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Ganges
- Thread starter Polarbear
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Shuddhasattva
Well-Known Member
Good question.
Bathing in the Ganga is supposed to remove sins.
Sadly, he Ganga is now polluted for much of its length. Severely polluted for much of that. If we do not keep Ganga Ma clean physically, how will She clean us spiritually? I do not think people nowadays realize that the greatest weight of sin they bear doesn't come from their interpersonal transactions but how they impact the environment.
Cremation on the banks of the ganga with the ashes going into the river - this is an optimal way out for a Hindu. In India/Nepal there is sort of a... unique "corpse tourism" converging on the Ganges, and the many temples who make good business performing this service - just saying it like it is.
Esoterically, the Ganga, the Yamuna and the Saraswati rivers (3 of the 7 main Vedic rivers - there are many sevens in the Vedas), are the 3 primary nadis. Ganga is Pingala (Surya), Ida (Chandra) is Yamuna, Saraswati is Sushumna (Agni).
Bathing in the Ganga is supposed to remove sins.
Sadly, he Ganga is now polluted for much of its length. Severely polluted for much of that. If we do not keep Ganga Ma clean physically, how will She clean us spiritually? I do not think people nowadays realize that the greatest weight of sin they bear doesn't come from their interpersonal transactions but how they impact the environment.
Cremation on the banks of the ganga with the ashes going into the river - this is an optimal way out for a Hindu. In India/Nepal there is sort of a... unique "corpse tourism" converging on the Ganges, and the many temples who make good business performing this service - just saying it like it is.
Esoterically, the Ganga, the Yamuna and the Saraswati rivers (3 of the 7 main Vedic rivers - there are many sevens in the Vedas), are the 3 primary nadis. Ganga is Pingala (Surya), Ida (Chandra) is Yamuna, Saraswati is Sushumna (Agni).
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Shuddhasattva
Well-Known Member
Channels of subtle energy (prana).
The configuration of prana in your subtle body is said to make up your state of mind at any given moment. Think of it as many sparks, or impulses, traversing through you, each in a different place, with a different quality, heading in a particular direction, etc.
There are many, many nadis. The upanishads speak of 72,000. 14 are of high importance, 3 of which are principle: Pingala, Ida, Sushumna.
The two opposing breaths we spoke of in a previous thread consist of the activity of the Ida and the Pingala, as fueled by the vayus (pranic winds, which themselves can be classified in two opposing sets). The energy dispersed through the body, in every cell, normally dissipated is focused into the central channel by the action of the ida and the pingala. Here it rises as Kundalini, unlocking mystical experience.
The configuration of prana in your subtle body is said to make up your state of mind at any given moment. Think of it as many sparks, or impulses, traversing through you, each in a different place, with a different quality, heading in a particular direction, etc.
There are many, many nadis. The upanishads speak of 72,000. 14 are of high importance, 3 of which are principle: Pingala, Ida, Sushumna.
The two opposing breaths we spoke of in a previous thread consist of the activity of the Ida and the Pingala, as fueled by the vayus (pranic winds, which themselves can be classified in two opposing sets). The energy dispersed through the body, in every cell, normally dissipated is focused into the central channel by the action of the ida and the pingala. Here it rises as Kundalini, unlocking mystical experience.
Maya3
Well-Known Member
Yes there are seven main chakras, the Nadis are being fueled by the chakras you could say.
Maya
Shuddhasattva
Well-Known Member
Yes. Chakras are the points, or vortexes, where the nadis emerge from and converge to. They are lokas, and doorways into other worlds populated by elemental deities. Heavens. The Kingdom of Heaven lies within, truly, and the system of chakras is its internal cosmology, the inward projection of the universe through the imprimatur of the soul.
There are many chakras, of which the Eastern Kaula school (ie, Bengal Kali Krama), speaks of 6 major chakras, a further 5 minor ones above that, and then the 7th major chakra.
This is in the sat chakra nirupana and the paduka pancaka, both translated by John Woodroffe in The Serpent Power. Unfortunately, this is the only real information about chakras that most subsequent writings have relied on, being watered down the further out they get. People wrote books based on the Serpent Power. And then people wrote books based on those books. And then.. and so on.
Such that talk of chakras is commonplace, without real teaching or practice, as talk of hatha yoga is common place, without real teaching or practice. Largely, these things are unhelpful, or marginally helpful, or sometimes distracting if not downright damaging.
There are however other sources, barely noticed in the new age spiritual supermarket feeding frenzy on this topic, which circulate among devotees and scholars, to the extent that there is a difference.
For example, Gorakhnath talks about chakras beyond the Sahasrara, that is, above the head. There is also discussion of chakras corresponding to hell-realms below the muladhara at the base of the spine.
An in-depth study of chakras is very much wanting.
There are many chakras, of which the Eastern Kaula school (ie, Bengal Kali Krama), speaks of 6 major chakras, a further 5 minor ones above that, and then the 7th major chakra.
This is in the sat chakra nirupana and the paduka pancaka, both translated by John Woodroffe in The Serpent Power. Unfortunately, this is the only real information about chakras that most subsequent writings have relied on, being watered down the further out they get. People wrote books based on the Serpent Power. And then people wrote books based on those books. And then.. and so on.
Such that talk of chakras is commonplace, without real teaching or practice, as talk of hatha yoga is common place, without real teaching or practice. Largely, these things are unhelpful, or marginally helpful, or sometimes distracting if not downright damaging.
There are however other sources, barely noticed in the new age spiritual supermarket feeding frenzy on this topic, which circulate among devotees and scholars, to the extent that there is a difference.
[All scholarship should be devotional, or the real meaning is not extracted as nectar from ink. There are many levels of speech (Vak, the Adi-Shakti), the scriptures in their ink form speak, but correct perception of the vaikhari meaning unlocks, successively, the other levels, which requires tapasya(effulgence and qualification from dilligent practice of yoga/sadhana, the strength of endeavor (some will translate tapas as penance: I believe endeavor is more appropriate, the meaning is somewhere in between)) or diksha (initiation from the guru, empowering the disciple to the inner meanings)]. Ultimately they are the same, there is no yoga comparable to guru yoga. Guru's face is to be seen in the scriptures, whether that is a guru without, or the adi-guru within]
These sources include account from vaishnava-sahajiya, trika, siddha siddhanta (nath), and other Kaula branches such as Sri Vidya.
For example, Gorakhnath talks about chakras beyond the Sahasrara, that is, above the head. There is also discussion of chakras corresponding to hell-realms below the muladhara at the base of the spine.
An in-depth study of chakras is very much wanting.
Shuddhasattva
Well-Known Member
Yes, it's an exceptionally good book by an exceptionally well-studied and initiated author. He was a British judge in Bengal who converted to Hinduism, took initiation, and went about in the robes of a sanyassi.
It's dense though. Not dry, but dense - not a word wasted, and has lots of terminology that can be difficult to understand without lots of prior study or a glossary as reading companion, which I recommend.
Truly a gem though.
It's dense though. Not dry, but dense - not a word wasted, and has lots of terminology that can be difficult to understand without lots of prior study or a glossary as reading companion, which I recommend.
Truly a gem though.