In the Puranas it is said that when Lord Shiva married Parvati all the gods sighed with relief because this would cause him to end his great tapasya (austerities) up in the Himalayas... When they married, Shiva could no longer stayed in such an ascetic atmosphere along with the goddess, therefore he created a shivaloka (world) which he named Kashi, the shining one!... the abode of Siva and Parvati... Now known as Varanasi.
After being in Mathura and Vrindavan I came for a couple of days to the ancient city of Varanasi...
The floods couldn't darken the light of the shining one! ... Yes, its famous ghats (stairs) were completely covered by water, but still, there is something in this city... and I mean, its a city! I usually tend to run away from the cities, yet, Varanasi has a particular magic in itself that makes it different... perhaps is only because i'm always drawn to whatever it has a touch of antique... Anyways, it is designed as a labyrinth of narrow stone streets were people still live in the most simple way... beautiful carved wooden door frames adorn the facades of the temple-like houses...there are small shops and dhabas of authentic indian cuisine and chai all around... you pass by and see the women grinding outside their porch or performing aarti puja in the mornings and evenings... little market-like stands with few colorful veggies on display... friendly, loving, cheerful people...classical indian dance & music schools, gorgeous sunsets and so on , and so on...
Say Lisbon, Paris, Rome, Prague, Florence or Budapest... being before in a couple of them, one can agree, yes! they're awesome... but if there is only one city I could ever visit in my life that would be Varanasi.
One day I was watching a couple of young boys joyfully washing their pants in the bank of the Ganga when I suddenly heard a solemn chant coming from afar... "Ram Nam Satya Hai, Ram Nam Satya Hai, Ram Nam Satya Hai" I look back and I couldn't see anything, yet, the procession-like chant was still flowing in the air, along with an intense incense aroma...The sound suddenly became very loud so I turned my head again and Yes! it was the hand of death... I made some research afterwards and realized that this mantra is commonly chanted while carrying a dead body to the cremation ground... the recitation implies that the body devoid of breath has no value whatsoever...
6 men were carrying a corpse wrapped in golden cloth and flowers... No weeping, no sorrow... the formal rituals were carried on by the priest and the body was ready to be consumed by flames... Perfect opportunity for insight meditation.
Actually, meditation on death is one of the most common sadhanas, specially in buddhism... Many are the stories of monks sleeping in cemeteries or carrying corpses to the forests just to gain insight from its decomposing process... But also within the Aghoris in India and even in ancient Christianty this is common... It is easy to see paintings of Saint Jerome writing alongside with a skull on his desktop, or if you visit an ancient monastery in Europe you can still read signs in latin such as "Carpe Diem, Memento Mori" (seize the day, remember that you will die)... But why such practice evokes aversion and repulsion within certain mind frames? Is it because of death itself or because deep within, such mind knows that death is always around the corner?. Denial of the inevitable fate of matter is not sufficient to escape from it... actually, who can escape from the hand of (physical) death?
When Ramana's arm was diagnosed with cancer, someone asked, how come the body of a sage can be affected by such modern diseases?
Bhagavan kindly replied:
"The body itself is a disease, let it have its natural end!"
Of course, long before this happened he had reached the point where He was no longer identified with the body...
As Gangaji wrote:
"How mysterious that the incident of a young boy, sitting alone in a house in South India in 1896, willing to meet death, willing to simply experience that which is most feared, has reverberated around the globe. What arose from that meeting is revealed in the transmission of silence and shining Truth that poured from his presence. Not just his physical presence, for even now, though his physical body is long finished, the transmission of his presence and grace continues to radiate mysteriously, powerfully, throughout the world."
There is an ascetic practice from the time of Lord Buddha called pamsukulikanga where one would take the cloth which has been used as a corpse-wrapping and make this into robes. Such robes will act as constant reminder of death to him who wears them. I wanted to benefit from the circumstances in Varanasi to obtain such a token but since the burning ghats were flooded I could not come closer enough... Nevertheless I still made my way to cross by boat as close as I could to at least see the bodies being embraced by the fire... It is indeed an insightful place.
"Soon these bodies will also perish and will add to the charnel ground" May beings awake from their frenzy, so that it may no longer be said of them: 'Worn out in vain, the body dies away,' but may their Karma come gradually to rest!" pabbajja
saint jerome
After being in Mathura and Vrindavan I came for a couple of days to the ancient city of Varanasi...
The floods couldn't darken the light of the shining one! ... Yes, its famous ghats (stairs) were completely covered by water, but still, there is something in this city... and I mean, its a city! I usually tend to run away from the cities, yet, Varanasi has a particular magic in itself that makes it different... perhaps is only because i'm always drawn to whatever it has a touch of antique... Anyways, it is designed as a labyrinth of narrow stone streets were people still live in the most simple way... beautiful carved wooden door frames adorn the facades of the temple-like houses...there are small shops and dhabas of authentic indian cuisine and chai all around... you pass by and see the women grinding outside their porch or performing aarti puja in the mornings and evenings... little market-like stands with few colorful veggies on display... friendly, loving, cheerful people...classical indian dance & music schools, gorgeous sunsets and so on , and so on...
Say Lisbon, Paris, Rome, Prague, Florence or Budapest... being before in a couple of them, one can agree, yes! they're awesome... but if there is only one city I could ever visit in my life that would be Varanasi.
One day I was watching a couple of young boys joyfully washing their pants in the bank of the Ganga when I suddenly heard a solemn chant coming from afar... "Ram Nam Satya Hai, Ram Nam Satya Hai, Ram Nam Satya Hai" I look back and I couldn't see anything, yet, the procession-like chant was still flowing in the air, along with an intense incense aroma...The sound suddenly became very loud so I turned my head again and Yes! it was the hand of death... I made some research afterwards and realized that this mantra is commonly chanted while carrying a dead body to the cremation ground... the recitation implies that the body devoid of breath has no value whatsoever...
6 men were carrying a corpse wrapped in golden cloth and flowers... No weeping, no sorrow... the formal rituals were carried on by the priest and the body was ready to be consumed by flames... Perfect opportunity for insight meditation.
Actually, meditation on death is one of the most common sadhanas, specially in buddhism... Many are the stories of monks sleeping in cemeteries or carrying corpses to the forests just to gain insight from its decomposing process... But also within the Aghoris in India and even in ancient Christianty this is common... It is easy to see paintings of Saint Jerome writing alongside with a skull on his desktop, or if you visit an ancient monastery in Europe you can still read signs in latin such as "Carpe Diem, Memento Mori" (seize the day, remember that you will die)... But why such practice evokes aversion and repulsion within certain mind frames? Is it because of death itself or because deep within, such mind knows that death is always around the corner?. Denial of the inevitable fate of matter is not sufficient to escape from it... actually, who can escape from the hand of (physical) death?
When Ramana's arm was diagnosed with cancer, someone asked, how come the body of a sage can be affected by such modern diseases?
Bhagavan kindly replied:
"The body itself is a disease, let it have its natural end!"
Of course, long before this happened he had reached the point where He was no longer identified with the body...
As Gangaji wrote:
"How mysterious that the incident of a young boy, sitting alone in a house in South India in 1896, willing to meet death, willing to simply experience that which is most feared, has reverberated around the globe. What arose from that meeting is revealed in the transmission of silence and shining Truth that poured from his presence. Not just his physical presence, for even now, though his physical body is long finished, the transmission of his presence and grace continues to radiate mysteriously, powerfully, throughout the world."
There is an ascetic practice from the time of Lord Buddha called pamsukulikanga where one would take the cloth which has been used as a corpse-wrapping and make this into robes. Such robes will act as constant reminder of death to him who wears them. I wanted to benefit from the circumstances in Varanasi to obtain such a token but since the burning ghats were flooded I could not come closer enough... Nevertheless I still made my way to cross by boat as close as I could to at least see the bodies being embraced by the fire... It is indeed an insightful place.
"Soon these bodies will also perish and will add to the charnel ground" May beings awake from their frenzy, so that it may no longer be said of them: 'Worn out in vain, the body dies away,' but may their Karma come gradually to rest!" pabbajja
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario
Nota: sólo los miembros de este blog pueden publicar comentarios.