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Dinesh club

Posted: 23 Nov 2022

Taken: 23 Nov 2022

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The Dance of Shiva •
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Ananda Coomaraswamy •
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The Hero With Thousand faces •
Joseph Campbell •
Dance of Shiva PDF •

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Shiva

Shiva
www.vifindia.org/sites/default/files/139026040-Dance-of-Shiva-1918.pdf
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 Dinesh
Dinesh club
The symbolism of this eloquent image has been well expounded by Ananda K. Comaraswamy, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda_Coomaraswamy and by Heinrich Zimmer. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Zimmer Briefly: the extended right hand holds the drum, the beat of which is the beat of time, time being the first principle of creation; the extended left holds the flame, which is the flame of destruction of the created world; the second right hand is held in the gesture of “fear not”, while the second left, pointing to the lifted left foot, is held in a position symbolizing “elephant” (the elephant is the “breaker of the way through the jungle of the world”, i.e., the divine guide); the right foot is planted on the back of a dwarf, the demon “Non-knowing,” which signifies the passage of souls from God into matter, but the left is lifted, showing the release of the soul: the left is the foot to which the “elephant hand” is pointing and supplies the reason for assurance, “Fear not”. The God’s head is balanced, serene and still, in the midst of the dynamism of creation and destruction which is symbolized by the rocking arms and the rhythm of the slowly stamping right heel. This means that at the center all is still. Shiva’s right earring is man’s, his left, woman’s; for the God includes and is beyond the pair of opposites. Shiva’s facial expression is neither sorrow nor joyous, but is a visage of the Unmoved Mover, beyond, yet present within the world’s bliss and pain. The widely streaming locks represent the long-untended hair of the Indian Yogi, now flying in the dance of life; for the presence known in the joys and sorrows of life, and that found through withdrawn meditation, are but two aspects of the same, universal, non-dual, Being-Conscious-Bliss. (sat-cit-ananda). Shiva’s bracelets, arm bands, ankle rings, and brahminical thread, are living serpents . this means that he is made beautiful by the Serpent Power -- a mysterious Creative Energy of God, which is the material and the formal cause of his self-manifestation in, and as, the universe with all its beings. In Shiva’s hair may be seen a skull, symbolic death, the forehead ornament of the Lord of Destruction, as well as the crescent moon, symbolic of birth and increase, which are his other boons to the world.Also, there is his hair the flower of a datura -- from which plant an intoxicant is prepared (compare the wine of Dinosos and the wine of the Mass). A little image of the goddess Ganga is hidden in his locks; for it is he who received on his head the impact of the descent of the divine Ganges from heaven, letting the life-and salvation-bestowing waters then flow gently to the earth for the physical and spiritual refreshment of mankind. The dance posture of the God may be visualized as the symbol AUM (ॐ or ओम्) which is the verbal equivalent of the four states of consciousness and their fields of experience (A: waking consciousness, U: dream consciousness; M: dreamless sleep; the silence sound the sacred syllable in the Unmanifest Transcendent.) The God is thus within the worshipers as well as without .

Such figure illustrates the function and value of a graven image, and shows why long sermons are unnecessary among idol-worshipers. The devotee is permitted to soak in the meaning of the divine symbol in deep silence and in his own good time. Furthermore, just as the god wears arm bands and ankle rings, so does the devotee; and these mean what the god’s mean. They are made a gold instead of serpents, gold (the metal that does not corrode) symbolizing immortality; i.e., immortality is the mysterious creative energy of God, which is the beauty of the body.

Many other details of life and local custom are similarly duplicated, interpreted, and thus validated, in the details of the anthropomorphic idols. In this way, the whole of life is made into support for meditation. One lives in the midst of a silent sermon all the time. ~ Page 109
18 months ago. Edited 18 months ago.
 Dinesh
Dinesh club
The Hero with Thousand Faces
18 months ago.

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