Comment below: --- In [email protected], a_non_moose_ff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In [email protected], Vaj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > > On Jan 20, 2006, at 9:10 PM, qntmpkt wrote: > > > > > being part of > > > the Saivite Tradition of Shankara > > > > It would appear Shankara was a Vaishnav. > > Being said to be an incarnation of Shiva -- that would be "interesting". > > He was a bit special (deva like). Did all his commentaries and all by > 16, when his incarnation was supposed to have been up. But was > granted an additional 16 years to travel India to set up the maths and > all. Drop the mortal coil at 32. > **SNIP TO END**
Most of the reading and research I've done does seem to point to Adi Sankaracharya as being a devotee of Narasimha, Vishnu's incarnation as the ManLion who rescued his devotee, Prahlad, from his demon father, Hiranyakashipu. All worship is only Consiousness worshipping Consciousness. The puranas articulate this by the stories of any particular manifestation of God worshipping another manifestation of God as Lord. Shiva is considered the highest devotee of Krishna (indeed, Hanuman, who is the epitome of devotion is the "secret" form of Shiva); Rama fashions a lingam on the sands of south India to worship Shiva before conquering Sri Lanka (the present of the Rameshavaram temple that Maharishi visited after he left Uttar Kashi); all the Gods invoke and worship their Shakti as Ma Durga to "save" them from the demon Mahishasura; etc. It's all a round robin of worship of Self. Similarly, in the offering of ararti, or camphor flame, to the divinity the symbolism is that the individual flame of consciousness is offering itself to the universal light of consiousness of which it is just an expression. Using camphor as the fuel is symbolic of the ego which, offering itself to God, is completely extinguished with no ash left behind because it wasn't real to begin with. I guess you could extend the metaphor as regards the carbon soot to leshyavidya, or the remains of ignorance. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/UlWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
