A question about ChinnaMastika

[Guest guest]

In the form of ChinnaMastika she is seen headless and her blood being

drunk by her two handmaidens,okiey it symbolizes self sacrifical but

why is it that ChinnaMastika is seen drinking her own blood ?

[Guest guest]

Namaskar:

 

I am quoting below from Passionate Enlightenment: Women in

Tantric Buddhism, by Miranda Shaw. Although Chinnimasta is a

Hindu goddess, there is a similarity between the Buddhist

"Severed-Headed Vajrayogini" and Chinnimasta (according to

Shaw, who also refers to David R. Kinsley's Hindu Goddesses -

Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition,

and to Elisabeth Benard's Chinnimasta, an analysis of the

history and symbolism of these goddesses) so I am sharing the

following in answer to your question. I hope it's helpful to you.

 

"Laksminkara taught the practice of Vajrayogini on the basis of

the way this deity appeared to her in a vision. It seems fitting that

a female deity would reveal herself in her severed-headed form

to a female mystic, for who but a woman would immediately

appreciate this viscerally direct symbol of spiritual nourishment,

in which streams of life-giving liquid flow from a woman's body.

Although the image refers on one level to biological

nourishment, on another level it locates the source of spiritual

life and sustenance in a woman's body. It affirms that a woman

can tap a never-ending stream of energy within herself and

choose to direct that energy to her own liberation and the

liberation of her disciples. Severed-Headed Vajrayogini locates

the power to rejuvenate, replenish, and restore herself in a

woman's own body, as well as her ability to nourish others

without sacrificing her own needs or spiritual development."

 

I do not know if this is only Shaw's interpretation, or if the other

writings referred to contain this or other information regarding

this. Maybe you can locate the other writings if you are interested.

The one by David Kinsley is on amazon.com.

 

-- Mary Ann

 

, "Madhava Prabu"

<mr_taboosingh> wrote:

> In the form of ChinnaMastika she is seen headless and her

blood being

> drunk by her two handmaidens,okiey it symbolizes self

sacrifical but

> why is it that ChinnaMastika is seen drinking her own blood ?

[Guest guest]

OM Madhava Prabu

 

The following is part of an article, Hatha Yoga and Shaktism, that

I wrote for :

 

"The dramatic imagery of Chinnamasta is an excellent,

multi-layered symbol of the basic philosophy of Yoga/Vedanta

and Shaktism. Chinnamasta is depicted as holding her own

head that she has just cut off. Blood is spurting in three streams

from her neck.The central stream in pouring in to Chinnamasta's

mouth, while the other two streams on the left and right of the

main stream are flowing into the mouths of Chinnamasta's two

attendent dakinis or subshaktis who are on Her left and right.

This graphic metaphor shows us how to come to Devi and our

true Self.

 

The head is the center of the activities of the mind. Cutting off the

head of Chinnamasta stops the mental activities. Patanjali tells

us, "Yoga is restraining the activities of the mind." (Raja Yoga

Sutras I.2) Furthermore, Chinnamasta is dancing the Tandava,

the cosmic dance of Shiva that leads to the destruction of the

phenomenal world that is the focus of our desires. The sense

organs have their focus in the head, so the chopped off head of

Chinnamasta represents the stopping of the outward orientation

of the senses. Also, the dance is performed on the body of

Kama, desire, while in coitus with his wife, Rati. This further

reinforces the message to rise above mundane desire in order

to encounter Devi.

 

The headlessness of Chinnamasta represents conquest of the

senses and the kleshas (ignorance, egoism, attraction,

repulsion, and attachment to life) that are the obstacles to

spiritual enlightenment. The headlessness also represents the

conquest of space and time and the triumph over the physical

laws that operate therein.

 

People are so attached to a conventional concept of the universe

and so attached to looking outward in their interactions with that

universe (the veil of Maya) that an arresting image such as

Chinnamasta is required to get them to consider other

possibilities of existence.

 

The head of Chinnamasta has been chopped off but still She

lives and, moreover, lives as a divine being. The question should

arise, "How is Her continued existence possible?" and "What is

this depiction telling me."

 

The imagery also draws our attention to the four other bodies or

Koshas that each of us has in addition to the physical body. It is

these four bodies (Pranamaya Kosha, Manomaya Kosha,

Vijnanamaya Kosha, Anandamaya Kosha) that are responsible

for enabling us to reach whatever level of spiritual attainment that

we currently enjoy and will enjoy. These four bodies also survive

the death of the physical body. The Chinnamasta imagery

reminds us of this existence after death.

 

One of these four bodies is the causal body (Anandamaya

Kosha), the seat of the soul. So, now we are explicity reminded

that each of us has a soul. Furthermore, taking Kundalini up

through the major chakras and experiencing the Divine, as

represented by the central blood stream, shows that our true

identity is that soul, and that what we originally thought of as 'our'

soul is actually the same Soul, the same Divinity, manifesting in

everything.

 

The three blood streams from Chinnamasta represent Prana

(Ha), Apana (Tha) and Kundalini, the union of Ha and Tha, the

prana that is necessary for spiritual enlightenment. It is only

Chinnamasta who is drinking from the central stream of

Kundalini. Her attendents are not yet fully Self-realized but will be

with the help and example of Chinnamasta.

 

The Chinnamasta imagery tells us that instead of looking

outward and entertaining ourselves with the vagaries of Maya,

we should be looking inward, purifying ourselves, enabling

Kundalini to form and rise so that we become living examples of

that imagery. Chinnamasta is the Shakti that takes her disciples

away from involvement with the senses and desire, and by Her

Grace grants them complete control of over the mind and the

primary instincts and gives them the will and vision to come to

Her abode in the Sushumna. Then we will see Devi in the world,

Maya will be conquered, and we will know our own Divinity. It is

only be experiencing the Transcendent Devi that one fully

appreciates Devi immanent in the world.

 

As Patanjali says in the Raja Yoga Sutras, "At that time [when the

thought waves are stilled], the perceiver rests in his own true

nature." (I.3)

 

"The sacrifice is indeed beheaded" Satapatha Brahmana. [511]

 

 

Omprem

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

, "Madhava Prabu"

<mr_taboosingh> wrote:

> In the form of ChinnaMastika she is seen headless and her

blood being

> drunk by her two handmaidens,okiey it symbolizes self

sacrifical but

> why is it that ChinnaMastika is seen drinking her own blood ?

[Guest guest]

I suppose the simple answer is that the important part of sacrifice

is bali or presenting the blood offering, so self sacrifice requires

the sacrifices of self to consume own blood. The rest has been filled

in by the other correspondant.

[Guest guest]

Hello Dave: On that topic, I still say check out Miranda Shaw's

analysis of Vajrayogini. (I posted about it earlier in response to

this topic.) In her interpretation, no self-sacrifice is made. Cutting

her own head off is not death, as it would be for an ordinary

human. It's a metaphor, and that she drinks her own blood while

nourishing others is not self-sacrifice, but proves that

self-sacrifice is not necessary in order to teach the lesson or

accomplish the goal. I posted something recently about what is

missing from scripture: female voice, female interpretation. But

you can listen to the voices of modern women who are studying

ancient texts. Miranda Shaw, though working within Tantric

Buddhism, compares her findings to what exists in Hinduism

and other disciplines.

 

Mary Ann

 

, "Dave" <flink@b...>

wrote:

> I suppose the simple answer is that the important part of

sacrifice

> is bali or presenting the blood offering, so self sacrifice

requires

> the sacrifices of self to consume own blood. The rest has been

filled

> in by the other correspondant.