Week 11, Reading Diary B, Seven secrets of the Hindu calendar, Nayan's secret

Narayan's Secret

Title: Hindu Calendar Art

Author: Devdutt Pattanaik

Year: 2009

Narayan sleeps on a coiled serpent, Sesha, that floats in a ocean of milk. The world ends when Narayan is asleep. Sesha is what remains at the end. Does this posit the philosophical question that our world also disappears when we sleep? Yes. Without the observer, the observed does not exist.

I was going to keep better notes for this one, but I have watched it three times and it moves so fast it would really be a lot of writing.

This part of the movie is deep. Tremendously awesome. This is the story of all creation. Narayan is God. WE are also Narayan. Everything is God. All of creation is connected, it is all primal forces that weave the fabric of reality. The soul is never destroyed, it is immortal. It is what remains as we, like Shiva close our eyes and sleep, and wake up reborn.

This is some of the most beautiful ways to look at life. It really resonates with my soul. As a child I could remember past lives. I was also able to tell other people about their past lives. About the age of 6 when my grandpa asked me to give someone a reading, I did not know what he was asking of me, and I was unaware that I was doing it. Also, my mom would get angry with me, because she was convinced that I was making things up, and if I got things right it was because I had a wild imagination, or must have overheard some adults talking etc.

When I was in high school, my mind woke up and I started remembering past lives again. I know when I meet certain people that I see their soul and that we "travel" together. Our souls are immortal. Our loved ones are always with us. They are also an expression of us. Like Narayan. He is surrounded by his loved ones, the primal forces that makes his world move and stop.

One thing that I really love about epified the people producing these videos is that when something comes up, like the angels in the picture, they point out that this idea became popular after being influenced by western thought. I was all excited and about to look it up when they gave the disclaimer. Awesome!!!

Sesha is interesting to me, because in my previous dabbling in the metaphysical world I read a book called "The Serpent of Light" by Drunvalo Melchizedek. I have since 2008 when I read the book become very aware of how much the symbol of the serpent is a very important part of all ancient knowledge.

I am terrified of snakes. And horses. I love cows. None of this makes any sort of logical sense. But to my soul it makes perfect sense.

Week 11, Reading Diary A, Hindu Calendar Art, Ganesha's secret

Ganesha's Secret

Title: Hindu Calendar Art

Author: Devdutt Pattanaik

Year: 2009

For this weeks readings and the next as well I will be viewing the movie the 7 Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art. 

The God Shiva and his Goddess wife Parvati, Ganesha and Kartikeya are the divine family. Ganesha and Kartikeya are gods with lower case to show they are lesser gods. Shiva is a God, but not The God.

I am really liking the movie so far. It is a nice change of pace from actual stories. This is super informative and philosophical. This appeals to me.

There are stories in this movie, like the story of the mango and the better son. Ganesha is wiser than his brother. His brother Kartikeya travels around the world, and Ganesha encircles his parents because they are his world. 

Ganesha removes obstacles and Kartikeya leads other gods in battles. Ganga, the river that springs from Shiva's top knot is a goddess of the river she embodies. Shiva is a destroyer, the world ceases when Shiva closes his eyes.

"Divinity is formless, but as humans we require forms to understand it." 

The four headed male deity is Brahma. His existence implies the existence of his counterpart, but where is she? The Vedas are a book of hymns,timeless and universal, not of human origin and during a drought they had been forgotten. A Sage named Vyas remembers them and compiles them. Suka (means parrot) is the parrot headed Sage, the son of Vyas. There is an image of Brahma blessing Suka and the energy (of formless knowledge) is the implication of Saraswati the mother of the vedas.

Brahma did not create the vedas, no man can create without a woman. Not even God.

Four heads represent the 4 expressions of the vedas, the four goals in life.

1) dharma- right conduct

2) artha- economic activity

3) kama- pleasure pursuits

4) moksha- spiritual practice

There can be local manifestations of the cosmic god. People who can become holy men that can transcend human limitations can be worshipped. This is how they get a god and a God. They serve different functions.

Vishnu- a pan-Hindu God, a king who reclines on the coil of a serpent that floats on the ocean of milk. Unlike Shiva who is a menidcant that lives on a snowy mountaintop.

Parvati is also Shakti. There can be goddesses and Goddesses.

Two hands in an image indicated that the person is human. This is important because sometimes great people have been elevated to a status of worship.

Vishwakarma is a god that is nearly an equivalent of the Roman deity Hephastus, he is a Vulcan god for potters and metalsmithing etc. There is also a deity that is like the love god, cupid, named Kama. There is also similarities to the deity Zeus in the god Indra. This gives the appearance of relatedness of the Greek myths and Hinduism, but  this is not the whole truth.

Greek subjective truth is different than the Hindu subjective truth. The Greeks have times where the gods are overthrown by titans and fear humans etc, this is missing from the Hindu myth.

Hijras are men who feel themselves to be women and are outsiders to society. They dress as women and live with others like them, begging and also prostitution to survive.

The goddess Bahuchara is tolerant of the gender challenged and has a following for some that have turned themselves into eunichs and has a myth about turning a boy into a woman, they fall into the pond and it happened because the goddess Bahuchara was there.

The goddess Annapurana is the kitchen goddess, the one who feeds,and she becomes the goddess Lakshmi.

Ganesha's elephant head- no known enemies in the animal world.
Pot belly- excess resources, nobility
Rat- an annoying pest, but is his pet
Ganesha represents a life of power and prosperity without any problems. Hid form is a container of an idea. This is an ideal that Hindu's aspire for.