Lord Vishnu

Differentiating between Siva and Vishnu is in fact a sin.
Siva means ‘that which is auspicious(mangalam)’, while Vishnu means “supporter(from the root Jishnu-Vishnum Jishnum,Vishnu Sahasranaama-means support)
Tri -murthis,Brahma, Vishnu are the three Principles representing three aspects of Reality namely,Creation,Protection and Dissolution and Reality is manifested as an aspect in each and that is not complete.
In Nirguna(Attributeless) Upasana where Reality is conceived as principles that are attributable we use the terms Avayaya,avakta,aprameya etc(Vishnu Sahasranama); while worshiping as Sauna(with attributes that are the best according to us)(this is a lower level in Self Realization- we use some epithets which we normally use when w praise namely Maheswara,Rama,Krishna,Vishnu etc.
So, for a Devotee both standpoints -that is worshiping only one ,without worshiping the other, are correct.
But in the correct Philosophical sense it is incorrect.
This concept of Siva Vs Vishnu along with other Gods , have been a hall- mark of middle ages in India when Buddhism was on the up-rise for Buddha preached Nihilism or Sunya while people , with a vengeance as it were, to counter him, worshiped many Gods that too one God to the exclusion of others .Adi Sankara wanted this Polytheism to be streamlined and established Six Systems-Shan matha,Kaumaaram,Souram,Ganapathyam,Saivam,Saaktham, and Vishnavam and declared that one can follow any one of these.
Unique to Indian Philosophy is the fact is that Self-Realization is intensely personal and no institution is recommended-in fact Vedas do not mention common worship or temple worship at any place-and Self Realization is conditioned by individual Gunas or Dispositions;there fore one can worship Reality in any form he wants so long as his goal is Realization.

Lord Siva.

As an aside you may find find common Naamavalis in Vishnu Sahasranaama and Siva Sahasranaama and between Lalitha Sahasranaama and Laksmi Sahasranaama.
For staunch Vishistadvains-”Akaasat paththam thoyam yatha gacchati Saagam;Sarva Deva Namakaaraha,Kesavam pratigacchadhi”

 The word Hindu is derived from river Sindhu. All those living around this river were called Hindus, originally by the Persians. Accordingly the country where Hindus lived came to be known as Hindustan. The place where Hindus live, where Hindu culture and Hindu language like Sanskrit and its offshoots like Hindi are spoken and written.

Hinduism is the oldest religion of the entire world. When the ancient caves of Mohenjodaro were unearthed in 1920’s, the first evidence of existence of Hinduism was also unearthed. It showed, Hinduism existed about 2000 to 3000 BC ie, 4000 to 5000 years ago. These also clearly showed the mode of worship of Hindu deities by the Hindus of ancient times.

It is significant to note that unlike the other major religions of the world, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Hindu Dharma was not founded by one guru or prophet. Hinduism evolved and developed gradually over many thousand years. Similarly Hinduism has not one but many sacred books like Rigveda, Dharam Shastras, Ramayan and Mahabharat expounded and written at different during periods of history.

Ancient Hindus, as outlined in Rigveda, worshiped nature and great objects of nature like earth, sun and waters particularly the sacred rivers like Ganga and Yamuna and their joining together (Sangam) at Haridwar ie, abode of God. Millions of Hindus even in these days go to Haridwar to pray and take dip, reciting rhymes or simply Ram Ram.

Followers and philosophers of Upanishads (around 700 BC) named the Supreme spirit that created earth, sun, water and mountains as Brahma. Brahma was omnipresent but formless. Followers of ancient Hinduism could not worship a formless entity so they invented various gods in humans and animals which they started worshiping. There are three male deities of Hindus viz Brahma, the creator of the universe, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva who is both the destroyer and regenerator. These three deities are also called Trimurthi.

The female goddesses of Hindus are Saraswati, the goddess of learning and the arts and crafts, Laxmi, goddess of good fortune and wealth and Shakti also known as Parvati and is called mother goddess. It is Shakti who in her destructive mood is known as Durga or Kali (mostly worshiped in Bengal). The other deities that Hindus worship, and there are Temples or Mandirs in their names, are Ganesh and Hanuman. In South India, Kritkaya and Subramania are worshiped more than the north Indian deities.

All Hindus, just as followers of other religions like Buddhism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism believe that it is only the body that dies, the soul from the body is reincarnated in another being and it never dies.

Ramayan and Mahabharat are the most prominent epics, that are read, recited and worshiped in modern times by all Hindus. Ramayan, as the name suggests, deals with the life of Lord Ram, Mahabharat with the life of Lord Krishna. In Gita (Geet Govinda) philosophy of Hinduism is apparent in dialogues between Krishna and Arjun. Here is one of the most significant passage from this epic, which will ever inspire all humanity even today:

 “The raft of Knowledge ferries the worst sinner to safety.” Bhagwat Gita

 “Knowledge is wealth” Vedas

Devotion and Ahimsa are the two main tenets of Hindu philosophy. Devotion in Hinduism means worship of chosen deity, chanting its name like Ram Ram or Jai Jai Ram. Doing good deeds, after visiting and praying in the chosen temple, like giving food to the hungry and helping poor and needy. Devotion’s ultimate aim is merger of soul in deity.

The other important tenet of Hinduism is Ahimsa. Ahimsa means non-injury to others, human as well as animals, because all living creatures have soul. It is now known as non-violence. Mahatma Gandhi made it driving force for struggle for independence of India from British rulers in early 20^th century. Non-violence made, British to quit India in 1947. This philosophy has become relevant in the world to end imperialism or to get equality for coloured with the whites. This philosophy of non-violence and its success facilitated for the first time a coloured American (Obama) becoming President of white dominated USA.

It is pertinent to state that during 20^th Century, because of the British policy of Divide and Rule and encouragement to Muslim League to fight for a Muslim dominated country of their own when they quit India, a sect of Hindus like Rss transformed itself, to an extent, abandoning Ahimsa ie, non-violence. These Hindus emulated Bhagat Singh and Raj Guru and later Netaji Subhash Bose, who being a Hindu differed with the Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non violence and took arms as leader of INA to compel Britishers to quit India. But vast majority of Hindus, particularly because of Vajpayee, founder of BJP, still believe in Ahimsa.

Basic purpose of brief analysis of Hinduism and Hindu philosophy from ancient times to present day is to emphasize that Hinduism does not advocate violence against followers of any other religion. Hinduism and Hindus have been peaceful for thousands of years. For last 1000 years or so they have suffered silently but have not, as a religious philosophy, indulged in violence even in retaliation. They have largely followed the Hindu philosophy of devotion and ahimsa for their own and others well being for peace and harmony.

Daksha is said to be a Prajapati or one of the Brahma’s sons. One of his daughters (often said to be the eldest) was Shakti or Dakshayani, who had always wished to marry Shiva. Daksha forbade it, but she disobeyed him and did so anyway, finding in Shiva a doting and loving husband. Daksha disliked Shiva intensely, calling him a dirty, roaming ascetic and reviling the great yogi’s cohort of goblins and ghouls.

From then on, he distanced himself from his daughter, Dakshayani/Shakti, and his son-in-law, Shiva. This enmity culminated in a great sacrifice he had been hosting, one to which he invited all and sundry, family and allies, gods and rishis, courtiers and subjects. Consciously excluding Shakti from the list, he also set up a statue of Shiva, which he defiled and mocked, at the entrance to his hall. Shakti, ebullient at the thought of such a great event, and assuming that the daughter of the king was welcome no matter what, attended the festival. Snubbed by her father and treated with disdain, Shakti nonetheless maintained her composure. Indeed, even her father’s refusal to invite Shiva, her husband and thus a traditionally honored member of any Hindu family, was to some extent borne.

However, on seeing the shameless insult to her husband in his absence, and the repeated slights King Daksha and his courtiers railed at Shiva, she committed suicide in grief for her beloved. Hearing the news, Shiva’s attendants rushed inside the ceremony hall and started attacking all the guests present there, however, the demons invoked by Bhrigu defeated Shivas attendants and they retreated back to his abode. Upon hearing the news of his beloved wife’s death, Shiva was infuriated that Daksha could so callously cause the harm of his (Daksha’s) own daughter in so ignoble a manner. Shiva grabbed a lock of his matted hair and dashed it to the ground. From the two pieces rose the ferocious Virabhadra and the terrible Rudrakali, while Bhadrakali arose from the wrath of Devi herself. Upon Shiva’s orders they stormed the ceremony and killed Daksha as well as many of the guests. Terrified and with remorse the others propitiated Lord Shiva and begged his mercy to restore Daksha’s life and to allow the sacrifice to be completed. Shiva, the all-merciful One, restored Daksha’s life, with the head of a goat. In his humility, and repentance for his graceless and sinful acts, Daksha became one of Shiva’s most devoted, attendants.

Shakti/Dakshayani later incarnated as Parvati in her next life, and remarried Shiva, henceforth never to part with him again. It is for this reason that Shiva, while monogamous, has had two wives in reality, but the same soul in two incarnations.

One place that is associated with this Yagna of Daksha, and where it is supposed to have actually taken place according to the Sthala Purana, is known as Kottiyur, which is in a largely forested area of Kannur District, Kerala.

Another place that claims to be the site of Daksha’s Yagna is Shri Daksheshwar Temple, about 4 KM from Haridwar. There is a pit within the grounds of the temple which supposedly marks the exact location of the sacrificial fire.

Jai Gurudev!

Modern culture has found a new ‘buzz’ word, Avatar.  It is used as a sign or a symbolic representation of a person in blogs and forums.  But no one in the world knows the origin of Avatar, or the plural Avatara (in Sanskrit).  To understand these ancient words, or concepts, one must understand the ancient world during the Bronze and Iron ages when all three of the other terrestrial planets, Mars, Venus and Mercury, were within 33,000 km of the Earth.

In my Biblical or cyclic catastrophism, the most ancient terrestrial planet, priori-Mars, approached and became captured in a geosynchronous orbit for fifteen years and was released into its planetary orbit for an equal period of time.  This cycle occurred one hundred times, between 3700 and 700 BC, and was initiated by Jehovah in order to transfer all the water, atmosphere and innumerable seeds from this formerly living planet to the Earth in order to support our present great population.

Each time priori-Mars was captured in orbit a number of events occurred on its surface which were observed by millions of people.  These included tidal flooding, wide spread volcanism, and when the two bodies passed through alignments with the Moon, or Moon and Sun combined, great convulsions within the planet shot large glowing bodies into the solar system.  When in this orbit, priori-Mars appeared 500 times the size of the full Moon, and was the ‘talk of the town’ – the TV for the entire world.

Upon each capture, all of the water in its northern hemisphere flowed to its north pole, which remained pointing toward the Earth, forming what scientists now call the Oceanus Borealis or northern ocean.  More slowly, but inexorably, the tidal force of the Earth reduced the pressure on the subsurface rocks at its north pole.  They began to melt and the magma was drawn toward the surface through many cracks resulting from Marsquakes.  This magma first appeared within the northern sea, and was seen as a glowing ball of lava.  This was the ‘mundane egg’, a universal concept in all ancient cultures, as can easily be seen by Googling the term.  This ball of lava grew and grew, as illustrated in the Hindu myth of Manu who found a small fish in his sink and put it in a jar.  But the fish kept growing, so he put it in a fishtank, a river, a lake and finally in an ocean.  Manu finally realized that the fish was Brahma himself.  What this and many similar myths mean is that the ball of magma grew until finally it rose above the surface of the Oceanus Borealis at the north pole of priori-Mars.  The ancient Egyptians celebrated the appearance of this ‘risen land, which marked the ‘first time.’’

These same events occurred at every capture of priori-Mars and the peoples of the world knew the sequence of events that were to follow because they were repeated every thirty years – for one hundred generations.  Each time the magma first appeared above the waters, the resulting land took on a different shape.  The Hindus named each one based on the animal that it resembled, such as a fish, a boar, a turtle.  There were probably one hundred all together – one for each capture of priori-Mars.  Each of these was originally called an Avatara of Brahma, but later favoritism toward Vishnu prevailed and the same became Avataras of Vishnu.  In the Hindu period the true nature of the  events of the Vedic period were already being lost and more and more such ‘revisions’ appear in the Maharabata, Puranas, and Upanishads.  It was called Ta-tenen , meaning ‘risen land’, in Egyptian myth where it was imagined to resemble a crocodile or hippopotamus, animals with which they were familiar.

Ackenaten worshipping Aten, priori-Mars with hardened lava column extending down toward Earth.

The reason these should be called Avataras or incarnations of Brahma was that the lava flow continued to increase until, eventually, a giant hardened lava column grew as high as 1,000 kilometers from the north pole of priori-Mars.  This unbelievable height was only made possible by the great tidal force of the nearby Earth.  This was Brahma, the most imposing of all the features on the surface of priori-Mars and therefore the most important deity in every culture. It was Prajapati or Purusha in the Vedas, Osiris in Egyptian myth, Zeus in Greek myth.  It was also Atlas in Greek and Shu, the uplifter, in Egyptian myth, because extending down toward the Earth, it was thought to be the deity that was holding up priori-Mars, which remained stationary in the heavens, preventing it from falling to Earth.  Egyptian art of the Amarna era clearly shows the enormous size of this feature in relation to the planet itself.

After our fox attack last week, I decided not to give the remaining two Ameracauna pullets too much time to get used to having the whole coop to themselves, lest they make things as difficult for future newcomers as my older girls did to them. I learned a year ago that when a pecking order is disrupted by the loss of the head bird(s), it’s a great time to introduce new members to the flock. Rather than old residents picking mercilessly on the newcomers, everyone has to negotiate a new relationship with everyone else.

The brief solitude did get Scramble and Omelet going into the coop to sleep rather than perching outside every night, so I am thankful for that little improvement. It’s not so much fun to have to pry two screeching chickens from a high ladder and stuff them into their house every night after dark. (And who would do that for us when we were out of town?). My older girls were effective bullies, so Scramble and Omelet preferred roosting outside over the hostile environment in the henhouse. Now they suddenly had the coop to themselves, and they immediately ‘moved in’ for the night – a good start.

After a flurry of Craig’s list contacts and calls, I drove down to Parker to pick up a very eclectic four-some of hens. One was a Buff Brahma, which is what attracted me to the ad in the first place; Pot Pie and Tandoori  endeared themselves to me in short order and I miss them badly, so I really wanted another Brahma. I knew I wanted a couple of reliable layers, and one of the chickens was a Leghorn; another was a Campine, a beautiful, petite breed known to be excellent layers. The fourth was a Cochin, a breed I’ve wanted since I first thought about getting chickens. They have less than stellar egg production but are beautiful, gentle fluffballs – so this hodgepodge group of chickens really appealed to me as a varied and interesting mix of birds.

They’ve been home with me for almost a week now, and today I let them out of the covered run for the first time. For Scramble and Omelet it was the first excursion since the fox attack, and they launched themselves into my raised beds with gusto, eventually finding their way back to their beloved dust-bathing spot under my potting bench. The 4 new birds stayed closer to home, gradually venturing across the yard but spending 80% of their time in and very near the run. When it was time to take Copper for a walk, it was a cinch to herd everyone back into the run. Whether it will remain that way when they all feel more settled is another question.

Here are photos of ALL the girls, since I didn’t get photos of the Ameracaunas before today (those dark, short winter days just don’t present many opportunities for picture-taking!).

Omelet, one of the two Ameracauna sisters who escaped the fox. They are much more at ease with this new group of chickens than they were with my old four.

Scramble, the other Ameracauna. She is a little bolder and less flighty than her sister, and I'm hoping she will tame eventually; she seems to be quite intelligent and spunky, and I love her cheeky expression.

The Leghorn, whom I've predictably named Foghorn. She's a pretty bird and skittish around humans, but seems to be getting along wonderfully with all the other birds. She neither pecks nor gets pecked and seems to be a great forager who stays busy.

The Buff Brahma. So far she has been the most approachable of the current group, though I'm giving them all a few days before I try to grab anyone for forced attention. Her former owner's boys called her Buffy, and I haven't had the heart to change her name; it's stuck already.

My two nutty Ameracaunas with the new Cochin, who doesn't have a name yet. She's huge and has gorgeous plumage. This chicken is definitely the new boss hen; nobody is disputing her authority. Would you?

The Cochin having a drink. Her shape is rather like a basketball. If nothing else, she'll be useful for keeping the other hens warm on cold nights. Though I should give her credit for laying two eggs this week, while everyone else is still on strike while they get acclimated.

This little sweetheart is a Golden Campine. They top out at 4 pounds, and since she was hatched in 2009 I doubt she's even that big yet. She's as flighty as they come, but not stupid - just chicken. Hopefully she'll settle down just a little with time. I've named her Henny Penny.

Everyone exploring the immediate vicinity of the run. You can barely make out Scramble in the raised bed on the right. In the summer, a grapevine grows over the right side of the run and provides welcome shade and tasty, edible leaves for the girls.

A view of the inside of the run, showing the space our girls are confined to most days. I'll be able to let them free range only when I'm in the garden, or put them in the mobile coop. This, though, is their permanent home and they don't seem to mind its small size all that much. Here, they're all inside even though the gate is wide open for them to roam about the rest of the yard.

 Some one has compared the size of an atom, say the hodrogen atom, as that of the Taj Mahal of Agra. In that case, the size of a proton will be that of a mustard  seed!

The electron will be like a bacterium!

This is simply to show that, what we call solid is actually a big void, with a few particles here and there.

The proton is assumed to be solid. Once, the atom itself was a solid, when Dalton propounded his theory. With the energy- matter convertibility suggested by Einstein, now accepted by all, the smallest component of ”reality” is the photon. Less than that, nothing is visible.

 This does not rule out the possibility that, photon too is made up of still smaller “particles”.

Paramahans Tiwari, who retired as the Chief Project Engineer, from the Atomic Power Plant at Kaiga, has written a book about Brahma being the imaginary particle pervading the universe. He may be right. He did some experiments to prove that electricity can be produced from Brahma. It proved a failure.

I like to call Brahma as thermons, heat being the intermediary between matter and energy.

Whenever my wife and I come across a television program that highlights funny commercials from around the world we usually watch because they are good for a few laughs. In that spirit I’d like to share several old Peruvian commercials I found on YouTube. I’m sure there are more that I have missed, but I think these are pretty good.

In the first, a young Peruvian man is propositioned by an American girl who is very horny. He doesn’t understand her very well. He thinks she is saying she wants to go to “Yungay,” a city that was once famously and horrifically destroyed by an earthquake in the highlands of Peru. She’s actually saying that she wants “you guy.” This is a clever advertisement for a company offering english courses.

In the next commercial, a man on a combi (a Peruvian bus) sees an attractive woman (once again not looking very Peruvian) but feels powerless to win her affections.  A Brahma beer saint-figure/spokesperson then enters the bus and gives our hero a Brahma hat. Transformed with the hat, our hero is able to win the affections of the woman of his affections and also become a hero to the people on the combi.

The last commercial I will post is also from a beer company. In an advertisement titled “abuelitos” (grandparents), some older people drink Cristal beer, transforming themselves into younger people. Beer companies would like us to think beer has transformational power, and who can blame them?

As requested, here are some photos of Bramhakund, before and after Braj Foundation’s renewal project.

Western Ghat with Mirabai's bhajan kutir

Reference : (Page 292 in the Reference : The Text and Translation of The PanchaSiddhantha by Mahamohopadhyaya Sudhakara Dwivedi and G. Thibaut, 1889. available at the Digital Library of India)

In the Valmiki Ramayanam, Brahma is frequently referred to as Pitamaha or grandfather. In my previous posts we have explored together,  Brahma from a Yogic Chakra perspective,  from an Astronomical perspective,  as the creator among the Trimurthis and as Parabrahma.

Now I request you to follow me as I explore Brahma as the forefather or the Pitamaha of our race and treat him as the foremost and earliest Rshi, as well as our first (or second) astronomer.

Of The 18 Ancient Astronomical Siddhantas, the Brahma Siddhanta is one of the oldest. It is stated in the Sambhu Hora Prakasa that Soma Siddhanta is the first, Brahma Siddhanta is the second and that Surya Siddhanta is the third.

5 verses about the Brahma Siddhanta have survived till today in Varahamihira’s compilation, explanation and treatise PanchaSiddhanthika. (page 292 in the reference above).

1. Pitamaha Brahma computed that 5 years would cause a yuga of the Sun, Moon and Dhanishta Nakshatra. (See Also : How many kinds of Yugas are there?)
2. After 30 months an adhikamasa (extra month) and after 62 days a loss of a day (avama – kshaya tithi).
   • (It is necessary to add and drop months and days periodically just as leap days are added in leap years as a correction to the calendar.)
3. Varahamihira tells us that if we subtract 2 from the Saka Year of his reference, we come to the beginning of a Paitamaha Yuga. Then we divide it by 5 and the remainder gives us the number of years since the beginning of the paitamaha yuga. Now we can compute the Ahargana or the count of days. , starting from the Sukla Paksha of the Magha Masa.
   • (See : Varahamihira – Really 427 of Saka Era? : Pancha Siddhantika, Kalahana’s Rajatarangini : Date of Mahabharata War and How many kinds of Sakas (Eras) are there?)
4. Since the Paitamaha yuga contains 1830 savana (solar) days and 1860 tithis, (see Date of Sri Rama as per Balakanda for explanation on tithis), you can get the tithis by 1860/1830 times ahargana = 62/61 times ahargana.
5. The sun passes through each of the 27 nakshatras, 5 times in a yuga of 1830 savana days. So in the ahargana, the sun passes through (ahargana/1830) * 27 *5 nakshatras = (9/122)*ahargana
6. One paitamaha yuga contains 67 sidereal (star-based) revolutions of the moon. So the moon passes through 27*67 nakshatras in a yuga. Therefore (ahargana/1830)*27*67 = 603/610*ahargana = ahargana – (ahargana*7/610).

Further Varahamihira explains how to calculate  the number of vyatipata yogas and the duration of the day in the different seasons using the Paitamaha Siddhanta. Overall Varahamihira said that the other later Siddhantas gave better results than the Paitamaha Siddhanta.

This is natural, because knowledge builds on knowledge and evolves.

What is very impressive to me is that at the beginning of our Kalpa, Brahma in his role as our forefather was able to compute so much in terms of yugas, nakshatras, tithis and so on.

It is also important to note that the earliest yugas where small in length, in comparision to the later yugas as I have discussed in the article How many kinds of Yugas are there.

Brahma in Vatesvara Siddhanta :

See : Vatesvara Siddhanta for details.

At this point I would like you to read this story Daksha : He named the fixed stars!

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula

Zburam, coborand in furtuna, iar ingeri ne cadeau la picioare. Abia atingeam, cu varful degetelor, aleile de marmura cand sarutam, in treacat, statui medievale. Zburam, insetati, spre Nicaieri, pe valuri de dincolo de geneza, prin spatii fara dimensiuni. Zburam dincolo de noi, la pieptul respiratiei Lui calde, deasupra mărilor—amazoane neinfricate. Zburam, ascunsi sub aripile Sale negre, sagetand Orionul, redesenand galaxii, stiind ca barierele exista doar pentru cei care n-au invatat sa se inalte. Paseam pe flori reci de iasomie, iar vantul ne soptea, in zori de zi, ca fiecare pasare moare in inaltul cerului, deoarece nici una din ele nu a invatat sa cada. Zburam, si tineri, si batrani, si zei, si cersetori, nestiind ca, intr-o zi, Nemarginerea avea sa fie incorsetata. Zburam fara aripi si doctrine, pana in clipa in care tu, Ziditorul Lumii, ne-ai abandonat in Intuneric, zidindu-ne ferestrele sufletului. Degeaba am strigat…Vuietul continuu al disperarii noastre a ramas neauzit. Sau…neascultat. Asa ca am evadat, sa imbratisam adevarata lumina; am fugit printre dune gigantice, pe sub furtuna de nisip, pe langa faraoni ce vorbeau cu zei si construiau piramide. Ferindu-ne de gloante ratacite, dansam prin praful Vestului Salbatic, cantand melodii vesele in cinstea celor cazuti… Fiecare batista alba ce aluneca din mana domnitelor ne facea sa ne strangem cu totii laolalta, sa privim turniruri oglindite in negrul armurii. Izbiti de ploi repezi si dese, ne ascundeam in Amazon, cantand cu stropii ce se prelingeau de pe frunze. Ridicandu-ne din genunchi si intinzandu-ne Aripile spre Infinit, umbream Luna; dezbracati, fugeam dincolo de Soarele Acesta, inspre Acela si apoi mai departe, pana in Ultimul Ev. Iar cand alunecam pe ice-berg-uri, nu Tu, Salvator auto-proclamat, ne ridicai…Ascultam, inchizand repede cutia Pandorei, sperand la vreun semn din Cer. Dar nu auzeam nici “Vino!”, nici “Nu meriti!”, ci numai vulturii, infingandu-si ghearele de otel in lumina apusului. Cinam in inima padurii, impreuna cu lupii, privind, de dincolo de distanta, saracii care se simteau bogati numai cand aveau tacamuri de aur pe masa si diamante in cupele cu vin. Adormeam, si vantul albastru ni se impletea printre degete.

“A murit Nemurirea!” sopteau, la infinit, ciocarliile iar timpul se oprea in clepsidre. Cu voaluri negre pe ochi, mergeam agale in urma serpilor. “Sa incarceram iubirea!” sopteau, cu inimile frante, viorile, iar Umbriel le purta ecoul spre Nirvana. “Sa nu renuntam niciodata!” raspundeau glasurile cristaline ale elfilor. Cu pasi vioi, cu mainile tremurande, am deschis Usa in spatele careia fusese tinuta captiva, in incercarea de a fi imblanzita. “Iubirea e un zbor de pasare salbatica” imi confirmau flacarile reci din spatele ochilor tinerelor leoaice care se jucau pe malul marii. Violoncelul de pe stancile de deasupra tuturor ne numara: un om, un acord…

“Bucuria e o spaima de care nu ne temem” se auzea de dincolo de dealuri. Si am distrus Orizontul ca o haita de lupi ce auzise glasul unui miel. Dar n-am gasit nimic. Nimeni nu ne astepta. Vantul, batjocoritor, se restrangea in jurul nostru: “Ei, ce ati gasit?” pentru ca, mai apoi, sa tasneasca, urland: “In nimic nu cred oamenii cu atata tarie decat in ceea ce cunosc mai putin!”

Plecam mai departe, refuzand sa ne dam batuti…Cautam “ceva” de atata timp, incat unii dintre noi uitasera ce anume. Dar stiam ca aveam sa ne amintim…daca luptam. Refuzam sa ardem repede, precum un manunchi de paie. Ne strangeam in jurul focului de tabara si-i absorbeam spiritul. Cu totii aveam sa ardem mult, cu zambetul pe buze, sa fim torte vii pentru cei care ne urmeaza, torte care sa nu se stinga decat dupa ce conceptul de foc avea sa fie uitat. Simteam ca cineva ne furase Lumina dar aveam sa stralucim noi mai intens, impinsi de o dragoste nemarginita fata de Aproape – flori, morminte, glasuri, albii de rau, fulgere; o dragoste pentru cei pe drum spre Aici si cei care au plecat deja.

Shelley ne crea portretul pe simfonii de Mozart, in timp ce Cladirea Lui tuna, cerandu-ne s-o insotim pe drumul catre Nazareth. Dar Tolstoi s-a ridicat de pe piatra, raspunzand: “De Dumnezeu nu te poti apropia decat singur”. S-a lasat o tacere absoluta. Goarna lui Alfred Tennyson a sfasiat-o iar petrecerea a continuat, ca si cum nimic nu se intamplase. Tolstoi s-a asezat la locul sau, tacut. Cladirea Lui privea in stanga si-n dreapta, cautand sprijin. Si tot ce zarea era Nedumerirea noastra reflectata in pocalul de aur al Cersetorului ce tot arunca incoace si-ncolo cu seminte, sa vada unde se prind.

Trandafiri albi, abia imbumbiti, si-au intors chipul dinspre soare pentru a o privi. Curand dupa aceea, petalele lor si-au inceput zborul cel de pe urma iar frunzele li s-au rostogolit spre abis. Cu capul plecat, cu spiritul impietrit, am asistat la pierderea lor. Dar in spatele privirii calme, nepasatoare, ardea inca imaginea lor si, in felul  acesta, i-am salvat, fiindca aveam tiparul pentru a-i recrea…

Intreaga activitate pancalista soarbe necontenit din Iluzie, caci Frumosul nu mai exista decat in noi si nu poate fi transpus. Un Kubla-Khan, un nemuritor mort (sau,poate…), un da, un nu, o linie dreapta, un punct. Ca un cer ce se pregateste sa fie sagetat de ploaie, incovoindu-si norii intunecati peste rosiaticul zilei, am ascultat toti, prefacandu-ne ca, de fapt, nu asteptam nimic.

M-am intors catre Cladirea Lui, cu hainele ude, cu respiratia inghetata, intreband-o: “Si-n a Opta zi a dat ploaie?” Furioasa pe calmul meu, pe nepasarea mea in legatura cu furtuna asa-zis “apocaliptica” (si parca grabindu-se sa se adaposteasca) mi-a cerut sa cred in cea de-a doua venire a Sa. “A cui?” am strigat, cazand, descompunandu-ma, indepartandu-ma de mine insami. Dar nici Mozart, nici Cladirea Lui nu mai sopteau nimic.

Platon se ascunsese in pestera, sa-i studieze pe detinuti. Descartes invata despre aorta si vertebre si mai apoi lua notite pentru “Pasiunile sufletului”. Boadicea taia aerul cu sabia, invatand un baietel blond ce implica si ce atrage dupa sine lupta. “Lupta fara sa clipesti” ii striga, cu glas hotarat, dar nicidecum dur, dupa ce-i aruncase si lui o sabie. Un tanar dac, cu degetele atingand firav o gramajoara de lut, facea o oala, sub privirile admirative ale meticulosului sau tata. Freyja era numita zeita dragostei de catre Oamenii Nordului iar Hemere se infasura in jurul ei, cu tot cu Luceferi si Sori. Vikingi zgomotosi se asezasera la masa imbelsugata si sarbatoreau. “A furore Normanorum libera nos” se auzea de fiecare data cand sabiile acestora straluceau. “Et itur ad astra” cantau nimfele, ce se retrasesera intr-un colt.“Éist le mo chroí,” ii cereau galezii Celui Dintai iar ecouri inghetate sagetau pestera;“asculta-mi inima” ziceau, muti, toti ceilalti, fiecare pe limba sa. Mefistofel alerga in urma lui Goethe, turnandu-i soapte in ureche. Puskin adormea, gandindu-se ca se nascuse prea tarziu. Razboinici trasau harti si imparteau ordine in stanga si-n dreapta. Zarathustra, inconjurat de adeptii sai, privea in abis iar abisul ii privea, la randul lui. Pestera devenise neincapatoare, asa ca au inceput sa sape mai adanc (?) pentru a da de Lumina. Iar eu…am plecat sa sap la poarta Cladirii Lui pentru a-L cauta.

Simt ca iar m-am ratacit, dar pasii ma poarta inainte. E-al treilea deja-vu: acelasi lac imens si inghetat, acelasi vant metalic printre copacii pustiiti, aceleasi frunze inghetate, trosnind sub greutatea armurii. Zapada a devenit, mai nou, Soarele Islandei. Insa nifoblepsia nu si-a spus inca cuvantul…pesemne asteapta ultimul zbor al ciocarliei. Imi privesc chipul in oglinda inghetata. Ochii si-au pastrat culoarea, dar parca au capatat nuanta verde a esecului. Pornisem in cautarea Adevarului. Negasindu-l, am creat Minciuna, pentru a ma consola. Am spart si zidul pe care-l construisem cu atata truda. Cu mainile inghetate, am inceput sa sculptez Edenul. Insa tipatul mistuitor al corbilor mi-a distrus opera. Ma simteam un Michelangelo ratat… Iar pojghita de gheata ce-mi acoperea ochii ma ardea lent. Beam, insetata, din cupa intinsa, fara sa stiu ca era venin. Langa patul meu se asezau, pe rand, oamenii Lui, Personaje din Cartea Dintai, intr-un vartej de… Povesti ce se spuneau singure, desfiintand naratorul si condeiul. Cu ochii intredeschisi, cu buzele crapate, ii ascultam. Pluteam intre Noapte si Zi, ascultand, inchizandu-mi ochii si redeschizandu-i mai apoi. Intr-o zi (oare dupa cat timp?) m-am Trezit si nu i-am mai vazut. Plecasera recent de langa mine sau, poate, renuntasera la lupta pentru mine?

Am fugit dincolo de Zi, pe aripi mistice, dar m-am intors fiindca vocea Nazarineanului ma striga. Fusesem oaia care-si parasise turma si cainele o readusese Acasa (la el…).

Pluteam, neputincioasa, in incercarea de a Zbura. “Mai e timp” imi soptea Orionul… Purtand pe umeri umbra noptii eterne, coboram in vai fara de sfarsit, in incercarea de a ajunge Jos, pentru ca numai pierzand Totul, puteam incepe ascensiunea versantului din fata mea, singura cale spre Poarta lui, spre acela caruia i se zice Petru…Un soim imi povestise ca Nazarineanul nu poate fi vazut de pe Versantul meu, ci numai de pe al Lui. Strangeam la piept flori de colt, ca sa imi amintesc mereu cine sunt…

M-am nascut sub steaua Zenitului, printre amazoane, dar simt ca uneori devin un erou din Catharsis, fara grai si fara amintiri, inghitit de praful viselor sale, infrant de propriile arme. Si iarasi, Razboiul imi bantuie somnul linistit. Sub nascatoarele Ape, in linistea adanca a recifului, constat, cu ochi grei, de plumb, ca nu sunt eu, ceea-ce-este, ci, mai degraba, ceea-ce-devine, o Ek-sistere falsa, rece si seaca…

Sa taca Platon! Nu vreau sa mai aud de locuinta-inchisoare sau de prizonierul pe care am ajuns sa-l urasc, tot ascultand ca s-a putut elibera singur. Sa inceteze si Kant cu a sa critica a ratiunii pure.  Sa taca Herodot si toti adeptii lui pentru ca Imhotep este adevaratul parinte al medicinei! Se pare ca suferinta e ruina unui concept. Se pare ca ceea-ce-incepe devine o relatare a trecutului. Lumina ce ne-a fost fagaduita ne-a scapat printre degete. Ne-am nascut pe creasta muntilor pe care nu mai putem urca. Drumul a fost inchis si am fost convinsi sa alegem o alta cale. Dar poteca ce duce spre Iesire e aici, undeva; o vom gasi! La poalele ultimului versant, strang in pumn Cartea Dintai si simt, in podul palmei, fasii arse. Privesc, oarba, inaltimea ce creste necontenit. Ca si Nietzsche, sunt moarta in fata Nemuririi si astept sarutul vantului suav al primaverii sa ma scoata din amortire.

Mergand necontenit spre Est, am ajuns in Nord. Am fugit de sub Keops, prin Gradinile Semiramidei si, tot intr-un zbucium ars, am ajuns dincolo de mine. Simt fericirea altcuiva cand lumina tortei imi zice, taind Intunericul, ca e tarziu doar atunci cand e prea tarziu si parca nici atunci nu e, cu adevarat, tarziu. Ii raspund ca ceea ce se afla in profunzime nu are cum sa iasa la suprafata. Desi se prelungesc reciproc si nu pot exista una fara alta, suprafata si profunzimea sunt precum materia si antimateria. Tasnesc una din alta, se rasfrang asupra noastra si renasc prin autofecundare, ca un Brahma post-vedic, de sine statator, dar inutil fara Shiva si Vishnu, alaturi de care formeaza Triada Suprema Maya, cea care reduce miscarea cosmica la trei ipostaze: creatie, conservare, distrugere. Prin distrugere, din sanul Haosului s-a eliberat Ordinea.

Intuneric acopera intunericul, invalmasandu-se. Gasesc mii de interpretari pentru Omul vitruvian al lui da Vinci si tot atatea simboluri noi, in tabloul Fecioarei intre stanci, de parca, sub panza, exista o cu totul alta imagine, atipica, ce sopteste Adevarul si nu o aude nimeni. Imagini nasc alte imagini. O Monalisa poznasa ii face pe toti sa se gandeasca la zambetul si privirea sa, tocmai pentru ca ochiul neformat sa nu identifice si elementele masculine din portret. Imagini tac, altele incep sa suiere… Preotii lui Amon profanand, sub cortina noptii, mormantul lui Nefertiti pentru a-l ingropa, asa cum se cuvenea, pe tanarul Tutankamon…

Fiecare noapte este o tesatura fina intre cea dintai si cea de pe urma. In amurg, Ares imi trimitea razboinici dar eu treceam, netematoare, pe langa ei, stiind ca un razboinic adevarat nu va lovi pe la spate. Eu eram nebuna care privea in oglinda si vedea chipul Nazarineanului… chiar si atunci cand lumina se stingea. Agitata precum furtuna pe dinauntru, tacuta precum un mormant la suprafata, contemplam ghiocei si-ncercam sa-mi trezesc spiritul. Viata mea era un cantec de aripi albastre, si am batut la usa templelor Cambodgiene pana cand am fost lasata sa intru. Dormeam pe Prag, ascultand linistea din ambele Camere. Eram captiva in inchisorile mele de frunze aramii, ce ma tintuiau la pamant, poate intr-o incercare de a ma pedepsi…dar nu le mai puteam intelege, cum faceam, cu usurinta, odinioara. Ma asezam la poalele muntilor, asteptand ca acestia sa se extinda deasupra mea.

Vantul albastru avea gust sarat. Haita mea pescuia o lume mai blanda, in timp ce eu adunam umbre identice, din alte mari, din alte vremuri, din alte chipuri, umbre de plumb, peste care zburau, scrijelind, frunzele destinate mie… Si dupa ultima incantatie, simteam ca ma inalt si plec din marea aceasta, dar in zori de zi ma trezeam tot aici, in timp ce semenii mei sigur se trezeau mereu noi…pesemne glasurile lor reuseau sa formeze o spirala pana la “Enuma Elish”, poemul creatiei, si sa se elibereze. In cazul meu, insa, varfurile copacilor pareau a fi radacini ce beau, necontenit, Cerul, nelasand nimic pentru mine. Nici macar pasarile din adancimi nu-mi mai intelegeau glasul…iar cele de deasupra zburau prea sus pentru a ma putea auzi. Asa ca mi-am invatat umbrele suprapuse sa-mi raspunda cand soptesc sau cand tip, am invatat sa merg alaturi de mine, pentru a nu ma mai simti singura.

O revelatie ma face sa ma ridic si sa ma realatur spiralei, constatand ca, daca nu traiesc momentul, viata se transforma intr-un pumn de tarana. Alerg in spatele avionului cu reactie zamislit de Coanda, razand precum un copil fara griji, total absorbit de Tine, pentru ca Te gasesc in toate. Privesc, cu stele in ochi, cum pluteste Copilul evreu. Retraiesc ziua in care a fost descoperit focul. Simt ca merg fara a-mi folosi picioarele, ca vorbesc fara a-mi misca buzele; ca am incetat sa privesc si, in sfarsit, Vad. Nu aripile de odinioara ma faceau sa Zbor, ci spiritul, iar acesta nu cunoaste bariere…Ma izolasem, crezand ca in tacere aveam sa Te aflu…dar imi zic, razand, ca am interpretat gresit indiciile…De fapt, erai tot timpul langa mine…

Lasandu-mi scutul jos, privesc spre Tine si nici distanta milenara nu distorsioneaza imaginea.Te vad, iti simt respiratia si mirarea—da, cu Tine vorbesc, dar nu cu cea/cel pe care-o/-l vezi privindu-te din oglinda, ci cu cea/cel care te striga din rarunchii fiintei tale: “Sunt aici! Ridica-ma la suprafata…”  Inca nu ai invatat sa asculti? Nu auzi?…

Pe neasteptate, muguri de lumina vie se desfac, firavi, sub degetele mele. Bariera a fost sfaramata. Lumina ne imbratiseaza pe toti prin mine, pentru ca, potrivit conceptului Nietzscheean, “fiinta care urca si coboara e fiinta prin care toate urca si coboara”. Voci tremurande soptesc: “Am ajuns”. Da…asa este. Am ajuns Acasa… insa dupa sarutul arhanghelilor si zambetul Celui Dintai, mi s-a deschis o alta usa, spre un ocean.

Atingandu-mi, cu palma Sa aspra, obrazul ars de soare si umezit de lacrimile dedicate Celui Regasit, imi zice ca m-am eliberat realizand ca Oamenii sunt Miracolul, si nu efectele speciale. Drumul sinuos de intoarcere la mare a fost inchis in urma mea. Indreptandu-ma spre Poarta, simt un nor de praf stergandu-mi Nirvana de sub talpi, eliberandu-ma, in acelasi timp, de povara umbrelor mele din atatea mari. Pasesc, voioasa, si imi salut prietenii. Cat de neinteleapta fusesem…crezusem ca trebuia sa pierd pentru a avea, ca trebuia sa petrec mii de ani in intunericul padurilor pentru a putea simti bucurie la vederea Soarelui…Acum am aflat ca de mine depinde sa simt aceeasi fericire coplesitoare doar blocandu-mi privirea cu palmele si apoi lasandu-le jos. Acum Te stiu, pentru ca acum ma stiu; tu esti eu, esti el si ea, chiar daca eu si ei suntem diferiti…nu in tacere si piosenie esti gasit, ci Inauntru…asezat pe albastrul florilor de ieri…de care dispunem toti, fara sa stim, fara sa vrem, fara sa credem sau sa vedem; esti reverberatia din labirintul in care ne alungam pe noi insine, pentru a scoate la suprafata o acustica artificiala, plagiata…esti simfonia aripilor albastre, departe de toti, inauntrul tuturor…si nu Esti Dumnezeu, ci doar Esti…

Since when have the words “God” and “religion” carried such a bad connotation? There are many apparent contributors to these negative connotations that exist within certain sectors of American society and culture. All the evil acts, killing and wars, that have been committed in the name of “God” or a certain religion throughout history has certainly led to distaste in regards to either. Though many in the world, would regard Americans as having no moral compass, the rejection of God and religion in this context only, might prove otherwise. We don’t want to be a part of something that could possibly indicate such a lack of morality. (I only wish our attachment to God and religion was as strong as our attachment to democracy and money, two ideals that we, as a society, have no trouble killing over.)

I also think religions that make it an edict to convert others to their belief system have actually affected an antagonism towards their cause and imbued a negativity towards God and religion, in general. People in America ultimately respect the idea of free will and feel that if someone comes to their doorsteps, preaches to them, or even hands them religious literature that their free will has been compromised. Our attitude is that if we are interested in God or religion, then we will search it out. (Don’t call me, I’ll call you.)

Similarly, many whose own parents and families have preached religion often turn away from a life ruled by dogmatic law and thus, religion and God. It seems that when something is forced upon us, we react to it. Though our reaction could be one of many, most of us will succumb to one of two immediate reactions: we will embrace what is being forced upon us or we will reject it. For many who have lived in a religiously strict house hold, their association with religion or God is often painful and restrictive.

In relation, the absolute power that many religions have exerted over people throughout history has created an aversion to God and religion. Our country was, in part (we all know this region was inhabited by non-Europeans for perhaps thousands of years before Europeans ever crossed the Atlantic), founded by Europeans who came to worship free of the religious power that was in existence. Though our country has a strong history of its own religious dominance, its power has for the most part been kept separate from government. We may have social, familial and cultural pressures to believe in God and follow a certain religion, we do have the freedom to worship or not. Our government supports our right to think, worship and practice religion in whatever way we do or do not wish to. Still, in school, we were taught that the control and power that were displayed by church was wrong.

It seems that much of European and American history has been a reaction to the control of religion, from the Dark Ages to the Renaissance to the Reformation and to religious wars mentioned earlier. We moved from a society who based its thoughts and beliefs on philosophy and religion to a society whose thoughts are put through the scientific method. Though industry and science can’t be blamed specifically for the repugnance of God and religion, the very nature of science has no room for it. So, as a society, many of us have no room for them.

Interestingly, however, we find ourselves living in a society in which many have embraced a notion of “spirituality” over religion. We feel more comfortable talking about a “higher power”, but not “God”. Yet if we really ask one another what spirituality means, we find that it is indeed pluralistic. For some it merely recognizes a dualistic nature of humans, but holds no accountability for action. For others, it recognizes energy that runs through all living things. For some, it is merely a catch-all word they use to acknowledge the “something” that they sense exists. For each person that defines it, we could indeed find a different definition. This is of course reflects the free choices of a people who live in a free society.

But are we really free to think, feel and be whatever and whomever we choose? It would seem so, after all hasn’t our form of government ensured this. We have participated in wars and killed innocent people to insure our freedom of thought. On all accounts, it seems that in America, we are a free people.
However, I’m not so sure that we are free, at least not spiritually. Although, some of us reject traditional religion and feels that frees us of the shackles of dogma, I believe we are as bound by our culture and science as we ever were by the institutions of religion.

Further, however, it is my belief that we are ultimately shackled by all things experience outside of the realm of our inner attention. True freedom exists only within the real world, the world that is clear and apparent through meditation. Direct experience of, dare I say, God.

God and religion have become dirty words for many of us in America, but I cannot turn my back on them. The word “God” originally meant “good” or “invoked one” (1) and the word “religion” archaically meant “strict faithfulness; devotion” (2). Personally, I love the idea of being strictly devoted to good, and further the idea that God can be invoked suggests that “He” is not unattainable- that “He” is knowable. We have, as a people, attached much of our baggage to these words, and I am suggesting that we, including those of us involved in New Age “religions” reclaim them with the understanding that they are not meant to bind us, but to free us. Devotion and strict faithfulness are qualitites that are necessary in knowing “Good”, which is indeed an outward menifestation of meditation and God.

Namaste (which I say to acknowledge the divine, invoked Good that is you)

(1) For an interesting article on the origin of the word “God” as referred to in my writing, please read this article:

http://www.bibleanswerstand.org/God.htm

(2) Information from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion

Mungkin sudah banyak yang tau salah satu pesona jawa timur yang paling populer di mata dunia. Bahkan sudah pernah menginjakkan kakinya disana. yupz,,Mountain of Bromo, tempat Wisata bertaraf internasional ini sempat menjadi rebutan antara pemkab probolinggo, pemprov jatim, dan pemerintah pusat.

Gunung Bromo (dari bahasa Sansekerta/Jawa Kuno: Brahma, salah seorang Dewa Utama Hindu), merupakan gunung berapi yang masih aktif dan paling terkenal sebagai obyek wisata di Jawa Timur. Sebagai sebuah obyek wisata, Gunung Bromo menjadi menarik karena statusnya sebagai gunung berapi yang masih aktif.

Bromo mempunyai ketinggian 2.392 meter di atas permukaan laut itu berada dalam empat wilayah, yakni Kabupaten Probolinggo, Pasuruan, Lumajang, dan Kabupaten Malang. Bentuk tubuh Gunung Bromo bertautan antara lembah dan ngarai dengan kaldera atau lautan pasir seluas sekitar 10 kilometer persegi.

Gunung Bromo mempunyai sebuah kawah dengan garis tengah ± 800 meter (utara-selatan) dan ± 600 meter (timur-barat). Sedangkan daerah bahayanya berupa lingkaran dengan jari-jari 4 km dari pusat kawah Bromo.

Dan Pada kesempatan kali ini saya bersama rekan rekan yang lain mengunjungi gunung Bromo dari Malang. Ya Karena Saya saat ini berdomisili di Malang. Saya mengambil rute melalui daerah tumpang. dengan jalan kecil yang gelap dan semakin ke atas semakin berkelak kelok. Tidak kalah lagi hawa dinginnya malam hari di dataran tinggi.

Kami berlima berangkat dari Malang sekitar pukul 01.00, semua dengan menggunakan 3 sepeda motor. Perjalanan yang kami kira akan mencekam dan menakutkan ternyata berbuah kesenangan. Kami berangkat ke Gunung Bromo memang ingin mencari moment yang tepat. dan moment itu pada saat perayaan hari Kemerdekaan Republik Indonesia. Jadi dalam perjalanan kami banyak menemukan rombongan motor yang juga akan melihat sunrise 17 Agustus di Penanjakan.

Perjalanan Dingin, Menanjak, sepi mencekam telah mengantarkan kami berlima di tempat pembelian karcis untuk memasuki kawasan wisata Bromo. Tempatnya berupa lapangan parkir luas dan disisinya terdapat pedagang pedagang yang mencari keuntungan dari banyaknya turis domestik maupun internasional. Nah kebetulan ada juga yang menjual Bensin, jadi motor kami bisa mendapat tenaga baru. Ga lucu kan kalau didaerah tanjakan dan padang pasir mendorong,,hehehe

Pagi itu sebelum matahari menampakan kemegahannya, Kami menghangatkan diri di sebuah kedai kecil dengan ganjal perut seadanya. yang membuat Kami betah di kedai ini karena didalamnya terdapat arang yang digunakan untuk penghangat tubuh. Setelah masuk waktu Subuh saya dan rekan saya (Ryan) terpanggil untuk menunaikan ibadah Sholat Subuh. Tapi kami kesulitan menjumpai air unutk Wudhu,. Setelah bertanya dengan salah satu penjual disana kami ditunjukan musholla. Tidak seperti yang dikatakan, sesampainya di tempat tersebut kami hanya menjumpai Toilet umum yang antriannya seperti mau membeli karcis bioskop film Box Office .

Karena pertimbangan waktu subuh akan segera habis, dan antrian pun masih berular. Maka Kami bertayamum dengan debu. Dan karena Kami juga tidak menemukan Musholla maka Kami di tempat sepi yang beralaskan Pasir dan Batu. Huu..Walaupun pasir, tapi namanya juga diGunung tetap aja dingin.

Ini Waktunya Matahari menampakkan pesonanya, Kami segera mencari posisi yang sekiranya nyaman. Tapi di Tempat yang sempit dengan ratusan wisatawan bercampur kami pun harus berdesak-desakan.

Setelah itu kami turun menuju kawah Bromo. Melalui rintangan padang pasir yang luas. Serasa menjadi pembalap MotoCross kelas teri. seru sekali..!!

Setelah sampai Kami beristirahat di pura yang saya tidak tahu namanya. Saya pun sempat tertidur karena semalem tidak ada waktu tidur.

Kira-kira pukul 10.00 Kami pun turun dari Gunung Bromo menuju Air terjun Mardakaripuro yang berada di Probolinggo. Waouw setelah berapa kali saya ke Probolinggo saya menyimpulkan tempat ini bukan tempat yang nyaman untuk ditinggali, tempat yang super panas, dengan penduduk yang ga lah..

Akhirnya Kami pun tiba di kawasan air terjun itu. Namun kami pun harus berjalan kaki kira-kira 1,5 km untuk melihat air terjun yang katanya bekas tempat singgahnya patih Gajah Mada. huhuhu..lelah, panas. Tapi tidak menghentikan niat kami untuk melihat pesona Jawa Timur yang masih malu malu bersembunyi karena kurang diperhatikan oleh Pemerintah setempat.

Wauw..Sebuah pembentukan alam yang maha dahsyat. Air terjun kecil yang cantik. dengan batu batu terjal di sekelilingnya. Hilang sudah rasa lelah bercampur suasana yang panas tadi karena hempasan air yang jatuh dari 70 meter. Angin hemapasan air membawa embun memberikan kesejukan tersendiri bagi yang ada di sekitarnya.

Pukul 14.00 kami pun kembali ke Malang dengan membawa oleh-oleh pengalaman yang sangat mengasyikkan. Dan yang lebih penting lagi, kesadaran untuk menjaga alam yang dititipkan oleh Allah kepada kita semua. Sebagai Makhluk yang berakal Di Dunia ini.

Pesan dari saya : Mari kita jaga, lestarikan titipan alam yang luar biasa hebatnya ini di Bumi Indonesia. Stop Global Warming..!!

Reference : Vettam Mani’s Puranc encyclopedia : It appears to be at variance with Markandeya Purana…

Dhruva’s grandfather was the first Manu of our Sveta Varaha Kalpa. (See : Kalpas, Manvantaras, Samvatsaras).

Brahma created Swayambhu Manu and Satarupa and got them married. They had two sons Uttanapada, who was Dhruva’s father and Priyavarta who was Dhruva’s paternal uncle. The Manusmrti was authored by Swayambhu Manu.

Priyavarta had four sons,

• Swarochishta (Mark P.67.4)
• Uthama ( Mark.P 73.13)
• Taamasa (Mark.P 73.13)
• Raivatha (Mark.P 75,73,74)

These were first cousins of Dhruva. They were the next four manus.

Dhruva’s son Sishti, had a son called Ripu and a grandson called Cakshusha. Cakshusha married Pushkarini,  the granddaughter of Varuna. (See : Adityas)

Their son was Cakshusha Manu. The Avatars of Vishnu from Nara Narayana to Prithu, occured during the Cakshusha Manvantaram. Caksusha Manvantaram ended with the Matysa Avataram Flood, Matsya was the first avataram of the Vaivaswata Manvantaram.

As we have seen before Vaivaswatha Manu, was the son of Vivaswan an Aditya, identified with the Sun (Surya). The next Manu, is Savarni, the son of Surya and Samgnya (or Sandhya), the daughter of Viswakarma. Savarni’s brother was Yama and sister was Yami.

Vaiswatha Manu is the 7th, the  Manu of our Manvantaram.  There are another 7 to the end of this kalpa.

One astronomical manvantaram was calculated by Aryabhatta to be 72 Caturyugas long. (See : How many kinds of Yugas are there?)

Some hindus believe that each son of Priyavarta lives for the duration of a manvantaram (at least). I think that the astronomical manvantarams were named after the human manus, just like the Hubble telescope is named after the lawyer-turned-astronomer, Hubble.

Authorship and Copyright Notice : All Rights Reserved : Satya Sarada Kandula

In section III we will attempt an overview of the various stories about Man’s origins. Before we begin, though, let’s summarize what we have done so far in our quest to find Man’s beginning. We have looked at science’s best explanations for both the origin of Man and the origin of Life in general, and found its answers wanting on numerous grounds, chief and most disturbing among them, scientific grounds. We have seen how science has, in essence, established its own series of ever-changing (ergo, pragmatic) myths to account for our beginnings, and we have found so-called science’s tools to be inadequate for dating objects beyond even 10,000 years ago. We have established the difference between theoretical and practical science, noting along the way that there is little difference between science theory and science fiction, or fantasy: should the vision manifest itself it becomes, and only then, science.

We have also looked at some extra-scientific tales about the origin of Man, hoping that maybe religion and myth and literature and history might better tell us where Man has come from. To this end we have dabbled a bit in the Biblical tales, and even somewhat about the stories from Mesopotamia, which, if accurate as translated, would most certainly give us the source of the creation stories in Genesis. We cannot, though, in good conscience, say we yet know Man’s beginning.

I had to make a decision regarding the form of presentation for the chapters of this section. On one hand I wanted to go by creed, arranged by number of adherents, on another by geography, still another by peoples and cultures. In any case we are talking about many different stories and legends. If we choose to go by creeds, or religions past and present, we are limited to the religions we have been able to discern, but this seems to me a smaller effort than trying to determine each civilization and culture. Since we have also been somewhat going down the religious line, it would seem not only more expedient, but consistent, to follow this line. The problem here, though, is that still the actual number of different religious systems, from all known history remember, is still very large; a complete analysis, a Herculean labor. I have therefore divided section III into three parts, the East meaning everything east of the Caspian Sea, the West meaning everything from the western shores of the Caspian Sea to the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Americas for what is sometimes called, perhaps mistakenly, the New World. This will enable us to get at least a cursory global look at the variety of approaches Man has offered for answering for the problem of Man’s origin. While we must mention the uniqueness of each creed, we must keep a steady eye out for commonalities, as either might supply the answer to our question.

Now in the East we have several important major religions that have been around for quite some time. First to discuss is Hinduism, its Vedas among the oldest written literature, at least 3,000 years old. Hinduism is a pantheistic religion, meaning, in some sense at least, everything is God. The Hindu pantheon of gods is immense, very regional, and has changed through time. Primarily, the main god is a tripartite god featuring the Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva collaboration. But there can be as many gods as creatures on the earth. At one time there was even a god of the thief, another of the robbers, who watched over the bandits/yogis who slit traveler’s throats and stole their goods for a holy living.

This is not to pass judgment on the Hindus, for as far as religions go, in practice, the devout Hindu is usually very reserved and calm, a marked characteristic of those who are from the East and/or practice Eastern religion. In practice the devout Hindu of any patron deity is to be admired in many ways, and nearly every version of this religion breeds respect for others. The Christian “Golden Rule” is present here, as in every religion, but perhaps nowhere practiced as extensively as by the Hindu. For such a believer, you must treat everyone not merely as you would treat yourself or your brother, but rather, as a god. As with many soul-based religions, the soul is divine, and so is its possessor, and being as everyone possesses such a soul, or atman, it is by this common nature that all Men are divine.

Reincarnation is a big part of just about all of Hinduism’s many variations. This may, I think and despite some who would object, be considered the same as “transmigration of the soul” and holds that after death the soul remains vibrant. By good or bad deeds the soul, this Hindi atman, after death and through a natural process, either returns to Earth as another human being, an animal, maybe even a plant or stone depending on the type of life led prior, or ascends to higher stations in the hierarchy of the universe. As the very prospect of living means sinning to the Christian, living for the Hindu means acquiring karmas, good and bad, which must be balanced in the next life. Whereas the Christian creed, I think it fair to say, allows for a final death and destruction of a soul, for the Hindu all souls recur eternally either until they are ready to progress, or until by their own merits achieve a literally higher station in Life.

Not surprising there are several Hindu tales regarding the Creation of Man. From the Brithadaranyaka Upanishad, Max Mueller’s translation, we read:

“In the beginning was Self [Atman] alone, in the shape of a person. He, looking round, saw nothing but his Self. He first said, “This is I”; therefore he became “I” by name. Therefore even now, if a man is asked, he first says, “This is I,” and then pronounces the other name which he may have. And because before all this he (the Self) burnt down all evils, therefore he was a person [purusha]. Verily he who knows this burns down everyone who tries to be before him. He feared, and therefore anyone who is lonely fears. He thought, “As there is nothing but myself, why should I fear?” Then his fear passed away. For what should he have feared? Verily fear arises from a second only. But he felt no delight. Therefore a man who is lonely feels no delight. He wished for a second. He was as large as man and wife together. He then made this, his Self, to fall in two and thence arose husband (pat[...this word also means the number TWO]) and wife (patni). Therefore Yagnavalkya said, “We two are thus (each of us) like half a shell.” Therefore the void which was there is filled by the wife. He embraced her and men were born. She thought, “How can he embrace me after having produced me from himself? I shall hide myself.” She then became a cow, the other became a bull and embraced her, and hence cows were born. The one became a mare, and the other a stallion, the one a male ass, and the other a female ass. He embraced her, and hence one-hoofed animals were born. The one became a she-goat the other a he-goat; the one became a ewe, the other a ram. He embraced her, and hence goats and sheep were born. And thus he created everything that exists in pairs, down to the ants.”

This story is very interesting because it calls to mind the fable told by Aristophanes in Plato’s Symposium, wherein Aristophanes and several other interlocutors debate themselves the Origin of the Sexes. Aristophanes related that humans were once androgynous, both male and female, like eggs, and then became separated, to forever seek their other halves. More on Plato in later chapters. In Hinduism also there is another, similar tale found in the Rig Veda:

“The Man (Purusha) has a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet. He pervades the earth everywhere and extends beyond for ten fingers’ breadth. The Man himself is all this, whatever has been and whatever is to be. He is the lord of immortality and also lord of that which grows on food. Such is his greatness, and the Man is yet greater than this. All creatures make up a quarter of him; three quarters are the immortal in heaven. With three quarters the Man has risen above, and one quarter of him still remains here, whence he spread out everywhere, pervading that which eats and that which does not eat. From him Virj was born, and from Virj came the Man, who, having been born, ranged beyond the earth before and behind. When the gods spread the sacrifice, using the Man as the offering, spring was the clarified butter, summer the fuel, autumn the oblation. They anointed the Man, the sacrifice, born at the beginning, upon the sacred grass. With him the gods, Sdhyas, and sages sacrificed. From that sacrifice in which everything was offered, the clarified butter was obtained, and they made it into those beasts who live in the air, in the forest, and in villages. From that sacrifice in which everything was offered, the verses and the chants were born, the metres were born, and the formulas were born. From it horses were born, and those other animals which have a double set of incisors; cows were born from it, and goats and sheep were born from it.

“When they divided the Man, into how many parts did they disperse him? What became of his mouth, what of his arms, what were his two thighs and his two feet called? His mouth was the brahmin, his arms were made into the nobles, his two thighs were the populace, and from his feet the servants were born. The moon was born from his mind; the sun was born from his eye. From his mouth came Indra and Agni, and from his vital breath the wind (Vyu) was born. From his navel the atmosphere was born; from his head the heaven appeared. From his two feet came the earth, and the regions of the sky from his ear. Thus they fashioned the worlds. There were seven, enclosing fire-sticks for him, and thrice seven fire-sticks when the gods, spreading the sacrifice, bound down the Man as the sacrificial beast. With this sacrifice the gods sacrificed; these were the first dharmas. And these powers reached the dome of heaven where dwell the ancient Sdhyas and gods” (Rig Veda 10.9).

Indeed, the entire universe is to be seen here as one huge organism, one huge being, containing within itself numerous other beings, and so worlds within worlds all inside one giant being which is the eminence of the creator, Prajapati. According to Swami Krishnananda, “This is the universal Self, the Virat; his head is the shining region of the heavens; his eyes are the sun and the moon; his ears are the quarters of space, his speech is the Veda full of knowledge; his vital energy is the universal air; the whole universe is his heart; his feet are the lowest earth” (from his translation of the Mundaka Upanishad) .

The Sanskrit from which this Veda comes is some of the oldest we know, 4,000 years of age not an indefensible date. Much later are the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and the Satapatha Brahmana, all of which can be attributed to around 300 BC. From the latter Eighth Adhyaya, First Brahmana, known as the IDÂ, and recounting actually an old Vedic tale, is the following flood story, important because of its discussions about Manu, or Manua, historically the first Man, and whose name literally means “Man”.The following citation begins at 1:8:1-1:

“In the morning they brought to Manu water for washing, just as now also they [are wont to] bring [water] for washing the hands. When he was washing himself, a fish came into his hands. It spake to him the word, ‘Rear me, I will save thee!’ ‘Wherefrom wilt thou save me?’ ‘A flood will carry away all these creatures from that I will save thee!’ ‘How am I to rear thee?’

“It said, ‘As long as we are small, there is great destruction for us: fish devours fish. Thou wilt first keep me in a jar. When I outgrow that, thou wilt dig a pit and keep me in it. When I outgrow that, thou wilt take me down to the sea, for then I shall be beyond destruction.’

“It soon became a ghasha [a large fish]; for that grows largest [of all fish]. Thereupon it said, ‘In such and such a year that flood will come. Thou shalt then attend to me by preparing a ship; and when the flood has risen thou shalt enter into the ship, and I will save thee from it.’

“After he had reared it in this way, he took it down to the sea. And in the same year which the fish had indicated to him, he attended to [the advice of] the fish by preparing a ship; and when the flood had risen, he entered into the ship. The fish then swam up to him, and to its horn he tied the rope of the ship, and by that means he passed swiftly up to yonder northern mountain. It then said, ‘I have saved thee. Fasten the ship to a tree; but let not the water cut thee off, whilst thou art on the mountain. As the water subsides, thou mayest gradually descend!’ Accordingly he gradually descended, and hence that [slope] of the northern mountain is called ‘Alarm’s descent.’ The flood then swept away all these creatures, and Manu alone remained here.

(1:8:1:77…) “Being desirous of offspring, he engaged in worshiping and austerities. During this time he also performed a pâka-sacrifice: he offered up in the waters clarified butter, sour milk, whey, and curds. Thence a woman was produced in a year: becoming quite solid she rose; clarified butter gathered in her footprint. Mitra and Varuna met her. They said to her, ‘Who art thou?’ ‘Manu’s daughter,’ she replied. ‘Say [thou art] ours,’ they said. ‘No,’ she said, ‘I am [the daughter] of him who begat me.’ They desired to have a share in her. She either agreed or did not agree, but passed by them. She came to Manu.

“Manu said to her, ‘Who art thou?’ ‘Thy daughter,’ she replied. ‘How, illustrious one, [art thou] my daughter?’ he asked. She replied, ‘Those offerings (of) clarified butter, sour milk, whey, and curds, which thou madest in the waters, with them thou hast begotten me. I am the blessing: make use of me at the sacrifice! If thou wilt make use of me at the sacrifice, thou wilt become rich in offspring and cattle. Whatever blessing thou shalt invoke through me, all that shall be granted to thee!’ He accordingly made use of her (as the benediction) in the middle of the sacrifice; for what is intermediate between the fore-offerings and the after-offerings, is the middle of the sacrifice. With her he went on worshiping and performing austerities, wishing for offspring. Through her he generated this race, which is this race of Manu; and whatever blessing he invoked through her, all that was granted to him.

“Now this [daughter of Manu] is essentially the same as the Idâ [Hindu goddess of the earth, abundant food, and nourishment. She is also the granter of any blessings evoked through her]; and whosoever, knowing this, performs with Idâ, he propagates this race which Manu generated; and whatever blessing he invokes through it, all that is granted to him…”

As in the Christian tradition Manu is a flood survivor. Man is the progeny of Manu and his union with a creation of the gods, and so one could argue that Man after the flood is, for Hinduism, a product of Original Man and Original Woman. I believe Helena Blavatsky was the first to recognize also the Adam and Eve in the Hindu texts, particularly the Upanishads, as in the Mundakopanishad, or the Mundaka Upanishad (great .pdf file of that text available also thanks to Swami Krishnananda). Then there is also this myth, alluded to earlier. It forms the basis of the trimurti creation story:

“Before the beginning, the Brahman (absolute reality) was one and non-dual. It thought, ‘I am only one — may I become many.’ This caused a vibration which eventually became sound, and this sound was Om. Creation itself was set in motion by the vibration of Om. The closest approach to Brahman is that first sound, Om. Thus, this sacred symbol has become emblematic of Brahman just as images are emblematic of material objects.The vibration produced by chanting Om in the physical universe corresponds to the original vibration that first arose at the time of creation (source).”

Of course there is also the tale about Vishnu asleep on the ocean floor, protected by the coiled serpent, who along with Shiva and Brahma descended to Earth. In fact when it comes to the creation of the universe in general the great sages of Hinduism and the Rig Veda have this to say:

“In the beginning there was neither existence nor non- existence; there was no atmosphere, no sky, and no realm beyond the sky. What power was there? Where was that power? Who was that power? Was it finite or infinite?

“There was neither death nor immortality. There was nothing to distinguish night from day. There was no wind or breath. God alone breathed by his own energy. Other than God there was nothing.

“In the beginning darkness was swathed in darkness. All was liquid and formless. God was clothed in emptiness.

“Then fire arose within God; and in the fire arose love. This was the seed of the soul. Sages have found this seed within their hearts; they have discovered that it is the bond between existence and non-existence.

“Who really knows what happened? Who can describe it? How were things produced? Where was creation born? When the universe was created, the one became many. Who knows how this occurred? Did creation happen at God’s command, or did it happen without his command? He looks down upon creation from the highest heaven. Only he knows the answer -or perhaps he does not know (Rig Veda 10:129.1-7).

Indeed perhaps he does not. For in Hinduism it is, as can be argued for many religions, highly possible that our creator is an underling, a subsidiary, perhaps even a common workman for the designer of designers of the universe. This would make for an interesting proposition. For if our ultimate Creator leaves our birth, rearing, death, and, perhaps, rebirth, to others, by some division of labor perhaps, to whom to we owe our heartfelt gratitude? Our birth father, or the one who raises us?

As for the Hindu Origin of Man,

Next time, Buddhism. Maybe it can help us out.

Undercurrent of the foreboding as John explains.

         It may be dangerous to do this with someone else’s work, but as writers it is key to our uncovering greater depths in our own. In time, anyone can become a good writer; but to become a great writer, you must learn to become a great reader of your own work.  

         My making Orson Welles central to a poem about my marriage shows me that I want to “direct” my relationship with women. Not that this is a conscious process. As one writer says: “I try never to think about where a story will go. This is as hard as writing, maybe harder because I want to know what the story will do and how it will end and whether or not I can write it. But I must not know or I will kill the story by controlling it. I work to surrender“ 

Something in the water 

like a flower

will devour 

water 

flower

The stage goes dark.

Music

BOB: Part Four ,  THE WRITER AS DEVIL

Music

JOHN:    QUESTION: Are writers visible in mirrors?

         This goes back to the Christian notion that any creature lacking a soul would not produce a reflection in a mirror. But, actually, with a few exceptions (and I think we all know who they are), writers are visible in mirrors, although interestingly enough, they are often quite discomforted by their own reflection.

John returns to the laptop again…almost trance-like.

         In his 1966 movie, Persona, Ingmar Bergman explored the symbiotic relationship that evolves between an actress suffering a breakdown and the nurse in charge of her as the actress recuperates on an isolated, island cottage.      

          As I watch it now, its implications begin to haunt my life.     

         An actress—played by Liv Ullman—freezes up in the middle of a theatrical performance of Electra, thereafter refusing to speak. We aren’t told why. She watches as the nurse, Bibi Andersson, chatters away about her troubled sex life. Then comes the weird moment on the screen in which the two women physically merge into one.

John puts on the woman’s wig.

          Bergman said that making the movie saved his life. Most of its significance, I believe, centers around the photographic combinations of their faces while at the same time in a way transferring personalities between the mental patient and her lonely nurse.

          For a while the two women really seem to become intermingled. Suddenly, through the silence of the other woman, the nurse is able to put herself in that actress’s place and understand the world with its senseless violence through the other woman’s eyes. 

           That sounds much like something a writer would do, doesn’t it?

           I now live in the country with my second wife who one day meets a younger woman, Liviana, who resembles Liv Ullman a little. She is walking to town, a mile and a half away. At first she seems mildly retarded to Talia, my wife, but in reality she has a severe hearing problem. Liviana’s speech is garbled and she consequently says very little. For some reason my wife thinks this is profound.

           What I don’t understand is that when my wife spends time with Liviana, she comes to believe that the silent young woman may have a spirituality she has been searching for in herself. 

          All of her life, ever since my wife was a little girl, she has had a deep and profound love for God. She sees this as about changing consciousness in our lives and unhinging and unlimiting ourselves so that we can be all we can. She believes that ultimately that is the reality of God awakening in human form.”

John shrugs his shoulders. He is oblivious to where Talia is going with her words.

In any case…what I really want is to learn something about Bergman and Persona or, even better, gain some insight into the creative process.

           Bibi Andersson had been Bergman’s mistress, now Liv Ullman was assuming that role. The plot of the movie makes no sense in itself. Movie critics have been arguing over its meaning for nearly 50 years. But as a symbolic representation of Bergman’s evolving relationship with the two women, it is as sharp and clear as a writer’s image in a mirror. What we in the audience are seeing is not the characters played by Bibi and Liv but the artist’s projection of his own feelings onto them.

Somewhat pointedly.

 …Is this just another case of a male projecting his feelings onto females?

          Maybe, but maybe it’s more, and even goes beyond this film. What if a soul must navigate this world of suffering before reaching its ultimate destination? What if a person must embrace pain as intimately as someone would a lover? Meet pain and be annihilated by it? Make pain, illness, sickness and the diseases of humanity their own?

         …To recognize this passage is necessary to the divine process by which all things are born, all things die, and all things are once more made new.

         So for me, Liv, or should I say Liviana, came to represent…

         …One who steps forward, not to console, but to complete the devastation—to destroy all vestiges of false hope. I’m not talking about Liv or Liviana now, I am talking about something beyond them. What I have in mind is a female with fiery eyes, pointed teeth and a sharp, lolling red tongue.

Grabs the sword.

         She carries a sword in one hand which she wields with abandon. She lops off the heads of both angels and demons. She drinks the blood of the vanquished. All things are transformed in her and returned to the earth. They are rendered harmless in her…in time. She is time. She is Kali, destroyer of false hope.

         She is the Hindu figure named for kala, which means “time”?

         She was first born from the forehead of the goddess Durga during a battle in which this, the Great Mother, was called upon by the male gods— Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva—to protect the earth and all its inhabitants from the forces of evil.

        Kali steps forward, not to console, but to complete the devastation that has already started.

        Follow her into the mouth of the wolf. Through its enormous jaw. Past its razor teeth is a tunnel that leads down into darkness.

         She is naked because she is ultimately pure and unashamed. And, she has three eyes in order to see past, present and future in one glance…to pierce through illusions. She is dark because she is not separate from the ultimate void out of which all things are born and into which all things die. Her tongue is extended because she desires blood and the life force of sex

With animation.

          She wears a skirt of severed arms because they are instruments of power. And her hair is untamed, because each hair represents one of her followers, all of whom will run wildly in different directions trying to find their way back to her. We must chop off the head of illusion.  Through art we must know that life and death are one.

John as if he is reading an historic account. 

          In that original battle, Kali had not stopped with slaughtering demons. She continued her rampage, threatening to devour everything on earth. That’s when the gods sent down Shiva himself—the lover to the Divine Mother in her many forms. Shiva laid himself down on the battlefield in Kali’s path. She stepped on him. She felt his power under her feet. She stopped, looked down, smiled. The balance of the primordial Feminine with the primordial Masculine had been restored.

The trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

“Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Maheshwara Guru Sakshat Param Brahma Tasmai Sri Guruve Namaha: Our creation is that Guru, The duration of our lives is that Guru, Our trials and hardships are that Guru.  There is a Guru that is nearby and a Guru that is beyond the beyond.  I offer all my efforts to the Guru.“

Guru Brahma is the lord of creation and represents all the times and moments of new beginnings and creation in our lives.  Our parents are our original creators and so they are our first Guru Brahmas.  Guru Vishnu is the sustainer, representing the stretches of continuousness that make up our lives.  Guru Devo Maheshwarah is Shiva as the dancer.  This represents destruction and the hardships.  The moments in our lives when something is ripped from us, relationships fall apart, when we are thrown into turmoil.  Even though these moments can be dark, the wisdom that dawns after, the ways in which we are able to grow as a result of these experiences, make them essential to our lives.

In this chant we are honoring and recognizing these aspects of life as opportunities to learn.   We are respecting the experiences of our lives as situations that can teach us.  Learning to except the darker moments as necessary parts of the cycle of life can make going through those moments easier.  Before Brahma is able to create, Shiva has to destroy.

Legalization of Prostitution in India

A decision whether or not to legalize organized prostitution in India can be arrived at in one or a combination of the following four ways.

One- Majority Decision. Seek majority opinion of the people. Through referendum involving the entire population. Taking the opinion of the people’s representatives is an option. However, this issue not having been discussed at the time of elections, the opinion of the current representatives may not be fully representative of that of the people.

Two- Based on anticipated advantage. Analyze empirical data from societies across the world where prostitution is legalized to find out whether such a step provided benefit for society, government and to the prostitutes.

Three- Based on ethics. Answering the question- “Is this the correct move ?”
This question demands application of mind and serious thinking unlike in the case of parsing of data or punching of personal preference in voting machine.

Four- Based on the fundamental purpose of life. Does it help achieve it.
The fundamental purpose of life needs to be clear in this case. That is for the society to arrive at, collectively.

The first option is the most easy. The advantage is that it absolves everybody from responsibility for the decision, including the people themselves.

The second option needs to also analyze the applicability in India of systems prevalent in those societies from where the data is sourced, considering the differences between the two societies, particularly the size of the nation and demographics, in addition to diversity in culture and extant belief systems. Forceful implementation of policies that may be incompatible with societal characteristics, as sometimes done in communist and other such autocratic states, is neither endearing nor enduring.

The third option demands the society to be more responsible, more accountable towards all its constituents. It demands an outlook going beyond narrow identification with individual self and understanding the interrelationship between all constituents of the society including Nature in which it functions. It also calls for comprehending the effect of current decisons on the shaping of society and subsequent generations.

The fourth option requires the society to be evolved, to understand itself comprehensively, which would give it sense of direction regarding its purpose in relation to that of the entire creation. bharatiya samaj was knowledgeable in this aspect at one time.

Legalization means accepting prostitution as a legally supported profession. The following issues need to be considered while taking the decision.

Objectification

First is the question whether prostitution can be considered a profession at all, in the sense that a profession provides an avenue for livelihood while also developing the personality of the person, giving him/her a sense of responsibility, direction and control over life, self-esteem and dignity.

There is a viewpoint that prostitution is like any service industry where customers pay to get satisfaction.
That maybe so in few cases of call girls known as escorts.
However, a large number of prostitutes are brought into the field through abduction, coercion, trafficking and/or due to poverty and unemployment. While many adjust to that way of life under duress, many others may wish for a different way of life.
Majority of these prostitutes get their visitors from among daily wagers, labourers, drivers and other lowly paid professions. In may of the cases what these visitors seek is sexual release, at the end of a hard day wherein they worked like automations, rather than any demonstration of ‘professional’ skills by the prostitute.

Even in the case of more affluent customers, often the driving need is sexual satiation and what they seek is an object, one that titilates senses.

This ‘objectification’ is central to prostitution.
It dehumanises, and thus prevents prostitution from making the grade as a profession.

Involved Decision

The second point is a question- are the people who recommend legalization doing so from a detached standpoint, like they are in an insulated sterile environment from where they observe and decide upon the fate of the prostitutes and their visitors ?

Do those who advocate legalization include wives, who are not averse to having their husbands avail of the services of a ‘legalized’ prostitute when she is not able to perform due to pregnancy or illness or old age ?
Do the husbands among them approve if their wives enjoy the services of a legalized gigolo on occasions when he is too tired to perform ?
Are these people comfortable with one or both of their parents visiting ‘legal’ prostitutes ?
Will they allow their sons and daughters to avail of such ‘legalized’ services once in a while to satiate libido? What if their sons-in-law and daughters-in-law want to avail of such services ? What about their grandchildren ?
What if some of their close relation want to enter into the ‘legalized profession’ for lucrative reasons, will they be happy with it ? Is that the kind of society that they would like to live in ?

Theoretically some may answer affirmative to the above. But when reality strikes, it is likely to be quite unpalatable, even revolting, for most.

Humanity

The third point is about equating the prevalence of unlawful prostitution with bootlegging and gold smuggling that occured when liquor was prohibited and import of gold restricted in the past and the subsequent expoitation of the situation by organized gangs.

This equating is flawed because unlike liquor and gold, it is human beings that are involved in prostitution. Point being that, while liquor is distilled from materials and gold is dug from the ground, prostitutes are sourced from a broken family or by breaking a family.
While a prostitute may financially support some of her parents and siblings, she will be denied a family of her own because very few people are willing to have their spouses working as prostitutes.
Moreover, if the case is that a woman has to prostitute herself to support her family, it shows a failure on part of the society and the government for not providing avenue for employment. Legalizing prostitution does not provide escape route for society and government from that responsibility.

Self-Esteem

The fourth point is that the prostitute often has to perform acts that she is not comfortable with, for the sake of continued employment. So s/he conditions herself into acting in ways that violate her sense of self and erodes self-esteem on a regular basis. Approving prostitution means that a portion of society is condemned to live with deficient self-esteem perennially. This is not comparable to job-dissatisfaction experienced in other fields, it touches the core of the person.

Employment in certain jobs such as toilet cleaning, cannot be compared with prostitution because there are enough tools available that removes the need of personal contact.
Besides, the premise of the comparison itself is flawed because, in personal life every person cleans him/herself on daily basis to ensure hygiene, but does not clean another person unless that person is an invalid or a child. In which case again there are ways in which direct personal contact is avoided where necessary. Moreover, such acts are invariably reciprocated to the doer in times of need.

Equivalent to prostitution would be the daily cleaning by one person, of many others, who are quite capable of taking care of themselves, through direct personal contact often going beyond mere cleaning, without any reciprocation by those others.

The comparison is further flawed because sewage removal is an invaluable service that benefits the entire society whereas prostitution caters to indulge the personal whims of a selfish-minded few invariably at a cost to their own families and that of the prostitute.

Child-Prostitution

The fifth point is that, despite organized prostitution being illegal currently, brothels run, trafficking goes on, exploitation occurs and child-prostitution thrives.
Legalizing of prostitution will form more avenues for bringing in under-age teens into prostitution by way of forging age-proof certificates.

Setting Precedent

The sixth point is that inability to curb harmful behaviour is not acceptable justification to propose for legalization of the behaviour. When government or law enforcement agencies give such excuse, they declare their incompetence, which has potential to set detrimental precedent. It also reveals irresponsibility towards duty. Further, such attempt to legalize the illegal portent willingness to prostitute legal conscience.

On a similar note, the deterioration of human values, apart from the obvious adverse effect on health, associated with liquor consumption and use of tobacco is well known. Sustained use of both affects the human being, his family, the society as well as future generations.
However, because its effect is more subtle and over a longer period than drug addiction, the government that approves its sale escapes accountabilty. The ostensible reason for the approval given is the apparent inability of law enforcement agencies to curb sale of spurious liquor which leads to deaths of consumers. However actual reasons may also include the profit margins that liquor barons enjoy, which they may willingly share with interested helpful persons in power, apart from the accrual to treasury through taxes. These liquor barons may also arrange for certain deaths through spurious liquor to provide timely helpful reasons to initiate removal of prohibition.

Societal Responsibility

The excuse of incompetence in law enforcement throws up questions regarding other ills in society such as child labour, which is prevalent despite being illegal. According to statistics released by the government, available for the year 2001, there were some 1.26 crore child labourers in India in the age group 5-14 years. That number alone is more than the total strength of the entire armed forces troops of China, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka combined, including the reserve. It is more than the entire population of Israel and Switzerland combined. Other agencies puts the figure much higher. This figure however does not include the large number of children who are employed as domestic help in households, restaurants and tea shops- employments that were notified as child labour only in 2006, and those employed in begging in the streets.

A parallel exists between the difference between a child actor working on movies/advertisements with a child employed as domestic help in a household/ restauraunt/begging in streets, and the difference in employment of a call girl with that of a street prostitute.
While employment of children in movies and advertisements seems to have been silently approved by the society, much like in the case of high end escort services, legalizing of prostitution, like employment of children as domestic help in households, restaurants or begging in streets, is untenable.

Society has an obligation to provide children with education opportunities and avenues for developing their personality. Similarly, society has an obligation to provide prostitutes with employment opportunities that develop self-esteem, dignity and provide a family life.

Alternatives

There are a few other ways in which society and government can approach the issue of prostitution.

1. Generation of alternate employment opportunities for prostitutes. Society and government, both are responsible for this. Many NGOs are already working towards this goal.

2. Improving of working conditions of the daily wagers, labourers, who work much like automations throughout the day on uninspiring jobs, that drives them to seek temporary release in the evening in the sexual act or in liquor-generated stupor. This is also a major responsibility of both government and society. It can be partly met by distributing employment opportunities across the country equitably which will remove the necessity for migration to city and separation from families. This will entail the shifting of driving motivation of governments from capitalistic expansionism to long term benefit of society. Focussing on promoting agriculture and cottage industry, instead of being fixated on the lucrative IT/ manufacturing industry related SEZs, is another way that may help reduce farmer suicides as well as provide employment to labourers.

3. Inculcating values in society, in the younger generations, to see themselves not as evolving animals, but correctly as spiritual beings. Let them understand that their anscestors were the sages who created the vedas, who realized themselves as brahma, who considered vasudaiva kutumbakam and sought shanti in all the worlds; not monkeys.
Let them understand that their heritage is not of animal behaviour, but of spiritual realization. That may help a different perspective towards living.

Conclusion

Each individual and the society that s/he forms part of is a composite whole. Both affects the other. If some people are considered as objects for sexual satiation of some others, it fundamentally affects the character of the society and shapes subsequent generations. Societal approval for such behaviour have serious repercussions.

*****

Post Script

Netherlands legalized commercial organisation of voluntary adult prostitution on 01 October 2000, with the aim of freeing prostitution from criminal elements, tackle exploitation, trafficking and other undesirable forms of prostitution.

Recent developments after 8 years of the legalization: -

“Half of Amsterdam’s prostitute windows must be closed to save Europe’s most tolerant city from criminal gangs and an excess of sleaze, the mayor has told The Times.“
- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5400641.ece

“Eindhoven’s designated sex work zone is due to close by 2011. Amsterdam and other Dutch cities are slowly shutting down their red light districts, but Eindhoven is unusual in pioneering material incentives to tempt women into thinking about an economic alternative to prostitution.“
- http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/whore-miles-plan-for-dutch-prostitutes-who-behave-952479.html

In Iceland this year(2009)-

“A new law makes purchase of sex illegal in Iceland.
Before this change in legislation, selling and buying sexual services was legal in Iceland.
Iceland is the third country to outlaw the purchase of prostitution. Sweden was the first country to ban the buying of sex in 1999 and Norway followed suit earlier this year. In Finland, a ban on purchasing sexual services from victims of human trafficking was introduced in 2007.
Opinion polls have shown that up to 70% of the population supports banning the purchase of sexual services.“
– http://www.jafnretti.is/jafnretti/?D10cID=ReadNews&ID=523

• I have not yet worked out the astronomical significance of this passage.., I am saving it for our reference. For example, there is an Aditya per month, and Vivasvan is the Aditya for the second month of the Sarad Rtu.
• I don’t know why the seasons are listed from grishma and not from vasanta
• Therefore I don’t know if I can map the name Chaitra Masa as used today to Tapa Masa as given in the Linga Puranam.
• I feel somehow that Chaitra Masam should match Madhumasam., because of the meaning of madhu – sweet, honey.
• One more area for research, interpretation and reconciliation.

Source and Reference :

1. The sun’s chariot was built by Brahma himself. It is made completely out of gold. (I know a shloka where it is said to be made out of iron, but don’t remember which text that is from at this time)
2. There are twelve months in a year. Their names are Madhu, Madhava, Shukra, Shuchi, Nabha, Nabhasya, Isha, Urjja, Saha, Sahasya, Tapa and Tapasya. (These names of the months are slightly unusual. More common is Vaishakha, Jyeshtha, etc.)
3. Two months constitute a season (ritu) and there are therefore six seasons in every year. These are grishma (summer), varsha (monsoon), sharat (early autumn), hemanta (late autumn), shita (winter) and vasanta (spring).
4. In every season, two adityas, two rshis, two gandharvas, two apsaras, two rakshasas and two nagas ride on the sun’s chariot to keep the sun company. Their names are as follows.
   1. Grishma – the adityas Dhata and Aryama; the sages Pulastya and Pulaha; the gandharvas Tumburu and Narada; the apsaras Kritasthala and Punjikasthala; the rakshasas Rakshoheti and Praheti; and the nagas Uraga and Vasuki. Madhu and Madhava are the months of grishma.
   2. Varsha - the adityas Mitra and Varuna; the sages Atri and Vasishtha; the gandharvas Haha and Huhu; the apsaras Menaka and Sahajanya; the rakshasas Pourusheya and Vadha; and the naga Takshaka. (The name of the second naga is not given.) Shukra and Shuchi are those of varsha.
   3. Sharat – the adityas Indra and Vivasvana; the sages Angira and Bhrigu; the gandharvas Vishvavasu and Ugrasena; the apsaras Pramlocha and Anumlocha; the rakshasas Sarpa and Vyaghra; and the nagas Elapatra and Shankhapala. Nabha and Nabhasya those of sharat.
   4. Hemanta - the adityas Parjanya and Pusha; the sages Bharadvaja and Gautama; the gandharvas Suruchi and Paravasu; the apsaras Ghritachi and Vishvachi; the rakshasas Apa and Vata; and the nagas Dhananjaya and Iravana. Isha and Urjja those of hemanta.
   5. Shita – the adityas Amshu and Bhaga; the sages Kashyapa and Kratu; the gandharvas Chitrasena and Urnayu; the apsaras Urvashi and Purvachitti; the rakshasas Vidyut and Diva; and the nagas Mahapadma and Karkataka. Saha and Sahasya those of shita.
   6. Vasanta – the adityas Tvashta and Vishnu; the sages Jamadagni and Vishvamitra; the gandharvas Dhritarashtra and Suryavarcha; the apsaras Tilottama and Rambha; the rakshasas Brahmopeta and Yakshopeta; and the nagas Kambana and Ashvatara. Tapa and Tapasya those of vasanta.
5. The moon (Chandra) has a chariot that has three wheels and is drawn by three horses. The horses are competely white in colour. The sun drinks up the energy of the moon for a period of fifteen days. This period is known as krishnapaksha (the fortnight during which the moon wanes). The sun then replenishes the moon’s energy over the next fifteen days. This period is known as shuklapaksha (the fortnight during which the moon waxes).
6. Budha (Mercury) is Chandra’s son and rides a chariot that is drawn by eight horses. The horses are yellow and the chariot is made of gold.
7. Brihaspati (Jupiter) also has a chariot that is made of gold and is drawn by eight horses.
8. But Shani’s (Saturn) chariot is made of iron.
9. Just as Indra rules over the gods, the sun rules over the planets and the moon rules over the nakshatras (stars) and the herbs.
10. But all of these revolve around Dhruva (the Pole Star).

Authorship and Copyright Notice : Satya Sarada Kandula.  All Rights for the Sourced Material Vest with the Source.

Decision Making in bharatiya parampara

In bharatiya parampara decision making occur at four different levels.

Level One. Follow another person or group. Do what s/he does on the assumption that s/he knows better, on the basis of life experience/knowledge level/ merely because it is easier to follow and/or because of being enamoured of the personality- kama.

Level Two. Decision on the basis of anticipated material advantage, artha.

Level Three. Decision on the basis of what is righteous- dharma. Choosing the option that sustain values in society.

Level Four. Decision on the basis of brahma-jnana. Decision taken with intuitive knowledge of brahma.

How the decision is taken reveals the varna of the person or group or the society.

Traditionally in bharatiya parampara decisions affecting society were taken by the kshetriya under the guidance of brahmana guru, criteria for decision being upholding of dharma. Such decisions encouraged dharmic values in society and fostered prosperity and peace.
Decisions on family matters took into account artha- material aspects, in addition, while on personal level, kama- personal preferences, were also considered.

Decision Making in Modern Democracy

In a modern democracy, it is the majority consent that decides matters at societal level.

Majority consent is shaped by public opinion formed on the basis of the following mediums:-

1. News Media- Television, radio, newspapers, magazines.

2. Art – Movies, TV serials, drama, songs, dance, sculpture, paintings, cartoons.

3. Academy- Educational curriculum, text books, classroom discourse, research programmes.

4. Government, including Judiciary- government sponsored schemes, information campaigns, policies, governmental institutions, offices, government servants, law and law enforcement agencies.

5. Political party/NGO activities- demonstrations, mass movements, public awareness programmes, personal interactions.

6. Commercial organisations- MNCs, private companies, advertisement campaigns

7. Religious discourse- Church, Mosque, Sunday Schools, Madrassas, Satsang.

8. Traditions and Culture.

9. Public personalities- Sports stars, movie/tv stars, Sant, Baba, ‘Intellectuals’, political/society leaders, artists, media personalities.

How each of the above mediums perform vis-a-vis the criteria of kama, artha, dharma and moksha, influences the shaping of public opinion and varna of society.

Tamas

News media that follows the lead of western media, Art forms that are shaped under western influence, Academy that looks towards the west for inspiration and direction, Government that is based on western model, Political parties and NGOs that are influenced by western discourse, Companies that function on the lines of western organisational structure and motivations, Religious discourse based on western thought, Traditions and culture of western origin and Public personalities under western influence. These help form a society that is tamasic in character, sudra in varna, that always seek to follow the lead of somebody else.
On occasions where no previous model exists to follow, such a society defers its decisions until passage of time throws up a default decision or presents an emulatable course to follow.

Tamasic Rajas

When the mediums that shape public opinion act with the motive of material gain, society acquires rajasic quality in addition to tamas. Such a society has media dominated by news of material nature, business and financial matters; Art forms exploring technical excellence, deficient in ethics; Academy oriented towards technological advancement, devoid of morals; Government actively involved in infrastructure building, economy, promoting consumerism; Political Parties, NGOs funded and sponsored by business houses. Commercial organisations dominating society; Religious discourse colored by material motivations; Traditions and Culture stressing on material accruement, and Public personalities selling products.

The discourse of such a society will be on material benefit. Decisions revolve around this criteria.

Sattvic Rajas

When the mediums shaping public opinion discourse on values, society acquire sattvic tinge along with rajas. Such a society will have news media discussing ethical ramifications while analysing current events, Art aimed at inspiring altruistic imagination in minds of the public, Academy oriented towards fostering moral living values in society, Government acting decisively to uphold righteousness in society, Law and judicial decisions reflecting dharma, Political parties, NGOs acting motivated by values, Companies producing goods for sustenance of society as well as Nature, Religious discourse directed towards righteous living in harmony with diverse viewpoints, Traditions and Culture promoting moral values in society, and self-effacing public personalities upholding dharmic values.

In short, rama rajya.

Sattva

When the public concentrates on moksha, the mediums that shape public opinion converge towards that goal. In news media, incidental nature of news lose relevance and karmic causes and ramifications are paid attention. Art forms a medium to experience and express realization. Academic pursuit, like all other, orient towards brahma-jnana. History is no more mere chronicling of incidents, instead record the eternal cycle of creations and dissolutions under karmic effect and their dharmic lessons provide inspiration and guidance towards spiritual living. Centralised government lose relevance as people govern themselves dharmically at local and individual levels. Companies shrink in size and number as materials required by society reduce. Religions disappear as people live spiritually. Traditions and Culture inspire realization and Personalities dissolve upon brahma-jnana.

Society Today

Indian society today, by and large, emulates western society and engages in material advancement at all costs to individual, family, society, nation and Nature. Thus it shows predominantly sudra varna that is transforming into vyshya.
Symbolically, India today is headed by people chosen for their sudra characteristic of followership, though trained to be vyshya – products of the british created education system designed to produce technically qualified workers for the empire.

Way Ahead

As rajas rises in society, represented by the transformation to vyshya characteristic from sudra, to check the deleterious effect on human psyche and on Nature, of unbridled rajasic indulgence in materialism, evident in human society today, and for long term sustenance, of individual, society, as well as Nature, tempering and channelization with dharmic considerations are necessary.

Increased deliberations on dharmic aspects at societal level impart kshetriya varna to society and raise sattvic characteristic.

Sustained rise of sattvic characteristic inspire brahma-jnana.

Hindu Festivals:

Saraswati Puja:

Saraswati puja, Jagannath Hall, Dhaka University

On the fifth lunar day of the bright night in the Bengali month of Magh (January-February), Saraswati Puja is held. Saraswati is the Goddess of learning. According to Hindu mythology Saraswati is the wife of Brahma, the creator. She is represented as fair and wearing a white sari and a garland of white beads. The whiteness symbolizes the purity of Saraswati. Saraswati is mounted on a swan carrying a kacchapi vina on her hand. As she is the Goddess of learning specially Hindu students worship her. During the Puja, Hindu students place their textbooks and pens on her alter with the sacred books. The Hindu devotees believe that an ignorant person can acquire knowledge through the blessing of Saraswati.  All the academic institutions remain closed on that occasion. Tough Saraswati Puja is observed in the academic institutions; some Hindu families arrange worship at their home. The series of pujas that starts with Durga comes to an end with Saraswati Puja.

There are only two voices in life: the loud, irrational, unloving, separative, fear-based, dualistic, illusionary, lower self, selfish voice of the negative ego and the “Still, Small Voice Within” of unconditional love, forgiveness, grace, omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience. As you learn to deny and quiet the negative ego mind and learn to think and feel only from your Spiritual/ Christ/ Buddha/ Krishna/ Moses/ Mohammed/ Mighty I AM Presence/ God/ Goddess Mind, you will live and move and have your being in God’s grace, grandeur and love at all times. Your job is to be joyously vigilant for God and His Kingdom against the negative ego and to deny any thought not of God to enter your mind. If you do this, there is only one other voice that will hence be present, and this is the sweetest voice of all creation. It is the Voice of God/ Brahma/ Allah/ Dharmakaya/ The I AM THAT I AM, also known as the Voice of the Holy Spirit…

So let it be written. So let it be done.

© 2009 www.IAMUniversity.org

Did Rishi Vatsyayana physically explore all that in kama sutra before creating the text ?

Did the sculptors of various sensual sculptures in india, have people standing in such pose before them, while they created such sculptures ?

The difference between a creation that is produced as a result of physical experience and that which is produced as a result of intuitive experience is that in the former, the focus is on, and remains on, the physical aspects as experienced through the senses while the latter transcends limitations of physical senses and inspires experience of the essence.

The difference is similar to that between a dead body and a living body- the vital living aspect. Howsoever perfect the dead body is, and imperfect the living body may be, the latter has a vitality that makes it engaging which the other lacks.

This is the reason the realisation aham brahmasmi cannot be experienced purely through experience from physical senses.

This origin of kama sutra, through intuitive experience in the mind of a realized sage, makes it much more than a manual on sex. It is a tool aiding in living dharmically, while experiencing life, assisting in fostering awareness and intuition, leading up towards realization.
So are the other texts, sculptures, dance forms and music of bhArat. They have the quality of rasa- that which inspires experience of the vital, by the discerning viewer/listener/reader.

bharatiya samskriti, comprising of such texts, scuptures, dance forms, music, thought and spiritual outlook, derivative of intuitive experiences, aids in sustaining dharma in society and inspires people to realise themselves.