WHAT IS THE DECODATION OF THE CHURNING OF THE OCEAN(Samudra Manthan,)?PART-02...KUNDALINI AWAKENING-

THE DECODATION OF THE CHURNING OF THE OCEAN;-

15 FACTS;-- 1. GOOD VS EVIL(The Battle Within) ;- A common interpretation of the myth is that the Devas and the Asuras are the good and bad tendencies in all of us. And, the churning of the milky ocean waters is like the agitation we experience when we are troubled.It is the agitation in our consciousness. 1-1-The story tells us that in the fight between good and bad, we must steady our mind like the mountain by supported on the back of a Turtle. One of the names used for the mountain in the original story is ‘Mandhara’ which means a steady mind. While the Turtle is often used as a symbol for controlling the senses. Just as a turtle withdraws its head, legs and tail into its shell so also we can learn to control our six senses. 1-2-The serpent Vasuki, represents desire that is constantly tugging(pull hard) us between the good and bad.As we fight this battle within our selves and try to overcome the bad, many emotions and thoughts come to the surface. At first they are negative like the Halahal poison. But, if we swallow it like Shiva and don’t give up, we will be rewarded by great riches.

1-3-These are symbolized by Laxmi, the goddess of wealth; Kamdhenu-the wish-fulfilling Cow; the Kalpatru – the wish-fulfilling tree: the Kaustubh gem, etc. Finally, we will get biggest treasure of all, realization of the Ultimate Reality or Truth which is the true nectar of immortality. 2. YOGA;- The second interpretation refers to a practice of yoga. Yogis say that when the all the senses are withdrawn and mind is stilled in meditation, the Kundalini energy which sits, coiled like a serpent, at the base of the spine called the Merudanda ( Mount Meru in the story), rises upwards and reaches the crown of the head to give a person a glimpse of the Truth. 3. THE MILKY WAY ;- In the full version of the story, there are detailed descriptions of the specific positions of the moon, the sun and some planets at the time of the Churning. Rahu and Ketu swallow the Sun and Moon in eclipses. Could it be that the Ksheer Sagar( Milky Ocean) is the Milky Way, and the story is possibly an astronomical observation or an event? Perhaps it has been cleverly recorded as a story so that it is not forgotten 4. EVOLUTION;- Vishnu’s incarnation as a turtle in the story draws another obvious parallel.Vishnu has ten avatars . First came the Fish, then the Turtle, then a Boar, then Half Man-Half Beast, then a Dwarf followed by Parshuram the sage, Rama, Balarama, Krishna and the last one yet to come is Kalki. 4-1-The order of these incarnations seem like Darwin’s theory of evolution. Could these be Hinduism’s idea of evolution of man. Or does it imply a natural hierarchy? Is it a Creation Myth?Which of these above interpretations of the story do you like most? Can you find another meaning hidden in there? 4-2-Churning the Ocean Fourteen “gems” came out of the sea when Devas (angels) and Asuras (demons) churned the Milky Ocean. This is the most popular and prominent story in the Hindu Mythology. The list of 14 gems differs from book to book. But among the common gems, moon known as Soma is one. It is true to say that moon came out of the ocean. George, son of Charles Darwin, proposed a theory in the 1800s that a big chunk of earth was spurned off when a big collision happened.

4-3-That chunk became the moon. The hole made out of it became Pacific Ocean. It might have happened millions of years ago. He said that the moon will easily fit into Pacific Ocean and that was the hole created by the giant collision. This is the most popular theory about the origin of moon. 4-4-So Hindus are right in saying that moon came from “the ocean”. But other 13 gems from the Milky Ocean may not fit into this story. So we have to interpret each and every object separately. 5-THE FOURTEEN OBJECTS OR PEOPLE ARE ;-- 1-Varuni = Sura,

2-Soma = Moon,

3- Lakshmi = Goddess of Wealth

4- Horse =Uchchaisravas

5- Kaustuba= gem

6- Parijata =tree,

7-Poison = Halahala 8-Doctor= Danvantri,

9-Amrita = Ambrosia,

10-Divine Cow = Surabhi 11-Elephant= Airavata,

12-Apsaras = Damsels from Heaven, 13-Shanka = Conch

14-Wish fulfilling Tree= Kalapakavriksha 6-THE OCEAN OF LIFE;- The Samudra or the Ocean of Milk actually represents the human Consciousness or the Jeevatma. The Churning of the Ocean embodies the journey of life undertaken by this Jeevatma during its tenure on earth. It represents all the moments of pleasure and pain, physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual struggles that it is put through in life. 6-1-THE MANDARAGIRI;-- The mind is an ocean, where our thoughts and emotions play on it like the waves of the ocean. The Mandara mountain represents the virtues of steadiness and concentration. Like the mountain, our concentration too will wobble if it not anchored onto something concrete. 7-The TORTOISE;- The Mandaragiri was held steady by the Lord, who took the form of a Tortoise. Here, the tortoise symbolizes the spiritual withdrawal of a person into his own Consciousness. Just as a tortoise withdraws into its shell, so can a man attain liberation only by withdrawing into the Atman residing inside him. 7-1-In order to undertake a spiritual journey, man has to surrender himself to the Supreme Being, depend on Him for steadiness and only then, embark on his voyage. The support of the Tortoise - that Supreme Consciousness - has to back him all the way if he has to succeed in this higher venture. 8-VASUKI, THE SERPENT KING;-- Both the Devas and the Asuras desired immortality. Vasuki embodies the desire in us to attain liberation by steadying our minds, concentrating and contemplating on the higher Self. The story also shows that if this 'desire' factor is not under our control, it can take over our lives and destroy us altogether. 8-1-The rope also signifies the need for cooperation. Our spiritual journey has to take into account a good balance of both spiritual and worldly life in order to attain salvation. There are many ascetics who have achieved enlightenment by performing severe penance on the Himalayas. Our worldly life, however, dictates that we continue to live a spiritual life while being involved in this Samsara (material world) itself. 9-WHO ACTUALLY ARE THE DEVAS & THE DAITYAS?.... The Devas actually represent the 'good' (Sat) within us, while the Daityas represent the 'bad' or the 'sin' (Asat) within us. Interestingly enough, the tale of Samudra Manthan, as related by the Srimad Bhagavatam, consider both the bad and the good as being sides of the same coin, coming from the same One Creator! During Samudra Manthan, Vishnu advised the Devas to work along with the Daityas to churn the ocean.

9-1-Similarly, we have to learn to balance both the positives and negatives of our personalities, harmonizing both these energies, in order to attain a higher state of spirituality in our lives. Only when we effectively combine both these energies can we hope to attain salvation and true bliss in this lifetime. 10-NEELKANTHA - SHIVA DRINKING THE HALAHALA POISON;- The Halahala or the Kalakuta poison represents the pain and suffering we have to undergo during our life's spiritual journey. As we delve deeper into spiritual sadhana (practice) and try to achieve the state of ekaagrachitta (intense concentration), we experience tremendous inner turmoil, which must be dealt with, before we can proceed ahead in our spiritual endeavor. 10-1-The story of Lord Shiva consuming the Halahala poison educates us on how we should deal with this inner turmoil with courage, discipline, austerity, detachment and total commitment to leading a life of asceticism. Shiva also teaches us how to hold the poison of our inner selves only at a surface level, without letting the same get into our system or our mind, thereby affecting our entire life. 10-2-When the poison arose from the Samudra, the Devas immediately sought succor from Lord Shiva, who obliged by swallowing the entire venom. This teaches us that if we encounter any difficulty in life, we should immediately request help from the all-pervading One and surrender to the Supreme Entity. Help would most definitely arrive at once and free us from all our troubles and travails! 11-THE 14 RATANS THAT AROSE FROM THE OCEAN ;- Vishnu had advised the Devas to ignore the various precious gems, jewels and other aspects that arose from the Ocean during the Samudra Manthan. While the Asuras tried to snatch away as much as they could, the Devas remained focused on acquiring the Amrita.

11-1-This focus is what led to the fulfillment of their goal as well. Likewise, man's spiritual journey gives him several seemingly impressive psychic powers or Siddhis, from time to time. Many of these Siddhis keep developing and get honed as his endeavor moves further and further. But the true seeker should ignore all these, remain unaffected by these transient temptations and continue forward with his onward journey into spirituality. 11-2-Delving( investigate)on these temporary siddhis may actually slow him down in his progress and may even cause harm to him in future. In case he uses these psychic powers, it should be for the welfare of others and not something to satisfy his own ego or materialistic desires. 11-3-The 14 gems are unrelated objects. One way of interpreting is that all that is useful to men came out of the “churning”, which stands for hard labour. Some people interpret the churning as maritime expedition. Others interpret it as symbolic story.We can interpret it as getting useful things for mankind like cow, horse, elephant, trees, wine and Amrita at various stages in human history.

11-4-It was a long drawn struggle. The finds like cow, horse, and elephant improved the condition of man. Their discoveries or domestication were important mile stones in human history. Discovery of trees may symbolise agriculture. Discovery of heavenly damsels, conch may symbolise arts- Dance and Music. Umbrella stands for the establishment of rule of royalty and ear rings stand for fashion and jewellery. 12-DHANVANTARI EMBODIES GENERAL HEALTH & LONGEVITY ;- The emergence of Dhanvantari during Samudra Manthan indicates that one can attain spiritual success only when both one's body and mind are in perfectly sound health. Absence of deficiency of either can impede man's journey towards discovering his own higher self. 13-THE ENCHANTING ONE-MOHINI ;- Mohini symbolizes the delusion of the mind, arising out of pride and ego. The Asuras had great pride on their immense strength and achievement. They were so blinded by their egos that they completely lost sight of their actual goal - acquiring immortality. Similarly, a feeling of pride and complacency oft times gets in the way of a man's higher endeavor. If he were to fall prey to these petty feelings, he would immediately proceed towards nothing but DESTRUCTION. 14-RAHU;- Rahu, an Asura, managed to partake of the Amrita and became immortal, in spite of Vishnu beheading him. This shows that no matter how much man tries to control the bad in the world, the strife between good and evil will continue for all time. The true seeker, should hence understand this nature of the Cosmos itself and proceed forward, unaffected, in his journey of seeking the Aatman.

15-SAMUDRA MANTHAN IS A SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION OF KUNDALIMNI SADHANA;--

18 FACTS;- 1-OCEAN > the symbol of chitta(mana,mind)

2-CHURNING >BEGINNING OF SADHANA 3-SUR & ASUR >the symbol of good & bad thinking 4-MERU > the spinal cord 5- VASUKI >lower &upper part of Kundalini (4 &3=7 Chakras ) 6-LORD VISHNU AS TORTOISE >second chakra ,related to genitals,owned by Sri Hari, controlled by Sadhak like a Tortoise,only then SADHANA begins 7-POISON >as soon as SADHAK become self restrained; test starts ;either become strong or quits 8-KAMDHENU >symbol of dharma &pure chitt (purification starts) 9-UCCHAISHRAVAS >symbol of power ;Sadhak receives the power of dharma 10-AIRVAT > symbol of strength, honor, stability and patience ;Sadhak accuires all these virtues 11-MOON >Symbol of pure chitt 12-MA LAKSHMI >Fulfillment of three purusharths 13-KAUSTUBHMANI >Mani is symbol of enlightment; Self Realization of Sadhak 14-KALP VRIKSHA >-fulfillment of four purusharths 15-APSARAS >symbol of bliss 16-VARUNI >self -satisfaction 17-DHANVANTRI >AWAKENING OF THREE NADIS 18-AMRIT >REALIZATION OF BRAHAMAN

NOTE;-

The story of Samudra Manthan teaches us how to maintain harmony between our material and spiritual lives, by placing complete and unshakable faith in our Creator and accepting both the good and the bad in our lives (both from within and without) on an even keel(base). ...SHIVOHAM....