Judy, a very good find, thanks. **
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, 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 >
