My dears, wish you God's blessings in the new year. It is always with us but sometimes something prevents to feel it.
Several years ago I posted this video in youtube, hoping that the world got a temporary respite but it happens only when it should. Sometimes, the hard times are the best for the understanding. As my old friend said:"Happiness can be found even in the darkest times if one only remembers to turn on the light."
Close the door of hate and open the door of love.
Love you.
I am the bird that flutters against your window in the morning,
and your closest friend, whom you can never know,
blossoms that light up for the blind.
I am the glacier shining over the woods, so pale,
and heavy voices from the cathedral tower.
The thought that suddenly hits you in the middle of the day
and makes you feel so fantastically happy.
I am the one you have loved for many years.
I walk beside you all day and look intently at you
and put my mouth against your heart
though you're not aware of it.
I am your third arm, your second
shadow, the white one,
whom you cannot accept,
and who can never forget you.
Whose bodily movements is the (entire) universe,
whose speech is the lang (of the Universe),
whose ornaments are the moon and the stars,
Him we worship, the serene Lord Shiva.
Let Your goodness Lord appear to us, that we made in your image, conform ourselves to it.
In our own strength we cannot imitate Your majesty, power, and wonder nor is it fitting for us to try.
But Your mercy reaches from the heavens through the clouds to the earth below.
You have come to us as a small child, but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts, the gift of eternal love Caress us with Your tiny hands, embrace us with Your tiny arms and pierce our hearts with Your soft, sweet cries.
Amen.
Lead us up beyond unknowing and light,
up to the farthest, highest peak
of mystic scripture,
where the mysteries of God's Word
lie simple, absolute and unchangeable
in the brilliant darkness of a hidden silence.
Amid the deepest shadow
they pour overwhelming light
on what is most manifest.
Amid the wholly unsensed and unseen
they completely fill our sightless minds
with treasures beyond all beauty.
I will weep and weep for you, O Mind;
(my Soul) The world hath caught you in its spell.
Though you cling to them with the anchor of steel,
Not even the shadow of the things you love
Will go with you when you are dead.
Why then have you forgot your own true Self ?
A king gave a present to a Sufi mystic. It was a golden bowl with a beautiful fish in it. The Sufi looked at the bowl and then at the fish. He felt very sorry for the fish, because the fish was imprisoned in that golden bowl.
So, the Sufi mystic went to the lake and liberated the fish in that lake. He was tremendously happy that at least now the fish can have the whole lake, the great freedom, the space that really belongs to the fish. Although the bowl was made of gold it was a confinement. Then he looked at the bowl and thought, what will he do with that bowl? So he threw the bowl also into the lake.
The next morning the Sufi mystic visited the lake to have a look at the fish and he was surprised, the fish was again in the bowl although the bowl was in the lake. The fish had again chosen the bowl. The bowl was in the lake, but the fish was not in the lake. The fish had entered into the bowl again. The fish had lived in that bowl for so long. The bowl was its home. The mystic thought it was a prison, but not the fish.
A Sufi song performed by Alif Allah, Jugni, Arif Lohar and Meesha.
Alif allah chambay di booti,
tey meray murshid mann vich lai hoo
Ho nafi uss baat da paani dey kay
Har ragaay harjai hoo
Ho joog joog jeevay mera murshid sohna
Hatay jiss ay booti lai ho
My master has planted the fragrant seed of love in my heart
Which flourished with modesty, piety and acceptance of his existence
My Beloved is present in every throbbing pulse
My Beloved No-Master is ever-present
The one who blew life into me
Pir meraya jugni ji
Ae way allah waliyan di jugni ji
Ae way nabbi pak di jugni ji
Ae way maula ali wali jugni ji
Ae way meray pir di jugni ji
Ae way saaray sabaz di jugni ji
I have the spirit of my beloved
The spirit of all the messengers who brought His message to this Earth
The spirit of Holy Prophets
The spirit of the One
The spirit of my saint
The spirit of all his words
Dum gutkoon… karay Saeein
Parhay tay kalma nabi da Parhay saeein pir merya
Everytime I breath, my heart echoes his name
with every breath remembers him and sings the song of love
Pir meraya jugni ji
Ae way allah waliyan di jugni ji
I have the spirit of my beloved
The spirit of all the messengers who brought His message to this Earth
The spirit of Holy Prophets
The spirit of the One
The spirit of my saint
The spirit of all his words
Jugni taar khaeein vich thaal
Chad duniya dey janjaal
Kuch ni nibna bandiya naal
O my creation, share whatever you have
Remove yourself from worldly concerns
There is nothing that you can get from other human beings that you can take to the after-life
Jugni taar khaeein vich thaal
Chad duniya dey janjaal
Kuch ni nibna bandiya naal
Rakhi saabat sidh amaal
O my creation, share whatever you have
Remove yourself from worldly concerns
There is nothing that you can get from other human beings that you can take to the after-life
Just keep you actions and intentions pure
Pir meraya jugni ji
Ae way allah waliyan di jugni ji
Ae way nabbi pak di jugni ji
Ae way maula ali wali jugni ji
Ae way meray pir di jugni ji
Ae way saaray sabaz di jugni ji
I have the spirit of my beloved
The spirit of all the messengers who brought His message to this Earth
The spirit of Holy Prophets
The spirit of the One
The spirit of my saint
The spirit of all his words
Jugni dig payee vich roi
Othay ro ro kamli hoi
Oddi vaath naye lainda koi
Tey kalmay binna nai mildi toi
So absorbed was the creation that she stumbled into a ditch
There she wailed relentlessly
But there was no one who enquired about her
Remember, there is no salvation for anyone without remembering the self
Dum gutkoon, dum gutkoon,
dum gutkoon, dum gootkun… karay Saeein
Dum gutkoon, dum gutkoon
Everytime I breath, my heart echoes his name
with every breath remembers him and sings the song of love
Ho wanga charha lo kuriyon
Meray daata dey darbaar dian
Put on your bangles, girls
Those that you get at your Master’s shrines
Ho naa kar teeya khair piyari
Maan daindiya galaryaan
Din din talhi juwani jaandi
Joon sohna puthia lariyaan
Aurat marad, shehzaday sohney
O moti, O laa lariyaan
Sir da sarfa kar naa jairey
Peen prem pya lariyan
O daatay day darbaan chaa akho
Pawan khair sawa lariyan
Daughter, don’t be proud of your youth
Your mother scoffs and scolds you
with each day, the bloom of youth is waning
Even gold when put in the furnance moulds itself, there is absolutely no permanence
Women, men are like so beautiful and precious
Like pearls, like the gems
Those who realizes the One
drink from the cup of love
Whenever you visit the darbar of any saint
he showers you with his blessings by directing your eyes towards the absolute
Ho wanga charha lo kuriyon
Meray daata dey darbaar dian
Put on your bangles, girls
Those that you get at your Master’s shrines
Dum gutkoon, dum gutkoon,
dum gutkoon, dum gootkun… karay Saeein
Put on your bangles, girls …
Those that you get at your Master’s shrines
O Kali! I am going to devour You this time
Therefore, I ask You, O Kali…
O ever blissful Kali, the enchantress of the heart of almighty Mahakala.
You dance alone. And You sing alone, clapping Your hands.
O Mother, You are the first Cause,
the Eternal One, in the form of the Void
and wearing the moon on Your forehead.
When the universe did not exist,
where did You find Your string of severed human heads?
You alone are the Mover in everybody;
we are but instruments in Your hands.
We move as You make us move;
we speak as You make us speak.
But the restless Kamalakanta gently chides You, saying,
‘Mother, the Destroyer of all, holding Your sword,
now You have devoured both my virtue and vice!’
If I die uttering, ‘Victory to Kali, victory to Kali!’
I shall assuredly attain Shivahood.
Then what is the use of going to Benares?
Infinite are my Mother Kali’s forms.
Who can find the end of Kali?
Knowing a little of Her greatness,
Shiva lies prostrate at Her red-hued feet.
jayati vyomakesho .asau yaH sargAya bibharti tAM aindavI shirasA lekhAM jagad bIjA~NkurAkR^itim ||
Victorious is he whose hair fills the space (vyomakesha), who for the emitted worlds (sarga) bears with his head the lunar crescent which is like the embryo in the seed which is the universe.
Shiva is beyond all forms and at the same time, he reflects an infinite number of them, dreadful and benevolent. The terrifying forms are associated with his role as a destroyer. So, Bhairava, the fierce form of Shiva, has a terrible and often contradictory iconography. As the Shiva's form of terror and transcendency, his image is an integral part of an attempt to reflect, at least partially, the highest reality. Bhairava's physical description is controversial because neither of image can personify the mystery of Shiva.
The dichotomy of goodness and terrible form of Shiva is also reflected in Bhairava. He is Kshetrapala and Vatuka at the same time. Every of these two principal forms can be similarly divided into three forms each: sattvika, rajasa and tamasika. The Lingapurana and the Skandapurana tell us how Shiva took the form of a child to suckle from Kala's breasts her anger that was frightening the gods.
In the Lingapurana, the boy then takes eight different forms to protect the holy places. In the Skandapurana, the boy creates from his mouth sixty-four more children, sixty-four kshetrapalas, to pacify the fear of the gods. In their protective function, twenty-five of them will remain in the skies, twenty-five others in the infernal regions and the remaining fourteen on the earth.These sixty-four Kырetrapфlas can be equated with the sixty-four Bhairavas who, when brought to their eight main forms, have a protective function. The names of these sixty-four Bhairavas led by eight leaders (described here).
They are Asithanga, Ruru, Chanda, Krodha, Unmatta, Kapala, Bhishana and Samhara Bhairava. Eight Bhairava ashtakam describes in detail their iconography.
These Ashtabhairavas are very similar and we understand that they are only the eight-fold manifestation of Bhairava, and with the Ashtamatrikas, the main thing is their function as protecting guardians. In the Skandapurana, these eight Bhairavas, who protect dharma and people, live in the eight regions and have to be honoured with zeal in order to remove the great obstacles. They protect particularly the town of Kashi, their weapons brandished in all four directions.
So we see that the different images are a reflection of functions of one force. And they are purely symbolic and functional. In general, the Bhairava myth gave birth to some principal iconographic forms: Bhairava cutting the head of Brahma, Bhairava as beggar wandering from place to place in the course of his penance and Bhairav as skeleton incarnating Time and Death.
In most parts of India, Bhairava is generally represented as standing, naked, very often accompanied by a dog, his vahana, who jumps to his left when the god carries the severed head in addition to the kapàla in his lower left hand.
Bhairava often has four arms, with the trident and sword in the right hands, and damaru and kapala plus a severed head in his left hands. But he can also have six, eight or more arms, though rarely.
He is adorned with bells and snakes; he wears a garland made of skulls or with ornamental pattern; a naga is generally coiled around his thighs. Details may be varied. But every detail has a deep symbolic meaning and each can be the subject of a separate investigation. These images, however, does not depict the extremely complex nature of this divinity but it can reveal to us some of the faces of this multifaceted divine figure.
For example, Bhairava's image at the Durbar Square in Kathmandu depicts him as standing upon a corpse with flaming hair what symbolizes his fiery nature.
Or the most symbolic image, the yantra, can provide a focus on the inner vision of the deity, illustrating the esoteric point of view of the union of the opposites, of the principle of non-duality.
One could ask oneself why this particular form of Shiva has generated so many varied representations. What is it that characterizes this figure and gives it such an importance in comparison with other terrible forms of the god?
It is clear that such a number of forms tries to describe the universal nature of Bhairava. This attempt can be extended from our personal to universal space. Bhairava can be the destroyer of our ignorance, of illusion when we have our personal "decapitation". Interpretation in the yogic sense can grow with your experience, For example, the skull with nectar can be associated with bhairavAchara ( khechari mudra) etc...
At the same time, the hair of Bhairava (in the title quote of this post) would evoke the imagery of the lines of force fields filling the Universe and remind of the approach of Pralaya. Despite the seemingly catastrophic sense, the destruction is also a divine grace. The annihilation of the world is a necessary prelude to its recreation. Bhairava as destructor is terrible, but he fulfills the divine work, and he finds his place in the cosmic sacrifice. Bhairava does the work of purification for the creatures with his fire and this sacrifice is necessary for those who are waiting the new beginning.
