Swami Anandakapila on ida/pingala, Shakti/Shiva

[Guest guest]

Margo has written to ask an interesting question.

 

"I am curious to know why we tend to say "ida and pingala" with the

feminine preceding and not "pingala/ida" yet we say sun/moon with

the masculine preceding- not moon/sun - why is this so? It has

always puzzled me.

 

Could it be that the rhythmic cadence of "ida/pingala" just sounds

better that way instead of "pingala/ida" (which personally I think

it does) or is it a subtle way of keeping the gender balance.

I think it is probably more common to say masculine/feminine rather

than feminine/masculine but that is just my perception?

I really love your newsletters"

 

Love

Margo

 

Dear Margo:

 

Usually sharing my personal view in these weekly messages is the

last part that I turn my attention to and hence often my comments

reflect less than my best literary style.

 

Several factors need to be considered with your question.

Firstly the three "magic" languages (i.e. languages which have

attached to their individual sounds an occult-spiritual potential

evoked by uttering and writing over millenniums) are Hebrew, Arabic

and Sanskrit.

 

Hebrew and Arabic are both read and written from right to left!

Sanskrit, like European languages, is read from left to right.

Perhaps, since Sanskrit is not a 'lingua franca' of common parlance,

the inherent order is retained i.e. 'i' before 'p' (also in English

and most European languages) and therefore "Ida/Pingala".

 

English usage, we ignore the inherent order of letters and

definitely follow a Patriarchal bias placing the (m)asculine before

the (f)eminine hence Male/Female, Sun/Moon . This is a reflection of

male dominance culturally.

 

We would tend to agree that Western (European) society has very

powerful roots in patriarchal bias and despite the 21st century this

bias still prevails.

 

India, I would state, is a society deeply embedded in a matriarchal

substrate manifesting exteriorly with a patriarchal overlay. This

acknowledgment of the awesome power of the feminine as kinetic

energy distilling matter in an eternal dance of "Shakti" and "Shiva"

is an Indian characteristic. The majority of books from India

usually talk about "Shakti-Shiva" and invariably we reverse the

order when publishing these concepts in the West so we get "Shiva-

Shakti".

 

The profusion of feminine deities in Hinduism is astounding and an

inherent recognition of the awe, respect and power wielded by the

feminine. Hinduism may be described as a religion of 'gyneolatry',

not 'idolatry' nor 'adultery'! just 'gyneolatry'!

 

In India they have a saying; "Shiva without Shakti is a corpse" and

indeed Shakti, or Kali, is often depicted dancing upon Shiva's

supine, inert body. This aphorism emphasizes that Shakti is pre-

eminent; the bestower of life, her body a literal manifestation of

the physical boundaries of a temple and to enter her is to perform

the "mass" in the interior "sanctum sanctorum" depths of her being.

Indian numerology (which is a specialty of mine) utilizes the

equivalent of "temura" (anagrams), as in the Hebrew Kabalah, to

demonstrate Shakti's power. Shiva's unique quality comes from

the "i" vowel and when Shakti "repossesses her "i" the inherent "a"

in Shiva's "H" consonant emerges making "shava" which in Sanskrit

means "Corpse".

 

SHIVA - I + A = SHAVA = "corpse"

 

OM TAT SAT

Much Love

 

ANANDAKAPILA

[Guest guest]

Hmmm... How does one sign up for Swami Anandakapila (aka Dr. John

Mumford?)'s newsletter?

 

-- Len/ Kalipadma

 

On Sat, 27 Sep 2003 14:54:59 -0000

=?iso-8859-1?q?peNkaLai_k=E2talikkiR=EAn?= <penkatali writes:

> Margo has written to ask an interesting question.

>

> "I am curious to know why we tend to say "ida and pingala" with the

> feminine preceding and not "pingala/ida" yet we say sun/moon with

> the masculine preceding- not moon/sun - why is this so? It has

> always puzzled me.

>

 

 

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