Awakening Self through Yoga
Written by Yogini Gonika
A blissful and healthy body is a stepping stone to an ideal life and this can be achieved through Yoga. On a practical level, Yoga is a means of balancing and harmonizing the body, mind and emotions whereas; in spiritual sense Yoga is the awakening of the self. It is the method that allows us to wake up to who or what we really are and to what life is all about. It allows us to be more aware of ourselves and keep us connected with ourselves. From the practice of Yoga, if one aims to relax and gain optimum physical benefit, it is necessary to concentrate on something by directing the mind to a specific region of the body or to the breath. However, if one aims to get spiritual benefit from Yoga then concentration can be directed to the chakras while performing the asanas. Concentration on chakras while performing Yogic practices stimulates the flow of energy through the chakras and helps to activate them. This in turn awakens the inactive dormant areas in the brain allowing one to experience higher level of consciousness which normally is inaccessible.
Let’s explain this through an example – While practicing Parvatasana (Mountain Pose) for gaining physical benefit one can keep the awareness on relaxing the hips or on the throat region. But, if an individual wants to attain benefit on the spirituality side then he/she can keep the awareness on Vishuddhi chakra (throat chakra).
The practitioner can observe which particular chakra is getting involved in the asana and accordingly observe different chakras in different asanas thereby awakening the physical self and spiritual self.
Siddha Vasi Healing, Vol. I
Health in the Siddha Healing Tradition
Written by Stephen Grissom
“Refusing the disease of the body,
Refusing disease of the mind,
Refusing further as a prevention,
Refusing death itself ensures real medicine.”
-Siddha Thirumoolar
Disease or health, which comes first? According to the government of India, Siddha medicine is well over 14,000 years old. Ayurveda, another ancient medicinal system, dates to approximately 6,000 years ago. Today’s world needs all the healing and help available. Yet, the great Siddha Thirumoolar also speaks of prevention. Preventing illness indicates an absence of disease and in turn, infers a healthy state of body and mind.
The word “health” in English is based on an Anglo-Saxon word “hale” meaning “whole”. To be healthy is to be whole. Furthermore, the English word “holy” is based on the same root as “whole”. Humanity has understood that it is a wholeness that provides meaning to life. This wholeness or integrity of being is itself health. According to the Siddhas health is described as,
“A spontaneous, dynamic, nurturing pulsation at every moment….a flowing river of natural existence”
Being granted at the moment of conception our very being is created and grounded both from and within this overall naturally occurring flow. Thus, health is our most basic memory and true birthright. In truth, life and health are not simply interlinked, they are both One. The inherent possibility of tuning into the natural law by living in an existential mode is Life’s gift to us.
This law of Nature is ingrained within each of us revealing itself within the body as its natural understanding and memory of balance. The body knows its health. It also contains its healing potential in the form of the most ideal pharmacy ever organized. The body, like all of Nature, is filled with this pulsating Intelligence that simply requires our sensitive and humble recognition. Those who come to understand this flow of nature of which the body and mind are composed, live their lives devoid of the stress, both physical and mental, of societies.
From this wonderfully felt sensitivity the person moves through their life with ever-expanding strength, grounding, courage and wisdom. They naturally fulfill their life purpose. As this unfolds, humility and gratitude blossom and resonate as one’s predominate reactions and responses to life’s inconsistent circumstances. This is the most natural feeling of being intricately woven into one’s greater surroundings. Releasing our demands and obsessive tendencies we begin to awaken. It is a “falling back” into the rhythmic flow of existence. From Her essence, our bodies are formed. We are surrounded by all we need to grow and sustain ourselves. When illness arises She has filled our planet with the very items that will remind body and mind of their balance. It is relaxation in the arms of Nature.
Within us is the mirror image of the oceanic rhythm, the animating pulsation of the cosmos. It manifests as the river flow of natural existence and endless flowing phenomena that are always changing, always moving. This life pulse aspires to live. The Siddhas call this primordial pulsation of all life ‘Vasi’ (living, livingness). When this river flow of life experiences a block, it responds as an alarm. These blocks are called ‘Viyadhi’ (deviated from own nature), disease. Since life (health) is movement (intelligent and rhythmic), what we have come to call disease is discordant flow (blocks) in the harmonious pulse. This is the alarm Nature gives for us to finally understand our personal boundaries. Done to remind us to protect ourselves from influences, external demands, and obsessive actives that don’t really support growth in our life. The disease is simply a block or fixation to the life-sustaining pulse that has finally come to manifest in form. The indication is how we have misconceived our inspiration for our life. We grew insensitive to ourselves and our life then misaligned our primal inspiration in our actions. The chronic diseases on which the entire health industry thrives arise from this misalignment. Hypertension, arthritis, allergies, diabetes, auto-immune disorders, asthma, and back pain are prime examples of our life force encountering blocks. They have manifested from resistance in their natural flow. All that is needed is its liberation for it to resume on an unhindered path.
The healing world of the Tamil Siddha tradition, while ancient, speaks to each of us from antiquity to the present day. The modern trend is to update the gems of ancient masters in order to make them more appealing. More applicable to modern life, modern people, modern minds. Yet, this very assumption, that primal knowledge gained from existential circumstances at the dawn of humanity is outdated, is itself misguided. She has remained as our constant companion, our incessant guide, our very Life. She is Nature. She is Life itself. In our current ways of rushing about trying to grasp and achieve, precious few of us are in tune with little more than where to get the next cappuccino…
The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away; a sordid boon!…
(William Wordsworth, “The World Is Too Much with
Us,” in Great Short Poems, ed. Paul Negri [Mineola, NY:
Dover, 2000])
As for the ancient Masters? Their cathedral has ever been the Cosmos. Are not our bodies composed of the very elements of the earth itself? Are not Our minds interlinked with all of humanity stretching back to the dawn of creation?
Our greater surroundings, normally confined to the natural setting of our immediate environment, are juxtaposed with Nature. I capitalize the word Nature for it denotes all of existence, having issued from the Mother aspect of the divine (Shakti, the Goddess). Often portrayed in the Western world as Mother Nature, She is that which is not created yet creates. It is Nature that is the true Teacher. From Nature the Siddha Master learns. With Nature the ancients found the ways of health. Finding the path to health from disease then became illuminated.
When I met my Teacher, Siddha Healer Palpandian of Tiruvannamalai India, I asked him what I should learn before beginning my journey into Siddha healing. His response echoed the simplicity of divine wisdom from his ancient lineage. Looking at me he smiled reassuringly. I will never forget my shock at his words, so direct, so unexpectedly encompassing, and lucid:
“You must love to cook. And learn the ways of Nature.”
Siddha Vasi Healing® is the unique healing system of Stephen’s guru, Palpandian of Tiruvannamalai, India. As an Integrated Healing Platform of the unique Tamil Siddha lineage its scope makes possible healing for any disease of the human experience.
More information can be found at: https://www.siddhavasihealing.com
The September/October Edition of The Awakening Times is Out!
Editor’s Note
Dear Constant Reader,
Welcome to another edition of The Awakening Times! We are happy to announce the launch of our new Instagram and LinkdIn profiles. Check us out there for regular updates on the magazine. We’ll also be posting regular updates on our most interesting articles. You can get in touch with our team there, we look forward to hearing from you!
We’ve also placed links to buy the movies and books in of our film and literature reviews, if you make your purchases via those links, The Awakening Times gets a slice, which will go a long way toward helping us to continue finding and sharing enriching knowledge and stories.
We’ve also done a lot of work on our back end over the last two months to make our website a little more user-friendly and easy to navigate. We’d love to get your feedback on your experience of the site and anything you’d like to see.
This month we introduce our “Sacred India” section of the sight. Our endeavor here is to share the knowledge and wisdom of the ancient spiritual geniuses of India, which has been refined and preserved for countless generations and speaks to highest human potentialities. September and October saw quite a few days which are considered auspicious and worth honouring. Read about their significance here.
This Month’s Articles
Review of Wayne Wang’s 1995 woefully underappreciated 1995 masterpiece, Smoke.
A Life of Wonderment. Exploring the world through photography, inheriting an eye for the beauty of nature and taking to the time to smell the roses.
Gratitude on the divine path. A personal experience of how conviction, faith, hard work, clarity of purpose and gratitude can move mountains.
Beautiful Minds. Mohanji’s musing for the month. Subtle, practical, simple. Insights into the mechanisms of a peaceful and fulfillling life on Earth.
Lord Ganesha – Invoking the Divine Within. Ecstatic expressions of devotion in Dance and insights from the Himalayan School of Traditional Dance.
Ganesha Chaturthi This September we dedicate a day to that most potent and benevolent of natural forces, Ganesha. Take a deeper look at the significance and effects of this auspicious day.
Nine Nights of the Divine Mother Limitless are the expressions of the divine feminine, the universal mother, some of which we are familiar with, such as the nine manifestations across nine nights known in India as Navaratri. Vanamali Devi tells us all about it.
Great Masters: Shirdi Sai Baba . October wasthe anniversary month of the death of the beautiful and beatific Shirdi Sai Baba, who died in 1918. In this article, Mohanji guides us and the most appropriate and effective way of connecting to the great Master.
Respect. It’s a big deal. An essential ingredient for a healthy, peaceful life of coexistence kindness. At the end of August, The World Consciousness Alliance orchestrated a concert to raise funds for charity and bring awareness to the necessity for more respect for and among human beings.
A Foolish Donation – Karma Bites. The first episode of the on-going blog series by the razor sharp Rajesh Kamath, Bol Buddhu is witty, penetrating and wise.
Great Masters: Shirdi Sai Baba
Written by Mohanji
Nobody knows where He came from. Everybody knows that He is still very much Alive and Omnipresent. He answers to people’s calls. He still appears in physical form. He instantaneously grants boons and blessings. He conveys messages through dreams as well as through various mouths of His. A true master of masters. Words cannot justifiably explain the phenomenon called Shirdi Sai Baba. I humbly bow to this avatar. I prostrate at His feet.
He lived in a dilapidated mosque in a village called Shirdi in Maharashtra, constantly attributed everything to the Lord by repeating “Allah Maalik” and never took any ownership. The whole ownership, of every thought, word, action and miracles always stayed with Allah. He never had anything to do with it. He was an avadhootha – a renunciate who always reveled in his omnipresence and was always in tune with the Universal consciousness.
They are born to bless the world. Baba explicitly conveyed His universality while He existed in His physical body and even more, after exiting it. He never bothered to explain where He came from and what His mission was. His pedigree was immaterial to the brilliance of His stature. He confused many people with His ordinary, unassuming fakir looks, yet extra ordinary presence. His major mission seemed to be to unite the warring Hindus and Muslims, while the British policy was to divide and rule.
In that sense, he was uniting what the British were separating. He worked in a subtle, but sure way. Like any great master ahead of his time, He was also misunderstood by the then society. Many considered him as mad. Many thought He was fake. Many objected to Him collecting dakshina (offering or donation to express gratitude to Guru or Lord, in the micro sense). The fact remained that what ever He collected each day, was distributed on the same day. He never saved anything. He never accumulated wealth. He mostly took from the rich and distributed to the poor. He took money and removed karmas of seekers. In the end, all that remained in His pocket was sufficient money to bury His body. He only kept that saving always. He saved nothing else. Just like any true master, He had no needs of His own
Baba is not to be understood intellectually nor to be worshiped mechanically. Baba has to be felt. Baba works subtly through many bodies or takes any form at will. He gets the show moving in the most unexpected way, and keeps His devotees guessing. His purpose is to destroy expectations and increase faith. To many, at the most unexpected moment, Baba has appeared as a beggar, a wandering monk, a fakir, a dog, a cat, a pigeon, a crow or even a snake.
Nobody can say in which form He will appear and when. Baba wants us to respect all creation. We should not kill either. We should be compassionate to all beings. We should share our food with other beings. Blessings happen through various bodies. We should never underestimate any creation of God. Baba always teaches us love and compassion. He lives and works through many creatures so that we always stay benevolent for His sake. Life cannot be taken for granted.
Significance of Dakshina (Offering/Donation to express gratitude)
As mentioned earlier, Shirdi Sai Baba used to collect donations and distribute it to the needy on the same day. He never stored any money, except what was required for his funeral. He also over-paid for all services rendered to him. He never ever bargained. Those who tried to cheat him, used to experience great difficulties in their life ahead. This is the same with all spiritual masters. All those who hurt, cheated or harmed spiritual masters, suffered many troubles over lifetimes. They accumulated huge karma by such deeds. Masters were not perturbed by any wrong doings nor took any revenge against anyone.
Through his action, Baba was teaching us that accumulation of anything is bad, including karma. Money becomes alive when it is transacted. Stagnant money is of no use for anyone. This was one significant lesson that he wanted us to learn. When accumulated, it is a burden and when released, it liberates us. When we try to accumulate, we distance from God because tendency for accumulation is a result of our insecurity.
A man with firm faith is never insecure. When our faith increases, accumulation decreases. It liberates us. Liberation is the sign of proximity to God. In the same way, a person with his eyes constantly focused on future is prone to tremendous insecurity. Astrologers and fortune tellers will be ruling his life. Pardon the slight deviation. So, we should keep sufficient money for our purposes and use the rest for the good of others, including environment, animals and birds.
Thus we stay light and liberated. I am sure you would have read in Sai Satcharitra about the rich man who came for moksha and, even though he had plenty of money in his pocket, he was not willing to share a fraction of it with Baba. Baba then tested him by pretending to be in urgent need of money. How can such binding to money help moksha or liberation? Look into ourselves, most of us are of the same nature. We do not care about others. Our comfort is the only important thing for us. Some people do not even care for their families. That again, is besides the point, but we definitely need to be aware.On a physical level, what ever calories you accumulate need to be burned or else, obesity and disease will happen. What ever we eat also should be excreted on the same day or else constipation will happen and toxins will be released into our system, which in turn, could get blocked. The water that we drink goes out of our body as sweat or urine without much delay. But if it stagnates? Thus, in physical level, we are constantly accumulating and releasing. We have to, or else, we will die. Body does not allow health and accumulation together. Either good health or accumulation. Internal accumulation of food becomes fat.Weight is a problem for many. We are constantly told to watch our weight. However, even if nobody reminds us, we become watchmen to our own wealth, afraid to spend and afraid of theft. The same way we crave for money, we crave for food. We eat emotionally. We accumulate emotionally. Only when intellect takes over, we become moderate. BUT, when do we allow intellect to function??? So, just like Baba collected Dakshina and distributed it on the same day, we have to eat only what we need and burn it out on the same day. Unemotional eating habits and limited consumption will ensure and maintain good health.
Similarly, on the emotional plane, we accumulate a lot of emotional garbage while experiencing various situations during our waking hours. Emotion plus thought, word or action creates karma. Hence, we have to trash all emotions that we accumulate each day, on the same day itself. How do we do it? Through replaying incidents and forgiving, meditating, chanting mantras, or attending bhajans or poojas.
This is why traditionally, people were asked to wake up in the most subtlest of times of the day – Brahma Muhoortha – between 3 and 6AM – and do yoga, chant mantras and meditate. This will strengthen their minds, reinforce it and make it impregnable for emotions to easily penetrate and establish within. When we do that, there will not be much accumulation of emotional trash each day.
Hence, before going to bed, it is enough to forgive and forget and surrender all thoughts, words and actions at the feet of the Lord. We will then get emotionally purified. This is like an internal bathing or cleansing. Since through everyday life, we allow emotions to run wild quite unconsciously and we create emotional trash as we live an emotional existence, the elimination of it is equally important. If this cleansing is not done regularly, just like we stink if we do not take bath twice a day, our mind will become contaminated with emotional filth. This increases our karma and invites catastrophes. Moreover, it ensures confusion in our life. Hence, it is important to trash all emotions each day and cleanse ourselves internally.
On the intellectual plane, we accumulate knowledge each day. It also has to be converted into purposeful and benevolent action immediately. Knowledge is raw dough until it is baked and made usable. So, intellectual knowledge, if it remains like unused wealth, becomes a burden. This burden can also be called EGO. Ego beyond a reasonable limit is useless as well as dangerous. It distances us from God.
Faith and surrender takes us closer to God, while ego separates us from God. So, a man who is proud of his intellect and knowledge is like a prisoner who is proud of his prison cell. These are words of Fr. Anthony D’Mello. Therefore, what ever intellectual matter we accumulate each day, it must be processed and made useful for others on the same day. Otherwise, it contaminates and isolates us.
This adds to repeated births and deaths, until ego is broken and nullified like a coconut at the feet of the Lord, through various hardships of life. Ego is the shell of the coconut. Only once it is broken can we taste the sweet kernel and nourishing water of divinity. So, Baba shows us how we should also take care of our intellect. Baba is a supreme master and His ways of teaching are quite unique and inimitable.
Grace is not easy. It needs perfect surrender. Once Grace flows, life becomes very easy. We have heard many lectures where people talk about awareness. What is awareness? How does one become aware? It is easy. Look at the children. Small children. They start their life through feeling. They feel the ground, they feel their mother, father, a flower, a comb, a brush; they feel heat, cold, clothes, bed, etc, etc. When they grow older and their senses starts to co-ordinate with their mind, they start forming concepts. Then, they detach from feeling to knowing. We have to get back to feeling first. Become a child. Feel everything. Feel food, feel relationships, feel weather, feel sunshine, feel flowers, birds, animals or their behaviorism. When we start feeling, our mind is in the present – because, you need your conscious mind to feel. When you establish in feeling, emotions are at check.
You will start accepting realities as they are, without resistance. Resistance breeds emotions. Emotions breed karma. So, when we shift ourselves to the feeling mode, we shift to the non-karmic existence mode which is quite liberating. When we are well established in the feeling mode, we will be “wonder-fueled”, like a child. And this helps awareness. Feeling will lead to awareness.
It expands our consciousness to that level where we feel rather than depending on our senses to know. Dependency on senses is quite limiting. Awareness makes us unlimited. Please understand that those who talk about awareness are sometimes only aware of their wallet. Hence, do understand that this is a self-help path. Nobody else can increase or reduce your level of awareness. The benefits of “feeling” are plenty.
By feeling, I do not mean emotions. If you feel and become emotional, it is anti liberation. This feeling is the feeling related to wonder. This is how the child feels the world. When emotions are overflowing with feeling, understand that mind is having a field day. It is dragging you with it. So, use the wonder aspect in you and feel everything. Even feel happiness or sorrow. Do not get drowned in both. If you are constantly operating in the feeling mode, even negativity will not stay within your mind.
There is much more to say about Sai. A life time will not be sufficient. I shall narrate my experiences later. If you have a Sai Satcharitra with you, please read it everyday, at least one chapter per day, and surrender your thoughts, words and actions at His feet. If you do not have a copy, please buy one and start reading it. May Sai Bless You with Deep Peace, Prosperity and Strength to make your world a better place. Sai Bless YOU.
Aum Sai Ram
Navaratri – Nine Nights of the Divine Mother
Written by Vanamali Devi
Navaratri means nine nights and in this festival of Navaratri we worship the Divine Mother in her many forms. It takes place in the first nine days of the bright half of the lunar fortnight in the Hindu month of Ashwin, September/October. This year 2021 it starts on the 7th October and ends on 15th October. The 10th day is known as Vijayadasami or the day of victory and falls on the 16th of October. The Devi Purana gives the story of how the virgin goddess, Durga killed the buffalo demon known as Mahishasura on the 10th day of victory. The buffalo demon of course is an allegory for abysmal ignorance.
Hinduism believes that the reason behind human birth is to gain liberation from the coils of maya and enter the blissful realm of the Absolute. The festival of Navaratri ensures that this knowledge is never forgotten and helps all Hindus renew their relationship with the Divine Mother every year.
This festival is also known as Durga Puja. It shows how Hinduism has always revered the feminine and strived to empower women through the ages. Unfortunately, with the advent of the Abrahamic religions, masculinity has been extolled so that now we find that women are actually trying to ape men. They wear men’s clothes and demand their rights as equals. This is amazing. Surely, we were not made equal or meant to be equal. Both males and females have different physiques, different roles and different temperaments. Both males and females are unique creations of God. Nature never likes duplicates. Even the five fingers of one hand are totally different and play totally different roles. Then why should women demand equality with men? It is quite absurd. Navaratri is a Hindu festival which extols and proclaims the individuality and strength of the feminine.
Durga, is the virgin goddess. She stands on her own and does not need the support of any of the male gods. She is a true representative of dynamic feminine power at its highest. If only this feminine power was ruling the world, we would not have had all these world wars!
During these nine days and nights Durga is worshipped in her nine different forms but this might be too complicated for most people so we will give the nine different names of the goddess at the end so that devotees can make use of them if they wish.
The Supreme Reality of Hinduism is a formless, immutable, eternal, unborn entity or spirit known as the Brahman. It is the same for all living creatures and underlies both the manifest and unmanifest states of Being. It is an integrated state, that is changeless, indivisible, without distinctions or qualifications and thus utterly beyond human comprehension. It is Pure Consciousness and can only be known through direct experience. The embodied soul is known as the jivatma. It is a projection of the Absolute Brahman. It takes many births and goes through the dramas of many lives until it reaches a point of satiation with the external world and longs to return to its original status. This then is the purpose of life in Hinduism – to return to the source from which we have come. Hinduism gives many methods for having this experience and these paths are known as “yogas”. They help us to transcend the levels of the mind and experience the Absolute.
Hinduism is a way of life, and our ancient sages saw to it that all our rituals and festivals were meant to upkeep this tradition and ensure that we never forget the goal of human life. Consciously or unconsciously these rituals help to nurture that one single aspiration in us, that our culture has been enshrining within itself from eternity. Even if our conscious minds forget the purpose for which we are born, that purpose will remain imprinted on the level of our subconscious. Thus the Hindu calendar is studded with numerous festivals, all intended to take us back to our roots. This goal is embedded in our genes and carried forward from generation to generation. All our scriptures, epics, ceremonies and festivals are charged with this spiritual goal. They have an esoteric significance that is not apparent to the common eye.
Indian thought is famous for its symbolism and from ancient times the pictorial representation of God took the form of both male and female. The universal form of the motionless Absolute came to be associated with the male and the manifested energy of Nature with the female. To the undiscerning eye, the Brahman and Nature are two completely different things but this is only an apparent phenomenon. Fundamentally they are one, as gold and ornaments made of it, are one. The Absolute and Nature are not “two” but “two-in-one”. Hinduism has always recognised and accepted these two principles and variously called them by many names as Shiva /Shakti or Purusha/Prakriti.
Just as the tree is latent in the seed, so this universe of names and forms, lies enfolded in this Shakti of the Brahman. She is the Divine Mother who is the womb of all creatures. As Nature, this Shakti manifests herself in multifarious forms, so we personify the Divine Mother in the forms of various goddesses. She pre-supposes all existing forms, past, present and future. But she is also maya, the illusory power that entrammels us in her web of beauty and mesmerises us into believing that this world which we see before our eyes is real. The jivatma or embodied soul is so fascinated by her beauty that it forgets the purpose for which it has incarnated in a human body.
Seen on the background of eternity, the drama of our lives, enacted on the stage of space and time, is only a show of light and shade, like a TV show. It is only a creation of the mind and like all TV shows it passes, flows and vanishes into the space from which it came. This phenomenon is what Hinduism calls maya – shakti of the goddess who has produced this phenomenal world which has its basis in ignorance of the true nature of reality.
This view of the world as given by our ancient rishis has been corroborated by Quantum Physics. They have discovered that we are connected to every single thing in the cosmos by this one underlying energy field that they call “The Field” and which our rishis called Prakriti. The tiniest bit of matter is not solid as we have been led to believe but only energy in motion. This pulsating energy field is the centre of our existence. Our eyes deceive us into imagining a reality that does not exist in the way we perceive it. But we are so fascinated by this world which has been created by this enchantress that we forget the purpose for which we have taken a human birth. In order to remind us of this purpose and re-connect with this source of the universal energy of the Divine Mother, the Hindu culture has demarcated two festivals in the year dedicated to the remembrance of that energy.
The Devi Mahatmyam, also known as Chandi Pat or Durgashaptashati, is a deeply esoteric book which we are all encouraged to read during these nine days of Durga Puja. In this scripture Durga slays all the various forms of asuras or negativities that threaten to overwhelm us.
The nine days of Navaratri are meant for reflection and removal of our negative traits and the acquisition of positive qualities. These nine days can be divided into three parts. The first three days are kept for the worship of Mahakaali, the next three days for Maha Lakshmi and the last three days for Maha Saraswati. Some people also worship the Navadurgas or the nine aspects of Durga on each day.
Let us take the first method of worship of the three different goddesses. Before we can proceed towards our goal of union with the Absolute it is absolutely necessary to remove all the complex amount of negative traits that we have accumulated throughout the year.
For this a certain amount of force may be necessary. So during the first three days the goddess is worshipped as Kaali which is her unconquerable form as Kaala or Time – relentless, all-consuming and indomitable. Time is the only killer! Everything in creation falls a prey to Time. All of us fear Death in its aspect of Time, so Kaali’s form is frightening to behold. It is meant to intimidate those who are not ready to accept the fact that life is a coin with two sides – birth and death!
She is usually portrayed as pitch black with long dishevelled hair falling behind her like a cloak. She wears a girdle of severed arms and a necklace of freshly cut heads. She has a cavernous mouth dripping with blood from her lolling tongue. She has long sharp fangs and claw-like hands with hooked nails. She portrays one of the masks of Prakriti – of Nature giving birth to all beings from her womb, feeding them at her breast and then devouring and assimilating them back into herself!
Kaali’s nature is such that she cannot tolerate deceit and falsehood. Her wrath is immediate and dire. Thus we spend the first three days and nights of Navaratri worshipping her, for only she can remove our negativity and vulgarity. When we start a garden, the first thing we have to do is to dig the ground and remove all the stones and unwanted grass and weeds from it. This is the job which is given to Kaali so for the first three nights we pray sincerely to her to take away our negative traits even though this may cause some pain.
The next three days are kept aside for Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, beauty and auspiciousness. She is the one who is lavish with her gifts of all types of good fortune which include positive traits of the mind. In the garden of our mind which has been ruthlessly weeded by Kaali we invite the beauteous Lakshmi to come and sow the seeds of love, generosity, consideration, compassion, gratitude and so on. For this we worship this beautiful goddess and entreat her to come and take her abode in our hearts that have been cleansed of all negativity.
The last three days are dedicated to the enchanting Saraswati- the goddess of learning, arts, science and wisdom. Seated on her vehicle, the graceful swan, she floats through space looking for an opportunity to bless us. During the last three days we beseech her to enter our hearts and fulfil the goal of human life which is to attain the Absolute. In that garden of our mind which has been weeded of all its negativity by the forceful Kaali, and in which the gracious Lakshmi has sown the seeds of positivity, we invite Saraswati, the one who can give us the bliss of union with the Absolute. Only in such a garden can the pure lotus of enlightenment bloom.
This is the esoteric meaning behind the festival of Navaratri which is celebrated all over India. This festival is celebrated twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn. In these following days and nights let us beseech her in her various forms to enter into us and dispel the darkness of the accumulated ignorance of our true nature with the glowing lamp of knowledge which only the she can light for us.
Some people also worship each of the forms of the Nava Durgas on each day of the festival. These are forms and names of the “navadurgas” nine durgas, starting from Shailaputri.
- Shailaputri.
- Brahmacharini.
- Chandraghanta.
- Kushmanda.
- Skandamata.
- Katyayani.
- Kalaratri.
- Mahagauri.
- Siddhadatri
Aum Shakti Aum
Smoke – Movie Review
Written by Hein Adamson
Long, squarely blocked, static shots, a sparse soundtrack with whole conversations set against a background of whirring fans, and distant traffic; the pitch less gestalt of mundane city-life. No action, no fast talking, no quick cuts; the tempo, steady and unrushed, is the key, the ‘in’; it says, “Slow down, no one is going anywhere, so be still, just allow yourself to see and inhabit this space, with these people. For a little while…”
Our story begins in the Brooklyn Cigar Co., a tobacconist owned and operated by Auggie (Harvey Keitel), a spot which serves the dual purposes of amicable conversation and cozy loitering, commerce seemingly a secondary consideration. Auggie knows his customers by taste and temperament and they know him. He and the Brooklyn Cigar Co. are fixtures of the neighborhood. Enter Paul (William Hurt), a reclusive writer, recently widowed of his pregnant wife; come to buy something to smoke. The 2 men greet each other warmly, by name and as they go through motions of transaction they get to talking, Auggie has picked up a little piece of trivia that he knows Paul will enjoy, Paul leans in over the counter, attentive, they talk, they smile. Paul leaves.
While crossing a busy street on his way home, the writer, his thoughts arrested perhaps by a story he is working on, or by the cigar he is lighting as he walks, is nearly hit by a truck. Enter Rashid (Harold Perrineau), who tackles the writer to safety. After some convincing, Rashid allows the writer stick him for a meal. As the 2 talk over lunch, we see that Rashid is an eloquent, intelligent, refined young man, but is obviously dissembling and misdirecting when Paul asks him about himself. The writer; grateful for his life, enjoying the boy’s company, and convinced that he is probably in some sort of trouble, offers to put Rashid up at his place for a couple of days.
We spend some time with these 2 in Paul’s modest apartment; a bachelor’s flat with an alcove containing small a writing desk and a main space with bed, sparse and mismatched furniture, and not a spot of wall visible for all the shelves lined with books. They talk about books, about writing, about this and that… Paul is wistful, mellow if not melancholy, and funny. He knows books and he knows writers and he knows anecdotes, Rashid is thoroughly engaged, and the easy, unrushed conversion goes on. After a day or 2, Rashid leaves.
We follow him as he makes a long trek from New York, via foot and occasional hitchhiked ride, slogging patiently through miles of sweltering heat. He comes to an isolated fuel station that looks as though it was converted from an old farmhouse. He sits looking at it for hours from across the narrow country highway. The man attending the station has an awkward curved hook-like prosthesis instead of a left hand. He notices Rashid, but ignores him and goes about his less than brisk business as long as his patience allows. Finally, frustrated by the frank examination from a distance of the young stranger, crosses the silent road to confront the boy. Enter Cyrus (Forest Whitaker).
The stage is set and we have been introduced to most the main cast of characters this tale; a formidable ensemble and my favourite performance from each of the actors in the movie’s starring rolls, although my opinion on this matter is likely skewed by my deep love for this movie. “Smoke”, released in 1995, was written, at the friendly urging of director Wayne Wang, by acclaimed novelist Paul Auster and was the first movie he wrote. (He has said in interviews that he enjoyed the process of film making a great deal and would go on to write more scripts and even direct.)
Much of the story is propelled by Rashid’s presence in the lives of the characters. He saves Paul the writer’s life, he gets a job in Auggie the tobacconist’s shop and through innocent neglect nearly ruins the biggest business deal of Auggie’s life and nearly costs him his life savings.
Fatherhood is a strong theme that runs through the movie. Each of the characters confronts fatherhood after a fashion; Cyrus the hook-handed country fuel station owner is Rashid’s father. Who abandoned his infant son after losing his wife in the same car accident that took his hand, and must now answer his son’s grief. Auggie may or may not be father to the daughter of an old fling, Ruby (played to perfection by Stockard Channing) who appears impromptu after years of silence. He never finds out whether the now teenage girl is his daughter or not, but we do see that he handles the situation with kindness and aplomb. In strange but very natural turn, there is even a moment where Rashid fulfills the role of father to Paul, a much older man.
Another theme that emerges is story. The film is story full of little stories and story tellers. The movie ends, as it begins, with someone telling a story. The story is great, the themes, as far as I am able to pick them up, are great. But the movie really shines when it slows down. The smoking in the movie acts as a sort of framing device, when the characters light up, a space opens up, wherein the narrative comes to a near halt, a little window of time in which there is nothing to do and nowhere to go, all there is to do is be, and smoke a smoke.
These are the moments where we get to know the characters; we get to simply be with them, observe their gestures and movement, hear the stories.
There is a scene in which Paul visits Auggie’s apartment and Auggie shows the writer a photo album filled with pictures taken in of the Brooklyn Cigar Co. Photographs of the same intersection and the same time of day, every day, for years and years. “They’re all the same,” says Paul. “It’s just one little corner of the world, but things take place there just like everywhere else.” Paul pages through album after album, finally Auggie says, “You’ll never get it if you don’t slow down my friend.” “But they’re all the same,” says Paul.
“They’re all the same, but each is different. You’ve got your bright mornings and your dark mornings. You’ve got your summer light and your autumn light. You’ve got your week days and your week-ends. You’ve got your people in overcoats and galoshes, you’ve got your people in t-shirts and shorts. Sometimes the same people sometimes different ones. Sometimes the different ones become the same and the same ones disappear. The Earth revolves around the sun and every day the light from the sun hits the earth at a different angle,” says Auggie.
A long pause, some puffing, some contemplation. “Slow down huh?” says Paul. “That’s what I recommend,” says Auggie. “You know how its… Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow… Time creeps on its petty pace.
There is the heart of the movie right there. Watch it and watch it again.
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