The Mansarovar of my mind, Kailasa of my forehead

The three eyed Lord, is a term that has often echoed in my head and left me intrigued and jolted over the presence of an invisible third eye that when open throws rays of bright light or fire that enlightens me but may destroy others!

What a thought it is to reverberate the ideas of Thirumular who immaculately describes that Lord Shiva and His consort, the graceful red hued Parvati actually reside over my forehead. What does that mean? When the book says that it is possible that the Lord makes his presence felt by taking seat atop my fore, does it reflect in a glow around me, such that a person who looks at me wants to take a second glance, such that there is purity shining through of a different kind that leaves people speechless.

Its this strange spot between my eyebrows that intrigues me the most. Strange because it is at my crown, in the highest zone of my anatomy that dictates respect, and that anything scribbled over there has symbolism, meaning and depth to its presence.

This forehead is a canvas of a different kind, for anything that is drawn on it has a meaning to be there. Lets take a few examples.

If I, being a woman, were to draw a design and color it, with small sequence hanging on to it, it would reflect my need for explicitly enhancing my beauty, fueling my ego and my vanity and inducing seduction to some degree to the opposite sex.

If I, being a man, were to paint three vertical lines to the center of my forehead, I would be designating myself to a school of thought following a single God and dictating the power of Viashnavism.

If I, being a man or woman [either unmarried or widowed] had to put 3 horizontal lines of ash across my forehead, I would be declaring my inclination to another school of thought, namely Shaivism. I would be at the same time displaying my detachment to life and my need to know the truth that is beyond my being.

If I, being a man or woman, had to put a red dot at the center of my fore, I would determine the power of the Goddess reflecting through my face to the world around me. I would define my faith in the mother goddess cult and my deep faith in her worship.

If I, being a man or a woman, didn't put anything on my forehead but the Lord inscribed strange marks on the lines of my skin, I would have crossed the line of known spiritualism and entered a zone that no one but I would know of and that would lead to my evolution into the next plane of spiritual enlightenment.

The deep lines on the skin draw a parallel with the deep crevasses that make up the character of Mount Kailasa, the three horizontal lines starkly stand out between the rock and the snow awakening the presence of a deeper truth we scarcely have a hint of. The deep cut on the forehead of the great mountain Kailasa possibly depicts in a natural way, the half opened frozen third eye of the Lord, that could widen and shine through, bathing the world with its divine rays. How magical is that world, that the mountain reflects in the silent waters of the Manasarovar lake that describes the equilibrium of my thoughts, and of my mind.

As the Lalitasahasranamam says, the Goddess Parvati is like the swan that swims in the silent waters of the Manasa lake deep within my head. Isn't the picturesque view of the Mansarovar lake with the Kailasa towering beyond a real depiction of the inner silent truth of the Lord and the Goddess residing over my forehead?

The snow laden mountain with its deep crevasses clearly shown appears like the forehead of my mind is smeared with sacred white ash that glows in the light of the sun that shines upon it. How true it is that the Lord resides at Kailasa, how true it is that the Lord has taken seat upon my forehead, how true it is that the frozen vertical eye of the great mountain represents the dormant energy that is awakening within me to shine as the source of light that enlightens me and blinds the rest of the world with its power.

The secrets of ancient Hindu spiritualism are far beyond our normal capacity to understand, but a glimpse of this truth in the imagination of one's own thoughts and ideas can be the most intoxicating state of permanent bliss. And our forehead is the silent screen that depicts the level of spiritualism we are at. What a concept!

Memoirs of a floating Vilva

Within the lap of these virgin mountains
Deep inside a cave in the Himalayan foothills
Resides here a sacred shrine
Of Lord Shiva Yogishwara

A great saint had once meditated here
In the depths of this silent Gufa
Now lit up with a few oil lamps
Now home to the Lord and a few rodents

I am an offering of love and devotion
I am an offering pure and sublime
I reside here close to this sacred Linga
Awaiting the moment of release

In the early morning hours this winter
The priest comes and beholds
This divine form of the Lord
Ready to be bathed in Holy water

The sacred sprinkles touch the Lord
These pure waters of the Ganges
Flow down the smooth stone of this Linga
Taking me with it in its silent waves.

I leave behind this sacred home
My last home before I journey down
This silent rivulet reaches on
To the great Ganges flowing outside this cave door

Sweet syllables proclaim this freedom
Divine verses lift my earthly veil
Divine fragrance is my boat
As I float down to the Ganges beyond

Bright light breaks the darkness
As the waters make their way out
The cold gushing waters free my soul
I am on my way to my heavenly abode

I have lived with this earthly shrine
I have meditated to this divine fire
I am now one with the supreme being
Complete, enlightened, blessed.

The mysterious red hued goddess

The characteristics of the real Parvati have been documented extensively in the Lalitasahasranamam.

Goddess in the red hued form
She is meditated upon as the red hued Goddess with a vermilion body, three eyed and sporting a crown of rubies with a crescent moon. She has a smiling face, splendid bust and is seated on a lotus with petal eyes. She is golden hued with a lotus flower in her hand. She holds a jewel cup brimming with mead in one hand, while the other twirls a lotus flower. She holds a noose depicting the power of love in one hand and the flashing ankusha of anger restraining the forces of evil in the other. She yields a sugarcane bow depicting the mind and 5 arrows that represent the tanmantras. The whole universe is bathed in her rosy splendor. Her forehead shines arched like the crescent moon and her eyebrows resemble archways leading to the abode of supreme beauty. her eyes move like fish in this stream of divine beauty flowing from her face. Her neck is adorned with the mangalsutra that the Lord Kameshwara fastened round her neck. She wears a garment of deep red round her hip which is adorned with a girdle having many jeweled bells. The beauty and smoothness of her thighs are known to Lord Kameshwara alone, as she is seated on his lap, the conqueror of all desire. She rests on a seat formed by five divinities and is inaccessible, she constitutes half of Lord Shiva's body, shining dark complexioned and she is full of divine fragrance.

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Subtle abstraction of the Goddess in sacred syllables of sound

The abstraction of the Goddess is defined as the power that is generated from the fire of pure consciousness. She represents the Panchadashakshari mantra, she is the form of the mula mantra. In her subtle form, she is invoked by a mesmerizing mesh of sacred syllables, stitched together into a garland of kutas[combination of letters]. The Kamaraja Kuta represents the region from her neck to her waist while the Shakti kuta represents the Goddess's form from below her waist. She is that energy that rises from the Brahma Granthi, through the Vishnu granthi crossing the Rudra granthi to reach the center of pure consciousness in the Sahasrara Chakra. She is the subtle force that destroys all anger, greed and doubt that rises within the human mind. She is the ever constant, unaffected by time, she is pure consciousness. She destoys the fear of change, the fear of death. She is the greatest tantra, the greatest mantra, the greatest yantra. She is the very form of the cosmic sound, Nada. She is that energy which constitutes the 50 sacred sound transforming into the gross reality of 50 great centers of worship. She is like the moonlight that gives joy to those who burn in the triple fires of misery - physical, mental and supernatural. She is like the swan that swims in the manasa lake in the mind of her devotees. She is the hamsa mantra that reverberates in every breath. She resides deep within the cave of our intelligence, she is the ruler of our prana, of our life force. She is the primal mystic sound that vibrates deep within us. She is pure sound energy, potent in every syllable of her mula mantra.

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The warrior Goddess who vanquishes all evil
The warrior Goddess is described most immaculately in the Lalitasahasranamam as the Goddess who takes position in the center of the rampart of fire constructed by jwalamalinika. She rejoices when Ganesha destroys the magical devices placed by the demon Bhandasura as obstacles to her victory. She creates the 10 incarnates of Vishnu out of her 10 finger nails, to slay the great demon in war. She burns down the armies of demons with the fire of the her missile Pashupata. She is like the axe that cuts through the jungle of samsara in which the jeeva is caught. She lives in a circle of fire, she is the power called maya and she is Mahakali, the divine mother who consumes everything as a part of time.  

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The Goddess who loves food offerings

She is the Goddess who protects sacred tradition. She is the female element of the kula path, the guardian who protects the sacred doctrine of the Kaulas. She enjoys the rhythmic dance of women, better known as Lasya. She rules the fifty great centers of power, divine places of worship. She loves offerings of payasam [milk foods], offerings of rice mixed with ghee. She adours offerings of rice cooked jaggery and offerings of honey. She is pleased with offerings of pulses with rice as well as saffron flavored rice

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The abstraction of Parvati remains a mystery, she appears to have celestial characteristics of bright red skin, she is the very expression of beauty, the essence of sound, a warrior Goddess who loves rice based offerings. She appears sensuous and terrific at the same time, a killer of evil and a child who indulges in milk food offerings and honey. She is the keeper of faith and a destroyer of evil and a yet she is as graceful a maiden in the arms of her consort - Lord Shiva.