Monday 6 December 2021

LOOK AROUND YOU

Watching the documentary "Inner Worlds and Outer Worlds" (IW & OW), we are shown that there is a pattern to everything. There is "beauty and symmetry in nature". There is "a dynamic order of pattern in nature". This "dynamic pattern is embodied in all living things". "It's an expression of nature's secret language". 

In "IW & OW", we are shown the seed germinating from the soil. "When you observe a plant growing in time-lapse video, you witness it dancing with the spiral of life." This is what my granddaughter does too. This kid who is alive with energy spins and spins till she gets dizzy. Could they unknowingly be working on their Hara center or Swadhisthana chakra? "It is in the Hara that new life begins." It might seem that these children are celebrating a homecoming or reaching out to the source or their original abode. Life is a dance for a child till someone comes along to halt it.

The world we live in is full of magic. This life is full of magic - if only we care to look at it unbias and without judging. Take some time off from your smartphone or your work or whatever you are tied up with and look at the rain shower and watch the greenery rejoice and dance in these moments. Wake up early at least just for one day and listen to the birds usher a new day. It's only adults who drag themselves out of bed and fear what the day has in store for them. Watch the kids run out of bed the moment they get up to play with their same toys again. I cannot fail but notice that my granddaughters do the same thing day in and out but are never bored. How is that? They see each moment anew. They are not connected with their past at least for that period in time when they are growing up. They are not connected with the future either. They live in the present moment. They cherish what they do at that moment. Next time you put some food into your mouth pay attention to what goes in. Close your eyes and savor the food that you are chewing. Savor the taste and identify the ingredients that went into it. Let it sink into you. Don't just shove them down your throat. Look away from the smartphone and look people in their eyes when they speak to you. Check out their facial expressions as they tell you their story. 

Both the ancient sages and the scientist saw nature at its best and received intuitions and inspiration. The ancient sages observed nature and came up with an understanding of the world around them. They saw animals and followed these postures that became assimilated in Yoga. We learn from "IW & OW" that Kepler discovered that "spiral patterns are observable in the way leaves are arranged on stems of plants or in the petal arrangement of flowers". Flowers are designed such that they can maximize the sunlight and rain and the bees can pollinate them efficiently. Leonardo Da Vinci observed that "the spacing of leaves was often in spiral patterns." If a single cell organism or unicellular organism can reflect the beauty in nature imagine what man, a multicellular creature is capable of expressing. This is why it is said that only man can attain Godhead. He is capable of expressing the bliss that is attainable in going beyond the body or rather within and touching and reaching God. We are always called upon to hold hands and sit in a circle by Agathiyar to reach out to the Prapanjam and tap the energies inherent in all. I guess that is the reason all satellites are in the form of a circular disc too. 

Then there are the branching patterns too. Nature is so innovative and creative. "Nature is an art generating machine or beauty creating engine," says the narrator in the documentary. Moving within the human body, he observes that "You need to refine your tools to look for nadis and chakras as they will not be seen in postmortem examinations." Non-resistance is a must to see results in all our practices just as electricity flowing in wires with less resistance carry more energy. "Equanimity in meditation creates a state of nonresistance". "What happens when you bring your consciousness into the body is that the wires or nadis become stronger. Wherever consciousness is placed chi or prana or energy will begin to flow. Physical connections blossom," he adds. Sitting still in meditation, energy is not lost; the breath is not wasted. We become a powerhouse of energy. How did the ancients know so much when modern science is only beginning to discover, verify, and agreed to endorse them? How do the animals know so much? No animal dies of hunger or waits for handouts to be given. When man breeds them they lose their natural instinct to hunt for food and for survival. But could these be a means of evolution for these household and farm animals? The wolf in the wild for instance has evolved into a pet dog we are told. As in the 5 tenets given by Agathiyar, through association with man, the animals rise the evolutionary ladder. This is depicted in the paintings and sculptures as well of Hindu deities having them at their sides. 

If I had thought that man's life has become pretty much rigid given the thousands of rules thrown in that ties him. The manmade laws for instance are one. Religion too ties us down. Stepping into spiritualism we are surprised to see the same laws apply. If I thought that man had lost his freedom to be free from the grips of both manmade laws and the divine law, we are told in the documentary that man's life is full of choices while animals are rigid. The crow is a scavenger. It can never be something else. A locust will act out its life as a locust. A locust can never be something else. The bee is vital as bee pollination is important ecologically. We can choose to be a bee or a locust or end up a crow - someone beneficial or detrimental or remain a parasite. Man has an added advantage that of becoming divine. Man if he chooses can become a noble person and a divine man. He can become a Siddha, a Rishi, or a Muni. Tavayogi told me once Siddhas cannot be caged up. The Atma needs to be free. Doctrines, codes, and rules cannot hold them back. The Siddhas broke all the rules, both manmade and divine. For instance, the Siddhas are known to have stalled, moved, and modified the movements of the planets. Many such instances of what are miracles to us are written in the documentation of the lives of the Siddhas. It is indeed unbelievable. We can only take pride and joy in reading about them in the texts. We can only talk about it to others, share, vlog, or blog on these. How many have direct experience of these wonders? 

The route to finding the truth is a lonely path. All the guidebooks are good to a certain level. Are the tools that hasten the pilgrim's progress aid to a certain level. All our efforts can only do so much. We need the grace of the divine to reach the goal. Most of us settle for the fruit on the lower branches of the tree and miss the acorn that the squirrel hid up, up, up in the tree.