Cool Bhakti / Prana Story

[Kirtanman]

Hello, Howdy & Hari Aum!

I came across the following story at www.bhaktiware.com - and thought all y'all* might enjoy (and I'm not affiliated with that site in any way - just thought I'd give them a plug, since they seem to be "about" the promotion of yogic consciousness via t-shirts and yoga wear.)

(*In gramatically correct Texan - which is my second language - "y'all" is singular, and "all y'all" is plural. )

The title below (in caps) comes from a line in the story below - "said story" is a transcript of a live telling of the tale - and it was told in typically exuberant Jai Uttal fashion (if you've ever seen the TV show Will & Grace, there's this one really exuberant guy - I haven't seen the show much, so not sure of his name -- I don't think it's Will; Will's friend, maybe?)

On the show, the dude talks / gestures / stikes poses with Grace a lot - he's pretty skinny, and has short brownish hair, and is very .... exuberant --- and Jai Uttal gets like that - a LOT like that - in a good / entertaining way, when telling stories (I've seen / heard him tell the one below -- so it was cool to find it "transcribed" in print, on the Web, so that I could share it with all of you, easily).

Anyway -- if you picture that kind of flamboyant exuberance while reading, you'll get a feel for a key portion of the Ramayana as it's quite literally never been told before .... the start of the "Jai part" is noted in bold, below.)



Also, depending on your story stamina - please be sure to note my hopefully / possibly helpful comment at the end (meaning: if you skim part of the story - please don't skim my final comment -- it's potentially the key to the whole story / post, based on a powerful piece of info I came across, concerning Hanuman, a while back.)

Enjoy!



"Pre-PS" - I love the Tulsidas quote in the first paragraph!


HANUMAN - "A REALLY COOL MONKEY"
(Excerpted from the Ramayana)

Lord Ram gave Hanuman a quizzical look and said, "What are you, a monkey or a man?" Hanuman bowed his head reverently, folded his hands and said, "When I do not know who I am, I serve You -- and when I do know who I am ... I am you." -Tulsidas Ramayana.

    In order to understand who Hanuman is, we have to get a little bit familiar with the Ramayana. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the two great Indian epics that have been handed down from generation to generation since before recorded history. How many millennia old the Ramayana actually is, nobody knows, but it is instilled with ageless wisdom and a wealth of spiritual guidance, which even a soul in contemporary times will find invaluable.
   The Ramayana is a huge multilevel story of the battle of good and evil and of the eternal journey of the soul back to God, back to Oneness. The Ramayana, like Homer's Odyssey, is also believed by many to be a factual historical account. It can be looked at as a myth, an epic, or an adventure tale, but it can also be seen as a spiritual roadmap of how to approach higher Consciousness.
   On the surface level of the story is the adventure of Ram, who is the great King of ancient India, and an incarnation of Vishnu, the preserver of the Universe. Vishnu has come to earth in the form of Ram for the specific purpose of destroying the demon king Ravana, who is wreaking havoc on all of creation. The demon king Ravana kidnaps Ram's wife, Sita, who is an incarnation of Vishnu's consort, the Goddess Lakshmi. With the aid of his brother Lakshmana and the monkey-god Hanuman, Ram is able to defeat Ravana and rescue Sita.

Partial re-telling of the Ramayana by Jai Uttal
(internationally renowned Kirtan singer)

   "On the eve of Ram's coronation as king of Ayodhya, through a weird twist of fate he was exiled to the forest for fourteen years. His brother Lakshmana and his wife Sita volunteer to follow him into the forest. Throughout their journey of fourteen years they're really pretty happy because they are ... God. They're not really mad that they got exiled. They don't feel gypped. Also, they're so in love. They just wander through the forest blessing the holy men and the rishis, killing demons here and there, and doing their thing.
   Somewhere around the 14th year of Ram's exile, the demon king Ravana sees Sita and decides he has to have her. He already has just about everything there is to have, but he doesn't have Sita. Ravana has 10 heads and 20 arms; and he's like the strongest man on earth. He's also the richest man on earth, and he's the most powerful man on earth, and he's the handsomest man on earth, if you can get past the 10 heads. He has the most beautiful palace on earth and he has thousands of the most beautiful wives on earth.
   You see, Ravana was a yogi. He was a really accomplished yogi who did lifetimes and lifetimes of penance worshipping Lord Shiva. And so he got all these supernatural powers. But the powers went to the support of his ego rather than to his heart, to his compassion. He became incredibly strong, but still that didn't satisfy him. He decided that he wanted to gain immortality and so he prayed to Brahma, the creator of the Universe. He sat and he meditated and he meditated, and he wouldn't move and he didn't breathe, and he repeated chillions and chillions of mantras. He did all the rituals for centuries, for lifetimes. He would die and then he would pick up where he left off and start again in his next life.
   However, none of these efforts moved Brahma to grant Ravana the boon of immortality, so he started cutting off his heads and offering them to Brahma. Nine of Ravana's heads were gone and he had one to go, and Brahma said, "Stop! Stop. I can't stand to see a ten-headed headless man." (Can you imagine ten stumps?) So Brahma said, "I'll give you the boon of immortality, uh, sort of. I'll say, 'you can never be killed by a God, and you can never be killed by a demon, and you can never be killed by any supernatural being or any supernatural weapon.' Is that good enough for you?" Ravana was soooo arrogant, he knew he could never be hurt by a human or by an animal, so he said, "That's fine." He considered that immortality.
   So here we have God in the human form of Ram, and we know that Ram is destined to kill the demon king Ravana. When Ravana sees Sita from a distance he decides he must posses her. On the one hand, Sita is just the most beautiful woman on earth. She's the most beautiful, perfect, Goddess-being, woman on earth. But Ravana's desire to have her is also symbolic, because Sita is the Divine Mother. She is the incarnation of Shakti, the embodiment of all Divine power. It's in the feminine. Sita embodied That, without ego, only with love. It's very hard to even conceptualize. Another way to look at it for people doing yoga is that Sita was the embodiment of the kundilini, which rises up the spine and merges with the Soul of Consciousness through the crown chakra.
   Ravana wanted to possess That. Of course he wanted to. He wanted all the power in the Universe, and so he wanted to possess That. So, he tricked Ram by asking his uncle to take the form of a beautiful magical deer. Ram and Lakshmana went to catch the deer, and Ravana came to Sita in the form of an old Brahman, an old beggar. He abducted Sita and took her to his kingdom on the far away island of Lanka.
At that point, the whole world turned to darkness because Ram and Sita were separated. That which can't be separated was separated. The devotee and the Beloved, the male and the female, the infinite Shakti and the infinite God were separated. The harmony of the Universe fell apart. Ram totally forgot his Divinity. He just fell into despair and spent his days and nights weeping and crying. He was lost. Ram, who was all-knowing and all-seeing, couldn't figure out where Sita was. He couldn't figure out what had happened.
   And so he wanders into the forest where he meets this monkey, who's not the monkey king or anything. He's just a really cool monkey. His name is Hanuman. Hanuman sees Ram and Lakshmana walking in the forest and he thinks, 'Wow, look at those two wanderers. They look so sad.' He jumps down from his tree and as he gets closer to Ram he recognizes him as the Divine Lord, and falls at his feet and pledges to help him in his quest to find Sita.
   The reality of it is that Hanuman is actually an incarnation of Shiva, the Lord of the yogis. Shiva is the all-powerful transformative force of the Universe. Shiva had to help Vishnu (Ram) on his mission to destroy the demons who had overrun the earth, and so he took the form of Hanuman the monkey. It was the most wrathful, horrific form of Shiva that became Hanuman. Hanuman is a sweet, soft, beguiling, lovely little monkey, but he's actually an emanation of Rudra, the fiercest most destructive face of Lord Shiva.
   Without telling the whole story of the Ramayana, what happens is, Hanuman essentially reunites Ram and Sita and creates the opening for Ram to kill Ravana. Hanuman is responsible for the reconnection of Sita, who is the jewel of Consciousness, with Ram, the infinite Divine."

THE END
(OF THE BEGINNING?)

As in: what you do with this information could be kind of a big deal, yogically .... )

KIRTANMAN'S POTENTIALLY HELPFUL FINAL COMMENT

Hanuman is known as the "Son of the Wind" - as in: Breath. When we understand that Hanuman is a symbol of our breath, many of the other key symbols in the Ramanyana (Hanuman's relationship with Ram & Sita, Hanuman's devotion, Hanuman's powers, etc.) - begin to make a lot more sense.

There are many "keys" to yogic evolution and self-realization / enlightenment (bhakti being a very fundamental one, for instance -- as we all know, and as Yogani has emphasized repeatedly) -- however, physically ---- if there is one fundamental key, without which nothing much else can be accomplished (yogically) - it would be the breath.

It's kind of like: Breath is the key, and bhakti is the hand that turns the key.

And "per that" - the Ramayana (and other great Indian spiritual stories) are more than simply interesting or (depending upon your perspective) boring yet exceptionally lengthy though highly detailed tales --- they can actually be important and highly illustrative maps, which can help us understand how various pieces of our AYP practices fit together, their deeper meanings, and the results we may be able to experience.

Sri Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram,

Kirtanuman

[riptiz]

Hi Kirtanman,
Nice story.Interesting or coincidental you might speak of it.When I was in India we were going to Triambuk which is a very spiritual place(it's mentioned in the first line of the MahaMritunjaya mantra)and we stopped at the foot of a mountain at a shrine.There was a huge statue of Hanumanji and I was told the top of this mountain was the birthplace of Hanumanji.Also in Nasik(another spiritual city)I was taken to a building where Sita was supposedly imprisoned by Ravana and it consisted of some narrow tunnels and small underground rooms.On the opposite side of the road is a display of the story in figures.Incidentally DhayanyogiMadhusudandasji considered Hanumanji as his deity and it is said that he reincarnated in another form to give shaktipat to Dhyanyogi.
L&L
Dave

[Shanti]

Wow.. talk about short stories.. that is the shortest version of Ramayana I have ever read...

I like your interpretation and (I guess within the story) Jai Uttal's interpretation of the characters and the story.

So let me take it a step further..
Kirtanman.. growing up.. I never liked Ramayana.. I esp. did not like Ram.. (sorry if  am hurting anyone's feelings over here)..  I still don't like him.. and here is why...
You have given the end of the story that is most commonly considered the end.. Ram, Lakshman and Sita go back to Ayodhya  and he becomes the rightful ruler of the throne again. And they all live happily ever after.. (Or do they???)

Ahhhaaa!!! but now his people are talking.. see that Sita.. hummm.. she was with Ravana.. I wonder if she did anything there.. do you think she is pure anymore? She lived with another man.. hummm.. whisper..whisper.. whisper.. And what does the great Ram do? To please his people.. he banishes Sita from Ayodhya.. (ummm excuse me!!!!!)... She goes to a forest and takes shelter with Valmiki.. Many years later Ram feels bad and decides to bring Sita back..
 

quote:(From wiki...) Sita banished
Ayodhya was prosperous, the people were happy, and for a time all went well. It was not long, however, before whispers concerning Sita's long stay in Lanka spread through the city, and Rama came to hear the whisperings that a famine in the country was due to the guilt of Sita, who had suffered the caresses of Ravana while in captivity. Under the pressure from the citizens of Ayodhya, Rama banished her to the forest in which they had spent together the happy years of their exile.

Without a murmur the unhappy Sita dragged herself to the forest, and, torn with grief of body and spirit, found the hermitage of Valmiki, where she gave birth to twin sons, Lava and Kush. Here she reared them, with the assistance of the hermit, who was their teacher, and under whose care they grew to manhood, handsome and strong.

It chanced that about the time the youths were twenty years old, Rama began to think the gods were angered with him because he had killed Ravana, who was the son of a Brahman. Rama became determined to propitiate them by means of Ashvamedha, the great sacrifice, in which he caused a horse to be turned loose in the forest. When his men went to retake it, at the end of the year, they found it caught by two strong and beautiful youths who resisted all efforts to capture them. When his men couldn't retake the horse, Rama went to the forest in person, only to learn that the youths were his twin sons, Lava and Kush. Struck with remorse, Rama recalled the sufferings of his wife Sita, and on learning that she was at the hermitage of Valmiki, requested her to come with him.

Sita had had time to recover from the love of her youth, and the prospect of life with Rama, she felt, was not altogether pleasant. She appealed to the earth, if she had never loved any man but Rama, if her truth and purity were known to the earth, let it open its bosom and take her to it. While the people stood trembling with horror, the earth opened, a gorgeous throne appeared, and the goddess of earth, seated upon it, took Sita beside her and conveyed her to the realms of eternal happiness, leaving the too late repentant people to wear out the remaining years in penitence.

Ohhh.. never could get over this end.. Sita gives up her life to be with Ram.. and because some people cant keep their mouth shut.. Ram.. who is supposed to be a God.. tell his wife to get lost.. and then wants her back.. Ooooooooo... that gets me sooo mad..[!]
So how about a nice explanation to this part of the story with respect to AYP.. so I can get over this block!!!!![:p]

[Wolfgang]

quote:Originally posted by Shanti

Ohhh.. never could get over this end.. Sita gives up her life to be with Ram.. and because some people cant keep their mouth shut.. Ram.. who is supposed to be a God.. tell his wife to get lost.. and then wants her back.. Ooooooooo... that gets me sooo mad..[!]
So how about a nice explanation to this part of the story with respect to AYP.. so I can get over this block!!!!![:p]

The "gods" are only human, they are learning as we do

[Kirtanman]

quote:Originally posted by Shanti

Wow.. talk about short stories.. that is the shortest version of Ramayana I have ever read...

Well, you know how enlightened rishis tend to ramble on ... so I just tightened up the verbiage with my super-duper editing skills, and tossed out all the extraneous fluff .... and there ya have it.

(Actually, I believe .... no, really - it's true .... that this is the *first* time the term "short" has been used in reference to a piece of written material from *moi*. )

quote:I like your interpretation and (I guess within the story) Jai Uttal's interpretation of the characters and the story.

Thank you kindly, ma'am -- but please note: the Hanuman = breath symbolism is my sole contribution --- everything else was purely cut-n-paste (and I don't know who wrote the "pre-Jai" part - presumably, whoever runs the Bhaktiware site where I obtained the story -- and I have no idea whatsoever who that may be.)

quote:So let me take it a step further..
Kirtanman.. growing up.. I never liked Ramayana.. I esp. did not like Ram.. (sorry if  am hurting anyone's feelings over here)..  I still don't like him.. and here is why...
You have given the end of the story that is most commonly considered the end.. Ram, Lakshman and Sita go back to Ayodhya  and he becomes the rightful ruler of the throne again. And they all live happily ever after.. (Or do they???)

Actually - "I'm with ya" on this --- 100%.

When I first heard of the "complete ending", I was blown away (in a bad way, not a good way) -- and found the whole idea reprehensible - especially since it (the ending of the Ramayana, that you reference below) was being applied to one of the most sacred characters in all of Indian spiritual lore --- to me, accusing Lord Ram of such behavior was similar to ending one of the New Testament gospels with Jesus committing armed robbery, or kicking the stuffing out of a poor old woman!

And I'm being quite serious - Lord Ram isn't just any garden-variety avatar (full embodiment of God) - he specifically symbolizes (supposedly) all that is "desirably holy" - meaning: the very highest qualities of what it is to be divine: loving, obedient, detached, faithful, courageous, etc. etc.

And then, this living embodiment of the divine, turns to his beloved wife (who had left her life as a wealthy princess and almost-queen, and stood by her husband as he was exiled to fourteen years in the forest, and who had just endured all manner of psychological - and possibly other - torture, from a psychotic ten-headed demon) - and says:

"Y'know, the buzz around town is that you might actually be a worthless slut, because you could have kinda-sorta maybe possibly, in theory, hypothetically, gotten it on with ol' Ravana, and since we all know that the epitome of royal wisdom is to make life-altering decisions based on gossip and innuendo ---- please get out of my sight, and never return. Buh-bye."

It's like, WTF*?!

(*Fairly well known acronym standing for, "What could possibly be going on, here?)

quote:Ohhh.. never could get over this end.. Sita gives up her life to be with Ram.. and because some people cant keep their mouth shut.. Ram.. who is supposed to be a God.. tell his wife to get lost.. and then wants her back.. Ooooooooo... that gets me sooo mad..[!]
So how about a nice explanation to this part of the story with respect to AYP.. so I can get over this block!!!!![:p]

Per what I wrote above, that's a fairly tall order, there, ma'am - but I'll see what I can do .... (and I think I may be able to offer some help, here -- per some insight I've had just today as a result of your post ----- so, thanks! )

Sometimes I'm not entirely sure why I post a given item (yes, I know ... that makes many of us .... ) -- yet, then it turns into some deep and hopefully helpful dialog (This thread being a perfect example.) -- for which I am very grateful! (And I'm not patting myself on the back in any way at all ---- I'm just saying that I'm truly grateful for the synergy that helps us learn and grow together, here in the Forum -- and quite often, I don't even see it coming --- which is kinda cool, actually!)

So ... back to the topic at hand (Ram-bashing, I believe it was ...) <---- totally kidding, as everyone up to and including Lord Ram knows ... we've seen what happens to those who Ram-bash ..... (the instigator often ends up less than totally alive, and/or with their body in a different configuration than the one it started with .... because, nothing can stand up to the power of Truth .... which does bring us back to our topic ....)

HOW can we say that Lord Ram represents Truth and Divinity, if he behaves like this?

How can we hold him up as the embodiment of pure divine Love, if he does something as reprehensibly unloving as to reject his wife, who was kidnapped and tortured, based on hearsay?

I mean - let's say this was a real-life situation (and many people believe it is) --- and let's say Sita and Ram are talking one night in bed, in their opulent palace in Ayodyha - and it comes out that Sita *did* engage in Maha-boinkage with Ravana - maybe even repeatedly, over time?

(And please understand: as much as some of my phrasing can be tongue-in-cheek, I truly mean no disrespect to the image of Sita, in any way -- I know that some people take offense easily when their sacred characters are referenced -- and Sita is often held up as kind of the Indian version of the Virgin Mary, status-wise.

So (everyone) please know -- if any people / images / characters could be considered sacred in my own life, it would be those illustrated in Indian sacred lore - Rama, Sita, Hanuman, Krishna, Shiva, etc.

I'm just engaging in a "what if" scenario (an analogous one might be the recent globally popular one from The Da Vinci Code - "What if Jesus was Married?" - and therefore had sex? Lotsa people got tweaky about that one, too .... but it was a valid intellectual exploration, I feel --- as is my example here. If anyone disagrees, that's fine - but please know that no disrespect is intended -- in fact, it is my very respectful intention that we can use these sacred individuals / characters / symbols to learn and grow together.)

Okay - disclaimer-thon all done.

Now .... Seriously - think about it -- I can personally think of at least several reasons she could have agreed to sexual relations with Ravana - everything from interpersonal pressure that was essentially rape, to psychological pressure applied over time, to fear for her physical life and safety, to deep psychological and emotional confusion that could arise in a long-term captor-captive relationship, such as hers with Ravana) -- where almost anyone would emphathize, and say, "We understand - you couldn't have done anything else!"

There are also a couple of pro-active reasons (and please, don't go all medieval on me .... once again: Educational Example here ....), where I can see that Sita could have even _seduced_ Ravana .... ranging from desire for better treatment (compared to whatever hellish things a ten-headed demon could concoct for a captive on an ongoing bases), to a plan for escape (get at least nine of the heads to believe that she's really in love with them, get them to let their guard down -- and Ms. Sita Ram makes it onto the 10:30am Air Hanuman flight to Ayodya, with connection in Bangalore. )

POINT BEING:

Unless I'm WAY off in my presumption --- almost any husband / long-term male partner I can think of -- would completely empathize, understand, and say something along the lines of, "It's okay, Honey, I understand why you made that choice -- and it's going to take some time to heal from all this --- and I'm with you, always - in all ways."

And let's say some men reading this feel like "Well, sure, that's the loving thing to do -- but it wouldn't be that easy --- I'd picture her having sex with that ten-headed demons -- with five of the heads looking like George Clooney, three like Brad Pitt, at least one like Ben Affleck ...."

Which, my friends, is kind of the POINT: If we were to look at the most loving possible response --- wouldn't what I wrote above pretty much be it?

And who would be more likely to give such a response than the living avatar of God?

(And, for the record - I have never been in a similar situation, but I have been in situations where I could have judged my former female partners for sexual behavior -- and I didn't. I don't even remotely subscribe to the double-standard of "virtue" which has plagued our world for a long time now. We're all human - and it's pretty much that simple. I have had people very close to me, who have dealt with similar things, though (the woman was sexually assaulted, and her husband had to decide how he was going to respond -- which in the case I'm referencing, was a response of complete love and support -- which is certainly the response I would give, as well - and which I would hope most men would give.)

So, to kind of close this out --- and here's the part I hope will be helpful, per your request, Shweta:

Is it just possible, that despite the way Lord Ram's reaction to Sita's theoretical sexual interaction with Ravana makes most of us feel --- that the author(s) of the Ramayana were SO dedicated to communicating the ultra-important (to attainment of yoga / enlightenment) symbolism of the story ---- that they constructed the symbolism _as necessary_ to convey their points?

I don't even _remotely_ pretend to have a handle on all the symbolism of the Ramayana -- but here are a few other tidbits that I've read - or recently realized:

*Ravana lives on, and is king of, an ISLAND for a reason - the Ego lives under the illusion that it is _separate_ .... like an island.

*The barrier (in the story) between the kingdom of the Ego, and the One of Reality is .... Water (the ocean, in this case) ... which has always symbolized sexuality / emotions .... the two things (irony of ironies) --- that most people CAN'T GET PAST on their journey to enlightenment. They may be able to "overcome" much of the physical -- but not those two things.

*Ram symbolizes, among other things, the third chakra - the Solar plexus - the Sun - Fire. Sita / Lakshmi (aka The Earth Goddess) symbolizes the first chakra - Earth. Hanuman symbolizes the fourth chakra - the Heart - along with it's element - Air.

Mayyyyybe it is by means of the breath (everyone do their spinal breathing today? ), that the goddess (Lakshmi / Kundalini), is rescued from the "island fortress" of the demon ego, by the *power* of the Fire / Will (third chakra, Ram), using the Breath / Heart (Hanuman / Bhakti / Air) --- who (with his "army" --- the repeated power of breath) builds a BRIDGE, allowing the "island" to be conquered, and the goddess energy (kundalini) to be drawn across the bridge of the second chakra - and up into the third / fourth chakras (Ram / Hanuman), and even toward the fifth - Shiva / Ether (Shiva is embodied in Hanuman, after all ...).

And mayyyybe --- when the aspiring yogi / yogini goes .... "Ah, whew - that was *tough*, but her I am in my kingdom, and can relax in my complete and united energy .... mayyyyybe the voices throughout the kingdom start to whisper and murmur ("Maybe Sita had sex with Ravana", "You can't sit for twenty whole minutes .... you gotta wash the car!", "Study the Gita? Can't ... I have work!"), causing the recently re-united energies to be .....

..... separated .... for reasons .... that are blatantly apparent to anyone ..... to be .... TOTALLY OUT OF CHARACTER AND UTTERLY INSANE.

Is it just possible, then -- that the aspiring yogi / yogini would suffer horribly --- despite their inherent divinity -- for having sacrificed their true and only Beloved, on the altar of the voices of the "world".

And maybe, their are illustrations within the illustration ....

Lady Sita is ultimately taken back into the Earth (symbolizing the embodiment and integration which result after enlightenment, _as_ full enlightenment, perhaps?) -- and re-united with ...... Her Own Highest Self (the Earth Goddess, Lakshmi --- who she already is, anyway!)

Thus showing us that it's not any mate who is our ultimate fulfillment - but our inner, highest Beloved - our true guru - our true Ishta Deva (or Devi) - our Highest Ideal ..... is our Self.

I don't even know if all my theoretical symbolism is on the mark here - I do *not* claim any sort of deep understanding of all the characters and symbols within the Sanatana Dharma (aka Hinduism), and/or the Ramayana.

My point is simply that there are many layers of important symbolism, here .... including, I imagine, Ram's rejection of Sita.

I literally did not "get" this, until today --- as a result of your post, and query, Shweta ----- so thank you, big time!!



I hope my comments have helped to return the favor, even a little.

And if anyone else has ideas, or (this would be really cool) knowledge - of the Ramayana's deeper symbolism --- please fill us in!

Peace & Namaste,

Kirtanman

PS ---- Please Note: I'm out the door for a Holiday Kirtan (Yay!) - and running late --- and thus, "no time to proofread" - so apologies for any blatant errors or non-sensical stuff, if such there be.

[Shanti]

quote:Originally posted by Kirtanman
Mayyyyybe it is by means of the breath (everyone do their spinal breathing today? ), that the goddess (Lakshmi / Kundalini), is rescued from the "island fortress" of the demon ego, by the *power* of the Fire / Will (third chakra, Ram), using the Breath / Heart (Hanuman / Bhakti / Air) --- who (with his "army" --- the repeated power of breath) builds a BRIDGE, allowing the "island" to be conquered, and the goddess energy (kundalini) to be drawn across the bridge of the second chakra - and up into the third / fourth chakras (Ram / Hanuman), and even toward the fifth - Shiva / Ether (Shiva is embodied in Hanuman, after all ...).

And mayyyybe --- when the aspiring yogi / yogini goes .... "Ah, whew - that was *tough*, but her I am in my kingdom, and can relax in my complete and united energy .... mayyyyybe the voices throughout the kingdom start to whisper and murmur ("Maybe Sita had sex with Ravana", "You can't sit for twenty whole minutes .... you gotta wash the car!", "Study the Gita? Can't ... I have work!"), causing the recently re-united energies to be .....

..... separated .... for reasons .... that are blatantly apparent to anyone ..... to be .... TOTALLY OUT OF CHARACTER AND UTTERLY INSANE.

Is it just possible, then -- that the aspiring yogi / yogini would suffer horribly --- despite their inherent divinity -- for having sacrificed their true and only Beloved, on the altar of the voices of the "world".

And maybe, their are illustrations within the illustration ....

Lady Sita is ultimately taken back into the Earth (symbolizing the embodiment and integration which result after enlightenment, _as_ full enlightenment, perhaps?) -- and re-united with ...... Her Own Highest Self (the Earth Goddess, Lakshmi --- who she already is, anyway!)

Thus showing us that it's not any mate who is our ultimate fulfillment - but our inner, highest Beloved - our true guru - our true Ishta Deva (or Devi) - our Highest Ideal ..... is our Self.

Not bad Kirtanman.. I enjoyed that. I was thinking along the same lines.. just not at the internal level.. it was more like the fallen guru syndrome. But I like yours better..

Esp. liked this line..
"Thus showing us that it's not any mate who is our ultimate fulfillment - but our inner, highest Beloved - our true guru - our true Ishta Deva (or Devi) - our Highest Ideal ..... is our Self."

[Kirtanman]

quote:Originally posted by Shanti

quote:Originally posted by Kirtanman
Mayyyyybe it is by means of the breath (everyone do their spinal breathing today? ), that the goddess (Lakshmi / Kundalini), is rescued from the "island fortress" of the demon ego, by the *power* of the Fire / Will (third chakra, Ram), using the Breath / Heart (Hanuman / Bhakti / Air) --- who (with his "army" --- the repeated power of breath) builds a BRIDGE, allowing the "island" to be conquered, and the goddess energy (kundalini) to be drawn across the bridge of the second chakra - and up into the third / fourth chakras (Ram / Hanuman), and even toward the fifth - Shiva / Ether (Shiva is embodied in Hanuman, after all ...).

And mayyyybe --- when the aspiring yogi / yogini goes .... "Ah, whew - that was *tough*, but her I am in my kingdom, and can relax in my complete and united energy .... mayyyyybe the voices throughout the kingdom start to whisper and murmur ("Maybe Sita had sex with Ravana", "You can't sit for twenty whole minutes .... you gotta wash the car!", "Study the Gita? Can't ... I have work!"), causing the recently re-united energies to be .....

..... separated .... for reasons .... that are blatantly apparent to anyone ..... to be .... TOTALLY OUT OF CHARACTER AND UTTERLY INSANE.

Is it just possible, then -- that the aspiring yogi / yogini would suffer horribly --- despite their inherent divinity -- for having sacrificed their true and only Beloved, on the altar of the voices of the "world".

And maybe, their are illustrations within the illustration ....

Lady Sita is ultimately taken back into the Earth (symbolizing the embodiment and integration which result after enlightenment, _as_ full enlightenment, perhaps?) -- and re-united with ...... Her Own Highest Self (the Earth Goddess, Lakshmi --- who she already is, anyway!)

Thus showing us that it's not any mate who is our ultimate fulfillment - but our inner, highest Beloved - our true guru - our true Ishta Deva (or Devi) - our Highest Ideal ..... is our Self.

Not bad Kirtanman.. I enjoyed that. I was thinking along the same lines.. just not at the internal level.. it was more like the fallen guru syndrome. But I like yours better..

Esp. liked this line..
"Thus showing us that it's not any mate who is our ultimate fulfillment - but our inner, highest Beloved - our true guru - our true Ishta Deva (or Devi) - our Highest Ideal ..... is our Self."

Hi Shweta,

You're welcome - and thanks for the kind words!



As I think I mentioned .... your question, and my related considerations for a few hours off and on (I do that a lot with Forum topics .... I let stuff kind of "percolate" -- and see what bubbles to the surface! ) .... together "fueled" the insights shared above.)

So:

A. Thank you!

&

B. You kinda-sorta answered your own question ..... you just did it "via" me!



Peace, Namaste & MRASBAA*,

Kirtanman

*Maybe Ram Ain't So Bad After All ....