A tale of two forces

 

The lotus flower is only a symbol in the olden times. One of the names of the Lord used to be Kamal Nayana, meaning having eyes like a blossomed lotus. In the same way, the kundalini has been represented symbolically as a snake in the mythological stories. It is said that mother Earth rests upon the hoods of the serpent sesha naag.

What does this actually mean? What does the sesha naag mean? It symbolises the centripetal and the centrifugal forces. Our Earth is supported by two kinds of forces. These forces do not move in a linear direction. These forces act in a circular fashion. A snake also never travels in a straight line.

The movement of the serpent is propelled by centripetal and centrifugal forces. The sesha naag symbolizes the two forces that the Earth is supported by. It does not literally mean that the Earth is resting upon the hood of some giant serpent. No, it is not, so at all. The sesha naag here is not some actual living being. It is actually a giant, supportive force or power.

Similarly, when we say that there is a lotus flower within us, it means that when the mind blossoms and becomes soft, supple and refined, then we experience the subtle consciousness in us. When the mind is stuck in inertia, then we cannot experience any energy or power in us. That is why our scriptures advocate the practice of mitahara, meaning exercising balance and restraint while eating. They advocate proper rest for the body. Then the body becomes tuned and conducive to experience this subtle phenomenon.

If you are reading this, you may be a lucky one

 

Some of the religious paths create this fear of hell and heaven that puts people into such a turmoil of guilt and fear that the mind can never calm down. Meditation can never happen. This is very unfortunate. So even though such followers are aspirants, they are not really getting the path.

These people don’t get access to the knowledge: ‘Come on, the mind is like a river, what are you holding on to? Don’t hold on to it. All the events are gone, drop it and move on. Live in the present moment‘. This knowledge is not available to many people (who aspire to walk the spiritual path). They go on repenting about the past, feeling guilty, and the mind becomes a mess.

Of course they do pray. Their prayers do help, and they get some blessings. Blessings come to everyone, no doubt, but the knowledge, the right path and liberation remains a distant dream for them. Peace does not happen in their life. They sit with the hope that one day they will go to heaven. And so these souls get trapped with desires and fear.

They got a human life to be free from all this. So they will have to come back again to work out all these things. Again they will get into meditation.

So, a human birth, desire for a path, and the path being available to them (Maha Purusha Sannidho: getting a Spiritual Master), these three things are rare and difficult to get. If you have all three, you are lucky.