"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"
Hmm. If gods are simply anthropomophisms invented by the sages to explain
concepts they thought we were too dumb to understand, how do we explain the
same gods, by different names, appearing in so many different cultures?
Let's look at that Indra and Indrani for example. In India Indra is the god
of thunder and king of the gods. In Greek legend, there is also a god of
thunder who -- strangely enough -- is also considered the king of the gods. In
India, Indra's wife is Indrani -- famous for her great jealousy . Whaddaya
know, in Greek legend this same goddess appears -- the wife of the king of the
gods, notorious for her great jealousy. (Zeus and Hera these two are called in
Greek myth.)
I think it dismisses way too much to reduce the gods to qualities of
consciousness. In the sense that we are all just qualities of consciousness, I
suppose you could say that's true. But in the practical sense, the gods are
unique individuals, no different that way than a flesh-and-blood person. They
simply exist on a dimension that is vibrating faster than this one and
therefore not visible to the eye.
authfriend <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
--- In [email protected], Bhairitu <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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
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