quote:
...another question is the hate for "serpent." I think what you see as serpent as a imagery of nerve channels in your body suddenly you have become more aware of what it happening in your body and started hating it.
Thank you, sauravu, for your fine contributions across the board in the AYP forums. In a very short time you have brought a new dimension to the conversations here. It is always good to hear it from those who grew up in Santan Dharma, Hinduism, or whatever you choose to call it. However it may be named, I have the deepest respect and gratitude. Without it, we would be a few thousand years behind where we are now in putting the practical methods of human spiritual transformation to good use.
Your quote above is especially important, as it points to the role of illusion (maya) in life. How easy it is to mistake the image or metaphor for the reality, and personify it as something opposed to us -- or evil. I think all the human suffering in the world can be traced to this kind of misinterpretation.
The fact is, the "serpent" is none other than the enlivening of our own spinal nerve and other nerves spinning off from it. If we interpret that as something other than our own inner process (or positive divine process in bhakti mode), that is the illusion. A few weeks or months of daily deep meditation can go a long way toward clearing up such misinterpretations. A mind illuminated with inner silence sees the truth of things much more clearly. That's why in AYP we get grounded first in deep meditation, before we attempt to awaken the ecstatic (kundalini) side of our nature. Spinal breathing (root to brow) is also an important prerequisite because of its powerful energy balancing properties.
Just as these core practices can clear up the illusions associated with events inside us, so too do they gradually clear up the illusions on the outside. As Jesus said, "The truth shall set you free." Inner silence and a balanced unfoldment of ecstatic bliss is the truth inside all of us.
I am reminded of the old Indian story about the rope lying on the ground. Someone yelled, "It's a snake!" and everyone went running hither and yon yelling, "There's a snake in the village! A snake in the village!" Many plans were made to get rid of that snake. Finally, someone dared to go close to the rope lying on the ground and saw it was just a rope. Do you think it was easy for her to convince everyone else that it was not a snake? Well, you know the story. We live it every day in real life with all sorts of ropes and imaginary snakes. All the more reason to meditate...
I hope 2002 is still reading. The times when we see a "serpent" in yoga, and think it is a real serpent, are the times when we are a bit ahead of ourselves in practices, or perhaps bumping up against an old sensitivity we have in our nervous system. This does not mean that the serpent is out to get us or our religion. It just means we need to tend to our practices and experiences with a level head, using tried and true methods to bring things back into a tolerable range of inner purification so we can proceed ahead on our journey as smoothly and safely as possible.
The guru is in you.