There is a Shiva shrine, ancient, quiet, surrounded by giant Himalayan cedars that sprout suddenly pushing the resilient pines. Clusters of temples with little brass bells tinkling with the mountain breeze. First time when I saw Jageshwar, it suddenly absorbed my attention into its scented green calm. A melodious brooke, ferns dipping into the its clear water flows over the rounded stones. There, among the clusters of stone temples is one with a Ganeha (elephant God, son of Shiva) statue, it is such a beautiful statue that if you sit down and look into its stone face, it speaks to you. Inside is the stone phallus, the revered 'Shiva linga', never thought of so, it's always another statue in the Hindu psyche. Nearby, is a cremation ground and although I do not know much about this form of worship, but it is a fact that there are men and women who worship in these cremation grounds. They devour human flesh and drink alcohol, it is through tantra and sex that they try to reach the divine, mostly they are after the so called 'powers' that they use for black magic, that they do these practices. What they do through these practices is to basically bring the consciousness to a level where they see no difference between the edible and non edible. The basal and the normal existence. Somehow, this gives them the powers to interact with the matter and transform it into another matter by interfering with the electrons and atomic weight. Through the altered consciousness they change matter.
Anyway, the temple is not for such practices, there this stone shiv linga was established by a Hindu saint named Adi guru Shankaracharya. He structured the Hinduism when corruption and rituals were corroding it and to save people from the savagery practiced in the name of religion, Buddhism and Jainism had already established roots. His birth place is in Kerela in Southern India and he is considered an incarnation of Shiva. Now, this stone in Jageswar was very different, it was so powerful that all wishes that devotees asked for were fulfilled. Soon, people started wishing for sad things, harming others and wishing for the ill of others than their own betterment. The shiv linga was then pushed down deep into the ground to reduce its wish fulfilling powers. I felt it immersed in a mixture of water, flowers, leaves and offerings. Himalayas have a very subtle spiritual energy flowing through its mountains. It is almost palpable, music I heard through out my pregnancy, the hymns of Shiva, strangely the moment I listen to these hymns am transported to this divine place nestled in Himalayas.
Soul
How sweetness seeps into the soul
To saturate and overflow
Quietly, as a bud unfolds
Surging and receding like waves on shore
Days melting into nights
fetus sneaking into womb
Such a stealthy invader
Those who seek it, thirst
And those who dread are chosen
For its steely grip
Sweet torment!
You have filled my cup...
It seems the natural tendency of mankind is to find power wherever it will be found and to bend that power to serve his own will and delight. It does not matter what form the power is, nor does it seem to matter who holds the power. The tendency is for people with power to abuse it for their own selfish desires. Sad deception.
ReplyDelete