Guest guest Posted May 15, 2006 Report Share Posted May 15, 2006 Dear Everyone, This has all been great. What though is the Adhi Shakti? I asked the priest in the temple if Adhi shakti is Narayani and he said no. Also, why do we say Vishnu of sattwa guna, but Shiva is not tamas, he helps us overcome it? Blessings, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 16, 2006 Report Share Posted May 16, 2006 Dear Paul and all, If you ask what is supreme in this universe, there is only one answer. It is pure consciousness, aka Brahman, that is supreme in this universe. That pure consciousness permeates everything that IS. Everything originates from it, is based in it and dissolves into it. However, the problem with it is that it is above all gunas (attributes and descriptions). Vishnu, Shiva, Durga etc are all faces of this pure consciousness. While this pure consciousness itself is beyond gunas, the faces that developed do have gunas. The best approach in order to merge into the pure consciousness is to first merge into one of the faces and then eventually merge into what is behind the face. If one merges into Vishnu or into Shiva, they are two different states. Because the underlying gunas are different, the experiences are different. However, if one who has merged into Vishnu finally merges into Brahman or if one who has merged into Shiva finally merges into Brahman, the final experience (if I can call it that) is essentially the same. However, the former may view Brahman (pure consciousness) to be Vishnu, because one has experienced Brahman through Vishnu, while the latter may view Brahman to be Shiva, because one has experienced Brahman through Shiva. Often the supreme consciousness is described by great men with different names and attributes. The thing to note is that the supreme consciousness itself is beyond attributes and hence what these great men are describing is essentially the path they took to experience it! This is precisely why we have scriptures describing the entire creation to be emanating from, being stationed in and merging back into Vishnu, Shiva, Durga etc. For example, Ganapathyatharva Seersham describes that the entire creation stems from Ganapathi, is sustained by Him and merges back into Him at the end. Chandipath says the same thing regarding the Divine Mother. Various Puranas say the same thing about Vishnu and Shiva. The thing to realize - though it is not easy to appreciate - is that they are all not lying. The entity from which the entire creation essentially comes from and merges back into is essentially the nirguna Brahman. But, for a Maharshi, that pure consciousness may be synonymous with the specific deity through which he/she had experienced Brahman!!! If one experienced Brahman through Ganapathi, Ganapathi IS Brahman to him! The bottomline is this: Whether the supreme lord is Vishnu or Shiva or Narayana or Samba Shiva or Jagannatha or Krishna or Narayani or Chandi or Bhavani or Amba or Allah or Buddha or Holy Spirit does not really matter. The supreme consciousness is beyond names and attributes. As long as you pick one deity (form) and try to get close to that deity, you are on the right track. One day you may experience that deity and, who knows, even the state of formless pure consciousness through that deity! One should stop arguments, pick one personal deity and just do sadhana! The layers of conditioning that the mind (which too is originally Brahman) has gone through for thousands or millions of births cannot be removed in oneday. Persistence is needed. May the light of Brahman shine within, Narasimha ------------------------------- Free Jyotish lessons (MP3): http://vedicastro.home.comcast.net Free Jyotish software (Windows): http://www.VedicAstrologer.org Sri Jagannath Centre (SJC) website: http://www.SriJagannath.org ------------------------------- > Dear Everyone,> > This has all been great. What though is the Adhi Shakti? I asked the > priest in the temple if Adhi shakti is Narayani and he said no. > > Also, why do we say Vishnu of sattwa guna, but Shiva is not tamas, he > helps us overcome it?> > Blessings,> Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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