BIODANCE - NATARAJ

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Good evening friends,

 

Excerpts from: http://www.hinduism.co.za/newpage11.htm

 

BIODANCE - NATARAJ

THE DANCE OF SHIVA

 

We renew our physical body just as we regrow hair and nails. We are

on the move. Five years ago we didn't exist, all our atoms having

been replaced in the interval. Here today, completely gone in five

years, renewed down to the last single atom, we endure only in the

shape, form and pattern that are assured by our genetic blueprint.

 

Our replacement parts come in constant flow from the earth itself.

The carbon atoms in my body were once of the earth and shall be

again, only to be exchanged for more of the same. After leaving my

body they may re-enter me at a later time. Or they may be fixed for a

while in the body of someone else- or something else- in this

unending round of "biodance," this dance of life.

 

BIODANCE- the endless exchange of the elements of living things with

the earth itself - proceeds silently, giving us no hint that it is

happening. It is a dervish dance, animated and purposeful and

disciplined; and it is a dance in which every living organism

participates.

 

These observations simply defy any definition of a static and fixed

body. Even our genes, our claim to biologic individuality, constantly

dissolve and are renewed. Our dissolution is a silent flow occurring

outside our awareness. we are in a persistent equilibrium with the

earth.

 

It is not only our genes that renew themselves. The entire body

participates in this astonishing dynamism. Radioisotopic techniques

allow us to trace the chemicals that enter and leave the body.

Aebersold has concluded that 98 percent of the 10 to the power of 28

28 atoms of the body are replaced annually. Some tissue, such as

bone, is especially dynamic. Each body structure has its own rate of

reformation: the lining of the stomach renews itself in a week; the

skin is entirely replaced in a month; the liver is regenerated in six

weeks.

 

Yet the boundary of our body has to be extended even farther than the

earth itself. We know that certain elements in our body, such as the

phosphorus in our bones, were formed at an earlier stage in the

evolution of our galaxy. Like many elements in the earth's crust, it

was cycled through the lifetime of several stars before appearing

terrestrially, eventually finding its way into our body.

 

A strictly bounded body does not exist. Our roots go deep; we are

anchored in the stars.

 

The biodance, the constant renewal of our body from the world

outside, stands in playful contrast to our ordinary idea of death. We

do not wait on death, for we are constantly returning to the earth

while alive. Every living moment a portion of the billions of atoms

in our body returns to the world outside. This constant streaming is

so pronounced, so necessary for life, that the very notion

of 'boundary' begins to appear as an arbitrary idea rather than a

physical reality.

 

The dance of Shiva is considered an act of creation. It arouses

dormant energies.This productive energy of the Absolute in its

pristine strength represents the forces of evolution and involution,

the appearance and disappearance of the universe.

 

Every aspect of life has two opposite entities. Deva is the divine

principle and Bhuta is matter. Deva is light , truth and immortality;

Bhuta is darkness, untruth and death. One is positive and the other

is negative; one is life and the other is inertia. The cycle of life

and death can only proceed when these two basic opposite forces,

represented by the Devas and the Bhutas are finally reconciled. These

two opposite principles are eternally in conflict (Daivasuram) but

become reconciled in the body of Shiva. Their co-existence is

expressed in the rhythm of Shiva's dance.

 

Natraj - the cosmic dancer - represents the constant biodance of life-

creation, maintenance and transformation and indicates the perfect

balance between life and death. Shiva's dance is the most inspiring

and pragmatic act typifying the eternal rhythm which is the cause of

the infinite creative process. Shiva is the presiding deity of the

mind. The entire universe created by Shiva is his SHAKTI (Prakriti,

or Nature) or energy. Shiva's dance movements represent the movement

of his SHAKTI or energy.

 

Bhagavad Gita, Ch.13, Verse 29:

 

"He sees, who sees that all actions are performed by Nature alone and

that the Self is actionless."

 

Url: http://www.hinduism.co.za/newpage11.htm