The journey ..

[Guest guest]

“A traditional Swedish Story gives a sense of the

next phase of the journey. Because of the mishaps of

the parents, a young princess named Aris must be

betrothed to a fearful dragon. When the King and Queen tell

her, she becomes frightened for her life. But

recovering her wits, she goes out beyond the market to seek

a wise woman, who has raised twelve children and

twenty-nine grandchildren, and knows the ways of the dragons

and men. <br><br>A wise woman tells Aris, that she

must indeed marry the dragon, but there are proper

ways to approach him. She then gives instructions for

the wedding night. In particular the princess is

bidden to wear ten beautiful gowns, one on top of

another.<br><br>The wedding takes place. A feast is held in the

palace, after which the dragon carries the princess off

to his bedchamber. When the dragon advances to his

bride, she stops him saying she must carefully remove

her wedding attire before offering her heart to him.

And he too, (instructed by the wise woman), must

properly remove his attire. To this he willingly

agrees.<br><br>“As I take off each layer of my gown, you must also

remove a layer.” Then taking off the first gown the

princes watches as the dragon sheds his first layer of

scaly armor. Though it is painful the dragon has done

this periodically before. But then the princess

removes another gown, and then another. Each time the

dragon find he too must claw off a deeper layer of

scales. By the fifth gown the dragon begins to weep

copious tears at the pain. Yet the princess

continues.<br><br>With each successive layer the dragon’s skin becomes

more tender and his skin softens. He becomes lighter

and lighter. When the princess removes her tenth

gown, the dragon releases the last vestige of dragon

form and emerges as a man, a fine prince whose eyes

sparkle like a child’s, released at last from the ancient

spell of his dragon form. Princess Aris and her new

husband are left to the pleasures of the bridal chamber

to fulfill their last advices of the wise woman.

…….<br><br>It (the spiritual journey) is described as a

difficult purification: cleansing, letting go and stripping

away. … It is painful to cast off our scales, and the

dragons guarding the way are fierce. It requires the

inspiration of angels; it requires diving into the ocean of

tears.”<br><br>… “After the Ecstasy, the Laundry” by Jack

Kornfield

[Guest guest]

Very enlightenting story. I too have one which

conveys the essentials of individual approach to the

Path.Soon I shall be posting the same.<br>Meearbai.prasad

and my all other respondent to my "deep sorrow" msgs,

are worthy of my love and i would like to reciprocate

with thanks.My sorrow has vanished, and now i am

thinking that some Aris shall ask me to shed the

"layers".Fearing the pain,I ask the Aris not to go for a wedding

at all. <br>S.

[Guest guest]

>>>Fearing the pain,I ask the Aris not

to go for a wedding at

all>>>><br><br>FEAR!!! Is that what prevents most people from taking

the

next step - to the divine wedding?

<br><br>_/\_<br><br>Uma

[Guest guest]

yes.we have a simily like this.the onion.it is

told by sri ramakrishna and by osho too.we can

understnad the mind like an onion.as an onion<br>mind too

has many layers.outer layers are thick<br>and hard to

remove.when we remove outer one we find a bit softer

layer.like this by removing one by one we find the

softest.and finally we find the emptiness.the mind too is

same thing.outer layers willbe harder.and we get pain

while removing them.layer by layer they willbe softer

and easy to remove.and finally we remain as emptiness

or silence.those who are doing any practice to know

the god or truth has to remember this simily.b'cos

they have to bare pain in the first.but they need not

loose faith in god.they need not loose faith in that

they are forms of emptiness or silence.<br>but i think

we need not see the mind as an obstacle to know the

god.it is a media.we are the witness using the mind.when

we are attached to world we willbe in

darkness..see..really the whole universe is in darkness..and from

darkness we cant see the beauty of life and cant see even

the god.but when we,the witness,reached the light of

god,we can see the god beauty of life.so removing the

layers of mind means,realising the reality of world and

god.state of witness in mind will change but the mind

doesnt change.because it is only a media.<br>thanks

umaji.your post made me thinking deeply.<br>love to

all<br>prasad

[Guest guest]

Hello Prasadbvv,You have said a simily for the

robes of the Aris, and pointed to Onion as an

example.Here, I humbly wish to point out that the layers should

not be taken as layers of mind only, but for the

whole conciousness.In fact seven layers of conciousness

have been decribed in yogic literature. These layers

are called as "Asmaan" in Sufism and Islamic

philosophy.Thus for me, Aris had weared 7 robes one on the

other.In vedic terminology a "body" is supposed to consist

of 3 "kosh".viz."anna maya kosh","pran maya kosh"

and "mano maya kosh".Each "kosh" has 2

plains(layers),thus in all the body consists of seven plains of

conciousness.Seventh Plain is the plain of Divine.. and here He is

experianced.<br> I have taken the story of Aris and the dragon in

the same context.<br>love

[Guest guest]

Om Safar_x<br><br>Your explanation of the koshas

is close but not quite correct.<br><br>A human being

has an atman (soul), encased in 3 bodies and 5

sheaths.<br><br>The first body is the physical body or Stula Sharira

or Annamaya Kosha. 'Anna' means 'food' so this is

the food sheath.<br><br>The second body is the astral

body, also called the Linga Sharia or Sukshma Sharira.

It consists of<br><br>(1) the Pranamaya Kosha

(nadis, chakras, the 5 vital pranas, plus the 5 Karma

Indriyas or organs or action - mouth, hands, feet, organs

of evacuation and generation);<br><br>(2) the

Manomaya Kosha (Manas - mind, Chitta - subconscious, 5

Jnana Indriyas or organs of knowledge - eyes, ears,

nose, smell, tongue, skin; and <br><br>(3) the

Vijnanamaya Kosha (Buddhi - intellect and Ahamkara -

ego.<br><br>NOTE:The Antahkarana or Inner Instrument is composed of

the Manas (mind) and Chitta (subconscious) from the

Manomaya Kosha plus the Buddhi (intellect), and Ahamkara

(ego) from the Vijnanamaya Kosha.<br><br>The third body

is the Karana Sharira (causal body) or Anandamaya

Kosha (Bliss sheath) within which is the Atman

(soul).<br><br>The Linga Sharira and the Karana Sharira are

permanent and are what travels to the astral worlds after

death. All your thoughts, emotions and actions are

recorded in the subconscious and survive death. It is

these that guide one to one's karmic destiny. It is

only the Stula Sharira or physical body that

dies.<br><br>Jaya Maa<br><br>Omprem

[Guest guest]

Omprem you are perfectly correct. I forgot 3

shariras while enumerating the plains of conciousness.

Thank ytou very much for correcting me...It's always

lovly for me to hear about my mistakes.<br>love <br>S.

[Guest guest]

Om Safar_x<br><br>Mistakes are nothing. No need for judging, regretting, or

devaluing oneself as a result of mistakes. Emphasis the Truth (as you do) and

all else is inconsequential.<br><br>Omprem