The Goddess and the Volcano

Archangel Michael, Peruvian Icon, Oil on Canvas

In many traditions around the world, volcanoes are considered to be manifestations of the Goddess, particularly in Her terrific or destructive aspect.

In Hawaii She is known as the indomitable Pele. In Amerindian mythology Mt St Helens is the form taken by the maiden Luwit, and Mt Fuji in Japan is presided over by the goddess Konohana Sakuya Hime. 

The blood-like lava flows, the black smoke, the grey ash reminiscent of the cremation ground, the lightning and destructive fury, are all suggestive of the Hindu goddess Shri Mahakali, the terrifying destroyer of negative forces.

This painting depicts not the Goddess Herself but the Archangel Michael, who presides, with Shri Mahakali, over the left, lunar channel of the Subtle Body. This channel (also known as the Ida Nadi) has the universal quality of Tamas, the cold, dark energy of inertia, which acts as a brake to the overactivity of the solar channel of Rajas. The Icelandic volcano certainly applied a braking force to European air travel.

People who doubt that human activity has a significant effect on global warming often point to the huge amounts of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide emitted during volcanic eruptions. However, volcanoes also emit ash and sulphur, which can remain suspended in the atmosphere for several years, partially shielding the planet from solar radiation. This cooling effect is known as the haze effect. Volcanic eruptions enhance the haze effect to a greater extent than the greenhouse effect. Observational evidence shows a clear correlation between historic eruptions and subsequent years of cold climate conditions. Volcanoes have a net cooling effect on global climate.

Another Good Letter to NS

From Maggie Hamand:

"As someone with a first degree in biochemistry and an MA in theology. I am always fascinated by debates about religion and science. I was dismayed, however, to read [in New Scientist magazine] that belief in God is equated with belief in "supernatural beings". In Christian theology God is not seen as an object of our consciousness, and therefore cannot be described as a "being" or as a "thing". God is held to be both beyond being (transcendent) and being itself (immanent). As far as I am aware Judaism, Islam and indeed Buddhism and Hinduism have similar doctrines. It is human to constantly reify things which are abstract - as scientists do when talking about particles and black holes - or which are divine: but this should be resisted if we are to truly understand things."

London, UK.

Similarly, the Self is not a thing. Reification (also known as hypostatisation, concretism, or the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction (abstract belief or hypothetical construct) is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entity. In other words, it is the error of treating as a "real thing" something which is not a real thing, but merely an idea. The habit of thinking about abstractions in terms of concrete objects is probably an inborn tendency in human beings. The word 'real' is quite vague, philosophers can't even agree on what the word 'existence' means. To say that God/Self should not be reified does not necessarily mean It does not 'exist'.

The Collective Self

"The idea that consciousness is the product of interaction between different areas of the brain may have begun with Bernard Baars in 1983, but German philosopher Jurgen Habermans (born in 1929) has long argued that knowledge arises from interaction between people. George Herbert Mead argued that mind itself arises from such interaction, rather than the other way around. It is far from surprising that the social and individual processes of the mind would mimic, or perhaps mirror, each other, and comes as no surprise to those of us who question the assumption that each of us has, or is, a fundamental single self from which all else proceeds."

-Steve Wilson, letter published in New Scientist

 

The conscious brain evolved at the level of the Visshuddhi Chakra, which is characterised by the quality of collectivity, the interaction, or play, between variegated parts of a whole. According to Advaita philosophy, the Self is singular, but also has innumerable aspects which can interact through the principle of collectivity. Many scientists are tending towards the idea that individual 'selves' are fictitious - a simulation, or an illusion. However, to answer what has been called the 'hard problem' of consciousness - how subjective experience arises from the physical brain - we will always need a single universal subject, or Self.

3D chess game from Star Trek. Consciousness arises through interaction and play.

The Tyranny of the Discontinuous Mind

"The boundaries of objects are vague - and that goes for us too... Describing the world in terms of discrete objects is a useful fiction."

- Kees van Deemter, a computational linguist at the University of Aberdeen, UK, and author of Not Exactly: In praise of vagueness


Richard Dawkins calls this tendency to think in discrete categories "the tyranny of the discontinuous mind".

Avadhuta Gita

All that exists in this world of forms

Is nothing but the Self, and the Self alone.

How, then, shall the Infinite worship Itself?

Shiva is one undivided Whole!

-Avadhuta Gita (The Song of the Renunciant)

Probably 9th or 10th century

Traditionally ascribed to Shri Dattatreya

Kailash

North face of Mt Kailash

At the heart of the Sahasrara Chakra (the subtle centre at the crown of the head) is the abode of the aspect of the Self known in Hinduism as Lord Shiva. Though all the deities of the Hindu pantheon are believed to be aspects of the one Universal Self, Shri Shiva represents the unmanifested Self, which exists in a state of perpetual meditation, apparently withdrawn from the world. In Advaita philosophy, the distinction between Self and world is seen as illusory, and therefore the deities who look after different aspects of worldy existence are no less "spiritual" for their involvement with the world;  however, the ascetic deity, Lord Shiva, is often chosen by Hindus to represent the Self, because He is a pure essence at the heart of all things. He is considered to reside also in the heart Chakra. Lord Shiva is both remote, in the sense of being unaffected by phenomena, and the closest, because He resides in the heart. Because Self and world are one, meditation is not a withdrawal from the world, as many believe; it is a withdrawal from the mind's illusion of separateness. What better way to get a grip on reality than to become it.

The subtle centres are manifested at various locations on Earth. The Himalaya corresponds to the Sahasrara Chakra. Mt Kailash is located in a particularly remote and desolate region of the Tibetan plateau. Hindu texts describe it as being surrounded by seven layers of mountain ranges, rather like the heart of a lotus enfolded in layers of petals. Four great rivers of South Asia have their source near the mountain, and in yoga philosophy there are four subtle nadis, or spiritual channels, emerging from the Heart Chakra.

The Sanskrit word kailash means 'crystal', and the mountain does have a jewel-like appearance rising from the surrounding bare and arid terrain.

Maya

This is Maya (Illusion).

She has been intentionally created.

Without her, the attention would not have developed.

You should not be afraid of Maya

and should recognize Her

so that She will illuminate your path.

A cloud hides the sun and also makes it seen.

In the same way, once the Maya is identified,

she moves aside and the sun is seen.

The sun is always there,

but what is the purpose of the cloud?

Because of the cloud, you have an urge to see the sun,

which shines for a moment and again hides somewhere.

-HH Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

From the experience of bliss for a long time, there arose in the Supreme Self a certain state like deep sleep. From that state Maya (the illusive power of the Supreme Self) was born, just as a dream arises in sleep. This Maya is without the characteristics of (or different from) Reality or unreality, without beginning, and dependent on the Reality that is the Supreme Self. She, who is of the form of the Three Gunas (the qualities or energies of Nature), brings forth the Universe with all its animate and inanimate things.

-Shri Shankaracharya (probably 788–820 CE)

Self as Reality

Persian Women Gathered Around a Samovar,

19th Century.

Your name, village, country, horoscope, forecasts, many such things get attached to you, or others attach them to you. Once the Brahmarandhra is closed, many types of illusory ideas become part of your mind….

Only that attention which progresses, renouncing all that is unreal, breaks all known and unknown bindings becomes verily the Self. Atma (the Spirit) is never disturbed or destroyed.

- HH Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf... & Kundalini Awakening

"to be rippling and streaming, to feel the glory run molten up the spine, down the limbs, making the eyes glow, burning, bright, and penetrate the buffeting waves of the wind."

Virginia Woolf probably had some form of bi-polar disorder, which ultimately led her to fill the pockets of her coat with stones and drown herself in a river. Nevertheless she was an exceptionally talented and influential writer. The above quote from one of her essays suggests that she may have experienced Kundalini awakening.

A few relatively modern writers, with very little understanding of what the Kundalini is (essentially the inborn force which connects the 'individual' with the universal Self) have suggested that it is potentially dangerous to try to awaken it, that it could lead to mental instability. The canonical texts of yoga, record the experiences of practitioners of yoga and Kundalini awakening in an unbroken tradition dating back thousands of years. There is no evidence in any of these texts that Kundalini awakening is anything but beneficial. What could be more healthy than a state in which the deluding institutions of ego and conditionings are dissolved? Problems can occur, however, if Kundalini yoga is mixed with a lifestyle or practices (eg certain Tantric techniques) which disturb the innocence of the Mooladhara Chakra, the support of the Kundalini. Without the support of innocence Kundalini awakening and Self-realisation cannot be sustained. As attested by the greatest saints and yogis of India, the Kundalini itself is a nurturing inner Mother, and would never do anything harmful.
Woolf's mental stability was shaken early on when she lost several people very dear to her at a very vulnerable period in her life. There was also the formidable intellectual constraint of her time, particularly for women, which must have been terrible for someone as creative and original as herself. Woolf's journals record that her moments of awakening, of transcending her ego, were extremely valuable and therapeutic. It appears that her final depression was due to an inability to reconnect to this life energy.

Service and Duty

Your own Self-Realisation
is the greatest service you can
render the world.

Your duty is to be, and not to be this or that. "I am that I am" sums up the whole truth...
"I-I" is the Self. "I am this" is the ego. When the "I" is kept up as the "I" only, it is the Self. When it flies off at a tangent and says "I am this or that, I am such and such," - it is the ego.

-The Sage of Arunchala

Advaita in Sikhism

“There is one awareness among all created beings.”

- Shri Guru Nanaka, Siree Raag 24

The Self as Centre

"I began to understand that the goal of psychic development is the self. There is no linear evolution; there is only a circumambulation of the self. Uniform development exists, at most, at the beginning; later, everything points toward the centre. This insight gave me stability, and gradually my inner peace returned."

-Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections


Pradakshina (circumambulation)

"One of the customary aspects of going to a temple is the practice of going around the deity or the sanctum sanctorum. This is called pradakshina. Typically, pradakshina is done after the completion of traditional worship (pooja) and after paying homage to the deity. We cannot draw a circle without a center point. The Lord is the center, source and essence of our lives. We acknowledge this by performing pradakshina. Also, every point on the circumference of a circle is equidistant from the center. This means that wherever or whoever we may be, we are equally close to the Lord. His grace flows towards us without partiality. The pradakshina is done clockwise. Indeed, the word pradakshina means “moving rightward” in Sanskrit. The reason is, not as someone said, to avoid a traffic jam (Although, it certainly helps!). As we do pradakshina, the Lord is always on our right. Hindus traditionally associate right side with auspiciousness. So as we circumambulate the deity, we remind ourselves to lead an auspicious life of righteousness, with the Lord who is the indispensable source of help and strength, as our guide - “the right hand”. Often, devotees additionally circumambulate around themselves (turning in place) again, thereby recognizing the presence of divinity in themselves."

Source: Marg, Vol 2, No. 4 (July-August 2006)

The Spirituality of Sound

To us, music can be a spiritual discipline on the path to self-realisation, for we follow the traditional teaching that sound is God - Nada Brahma: By this process individual consciousness can be elevated to a realm of awareness where the revelation of the true meaning of the universe - its eternal and unchanging essence - can be joyfully experienced. Our ragas are the vehicles by which this essence can be perceived.

The ancient Vedic scriptures teach that there are two types of sound. One is a vibration of ether, the upper or purer air near the celestral realm. This sound is called Anahata Nad or unstruck sound. Sought after by great enlightened yogis, it can only be heard by them. The sound of the universe is the vibration thought by some to be like the music of the spheres that the Greek Pythagoras described in the 6th century B.C. The other sound Ahata Nad or struck sound, is the vibration of air in the lower atmosphere closer to the earth. It is any sound that we hear in nature or man-made sounds, musical and non-musical.

-Ravi Shankar

Avatar

Whenever righteousness wanes
and unrighteousness increases
I send myself forth. In order to protect the good
and punish the wicked,
In order to make a firm foundation
for righteousness,
I come into being age after age.

- Bhagavad Gita

In Hinduism, avatar (or avatara) is a word used to describe the descent of a deity into manifest form. The term is derived from ava (down) and tṝ (to cross), and has come to signify the being who descends rather than the act of descent - the original meaning. Avatars are aspects of the Divine Self who incarnate for a specific purpose. There are many avatars of the Hindu Goddess (Shri Devi or Shri Shakti). The aspect of the Divine Self as guru, or teacher, also incarnates. Perhaps most of the Hindu avatars are incarnations of the deity Shri Vishnu, who is the aspect of the Hindu Trinity responsible for maintaining the universe and its laws. The other two aspects of the Hindu Trinity are Shri Brahma (creation) and Shri Shiva (dissolution). Avatars of Shri Brahma are very rare. Shri Shiva is thought not to have ever incarnated, as He represents the unmanifest Self. There are, however some great rishis and saints who are considered to be partial incarnations of Lord Shiva, for example Shri Ramana Maharshi (no connection to TM). Some of the aspects of Shri Shiva are believed to have incarnated, such as Shri Bhairava. The Shiva Puranas tell of a Shiva avatar in the form of a bird-lion, called S(h)arabha, who incarnated in order to quell the exessive rage of Shri Narasimha, the man-lion avatar of Shri Vishnu, after He killed the demon Hiranyakashipu. In some versions of the myth, a powerful and wrathful bird, with two heads, emerged from Narasimha and fought with Sharabha for many days until Shri Narasimha's anger was satisfied. The double-headed bird can be found on the emblem of Karnataka state in India, and also in European/Russian heraldry and Amerindian tradition.

Double-headed eagle of the Russian royal emblem.

Christmas

Ego sum Lux Mundi
"I am the Light of the World"
-Jesus

The nativity of Jesus did not occur in December. It is appropriate that The Light of the World incarnated at the time of Diwali, the Festival of Lights. The date of Diwali is set by the Hindu lunar calendar, which varies from year to year. It usually falls in October or November.

However, late December also has significance for this incarnation of light, as it is the time of the mid-winter solstice, after which the days begin to lengthen in the Northern Hemisphere. Early Christians admitted that they had no idea when Jesus was born. It is likely that they fixed the date of Christmas at the midwinter solstice because of it's symbolic association with the resurrection of the sun's light, a time of rejoicing for those living in chilly Northern climes.

Long ago, I used to baulk at the notion that early Christians would have taken pre-Christian symbolism into account, until I went to Europe and saw churches built on pagan sacred sites, and temples recycled as basillicas. Early Christians believed that certain pre-Christian, pagan prophets and sybils had been given revelations which supported Christianity. This is harder for present day Christians to accept. Many of them seeing such symbolism as a watering down or contamination, rather than a reinforcement, of their faith.

Light is the phase of vibration associated with the Agnya (Brow) Chakra, the subtle psycho-spiritual centre located in the optic area of the brain.

Michelangelo,
The Libyan Sybil,
Sistine Chapel.

Maybe we antipodeans should celebrate Christmas in our midwinter. This already happens in the Blue Mountains not far from Sydney. It sometimes snows there in winter, so there's even the chance of getting a traditional European white Christmas. The idea for "Christmas in July" blossomed in 1980 as snow began to fall on a cold winter's night at the Mountain Heritage Hotel, Katoomba. A small group of Irish visitors had come to The Blue Mountains to enjoy the clear winter climate that they were accustomed to back in Ireland - they commented that "Celebrating Christmas in Australia during the heat of summer just didn't feel quite the same". The host and owner of the Mountain Heritage offered to re-create for his Irish guests, a festive 'Winter Christmas' atmosphere with all the trimmings - frosted windows, Christmas feasts of turkey, hams, mince pies and steaming plum puddings, and choristers joining together singing the joys of the festive season. Plus, of course, a snowman. This tradition has become known as "Yulefest" and lives on throughout the Blue Mountains in the winter months of June, July and August.

Stillness

"Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself."

- Hermann Hesse

"Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine."
-The Buddha