[ 12. The Human Body is PiNdaliGkam 13. The Self is not Bodiless even After Death 14. The Body can be a Temple 15. Cataaciva LiGkam and the Homo Hierarchicus 16. Homo Hierarchicus and Human Freedom 17. SivaliGkam and the Natural Pedagogy 18. The True Religion is Already There in the World 19. The Utkiraka Maarkkam or Inner Astronomy 20. The Metaphysics of Colors ]
In the context of Indian njanaies and Yogies, Tirumular stands out as quite unique in having a positive, healthy and realistic attitude towards the human body by declaring that it is veritably something that can be raised to the status of a Temple (uun udambu oor aalayam) by making it pure and a place fit for the emergence and residence of the divine forces. This attitude stands in stark contrast with that of Jains and Buddhists who seem to have despised it and tortured it by way of escaping from the snares of the world.
However Tirumular advocated the fine-tuning of the body by way of using it as an instrument for gaining metaphysical illuminations, which only can give the spiritual freedom one seeks. This immense respect for human body on the part of Tirumular is not without its reasons. For he sees the body itself as the shape SivaliGkam, called here the PiNdaliGkam, assumes giving it the specific structural and functional characteristics.
In analyzing the human body and its structural characteristics, Tirumular seems to go well beyond the language of genetics and touch upon the language of Natam and Bindu, the Yin and Yang principles, symbolized for the Saivites by the SivaliGkam. The human body is a presentation of Natam and Bindu through the physical media, appearing as the Female when Natam is suppressed and Bindu allowed to be present and the Male when the reverse happens. And there are also other principles at work, which makes the body a spiritual entity, not to be abused and tortured but rather cherished and honored as the best vehicle man has to attain the deepest metaphysical illuminations.
More details below
1726
maanudar aakkai vadivu SivaliGkam
maanudar aakkai vadivu Citambaram
maanudar aakkai vadivu Sataasivam
maanudar aakkai vadivu tirukkuuttee
Meaning:
The structural form of the human body follows the structural form of SivaliGkam. That which generates such a body, the mantra complexes arise from Citambaram, the realm of consciousness and hence the body in its structural form also reveals Citambaram. And now since BEING ordains even this Citambaram as the five-faced polycephalic Sataasivam whose essence is available in the psychodynamics of the anmas that in fact configure the body, it is also a form of Sataasivam. And since even the functions of this Muurtti is in the nature of Divine Play, the human body in its structural form is also the Locale of this Dance
Comments:
The human body which is infinitely complex where the physical and nonphysical interact and in good coordination, is, as far as the physical aspects are concerned , polarized into the Male and Female with appropriate biological features. And since it is t the SivaliGkam that is the primordial cause of this sexual nature, it follows that the structural form of the biological body is in fact that of SivaliGkam. From the Natam-Bindu complex that a SivaliGkam is, when Natam is suppressed and the Bindu is allowed to show itself in the biological realms, we have the Female form and in the converse case the Male form. Where this biological polarization does not take place very neatly, we have the hermaphrodites or creatures with both sexual characteristics in bodily features.
Now since such a genesis of the human body is made possible by the mantra-complexes that operate upon the Natam and Bindu of SivaliGkam and the proto-matter, make them differentiate and so forth, we see that the structural form of the human body is also that which discloses the working of the mantras and hence Citambaram, where all the mantras reside and hence the Mantra- Realm.
Now since these mantras, though power capsules of a kind but being inert in themselves, work in fact under the ordinance of BEING who appears as the Five faced Sataasivam. Hence it follows that the human body in its structural form is also something that discloses the essence of BEING-as-Sataasivam.
And since even BEING assuming this form is part of the COSMIC GAME that He plays, the observable forms and functions of the human body is also something that discloses the Play of BEING.
The mystery of death and re-birth has been a fundamental issue in the metaphysical thinking of man right from the beginnings of civilization when he emerged from the animal stage and began some kind of religious life with thoughts of what would happen to man after death. Added to that is the existential anguish, fear, worries and so forth and because of which man recognized the presence of celestial beings and sought their blessings to overcome the excruciating pains of existence. While some religions like Buddhism sought not to solve but make the anguish itself evaporate through the construction of radical metaphysics of no substantial entities and some other metaphysics like Advaita Vedanta where the elements of natural existence itself is dismissed as mythiya, purely a mental construction with no substance in reality, there is a line of metaphysical thinking among the Dravidians right from the Sumerian days where existence was NOT dismissed, personal anguish not transmuted into a nothingness or falsity but accommodated as it is and an UNDERSTANDING was sought.
The Dravidian folks never let go that all experiences are PERSONAL and that only experiences that are TRUTH-EXPERINCES would provide the solutions to the existential anguish of man and which is universal. Thus the PERSON was there as something REAL and religious experiences remained immensely personal as we can see in En Hudu Anna’s Sirbiyam (2200 BC), the Hymns in Paripadal (100 AD) and the Tevara Divviya Prabantam Corpus. Metaphysical thinking is indulged in and deep and profound illuminations attained but all without forgetting the personal and existential dimensions to all these.
Thus it is not an accident that the Tamil Saivites hit upon the Fundamental Ontology where along with BEING, the anmas as well as the binding fetters are understood as anati, eternally there uncreated and indestructible. The anmas are ALREADY infected with MAALAM, the Black Hole that swallows everything and thus works for the non-presence of the anmas in the world and because of which BEING plays the Cosmic Dance so that they would continue to enjoy such a presence.
In this verse Tirumular explains how, the PiNdaliGkam, that which provides the body and thus makes possible a biological presence, also presents another body, a mantra-body even after death where anma is deprived of the biological body at the point of death.
How is this possible?
In the course of existential struggles of various kinds, there is LEARNING and hence destruction of the Darkness within and hence becoming somewhat purer and hence surviving the decay of the biological body with a mantra-body that prevents it from slipping back into the hold of the Black Hole, the aaNava Malam.
More below.
1727
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¿¢Äó¾Õ ¿£÷¦¾Ç¢ äɨŠ¦ºöÂô
ÒÄó¾Õ â¾í¸û ³óÐõ ´ýÈ¡¸
ÅÄó¾Õ §¾Å¨Ã Å󾢦ºö £§Ã
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1727
ulantilar pinnum uLarena niRpar
nilantaru niir teLi yuunavai ceyyap
pulantaru puutaGkaL aintum onRaaka
valantaru teevarai vanti ceyyiiree!
Meaning:
Even if the anmas lose the physical body they receive as part of the PiNdaliGkam, they will survive this lose with another form of this PiNdaliGkam, viz. the mantra body. But how is this possible? Just like the water from the earth cleanses the physical frame, so does the Panca Butas the soul itself by illuminating many things and thereby destroying the Darkness of Ignorance already within and all because the celestial entities, the devas roam them around transmuting them into forms that instruct the selves. And because of the illuminated nature of selves, at the point of death, they are prevented from relapsing into the hold of aaNavam, the Black Hole. So we all should worship these deities for doing this favor.
Comments:
The anma is not only indestructible but also something that always exists with some kind of a body. At the point of historical existence it is endowed with a physical frame by transmuting the Acutta Maayai, the proto-matter by the PiNdaliGkam so that it has the biological frame it has and which is consistent with karmic traces it has acquired. In the course of EXISTING in the historical world there is LEARNING and because of which it is CLEANSED of the darkness of ignorance of Metaphysical blindness that is induced by the Black Hole, the aaNava Malam that is already with it right from the beginning. The Physical Existence is a LEARNING existence and hence one becomes more and more illuminated and hence also becomes purer and purer. An analogy is given here and which is instituted as a basic ritualistic requirement in all religions - that of washing the body with waters from the earth and thereby making it CLEAN. The same happens when the self LEARNS while still entangled with the physical world with the assumption of a physical body. But the various physical dramas in life are PEDAGOGICAL and this because of the of the various archetypal forms of BEING and which are recognized as the deities. These celestial beings, the devas of ordinary religious experience enact various kinds of dramas in life and because of which the anmas LEARN and destroy a bit more of the hold of the aaNava Malam, the Black Hole. So at the point of death which is simply losing the physical frame, the anma is prevented a slide back into the Womb of the Dark, the aaNava Malam and allowed to subsist with a mantra body in the Mantra-Space till conditions become suitable for assuming another lease of birth.
The full depth of the penetration of Tirumular into the mysteries surrounding the world and the objects there still remains un-accessed. A comprehensive understanding will require also a systematic study of the numerous Siddhas texts that further elaborate the views that are articulated in Tirumantiram and the roots of which are very ancient, going to the Sumerian times itself. In the following two verses Tirumular attends to unfolding the mystery surrounding the genesis of physical bodies of creatures and in which he goes well beyond the genetic account that are currently famous. The genetic codes can easily be seen as various kinds of mantra-complexes and which are related to the actions the creatures have effected upon the environment and which elicit various kinds of karmic traces. However these mantra-complexes or karmic traces are physical though abstract and as such fail to account for the presence of SPIRIT in the living creatures that the Saivites understand as individual substances just as unfabricated as BEING and their essential spirituality, they also indulging in ritual activities that re-establish their ties with BEING.
One of the most famous concepts that Tirumular has introduced and which is related to temple worship is that the human body can be raised to the status of a Temple, an abode God Himself. Since Temple worship is NonVedic and PreVedic , we see how ancient these notions are and how they related to the Agamic tradition in which the Temple and the worship of deities installed there is central
The following verses, the meanings of which are given can be taken as answers to the questions: How is that the human body which is physical, can in fact be raised to the status of a temple, and how BEING is present there guiding the anmas from within?
1728
§¸¡Â¢ø ¦¸¡ñÎ «ý§È Ìʦ¸¡ñ¼ ³ÅÕõ
š¢ø ¦¸¡ñ¼í§¸ ÅÆ¢¿¢ýÚ «ÕÙÅ÷
¾¡ö þø ¦¸¡ñ¼¡ü§À¡ø ¾¨ÄÅý ±ý ¯ðÒ¸
š¢ø ¦¸¡ñÎ ®ºÛõ ¬Ç Å󾡧É
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Àçġ¸ò¾¢ø ÒâÂð¼ §¾¸òмý Áó¾¢Ã¦º¡åÀ¢Â¡¸ ¯¼Ä¢ýÈ¢ ¾¢Ã¢ó¾§À¡Ð, þ¨ÈÂÕÇ¢ý µ÷ ¯¼ø «¨ÁÔõ §ÀÚ Üʼ, Àïºâ¾í¸û ³óÐõ Íò¾ «Íò¾ Á¡¨Â¸û Áó¾¢Ãí¸Ç¡ø ¾¡ì¸ôÀðÎ ±Øõ §¸¡Â¢ø §À¡ýÚ ¾ì¸ ¯ÕÅí¸§Ç¡Î ±Æ, «¨Å§Â ±ý ¬ýÁ¡Å¢¨Éò ¦¾¡Îõ »¡ÉÅ¢¼Âí¸¨Ç ¯û «ÛôÒõ š¢ø¸Ç¡¸ ÅÆ¢¿¢ýÚ «ÕÙÅÉÅ¡õ. þÅü¨È ±øÄ¡õ ¬ðº¢ ¦ºöž¡¸, ´÷ ¾¡ö Àâ׼ý ÌÆ󨾸¨Ç ¿Ä§Á ÅÇ÷ôÀ¾üÌ µ÷ Á¨É «¨ÁòРŢÕôÒ¼ý ¯ðÒÌÅÐ §À¡Ä, ®ºÛõ þó¾ ¯¼Ä¢ý ÅƢ¡¸ ±ý¨É »¡Éò¾¨ºÂ¢ø ÅÇ÷ì¸ ¯¼ÒÌóÐ «¾¨É ¬ÇÅó¾¡ý ¸¡ñ¸
1728
kooyil koNdu anRee kudikoNda aivarum
vaayil koNdaGkee vazininRu aruLuvar
taay il koNdaaRpool talaivan en udpuka
vaayil koNdu iisanaum aaLa vantaanee !
Meaning:
When my anma, roaming the mantra space with a mantra body, gets an opportunity to exist again with a body, the five fold basic elements arise as if the temple, a concrete form structured by the mantras and standing there as the gateways for the information, allow me to enjoy various kinds of sensorial inputs. And BEING enters this body and rules it over, like a mother would enter a home (to rear the children), with a natural care and concern.
Comments:
For Tirumular, the human body is analogous to a temple for by an inner purification, it can be made a locale for the visible presence of BEING as one of the gods. When we raise the question how that is possible, this verse supplies the answer.
When the bodiless anma roams around the mantra world as a mantra body, there comes a point where it is allowed another lease of bodily existence and at which point, the mantras already present in the mantra body transform the five basic elements the Earth Water Space Wind and Fire so they collectively have a structural form consistent with the Karma of the soul. What is meant however is that the Physical Media is transformed suitably so that it becomes a biological body consistent with the karma of the anma - the elephant-karma anma assumes the elephant body, ant-karma self the ant-body and so forth.
But the physical elements do not ACT on their own and the mantras do not transform the material stuff into the various relevant shapes on their own. The Ordaining Agent remains BEING who becomes present in the biological body entering it as a mother would the home set up to rear the children.
So a living body is living only because BEING-as-the-Spirit is there right from the beginning the body gets formed in the womb. This aspect has been further investigated in great depths by the Tamil Siddhas. And since BEING is already there in the living body, it is also possible for the body to become a temple when it is sufficiently pure and hence becomes translucent to the presence of BEING already there.
1729
§¸¡Â¢ø ¦¸¡ñ¼¡ý «Ê ¦¸¡ø¨Äô ¦ÀÕÁ¨È
š¢ø ¦¸¡ñ¼¡ý «Ê ¿¡Ê¸û ÀòÐÇ
⨺ ¦¸¡ñ¼¡ý ÒÄý ³óÐõ À¢È¸¢ðÎ
š¢ø ¦¸¡ñ¼¡ý ±í¸û Á¡¿ó¾¢ ¾¡§É
¯¨Ã:
ţâÂì ¸¡¨Ç¡¸¢Â º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡ý, §¸¡Â¢Ä¢ø þ¼í¦¸¡ûÅЧÀ¡Ä ±ý ¯¼õÀ¢É¢ø þ¼í¦¸¡ñ¼¡ý. ±ôÀʧ¡ ¦ÅÉ¢ø, ãÄò¾¢ý ãÄÁ¡¸ «Ê¡¸ ±Ç¢¾¢ø ¸¡½Åá¾ ¦ÀÕõ Á¨È¡¸ ÌÊ ¦¸¡ñ¼§¾¡Î, «Åý «ÛÁ¾¢ þýÈ¢ ±ùŨ¸ »¡ÉÓõ Ò¸¡Å¨¸ »¡Éš¢ġ¸×õ «Á÷óÐûÇ¡ý. þ¾É¡ø ±øġŨ¸ °ì¸í¸ðÌõ ãÄÁ¡¸¢Â ÀòÐ ¿¡Ê¸Ç¡¸×õ ¾¢¸ú¸¢ýÈ¡ý. «ò§¾¡Î «üÀ ¯Ä¸¢Âø þýÀí¸¨Ç§Â ¿¡Êî ¦ºøÖõ Ũ¸ ¬ýÁ¡¨Å ¬ðº¢¦ºöÔõ ³õÒÄý¸Ùõ ¾¢Èý þÆóÐ. §ÁÄ¡É ÀÃõ¦À¡Õ§Ç¡Î ¦¾¡¼÷ÒüÈ¢ÕìÌõ Ũ¸Â¢ø ⨺ §À¡ýÈ ºÃ¢Â¡¸¢Ã¢¨Â¸¨ÇÔõ ¦ºöÔÁ¡Ú °ìÌÅ¢ò¾Å¡Ú þÕ츢ýÈ¡ý ¸¡ñ¸
1729
kooyil koNdaan adi kollaip perumaRai
vaayil koNdaan adi naadikaL pattuLa
puusai koNdaan pulan aintum piRakiddu
vaayil k0oNdaan eGkaL maananti taanee
Meaning:
BEING, the heavenly Bull has installed Himself in my body as He would in a temple. And this how He does it: he has placed in deep recesses many secrets that are beyond the normal perceptions and thus staying there serves as the doors of perception, allowing some knowledge disallowing others to reach the mind. He has installed the TEN kinds of nadies, the neural networks as well as the various instinctual pressures that provide the psychodynamics. And installing the desire for ritual activities He also enables the transcending of the five senses and the worldly desires.
Comments:
While in the above verse Tirumular details how a body is acquired by an anma and through that physical existence consisting with karmic traces available in its mantra-body, in this verse he details the interior and hence the depth psychological structures. First of He places an enormous number of possibilities to be in the deep recesses of the mind and hence probably in the lower parts of brain, those parts that join up with the spinal cord and which are not normally accessed by the anmas. Remaining hidden in this way in the deepest recesses of brain, He regulates the activities of the anma unknown to itself and because it recognizes the Unconscious or hidden or concealed dimensions of itself. The various forms are actually structures generated out of Natam and Bindu in various kinds of combinations. These in turn gives rise to the genesis of the brain structure and the neural network with which come the various kinds of instinctual pressure that emerge as the various psychic pressures within that provide the psychodynamics. Both are called Nadies here.
One of these inner pressures is seeking to establish a relationship with BEING and which is done through effecting rituals of various kinds and which activities also serve to liberate the souls from the hold of physical and reach out for the metaphysical. In other words there is already present propensities for religious activities and which by design are other worldly, activities that would the anmas in the metaphysical realms where reside the gods.
The Meaning of SivaliGkam-15
Cataaciva LiGkam and the Homo Hierarchicus
23.
Having explained the genesis of the creatures both bodily and mental in terms of PiNdaliGkam that forms the basis of it, now Tirumular ventures to explain the genesis of the form and structure of the cosmos itself whose basis is taken to be another form of LiGkam viz. the Sataasiva LiGkam. It should be noted that it is here that the archetypal form of Sataasiva is being mentioned for the first time in Tamil literature. Perhaps it is also connected with the ecological thinking of Tolkaappiyar where he analyzes human behavior in terms on the inner ecologies, the FIVE or SEVEN TiNais.
The archetype of Sataasiva is the Saivite answer to VaishNava attempts to comprehend the whole of the Cosmos as an Organismic Reality, a massive living substance hence a Spiritual Reality. We find the SumeroTamils grappling with this idea in numerous ways and crystallizing it into the notions of VishNu and Sataasiva during the historical period with an important difference but something complementary to each other.
The following lines from the Sumerian “a -abba huluh-ha” (Oh Angry sea?) indicate attempts, which are still retained in historical VaishNavism.
200 a) (d) mu-ul-lil me-ri asa-ni ki nu-il-e
Enlil , his unique foot ( var. planted foot) the earth cannot bear
Ak. ti-ri-is se-pe-su KI-tim ul ina-as-si
Enlil , the stretching (var putting ) of his foot the earth cannot
bear
b) (d) mu-ul-lil-le me-ri gub-ba-bi ki-e nam-us
Enlil, the treading of his foot abutted the earth
Here Mu-ul-lil-le is Tirumaal ( also known as se-ir-ma-al) and ‘meri” is Ta. miti ( <meRi) : to step upon and hence derivatively the feet.
During the time of Purusha Suktam this theme is further elaborated as Purusha with a thousand heads feet and so forth and which betrays the same Organismic thinking, Cosmos a Giant of a peculiar sort. However the Saivites, with their concept of Sataasiva do not look into the STRUCTURAL forms and which led to fitting into this enormous body the various social distinctions that existed in society at that time but rather the PSYCHODYNAMIC principles that are there and which agitate all living creatures. Thus Sataasiva is BEING as the one who implants the instinct-like pressures within the creatures, the psychotropisms attributed to the FIVE different faces of BEING: the seeking sexual happiness (vaamateevam), going after truth and only truth (satyosaatam), the showing of love care and concern (akooram), the seeking of self-understanding (tatpurudam) and finally the seeking of Moksa (iicaanam)
The creatures are understood not in terms of from which body-part of BEING-as-Purusha people originate but rather what kind of instinctual pressures agitate them from within with those blessed by the Isan-Face of Sataasiva being the highest as their desire for Moksa is the highest kind of motivational dynamics that there can be.
More details below.
1730.
ÜÊ À¡¾õ þÃñÎõ ÀÊÁ¢¨º
§¾Î Ó¸õ ³óÐ *¦ºí¨¸Â¢ý ã¨ÅóÐ
¿¡Îï º¾¡º¢Å ¿ø¦Ä¡Ç¢ Óò§¾
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«ñ¼ À¸¢Ãñ¼õ «¨ÉòÐõ ¾¡§É ±ýÚ ¸¡ðÎõ Ũ¸Â¢ø þ¨ÈÅý ±ÎìÌõ º¾¡º¢Å ã÷ò¾õ ±ôÀʧ¡ ¦ÅÉ¢ý, «ÅÉÐ ¾¢ÕôÀ¡¾õ þÃñÎõ Áñ½¢ý ¬¸¢Â À¡Õĸò¾¢ý §ÁÄÐÅ¡Ìõ. Ò¸úóÐ §ÀºôÀÎõ ¨¸¸û ÀòÐõ ÀÃóРŢâóÐ ±Øó¾¢Õ츢ýÈ , ±øÄ¡ ¾¢¨º¸¨ÇÔõ «¸ÀÎò¾¢Â Å¢ÍõÀ Å¡Ìõ. º¢òÐ «º¢òÐ ±ÉôÀÎõ ±øÄ¡ô ¦À¡Õû¸Ùõ ¡§¾¡¦Å¡ýÈ¢¨Éò §¾Ê «¨ºÅ¾üÌ ãÄÁ¡¸ þÕôÀÐ ³óÐ Ó¸í¸Ç¡Ìõ. þ¾§É¡Î ÅÕ¸¢ýÈ ¸Õ¨½Â¢ý ¦ÅÇ¢ôÀ¡¼¡¸ ¾¢¸Øõ ¸ñ¸û ´ýÈ¢üÌ ãýÈ¡¸ ³ó¾¢üÌ À¾¢¨Éó¾¡Ìõ. À¢ÈÅü¨È¦ÂøÄ¡õ «üÀ¦ÁÉ Å¢ðΠŢðÎ, ¿øÄ Óò¾¢ý ¦Åñ¨Á ¿¢ÈòÐ º¾¡º¢Å ã÷ò¾¢¨Â ¿¡õ ¿¡Ê ¾¢Â¡É¢ì¸ §ÅñÎõ.
1730
kuudiya paatam iraNdum padimisai
paadiya kai iraNdeddup parantezun
teedu muka aintu * ceGkaiyin muuvaintu
naadunj cataaciava nallolI muttee!
* variant: ceGkaN
Meaning:
BEING as SivaliGkam assumes the form of Sataasiva LiGkam to serve as the basis of the whole of the Cosmos and discloses Himself in such form to instruct the creatures of this. On the firm grounds formed of the Earth rests his Feet while His ten hands praised by all, is the vast space that has expanded into all directions. All dynamics of the physical objects and psychodynamics of the creatures are created by His five faces. The Grace that permeates all is shown by the fifteen red-colored eyes. So we should aspire towards being with this Cataaciva of the hue of the faultless pearls.
Comments:
Saivism shares with VaishNavism the Organismic way of looking and understanding this vast cosmos. While right from ancient days, in fact from the Sumerian days itself, the VaishNavas viewed the cosmos as Purusha with a thousand heads and so forth or VishNu where He shows only part of Himself as the vast cosmos, the Saivites convey a similar understanding but in terms of the FIVE faced Cataaciva and for some good reasons.
While the Feet resting on the Ground discloses His presence in the form of Play observable in world events, the notion of FIVE FACES seems to communicate an understanding of the psychodynamics, the formation of consciousness by forces that are instinctual in nature and hence already there and which assail the creatures from the depths determining effectively their behavior.
The Five faces are : sattiyoocaatam, vaamateevam, akooram, tatpurudam and iicaanam. Here the Cattiyoocaatam implants the desires for seeking TRUTH and discarding all that are untruths (sattiyam: truth, that which lasts) Vaamateevam is that which underlies the sexual desires and the seeking out members of the opposite sex and thereby attain a neutrality, the androgynous form and thereby overcome or neutralize also sexual desires. The ‘akooram” is that which creates pressures from within or desires from within to humanize oneself and with that purify oneself from all the bestial and animalistic tendencies (kooram: cruel’ akooram: not cruel). The ‘tatpurudam” is that which drives towards individualize and thus extricate oneself from all the social nexus into which one is caught and become autonomous and independent. The “iicaanam” is that which pressures one to seek out Moksa and become a mumuksu, one who desires only Moksa and nothing else and free oneself from phenomenal circulation.
Now it is also significant that each face is said to have THREE eyes and in the color RED (ceGkaN). This color, also the color of the eyes of Tirumaal, indicates PURE LOVE, the aruL of BEING and which goes to show that BEING assumes the form of Cataaciva just out of PURE LOVE for the creatures who remain thrown into the Darkness and for no other reason except to free them from that darkness. BEING being prefect gains NOTHING by this all, it is all for the purpose of redeeming the souls.
The Meaning of SivaliGkam -16
Homo Hierarchicus and Human Freedom
There is a subtle but at the same time a crucial difference between Homo Hierarchicus and VarNasrama Dharma. While the former is consistent with KarNasrama Dharma that allows for social mobility while acknowledging hierarchical differences among individuals, the later does not; it freezes spiritual mobility and the possibility of ascendance by linking the differences to birth, to genetic factors. Born a Sudra , while the VarNasrama Dharma condemns him to the lower rungs of the society if not to an outcaste, the KarNasrama Dharma does not by acknowledging the possibility of even such person ascending and reaching the highest stages of spirituality. There is a recognition of what I have called Njanasamuttuvam, the possibility of enjoying Sivanjnaam, the Absolute Understanding, by all.
While the social restructuring of society along with the birth of new kinds of professions is already destroying the iron hold of VarNasrama Dharma, it will be useful to understand the philosophy behind Homo Hierarchicus and which is absent in such religions as Islam and ideologies such as Marxism and so forth where there is an absence of the recognition of the difference.
The following verse of Tirumular has within it the essentials of KarNasrama Dharma, which is linked with the hierarchical organization of root archetypes or muurttams.
Theses icons or muurttams are NOT fictions of an aberrant mind or even some kind constructions or images that are thrown out in the steam of consciousness but rather the presentations of BEING and which can possess the human mind and channel it in particular ways. Thus they have a magical quality about them and perhaps for which reason they are feared and denied. But the fact is they are objectively there - they are real and not only that have within themselves a hierarchical organization. While there are many differences in the details, the overall understanding is clear. While BEING remains ONE and SAME, there arec countless number of archetypal presentations and which have a hierarchical differences among them.
All human beings have all these archetypes as well BEING in their body and mind but only that they may not all be actively present. When the lower ones possess an individual and channel his psychodynamics he has a personality also consistent with that, something real but with the possibility of ascending and moving up provided he tries to free himself from the lower and becomes possessed by the higher. He is NOT condemned the low kind of personality he has, he can always strive and move upwards and in stages. The highest is of course BEING who includes all these archetypes while remaining ABOVE them and being-one-with such a BEING constitutes the highest possibility and which remains the possibility of all.
While the acceptance of this constitutes KarNasrama Dharma, its denial and fixation to birth constitutes VarNasrama Dharma.
I believe that the time of KarNasrama Dharma is already on the way and with that the true shape of Hinduism also.
1731
§Å¾¡ ¦¿ÎÁ¡ø ¯Õò¾¢Ãý §ÁÄ£ºý
Á£¾¡É ³õÓ¸ý Å¢óÐ×õ ¿¡¾Óõ
¬¾¡Ã ºò¾¢Ôõ «ó¾î º¢Å¦É¡Îï
º¡¾¡ ýÁ¡Ìï º¾¡º¢Åó ¾¡§É
¯¨Ã:
§ÁÖí ¸£Ø¦ÁÉ «Î츢 ¿¢üÌõ ¦¾öÅ ÅÊÅí¸Ç¢ø, Ó¾ø «Î츢ø À¢ÃÁý ¦¿ÎÁ¡ø ¯Õò¾¢Ãý þÕì¸, þÅ÷¸ðÌ §ÁÄ¡¸ ®ºý þÕ츢ýÈ¡ý. þÅ÷¸ðÌ §ÁÄ¡¸ ³õÓ¸í¸§Ç¡Î ÜÊ º¾¡º¢Å ã÷ò¾¢Ôõ «¾üÌ §ÁÄ¡¸ º¢Å ¾òÐÅí¸Ç¡¸¢Â Àÿ¡¾Óõ ÀÃÅ¢óÐ×õ þÕ츢ýÈÉ. §ÁÖõ þ¨ÈÅý ÀÃÅ¢óЦšΠ´ýÈ¡¸¢ Àáºì¾¢Â¡¸×õ, Àÿ¡¾òмý ´ýÈ¡¸¢ º¢ÅÉ¡Ìõ þÕì¸, þ¨Å «¨ÉòЧÁ µ÷ ¦¾¡Ì¾¢Â¡¸ º¾¡º¢Åý ±ýÚõ ÜÈôÀÎõ.
1731
veetaa nedumaal uruttiran meeliisan
miitaana aimmukan vintuvum naatamam
aataara sattiyam antac civanodunj
saataa raNamaakunj sataasivan taanee!
Meaning:
The root archetypes in terms of which BEING presents Himself, are hierarchically organized with Brahma VishNu Rudra at one level and with Isan immediately above them. Above Isan stands the five-faced Sataasivam and above whom we have Siva Tatvas Parabindu and Paranatam. The Pure BEING one-with Parabindu stands as ParaSakti, one-with Paranatam as Sivan. But it is generally known that all these archetypes collectively constitute what Sataasivam is.
Comments:
Saivism (along with VaishNavism Saktaism etc) are perhaps the only religions in the world which keep to worshipping the deities and which are presentational forms of BEING. Most of the world religions have become forgetful of the deities and have taken to worshipping chosen scriptures and saints and which are only secondary. Hence not only we have temple worship as an important element of religious life but also deep appreciation of the PuraNas and which disclose metaphysical truths of some kind or other, truths that are beyond the reach of the rational mind. The Unconscious Depths where stay these archetypes is NOT something feared by the Saivites but rather something explored and understood.
Thus we have here a plunge into the depths, into the celestial realms where the root archetypes are not only identified but also understood as to how they stand in relation to each other. It is NOT the crude polytheism but rather a very sophisticated “one-many-theism’, the SAME and ONE BEING presenting Himself in a variety of archetypal forms or muurttams and in which a hierarchical organization can also be seen.
BEING, known simply as Sataasivam when He wills to present Himself, presents first as the Woman ParaSakti, the Causal Energy of all by conjoining with the Parabindu and as the Pure Sivan by conjoining with the Paranatam. Since it is the union of Parabindu and Paranatam that is SivaliGkam, it follows that Satasiva’s highest form is SivaliGkam as such.
Form this emerges the form of Isan or Mahesan, the Great Lord and who grants iicattuvam, the Power to arise above all and stand out as supreme demanding abeyance by virtue of the divine qualities one shines with. Maheswari, the Female shape of this grants vacittuvam, the capacity to attract all unto oneself and be in deep love.
Under the immediate management of these forms of BEING remain the trimurties Brahma VishNu and Rudra, the archetypes of production, retention and destruction, the primordial Universal Praxis of BEING.
We should note that while the Saivites understand the archetypes in this way the VaishNavas would see MahaVishNu as equivalent to Sataasivam though normally they do NOT acknowledge Paranatam and Parabindu and hence SivaliGkam as such in their metaphysical thinking.
The Meaning of SivaliGkam-17
SivaliGkama and the Natural Pedagogy
Tirumular, as a hermeneutic scientific thinker who takes into account empirical facts and tries to UNDERSTAND them, attends here to the presence of Civanjanam as a potential in all human beings and where in this matter there are no specially gifted individuals or spiritual texts and so forth. The redeeming Civanjanam, that which on the attainment, a person will also gets released from endless cycle of births and deaths is already OBJECTIVELY there in the world waiting to discovered by individuals and which they certainly will if only they follow the San-maarkkam, the Way in which the inner sun is activated and the mind get to glow in the Radiance of Pure Light (note: u dalla-e-a of Sirbiyam, c. 2200BC, Ta. uL teLLiya: Clear and radiant Light) which not only purifies the mind but also confers Civanjanam - that njaanam that has only a nothingness as that which it confronts ( Meykandar: yaavaiyum sattu etir suunyam)
He understands the universal presence of this understanding because it is carried to all quarters by the rays of the SUN that comes to be united with the pedagogic processes (kalai) and which are differentiations of Sakti, the Power that comes with Cataaciva, the shape BEING assumes for bringing into presence the whole of the cosmos and which is another shape of SivaliGkam, the union of Natam and Bindu
Such a view is well entrenched as part of the cultural dynamics of the Saivites who have developed all the arts and sciences and as part of Temple Culture. Learning in the widest sense has been cultivated accounting for the enormous diversity of the religious practices and their openness. But this openness is NOT uncontrolled where everything goes. Each view is allowed to flourish and at the same time disconstructed to see whether there is TRUTH in them. This is pedagogy of the highest sort put in axiomatic form by TiruvaLLuvar (c. 200 AD): epporuL yaar yaar vaayk keedpinum, apporuL meypporuL kaaNpatu aRivu: It is the mark of philosophic culture to seek out the TRUTH in whatever said and by whoever it may be.
Siddhantic tradition of the Tamils, because of such features, stands, as many scholars have observed, the highest watermark of traditional Hindu culture that ought to be resuscitated and maintained.
1732
¬¸¢ýÈ ºò¾¢Â¢ý ¯û§Ç ¸¨Ä¿¢¨Ä
¬¸¢ýÈ ºò¾¢Â¢ý ¯û§Ç ¸¾¢÷ ±Æ
¬¸¢ýÈ ºò¾¢Â¢ý ¯û§Ç «Á÷ó¾À¢ý
¬¸¢ýÈ ºò¾¢Ôõ «ò¾¢¨º Àò§¾
¯¨Ã:
þ¨ÈÅý ¯Ä¸¡¸ ¬¸¢ýÈ º¾¡º¢Å ÅÊÅò¾¢ý ºò¾¢ Ţâó¦¾Æ, «¾ý ¯û§Ç ±øÄ¡Å¢¾ ¸¨Ä¸¨ÇÔõ ¯ûǼ츢 ¿¢Å¢Õò¾¢, À¢Ã¾¢ð¨¼, Å¢ò¨¾, º¡ó¾¢, º¡ó¾¢Â¡¾£¨¾ ±Ûõ ¸¨Ä¸û ±Øõ. þÅüÈ¢ý ¯û§Ç º¢Å»¡Éõ Á¸¢Æò ¾Õõ º¢ÅÝâÂý ±ØóÐ «ì¸¨Ä¸Ç¢ý ¯û§Ç ¿Ä§Á «Á÷ó¾ À¢ý, «¾ý »¡É¸¾¢÷¸û ±øÄ¡ ¯Â¢÷¸¨ÇÔõ ¦ºýȨ¼Â, Àì¸õ «Âø §Áø ¸£ú ±ÉÈÅ¡Ú ÅÕõ ±øÄ¡ ¾¢¨º¸ðÌõ ÀÃóРŢâÔõ.
1732.
aakinRa sattiyin uLLee kalainilai
aakinRa sattiyin uLLee katir eza
aakinRa sattiyin uLLee amarntapin
aakinRa sattiyam atticai pattee
Meaning:
When the Power (Satti) within Cataaciva, the shape BEING assumes to bring into presence the whole of the universe, all the pedagogic processes of Nivritti, Piratiddal, Vittai, Saanti and Saantiyaatiitai become available as its differentiations. Now within this arises the Civasuuriyan, the Sun of the Deepest Metaphysical Illuminations, the Civanjaanan and the rays of light that carries this along with it, spread all over and in all the ten directions so that it becomes available for all.
Comments:
Tirumular is trying to grasp an empirical fact viz. the deepest metaphysical illumination, the Civanjanam is available for all including the celestial beings, the amarar, the deathless spirits hanging in space as mantra-bodies. The question he appears to raise is : How does this become available for the humble creatures with a miniscule of a physical body and equipped only a brain that is so limited in its capacities?
He notes that this radiance become available likes rays of light that is also put elsewhere as Muruka Himself, He who is born from the intense heat that develops on the forehead of Siva when he gazes at the lovely Uma with intense desire to unite with her ( as said in the Kanta puraaNam). Here the Satti stands as the various pedagogic processes as above which is the Saivite way of understanding and classifying all the arts and sciences. The Nivritti is cleansing or removing and which brings occasions for the Piratiddai, the installment. It is this installment, which affords the birth of new consciousness and understanding, the Vittai. The attainment of metaphysical illuminations allows the enjoyment of spiritual contentment of a sort, the saanti. However when this leads to an understanding of BEING and hence being one-with BEING Himself, we have saantiyaatiitai, a transcendence even above the psychological peace of mind. There is a deep soul-satisfaction only when the anma attains being one-with BEING Himself and the arts and sciences and the metapahysical illuminations they afford is only for this primordial purpose.
Now when the Sun underlying of these pedagogic processes become one with them, then they become spread out like rays of light and hence made also available for whoever succeeds in activating the presence of this inner sun in their mind and though these pedagogic processes.
The Meaning of SivaliGkam-18
The True Religion is Already There in the World
Saivism or at least the roots of it
go to the beginnings of Civilization itself and there are now ample evidences
coming from SumeroTamil literature (4000 BC - 2000 BC) We can see that it was a religion guided by TRUTH SEEKING
and in that also unafraid of metaphysical journeys and hence plunges into the
depths of one’s mind itself. The following words of Sulgi (in Hymn B) are indeed memorable:
74. u-me-da u-ul-li-a se
(Though) always and always
¯ñ¨Á¦Â¡Î °
°Æ¢Â§ºö ( With TRUTH till the end of
the Universe)
The Tamil mind has not been hampered by dogmas and traditions and has
remained essentially OPEN; willingly assimilating whatever truths came into the
culture and allowing itself transformed in that process and hence forever ready
to renew itself. The Saivite culture has been disconstructive and NOT either
destructive or negating anything simply because it is foreign. It is for this
reason in that in past it allowed
Buddhism and Jainism and now even Christianity and Islam. But it was along this
openness also immensely critical and
hence disconstructive so that falsities do not constitute the major principles
of its culture.
It is NOT an accident that only in
Saivism we have texts like Siddhyar,
CaGkaRpa Nirakaranam, Tattuva Pirakasam, NjanaavaRaNa viLLakkam, Civapprakasa Perun Tiraddu and so forth
where EVERY of school of thought is
articulated and disconstructed. They are also classified using the metaphor of
DISTANCE in relation to the TRUTH, closest being the Akam the most distant
being puRam ( with many subdivisions between them)
In the following, which must be seen
against the earlier where it is noted, the CULTURAL ecology already exists as
fabric of the Universe created by ParaBindu, the Moon and within which arises
the Paranatam, the Sun:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
1732.
aakinRa sattiyin uLLee kalainilai
aakinRa sattiyin uLLee katir eza
aakinRa sattiyin uLLee amarntapin
aakinRa sattiyam atticai pattee
Meaning:
When the Power (Satti) within Cataaciva, the shape BEING assumes to bring into presence the whole of the universe, all the pedagogic processes of Nivritti, Piratiddal, Vittai, Saanti and Saantiyaatiitai become available as its differentiations. Now within this arises the Civasuuriyan, the Sun of the Deepest Metaphysical Illuminations, the Civanjaanan and the rays of light that carries this along with it, spread all over and in all the ten directions so that it becomes available for all.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It is against this he notes the presence of both the Vedic and Agamic traditions and seeks an UNDERSTANDING of it though overall he is predisposed towards the Agamic, especially its Mantrayana variety of it when it comes to his personal choice.
4. Cataaciva LiGkam
º¾¡º¢Å þÄ¢í¸õ
26 : The Metaphysical Systems and SivaLiGkam
1733,
«ò¾¢¨ºì Ìû§Ç «Á÷ó¾É ¬Èí¸õ
«ò¾¢¨ºì Ìû§Ç «Á÷ó¾É ¿¡ø§Å¾õ
«ò¾¢¨ºì Ìû§Ç «Á÷ó¾ ºÃ¢¨Â§Â¡Î
«ò¾¢¨ºì Ìû§Ç
«Á÷ó¾ ºÁ§Á
¯¨Ã:
¬½Å ÁÄò¾¢É¡ø ¡Ðõ §¾¡ýÈ¢ ¿¢øÄ¡¾ «ó¾¸¡Ãò¨¾ì ¸¢Æ¢òÐ즸¡ñÎ ¬¸¢ýÈ ºì¾¢Â¢ý ¸¡Ã½Á¡¸ ±Ø¸¢ýÈ ÀæÅǢ¢ý ÀòÐ ¾¢¨ºìÌû§Ç §Å¾¢Âò¾¢ý þÕìÌ Â¡Í÷ º¡Áõ «¾÷Åõ ±Ûõ ¿¡ø §Å¾í¸Ùõ «ÅüÈ¢ý ¯ÚôÒì¸Ç¡¸ Å¢ÇíÌõ ¬Ú «í¸í¸Ç¡¸¢Â º¢ð¨º ¸üÀõ Ţ¡¸Ã½õ ºó§¾¡À¢º¢¾õ §º¡¾¢¼õ ±ýÀ¨ÅÔõ ±Øõ. «ò§¾¡Î §¸¡Â¢ø ÅÆ¢À¡ð欃 ¨ÁÂÁ¡¸ì ¦¸¡ñ¼ ¬¸Á£Âò¾¢ý ºÃ¢¨Â ¸¢Ã¢¨Â §Â¡¸õ »¡Éõ ±ýÀ¨ÅÔõ §¾¡ýÚõ. ¬¸ þó¾ ÀòÐ ¾¢¨ºìÌû§Ç þ¨ÈÅÉ¢ý «ÕÇ¡¸ ±øÄ¡ ºÁÂí¸Ç¢ý þÂøÒ¸Ùõ §¾¡ýÈ¢ ¿¢üÌõ.
1733
attisaik kuLLee amarntana aaRaGkam
attisaik kuLLee amarntana naalveetam
attisaik kuLLee amarnta sariyaoodu
attisaik kuLLee amarnta samayamee
Meaning:
In the Cosmic Space of ten directions created by Sakti, the ENERGY of BEING violating the Dark Power that disallows the presence of anything, stands the Vedic Way with its four Vedas of Rig Yajur Sama and Atharva and its six component arts of Cidsai, kaRpam, Viyaakaranam, Santoobicitam, Cotidam and so forth. In the same Space also arise the Temple-centered Aakaamiyam with its Sariyai Kriyai Yogam and Njaanam. Thus within such a Space arise all metaphysical systems (all religions) and as the blessings of BEING as Cataaciva
Comments:
We must recall that Cataaciva is actually the SivaliGkam as the Icon underlying the cultural world as a whole and in which there are already processes that will lead all creatures towards Moksa, attributed here to the face of Iicaanam of Cataaciva. This implies that at the bottom most level of all cultural processes exist the metaphysical or the religious for it is only these processes that can lead to the enjoyment of Moksa by enjoying first the Civanjanam.
Metaphysical life cannot be denied and if at all it is because of some kind of metaphysical blindness.
Tirumular identifies the Vedic and Agamic traditions as ultimately related to these fundamental cultural processes already there in the world as the fabric of the universal. Thus whatever become manifest as Vedic and Agamic are NOT the creations of the humble man but by BEING Himself and as objective realities there in the world just as the moons suns and stars in the sky. In becoming religious, what man has done is to RECOGNISE the presence of these elements as already there and incorporate the insights into them as Vedas and Agamas and the various arts and sciences that come along with them.
In this I believe that historically speaking the temple centered Agamism is earlier as it is found even at the most primitive levels of mankind. Even now people who are still tribal and savages with only the rudiments of culture are known to worship something or other and especially the natural elements isolated almost as temples. The dance and music, the primitive Sariyai and Kriyai constitute the component processes mixed with magic and so forth
From such primitive beginnings must have emerged the Vedic with its sophisticated studies of grammar astronomy prosodies and so forth. Paralleling this is the development of Kriyai from Sariyai, Yogam from Kriyai and Njanam from the Yogam and so forth with Mantrayana constituting the most sophisticated theoretical understanding of it all.
For Tirumular all these primitive and sophisticated developments of human spirituality are ultimately the Blessings of Cataaciva, BEING with the WILL to be the world and the cultural dynamics with His five faces.
From: "Dr. K.Loganathan" <subas@pc.jaring.my>
To: <IndianCivilization@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: <akandabaratam@yahoogroups.com>; <meykandar@yahoogroups.com>; <tamil@tamil.net>; <kalaivani@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [meykandar] Re: [IndianCivilization] The Meaning of SivaliGkam-18
Date: Friday, May 02, 2003 9:41 AM
Siva and Time consciousness
Dear Chandra Hari
Thank-you for your contributions specially from the Tantric point of view and which I have come across in the writings of some Tamil Siddhas too. However even within the Tantric tradition the Tamil Saiva tradition with respect to the way they understand TIME appears to be different. The major approach to philosophy among the Tamils appears to be Hermeneutical and especially Hermeneutic Semiotics such as my series on Icon thinking and so forth would illustrate. The definite shape to this way of philosophizing was given by Tolkaappiyar (c. 300 BC) where this methodology was given the name 'Nuul neRi' ( the final sutra in the second book) and which when translated in Sk becomes Tantrika ,just like another ancient Tamil term Nuul Utti was translated into Sk as Tantra Yukti etc. One meaning of Tantrism is Nuul Neri, i.e. approach to philosophy or metaphysics as Hermeneutic Sciences. All major developments in Dravidian Philosophy have this as the methodological orientation.
The analysis of TIME as available in Tamil philosophical texts such as Tolkaappiyam Tirumantiram Civanjanabotham and so forth is quite distinct and distinguishing it from Advaita Vedanta and other schools of Vedanta and Indian philosophies. Though I have explained this in numerous postings, let me try again in relation to the notions of Siva as Mahakaalan and Kaalaakaalan, i.e. the great primordial source of TIME as well as the great destroyer (kaalan : the Yama but who destroys) of Time.
For one thing we notice that if TIME is identified with Kalachakra, i.e. as integral part of the cosmos, an objective reality just like the stars and galaxies, then the mind CAN NEVER BE FREE of Time in understanding the Cosmos. It has to NEGATE the reality of the Cosmos in order to make sense of BEING as Free of Time. But this is like wishing away what is real and hence purely a mental exercise such as that of the Advaities. If we disallow this kind of purely mental negations, BEING as the cosmos would be locked up in phenomenal presence suffering changes that pertain to the historical. Here we must note that BEING in Itself is unchanging and hence free of TIME, in fact ABOVE Time. In the consciousness of BEING, Time is not a factor at all and only because of which He stands non-alien to everything in the world, understanding everything within itself and as it is. (avaiyee taneeyaay)
These notions are philosophically well established by Meykandar in his Civanjanabotam. There he notes that BEING stands 'kaalattil taakkaatu ninRu" i.e stands as there without being infected with Time. He also notes that BEING is 'cudduNarvu iRantu ninRa Cagkaaram" ie. One who stands ABOVE the temporally infected the-tic consciousness, consciousness with referentiality.
Thus BEING in Itself ( coruubam) is PURE in that he is FREE of TIME but at the same time He is Mahakaalan, the One who is the source of Time consciousness of the human understanding.
Now in connection with this we should note that TIME exists only in human UNDERSTANDING, it is an objective reality only in the understanding, the cudduNarvu, the the-tic consciousness and which always comes along with the notions of TIME as well as Directed Space and in this Meykandar would agree with Kant who also noted the same and because of which he said that these notions a priori, already there as constituents of human understanding and without which it cannot function. He also noted causality as belonging to this category of the mind.
But Meykandar in noting this also notes that Human mind can ascent to an understanding of everything without TIME and which understanding is Civanjanaam, the Sivasattu that confronts only NOTHINGESS as there beyond itself ( yaavaiyum cattu edir suunyam). This is the understanding of Ding-in-Sic that Kant noted but said that it is something impossible, thereby banishing the most important developments of metaphysics into 'transcendental imaginations".
But how does Meykandar offer a rational explanation and hence a foundation for the Moksa concept of Saiva Siddhanta?
The Time Consciousness in human understanding exists in TWO forms and which was known to the Tamils from the days of Tolkaappiyar itself viz. kuRippuk kaalam ( intentional time) and Cuddukkaalam ( world time) and which parallels recent analysis of Time by Heidegger where he notes the kuRippuk Kaalam as Temporality but beyond which he does not go.
The KuRippuk Kaalam, the intentional time, is that which underlies our Historical Thinking and in which the basic component is that of Future Orientation and in terms which the current is noted as "now' and the past is noted as the 'no more current' and so forth. These are the mukkaalam, the three ektases of Time and you can read about it in Heidegger's Being and Time, a marvelous book is Western Philosophy.
But why is the understanding essentially historical and in that also PROJECTIVE?
The Tamil Saivites including Meykandar notes that this is because there is a 'kaaddutal' , a showing and because of which anmas enjoy a 'seeing' and because which it is projective, functions with Kurippuk Kalaam and hence temporality. Without this prior showing the anma cannot see and be projective (Meykandar: kaaddu odunGkak kaaNaatu) This notion was the most important contribution of Appar ( 6th cent) : kaaNpaar aar kOl KaNNutal kaaddaakkaalaee : who can ever see anything at all ( hence become projective) if the Third Eyed BEING does not show?
Why should BEING show so that anmas SEE and become projective and hence function in terms of Mukkaalam, the three ektases of Time?
The anma in itself is infected with Darkness of ignorance, a natural blindness, an atomicity or aNuttuvam and because which it cannot go beyond a certain circle of understanding and beyond which it cannot move by itself, just no one can lift himself up by pulling his own hair. It is here that we see BEING as providing the various showings because in being ABOVE He is also one-with all . he pulls out the anmas by planting such showings or projects within. These various showings or kaaddutal become the projects of the anmas and which establish the various kinds of INTENTIONALITIES, desiring this and that , wanting this and that, hoping for this and that and so forth throwing them also into the temporal way of Being in the World, i.e. in KuRippuk Kaalam. So in this sense BEING becomes the Mahakaalan, the source of Temporality and hence TIME as such as part of the human understanding.
It should also be noted there is learning on the part of anmas ( and NOT BEING) by such showings and seeings and the limiting point of which is ABSENCE of the inner blindness and where UNDERSTANDING shines forth as the Civanjaanam, the Absolute Understanding a component part of which is Cutta Caitanyam, Pure Consciousness.
This is also the understanding of Civa Himself and hence only He can lift up the anmas into this. Since this understanding is FREE of temporality, He is said to be the destroyer of Time, the kaalakalan.
In Mantrayana this understanding is also said to be that which is established by Om itself, the primordial Logos.
This is only a brief account. More detailed accounts are available in my series " Psychology and Metaphysics" and other publications.
Loga
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chandra Hari" <chandrahari81@yahoo.com>
To: <IndianCivilization@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2003 1:33 PM
Subject: Re: [IndianCivilization] The Meaning of SivaliGkam-18
> It may be difficult to explain fully here as to what is the meaning of Sivalingam. But still to infuse a new line of thinking I am to add a few lines: Siva is Mahakala in Tantra. So the Lingam is related to the Tantrik conception of Time. Tantrik conception of Time is - Kalachakra - Hindu Zodiac - which is Muladhara Chakra. Mula or Lambda Scorpii is the reference star of the Hindu Zodiac which is Rahu-Sikhi Chakra abbreviated as RaSi Chakra. Time was defined in terms of the Nodes as the eclipses and their muhurtas were important for Tantrik worship. Star Mula represented the Genitals on Microcosm and Macrocosm and hence the worship of Time as Genitals in India. Muladharam was also the source of Kundalini - Sakti - Bala- or all forms of human creativity and so the star got personified as Siva, the Great Preceptor. Mula has a fixed longitude of 240 degree and represents death kala & kalakala also. 240 degree means 18 nakshatras and thus 18 became sacred in Tantra. Another importance is Mula is located where Akasa Ganga cuts the ecliptic and so Siva became Gangadhara. Originally Deepavali used to be celebrated for Mulasamkramam which marked the beginning of Tantrik Year and Vidyarambham or Tantrik initiation. This is a very complex and little explored topic and the Tantra books available in English are all of spurious contents having no scientific rigor of the Tantra. So these ideas should not be evaluated on such commonplace notions. Every true sadhaka, I am sure, will find these facts convincing. I hope, I am not hurting anybody by writing these lines. With regards,
>
ILL to be the world and the cultural dynamics with His five faces.
The Meaning of SivaliGkam -19
The Utkiraka Maarkkam or Inner Astronomy
Tamil Saivism as it developed at least from the days the Bakti period never supported Astrology or Cotidam and the most flamboyant critic of it has been Sambantar, Brahmanah from the KauNdinya Gotra itself. This is available in his rightly famous KooLaRu Tiruppatikam where he asserts that as long as the gods are there to grace the souls, the planetary powers can do nothing.
However it has also been recognized that the true of astrology is that of Utkiraka Maarkkam, the Way of the Inner Astronomy as it came to be called by the Siddhas following perhaps Tirumular who has said this in many verses.
The following is one of them and from which it transpires that there are Inner Astronomical situations and which are related to the various kinds of motivational dynamics of an individual. The Iraaci MaNdalam, the configuration of stars is said to be something configured by Natam, and which appears as the Inner Sun (or stars) and in 12 different measures. Corresponding to this we have the presence of Bindu as the Inner Moon but with 16 measures. Jointly they configure the various kinds of motivational dynamics of individuals, the details of which are given below.
What matters for religious life is NOT the iraacies in the sky but rather how Natam and Bindu are present and jointly violate the presence of aaNavam, the destructive and disintegrative power and which in Inner Astronomy is recognized as the Kirakam Sani but in the Tantric neurology of the Siddhas sinister located in the spinal cord. Thus Sani is NOT a planet in the sky but the very presence of aaNavam in the spinal cord and which can be overcome and destroyed only by Civanjanam.
More details below.
4. Cataaciva LiGkam
º¾¡º¢Å þÄ¢í¸õ
27 : The Inner Astronomy
and SivaLiGkam
1734.
º¨Áò ¦¾Øó¾ «Åò¨¾¸û ®÷ ³óÐ ¯Ç
ºÁÂò ¦¾Øó¾ þẢ ®÷ ¬Úõ
ºÁÂò ¦¾Øó¾ *º¾¢÷ ¬Ú ±ðÎÇ
ºÁÂò ¦¾Øó¾ º¾¡º¢Åó ¾¡§É
*. Variant reading: º¾¢÷ ®¦ÃðÎ
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º¾¡º¢Å þÄ¢í¸Á¡¸ º¢Å¦ÀÕÁ¡ý ±ØóÐ, ºÁÂô À¡ñÀ¡ðÎ ãÄì ¸Õì¸¨Ç ¯Ä¸¢ø µ÷ ¯ÚôÀ¡¸ «í§¸ §¾¡üÚÅ¢òÐûÇ¡ý. «ÅüÈ¢ø Ó¾ü¸ñ º¡ì¸Ãõ ¦º¡ôÀÉõ ÍØò¾¢ ÐâÂõ Ð⡾£¾õ ±Ûõ «È¢×î º¡÷ó¾ «Åò¨¾¸ÙìÌ §ÅÈ¡¸ º¾¡º¢Å ã÷ò¾¢Â¢ý ³õÓ¸í¸û ÅÆ¢ ±Øõ þ º¡ýÈ Å¡ÁòÐÅõ, ¾üÒÕ¼òÐÅõ, «§¸¡ÃòÐÅõ, ºò¾¢§Â¡º¡¾òÐÅõ, ®º¡Éõ ±Ûõ ³óÐõ ÀÃõ «ÀÃõ ±ýÚ þÕŨ¸Â¡¸ô À¢Ã¢óÐ Àò¾¡¸¢ ¿¢üÌõ. þÅüÈ¢ø ¯ð¸¢Ã¸ Á¡÷ì¸Á¡¸ ¿¡¾ò ¾òÐÅõ ÝâÂÉ¡¸ ¾¢Ã¢óÐ ÀýÉ¢ÃñÎ ¸¨Ä¸Ç¡¸ Ţ¡À¢òÐ ¿¢üÌõ. «§¾ô §À¡Ä Å¢óÐ ºó¾¢Ã¡É¡¸¢ À¾¢É¡Ú ¸¨Ä¸Ç¡¸ ¾¢Ã¢óÐ º¾¢Ã¡Ê ¿¢üÌõ. þùÅ¡Ú ÀòÐ «Åò¨¾¸Ç¡¸ ÀýÉ¢ÃñÎ Ýâ ¸¨Ä¸Ç¡¸, À¾¢É¡Ú ºó¾¢Ã ¸¨Ä¸Ç¡¸ Ţ¡À¢òÐ ¿¢üÀÐ º¾¡º¢Å ã÷ò¾¢§Â ¡Ìõ.
1734.
camaiyat tezunta avattaikaL iir aintu uLa
camayat tezunta iraaci iir aaRum
camayat tezunta *catir aaRu edduLa
camayat tezunta cataacivan taanee
Meaning:
BEING has taken the shape of Cataaciva and established the elements that form the basis of metaphysical life. Here over and above the cognition related Caakkiram (wakeful awareness) Coppanam (dream awareness) Cuzutti (mythical awareness) Turiam (transcendental awareness) and Turiyaatiitam (the absolutely Pure Consciousness), there are the five desire-related vaamattuvam (desiring this and that), akkorattuvam (desiring nonviolence) sattyosaatattuvam (desiring only truth), tatpurdattuvam (desiring self-understanding) and iicaanam (desiring Moksa) and which dividing itself into param (noumenal) aparam (phenomenal) become altogether ten states of instinctual being. These are created by the Natam that emerges as the inner SUN of 12 divisions and Bindu that emerges as the inner MOON with 16 subdivisions. All these are in fact Cataaciva and all in order to establish the metaphysical experiences of mankind.
Comments:
There is a distinction made by Saivites between Cotidam or astronomical/astrological studies and Ut kiraka maarkkam, the science of Inner Astronomy. Tirumular is addressing the question of this Inner Astronomy here that is more relevant to the study of metaphysics and how the different state of consciousness are established by Cataaciva. It is noted that it is Natam that emerges as this Inner Sun and illuminate the mind in 12 divisions also called Iraaci MaNdalam, a configuration of the inner stars and which are variant appearances of Natam. Similarly the Bindu appears as the Inner Moon but in 16 divisions contributing to the psychodynamics of individuals.
These kalais or elemental basis of the arts and sciences configure various states of consciousness called here avattai. However it is clear what are meant are various instinctual pressures created within and because of which there is such a thing as psychodynamics as part of human reality. And these instinctual states different from the Cakkaram Coppanam and so forth, which are also called the avattai, leading to some confusion.
The avattai established by Cataaciva are related to the FIVE faces and hence are the basic instinctual pressures within.
First of all we have Vaamattuvam, that of desiring this and that and which are ultimately related to the sexual (vaamam) desires. When such desires are metaphysical and are desires towards the deities, it becomes param, transcendental but when directly towards physical or social then it is phenomenal, the aparam.
Secondly we have Tatpuradattuvam, desire for self-understanding both as a social being with a psychological essence (aparam) and as metaphysical reality that seeks to understand self as cosmological reality suffering phenomenal circulation etc (param)
Thirdly we have Catiyoocataattuvam, the desire to seek truth in everyday life (aparam) as well as in religious or metaphysical life (param). Cataaciva creates an aversion towards falsities so that all human beings deep within seek out only truth and live by it.
Next we have Akooram, an aversion towards violence and cruelty and in that seek out LOVE COMPASSION and so forth as desirable attributes of self. Violence and cruelty are NOT desired at all by the cultured people and the more cultured one is more Caring and Compassionate one is. Culture humanizes the human be removing the bestial within.
Finally we have the Icaanam, that which establishes the desire for Moksa, or liberation form existential repetition. It remains aparam, worldly when a person seeks out freedom from social conformity and hence going along with the crowd. However when it turns towards seeking Moksa, the desires become desires for being-with BEING and hence seeking out Civanjanam.
It can be seen in the chapter on SivaliGkam Tirumular is in fact outlining Depth Psychology of a kind that stands more impressive than the Analytical psychologies Freud Jung and so forth. This psychological turn to metaphysics must have been an integral part of Saivism as in the Sumerian times itself we see the presence of Yoga as integral to the temple culture. The Agamas categorize the various practices in the temples as Sariyai Kriyai Yogam and Njaanam and with a hierarchical organization. In practicing the Sariyai, the various rituals that involve active bodily movements, they are already in touch with celestial world where are located the gods. Such Sariyai allows one to evolve into Kriyai where a definite ICON is located and chosen for intimate worship and prayers. It is only after this that Yoga practices emerge and which make possible the self-identification of anma with the chosen Icon or Muurtti and thus assimilating the deity itself into the way of Being-in-the- World of oneself. The personality gets transmuted in the image of Icon assimilated and which also makes possible the LEARNING about the icon or Muurtti experientially.
Such a way of life where there is Icon assimilation, then freeing oneself from that icon only to encounter another and assimilate a higher one is the kind of life ofa Bakta and Tirumular records here that BEING in the Icon of Cataaciva emerged into his vision showing also the FIVE different faces and all with different colors.
The five faces along with the colors of Pure Crystal, KuGkum Red, Magical Black and so forth have MEANINGS and which are the psychodynamic elements that are universal. Siva as Cataaciva establishes instinctual pressures within and thus making all human being enjoy a motivational dynamics that which make them ACT in various ways.
The metaphysical meaning of the colors of the different faces of Cataaciva is given below.
4. Cataaciva LiGkam
º¾¡º¢Å þÄ¢í¸õ
28 : The Colors of the Faces of Cataaciva
1735.
¿Î× ¸¢ÆìÌò ¦¾üÌ ¯ò¾Ã §ÁüÌ
¿Î× Àʸ ¿ü ÌíÌõ ÅýÉõ
«¨¼×Ç ÅïºÉï ¦ºùÅÃò¾õ À¡ø
«Ê§ÂüÌ «ÕǢ ӸÁ¢¨Å «ï§º !
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º¾¡º¢Å ã÷ò¾¢ìÌ ¯ûÇ ³óÐÓ¸í¸û ¿Î× ¸¢ÆìÌ ¦¾üÌ §ÁÄ¡¸¢Â ¯ò¾Ãõ ±ýÀ¦¾¡Î §ÁüÌÁ¡õ. ¿Î× ¦¾¡¼í¸¢ Өȧ þ¨Å ¦ÅñÀÇ¢íÌ, ¿üÌíÌÁ º¢ÅôÒ, Á¢ì¸ ¦ºÈ¢ó¾ ¸Ã¢Â ¨ÁÅñ½õ, ¦ºùÅÃò¾õ â§À¡ýÈ º¢ÅôÒ ±ýÀ¦¾¡Î À¡ø §À¡ýÈ à ¦Åû¨ÇÔÁ¡Ìõ. »¡É측𺢸û ÅÆ¢ «Ê§ÂüÌ þ¨ÈÅÉ¡ø «ÕÇôÀð¼ ³óÐÓ¸í¸Ç¢ý Åñ½í¸û þ¨Å¡Ìõ.
ÌÈ¢ôÒ : ¯îº¢Ó¸õ ®º¡Éõ, ¸¢ÆìÌ Ó¸õ ¾üÒÕ¼õ, ¦¾üÌ Ó¸õ «§¸¡Ãõ, żìÌ Ó¸õ Å¡Á§¾Åõ, §ÁüÌ Ó¸õ ºò¾¢§Â¡º¡¾õ ¬Ìõ. ¨ºÅ¡¸Áí¸Ç¢ø þùÅ¡Ú.
1735
naduvu kizakkut teRku uttara meeRku
naduvu padika naR kuGkum vannam
adaivuLa vanjcananj cevvarattam paal
adiyeeRku aruLiya mukamivai anjcee!
Meaning:
BEING-as-Cataaciva has FIVE faces, the Middle One, the ones on the East, the South and above that the North and finally the one on the West. The colors of these faces are follows in that order: the Middle One, the color of the Pure Crystal, then Red Vermillion, then the intense Black, then the red of Cevvarattam flowers and finally the Pure white of Milk. Thus was disclosed to me the five faces of Cataaciva and their colors.
Notes: The face on top is Icaanam, the one on the East TatpuRudam, the South Akooram, and the North Vaamateevam and on the West Cattiyoocaatam. This is told in the Saiva Agamas.
Comments:
We have seen that faces of Cataaciva pertain to the different kinds of instinctual forces at work in human beings and which are already there as elements in the cosmos. They belong to the Cultural Ecology that BEING sets up as the Cataaciva LiGkam, the union of Bindu and Natam but now as the basis of the whole of the cosmos.
In this verse Tirumular articulates the metaphysics of COLORS here ascribed to the different faces. The Icaanam has the color of the crystal meaning it has no color of its own. This colorlessness is an indication that this face promotes Moksa, being without any colors and desires.
This implies that to be with a color is to be some kind of instinctual desire. The Red kuGkum, the color of TatpuRudam underlies the desire for self-regeneration and hence species reproduction. TatpuRudam then can mean the desire to dominate the world by the demographic processes.
The intense black, the Magical Black belongs to Akooram, the face that induces Nonviolence, Compassion Love and so forth. The Magical Black acts on people making them unite with LOVE rather than quarrel and thus create discord and tension.
The Fire Red belongs to Vaamateevam and it stands for sexual and related desires. The Kaamam (>vaamam) is frequently noted as the muulaagni, the fire in the Muulam, the groin and which stands for sexual arousal.
The white color belongs to Cattiyoocaatam, the face that established the desire for TRUTH and the avoidance of falsities. The white stands for purity and objectivity, the seeing without any prejudices.