Cosmic Mother

 

The entire symbology of an ekchali durga pandal for me, is mesmerising. It comes across as a representation of the entire cosmic movement. The Devi killing the Asura, has karuna in her. She is not a represented as a vengeful wronged woman, driven by vendetta, seeking her pound of flesh. On the contrary she comes across to me as merciful and loving mother. The anger she projects, is for corrective reasons and not for personal validation. She is disciplining, and restoring the cosmic balance. She is helping the asura to come out of his negative vritti's. In her consciousness there is Shiva, the auspicious.
She is a mother, her children are of various vocations. She supports and nurtures them. The children in turn are her strength and her will. Her actions affect the universe. She can take any form and role to care for them. She is master of many devices. She can not only match, but she outwits the destructive powers. While she is the manifest power of Devas, she is benevolent and purposeful. She is not distracted by luring and admiring proposals. All elements of nature are entered in this archetype, the sky, earth, water, fire, living and non living beings. The archetype represents the elements of modern times. The creativity, itself is the Mothers expression through the artist. The medium is also her own creation. 

That entire pandal for me, is a holographic representation of the cosmos.
It is like a trance.

Saundarya Lahari, The Descent

Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati on Saundarya Lahari

This book provides a wonderful way to resolve the difficulties and distress faces in life, whether as a grihasta, householder, or a sannyasin,  a renunciate. It is a book of worship and prayer, which is the highest attitude the mind can assume. This attitude arises when the mind comes under the influence of the atman, or soul. The same gross mind constituted of the twenty-six tattwas,  which is subject to time,  space and object is refined to the highest degree, and begins to act in conjuction with the heart and soul. Such a mind projects the higher traits of love, compassion, devotion, surrender, faith and belief,  because these are the qualities of the soul.
Worship requires a one-pointed mind and a pure heart. It also requires a disciplined body and the constant, unbroken attitude of surrender. In addition, the intellect must be balanced so that it does not disturb the mind by undue reasoning, which interrupts the worship. By performing Saundarya Lahari, sadhana in this way, you are simultaneously practicing raja yoga, bhakti yoga, hatha yoga,  karma yoga and jnana yoga. This Saundarya Lahari sadhana is the culmination of yoga, intended to draw or your highest potential.

Taken from Yoga Publications Trust, Munger, Bihar, India book,  Saundarya Lahari, The Descent by Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati

Love is Be-ing ...

19/05/2017

It has been quite a while since I keyed (penned, hmmm miss it) my thoughts. I am a morning person. It is not like I have not had thoughts, that I needed to share. There were many I felt like, though never got the opportunity to do so. Either in a rush to leave for the early morning Yoga class or driving. I wish I could thought-write them. :D :D

I was on a detox leave for a fortnight. Though not much went on to detox my body. What I did, was just speculate and re-worked on my schedule and diet to fit in the early work hours and yet not miss a decent breakfast on my working days. I am ok with skipping lunch (sometimes) and dinner. I am very thankful to my students for their co-operation and love and kindness… Hey but cooperation and kindness is love, isn’t it?

Ah Love, such an over rated and abused word. It has lost its pristine truth and purity. The overly commercialised word to SELL about anything and bargain for anything. I remember when I studied marketing, how branding of a product is so important. The 5 Ps of Philip Kotler, Product, Packaging, Pricing, Promotion and Placement. Placement, was to get into the heart of the matter, emotions. So there. I understood this interesting and bang on target concept. Branding an object using the emotional connect with the product. "Mother's love", "Nature's Goodness", "Complete Man" etc.

However, coming back to subject of love, and here I am not even trying to sell or buy anything, I am simply grateful and wish to express my gratitude and include my students and supporters in this feeling.
So, what is Love? Is it enough to say "I want to thank you for your love"? To  me, it sounds all encompassing, "your love". It means such a lot, includes so many good feel attitudes.

I had often wondered about Love. When i was very young, I had written in my notebook my thoughts on Love. It intrigued me. I was not convinced with what was presented as the notion of love, and had to come up with a bigger thought than what I could perceive then, at that age, with the information and limited exposure i had to the world and relationships. I knew of the world through many books, Amar Chitra Katha's, Reader's Digest and 3 hours of Television.

Love, for me back then was not limited to the romantic opposite gender thing we saw in films. Love was an universal emotion that one could feel for anything, anyone at most times, when one felt a sense of connected-ness. Love was an expression of that connected-ness between parent child, friends, siblings or maybe books.
And today again I was wondering what is love really all about?

This is how i feel about Love, and posted on my FB page with this appropriate downloaded image (someone shares my feelings)

"Do Preet Meditation adopting the Love Asana / Premasana :))

When you love,

it includes many attitudes positive -

trust, empathy, care, kindness, humane, compassion, understanding, tolerance, truthful, open, forgiving, empowering, courage, faith, belief, silence, speech, patience, non-violence, non-covetous, abstinence, stability of emotions, action, strength, freeing, independence, non-attachment, prayers, giving, service, accepting, selfless, generosity, non-judgemental, equanimity, gratitude etc...;

In this space of positive-ness resides the soul of love.

In the direction opposite lies the otherness of love, which is laced with negative attitudes of selfishness, fear, trepidation, suspicion, anger, jealousy, binding, bondage, unforgiving, unkind, unyielding, addiction etc.

And you could get absorbed in either. Intoxicated stupor of uniting with your Be-ing."

Love is like being inside this Big Balloon which is filled with so many heart-warming and good feel attitudes. When we are in this space the universe is Amazing ! Beautiful ! Divine !💓💞💓
What is also striking is, it is the same heart and emotions which is capable of feeling exact opposite.

This heart (mind) which is incapable of being all encompassing, becoming exclusive and punishing, is the same heart which is capable of the other.

It is simply the otherness of love that divides us, separates us and gives us all a race, color, name, nationality, species, gender, status, state, nature etc. We are all different, divided by our otherness. When we rise above this otherness, we Love. We feel. We are sensitive to existence and everything about it.

Love is something that happens with the evolution of consciousness. Conversely, when we work on becoming more universal in our attitudes, more loving that is the consciousness just evolves. It is a music to which the soul dances in bliss.

Stay Love!⚘💕🎕

Un-Being - Un-Ness of Positive Being

unbeing dead isn't being alive. e.e. cummings

Un-ness of positive being

Un-happy

Un-easy

Un-loved

Un-wanted

Un-educated

Un-fed

Un-expressed

Un-good

Un-sure

Un-fulfilled

Un-kind

Un-cared

Un-satisfied

Un-clean

Un-well

Un-beautiful

Un-sympathetic

Un-listening

Un-spoken

Un-rendered

Un-heard

Un-seen

Un-accomplished

Un-passionate

Un-positive

From Un-ness of positive being let us get to Being-ness of positive being and it is simple

Un-happy

Un-easy

Un-loved

Un-wanted

Un-educated

Un-fed

Un-expressed

Un-good

Un-sure

Un-fulfilled

Un-kind

Un-cared

Un-satisfied

Un-clean

Un-well

Un-beautiful

Un-sympathetic

Un-listening

Un-spoken

Un-rendered

Un-heard

Un-seen

Un-accomplished

Un-passionate

Un-positive

Mantra

Sound

Sound is all around us, all kinds of sound at all the time. Every hour of the day has it's characteristic sounds. For me the chirping of birds is a sign of dawn, while a cacophony of excited birds, dusk. The mornings a clutter of utensils and cooking in kitchen, vehicles on street etc. Afternoons are quiet with the T.V. chattering in the next room. The most beautiful sound hours are, the Night and Early morning hours. There is a divine rhythm vibrating at that hour. The serenity and depth of those hours are relaxing and calming. As if the nature is meditating and the vibrations are reverberating through us. Wow !

Songs and poems are there with us since childhood. In the form of lullabies and later songs. A poem written to depict joy brings joy to us when we listen to it. Though it was another's experience. A song of patriotism raises our patriotic spirit. A song or sound of pathos makes us sad. Sometimes we cry. An inspirational song fills us with courage. These feelings are triggered or evoked from inside us whether we understand the language or not. Often listening to National Anthems of different countries, during Olympics, used to make me feel for that country and it's nationals. Mantras are a spiritual followers sound choice. :)

Spiritual Anthem. 

Mantra

A mantra is a verbal expression of an elevated state of being. A vibration, sound and collection of words that is connected with that state. When we repeat it, whether we understand or not, it recreates that state within us. Be it Mahamrityunjay Mantra, Maha Mantra, Gayatri Mantra, Saundarya Lahari, Vishnu Sahsranaman or Shiv Shadakshar Stotra or Durga Dvatrinsha Mala. Any mantra has within it the frequencies and energies of of its state. Sound is energy of varying frequencies and amplitudes. There are audible sounds and there are humanly inaudible sounds that effect us, as well. Sounds are constantly effecting us at gross level. A mantra effects us at deeper levels of sub conscious and unconscious. Loud chanting of mantras in groups for a prolonged period on a regular basis at a regular spot increases the vibration of the environment manifolds. It gets imprinted/recorded into the magnetic field of the space. Just as sound used to be recorded on magnetic audio cassette tapes.

Everything around is emitting sound radiation which we can tune in to, if we wish. We can also tune in to our internal frequency. The Guru Mantra is a bridge to our personality. The other path is Silence or Mauna. 

Mauna

When we are silent. Really silent our inner sound starts coming through clearly without the external clutter. These may manifest as inspired words or music or song or compassion. Mauna is a very powerful practice. It helps us develop focus and mental clarity. It stops the dissipation due to extreme verbosity. Most of us are insecure and uncomfortable around silence or quiet people. We start chattering and making small talks. Those who practice Mauna have a sweet, deep and steady personality. They appear more gathered and kind. Sri Aurobindo Ghosh was a Muni.

Kirtan and Bhajans

One of the best way to heal from the kleshas (disorders) in this complex times, is Kirtan. The Kirtan is way of connecting with the divine. The words extol the virtues of great devotees and the devoted beings. Bhajans are a way of re-aligning our frayed emotions. We live in times where we feel lost and faithless. There is no one we can trust. Values are being challenged, There is new order of living coming into existence, which we do not want to accept. We are comfortable with old out dated ways and feel comfortable only that way. Kirtans and Bhajans give us a feeling of serenity and stability.  we feel more and more inclined to accept changes. We feel courageous and confident in the new order. We don't feel left out. We develop tolerance and feeling of connecteness. It is generally a community activity. People do it in gatherings, either on regular basis or occasionally for special events.

Atah Yoga Anushasanam

(A couple of paras from the article "Mind Management in Everyday Life" in the BSY Magazine publication Yoga Mag September 1999 issue)


When we try to enforce or live or bring a concept into our lives, it becomes a philosophy or an idea with which we identify. But when the concept becomes a philosophy it is not translated into action. There is a split between our personal philosophy and our actions in the outer world. Why? Lack of discipline, lack of awareness. Yoga has been very clear in saying that the beginning of yoga is through discipline – discipline which is not enforced but which is the outcome of the awareness spanning all the different dimensions of the human personality.






In the first statement of the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali says that yoga is anushasanam. This word has been translated in English as discipline, but it is not discipline. Anushasan means 'awareness of the inner personality that is manifesting in the outer world'. Anu means 'subtle', shasanam means 'to rule, to govern, to be in control of'. Therefore, according to Patanjali, yoga is a form or method of governing the inner nature. It is a method of directing the inner nature harmoniously so that it can manifest externally. And this is the beginning of yoga.


~Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

Dealing - Objective path to Healing

On an introspective note, i wondered about the attitudes that make our life. The inability to deal with pain and difficult situations often lead us to sickness mental or physical. There are so many of us who are depressed, disillusioned, struggling or have simply given up. Then comes prayers to get healed and nourished once again.

I can relate to those feelings. I have been through there. I wondered what i did or did not. The attitudes at the root of those moments. 

Perhaps, the one thing that worked most effectively was the attitude of "dealing with it". May sound like a strong command. I found it powerful. Facing the situation squarely. It works. Maybe, we need to work more on the dealing attitude than on the healing. Healing is spontaneous. Nature heals. However, dealing is a conscious step taken with awareness. I am not saying that one should not think of healing energies. Of course, one must do so. While doing that, i would say my approach is taking a conscious step towards the RESULT you seek through the healing. If you break a bone. It will heal naturally whether you do something about it or not. Then again, even if done deliberately and yet not done properly it will heal improperly. So if it is done consciously with the objective of healing and joining it as original to restore to normal action, then the result is bound to be more effective and desirable. With such an objective, you are set in a direction to find the correct resources and means to achieve it. You will find solutions. If your resolve is to heal effectively, you will work with balance and directed energy. Your positivity will attract the solution. Your resolve will guide you through the obstacles. Half the battle is won, simply by making a positive resolve. Having an objective. The resolve will shape the outcome.

"Dealing With It" is an essential attitude towards taking charge of your life. As long as we live we will do the right things and the wrong. Things will happen to us, Fantastic and Pathetic stuff. And we have to live through it.

The best part of situations in life is, we are passing through them. Being a reluctant student of Physics, I liken the life situations we pass through to the process of Annealing, making it a life science. Shaping our personality through it all. Maintaining balance and stability and dealing with these situations objectively, would be useful for us to come through them gracefully and beautifully. We are stronger, gentler and more compassionate beings at the end of each of these trial and glories. They will go on and on.

Living consciously would make a great deal of difference in passing through life stories. Healing energies charge our conscious efforts in a positive way.

We need the Healing Power, like a battery to run an equipment. Healing Energies give life to effort. Healing Power along with conscious efforts would result in effective outcome. Faith and Belief are very important in guiding our thoughts and efforts. In creating our resolve, Sankalpa. Bringing in a collaboration of the matter, mind and the spirit is essential.

It is very satisfying and settling at the end of it, when we are healed effectively.

To sign of this post with a few nice quotes:

"When you're going through something, whether it's a wonderful thing like having a child or a sad thing like losing somebody, you often feel like 'Oh my God, I'm so overwhelmed; I'm dealing with this huge thing on my own.' In fact, poetry's a nice reminder that, no, everybody goes through it. These are universal experiences." ~ Caroline Kennedy

"A lot of life is dealing with your curse, dealing with the cards you were given that aren't so nice. Does it make you into a monster, or can you temper it in some way, or accept it and go in some other direction?" ~ Wes Craven

"Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people." ~ Carl Jung