving in the city, and even residing close to the Temple...It was only after that visit that although certain things apparently improved, 'I' was on the other hand subjected to certain happenings that 'I' couldn't explain with my background as a student of 'science subjects'...which 'I' have earlier also keyed in in Kavitha's blog...

JC said...

'I' know one cannot reach the 'Absolute Truth' by literally following on the steps of The Buddha: sitting for any length of time under a Bodhi tree - of the family of The Banyan - that in a way reflects symbolically spread of 'Buddhism' from 'India' after the downfall of the Vedic Era!

The ancient 'wise Hindus' indicate the need of each individual to 'look inwards' with 'mind's eye' open...but the majority aparently is under the effect of pollution/ poison and as my 'illiterate but educated mother used to quote a wise saying, to the effect, "A mad person continues to act repetitively according to what is taught to him/ her by a Guru (that matches with her thought plane)."

JC said...

The central idea of the ever expanding universe, as 'I' made it out of the 'Hindu' mythological stories etc, is that just as apparent knowledge is growing with time thanks to gurus in different fields of human activities at different times with the passage of time, also as, in Mahabharat, the then 'expert archer', Arjun, had Dronacharya, and many other advisors as his gurus. But, he eventually needed advice from 'Krishna' (whose most evolved form is Shiva the immortal) to go ahead of his gurus also!

Personally also as a reflection of it, as a child 'I' used to feel sorry for my teachers in the School who continued to remain in the same class, whereas we the students progressed from one to the higher class! To cite a personal example, for three years from class 9 to 11 we had a popular teacher who taught us Physics...Many years later, thanks to 'chance' or 'design', 'I' happened to meet him in the clinic of our family doctor. 'I' wished him and asked if he recognised me. The modest teacher told me that he was glad that 'I' had recognised him!

'I' was therefore impressed by the modesty of Isaac Newton also as he reportedly compared his findings as shiny pebbles etc found on the seashore with the consciousness that the whole sea of knowledge remained yet to be found (and coincidentally, the Yogis called the Formless God as 'Supreme Knowledge' also!)

YOSEE said...

JC, the incidents you have narrated are amazing. I have heard some others too saying similar things,of "beings" visiting those nearing death - maybe angels or ancestors. My Reiki Master used to say that when one reaches the stage of seeing the blue ( or violet) "gem" ( manideepa)at the ajna centre during Reiki,one will start noticing fleeting "angels" at the edge of the field of vision. They get attracted to the saadak who with ritualistic practices causes cosmic Prana to flow into self.( I have no personal experience of this.)

Rituals help to discipline the mind if followed with fidelity and concentration. But mere mindless execution of certain rites,out of habit, with the mind wandering to the day's later engagements,is unproductive.

KAVITHA : Shankara, Jesus and Buddha could be souls that got purified through many lives and were born as the name-forms we know them by, only when they were ready to become jeevanmukthas ;and after sharing their knowledge with the world, passed on to higher worlds as no more karma was left. All souls will reach that stage, but not simultaneously or in one timeframe. With each life, we are given the chance to go one step upward/forward. We stumble, we learn and we move on. So it is necessary to love and respect this life and not think of ourselves as "useless". Nothing created is useless.Everything has a place and a reason in the grand scheme of things. Like JC already pointed out, " They also serve who only stand and wait". If everyone was a Shankara, who would be the adoring desciple ?! :-)
( an aside : Rwitoja has already mentioned about Buddha's longevity. There is a persistent theory that Jesus, after resurrection, came to live in Kashmir to a ripe age. While Shankara merely walked away into the mysterious folds of the Himalayas ; there is no definitive record of his death in his thirties.)
Abt. the main post : Yantras take on positive or negative characteristics, depending on the mantras used to power them and the devatas pegged to them. Hence the same diagram can wield different influences in different circumstances. A popular analogy is electricity.
Sriyantra is a tantrik derivative extolling Female Energy, the wellspring of life.Though both Male ( upward pointing triangles) and Female ( Downward pointing triangles)aspects are represented interlocked, the devatas are all female. The 9 mandalas with the shakthis represent the Human Being, who potentially is Shiva-Shakthi united. The Human body is called The Island of Gems and the Sea Of Nectar which is the base of these is the ojus( semen & ovum). It points to the awe with which the ancients held the feminine power to create and deliver life.

JC said...

Yosee, A student of 'Engineering', ie., 'applied science' (using basic common sense), perhaps is normally one is trained to think from 'first principles'...although apparently on account of 'inferior western' influence today (from an "advanced ancient Hindu's" point of view) to conform with the overall time, Kaliyuga the Dark Age as per 'design', the 'present generation' is believably unable to visualise the 'truth' as it appeared to ancient 'Hindus' thanks to say Satyuga or even in Dwaper and Treta too as those even, reatively are superior with respect to the possible higher achievable human efficiency...

'We', in the 'Kaliyuga' (of efficiency 25 to 0%) are apparently trying to read the minds of the advanced human beings (of efficiency range 100% to 75%), which to a rational person perhaps is like a primary class student attempting to read a post graduate class student's books and feeling frustrated because it's Latin & Greek to us!

Thanks for the info on Yantras. Yes, the ancients apparently believed physical forms as representation of unending (immortal) energy through combinations of heat, light, sound, electricity, magnetism in different proportions...

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Yosee do you live in Chennai and if yes, is it possible for me to meet you?

JC said...

'I' can only say that audio-visual impact is definitely better...as 'I' also said long ago elsewhere, the disadvantage of communiction in writing is that one doesn't get to know the reaction of the reader (if he/ she decides not to react, which could be on account of many factors. 'I' have many times felt 'I' was addressing some kind of a wall!)... Whereas when one addresses a person close by, one can also get to see the reactions of the one who is addressed - instantaneously. And therefore to clarify one can add more words whenever there apparently is a doubt apparent in the mind as reflected on one's face also...

Good luck Kavitha!

JC said...

Yosee, 'Yantra' literally means 'instrument'...and man himself is indicated as an instrument - an 'electrochemical system' as per 'acupuncturists'...and again it was my wife who was instrumental in introducing me to its practice, the first time when we were in Guwahati. She had become anaemic and was unable to get up from the floor immediately and it took her a long time and effort to do so...And, as "Birds of the same feather flock together," a local PWD engineer neighbour, father of three daughters like me, gave me a friendly advice to take her to an acupuncturist in Maligaon - on the foot of the hill where Kamakhya Temple is located and is the headquarter of North Frontier Railway (NFR, and 'coincidentally' my wife, when she became a 'serious case' was admitted for a month for treatment/ tests in the Railway Hospital, who finally advised me to take her to AIIMS)...Within a week of the treatment she was able to sit down and stand up without any difficulty...but it didn't help reverse the damage already done by Rh Arthritis...and at one stage due to my shifting of our residence away from the temple and engaging another acupuncturist, in fact, resulted in development of a permanent source of pain in the ankle region due to piercing the needle at a wrong location!

It was after she discontinued acupuncture, one day 'I' had gone to a book shop to buy a birthday greeting card...and when the shopkeeper retreated to an inner room, 'I' just lifted my head casually to one shelf and my eyes rested on the spine of a book ('merudand' in humans!) and read the title "Acupuncture without needles"!

Obviously 'I' purchased it too and tried to apply it on self as well as my wife...but without experiencing any beneficial effects...for 'life is like that'...however, in this fashion 'I' was introduced to subjects 'I' wasn't even aware they existed at all to keep the masses busy in different channels...

JC said...

"Travelling is education," and,thereofre, if one believably belonging to some particular region (in N-E-W-S, and having roots in the 'sky' but on account of 'slavery of time' and limited life-span on 'earth' in the particular form), gets to live in a certain 'other/ foreign region', his otherwise dormant observation power gets revived (just as the top soil also becomes dead and gets revived when fresh soil gets deposited during floods/ volcano) as he/ she gets to notice some peculiar practices/ things to which one wasn't exposed earlier (and hence the apparent human interest in the field of 'Tourism')...

Maybe the above would help visualise how or why the 'wise ancients' concluded man as the model of the universe, an infinite void that apparently contains innumerable temporary 'physical forms' that are born and dissolved at different durations related to the particular categories/ individuals as illusory 'images of God'...but leave one to wonder about one's purpose vis-a-vis the purpose of the 'Supreme Being' - and feel frustrated, perhaps just as Kavitha apparently feels for she is unable to 'surrender in the Formless' as advised by our 'wise ancients'!...

JC said...

'Hindu mythology' because of "Anant Hari and His anant stories that is 'katha'" has 'role models' to suit any given individual human being...Even confirmed 'dacoits' apparently transformed into sages' after coming into contact with some elevated souls (like a piece of iron gets transformed into a magnet, say as a mute communication from the Formless!). And, perhaps vice versa too is possible!...

Maybe History would one day relate 'Bush' with say 'Ravan', and USA's apparent feeling of 'supremacy' despite the well known fact that 'sun rises in the east/ but sets in the 'west'"...

YOSEE said...

Kavitha, i live in Bangalore. You are welcome to my place whenever you are here.

YOSEE said...

Jc, feeling frustrated at the inability to dissolve in the Formless, (or to internalise the "truth" given out by the ancients that All is One), is a necessary "blue mood stage" in the evolution of a human. This dismay at our impotency is the impelling force that drives us to question, to dig and to excavate the thousand and one little enlightenments ( gnanodayam, as they say in tamil) that light the way to sakshatkaram ( in whichever birth). As the mod gurus say, "channelise the angst" !

JC said...

Yosee, the Tamil word, gnanodayam, as indicated by you, perhaps is derived from Sanskrit 'jnanodayam', that is, 'birth of knowledge', literally:)

Although 'I' am yet to reach what 'I' seek (the purpose of the creator), 'I' was also initially frustrated when 'we' moved from one doctor/ system of treatment, to another doctor/ system and although initial treatment showed some positive signs, yet eventually my wife's condition continued to deteriorate further and further till complications (SLE, and so on) set in and 'I' wondered what was the use of our 'education', when 'I' was being taken for a ride by various 'experts' despite statistics showing people like us belonging to the 'creamy layer'! (My foot!):(

Perhaps it was the Gita that was received by me as a farewell gift when 'I' was transferred to the northeast, but left behind by me, that helped me change my attitude on my return therefrom...'I' rationally thought that in one's day-to-day life one is apparently surrendering every second to 'someone else' - at home to the whims and fancies of children, wife', sleep, etc; and in office to one's boss, staff members and so on...but when adviced to 'surrender in Krishna' (or some supreme being), one resists! Perhaps as part of the 'design':)

YOSEE said...

JC, since no (wo)man is an island,and since our very identity, sense of I , is only a composite of what we are to others, most of our time is used up in interpersonal transactions. It takes tremendous effort to come out of that well into which we, the frogs, have put ourselves and see the expanse outside. Forget readiness or resistance to immerse in it, i'd be happy merely to have a glimpse of that blue outside in this janma.

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Hi Yosee, Joshi uncle,

Role play does control most part of our lives, and we have all heard "no man is an island" but are we not?

I dont need to always play a role and expect acceptance of it from others all the time 24x7 such that i cannot do without people! In that case we have real problems to deal with.

One should be ready for a state to be able to live with oneself alone at the same time be very comfortable when placed in the middle of people.

And its my belief that this space with oneself is very important because it shapes us,allows us to contemplate and helps us look at everything around us external to our little island.

We first need to give up our need for attention, and 2nd need to find something that keeps us busy where the rest of teh world is not required.

Its doable, and its not tough.

Regards
Kavitha

JC said...

Yosee, Kavitha, The 'wise ancients' indicate all souls (and therefore the apparent variety of forms that confuses one through various divisions viz. male and female) as 'females' or parts of the same Supreme energy, and only 'Krishna' the 'Black' (the representative of 'Vishnu', the Nadbindu or point source of sound energy and literally the unique 'poisonous atom') as 'Male'...

Startin from pure energy, he believably was responsible for the 'material world', which is represented by Earth-Moon and duly supported by other members of the solar system, for the apparent variety, to also have reached near immortality - through eternal cycles of actions performed by the 'panchbhootas'...

Earth-Moon (Shiv-Parvati in human form, or 'Ardhanarishwar') was realised by Yogis as the ideal model, or nearly the 'true likeness' of the Formless - who also reached 'amrit' or immortality...and hence the unending or eternal cycles...of appearance and disappearance of 'images' of God...which display various roles played by them from time to time in the PAST!

Words can't express the 'Absolute Truth' and, therefore, one believably needs individually to address the god or point source of energy within...that unfortunately for an average man/ woman, in short a soul, has multiplied by division (like bacterium) into 8 'chakras' or representations of galaxies...and therefore needs one to find a way to concentrate those into one point, like the Formless, and hence the 'Hindu' concept of activation of 'Kundalini' for the total energy to reach 'sahasrara chakra' housed in the head...for 'salvation' or 'moksha', and so on...

JC said...

However, 'Yogiraja Krishna' (who apaprently evolved into invisible-to-our-imperfect-eyes, or yantra for vision of sufficienly larger sized material forms only, as representative of the Formless Shiva/ Vishnu) also says that he can lead one to the Absolute Truth or Knowledge only if one surrenders in him! One is therefore advised to remain 'stithapragya' or unmoved, like as it is expected from an ideal spectator of a drama/ film that over a limited time evokes various emorions only as long as the 'illusion' lasts, or maybe for some more time till Time, the best healer, erases it's memory...and one only expresses it either as 'good', or 'so-so', or 'bad' (dream-like phenomenon)...

JC said...

Acting as 'head of office' at a certain stage, 'I' was surprised one day when 'I' found myself frustrated and saying loudly that everyone approached me with 'my leave', 'my transfer', and so on, but nobody said 'your'! 'I' immediately thereafter realised that the utterance had to be part of 'Krishna's' mischievous 'design', to remind me that 'I' too had never asked Him if 'I' could be of some assistance to Him, for generally 'we' take Him for granted as needing nothing (as He says so in the Gita too)! But, 'we' approach Him for providing solution to all our apparent problems in day-to-day life...That night 'I' told Him to take any help He needed from 'me', for 'I' being ignorant of it, it was upto Him to use me like 'I' use different materials/ tools for my convenience...

YOSEE said...

Kavitha,Yes, it is Doable, but it IS tough. Its not the question of " needing attention". There's such a thing as responsibility towards other lives -Parents, husband, children primarily and the organised-society that helps us live,secondarily.It is for this reason that our dharma ordains the well known order of ashramas : Brahmacharyam ( acquiring knowledge), Grihasthashram (to fulfill the pitr- rna and manushya-rna )and only later, when our societal responsibilities are all done with, we are to take up Vaanaprastham, given over totally to our personal journey into inner space. Before that stage, the small "private intervals" we can snatch for ourselves from our schedules help to lay and smoothen the road for that ultimate journey.

JC said...

Maybe 'I' have said it many times earlier also, although people following some 'old school' (due to lack of knowledge of the background perhaps) might not like to question and also answer the typical questions the apparent 'western education' stresses upon as the requisite to reaching the overall truth - reflected by 'science' (such as Why?, How? etc.) - although, of course starting from scratch, they also haven't yet managed to reach the 'Ultimate/ Absolute Truth'...(and 'Hindus' similarly believe God to have reached reached infinity from zero, graphically represented by tangent theta curve perhaps...

'I' would only ask anyone to tell me who made it possible for human being to see dreams (in sleep or perhaps all through one's life!)? Was it Newton, Thomas Alva Edison, Einstein? and any other 'western character'? And, when earth can exist for billions of years why man-made structures don't last even, say 10,000 years (with the existing oldest Pyramids in my mind, that also remain a mystery to the 'present day Egyptologists' in the 'Atomic Age', despite advancement in Technology starting from Cave Age)?

JC said...

Kavitha, the thought received by 'me', about 'illusory world' vis-a-vis a unique Supreme Being who was reviewing Stories of His Own Past from Satyuga to Kaliyuga over 1000 times in one day (1080, ie, 360x3 as per 'me') with respect to one of His Own aspect - out of three (3, symbolically representing 'OM") - has apparently led 'me' to the human 'mind's eye' (that is linked to the different apparatuses, or YANTRAS, for receiving information from the apparent outside world to activate 'my inner world'...importance also given to it by 'ancient Yogis' who were much more advance because of the believable characteristic property of Time, ie, Mahakal as its controller, whose presence is also indicated at Ujjain as you too have indicated with reference to DEVI, the adi-shakti...

'I' therefore am able to see the present political scenario as reflected by 'videos' related to allegedly improper election speeches etc (repeatedly played on different channels umpteen numbers of time) being received for inspection by the Election Commission, besides those related with 'sting operations' to expose the 'real faces' of the concerned, particularly the 'political leaders'...indicating the characteristic property of Kaliyuga as it heads towards its beginning...as already indicated by the 'wise Hindus'...

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Yosee I beg to differ

Our social responsibilities dont end until we have no money and we are not useful.. does any parent today think of sanyasam? no nobody! If we have got to live among these people we need to do our part with no expectation and no attachment, what ever the role. And everyone needs to know what it means... and when that role ends.

I dont see anyone even wanting their loved ones to take it up... therefore it becomes important to make it a part of this life while we are still "young" and can take care of our own selves...

Its all about role play.. we owe one role to our selves and that is something we need to keep or fight for.. our life and time cannot be distributed to everyone else... and we snatch 5 minutes for ourselves...

so as long as we understand that and find a middle way.. we are doing fine... but we need to find it.

if we allow, everyone takes everything. but if we deny, they will learn to respect our space.

If we want something and we want it real bad, its not tough to get it.

JC said...

Kavitha, As 'I' have realised it, and have said in innumerable words, Perhaps it is only a matter of change of attitude...one (every soul, that is as good as the supreme soul or Paramatama in advanced Hindus' words) also is getting to see its various forms in the 'past', from 'birth' to 'death' - but not the 'present' that also is the 'future', ie., formless!...That's the helplessness of each individual 'image'...and hence the apparent chaotic situation...

JC said...

Hi Kavitha, Greetings to all on the occasion of WORLD WATER DAY! May Devi (Parvati), 'the daughter of Himalaya' and another form of Sati - represented by Moon the source of all waters on Gangadhar earth - be merciful to all 'Hindus' that is all terrestrial life forms!!!

JC said...

The 'Hindu mythology' in the nut shell conveys to a layman, or an average person, existence of some mysterious formless 'spiritual' power that believably rules eternally over the entire infinite universe, which appears as a dark void (Anant Vishnu, or supreme form of the Nadbindu to a Vaishnavite, or Bhootnath that is formless undying, that is, immortal energy form, to a Shaivite). And, the infinite void is filled with innumerable temporary physical forms in different shapes, including a large variety of 'animals' on 'earth', headed by Man as the superior most form, which also reflect the apparent variety in 'Nature' through the apparent heirarchy between animals and also even among humans...All those physical forms in reality are believed to have some 'bhootas' or 'ghosts' that is individual immortal spirits taht are, however, temporarily imprisoned within each temporary form that continue to undergo eternal cycles, maybe with certain breaks or rest to each individual spirit, which necesscitates the soul to acquire minimum 8.4 million inferior animal forms before it could acquire human form the first time...and thereafter might get elevated higher [in potential, closer to Vishnu/ Shiva as reflected by the physical form acquiring 'siddhi' that is overall knowledge about the Creator (Vishnu)/ Destroyer (Shiva)] or move downwards, say to acquire some inferior animal form again

Among the human forms that were considered to exist in three categories (as part of teh eternal truth), 'Tantriks' apparently deal with the 'spirit' or some other inferior soul directly (through 'inferior' animal sacrifices etc, or even human beings considered inferior)...'Mantriks', are Gurus that through control of their minds etc and thus believably having elevated souls, ie., are 'siddha purush', however utilise only sound energy, or 'mantras', for improving their own status and also that of other inferior souls' in the form of humans or even animals, just as everyone today knows the beneficial effect of music...while some Gurus utilise instruments or Yantras for the said purpose...There however might exist Gurus or apparently superior souls who might, either knowingly or unknowingly, harm one instead of helping the concerned...and therefore intention is believed to matter more in the eys of the Supreme Being..."Failure is a step to succes," and therefore the general advice to a 'shisya' or a student to 'try again and again till one eventually succeeds'...

Although Krishna in human form in Dwaperyuga, as a young boy, believably played pranks with milk-maids of Mathura-Vrindaban, and thus troubled them, he wasn't judged based on those acts for he apparently proved to be a saviour of the people at trying times, right from the young age! St. Mathew similarly advises one, 'Judge not that ye be not judged, etc."

YOSEE said...

Kavitha, your point of view noted and appreciated.

Bodhisattva said...

This is a direct quote from your article:

"It is believed that the equator passes through here (Bhumadhya rekha) and thus makes this town the seat of all astronomical learning and calculations."

I would like to point out some factual mistakes here. The equator DOES NOT pass through Ujjain. In fact, the equator does not pass through any part of India at all. What you are talking about here is the Tropic of Cancer, which passes through 5 kms north of the town.

What makes Ujjain special is that it is the prime meridian of India. This same meridian passes through Allahabad (82"30'E). Incidentally, both the places host Kumbha Melas!

Here is a sample of Ujjain from my blog:
http://beyondlust.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/ujjain-the-land-of-gods/

Kavitha Kalyan said...

Thank you Bodhisatva,
Agree, its possibly the prime meridian and definitely not the equator.

Thanks for the information and photos on your site are lovely.

Regards
Kavitha

Anonymous said...

"...and the original prototype of the Hindu Panchang(calendar) took its root here. It is believed that the Bhumadhya rekha [possibly the prime meridian] passes through here and thus makes this town the seat of all astronomical learning and calculations [this information may not be authentic]."

It is not the Bhumadhya rekha (equator) but the Karak or karkatak rekha, the Tropic of Cancer (the latitude line at 23.5° north), passing close to Ujjain.
Sudhir

Truthserum said...

Dear Kavithaji..Namaste. I had, for some time..searching for information about the Srichakra in the Alaknanda river.I had come across your site while searching for this information. Can you kindly please share the exact coordinates to this location?. It would be highly appreciated.
Once again my humble namastes to you.
Sarvam Jaganmaataram.

Tej Pratap