--- In [email protected], "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], Bhairitu <noozguru@> wrote:
> <snip>
> > Indian yogis personified the fields of nature they perceived to
> > make the science of yoga more understandable to the general
public.
> > I heard a great lecture on this when in Cochin once.
Personification
> > also makes teachings easier to remember.
>
> A bit of synchronicity:
>
> I was looking for something in Google's archive
> for alt.meditation.transcendental and stumbled
> across the post from almost 10 years ago I'm
> reproducing below. I had found this essay on the
> Web site for the Age of Enlightenment Mall, a
> Fairfield operation that is apparently now
> defunct (at least, the URL no longer works).
>
> About The Vedic Deities
> The Inner Dimension of the Devas
>
> The consciousness which we experience in common as pure awareness
has
> been described as long as man has existed in different terms. The
> totality of pure being which is the basis of the Cosmic
Intelligence
> has been said to have the qualities of silence, omnipresence of
love,
> and creative power. The ancient seers of every culture have
described
> that Cosmic Intelligence which is formless, limitless, infinite,
and
> pure awareness as the Mother of all Life.
>
> In ancient India, these great seers of thousands of years ago were
> called Rishis. They gave expression to their experiences of the
> unbounded Cosmic Intelligence or Self in the language of feeling.
The
> language they used was a universal language called the Vedic
Language
> of which Sanskrit is the present remnant. The word Veda
> means "knowledge", so the Vedic language was a language made up of
> the spontaneous expressions of the heart which came about as a
result
> of direct cognition of the qualities of the objects, concepts and
> emotions they experienced.
>
> For example, one Vedic word in every culture is the sound
Ma. "Mama"
> is a word expressing every child's experience of their mother and
is
> expressive of the same mother quality across all nations and
> civilizations. [Note: It's been suggested that the sound "ma"
refers
> to "mother" in so many cultures not because of any inherent subtle
> value of the sound that is expressive of experience of the
maternal
> quality, but simply because when a baby starts to babble, "ma" is
the
> first sound it makes--all it requires is opening and closing the
> mouth while activating the vocal cords. The sound has been
associated
> with the mother because the mother is usually the first one to
hear
> the baby make it, and it's assumed the baby's first utterance
would
> be directed at the object in its environment that is the primary
> focus of its attention.--JS]
>
> Similarly our word "heart" is derived from the Vedic sound "Hrid"
> which described the sound of the pulse of the heart. When the
Rishis
> wanted to express the silent value of pure consciousness they gave
a
> name Shiva. The word "Shiva" means silence--"Shivam Shantam
Advaitam
> Chaturtham" i.e., Shiva is silence (Shantam), non-dual (Advaitam),
> the fourth state of awareness (Chaturtham) transcending the
> transitory sleep, waking and dream states. Similarly when the
Rishis
> wanted to express the value of omnipresence of love--that
> consciousness seemed to them so harmonizing and unifying--they
> expressed that quality as Vishnu: Vish means to pervade and nu
means
> within, i.e. that consciousness which is all pervading within.
>
> When the Rishis wanted to express the fact that the Cosmic
> Intelligence, their Self, was huge and creative giving rise to the
> whole universe they used the word Brahma. The word Brahma comes
from
> the sound Brihat (huge). The "B" in Brahma stands for the
formation
> of boundaries; the "r" stands for activity of creation; the "a"
> indicates expansion of creation; and the "m" in Brahma signified
the
> bliss of vibrating within oneself--the cosmic hum. It is that
cosmic
> joy in waves of bliss that allows the universe to be maintained in
> ever expanding waves of life.
>
> Naturally, some Rishis felt that these three qualities of creative
> energy, omnipresence of love, and the quality of silence or pure
> beingness needed to be appreciated in terms of femininity. They
felt
> that Cosmic Intelligence was nurturing and full of the lovingness
> that a mother would have so they expressed that feeling in terms
of
> expressions reflecting the female nature (Mother Nature) of each
of
> these sound-qualities previously mentioned. So some Rishis said
that
> the silent nature of pure consciousness is Shivaa (feminine term
like
> Shiva); other Rishis said that Cosmic Intelligence was omnipresent
> love as a Mother Divine called Vaishnavi (feminine form of the
word
> Vishnu); and yet other Rishis expressed the creative energy of the
> Cosmic Self as Brahmi (feminine form of Brahma).
>
> In addition to the three primary aspects of the Cosmic Self as
> Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva there was another value of the Self which
> was given the name of Ganapati. The word Ganapati or Ganesha means
> the lord of the ganas, the powers of the Transcendental
Consciousness
> of Shiva. This aspect of consciousness represents the junction
point
> between the Absolute Being (Shiva) and the totality of its
multifold
> expressions (Shivaa or the Divine Mother--Mother Nature). This
> junction point represents the fully awake Cosmic Intelligence
which
> is the vortex of transformations giving rise to all creative
> expressions in Nature. This is why the name "Gana-isha" or Ganesha
> was associated with all knowledge and dynamism of the artistic
> expressions of life, e.g. Lord of teachers, Lord of Gandharvans
> (celestial musicians--the sounds of nature), Lord of Happiness
> (Hrishta-citta = happy consciousness).
>
> This level of Intelligence also was given the name of Vighneshwara
> which means Lord of Obstacles-- ( Remover of Obstacles). That
level
> of Cosmic Self which is fully awake and fully dynamic with all the
> powers of the Transcendent Silence simply is invincible and so was
> given the title of dominion over all difficulties or obstacles.
There
> was later a further elaboration of these Vedic terms expressive of
> the feeling evoked by pure being or Cosmic Awareness: Brahmi
became
> expressed as Saraswati--the wisdom needed to create the universe;
> Vaishnavi became known as Lakshmi--the omnipresence of love and
> positivity in the form of abundance and prosperity; and Shivaa
became
> known as Parvati or Mahadevi--the Great Mother Divinity expressive
of
> all the powers of nature stemming from the Great Silence of the
> Absolute.
>
> In Vedic times, thousands of years ago when the Rishis lived,
these
> qualities of the Absolute and Mother Nature were experienced
directly
> as qualities of one's own awareness and were not clearly
personified.
> Personification of these qualities of consciousness came later as
the
> Rishis sought to express to the ignorant the nature of Ultimate
> Reality of Universal Being in terms that the masses could easily
> understand. To express the silent value of the Cosmic Self (Shiva)
> the Rishis sought to portray this in terms which every human could
> appreciate.
>
> Therefore, Shiva is depicted as a Supreme Yogi who sits in the
> awesome silence of the highest mountain covered with eternal
snows.
> Shiva sits in meditation experiencing the state of pure beingness,
> transcendental consciousness with the trishula (trident) at his
side.
> The trishula represents mastery over the three forces of creation,
> maintenance, and evolution through change. In addition Shiva is
> envisioned as having a great Naga or Celestial Snake known as
Vasuki
> around his neck. The coiled snake Vasuki represents the dynamic
power
> of Enlightenment and pure energy of the Transcendent value of
Shiva.
> The image of Shiva with a third eye of wisdom on his forehead also
> indicates the value of pure knowingness or inner consciousness
fully
> aware of itself.
>
> Similarly, to portray the nourishing all enriching qualities of
> Mother Nature the Rishis portrayed Vaishnavi or Lakshmi (the
feminine
> nurturing quality of omnipresence of consciousness) as a beautiful
> female adorned with jewels and attractive red dress. Lakshmi is
seen
> as filled with bliss and love indicated by her smiling face. With
one
> hand She holds a flower representing the beauty of creation, with
the
> other hand She is showering gold representing all prosperity.
> Frequently the devas (creative aspects of the Self) such as
Lakshmi
> are depicted with a multitude of arms each representing a
different
> power of that aspect of the Supreme Self.
>
> Ganesha particulary was given a highly symbolic representation to
> enable humanity to comprehend His abstract Supreme Nature. Ganesha
> represents the cosmic humm, the point of supremely awake
Intelligence
> at the junction between Absolute Consciousness and its Relative
> values in Nature. He is depicted with a large belly symbolic of
the
> ability of that Consciousness to hold all the Cosmos with its
> galaxies, suns and planets within itself. He has the head of an
> elephant representing both ability to push aside obstacles with
his
> head and trunk as well as having the memory and wisdom an elephant
is
> said to possess. His elephant ears represent His ability to hear
all
> sounds in creation simultaneously.
>
> Ganesha is depicted as having several arms, each represents one of
> His powers: one arm holds sweets--symbolizing His nourishing
value,
> the other holds a weapon symbolic of protection; another arm holds
a
> prod indicating His ability to push us on towards progress; his
trunk
> may hold the pot of immortality representing the eternal value of
> one's Self. Ganesha is depicted as riding upon a mouse. The mouse
> represents the vehicle--mind and body--upon which the Self rides.
> This characterization of an enormous Ganesh riding upon a mouse
> brings home to us the reality the enormity of the Self riding upon
> the seemingly limited values of mind and body.
>
> In this graphic way the Rishis sought to bring to life the
abstract
> qualities of the Self which otherwise would remain hidden from the
> mass of humanity.
>
> Some basic qualities of the Self and their Vedic names are given
> below for reference:
>
> Shiva Silence, non dual Self awake within Itself
>
> Parvati or Mahadevi Mother Nature, power of Shiva
>
> Kali Mother Nature in the role of Mistress of Time (kala is time),
> dissolving all things into the beingness of pure intelligence
(Shiva)
>
> Vishnu Love, the omnipresence quality of the Self
>
> Lakshmi Purity, harmony, beauty, abundance and nourishing quality
of
> the aspect of Love
>
> Brahma Cosmic Mind, the creative aspect of the Self
>
> Saraswati The Enlightenment, Wisdom aspect of the Cosmic Mind
>
> Ganesha The Cosmic Humm, the fully awake point of Infinite
> Intelligence at the junction point between Relative and Absolute,
the
> center of Bliss
>
> Siddhi and Buddhi--Two powers of Ganesh: Perfection of
accomplishment
> and Intelligence of the intellect
>
> Krishna That aspect of Vishnu (or Cosmic Love) which is all
> attractive and brings everything to oneness of love and devotion
>
> Radha The soul intoxicated with Divine Love of Krishna
>
> Ram Aspect of Cosmic Love (Vishnu) which is representing the
Cosmic
> Soul (Soorya--the Sun) in the role of restoration of evolutionary
> values (dharma--i.e., that which sustains evolution)
>
> Indra The Unifying Value of the Self which unifies all the laws of
> nature in order to promote evolution (the Power of dharma)
>
> Indrani or Sachi The feminine power of unification and evolution
>
> Yama or Dharmaraja The Divine Conscience aspect of Self, one's
purity
> of inner conscience; that aspect of the Cosmic Self which is the
> Divine Judge of all one's actions at the exit of life
>
> The above qualities are just a few of the Vedic names given to
> different aspects of one's inner Self. By looking deeply at the
Vedic
> words and root meanings of these sounds it will be possible to
> understand more deeply the inner values they express.
>
> Copyright 1996 Henry Herzberger
>
