|
Entering the Cosmic
Body
“Setting foot into the
sacred precincts of the Hindu temple, the seeker embarks onto a sacred
journey whose destination lies beyond the limits of human perception.
The inner world of the aspirant is made manifest in Hindu architecture.
The journey from the temple gate to the inner sanctum maps out the
topography of the inner landscape. This inner terrain is fraught with
both wonders and pitfalls. The guidelines elucidated through the
temple's mystical structuring safeguards the seeker against these
pitfalls as he explores his consciousness externalized through this
unique form of psycho-spiritual architectural composition.
In this work we will
explore this correspondence of Hindu sacred architecture to the inner
architecture of the individual. This will be accomplished by taking the
reader on a part of the sacred journey through a temple, describing the
surroundings and inner meanings of the journey as we go. Further, it
will be demonstrated that this correspondence is intended at the outset
of the creation of a temple by examining the myths and methods used in
preparing the sacred site upon which the temple itself is built.
Finally, it will be postulated that this correspondence between Hindu
temple architecture and the human psyche has perhaps existed for far
longer than is assumed in the current popular Indology.
Therefore we will see
that the temple itself is the best guide through the tangled forest of
Hindu metaphysics by exploring the systematic mystical expression
utilized by the Hindu masonic guilds. In the course of the journey, we
will also touch upon the evolution from the Vedic fire worship to the
use of icons for worship in the temple environs, and try to point out
the seeds of this reformation in the Vedic texts themselves.
As the devotee enters the sacred precinct
through the temple gate, he takes that leap of faith from the
superfluities of the phenomenal world into the supernatural world of the
Gods. He enters into his own cosmic body and leaves identification with
his physical form behind, outside of the gate. Incidentally, he leaves
his shoes also, "implying that contact with the profane impurities of
the earth element is broken" (Meese,
vol. 1, p. 216). He symbolically takes the yogi's path as he withdraws
from the world and enters upon a mythical journey of his own. Like in
the Grail Quest, he passes through the Gate of Mystery, entering the
forest in that place where it is the darkest. This "dark forest" that he
enters is his subconsciousness. Here he seeks out the Monad, that
primordial spark of being from which all existing phenomena issue forth.
This vivifying elixir of divine essence is the goal of the quest, but to
find it one must speak the mythical language of understanding known only
to the heart. It is beyond the limitations of the rational mind, with
its burdensome practice of judging. It is heard in the quietude of being
and summoned forth through a kind of mindfulness that is ever receptive
and unwavering.
Before the devotee
will approach the actual temple structure, he will first visit the
temple tank for ritual bathing. Here he washes away the last vestiges of
the world he has left behind. These waters represent the Causal Ocean
from which the Primal Soul emerges, and sets about creating the multiple
universes. Stepping into these waters, the devotee dissolves back into
the absolute and re-emerges, created anew. The temple structure is then
circumambulated in a clockwise direction. Thereby, the aspirant treads
the solar path, building up a momentum of inner radiance as he walks.
He meets a vast array
of divine beings, enshrined along his path. These divinities are
external personifications of inner archetypes that preside over various
states of consciousness. Encountering externalized aspects of his
psychological states, the devotee is given an opportunity to interact
with mind in a conscious fashion. Thus certain aspects of consciousness,
often out of reach to the linear intellect, become accessible on a
conscious level. Through this conscious interaction, subconscious
mechanisms can be rerouted to function more suitably for the individual.
This kind of esoteric psychotherapy can have profound transformational
effects upon the individual, but a knowledge and proper understanding of
the myths and their deeper meanings is prerequisite for this
transformation to take place.
The first of these
divinities encountered is the joyous elephant-faced god, Ganesha. As the
Lord of Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles, Ganesha is always
propagated first. Amidst the vast plethora of god forms, Ganesha's role
is both unique and critical to this mythical journey that I now relate.
The importance of this archetype is that he marks the transition from
the transient external manifestation to the timeless inner reality.
Hidden within the ever-changing flux of this material world is an ever
present, yet ever hidden, gateway to the transcendent. Ganesha's role is
to guide the aspirant to this doorway that is hidden in the very midst
of this world. Ganesha knows all the Earth's secrets. This is why his
aniconic symbol is the square, which represents Earth.
As Lord of the
immanent world, he is often found to be the patron of householders and
merchants, but to the yogis and mystics his influence is equally as
critical. The yogis deem his seat of power to be within the body at the
base of the spine. It is from this place that man is rooted to the
world. So we see that Ganesha presides over man's relationship to the
Earth.
Seven centers of
consciousness run along the spine to the crown of the head. These
centers are called chakras, and are part of a complex network of
mystical energies that flow through the body. When this energy, known as
kundalini, flows upward into a chakra center, consciousness in
transformed to that corresponding level of perception. In their baser
aspects, these consciousness centers are functioning within us all of
the time, but the higher states of consciousness contained within the
chakras are accessed only through the unification of the two primary
energy channels (the idylla and the pingala) into the shashumna or
central channel. Duality is thus reconciled and the shushumna becomes a
pillar of force that flows towards the Absolute (sahasrara, the crown
chakra).
After bathing, the
devotee will seek out Lord Ganesha. To supplicate the Elephant-faced
Lord, the devotee will cross his arms in front of his face and knock
three times on his temples. The yogis say that this causes a stream of
nectar to flow down the spine from the pituitary region of the brain.
This nectar washes over Ganesha, bringing him great delight. He unites
the dual streams and sets the kundalini flowing through the shashumna on
its journey ever upward. With Ganesha's blessing, consciousness leaves
the mundane world to tread the path of wisdom.”
Layne Little, Entering the Cosmic Body
http://www.beastbay.com/beastbay/980759619/index_html
|