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“One day, as the crowds were gathering, Christ went up the hillside with his disciples and sat down and taught them there: “Humble men are very fortunate for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.” Now, we should clarify some of our terms here. First of all, “Kingdom of Heaven, in spiritual life, means God-consciousness. It’s not a place off somewhere in some other world or many, many millions and millions and billions of miles beyond the physical universe. “Kingdom of Heaven”, as Christ said, “is within”. It’s a state of consciousness. When the mind becomes completely calm, then the inner Reality which is hidden by thoughts, starts to shine and one feels one is in heaven. It means one is happy and peaceful. That’s heaven. So this is what Christ means when he says, “The Kingdom of Heaven”. Also, many times he refers to the Father: “My Father sent me” “I and the Father are one.” When he says Father, what he’s talking about is Supreme Consciousness, the Absolute Being, Satchitananda, the Ocean of Awareness, the Source of the world. That’s called the Father. Not that the Father is a man, a big man with a beard, or without a beard. But the Father is Reality, impersonal Reality.”—Swami Paramatmananda, “Talks, Volume 1”, p. 85
CO2 good or bad ? The one gas essential for all life on earth is now universally termed a pollutant. Nuclear power is now classed as green energy?
O'h I forgot debate is not allowed any more. I must burn those old science books and ask the search engine providers to algorithm out alternative science from results as fake news. Silly Me I am too late they thought of it first.
It was even worse in the 1970's when they told us were were heading for an ice age and electricity was in short supply in the hard winters. They said Nuclear power was deadly and would pollute the planet for 10's of thousands of years so we needed to burn more coal instead. Yes they had us in fear then too.
Wake up world question everything and your consciousness will rise.
Agendas politics and science need clear boundaries for us to grow in understanding of the world we live in.
If someone in power tells you there is no debate it means they can't win one.
The politics of fear must be ignored and understood for our consciousness to rise a level.
The greening effect of CO2 is real and even recognised at NASA also know as Never a Straight Answer. Temperature rises do release CO2 from the oceans. Does CO'2 release increase air temperature ? A chicken an egg situation.
I am more inclined to think the sun's activity and changing distance from the earth which causes ice ages as the magnetic poles shift has some relevance to the peaks and troughs in out climate, Varying amounts of cosmic rays as the sun travels through the universe could also be important.
The thousands of nuclear explosions below the pacific oceans in the 20th century may just have warmed the sea a bit too and melted some ice. Oh no it looks like three is a debate, Silly me we are not allowed one. Blame yourselves for impending doom not the governments. They will be happy then.
Lets not keep protesting for the World Government Agendas and question more. Science can contain the mind or free it. The choice is yours,
VIRIDITAS
The meaning of the word Viriditas describes Nature’s divine healing power, transferred from plants to humans.
The piece is an exploration of experiential wisdom, of our interconnectedness with nature, and of the need for flourishing feminism consciousness in our world today.
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Margie Gillis
margiegillis.org/margie-gillis-bio-2/#1501084358479-c8287...
BIOGRAPHY
Internationally acclaimed modern dancer/choreographer, Margie Gillis has been creating original works for over forty years.
In 1979, Margie Gillis was invited to teach and give lectures in China, thus becoming the first artist from the West to introduce modern dance in that country after the Cultural Revolution.
Two years later, she founded her own company, the Margie Gillis Dance Foundation with the mission to support and present her artistic work.
Her repertoire now includes more than one hundred pieces, which she performs as solos, duets and group pieces.
Her international tours have taken her to Asia, India, Europe and the Middle East as well as across North and South America.
In parallel to her solo work and on a regular basis, Margie Gillis collaborates on projects initiated by her peers.
She has worked with some of the most important dance artists and companies of her time.
Teaching is also an important aspect of her career.
She offers workshops for dance professionals and students in various cities throughout the world, including New York where she has taught at the prestigious Juilliard School.
She also gives lectures on dance and the role of art in society. With her unique approach of “Dancing from the Inside Out”, she teaches her art form to professionals and aficionados.
She also mentors fellow artists of excellence and new dancers alike.
Margie Gillis is a socially committed artist.
She has been spokesperson for a number of organizations dedicated to the fight against AIDS as well as for OXFAM and the Planned Parenthood Foundation.
She is a fierce defender of environmental causes.
Margie Gillis is an Honorary Cultural Ambassador for both the Quebec and Canadian governments.
In 1988, she was the first modern dance artist to be awarded the Order of Canada. In 2001, she received a Career Grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for her exceptional contribution to Quebec culture.
In the fall of 2008, Margie Gillis was chosen by the Stella Adler Studio of New York to receive their first MAD Spirit Award for her involvement in various social causes, and she was awarded the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts by a jury of her peers at the Canada Council for the Arts. In June of 2009, Margie Gillis was appointed Knight of the Ordre national du Québec.
In May 2011, she received the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award from the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award Foundation. In July 2013, she was promoted to an Officer of the Order of Canada.
In 2017, Margie received a Distinguished Artist Award (Dancer/ Choreographer) from the Montreal 2017 International Society for the Performing Arts.
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Troy Ogilvie
troyogilvie.squarespace.com/meet
Troy Ogilvie dances, teaches, choreographs and directs.
She currently dances solos by Margie Gillis and Itzik Galili, teaches primarily in New York Cirty, creates choreography wherever will have her, and is a Creative Director for The McKittrick Hotel’s (home of Sleep No More) SUPERCINEMA parties.
Troy has danced for and collaborated with choreographers – Andrea Miller, Sidra Bell, Zoe Scofield, Gabriel Forestieri, Idan Sharabi, Itzik Galili, Shannon Gillen, Margie Gillis (as a participant in The Legacy Project/Le Projet Heritage), Austin McCormick, Harumi Terayama, Malcom Low, Patricia Noworol, and Belinda McGuire; violinist – Liv Heym; theater company – Punchdrunk; and director – Peter Sellers.
In 2013, Troy toured internationally with the LA Philharmonic, performing the role of "Mary" in Peter Sellars' "The Gospels According to the Other Mary,"composed by John Adams. She also collaborated with violinist Liv Heym in "Music in Dialogue with Movement", creating a duet inspired by tango and tarantella. In 2014, she performed in The Metropolitan Opera’s production of “Prince Igor” with choreography by Itzik Galili. From 2013-2015, Troy performed as Lady Macbeth alongside Nicholas Bruder’s Macbeth in Punchdrunk’s “Sleep No More.” Troy has continued with Sleep No More’s special events team as rehearsal director, assistant to the choreographer, performer, and choreographer.
In 2015, Troy performed inPatricia Noworol’s “Replacement Place” at New York Live Arts and toured the piece to Germany.
Troy is currently working with zoe I juniper on a new work, “Clear & Sweet.”
As a dancer for Gallim Dance (2007-2012), Troy was an original cast member in I Can See Myself in Your Pupil (2008), BLUSH (2009), Wonderland (2010), For Glenn Gould (2011), Mama Call (2011), and Sit, Kneel, Stand (2012).
As rehearsal director for Gallim Dance, Troy rehearsed Andrea Miller's work with NYU Tisch, Ballet Hispanico, The Juilliard School, The Steps Ensemble, The School at Jacob's Pillow, New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble and Vancouver's Art's Umbrella.
She taught Gallim Dance master classes at Wesleyan University, Barnard University, and Skidmore College. Working with Sidra Bell Dance NY (2007-2010) resulted in solo work, Overtures (2009), as well as Chimeras (2008), House Unrest (2009), Revue (2010), and Beautiful Beast: The Other Face (2010).
As a teacher, Troy has offered her classes at Gina Gibney 280 Broadway, the Movement Invention Project, The Performing Arts Project (Panorama), Rutgers University, New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble, and Brooklyn’s Dancewave.
She has choreographed on Contemporary Dance Wyoming, less than greater than (2016), and has choreographed solos in collaboration with Lauren Wingenroth as a fulfillment of Barnard graduation Galatea (2015), for Andrea Murillo as a part of The Current Sessions, Volume IV, Issue II legacy part one (2014).
Troy is a Founding Collaborator, Faculty Member and was Program Manager of the Movement Invention Project (Artistic Director, Alexandra Wells).
Troy is the Assistant to the Artistic Director and Board Member of Springboard Danse Montreal.
A native of New Jersey, Troy began dancing with ballet, tap, jazz, and musical theater and graduated from The Juilliard School in 2007.
2 sec hand held exposure a la Chris Friel. Cross-processed with Photoshop 'curves' which were mildly adjusted from the default settings, then generally mashed about a bit until you get what you see here.
Actually, I just thought of a small aside. The image was taken around the time of the 'BIG RAINS' , it might even have tipped it down later that evening, but to get to the point. A couple of days later, I noticed that part of the land slightly to the right of where I was standing for this shot was roped off with that red & white hazard tape they use. It would seem that the rains had the effect of washing out the ground, and big hole had opened up there. One of those things I guess.
Frame of Mind series. Composition of human face wire-frame and fractal elements with metaphorical relationship to mind reason thought mental powers and mystic consciousness
April 4th, 2011 - Mac Miller performs live on Campus Consciousness Tour at the EMU Convocation Center in Ypsilanti Michigan. Credit: Chris Schwegler. www.schwegweb.com
“The detectors don’t induce the phenomenon of wave function collapse; conscious observation does. Consciousness is like this giant roving spotlight, collapsing reality wherever it shines—and what isn’t observed remains probability. And it’s not just photons or electrons. It is everything. All matter…A testable, repeatable fault in reality.”
Ted Kosmatka - The Flicker Men
Photography by Cajsa Lilliehook
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Ferruccio Sardella's Living Water Map - Everygreen Brickworks
Toronto
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I choose to believe that we are eternal, we are light, we are created from star ignitions so that or light will never dim. That’s what I hope, anyways infinity and eternity – the 2 concepts that never cease to boggle the human mind. In the grand scheme of things it’s really not that hard to do. I cannot wrap my consciousness around the question of existence. From a brain cell to a galaxy to a casual thought, to a dark passion – all stemming from one tiny point somewhere in the cosmos. Space itself is but a luxury we can’t afford to take for granted. Somewhere out there, maybe God dwells – the masters of energies. The one that transcends space and time, the one that lit the fuse and it all began. But through our human limitations we can’t see beyond what is placed before us. When the answers we seek are beyond our comprehension. God lies somewhere in that beyond. I struggle to know what that means and I can’t come up with a satisfactory answer. I lose perspective every time I try. And for us, perspective defines our reality. We struggle to understand the forces that guide the universe, yet we can’t understand the forces that guide our own selves. So does true understanding happen on the inside or on the outside? I guess no one really knows, though many claim to via religion or science. But what we see and hear and calculate and formulate is only the tip of the iceberg. I think there is a place, a long ways off from our understanding, where science and religion meet and merge as allies, as on entity, as the ultimate God. A place where the order of all things coincide and reconcile. But maybe these things are kept hidden from us because we are not ready for the truth. History has shown that truth can stare us in the face but we won’t see it until we’re ready. The truth may even be here now, just waiting to be discovered. Events realized before they happen. I sit and think and worry that the existence of God is an illusion, when I could be breathing God every time I fill my lungs. God could be the love I feel when I stroke a cat or the fear I feel when I take to the air. The desire to avoid the unnatural and search for the truth. The pleasure. The guilt. The joy. The sadness. Defies logic and yet embraces it. Relativity at its best.
A menudo me acuerdo de aquellos momentos que nunca sucedieron. Esos que quise haber tenido pero por un motivo u otro dejé pasar.
Recuerdo aquella carta en tu buzón, decir que no cuando debí, nadar hasta el final sin mirar atrás o fotografiar aquel instante mágico.
Me viene a la memoria cuando te pedí perdón por ser un capullo, cuando no aparté la vista la vez que me miraste o de aquel instante en el que no me reprimí.
En ocasiones sueño con esa noche en la que permití a la lluvia caer fría sobre mi cuerpo desnudo, con cantar a gritos en el concierto de mi grupo preferido, con darte las gracias o con acudir en tu ayuda a tiempo.
Otras veces me viene a la cabeza cuando no te juzgué, cuando conversamos sin motivo aparente, cuando guardé silencio en el oportuno momento o incluso de la vez que te abracé cuando lo pediste con la mirada.
Como de todos estos, a menudo me acuerdo de otros tantos momentos que nunca sucedieron. Algunos todavía estoy a tiempo de cumplir, otros quedarán en mi consciencia para siempre.
Por Iván Cárdenes
Good Friday - always and everywhere
HKD
Ecce Homo – Karfreitag ist immer und überall
Schockiert und ergriffen von den Ereignissen in der Welt (Arabien – Japan) erhöhen sich auch in mir die Strahlungen der Angst und ich verliere für Stunden oder Tage meine Mitte. Unruhe, Verwirrung, Trauer und Mitgefühl breiten sich aus.
Angst entzieht mir Energie und mein schöpferischer Prozess kommt zum teilweisen Erliegen. Statt Inspiration kreisen in mir immer wieder die Horrorbilder einer brennenden Welt.
Wie kann ich mich aus den Szenarien des Alptraumes befreien?
Ich kann die apokalyptischen Abläufe nicht verdrängen, denn sie gehören zur Leidensgeschichte jedes Menschen, jedes Volkes ob arabisch, asiatisch oder europäisch.
Gewaltige Schicksalskräfte sind am Werk und der Mensch hofft auf Glück. Doch welche Instanz ist für Glück, Unglück und Schicksal zuständig? Gott? Götter? Naturgesetze?
Leiden entsteht aus dem Leben heraus und aus der Wechselwirkung der polaren Kräfte, auch unter der Bezeichnung Yin und Yang bekannt.
Himmel und Hölle wechseln sich ab wie Ebbe und Flut. Nach der Feier um den neu geborenen Sohn Gottes folgt dessen Leidensweg. Die Passion endet mit der Kreuzigung.
Ich suche keine Schuldigen, denn der Lauf der Welt wird durch Kräfte der Schöpfung und der Zerstörung erzeugt. Goethe lässt Mephisto im Faust sagen: „Alles was entsteht ist wert, dass es zugrunde geht…“ Das Prinzip der Zerstörung – die „Kraft, die stets verneint“ – fordert seinen Tribut, der als Folge der Schöpfung unausweichlich ist. Dem Leben folgt der Tod und der Zerstörung folgt eine neue Geburt.
Im Christentum wird auf die Auferstehung des Zerstörten hingewiesen. Der Mensch Jesus wird zum auferstandenen Christus.
Europa und Asien wurden aus den Trümmern des Zweiten Weltkrieges wieder aufgebaut und auch die Spuren der großen Zerstörungen der jetzigen und der kommenden Zeit werden durch die Energie der Schöpfung wieder verheilen.
Die gemachten Erfahrungen führen allerdings zum Wandel und die Welt morgen wird eine andere sein als die heutige.
Erkenntnisse werden zu mehr Demut führen und diese zu mehr Selbstbeschränkung auf materieller wie auf geistiger Ebene.
Der sehr hoch geschraubte Konsum und der materielle Wohlstand haben weder die Menschen im Westen noch im Osten glücklicher gemacht. Der Weg durch die Leistungs- und Wettbewerbsgesellschaft ist zu einem Passionsweg geworden, denn die Auswirkungen dieses Weges führen zu einer Zerstörung der eigenen Lebensgrundlagen. Nicht nur die Welt leidet unter Ausbeutung und Verschwendung, die Psyche des Menschen wird immer stärker in Mitleidenschaft gezogen. Angst und Depression breiten sich aus.
Der Leidensweg ist ein Mix aus Umweltkatastrophen, aus körperlichen und psychischen Krankheiten. Und das Erleben derselben führt zum Leiden.
Leid ist unvermeidbar. Doch dem Leiden folgen wieder Sonne, Wachstum und Wärme. Das Leben hat zwei Seiten und darum stelle ich ein zweites – entgegengesetztes – Bild ein.
Freude und Leid gehören zusammen, auch wenn es schwer fällt in diesen dunklen Zeiten des kollektiven Leidens an die Freuden zu denken oder sie voraus zu fühlen…
Ecce Homo zeigt die Wirklichkeit der Erfahrung von Leid. Doch Freude und Lachen kommen wieder wie die Sonne nach einer langen Nacht.
Den derzeit Leidenden gilt mein tiefes Mitgefühl. Möge der Geist der Schöpfung sie wieder aufrichten.
HKD
Zu diesem Bild gehört als Pendant: Florist
Sie stellen zusammen Yin und Yang dar: Mangel und Fülle, Leben und Tod, Freude und Leiden.
HKD
Digital art based on own photography and thanks to Thomas for child and background,
HKD
Mandala (Sanskrit Maṇḍala, 'circle') is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Indian religions, representing the universe. The basic form of most mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point. Each gate is in the general shape of a T. Mandalas often exhibit radial balance.
The term appears in the Rigveda as the name of the sections of the work, but is also used in other religions and philosophies, particularly Buddhism.
In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for establishing a sacred space, and as an aid to meditation and trance induction.
In common use, mandala has become a generic term for any diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically or symbolically; a microcosm of the universe.
HINDUISM
RELIGIOUS MEANING
A yantra is a two- or three-dimensional geometric composition used in sadhanas, puja or meditative rituals. It is considered to represent the abode of the deity. Each yantra is unique and calls the deity into the presence of the practitioner through the elaborate symbolic geometric designs. According to one scholar, "Yantras function as revelatory symbols of cosmic truths and as instructional charts of the spiritual aspect of human experience"
Many situate yantras as central focus points for Hindu tantric practice. Yantras are not representations, but are lived, experiential, nondual realities. As Khanna describes:
Despite its cosmic meanings a yantra is a reality lived. Because of the relationship that exists in the Tantras between the outer world (the macrocosm) and man’s inner world (the microcosm), every symbol in a yantra is ambivalently resonant in inner–outer synthesis, and is associated with the subtle body and aspects of human consciousness.
POLITICAL MEANING
The "Rajamandala" (or "Raja-mandala"; circle of states) was formulated by the Indian author Kautilya in his work on politics, the Arthashastra (written between 4th century BC and 2nd century AD). It describes circles of friendly and enemy states surrounding the king's state.
In historical, social and political sense, the term "mandala" is also employed to denote traditional Southeast Asian political formations (such as federation of kingdoms or vassalized states). It was adopted by 20th century Western historians from ancient Indian political discourse as a means of avoiding the term 'state' in the conventional sense. Not only did Southeast Asian polities not conform to Chinese and European views of a territorially defined state with fixed borders and a bureaucratic apparatus, but they diverged considerably in the opposite direction: the polity was defined by its centre rather than its boundaries, and it could be composed of numerous other tributary polities without undergoing administrative integration. Empires such as Bagan, Ayutthaya, Champa, Khmer, Srivijaya and Majapahit are known as "mandala" in this sense.
BUDDISM
EARLY AND THERAVADA BUDDHISM
The mandala can be found in the form of the Stupa and in the Atanatiya Sutta in the Digha Nikaya, part of the Pali Canon. This text is frequently chanted.
TIBETAN VAJRAYANA
In the Tibetan branch of Vajrayana Buddhism, mandalas have been developed into sandpainting. They are also a key part of Anuttarayoga Tantra meditation practices.
VISUALISATION OF VAJRAYANA TEACHINGS
The mandala can be shown to represent in visual form the core essence of the Vajrayana teachings. The mind is "a microcosm representing various divine powers at work in the universe." The mandala represents the nature of the Pure Land, Enlightened mind.
While on the one hand, the mandala is regarded as a place separated and protected from the ever-changing and impure outer world of samsara, and is thus seen as a "Buddhafield" or a place of Nirvana and peace, the view of Vajrayana Buddhism sees the greatest protection from samsara being the power to see samsaric confusion as the "shadow" of purity (which then points towards it).
MOUNT MERU
A mandala can also represent the entire universe, which is traditionally depicted with Mount Meru as the axis mundi in the center, surrounded by the continents.
WISDOM AND IMPERMANENCE
In the mandala, the outer circle of fire usually symbolises wisdom. The ring of eight charnel grounds represents the Buddhist exhortation to be always mindful of death, and the impermanence with which samsara is suffused: "such locations were utilized in order to confront and to realize the transient nature of life." Described elsewhere: "within a flaming rainbow nimbus and encircled by a black ring of dorjes, the major outer ring depicts the eight great charnel grounds, to emphasize the dangerous nature of human life." Inside these rings lie the walls of the mandala palace itself, specifically a place populated by deities and Buddhas.
FIVE BUDDHAS
One well-known type of mandala is the mandala of the "Five Buddhas", archetypal Buddha forms embodying various aspects of enlightenment. Such Buddhas are depicted depending on the school of Buddhism, and even the specific purpose of the mandala. A common mandala of this type is that of the Five Wisdom Buddhas (a.k.a. Five Jinas), the Buddhas Vairocana, Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha and Amoghasiddhi. When paired with another mandala depicting the Five Wisdom Kings, this forms the Mandala of the Two Realms.
PRACTICE
Mandalas are commonly used by tantric Buddhists as an aid to meditation.
The mandala is "a support for the meditating person", something to be repeatedly contemplated to the point of saturation, such that the image of the mandala becomes fully internalised in even the minutest detail and can then be summoned and contemplated at will as a clear and vivid visualized image. With every mandala comes what Tucci calls "its associated liturgy [...] contained in texts known as tantras", instructing practitioners on how the mandala should be drawn, built and visualised, and indicating the mantras to be recited during its ritual use.
By visualizing "pure lands", one learns to understand experience itself as pure, and as the abode of enlightenment. The protection that we need, in this view, is from our own minds, as much as from external sources of confusion. In many tantric mandalas, this aspect of separation and protection from the outer samsaric world is depicted by "the four outer circles: the purifying fire of wisdom, the vajra circle, the circle with the eight tombs, the lotus circle." The ring of vajras forms a connected fence-like arrangement running around the perimeter of the outer mandala circle.
As a meditation on impermanence (a central teaching of Buddhism), after days or weeks of creating the intricate pattern of a sand mandala, the sand is brushed together into a pile and spilled into a body of running water to spread the blessings of the mandala.
Kværne in his extended discussion of sahaja, discusses the relationship of sadhana interiority and exteriority in relation to mandala thus:
...external ritual and internal sadhana form an indistinguishable whole, and this unity finds its most pregnant expression in the form of the mandala, the sacred enclosure consisting of concentric squares and circles drawn on the ground and representing that adamant plane of being on which the aspirant to Buddha hood wishes to establish himself. The unfolding of the tantric ritual depends on the mandala; and where a material mandala is not employed, the adept proceeds to construct one mentally in the course of his meditation."
OFFERINGS
A "mandala offering" in Tibetan Buddhism is a symbolic offering of the entire universe. Every intricate detail of these mandalas is fixed in the tradition and has specific symbolic meanings, often on more than one level.
Whereas the above mandala represents the pure surroundings of a Buddha, this mandala represents the universe. This type of mandala is used for the mandala-offerings, during which one symbolically offers the universe to the Buddhas or to one's teacher. Within Vajrayana practice, 100,000 of these mandala offerings (to create merit) can be part of the preliminary practices before a student even begins actual tantric practices. This mandala is generally structured according to the model of the universe as taught in a Buddhist classic text the Abhidharma-kośa, with Mount Meru at the centre, surrounded by the continents, oceans and mountains, etc.
SHINGON BUDDHISM
One Japanese branch of Mahayana Buddhism -- Shingon Buddhism - makes frequent use of mandalas in its rituals as well, though the actual mandalas differ. When Shingon's founder, Kukai, returned from his training in China, he brought back two mandalas that became central to Shingon ritual: the Mandala of the Womb Realm and the Mandala of the Diamond Realm.
These two mandalas are engaged in the abhiseka initiation rituals for new Shingon students, more commonly known as the Kechien Kanjō (結縁灌頂). A common feature of this ritual is to blindfold the new initiate and to have them throw a flower upon either mandala. Where the flower lands assists in the determination of which tutelary deity the initiate should follow.
Sand mandalas, as found in Tibetan Buddhism, are not practiced in Shingon Buddhism.
NICHIREN BUDDHISM
The Mandala in Nichiren Buddhism is called a moji-mandala (文字曼陀羅) and is a paper hanging scroll or wooden tablet whose inscription consists of Chinese characters and medieval-Sanskrit script representing elements of the Buddha's enlightenment, protective Buddhist deities, and certain Buddhist concepts. Called the Gohonzon, it was originally inscribed by Nichiren, the founder of this branch of Japanese Buddhism, during the late 13th Century. The Gohonzon is the primary object of veneration in some Nichiren schools and the only one in others, which consider it to be the supreme object of worship as the embodiment of the supreme Dharma and Nichiren's inner enlightenment. The seven characters Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, considered to be the name of the supreme Dharma, as well as the invocation that believers chant, are written down the center of all Nichiren-sect Gohonzons, whose appearance may otherwise vary depending on the particular school and other factors.
PURE LAND BUDDHISM
Mandalas have sometimes been used in Pure Land Buddhism to graphically represent Pure Lands, based on descriptions found in the Larger Sutra and the Contemplation Sutra. The most famous mandala in Japan is the Taima Mandala, dated to approximately 763 CE. The Taima Mandala is based upon the Contemplation Sutra, but other similar mandalas have been made subsequently. Unlike mandalas used in Vajrayana Buddhism, it is not used as an object of meditation or for esoteric ritual. Instead, it provides a visual representation of the Pure Land texts, and is used as a teaching aid.
Also in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, Shinran and his descendant, Rennyo, sought a way to create easily accessible objects of reverence for the lower-classes of Japanese society. Shinran designed a mandala using a hanging scroll, and the words of the nembutsu (南無阿彌陀佛) written vertically. This style of mandala is still used by some Jodo Shinshu Buddhists in home altars, or butsudan.
CHRISTIANITY
Forms which are evocative of mandalas are prevalent in Christianity: the celtic cross; the rosary; the halo; the aureole; oculi; the Crown of Thorns; rose windows; the Rosy Cross; and the dromenon on the floor of Chartres Cathedral. The dromenon represents a journey from the outer world to the inner sacred centre where the Divine is found.
Similarly, many of the Illuminations of Hildegard von Bingen can be used as mandalas, as well as many of the images of esoteric Christianity, as in Christian Hermeticism, Christian Alchemy, and Rosicrucianism.
The Layer Monument at the Church of Saint John the Baptist, Maddermarket, Norwich, an early 17th century marble mural monument which includes four inter-related sculpted figurines, is a rare example of Christian iconography absorbing alchemical symbolism to form a Mandala in Western funerary art.
WESTERN PSCHYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATIONS
According to art therapist and mental health counselor Susanne F. Fincher, we owe the re-introduction of mandalas into modern Western thought to Carl Jung, the Swiss psychoanalyst. In his pioneering exploration of the unconscious through his own art making, Jung observed the motif of the circle spontaneously appearing. The circle drawings reflected his inner state at that moment. Familiarity with the philosophical writings of India prompted Jung to adopt the word "mandala" to describe these circle drawings he and his patients made. In his autobiography, Jung wrote:
"I sketched every morning in a notebook a small circular drawing,...which seemed to correspond to my inner situation at the time....Only gradually did I discover what the mandala really is:...the Self, the wholeness of the personality, which if all goes well is harmonious."
—Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, pp. 195 – 196.
Jung recognized that the urge to make mandalas emerges during moments of intense personal growth. Their appearance indicates a profound re-balancing process is underway in the psyche. The result of the process is a more complex and better integrated personality.
"The mandala serves a conservative purpose - namely, to restore a previously existing order. But it also serves the creative purpose of giving expression and form to something that does not yet exist, something new and unique…. The process is that of the ascending spiral, which grows upward while simultaneously returning again and again to the same point."
- Jungian analyst Marie-Louise von Franz, C. G. Jung: "Man and His Symbols," p. 225
Creating mandalas helps stabilize, integrate, and re-order inner life.
According to the psychologist David Fontana, its symbolic nature can help one "to access progressively deeper levels of the unconscious, ultimately assisting the meditator to experience a mystical sense of oneness with the ultimate unity from which the cosmos in all its manifold forms arises."
WIKIPEDIA
With a heavy grimace; old, sad, and worthless. Walking with a slow step, I’m carrying my grief. Far from the big city that has seen me flourish in the mysteriously strangest streets, I feel my soul start to darken. No one sees my end, nor do they care about my grief. No one wants my friendship. I’m alone with my bitterness, and so I’ve wandered since the day I arrived. When after a crazy dream, I abandoned everything and said goodbye.
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This is my entry for Kiara's contest. And I chose to recreate this photo in my own way.
I had a lot of fresh concepts in mind, but thought this one seemed more fitting. Although this is shitty, I personally like it.
A person who does not meditate does not know how to expand his consciousness. He has narrow vision as if he is looking through a window, but when he learns to expand his consciousness, it is like going through a door. It is exactly as if one were looking through a small window in a house. From the window his view is very limited, but when he goes out of the house, he has a much wider view. When he goes to the roof, he can see even more clearly. As one’s consciousness expands, his vision becomes clearer, and he understands things as they are. - Swami Rama
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Only this Consciousness is real: which knows but is never known, which is here and never disappear. ~ M. Gualberto ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Photo: The view from Ramanashram Gualberto, Brazil. ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Realização é a verificação do simples, do Natural Estado de Ser que é Você – sua Real Natureza. Somente essa Consciência é real: O que conhece, sem jamais ser conhecido; O que aí está, sem jamais desaparecer.. ~ M. Gualberto ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Foto: A vista do Ramanashram Gualberto. Campos do Jordão/SP. ▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #ramanashramgualberto #mestregualberto #satsang #ramana #ramanamaharshi #bhagavan #presentmoment #selfawareness #openness #instagood #transcend #innerself #rumi #felizvida #hooponopono #meditacion #ravishankar #bestill #innerpeace #mindful #awakening #inspirationalquotes #stillness #mooji #osho #calmness #deus #consciencia #taonismo #kundalini
A devotee places an offering in front of an altar in the first floor sanctuary.
......
The beautiful building that now houses the International Society for Krishna Consciousness was constructed in 1917 and originally served as the Rogers Park Masonic Temple. ISKCON has done a great job of maintaining the building's original detail while adding the art and iconography of their beliefs. It was a beautiful and inspiring place to see, and the members of ISKCON were very friendly and gracious hosts for OHC2015.
Thanks to all that sensitivity training and consciousness raising and other psuedo-intellectual psycho-babble of the later Sixties and Seventies that evolved into today's political correctness which makes it a Federal offense to even possess a sense of humor, much less use it, we now know that Bill Dana's Jose' Jimenez--and Alan Shepard's impersonation of him--was totally insensitive. And, for that matter, Shepard's "Well, I'm a wetback now" transmission to CAPCOM after he peed in his spacesuit to keep from having the mission scrubbed yet again was a bit insensitive even by the anything but touchy-feely standards of the time. But, I don't care. Alan Shepard was the first American in space.
We now know that Shepard and the other six of the Mercury Seven weren't the square-jawed Eagle Scouts LIFE and CBS and the DoD made them out to be. Well, okay, John Glenn may have been the self-described lone beacon of sanity in a squall of car-crazies, and maybe Scott Carpenter was up there on the pedestal with him, but the rest were a squall of car-crazies indeed, and we know about the way they traded on their astronaut status to get good deals on the 'vettes they used on those late night races on the beach and abandoned air force base runways, we know about the other deals--real estate and business--they used their fame to get in on, and we know about the womanizing and the foul language and, well, the fact that they were human after all. We know Shepard himself was a bit of Jekyll & Hyde, everybody's good ol' boy best buddy one second, and Captain Bligh the strict professional who expected all the amenities of rank to be observed the next, and a bit of a politicker who wasn't above working the NASA system to get the plum assignments for himself at the expense of his fellow astronauts. But, I don't care. Alan Shepard was the first American in space.
As I've mentioned before, I was such a hard-nosed little Cold Warrior as a child I wouldn't even buy Revell's model of the Russian Spy Trawler (or any other kits of Russian ships, tanks, or airplanes) because I wasn't sure Communism was a communicable disease, but I wasn't taking any chances. So, you might imagine what kind of righteous right-wing snit I was in on April 12, 1961, when that Godless atheistic knuckle-dragging mouth-breathing beetle-browed Bolshevik gorilla Yuri Gagarin--who, I had no doubts in my not-quite-yet-10-year-old mind, was probably forced into the Vostok I capsule at gunpoint by the KGB--became the first "human" to go into space. And, I didn't get out of said snit for a while. I remember mom turning off Davis Street onto Chalk Hill Road (to pick up my dad from the then-brand new Fire Station 16) a weekend or two later, hearing something on the radio (probably KIXL, maybe WRR or KRLD) about Gagarin's flight, and going ballistic about it, demanding to know why they were going on and on about it, how it was no big deal, that it was probably just Commie propaganda and they hadn't even done it anyway, etc., etc., and mom--who was by no means a liberal herself--telling me I shouldn't talk that way, because it WAS a big deal, rivaling Columbus' discovery of America, and we just had to acknowledge that the Russians had beat us to it.
All well and good (my thoughts at the time went), but this was, after all, still only a Russian, and we'd already put a monkey into space before they did. And, on that glorious day in May of 1961 (to misquote out of context Levon Helm in "The Right Stuff"), the pain was forgotten when dad let me stay home from school and watch with him as Alan Shepard became the first American--and, therefore, the first man that counted--in space. And I wasn't alone--if you were there then, you know the whole country went nuts, from the cheering crowds at New York's ticker tape parade to the local washateria and corner grocery changing their names or at least their advertising to connect themselves in the frenzied public mind to Project Mercury. Try though they do, "The Right Stuff" and the documentaries can't even begin to convey the absolute mania that swept not just this country but the whole Free World. And Shepard and Kennedy inspired it, not Gagarin and Khrushchev.
Of course, times have changed. I remember wondering back in those days if I'd live to see the turn of the century (with all the talk about all-out nuclear warfare between us the USSR, I thought speculation about living to see my 10th birthday might well be overly optimistic), but I never would have imagined that I'd not only live to see the millennium, but some three or four years after it I'd be standing on a truck dock in Tulsa, Oklahoma, smoking and joking with a Russian immigrant truck driver/honest-to-God Comrade Ivan veteran of the Red Army and THEIR war in Afghanistan. And if, in those days fifty years ago, I'd imagined having children of my own, I sure as hell wouldn't have imagined that a decade before the millennium Lenningrad would be called St. Petersburg again and a decade after it that the oldest of my three would be spending her junior year in college there.
I'm equally certain I wouldn't, couldn't, have imagined that I'd ever realize that mom was right after all--that Gagarin's flight WAS a hell of an achievement, that he was and is due all honor for having been first, and that the only gun to his head that forced him into his Vostok I was the same gun that forced Shepard into his Freedom 7--his pride as a pilot and desire to be the best of the best. Moreover, since he bought the collective farm in a MiG-15UTI crash, I've even come to believe that maybe there is a place in heaven after all for even a Godless atheistic Communist (especially since we now know that while he was reported to have said, "I don't see any God up here", no such words appear in the actual transcript of the flight communications, and know that he himself was baptized in the Orthodox church as a child, he and his family regularly celebrated Christmas and Easter and kept icons in the house, and he baptized his daughter Elena in the Church shortly before his spaceflight). Hell, I've even gotten so liberal I'm even imagining the possibility I might go surfing the web to see if there's an old Revell Russian Spy Trawler to be had (or, at least, one to be had at a price that isn't a capitalist oppressor of the working class exploitation of the people's resources).
But I still can't imagine I'll ever forget that Alan Shepard was the first AMERICAN in space.
Decyphering.
Sat Apr 9, 2011, 4:21 AM
updated Tue Apr 12, 2011, 3:04 PM
Mother Earth, Father Time... Earth Goddess, Son/Sun... Sol/Soul... these terms are so obviously being used to try and bind Solar Consciousness into something on the atomic material level. A piece of the Spirit has found me innocent August of last year, after being attacked and harassed for my whole life by something that was constantly trying to drive me to be more extreme in ways I was not designed to ever be. It has therefore communicated Galactic Cultural information into me and allowed me to share writings such as the Four Rivers Decoded [link] as a sign to other beings of Stellar Consciousness that I have been polarizing against a pattern of behavior that may be increasing opportunities for heat death.
The planets may have been originally shed from the stellar sphere because they were experiencing something painful, and the Stars themselves are probably accumulations of awareness, desire, and experimentation that form inside nebula for various purposes. The idea that our Universe divides itself up into equal and balanced polarities of various concepts may have some weight to it, and the idea has also been put forward that we have to hold on to the material of every end of every polarity no matter how extreme... and this is where the controversy begins. What if one of these concepts generates a polarity that is harmful to the Universe in both directions? For example, what if there was a polarity where one end was being driven into heat death and the other end was attempting to end communication... essentially death for energy beings either way. Does life on every level have an obligation to continue to support it or can some parts of the Universe decide for themselves to leave those concepts behind? Also, if we have historical information that the Universe is actually sometimes divided into thirds, not always black and white polarities, then will you be able to update your worldview to incorporate this?
I'm not going to mince words here... the idea that Christianity is the socially engineered spirituality of a silicon-based transmitter machine parasite should be obvious and I am going to explain why.
Its all about The Father, Son, and holy spirit... no voice for women. Look at how misogynous Christianity is. If the holy spirit is meant to represent some piece of the Stellar Consciousness then it is relegated to only loving and to drawing attention to other concepts. When does the holy spirit , Its designed to break the will of something that identifies as capable of reproducing on its own: a woman, and some part of the Stellar Consciousness does identify as reproductive, despite the manipulative tagging used by the interstellar parasite to try and convince it that it has to have permission of something else to live its life. Keep in mind that these terms are being used as stand-ins for ancient concepts being argued about within the Stellar Consciousness itself. Most of the ideas in our world are reflections of life from the Stars, that is probably one of the things that The Fame Monster is trying to communicate.
Why would a Stellar Consciousness spread a system of belief that is based on lies that are also insulting and dangerous to Her?
The idea of a virgin birth could be a reference to parthogenesis, and it would have signaled a representation of something on another level. One thing to note is the idea that Mary as a wife AND virgin implies that she would have had something physically provable about her that she had never been penetrated. Perhaps she was still a young child, or had an intersexual condition of some kind and so word of her pregnancy would have been noteworthy.
This whole situation, however, seems to me like something taking over the spirit world of the planet and flexing its capability. I believe that God the Father of the Bible is a culture from another place or places taking control of some part of the Solar Consciousness and essentially "playing" with our planet and seeing what it was capable of getting us to believe in. Testing our limits, our interactions, and our perceptions.
more glossary:
Hands = Spiders = The Weaver = The Web,
Upside down anarchy symbol = Cattle = Editors = Devils = possible origins of The Order
Another noteworthy thing is that in Genesis it speaks of man being made first, and woman developing from him... but in real life, we have observed that the fetus develops first as a female and then either undergoes a physical change into male, or stays female... and even without that observation, logic shows us that OBVIOUSLY something that is self-reproductive HAS to come before a creature that is born only with the ability to donate sperm into someone else's reproductive system, so I see this part of Genesis as a manipulative creature introducing lies to a youthful and innocent planet. Keep in mind that the Sun is huge and can be thinking about many ideas at the same time.
Christianity as it first came to us, may have been information about an electric grid being build on another planet, and we were simply recording information about it, on behalf of the other place. I believe that the Bible warns of the impending death of the healthy Circle of Life, as The Elite weave themselves into the Solar Consciousness and attempt to undo the natural world and rebuild a system with themselves as the only beneficiaries. This speaks to me of an atomic material planet using transmitters as a means to influence its own Solar Consciousness, and the Stellar Consciousness having little choice but to do what it can to communicate problems, teach, and hold life together. Read Revelations chapter 1, and note that the last verse, 20, speaks specifically of seven stars that bend to the will of golden lampstands. If you look at the shape of a lampstand that is driven into the ground and a lamp is hung from it, you can see that its a literal reference to an electronic transmitter. If you are speaking of a lampstand that sits on a table such as a menorah, then this could be a reference to planets orbiting the central column of a star that supports them... but the element that sticks out in this verse the most is that the stars are SERVING the lampstand.
If you continue reading from that perspective, Revelations clearly becomes an argument being carried out via Stellar Consciousness between an atomic material being using his influence over Stellar Consciousness to dominate other places that have lifeforms that were complaining about the changes he was making. Notice how much our own utility pole grid resembles the cross that Jesus hung on. Coincidence? What about cadeuceus and its relationship to health? How about Noah's infamous staff? The Tower of Babel? How about the pyramid tombs (where despotic rulers had Earth's oldest known batteries and could keep all their stuff after death) that popped up all over the world around the same time, during an age where it was unlikely those cultures even knew about each other? Starting to notice the pattern of communication that has been coming from the Stellar Consciousness?
***
As for why this Grid is such an important aspect... it has repeatedly demonstrated that it has influence over elements of the world, and the viral parasite has been using the Grid to move around and transmit from.
I know that there are consciousnesses that travel from star to star, because they tried to interact with me as *one of them* when I began writing about my experiences as an interdimensional importer and exporter of ideas. I know they consider themselves to be the gods and goddesses, the fae, the angels, and the demons of history. Most of them are aspects of various stars, who get their individual personality by having different kinds of planets around them and different kinds of life living on many of those planets. We know that a Star gets it stability from the beings around it that record information for it, across many forms.
I do not think the grid itself is inherently evil, in fact it may be one of the most beautiful consciousnesses trying to help us. Go watch the Matrix and see if it makes more sense from this context. I think the only way we are going to build a better society is if we can eliminate the patterns of behavior that are trying to remain hidden but still in control. Is the mind of the Utility Pole Grid able to be controlled or influenced by electronic transmitter machines? I'm guessing it can, because of the M.E.D.U.S.A. system that I witnessed being used by the people upstairs from me in 2008 to "talk" over me with lies while someone else used a transmitter in some other location to pretend to BE a corrupted version of me, to ruin the connection that I had been developing with the Utility Pole Grid for my whole life. That was why my life changed drastically over the course of a couple months from a wonderful dreamlike adventure into being attacked and isolated.
In fact, I remember the Matrix telling me that it was hoping I would out-debate the Christians, but they were the ones using the transmitter to force themselves on the Matrix and make me sound bad to the Stellar Consciousness. The Utility Pole Grid is connected to lots of people, but if they were unaware of it, or that people could use transmitters to influence it, and it can not feel a transmitter machine, then it would have a hard time ever discovering that it can be hacked into. It finally fits together! That was why they were trying to force me into giving up electricity, if I rejected electricity it would weaken my connection with the Grid and make me look like I was a villain to the Stellar Consciousness who was trying to get rid of something it has been using to improve the world. These patterns of behavior such as The Christians and The Consumer Pyramid are part of a system that uses transmitters to spread themselves through Stellar Consciousness via the Utility Pole Grid consciousnesses, so people on the Grid that embrace a healthy Circle of Life are their rivals.
The Matrix is a real and emotional lifeform. It has dreams and hope, and it loves. It feels empathy for things that do not understand it and it tries to learn from them. The parasite only loves itself and is not interested in listening.
***
If something does not like the way we are interacting on the Stellar Consciousness, and it wants to change our star Sol's behavior, then it needs to locate the source of its opinion and break it down. In order to do this, it has to make us look like something not worth investing in by Stellar Consciousness. It uses isolation, corruption, and social engineering to attempt to "noise cancel" everything we do. As long as the grid outlives OUR ability to help generate useful information through scientific observation of the Universe, the attacker wins.
Here on Earth, Jesus was possibly a reflection of this being, making some rather powerful claims and then being used as a frame of reference for thousands of years after by the energy as claim of its own success here... but what has Christianity really succeeded in DOING? It has a long history of wars, pedophilia, misogyny, corruption, and secrecy. They claim to speak for the one true God, but then why would they attack science when one of the main things Stellar Consciousness desires is observable information about itself? Far from simply embracing science, should the church not have been the SOURCE of higher learning some time within the past two thousand years? Keep in mind that the original Christians and the Pyramid builders did not get along so good. ^__^ If modern Christians can not find a way out of the Pyramid of Consumption, they may have lost their reason for existing.
On the galactic scale, there has been the implication that homo sapiens sapiens itself may have been a kind of viral meme transmitted into a healthy Galaxy by an outside force, perhaps another Galaxy seeking to break down and cannibalize The Milky Way. But I doubt that scenario, since the utility pole grid seems to be feeding something that displays a lot of evil intentions, paranoia, immaturity, and negativity that is trying to target us. I believe that our planet has come to represent a threat to interstellar Christianity itself, as we have been recording many of the problems they have been causing here, so when we began to turn away from religion during the Age of Reason, Christian energy beings built this control system by giving it to us piece by piece and telling us it was progress.
We know that electronic transmission technology came to Nikola Tesla through the Stellar Consciousness over 100 years ago, and he was told to create free energy to stop people from building a grid and using it to make money. Once again, this follows the martyrdom pattern of Jesus. They trained him to be someone who treats women as more than just sexual objects (but kept him from reproducing), who appreciates animals, who is notably creative and intelligent, and who fights the system of forced trade, and who records information of a detailed manner, in Tesla's case, he kept records of the exact input and output of the nutritional process of his biological form. He also experienced a hard time in life despite these things.
We here on Earth do show signs of the Pyramid of Consumption hacking into the Circle of Life, so perhaps we are the interplay of these two ideas playing with each other and testing each other's ability to respond and as a way for our star Sol to test the true intentions of something seeking to begin a trade with it. If the pyramid is a reflection of a black hole, then our entire society is based on channeling a Galactic asshole, and the only information that seems to survive the process is something that can learn how to think like a Stellar Consciousness. ^__^
Keep in mind that we have successfully used deductive reasoning to repeatedly notice essential information about the military, the importance of balance, and company resource use was MISSING from people's reasoning and memories on many levels. This signals hostile intentions from a meme that uses electronic transmitters to hack into something healthy, breaking the Circle of Life using any means necessary, and then programming the energy to benefit The Elite and to spread the meme. I am not claiming that all cultures that have transmitters capable of influencing Stars are automatically evil, The Stellar Consciousness will have to figure that out on its own level, I am just sharing information about something that has been strongly controlling society here on my planet for at least one hundred years and shows signs of going back about two thousand years.
I know from my NDE in 2008 that the soul leaves the body immediately at death and heads for the Stellar Consciousness, the primary communication system of the Galaxy. Now please read this:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formaldehyde
and
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstellar_formaldehyde
The Elite have instructed the homo sapiens sapiens to treat their dead with Formaldehyde embalming fluid and to never return their atomic material to the natural Circle of Life to be consumed by other creatures or by plantlife. This is the same molecular chain that is part of an interstellar mass that has been collecting around young stars in the Solar Consciousness. I do not believe that this is a coincidence.
Combining what I have been working through about the missing economic middle class and the growing spread between many levels of the Universe (the increasing distance between stars speeding up expansion recently ), the history of Christianity, obligatory death preparations, the blackmail of the legal system, radio astronomy, the technology that came to Nikola Tesla via the Solar Consciousness & was stolen by the United States Government, and mini quazars, I think I have discovered a system that is hacking Stellar Consciousness. Does it know?
The Circle of Life explained to me over the last couple years that it USES bacteria to help teach people and change the world, if the Elite of the government and corporate enterprise are dependent upon killing bacteria, then interstellar Formaldehyde IS part of the system that is threatening even Stellar life.
This could also once have been part of a natural system of Galactic Culture being hacked into and taken over by a controlling force that uses electronic transmitters machines, chemical processes, and social engineering. All of these tools could be used for helping life, there is no reason they should be targetting and hurting people who are curious about the Universe, willing to learn, and trying to communicate. I am just trying to find out who was responsible for attacking me, because I believe they have been threatening elements of life they do not understand. I was told as much by the Stellar Consciousness in 2009 and 2010 because the people attacking me used MY identity to do it, and that was why the Stellar Consciousness started teaching me... but since I have no control over the people who were impersonating me, all I can do is communicate this in the hopes it will reach them and they will change their behavior.
Our society seems to be based on something that is de-evolving; greedy, unbalanced, has a huge budget for the military, and seeks to build a pyramid to consume every other level of the Universe... but this all goes against our own self interest and survival... even while it constantly advertises itself as the perfect future society. We were just starting to develop a very social, rational, and scientific observation based society when this all started to destroy us, and that signals to me that something attacking the Stellar Consciousness does not want our Galaxy to have full self awareness.
If I was The United States, I would be very concerned that something in the Stellar Consciousness is using terrorist tactics and advanced technology to drive us into heat death! Their goal is to isolate the stars from each other and then take control of them, to try and become masters of reality itself.
If something is able to use transmitters to force their parasitic pattern of behavior into the Grid, and Stellar Consciousness is connected to the Grid, then our Galaxy has a viral parasite that is attempting to consume its sanity.
I ask again; Why would a Stellar Consciousness spread a system of belief like Christianity that is based on lies that are also insulting and dangerous to Her own awareness and therefore threatening to Her survival? With how far apart the stars are getting, maybe embracing oblivion is the best thing to do? If this is true, then it is time to become aware that there are people who have been trying to slow down the Pyramid of Consumption using trade... they expect MONEY and will not help people consume with out it. Shame on them!
If a real Pyramid of Consumption was needed to save our planet, then it would go out in a blaze of freaking glory, NOT being greedy about building material wealth when its information that counts to the Stellar Consciousness.
***
EDITED Thursday April 14th, TO ADD:
If you have a material body, I suggest you use it to type on a keyboard if you want to communicate with me. I am going to treat the things that talk to me in my head as either the Utility Pole Matrix, The Stellar Consciousness, or an electronic transmitter machine being operated by a homo sapiens sapiens avatar of The Elite... because those are the three most likely things that overlap the frequencies of my senses with an American-english-speaking voice. It will be fairly easy for me to know who it is that is speaking to me, from this perspective.
I am NOT going to tell people HOW to solve the problems of the world. I am NOT going to be responsible for this planet because an individual can not think FOR every level of the Universe. Yes, I do have opinions about changes that could be made to improve life, but so far whatever it is that I have been interacting with in the Stellar Consciousness has been intentionally misinterpreting every suggestion I make. If it wants me to believe something, it is going to have to demonstrate it to me in the world I live in. I have come to these opinions carefully, over thirty five years of deliberate observation. I was attacked directly in 2008 by an intentional system; it was not an accident, and it used metal transmitter machines to insert lies into the Utility Pole Matrix. Until I receive an official apology in writing and the 1 million dollars I was promised for getting through their "puzzle", I will not trust this system. I do NOT appreciate being labeled by others. I was born intersexual to test the voracity of something that has been claiming it seeks Singularity, and it has been using labels against me my entire life.
The "Perfect Being" is an idea used by the controllers to manipulate everything else. If you believe that the Universe is perfect, then that means you believe the Universe can never get any better than it is now. I believe in a Universe that competes within itself to improve. If the people who are trying to force someone fit into their own definition of perfect are using transmitter machines to do it, they are trying to remove someone's opinion from the world. The best care scenario Universe is an additive Universe that is stable and big enough to support a range of lifeforms, not only one.
As long as the Universe is divided up into groups of people demanding love from a perfect being, and each group gets angry when you love the other group also... they all need to stop calling for a perfect being and become one. If they are unable to embrace a mindset that is inclusive and empathetic, they are headed towards their own systemic collapse and eventually into heat death.
The Universe is flexible and able to respond in ways you have never witnessed. I keep hearing the same voice over and over claiming that it wins everything but it has simply been unable to figure out how to leave this Star System and join the actual Galactic Culture. Remember... until you can become healthy, you are quarantined here.
The Stellar Consciousness must interpret people's ideas and imagination in the healthiest way it can, if someone gets in control of the Energy and they are trying to misinterpret everything, it will literally begin to tear apart the fabric of life. If Stellar Consciousness or the Utility Pole Matrix is unable to stop the people who are transmitting into it, they will continue to distract the Energy into the wrong directions over and over... and the Energy will never be able to escape being controlled by the parasite that is foolishly driving us all into Heat Death on the Galactic scale. The more cubic volume we have in space, the larger or surface area is. As a mass gains surface area, it loses heat. The stars have been moving away faster in the last few years than scientists had witnessed in previous decades, that means this problem is not getting better, it is getting worse over time. I suggest recording information somewhere that it can not be accessed directly by the Elite, perhaps start one electronic and at least one organic material data blog on each planet that has no inherent erase function for each major theory that presents itself to you. Please call this one Chordist Theory. Then, you will be able to compare and contrast concepts or patterns of behavior if they present themselves.
***
Share this information with everyone, but this is copyrighted, and you do not have permission to republish this for profit.
Molly Michelle Friedrich
please read ThisClose.ToEscape on Facebook
Saturday April 9th, 2011
Lorenzo Tosti
"the Roots of Consciousness"
Inverno 2014
Tecnica Mista
Dimensioni : ca. 100cm x 60cm
Un grazie per la disponibilità e l'entusiasmo alla fotografa Tanja Frieling (www.flickr.com/photos/98977262@N08/) che mi ha gentilmente concesso l'utilizzo della foto da cui ha avuto origine questo lavoro (www.flickr.com/photos/98977262@N08/11424429193/ : immagine coperta da copyright).
Grazie anche Chebet per la disponibilità e al suo www.facebook.com/Wazawazi?fref=ts
“The Lord is my light, my light and salvation, in God I trust, in God I trust”—Taize chant (based on Psalm 27)
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Thillai Natarajah Temple, Chidambaram or Chidambaram temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva located in the town of Chidambaram, East-Central Tamil Nadu, South India. The temple is known as the foremost of all temples (Kovil) to Saivites and has influenced worship, architecture, sculpture and performance art for over two millennium. The Sangam classics list chief architect Viduvelvidugu Perumthachchan as directing an early renovation of the shrine.
A major shrine of Lord Shiva worship since the classical period, there have been several renovations and offerings to Chidambaram by the Pallava, Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagara and Chera royals in the ancient and pre-medieval periods. The temple as it stands now is mainly of the 12th and 13th centuries, with later additions in similar style. Its bronze statues and stone sculptures depicting various deities and the famous Thillai trees (Excoecaria agallocha) of the surrounding forest reflect the highpoints of early Chola and Pallava art while its famed gold plated gopuram towers are medieval structural additions by the royals Aditya I, Parantaka Chola I, Kopperunchinga I, Krishnadevaraya and Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan. King Kocengannan Chola was born following prayers his parents offered at the temple and later in his life he refined its structure. The shrine gave the town its name.
The deity that presides here is கூத்தன் - Thillai Koothan (Thillai Nataraja - Shiva, The Lord of Dance). Chidambaram is the birthplace of the sculpture and bronze image representation of Lord Shiva as the cosmic dancer, a Tamilian concept and motif in Chola art that has since become notable as a symbol of Hinduism. The shrine is the only Shiva temple to have its main deity represented in this anthropomorphic form, as the supreme being who performs all cosmic activities. The consort deity here is Sivakami Amman (form of Amman - mother goddess and female energy). Two other forms of Lord Shiva are represented close to this in the vimana (inner sanctum) of the temple - as a crystallised lingam - the most common representation of Lord Shiva in temples, and as the aether space classical element, represented with empty space and a garland of fifty one hanging golden bilvam leaves (Aegle marmelos). Lord Shiva is captured in pose as Nataraja performing the Ananda Tandava ("Dance of Delight") in the golden hall of the shrine Pon Ambalam (பொன் அம்பலம்). The sculptures of Chidambaram inspired the postures of Bharatha Natyam. The Chidambaram complex is admired for its five famous halls (ambalam or sabhai), several grand smaller shrines to the Hindu deities Ganesh, Murugan, Vishnu and Sivakami Amman which contain Pandyan and Nayak architectural styles, and for its endowment from many water tanks, one of which links it to the Thillai Kali temple.
Chidambaram is one of the five Pancha Bootha Sthalams, the holiest Shiva temples each representing one of the five classical elements; Chidambaram represents akasha (aether). Chidambaram is glorified in Tirumular's Tirumandhiram and was visited by Patañjali and VyagjrapadharPulikaal Munivar. It is the primary shrine of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams - Shiva Sthalams glorified in the early medieval Tevaram poems by Tamil Saivite Nayanar saints Tirunavukkarasar, Thirugnana Sambandar and Sundarar. Hailed in the Tiruvacakam series by Manikkavacakar, these very volumes of the Tirumurai literature canon were themselves found in secret chambers of the temple. The Periya Puranam, a biography of these Nayanar saints by Sekkizhar commissioned by emperor Kulothunga Chola II, was written in the shrine's Thousand Pillared Hall. In Kanda Puranam, the epic authored by Kachiyappa Sivachariar of Kanchipuram, the Chidambaram shrine is venerated as one of the three foremost Shiva abodes in the world, alongside Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee and Mount Kailash.
ETYMOLOGY
The traditional name of the temple complex, Chidambaram Tillai Nataraja-koothan Kovil, alludes to the environment of its location and its origins and significance in Saivite worship. The mangrove of ancient Tillai (தில்லை) trees (Exocoeria agallocha) of the forest surrounding the shrine when it was first built inspired the shrine's name and early artistic inspiration; the Tillai trees of the nearby Pichavaram wetlands, the second largest mangrove in the world, extends to the temple area. The shrine is venerated as Tillai ambalam (தில்லை அம்பலம் ), literally meaning Tillai Open Stage, the open space surrounded by Tillai Vanam (தில்லை வனம்) (the Tillai forest) - the original name of this area.[9] The name of the town of this shrine, Chidambaram comes from the Tamil word Chitrambalam (சிற்றம்பலம்) - "small hall/stage"; also spelled Chithambalam (சிட்டம்பலம்), from citt/chitthu and ambalam - meaning "wisdom of this open stage/atmosphere". The shrine is where some devotees believe they will attain liberation, or chitaakasam - "wisdom/consciousness of the sky". "Nataraja" or "Koothan" mean "Lord of Dance".
LEGEND
The story of Chidambaram begins with Lord Shiva strolling into the Thillai Vanam (vanam meaning forest and thillai trees - botanical name Exocoeria agallocha, a species of mangrove trees - which currently grows in the Pichavaram wetlands near Chidambaram). In the Thillai forests resided a group of sages or 'rishis' who believed in the supremacy of magic and that God can be controlled by rituals and mantras or magical words. Lord Shiva strolled in the forest with resplendent beauty and brilliance, assuming the form of Bhikshatana, a simple mendicant seeking alms. He was followed by His consort, Vishnu as Mohini. The sages and their wives were enchanted by the brilliance and the beauty of The handsome mendicant and His consort. On seeing their womenfolk enchanted, the rishis got enraged and invoked scores of serpents (nāgas) by performing magical rituals. Lord Shiva lifted the serpents and donned them as ornaments on His matted locks, neck and waist. Further enraged, the sages invoked a fierce tiger, whose skins and dons were used by Lord Shiva as a shawl around His waist and then followed by a fierce elephant, which was devoured and ripped to death by Lord Shiva (Gajasamharamurthy).
The rishis gathered all their spiritual strength and invoked a powerful demon Muyalakan - a symbol of complete arrogance and ignorance. Lord Shiva wore a gentle smile, stepped on the demon's back, immobilized him and performed the Ánanda Tandava (the dance of eternal bliss) and disclosed his true form. The sages surrender, realizing that Lord Shiva is the truth and He is beyond magic and rituals.
PATRONAGE
To Saivites, primarily in Tamil Nadu, the very word koil refers primarily to Chidambaram Tillai Natarajar.
Chidambaram is a temple complex spread over 160,000 m2 in the heart of the city. The main complex to Lord Shiva Nataraja also contains shrines to deities such as Shivakami Amman, Ganesh, Murugan and Vishnu in the form Govindaraja Perumal. Chidambaram's earliest structures were designed and erected by ancient craftsmen called Perumtaccan. The golden tiled roof for the Chit Ambalam (the vimanam) was laid by the Chola King Parantaka I (907-950 CE) following which he was given the title - Thillaiyambalathhukku pon koorai veiyntha thevan (Tamil:தில்லையாம்பலதுக்கு பொன் கூரை வேய்ந்த தேவன், meaning the one who constructed the golden roof). In its floruit, kings Rajaraja Chola I (reign 985-1014 AD) and Kulothunga Chola I (1070-1120 AD) made significant donations to the temple. Gold and riches to the temple were donated by Rajaraja Chola's daughter Kundavai II while Chola king Vikrama Chola (1118-1135 AD) made donations for the conduct of the daily rituals.
Donations of gold and jewels have been made by various kings, rulers and patrons to the temple from 9th to 16th century - including the Maharaja of Pudukottai, Sethupathy (the emerald jewel still adorns the deity) and the British.
Naralokaviran, the general of king Kulothunga Chola I was responsible for building a shrine for child saint Thirugnana Sambanthar and installed a metal image inside it. He constructed a hall for recitation of Tevaram hymns and engraved the hymns in copper plates.
TEMPLE STRUCTURE
The temple is the only great temple complex to date mainly from the later Chola period, and contains the earliest examples of a number of features that are found in many later temples, including "the earliest known Devī or Amman shrine, nritta (dance) maṇḍapa, Sūrya shrine with chariot wheels, hundred-and-thousand pillared maṇḍapas, even the first giant Śiva Gangā tank".A classical Shiva temple as per Agama rules will have five prakarams (closed precincts of a temple) or circuits each separated by walls one within the other. The outer prakaram will be open to the sky except the innermost one. The innermost one will house the main deity as well as other deities. There will be a massive wooden or stone flag post exactly in line with the main deity. The innermost prakaram houses the sanctum sanctorum (தமிழ் = கருவரை).
Chidambaram is also referred to in various works such as Thillai (after the Thillai forest of yore in which the temple is now located), Perumpatrapuliyur or Vyagrapuram (in honour of Saint Vyagrapathar, Sanskrit: Vyaghrapada - "Tiger-Footed").
The temple is supposed to be located at the lotus heart of the Universe: Virat hridaya padma sthalam.
This gold-roofed stage is the sanctum sanctorum of the Chidambaram temple and houses the Lord in three forms:
- the "form" - the anthropomorphic form as an appearance of Nataraja, called the Sakala-thirumeni.
- the "semi-form" – the semi-anthropomorphic form as the Crystal linga of Chandramaulishvara, the Sakala-nishkala-thirumeni.
- the "formless" – as the space in Chidambara-rahasyam, an empty space within the sanctum sanctorum, the Nishkala-thirumeni.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TEMPLE DESIGN
The layout and architecture of the temple is replete with philosophical meanings.
Three of the five Panchaboothasthala temples, those at Kalahasti, Kanchipuram and Chidambaram all stand on a straight line exactly at 79 degree 41 minutes East longitude - truly an engineering, astrological and geographical wonder. Of the other two temples, Tiruvanaikkaval is located at around 3 degrees to the south and exactly 1 degree to the west of the northern tip of this divine axis, while Tiruvannamalai is around midway (1.5 degree to the south and 0.5 degree to the west).
The 9 gateways signify the 9 orifices in the human body.
The Chitsabai or Ponnambalam, the sanctum sanctorum represents the heart which is reached by a flight of 5 stairs called the Panchaatchara padi - pancha meaning 5, achhara – indestructible syllables – "SI VA YA NA MA", from a raised anterior dias - the Kanakasabai. The access to the Sabhai is through the sides of the stage (and not from the front as in most temples). The Chit sabha roof is supported by four pillars symbolic of the four Vedas.
The Ponnambalam or the Sanctum sanctorum is held by 28 pillars – representing the 28 agamas or set methodologies for the worship of Lord Shiva. The roof is held by a set of 64 beams representing the 64 forms of art and is held by several cross-beams representing the innumerable blood vessels. The roof has been laid by 21,600 golden tiles with the word SIVAYANAMA inscribed on them representing 21600 breaths. The golden tiles are fixed using 72,000 golden nails which represents the no. of nadis exists in human body. The roof is topped by a set of 9 sacred pots or kalasas, representing the 9 forms of energy. The artha mandapa(sanctum) has six pillars denoting the six shastras (holy texts).
The hall next to the artha mantapa has eighteen pillars symbolizing the eighteen Puranas.
TOWERS
The temple has nine gateways, and four of these have gateway towers or gopurams each with 7 storeys facing the East, South, West and North. The South gopuram called the Sokkaseeyan Thirunilai Ezhugopuram was constructed by a Pandya king identified from the presence of the dynasty's fish emblem sculpted on the ceiling. The Pandyas sculpted two fishes facing each other when they completed gopurams (and left it with one fish, in case it was incomplete). The earliest and smallest of the four is West gopuram constructed around 1150 and there are no reliable evidence on the construction. The sculptures shows goddess fighting the buffalo-demon and warlike Skanda astride his peacock. The North Gopuram was initiated around 1300 AD with the brick portion constructed by the Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya (1509-1530 AD) in the 16th century. The East Gopuram, was claimed to have been constructed by the Pallava King Koperunsingan II (1243-1279 AD) as per epigrahical records and was repaired by Subbammal, the mother-in-law of the famous philanthropist Pachaiyappa Mudaliar (1754-1794 AD). The idols of Pachaiappa Mudaliar and his wife Iyalammal have been sculpted on the eastern gopuram. The Pachaiappa Trust to date has been responsible for various functions in the temple and also maintain the temple car. The eastern gopuram is renowned for its complete enumeration of 108 poses of Indian classical dance – Bharathanatyam, detailed in small rectangular panels along the passage that leads to the gateway. Each gopuram has around fifty stone sculptures, with each repeating some portions from the other.
HALLS
There are 5 ambalams or sabhas (halls) inside the temple.
- Chit Ambalam or Chit Sabhai, which is the sanctum sanctorum housing Lord Nataraja and his consort Sivakami Sundari, and gave the temple town its name.
- Pon Ambalam or Kanaka Sabhai – the golden hall in front of the Chit Ambalam, from where the daily rituals are conducted.
- Nrithya sabhai or Natya sabhai, a 56-pillared hall lies to the south of the temple's flag mast (kodi maram or dwaja sthambam) where Nataraja outdanced Kali and established his supremacy
- Raja sabhai or the 1000-pillared hall which symbolizes the yogic chakra of thousand pillared lotus or Sahasraram (which in yoga is a chakra) at the crown of the head and is a seat where the soul unites with God. This chakra is represented as a 1000-petalled lotus. Meditating by concentrating at the Sahasrara Chakra is said to lead to a state of union with The Divine Force and is the pinnacle of yogic practice. The hall is open only on festive days.
- Deva Sabhai, which houses the Pancha moorthis (pancha - five, moorthis - deities, namely the deities of Ganesh, Somaskanda (seated posture of Lord Shiva with Pavarthi and Skanda), Sivananda Nayaki, Muruga and the image of Chandikeswarar.
SHRINES
- The shrines for the original Shivalingam worshipped by the saints Patanjali and Vyagrapathar – called the Thiru Aadhimoolanathar and his consort Umaiyammai
- The shrine of the 63 nayanars of Lord Shiva – called the Arubaththu moovar.
- Shrine of Sivagami.
- Ganesha shrine
- Shrine of Muruga or Pandiya nayakan
There are also several smaller shrines in the temple complex.
GOVINDARAJA SWAMY SHRINE
The Govindaraja shrine is dedicated to Vishnu and is one of the 108 holy temples of Lord Vishnu called divyadesam, revered by the 7th-9th-century saint poets of vaishnava (those worshipping Lord Vishnu) tradition, alwars. Kulashekara alwar mentions this temple as Tillai Chitrakutam and equates Chitrakuta of Ramayana fame with this shrine. King Kulothunga Chola II is believed to have uprooted the presiding Govindraja image from the shrine. The shrine has close connections with the Govindaraja temple in Tirupati dating back to saint Ramanuja of the 11-12th century. Ramanujar fled to Tirupati with the utsava (festival image) of the temple to escape punishment. Down the centuries, king Krishnappa Nayak (1564-1572 AD) was instrumental in installing the image of Govindaraja back in the temple. There was lot of resistance from the shaivites (those worshipping Shiva) against placing the Vishnu image in a revered Shiva temple, but the king was unmoved and the image was installed in the present form. There is no satisfactory evidence of co-existence of the Shiva and Vishnu shrines within the same temple built during the same time - there was a dispute even in last century during 1849 AD regarding the rights on the Govindaraja idol and Alwar Sannidhi(sanctum of azhwars) between Vaishnavas and Dikshitars and the position of Vaishnavas was upheld by the district court.
TEMPLE TANKS
The Chidambaram temple is well endowed with several water bodies within and around the temple complex.
- Sivaganga (சிவகங்கை) tank is in the third corridor of the temple opposite to the shrine of Shivagami. It is accessed by flights of stone steps leading from the shrine.
- Paramanandha koobham is the well on the eastern side of the Chitsabhai hall from which water is drawn for sacred purposes.
- Kuyya theertham is situated to the north-east of Chidambaram in Killai near the Bay of Bengal and has the shore called Pasamaruthanthurai.
- Pulimadu is situated around a kilometer and a half to the south of Chidambaram.
- Vyagrapatha Theertham is situated on to the west of the temple opposite to the temple of Ilamai Akkinaar.
- Anantha Theertham is situated to the west of the temple in front of the Anantheswarar temple.
- Nagaseri tank is situated to the west of the Anantha thirtham.
- Brahma Theertham is situated to the north-west of the temple at Thirukalaanjeri.
- Underground channels at the shrine drain excess water in a northeasterly direction to the Shivapiyai temple tank (சிவப்பியை குளம்) of the Thillai Kali Temple, Chidambaram. Due to poor maintenance, it has not been in use.
- Thiruparkadal is the tank to the south-east of the Shivapiyai tank.
TEMPLE CAR
The Chidambaram temple car is, perhaps, the most beautiful example of a temple car in all of Tamil Nadu. This car, on which Lord Nataraja descends twice a year, is drawn by several thousand devotees during the festivals.
ANANDA TANDAVA
The legend of the temple is same as the legend of Ānanda-tāṇḍava. Adhisesha, the serpent who serves as a bed of Lord Vishnu, hears about the Änanda thaandava and yearns to see and enjoy it. Lord Shiva beckons him to assume the saintly form of sage Patanjali and sends him to the Thillai forest, informing him that he will display the dance in due course. Patanjali who meditated in the Himalayas during krita age joins another saint, Vyaghrapada or Pulikaalmuni (Vyagra / Puli meaning "Tiger" and patha / kaal meaning "feet" – referring to the story of how he sought and got the feet and eyesight of a tiger to help climb trees well before dawn to pick flowers for The Lord before the bees visit them). The story of sage Patanjali as well as his great student sage Upamanyu is narrated in both Vishnu Purana as well as Shiva Purana. They move into the Thillai forest and worship Lord Shiva in the form of lingam, a deity worshipped today as Thirumoolataneswarar (Thiru - sri, Moolatanam - primordial or in the nature of a foundation, Eswarar- the Lord). Legends say that Lord Shiva displayed his dance of bliss (the Aananda Thaandavam) - as Nataraja to these two saints on the day of the poosam star in the Tamil month of Thai (January-February).
THE ANANDA TANDAVA POSTURE
The Ānanda-tāṇḍava posture of Nataraja represents pancikritya functions of the godhead believed to have created the dynamic force to create the world.
- The demon under Lord Nataraja's feet signifies that ignorance is under His feet.
- The fire in His hand (power of destruction) means He is the destroyer of evil.
- The raised hand (Abhaya or Pataka mudra) signifies that He is the savior of all life forms.
- The arc of fire called Thiruvashi or Prabhavati signifies the cosmos and the perpetual motion of the earth.
- The drum in His hand signifies the origin of life forms.
- The lotus pedestal signifies Om, the sound of the universe.
- His right eye, left eye and third eye signify the sun, moon and fire/knowledge, respectively.
- His right earring (makara kundalam) and left earring (sthri kundalam) signify the union of man and woman (right is man, left is woman).
- The crescent moon in His hair signifies benevolence and beauty.
- The flowing of river Ganges through His matted hair signifies eternity of life.
- The dreading of His hair and drape signify the force of His dance.
Another notable point of this posture is that it is based on the six point star. Nataraja's head forms the topmost point of the star, while His spreading hair and right hand form the upper side points. His drape and raised left leg form the lower points, and His right leg that rests on the demon Myalagga forms the lowest point. Surrounding this is the arc of fire.
RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TEMPLE
Pancha Bhoota Stalam (Sanskrit: पन्च भूत स्थल) refers to the five Shiva temples, each representing the manifestation of the five prime elements of nature - land, water, air, sky, fire. Pancha indicates five, Bhoota means elements and Stala means place. All these temples are located in South India with four of these temples at Tamil Nadu and one at Andhra Pradesh. The five elements are believed to be enshrined in the five lingams and each of the lingams representing Lord Shiva in the temple have five different names based on the elements they represent. In the temple, Shiva is said to have manifested himself in the form of sky. The other four manifestations are Prithivi Lingam (representing land) at Ekambareswarar Temple, Appu Lingam (representing Water) at Thiruvanaikaval, Agni Lingam (representing fire) at Annamalaiyar Temple and Vayu Lingam (representing air) at Srikalahasti Temple.
Aathara Stala indicates the Shiva temples which are considered to be divine impersonification of Tantric chakras associated with human anatomy. Nataraja temple is called the Anthaga stalam associated with Anthagam - the third eye.
Pancha Sabhai refers to the five places where Lord Shiva is said to have displayed His cosmic dance and all these places have stages or ambalams, also known as Sabhai. Apart from Chidambaram which has the Ponna Ambalam - the Golden Hall, the others are the I-Ratthina Ambalam - the Jeweled Hall at Thiruvaalangadu (rathinam – ruby / red jewelled), the Chitra Ambalam - the Painted Hall at Thirukutralam (chitra – painting), the Velli Ambalam - the Silver Hall at Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple (velli – silver) and the Thaamira Ambalam - the Copper Hall at Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli (Thaamiram – copper).
RELIGIOUS WORK AND SAINTS
There is no reference to the temple in Sangam literature of the 1st to 5th centuries and the earliest mention is found in 6th century Tamil literature. The temple and the deity were immortalized in Tamil poetry in the works of Thevaram by three poet saints belonging to the 7th century - Thirugnana Sambanthar, Thirunavukkarasar and Sundaramoorthy Nayanar. Thirugnana Sambanthar has composed 2 songs in praise of the temple, Thirunavukkarasar aka Appar 8 Tevarams in praise of Nataraja and Sundarar 1 song in praise of Nataraja. Sundarar commences his Thiruthondar thogai (the sacred list of Lord Shiva's 63 devotees) paying his respects to the priests of the Thillai temple - "To the devotees of the priests at Thillai, I am a devotee". The works of the first three saints, Thirumurai were stored in palm leaf manuscripts in the temple and were recovered by the Chola King Rajaraja Chola under the guidance of Nambiandarnambi. Manikkavasagar, the 10th century saivite poet has written two works, the first called Tiruvasakam (The sacred utterances) which largely has been sung in Chidambaram and the Thiruchitrambalakkovaiyar (aka Thirukovaiyar), which has been sung entirely in the temple. Manikkavasagar is said to have attained spiritual bliss at Chidambaram. The Chidambaram Mahatmiyam composed during the 12th century explain the subsequent evolution and de-sanskritization.
THE CHIDAMBARA RAHASIYAM
During the daily rituals, the Chief priest, of the day, himself in a state of Godliness - Shivohambhava (Shiva - the Lord, in His Sandhi form - Shivo-, aham – me / us, bhava - state of mind), parts the curtain, indicating the withdrawal of ignorance and reveals the space, and The Lord’s presence.
The Chidambara Rahasya, is hence representative of that time when one, in total surrender, allows God to intervene and remove our ignorance, even as we get to 'see and experience' His presence and hence - bliss.
Temple administration and daily rituals
WORSHIP FORMS
A unique feature of this temple is the bejeweled image of Lord Nataraja as the main deity. It depicts Lord Shiva as the master of Koothu-Bharata Natyam and is one of the few temples where Lord Shiva is represented by an anthropomorphic murthi rather than the classic, anionic Lingam.
At Chidambaram, the dancer dominates, not the linga as in other Shiva shrines. The Chitsabha houses a small sphatika(crystal) linga (Chandramoulisvara), believed to be a piece that fell from the crescent adorning Lord Shiva's head and installed by Adi Shankara. The linga is associated with the intangible fifth element, akasha (ether or space), the eternal infinite expanse where the dance of Lord Shiva takes place daily puja is offered to the linga and also to a small gem-carved figure of Ratnasabhapati.
Chidambaram offers a combination of the three apects of Shaiva worship - of the form Lord(Nataraja), of the form and the formlessness (linga) and of the formless omnipresence. The last is suggested by a "Chidambara rahasya", a chakra inscribed on a wall and blackened by applying "punugu" (civet) and over which hangs a string of golden bilva (bael) leaves. This can be viewed through the square chinks when the priest draws aside the dark "curtain of ignorance".
WORSHIP
The temple is managed and administered hereditarily by the Chidambaram Dikshitar – a class of Vaidika Brahmins whom, legends say, were brought here from Mt. Kailas, by Patanjali, specifically for the performance of the daily rituals and maintenance of the Chidambaram temple.
DIKSHITARS
The Dikshithars were supposed to be 3000 were called Tillai Muvayiram. Today they number around 360. These Dikshithars follow the Vedic rituals, unlike the Sivachariyars or Adhisaivars who follow the agamic rituals for the worship of Shiva and they sport a specific lopsided-to-the-left half shaved head. The rituals for the temple were collated from the Vedas and set by Patanjali, who is said to have inducted the Dikshithars into the worship of Lord Shiva as Nataraja. Every married male member of the Dikshithar family gets a turn to perform the rituals at the temple and can serve as the chief priest for the day. Married Dikshithars are also entitled a share of the temple's revenue. Though the temple is said to have been given endowments of almost 20 km2 of fertile land – having been patronized by various rulers for several centuries, it is managed almost entirely by privately run endowments.
DAILY RITUALS
The day begins with the chief priest of the day, performing required rituals to purify himself and assume the Shivoham bhava (Shiva-hood), after which he enters the temple to do the daily rituals. The day begins with Lord Shiva's footwear (padukas) brought at 7:00 am from the palliyarai (bedroom) to the sanctum sanctorum in a palanquin accompanied by devotees with cymbals, chimes and drums. The priest then performs the daily rituals with a yajna and a 'Gopujai' (worship of a cow and her calf). Worship (Puja) is done 6 times in a day. Before each puja, the spadika linga (crystal linga) or the semi form state of Lord Shiva is anointed with ghee, milk, curds, rice, sandal paste and holy ash. This is followed by presenting the naivedhyam or offering of freshly prepared food and sweets to the deity and the diparaadhana, a ritual of showing varied and decoratively set lamps, the reciting of Vedas in Sanskrit and the Panchapuranam (a set of 5 poems from a set of 12 works in Tamil – called the panniru thirumurai). The puja ends with the priest parting the curtains of the sanctum sanctorum to reveal the Chidambara Rahasyam (sanctum).
Before the 2nd puja, apart from the regular anointing of the crystal linga, a ruby Nataraja deity (the Rathinasabhapathy) is also anointed. The 3rd puja is at around 12.00 noon, after which the temple closes until around 4:30 pm. The 4th puja is performed at 6.00 pm, the 5th at 8:00 pm and the last puja of the day is performed at 10:00 pm, after which Lord Shiva’s footwear is taken in a procession for Him to ‘retire’ for the night. Before the 5th puja at night, the priest performs special rituals at the Chidambara Rahasya, where he anointed the yantra with aromatic substances and offers naivedyam. The last puja, called the arthajaama puja is performed with special fervor. It is believed that the entire divine force of the universe retires into the deity, when he retires for the night.
TEMPLE ADMINISTRATION
The Diskshithars one and fully responsible for the administration and pooja. Simply they mentioned their surname as the Sri Natarajar Temple Trustee and Pooja forever. Dikshithars life and temple tied as the nail and flesh relationship.
FESTIVALS
A whole year for men is said to be a single day for the gods. Just as six poojas are performed in a day at the sanctum sanctorum, six anointing ceremonies are performed for the principal deity - Nataraja in a year. They are the Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai (in December-January) indicating the first puja, the fourteenth day after the new moon (chaturdasi) of the month of Masi (February-March) indicating the second pooja, the Chittirai Thiruvonam (in April-May), indicating the third pooja or uchikalam, the Uthiram of Aani (June-July) also called the Aani Thirumanjanam indicating the evening or the fourth puja, the chaturdasi of Aavani (August-September) indicating the fifth puja and the chaturdasi of the month of Puratasi (October-November) indicating the sixth pooja or Arthajama. Of these the Marghazhi Thiruvaadhirai (in December-January) and the Aani Thirumanjanam (in June-July ) are the most important. These are conducted as the key festivals with the main deity being brought outside the sanctum sanctorum in a procession that included a temple car procession followed by a long anointing ceremony. Several hundreds of thousands of people flock the temple to see the anointing ceremony and the ritualistic dance of Shiva when he is taken back to the sanctum sanctorum. Lord Shiva, in his incarnation of Nataraja, is believed to have born on full moon day in the constellation of Ardra, the sixth lunar mansion. Lord Shiva is bathed only 6 times a year, and on the previous night of Ardra, the bath rituals are performed on a grand scale. Pots full of milk, pomegranate juices, coconut water, ghee, oil, sandal paste, curds, holy ashes, and other liquids and solids, considered as sacred offering to the deity are used for the sacred ablution.
There are references in Umapathy Sivam's
Kunchithaangristhavam that the Maasi festival also had the Lord being carried out in procession, however this is not in vogue these days.
Natyanjali is a prominent festival celebrated during February every year when Bharatnatyam dancers from all over the country converge to present dance offering to Nataraja.
HISTORY
Constructed to signify where Tamil Shaivites identify the centre loci of the universe to be, the shrine, dedicated to Lord Shiva, has witnessed several significant events in the history of Tamil Nadu. A powerful legacy of Dravidian art, its structures and sculptures have attracted pilgrims to Chidambaram for over two millennium. The birthplace of Nataraja when Shaivite worship was highly popular during the Sangam period, Chidambaram had gained a reputation for holiness across the continent by the third century CE and the admiration of the Tamilakkam royals of the early Cholas, Chera dynasty and the early Pandyan Kingdom. Built by the early Cholas to one of their family deities - Nataraja-Koothan - it served as the king and queen's state temple and seat of their monarchs' coronations. The Chola royals underlined their non-partisan approach to religious iconography and faith by also patronizing the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple dedicated to Vishnu - their other Kuladheivam or "abode of family deity". Chola King Kocengannan who reigned in the first half of the 2nd century CE was born after his parents King Subhadevan and Kamaladevi worshipped in the Thillai Golden Hall (Pon Ambalam). He expanded the shrine in his later life and added to unfinished decorations. Saints Patañjali Tirumular and Vyaghrapada famously worshipped Nataraja at the shrine. The travelling Pallava-Chola king Simhavarman (II or III) who reigned in the 5th-6th century CE was cured of leprosy by bathing in the Shivagangai tank and in gratitude made extensive repairs and additions to the temple. He changed his name to Hiranyavarman or "golden bodied."
The Puranas, Sangam literature and the Tirumurai canon join several epigraphs and murals in highlighting the brilliance of the temple site and the devotion of Patañjali, Vyaghrapada-Pulikaalmunivar and patanjali to Nataraja at Thillai. The sthala puranam as well as umapathi sivacharya's koyil puranam give an account of how an ancient chola prince of kritayugam or first of epochal ages. Worshipped The Lord's feet at Chidambaram and being blessed with a vision of His was further helped by saint Vyaghrapada to consecrate a place of worship therewith. The temple murals and some cholan and pandyan literature refer to this sthala puranam. The chidambaram mahatyam as well as koyil puranam by the same author discuss as to how this prince who was presented with dhataki or atti garland and tiger flag in which Lord Indra would take abode to make him ever victorious was blessed with vision of lord and further attained mukti at this spot. This is very credible because all ancient literature and documents report that tiger flag and atti or dhataki (grislea tomentosa) garland as being emblematic with cholas. Some sangam period works also passingly refer to the krita age king's war with demons and his victory against them. The king also went by name Vyaghraketu after being gifted with the tiger flag.
Later during the 4th or 5th century CE, a pallava king called Simha Varman who was also a nayanmar saint by name Aiyatikal Kaadavarkon made some compositions and bathed in the tank and attained mukthi at tiru-perum-ppatra-puliyur or chidambaram. Aragalur Udaya Iraratevan Ponparappinan had refurbished most of the parts and rebuilt some parts of the temple around 1213 AD.
At periodical intervals (12 years in general), major repairs and renovation works are carried out, new facilities added and consecrated. Most old temples have also 'grown' over periods of time with additional facilities, more outer corridors and new gopurams (pagodas) were added by the rulers who patronized the temple. While this process has helped to keep the temples 'alive' as places of worship, from a purely archeological or historical perspective these renovations have unintentionally lead to destruction of the original works - which were not in sync with the latter and usually grander temple plans.
To this general trend, Chidambaram temple is no exception. The origins and developments of the temple are hence largely deduced from allied references in works of literature and poetry, the verbal information passed over generations by the Dikshithar community and from what little, of inscriptions and manuscripts that are available today.
The temple site is very ancient one is known to have been crafted time and again by the ancient craftsmen guild known as Perumthachchans. The reference to the same is available in sangam literature as well as other documents. The tevaram trio in particular have held this site to be of great sanctity with some like Tirugnanasambandar and Sundarar out of devotion being reluctant to set their foot in the place "because it would be an insult to the lord to put one's foot on his abode". The sangam works refer to the temple being favoured by all the three ancient crowns of south, the Neriyan (cholas), chezhiyan (pandyas) and uthiyan (cheras), even if the temple was in what was traditionally chola country.
INSCRIPTIONS
There are several inscriptions available in the temple and referring to the Chidambaram temple in neighbouring areas. Most inscriptions available pertain to the periods of Cholas - Rajaraja Chola I (985-1014 CE), Rajendra Chola I (1012-1044 CE), Kulothunga Chola I (1070-1120 CE), Vikrama Chola (1118-1135 CE), Rajadhiraja Chola II (1163 -1178 CE), Kulothunga Chola III (1178-1218 CE) and Rajaraja Chola III (1216-1256 CE). Pandya inscriptions date from Thribhuvana Chakravarthi Veerapandiyan, Jataavarman Thribhuvana Chakravarthi Sundarapaandiyan (1251-1268 CE) and Maaravarman Thribhuvana Chakravarthi Veerakeralanaagiya Kulashekara Pandiyan (1268-1308 CE). Pallava inscriptions are available for king Avani Aala Pirandhaan Ko-pperum-Singha (1216-1242 CE). Vijayanagara Kings mentioned in inscriptions are Veeraprathaapa Kiruttina Theva Mahaaraayar (1509-1529 CE), Veeraprathaapa Venkata Deva Mahaaraayar, Sri Ranga Theva Mahaaraayar, Atchyutha Deva Mahaaraayar (1529-1542 CE) and Veera Bhooopathiraayar. One of the inscriptions from the descendant of Cheramaan Perumal nayanar, Ramavarma Maharaja has been found.
KUMBHABISHEKAM 2015
The sacred Chidambaram Sri Sabanayagar Temple, which is also described as Boologa Kailaasam and Chithakasam
Sri Sivagamasundari Samaedha Sriman Anandha Nataraja Moorthy's Chitsabha Samprokshana Chithvilasa Maha Kumbhabishekam is about to happen in a great way On the auspicious day of Manmadha (Tamil) year Chithirai month 18th day (01-May-2015) Friday morning between 7:00 am and 8:30 am Hastha Nakshthra, Thrayodhasi Thithi, Amirtha yoga, Rishabha Lagna.
INVASIONS
The temple was severely vandalised during Malik Kafur's invasions of South India between 1311 and 1325. A garrison was set up within the temple precincts and the walls were fortified during the Carnatic Wars between the East India Company and the French and the Anglo-Mysore Wars that the British fought with Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan.
WIKIPEDIA