Devout reading of Sacred myth as a remedial measure

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Aum Namah Shivaya

 

 

Remedial Measures for planetary afflictions

 

Vedic astrology is well known for the remedial measures that it

prescribes for various planetary afflictions and periods. From

charity to chanting, a variety of techniques are used. Some prescribe

chanting of sacred syllables and long mantras, while others prescribe

wearing carefully chosen gemstones. Yet others recommend donating

particular articles to appease particular planets. But the simplest

of all remedies, is devout reading of particular myths or stories.

Meditating on these myths is a very old custom in India. The myths

are generally interesting and can be read by anyone. Remedies like

chanting, quite often have dos and don'ts attached. One needs to be

initiated by an adept for most mantras. The right accent and

intonation is often very important.

 

And so far as the gemstones are concerned, picking the most suitable

gem is in itself a not too easy job. Even if one has successfully

identified the appropriate gemstone, it is hard to get the right

quality stone. Flawed stones can channelise negative energies of the

planet. Rituals like the Yagnas are quite often costly and one could

face practical difficulties. Talismans and other such remedies give

scope for exploitation. It is quite common to come across

unscrupulous astrologers who prescribe costly remedies just to fill

their pockets. Some astrologers are more eager to prescribe remedies

than to predict. I could go on pointing out the difficulties one

encounters, in the process of trying to appease the planets. What is

the way out?

 

Three modes of remedying- Sattvic, Rajasic and Tamasic

 

First let us see how these remedies work. Certain remedies try to

neutralize certain previous karmas. Some try to increase the balance

of good karmas. Based on their approach and spirit, remedies can be

classified into three categories- tamasic, rajasic and sattvic. Most

remedies of the `Lal Kitab' are either tamasic or rajasic. Tamasic

remedies give temporary relief only. Carrying or wearing a

particular thing on one's body, or throwing coins in flowing water or

not parting with articles signified by a planet during its period,

are all, of this kind. They don't really either neutralize the

unwholesome karmas of the past or help acquire merit. They could at

the most give only temporary relief. Certain other karmas like

feeding birds, animals and persons signified by the planet aim at

neutralizing the previous unwholesome karmas, or at increasing the

merit (punya). Such remedies are rajasic. They are much better than

the tamasic ones. Yet they do not work at the causal level.

 

The Tantric path offers a variety of remedies, some sattvic, some

rajasic and some tamasic. There are some who employ the knowledge of

Tantra for self-centered activities, activities that at times are not

in others' interests. Energy is in itself, neither good nor evil. It

is the way we employ it that makes the difference. Though one can

employ the great forces of nature for evil purposes or to harm

others, in the long run, the effect of their "negative karmas" will

catch up with them. None can escape the law of karma. Employing the

same cosmic forces for peaceful and beneficial purposes is allowed.

At the same time, it should be remembered that the use of yantra,

mantra and tantra for occult purposes, for the fulfillment of worldly

desires is only peripheral and the actual purpose of Tantra- to

expand one's awareness till it liberates oneself taking one back to

the Cosmic source- should not be lost sight of.

 

The sattvic remedies are the ones that work at the causal level. They

cut across the root of karmas, by bringing a change of consciousness.

What is the point in feeding crows, when one remains arrogant and

petty minded? Ultimately all sattvic remedies aim at a transformation

of consciousness. For it is here that the key to `Wholeness' lies.

Any significant change has to come from within. And for such change

to be long lasting, it needs to be from the source. So only remedies

that work on the roots of karma, can give more lasting effects. Such

sattvic remedies include genuine sadhana (spiritual work) and a

selfless or at least `detached' attitude. But spiritual work done

with a motive becomes rajasic. Thus chanting a sattvic mantra for the

fulfillment of a desire, can make the remedy a rajasic one.

Nevertheless it still elevates one's mind. Thus chanting certain

sattvic mantras, reading or listening to the sacred myths, serving

others and charity, are all sattvic remedies, depending on one's

attitude.

 

While chanting some mantras needs a certain amount of spiritual

discipline, the degree of discipline required while reading the

stories, is far less, thus making it a far more Universal remedy, a

remedy that can be adopted by one and all, a remedy that is very

simple and has no side effects. The safest remedies are reading the

sacred stories, and helping others. When done sincerely with the

right preparation, chanting mantras too is good. But a wrong approach

may at times bring unnecessary problems. Chanting the names of the

Supreme God is another safe and easy remedy. Meditation is also quite

beneficial. But most people find meditation either boring or

difficult. It is here that the stories are very useful.

 

The status of Sacred Myth in remedial Measures

 

While reading the stories, one can easily concentrate, thus making it

easier to indirectly meditate on the same energy. Reading the stories

of the planets and the respective deities is another form of

meditating on them, thus opening our minds to their beneficial

influences. The more we meditate on the various significations and

lessons that a planet imparts, the more we get attuned to the

positive workings of the planets. Gradually we imbibe the `spirit' of

the planet as its relevance and significance `sinks' into our psyche.

We become channels for the benefic planetary energies to flow

through. But for this to happen, we should become hollow, like a

bamboo. A solid stick cannot become a flute. Only a hollow bamboo can

become a flute, like the flute in the hands of Krishna. Then the

cosmic energies flow through us; eternal music comes through us.

 

Just as "Darkness is not dispensed just by mentioning the

word `lamp' " (Kularnava Tantra), however well said, words are

insufficient. It is the actual experience that can give self-

realization. This is what a devout reading of the sacred myth does.

The external worship is much more than mere obeisance to the deity.

It is a psychological experiment of systematically attuning the body

and the psychic forces for a gradual unfolding. It is a process

of `centering' one's psychic energies and ultimately

the `unification' with the cosmos. The degree to which the stories

help us, depends on our faith too. Done with an attitude of faith,

love and sincerity, the practice of devout reading unites theory and

practice to help in the expansion of consciousness.

 

That which never happened but always is

 

At this point, it is helpful to know more about myth in general. Myth

in its popular sense, means something widely believed and contrary to

fact. But it is not so. As Salustius said, "Myths are things which

never happened but always are". In its earlier sense, a myth is more

like a metaphor of some subtlety on a subject difficult to describe

in any other way. A myth is "an involuntary collective statement

based on an unconscious psychic experience". According to Carl

Jung, " The primitive mentality does not invent myths, it experiences

them. Myths are original revelations of the preconscious psyche . . .

Many of these unconscious processes may be indirectly occasioned by

consciousness, but never by conscious choice. Others appear to arise

spontaneously, that is to say, from no discernible or demonstrable

conscious cause. ("The Psychology of the Child Archetype," ibid. par.

261.)

 

Living Wisdom

 

Ancient Indian tradition too holds that its mythology is not invented

and that it is based on original revelations. And that it is

timeless. It is living wisdom. Each time the stories are retold, they

become alive again. Such stories are experienced, rather relived. Not

in the external world, but in an internal world, within the psyche.

But the listener has to be open and receptive. The stories are

charged with energy, energy that can be transmitted to whoever is

open enough to receive it. But myth cannot speak to a listener whose

mind is barred by over-intellectualization. If one starts

intellectualizing any experience, the whole charm is lost. If one

starts intellectualizing love, it boils down to chemistry, depriving

oneself of the wonderful experience called love. So too with Myth. In

order to experience the living wisdom, for it to work on your

consciousness, you have to stop intellectualizing the stories. You

should let them penetrate your consciousness, so that you may touch

their source- the preconscious psyche. In doing so, you will touch

your own source- where you are one with the Cosmic.

 

Myth can be therapeutic too, as modern psychology affirms. But that

is not the end of it. The images and symbols used by mythology are

not randomly selected, but very precise since they evolved naturally.

Mythology makes use of precise, vital images and symbols to awaken

the lost memory of our true nature, and in the process, helps the

individual to recover the lost unity and assume the nature of the

original Cosmic consciousness.

 

Sacred myth- A veritable labyrinth of symbols and images

 

In these myths we come a long way, passing though a veritable

labyrinth as it were, of symbols, images, gods and goddesses. At

times, the average reader may wonder what actually these symbols and

deities are. Are they just man-made conceptions to facilitate

comprehension? Are the deities just various psychological forces?

Are they just transformers of our psychic Energy? Are they just

Cosmic forces? Are they just universal archetypes repeating

constantly in the midst of men at all times? To answer that they are

any of these would be wrong for they are all these and much more.

After reading the stories, if anyone mistakes them to be an

intellectual game, there would be nothing more farther from truth.

Sadhana is not an intellectual game, but a spiritual experience,

which helps us to discover our Cosmic roots, an exercise which helps

us to discover our own self, the awareness of which makes life

joyful, radiant and infinitely meaningful.

 

Such symbols and deities are not "manufactured", but

discovered through primal inner sources. It is true that the symbols

are born from a universal human compulsion and embody "timeless"

universal principles. True, Shakti is power and energy. Yet to

render Shakti merely as power would be erroneous. She is not just

power or energy as is understood commonly. She is the power of Shiva

(Consciousness). She is the power of everything, the power of peace,

the power of meditation, the power of silence, the power of action, a

power that permeates everything from within. She is the power of

wisdom, devotion, meditation and action. She is Svashakti, one's own

power. She is the power of transformation. And Sadhana awakens the

dormant power within us. Shakti is the creative mystery, which

displays itself in various ways. To the physicist, she is the

inherent active force of matter; to the psychologist, she is the

force of mind (the psychological force); to the mystic she is the

force behind all that IS.

 

All the deities we worship, are an embodiment of

various attributes that reveal the supreme principle (ultimate

reality) in one way or the other. Everything is born from cosmic

consciousness. When we do not forget this fundamental truth, there

would be no difficulty in understanding that the Supreme

consciousness, the Ultimate Reality which is beyond all forms and

descriptions can assume the forms of the various deities, in response

to the wishes of the devotees who supplicate it. Countless mystics

and seers have realized, seen and experienced these forms. These

deities are not just symbols but real. They are as real as you and

me, but on a different level.

 

Nobody can deny the power of the mind. It is the

power of the mind, that underlies all man made creations. The

imagination, dreams and thoughts of man slowly become a reality.

Every scientific discovery and invention is a proof of this. Seeing

the birds flying, man, by the power of his mind has invented the

aeroplane. Now imagine the power of millions of people meditating on

a form of the Supreme, as a chosen deity! The power of their minds is

enough to really make the Supreme Principle manifest itself in the

form that they meditate on. New archetypes emerge at times from the

collective mind. The older archetypes do not die, but continue to

live, albeit through the new ones, and keep surfacing again. Thus old

ones merge into new archetypes. This process of integration goes on

as the collective mind lives its role in Nature's evolution. Thus the

Vedic Rudra is integrated into the Tantric Shiva, who is adored in

different forms, each form being a facet of the same Shiva.

 

You should also remember, the famous Rig vedic affirmation, `Ekam sat

viprah bahudha vadanti'. `Truth is one; sages call it by various

names' (1.164.46) sums up the Vedic approach to the various names of

Truth or Reality. Though the various deities appear to be different

and independent, they are actually facets of the same Cosmic

Consciousness, Brahman, or the Supreme.

 

Archetypes and archetypal images as Universal motifs

 

>From the depths of the prehistoric human psyche, emerge the nebulous

beginnings of the images of the gods and demons. Such images grew

slowly and developed spontaneously as man moved through and lived in

the various bygone eras. They were not thrust on man, but manifested

naturally as any other archetypal image would. Here it may not be out

of context if I deviate, to acquaint the average reader with the

term `archetype'.

 

The word `archetype' was first used by the famous sage and

psychologist Carl Gustav Jung in 1919. Today it is not an uncommon

word. But how many of us have understood Jung's usage of the word? I

have often come across people using the word differently. What are

archetypes? Jung posited that in addition to the personal

unconscious, there is also the collective unconscious. The collective

unconscious is formed of two components- the instincts and the

archetypes. He had discovered that the delusions of the insane seemed

to call on a collective fund of archaic images and symbols.

 

While instincts are impulses, which carry out actions from necessity

and have a biological quality (for instance the homing instinct in

birds), the archetypes are different. Archetypes are innate,

unconscious modes of understanding which regulate our perception

itself. These inborn forms of `intuition' are the necessary

determinants of all psychic phenomena. At times it seems as if Jung

doesn't make a distinction between the instincts and the archetypes,

while at many places he differentiates them.

Jung also believed that many of our more complex social behaviors

and/or rituals are also inborn, universal, archetypal behaviors. Then

the intricate mating games and courtship rituals that we humans (as

well as other animals) engage in, are also considered to be

universal, archetypal behaviors. Going beyond the basic instincts,

beyond the social, "instincts" (rituals or behaviors), Jung saw even

the human desire for spirituality - our need for experiencing "the

Eternal" (God) - as being an inborn archetypal behavior.

"If therefore, we speak of "God" as an "archetype," we are saying

nothing about His real nature - but are rather letting it be known

that "God" already has a place in that part of our psyche which is

pre-existent to consciousness. And that therefore God cannot be

considered merely an invention of consciousness. We neither make Him

more remote nor eliminate Him, but bring Him closer to the

possibility of being experienced.... The psyche of the infant in its

preconscious state is anything but (italics mine) a tabula rasa

(blank sheet); it is already preformed in a recognizably individual

way, and is moreover equipped with all specifically human instincts,

as well as with the a priori foundations of the higher functions...

And if, by employing the concept of "archetype," we attempt to define

a little more closely the point at which the "god" grips us, we have

not abolished anything, only approached closer to the source of

life." (Short Excerpt from Memories, Dreams, and Reflections) The

great psychologist Jung thus tells us that we are born with the

desire to know and experience God!

Archetypal images, as universal patterns or motifs, which come from

the collective unconscious, are the basic content of religions,

mythologies, legends and fairy tales. "An archetypal content

expresses itself, first and foremost, in metaphors. If such a content

should speak of the sun and identify with it the lion, the king, the

hoard of gold guarded by the dragon, or the power that makes for the

life and health of man, it is neither the one thing nor the other,

but the unknown third thing that finds more or less adequate

expression in all these similes, yet-to the perpetual vexation of the

intellect-remains unknown and not to be fitted into a formula." ("The

Psychology of the Child Archetype," CW 9i, par. 267) On a personal

level, archetypal motifs are patterns of thought or behavior that are

common to humanity at all times and in all places.

 

 

The archetypes have no material existence and reveal themselves only

as `images'. Jung distinguished per se the `archetype' from

the `archetypal image'. The existence of the archetype itself can

only be inferred, since it is by definition, unconscious. But the

archetypal image protrudes into consciousness and is the way we

perceive the archetype for ourselves. Thus archetypes are primordial

ideas, common to all mankind, and express only through the archetypal

images. Archetypes are charged with emotion and function autonomously

from the unconscious. They are numinous, electrically charged with a

sense of the sacred.

 

Hinduism- A living system of universal symbols and images

 

Throughout the centuries, various religions and their sacred writings

have identified archetypes (and visionary, numinous archetypal

experiences) using a wide array of terminology for them. While it is

true that other ancient cultures across the globe, too had their own

system of symbols, Hinduism, is probably the only one that has

survived and been preserved well over the centuries. It has the most

evolved, universal and living system of symbols, images, and other

such tools of transformation. Such archetypes and myths belong to

none, they are universal. Very little of ancient cultures like the

Babylonian is known today. The fragments are hard to follow. The

essence of the Greek myths had been lost and they have degenerated

from living wisdom to allegories and fables. It is here that the

world can benefit from the living wisdom of ancient India.

 

Sacred Myth- A therapeutic tool

 

Meditating on the sacred myths can help the seeker in synthesizing

both the conscious and unconscious contents of the mind. Thus it is

therapeutic and takes the individual closer to `Wholeness'. Jung's

own words best describe this idea. "The archetype is pure, invitiated

nature, and it is nature that causes man to utter words and perform

actions whose meaning is unconscious to him, so unconscious that he

no longer gives it a thought. A later, more conscious humanity, faced

with such meaningful things whose meaning none could declare, hit

upon the idea that these must be the last vestiges of a Golden age,

where there were men who knew all things and taught wisdom to the

nations. In the degenerate days that followed, these teachings were

forgotten and were now only repeated as mindless mechanical gestures.

In view of the findings of modern psychology it cannot be doubted

that there are preconscious archetypes which were never conscious and

can be established only indirectly through their effects upon the

conscious contents… The achievement of a synthesis of conscious and

unconscious contents, and the conscious realization of the

archetype's effects upon the conscious contents, represents the

climax of a concentrated spiritual and psychic effort, in so far as

this is undertaken consciously and of set purpose." (412-413, The

Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche, The Collected Works, Volume

8)

 

Myth as a therapeutic tool, exorcises the practitioner's (sadhak)

mind and liberates him from his various mental complexes. The Cosmic

process is expressed in images. The various psychic or psychological

forces are picturised as deities, male or female, beautiful or

terrifying. Some myths require the recognition and transformation of

negative forces with in oneself. Powerful as they are, these

negative forces (demoniac forces) are constantly at work with in and

cannot be suppressed. They need to be accepted and given a different

orientation, a 180 degree turn. Fully envisioning the darker side of

one's personality, these dark forces are transformed into

illuminating forces. Most of the myths which narrate the struggle

between the Demons (asuras) and Gods (Devas) symbolize the inner

conflict between the positive and negative forces within us.

Eventually in all myths, the Gods triumph, but not without the

intervention of the Supreme Lord.

 

It is divine grace, prayer and meditation that help us to overcome

the demonic forces of ignorance, egoism and lust. The demons as well

as the Gods are Universal Archetypes, symbols which when used with

background knowledge of mythology, bring to life the various psychic

forces. These are then, worked out in a suitable environment.