The mechanism of Maya

[dwai]

From my more immature days — 

https://www.medhajournal.com/the-mechanism-of-maya/

[neti neti]

Cool! Always nice to have somewhat of a map for exploring.. or at least a compass... that's not spinning non-stop.

 

Some more to chew on. I'm not too big on pranayama, as I tend to lean toward intensely profound concentration and/or total surrender exclusively for practice.. but the following has some pretty good descriptive insights imo.

 

This is from Layne Little's commentary on his English rendering of:

SHAKING THE TREE: Kundalini Yoga, Spiritual Alchemy, & the Mysteries of the Breath in Bhogar's 7000.

 

Enjoy.

 

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"Numerologically, the number eight refers to the initial interaction of the four basic elements that leads to their diffusion into the multitude of manifest forms that constitute this universe. As long as the basic elements are perceived in their essential state consciousness is unified, but once this interaction takes place (at least as far as perception & interpretation is concerned) consciousness is diffused into the permutations of manifest matter and thus subject to the limitations of nature's laws.

Manifestation is presided over by 8 Shaktis, who are personifications of the 8 siddhis (siddhi meaning "power" or "perfection"). These Shaktis stand outside of, yet dictate, nature's laws and the laws of human limitation. To perceive the root level of existence (to perceive manifest matter, this Earth, reduced to its 4 essential elements and their initial eight-fold interaction) is to look over creation from the outside in. It is to see the clockworks of the universe and sidestep the barrier that superscribes manifestation.
This state is one of vast perspective; it just precedes the dawning of true wisdom, and it is this lack of wisdom which puts the Yogi in a dangerous position... where the shaktis may try to steal one's power. This danger, this temptation of the 8 siddhis, may be explained thus:

 

Imagine having the insight born of closely observing the constituents of all the circumstances that cause the varieties of human response. We are the products of our environment. Our environment defines who we are. Our sense of self, our sense of who and what we are, arises in response to a set of ever changing circumstances. What if one were to perceive that pattern, manipulate those circumstances and, by extension, the outlook of others for personal gain? What drastic repercussions would ensue?

When gaining this initial perspective over the fundamental laws that govern the universe's operation one is tempted by these Shaktis to disregard such laws and to misuse one's insight, abandoning the path of integrating the individual self into the Absolute.

These siddhis are mentioned again and again in India's vast & varied array of literatures. An examination of these 8 siddhis complemented by a study of the writings of Mystics and Yogis reveals that, though these powers are predominantly taken at face value to infer an ability to manipulate matter and influence external phenomena through an act of will, these siddhis conform perfectly to the various narratives of the inner experiences of the Mystic.

 

To the Mystic, the descriptions of these siddhis speak of the way in which consciousness, unfettered by linear thinking, becomes malleable, flows out and returns, expands and contracts, how it, by its own nature, adjusts and harmonizes itself to the occilations of circumstance. It (consciousness) savours any object placed within its scope by pouring itself into that object, becoming all that the senses perceive, all that the mind creates, and still its essential nature remains constant and its purity undefiled.

The siddhis are always spoken of as a great stumbling block, something extremely dangerous, and yet a precious commodity; not as "the goal" in and of themselves, but as a tool for perceiving the vastness of existence both subjectively and in its entirety.

Tirumoolar describes the siddhis in verse 668 of the Tirumantiram...

 

"To become tiny as the atom within atom (Anima)
To become big in unshakable proportions (Mahima)
To become light as vapour in levitation (Laghima)
To enter into other bodies in transmigration (Prapti)
To be in all things, omni-pervasive (Prakamya)
To be lord of all creation in omnipotence (Isatvam)
To be everywhere in omnipresence (Vasitvam)
---These eight are the Siddhis Great."

 

Bhogar introduces them much more dramatically, personified as eight formidable ladies occupying the eight petals of the plantain flower; hidden at the root of consciousness. They govern over nature's law, limiting the self, defining the multiplicity of form, restricting the flow of consciousness. They are, on the gross level, the latent tendencies of the mind, it's movement & processes.

Bhogar recommends the Yogic discipline of pranayama, breathing with intent, to win them over, to soften their rigid grasp, and to set their liberating aspects in motion.
At the root one finds Siva by entering the mouth of the serpent. A foreboding image which foreshadows the coming confrontation with the infinitude of one's own being.

He is hidden in the heart of the flower. If, through the breath, awareness can be turned upon itself, Nandi (Siva) is seen. One then finds the center of all phenomena. Then the flow and expansion of consciousness can be directed by one's own will, irrevocably united to the will of the Great Mother...

 

"You'll make them [the eight shaktis] obey the Mother's commands."

To enter within the plantain flower, one cannot reach there by striving. Awareness must simply settle into its natural state. No amount of "effort" can make this depth of meditation be achieved. The mind cannot be convinced to become silent and receptive. Internal argument only compounds the problem. This is why Yoga has developed a vast system of means to rectify and pacify the mind's internal struggle..."

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by neti neti

[neti neti]

Also...

 

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"The secret of action, as taught in the Bhagavad Gita, lies in the quality of awareness brought to activity.

If the mind is clear and receptive, unattached to the fruits of action (be they "good" or "bad"), then one's inner nature takes over and one begins to act in accord with the Universal Will.

 

Then the universe enacts its will through the individual. Abandoning selfish desire, abandoning attachment and aversion, one does without "doing".

 

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As testified by the ancient chinese text, the I Ching, the essential characteristics of the universe can be reduced to the same equation which denotes the Vastu Purusha Mandala: 8x8=64.

In this equation, 8x8 reflects the universes alchemical transmutation of the 8 components interacting with one another to produce the 64 primary characteristics or essences that compose the manifest universe. The four elements become eight. The eight becomes sixty-four. The sixty-four manifest as all possibility, the same 64 qualities that compose the things outside us are also found within.

When the malleable alchemy is revealed all these primary qualities are effortlessly perceived. The mind becomes fluid, mirroring the 64 facets of nature as they arise and fall from view, and the essence hidden behind phenomena, the One hidden behind the many, appears "explicit and complete".

 

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All that is discerned by the sense faculties is a reflection of the level of consciousness at which we function. All is an extension of the state in which awareness is situated. As consciousness expands so does the periphery of perception.

 

 

and this one's pretty spot on.. oh maya!

 

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The Immovable Pillar is the hub of the Wheel of Time. It is the still, silent, and changeless space at the center of all things.

When awareness is positioned where "the mind stands separate from the self" all of space, all of time, seems to simultaneously come into view. The mind, held in the silence, "having fallen into the silence that lies between words", the silence which holds the Om-kaara, the space which frames the character(s) on the page, all lie at the End of Sound, at the Aantam.

The Sanskrit root anta (tamil: aantam) can be found suffixed to words like Naath-Aantam "Sound's End" or prefixed to words like antaati. Antaati refers to a prosodic device, which Bhogar happens to employ through the bulk of his 7000 verses. This device brings continuity to the work, gives a cohesiveness to all that is expressed, and guides the train of thought from one verse to the next without leaving room for the mind's ramblings to reassert themselves. The antaati is where the verse begins with the end of the previous verse, begins with the final word or phrase of the verse that came before.
Strangely enough, this is in no way confining for Bhogar. Quite the contrary: He goes into each new verse carrying with him the momentum of the last. One is amazed at the richness of meaning that he draws from the closing phrase as he dramatically turns the movement of each new verse on a single word towards a new and surprising destination. Now and again, this device can produce in the reader the sudden satori-like flash of insight, turning awareness, much like a zen koan, towards the place where "the mind stands separate from itself".

 

It is where the mind, held in the silence that holds the Om-kaara, becomes pacified by the ensuing ecstacy of viewing all things from the inside out. It is the point of view of the Immovable Point that is both everywhere and nowhere. Where one looks upon all of creation, simultaneously from each and every perspective.

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by neti neti
mistaken quote, removed and added correct one!

[dwai]

15 hours ago, neti neti said:

Also...

 

 

 

 

 

and this one's pretty spot on.. oh maya!

 

 

Wrt Bogarnath, my yoga teacher said he was being guided by Bogar. 
 

His form of yoga was Tamil siddhar yoga and was very powerful — not the kind you’ll see in a western yoga studio. Serious tantric stuff  

 

It helped open up my central channel.