Magnificence of the Viswaroopa (The Soul)!
Hello all,
Namaste! All of you, my dear blog readers, know about my website-swaroopa.net. I have started my business, Swaroopa store, which can be accessed from Shop tab on my website, for Souls who are interested in a personal reading. There is also the Swaroopa Store link, on my blog's left side. Now to the post.
Last week, we looked at the Soul self, Viswaroopa. Today, let us elaborate more on the nuances of the Viswaroopa. Before we discussed a post called Ocean in a drop. Hope, you remember that. Let us revisit this concept again. All of us, are Souls who are having an experience in this physical reality. We have a body, a mind and an associated intellect. It helps us to lead a good, mediocre or awful life according to the perspectives our mind has, rather the mindset. But this is from the body and the mind perspective.
Now, let us go to the Geethopadesa, the chariot scene in Mahabharata. Here, in this scene we can take Krishna as the mind, Arjuna as the awareness and the chariot as the body. Yes, the mind, Krishna can lead us well. But this is from the single person, individualistic perspective. You or I, a very simple human being, we are small. We have only so much of capabilities. We can't change the world. We just live as a good human being in this humongous physical realm called Earth. This concept, we can consider as a tiny droplet of water, with all it's limitations.
Now, we take this drop and add into an ocean, why not the Pacific ocean itself? Is the drop visible or differentiated any more? No. It has become one with the ocean, with all the characters of the ocean. We cannot identify that single drop any more. So, in deeper Philosophy, the droplet has transformed into the ocean taking up all the characteristics of the ocean. Here, that single droplet has acquired the massive powers of the ocean, never to be separate again. Let us extrapolate this into the chariot scene.
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| Guidance of Krishna to Arjuna! Image credits - Swaroopa |
Tweak, a little now. Here, in this scene, Arjuna becomes the awareful mind, the chariot becomes the body and the friend guide Krishna becomes the Soul. The same concept but looked from a higher ideal than a body/ mind perspective. Before the whole scenario was tiny, a water droplet, the mind leading the body, in every day ordinary perspective. Now, the perspective has become bigger, where the Soul, has come into the picture to take charge of the scenario. It is the same person. But rather than living from the mind, they are led by the Soul through the voice of the heart- intuition.
By virtue of the Soul being a tiny speck of the Divine, the Divine has come into the picture. Divine means a Universal intelligence system, that is billion times intelligent than a single mind of the human. Rather than an ocean drop, the drop has met with the ocean and ocean has come into the picture. The massive ocean- the ocean that consists of galaxies, star systems, may be even multiple Universes -The Brahman! Standing here, think of the power at the disposal of the human.
Is there any wonder Moses or Vasudeva (Krishna's dad) was able to part the waves of the ocean or the Yamuna? Is there any doubt how Jesus was able to turn water into wine? All three of them, instead of the power of the mind, used the power of the Soul, the divine speck to bring in a miracle. Nowadays, as our own logical mind has overtaken our total mind, we call this simple myth and something to be looked upon as magic. Yes, true. Nowadays, such Souls may be rare as we can't bring in such intense power of the Soul through our will. But can't it be possible? Most probably. Bible does remarks- "Man was made in the image of God". The image can be more than just physical resemblance, isn't it??
Mahatma Gandhi-A simple human: Mahatma Gandhi was born as Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi to an ordinary merchant family. He grew up in the simple surroundings of Porbander, Gujarat. In his autobiography he writes about his village life with his friends, his marriage to Kasturba and later his high school studies. He had to drop out of college as his family was not doing well. Then, one of his relatives suggested to study law at London, England. But his mother Putlibai was against this wish as she worried in London he would take to eating meat, drinking alcohol and may fall for other women. Finally, Gandhi promised his mother, he won't touch alcohol, meat or see other women. She gave her blessings for his trip to London.
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| Mahatma Gandhi Image credits - Elliott&Fry/ Public domain |
South Africa at that time had apartheid regime, where people were treated inhumanely due to their skin color. (We are writing about 1893, fast forward to 2020, 127 years later. Even today people are judged by their skin color and race. The US and world wide protests happened in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd that occurred in the streets of Minneapolis, Michigan, USA. If we want to change the current physical reality, humans needs to select good leaders. Vote for and select better leaders, whether in the USA or in any other country of the world.
Bible says-Ask and it would be given. Don't ask. Demand- for better governance, better leadership and better vision for a better future for all of humanity. Vote for leaders, who don't pander to their groups alone, but to the whole country. Leaders who have a vision towards progress, Science, climate change, Earth and resources preservation, good basic necessities and infrastructure. A great leader with a vision, makes a lot of difference, whether it was Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., or Nelson Mandela. Just my personal two cents of an opinion. Okay, back to Mahatma Gandhi and 1893.)
Gandhi due to his dark skin had to suffer innumerable consequences. As he was London educated, according to Arthur Herman, Gandhi felt as "Briton first and an Indian second". But all that perspective crumbled at the way, he was treated. He was not allowed to sit in the stagecoach near white skinned people and was asked to sit near the driver. He was not allowed to walk on the footpath as that was only for white skinned. Finally, one day he was thrown out of the train in the Pietermaritzburg station. There the whole night he sat and contemplated on differential treatment. He thought whether to go back to India or protest the next day again by riding on the train. He chose to show his protest by riding the train again. Another time, the judge in the court asked Gandhi to remove his turban and he refused.
He was an ordinary simple man, a lawyer who helped others, especially Indians to get justice and equal rights in South Africa. Gandhi was not at first interested in politics. But the second grade treatment, he and other Indians were being given, slowly started to change his thought process. The night at the Pietermaritzburg station woke in him a deep hunger to let other Indians know the freedom and justice he himself, almost tasted in London.
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| Gandhiji with stretcher bearers of Indian Ambulance bearers in South Africa during Boer war! Image credits - Unknown author / Public domain |
On that night, the Krishna, the mind within him was slowly transforming to Krishna, the Viswaroopa, the Divine speck as the Soul. Until then, his mind, the smaller Krishna was running the show. Still he was living a very truthful life, trying to get equal rights and justice for the Indians of South Africa. But the inhumane treatments he had to undergo in South Africa forced him to think of all the Indians who were struggling back home, in his mother land of India.
Mahatma Gandhi, slowly transformed: Until then, till his forty-sixth year, he was an everyday lawyer working with law and legal issues of the common man. But on that night at the Durban station, he was given a call from his higher Self, the Soul. He was shown a vision of duty he was called to undertake. Can he take up the mantle of freedom fight for India? Does he have the determination to lead a country of three hundred million against the colonial British empire? The task was huge and arduous.
His path of Dharma was calling. Can he answer that call? Until now he was living as a drop in the ocean. Can he become an ocean in a drop? The task was not simple or easy. Some Souls come with huge Dharma. The time when arrives, their Soul gives out an SOS call through an experience, some deep life tragedy, like death of a loved one, loss of a career or something that deeply disturbs the Soul. Here, the second grade treatment of Gandhi and his fellow South African Indians deeply affected him.
Around this time, Gandhi came across the letter of Leo Tolstoy, written to Tarak Nath Das on December 14, 1908. This letter was published in the Indian Newspaper, Free Hindustan as "Letter to a Hindu". In that, Leo Tolstoy elaborated on the Law of love and how all the religions in their deepest core extol this law. In the Indian context, he suggested to use this tenet towards peaceful protests, strikes and passive resistance instead of a violent revolution.
We have discussed in this blog, how the writing of the Egyptian writer Syed Qutb influenced an Osama Bin Laden towards evil deeds. In the letter, Leo Tolstoy mentions about Swami Vivekananda and Hindu kurals. Of course, somewhere it has to come back to spiritual power- the power of the Divine, through Thiruvalluvar who wrote Thirukural and Swami Vivekananda! Here, due to the writing of Leo Tolstoy, an young Gandhi got influenced. Later, an young Martin Luther King Jr., was influenced by the writings and Satyagraha (passive resistance and protests) of Gandhi. Think, how many people were brought up to a level of respect and dignity, by the influence of the inspirational words of Leo Tolstoy. Don't belittle the power of the word. It is greatly powerful. Use it wisely and well. "In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God."- Bible proclaims!
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| Mahatma Gandhi, with spinning wheel, making yarn Image credits - Unknown author / Public domain |
Mahatma Gandhi got deeply inspired by the letter and it's mention of Tamil Thirukkural (Sacred verses). He made it a point to read the same, which influenced him even more. Once he was back in India he started with the struggle for Indian Independence, which spanned for thirty two years. Yes, not one or two years. But long, more than three decades. His second half of life was very different from his first half. The first half was run by his mind, while the second half was run by his Soul. A huge Dharma to undertake. Let us discuss, one or two events. More details, you can read on Wikipedia.
a, Non-Cooperation movement: In 1909, with his book Hind Swaraj, Mahatma Gandhi reminded people, British were able to rule only because Indians also helped them. He told them, if Indians don't co-operate in anything, British would be defeated, had to go back and India would get self-governance- Swaraj. People started non-cooperation movements. To discourage people from participating, The Rowlatt Act was passed, which used indefinite incarceration without trial and judicial service, so that people were kept away from organizing and protesting. This led to peaceful civil disobedience to protest the act and the British opened fire on a peaceful protest on 30th March, 1919. Later, it led to more riots, violence and protests.
But Mahatma Gandhi by his writings and speeches slowly encouraged people to join the movement. He expanded it to Swadeshi policy- to boycott British goods and to buy just Indian goods. As a symbol, Mahatma Gandhi started to make cotton threads from his own spinning wheel, which he used to make Indian made clothes. The popularity of the Non-cooperation movement grew which finally resulted in the arrest of Gandhi on 10 March, 1922. Gandhi confined to prison, the Muslim leaders left the movement and made their own factions. This is the point from where later two countries, India and Pakistan originated.
b, Dandi March: As Gandhi had to undergo an appendicitis operation, he was released from prison after two years. On 26th January, 1930, Congress led by Gandhi raised an Indian flag towards Indian Independence in Lahore (Today in Pakistan). To keep up the pressure on British regime, Gandhi decided to march to Dandi against the Salt tax put by the British regime on Indians and make their own salt. Gandhi with 78 volunteers, started to march from Ahmedabad in Gujarat to Dandi, 388 kilometers (241 miles) away, from 12th March to 6th April. Anticipating the violence, Gandhi was arrested on May 5th and the protest on March 21 went ahead without Gandhiji at Darshana Salt works.
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| Mahatma Gandhi picking up salt on the beach at Dandi! Image credits - Unknown author / Public domain |
"In complete silence the Gandhi men drew up and halted a hundred yards from the stockade. A picked column advanced from the crowd, waded the ditches and approached the barbed wire stockade... at a word of command, scores of native policemen rushed upon the advancing marchers and rained blows on their heads with their steel-shot lathis [long bamboo sticks]. Not one of the marchers even raised an arm to fend off blows. They went down like ninepins. From where I stood I heard the sickening whack of the clubs on unprotected skulls... Those struck down fell sprawling, unconscious or writhing with fractured skulls or broken shoulders."
The power of non-violent protests and passive resistance. Like this, Mahatma Gandhi made Indians to resist, and the way the British dealt it, with guns and lathis gave them a bad face in the world stage. In between World War II happened and India had to participate as a colony of British. Gandhiji was not for India participating, but as a colony India was forced. In 1942, a 73 year old Gandhi intensified the struggle with a call to "Quit India". Gandhiji kept up the pressure and struggle until, the British empire had to give up their power. The Indians were dying like flies for a cause greater than themselves. British were losing their face as a kind and compassionate monarchy in the world stage and finally had to relent by giving India independence on the midnight of August 15, 1947. ( I have left a lot of details. This is a small blog. Also, the topic is not about Indian freedom struggle, but about the person/Soul Mahatma Gandhi.)
Mahatma Gandhi- The magnificence of the Soul: How did a single Soul called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi undertook such a huge task of giving freedom to 350 million people from an imperial regime called the British empire? How was a single human being, able to do that? He was just another human with a mind. What made him different compared to all others? How a man who was just around 5' 5"tall, could align so many people, so many resources and undertake such a huge mission. How?
That is the difference between a person led by the mind and a person led by the heart, more properly the Soul. The mind is limited with very low resources and support. The person may think, they have all the support. But this is just the drop, the single very tiny drop. One single human in a sea of humans. Here, the mind is caught up in the emotions of fear, rage, anger, shame and guilt. Indians had to go through all this during the freedom fight. We can relate to the same fight everywhere in this world, where a particular group or community, whether it is Dalit (I have read about the Hathras rape case in India. This post is towards that as well.), African-American, Yezidis, Uighur in China or another community.
My question, in every religion and sacred book, we discuss about the Soul and it's magnificence. So, shouldn't we find that same soul in another human whatever their caste, creed, religion or race may be. Should we allow, these things to define us? Yes, I am a Hindu who was born into a spiritual Brahmin family. But that doesn't mean, I should treat another with disrespect. Can't I be a Hindu/Brahmin and treat another of any caste, creed, religion, race or political affiliation with respect and dignity, while embracing my own culture/ religion and perspectives. I can and I should!
What is the true meaning of a Brahmin? Any clue? The true meaning- Someone who understands Brahman, the Universal intelligence is called a Brahmin! So, to understand Brahman, first we need to understand our own Soul, the Viswaroopa, the magnificent Self. Someone who operates from this concept would find the speck of the same Divine, in another human- however he/she may be- Dalit, Yezidi, Uighur, Muslim, Christian, any class, race, political affiliation, party, caste or perspective. The problem comes when we see that difference in the other compared to the deep oneness underneath all- the Brahman or the Universal intelligence that weaves everyone together.
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| Viswaroopa with many heads, hands and legs! Image credits - Unknown author / Public domain ( I am not able to reduce the size of the image and add the caption as well. Most probably, Divine wants the snap to be as huge as Viswaroopa. I tried, several times. 🙏) |
My question, to all the people who consider themselves-high caste, (Yes, I was born into one, Brahmin), if we cannot see the Divine essence in another, whether they were born into a family of Dalit, Muslim, another religion or another anything, what high, are we?? Our mind, perspectives, concepts and ideas are not even of any high stature. Such people who consider others as low themselves embrace a lower vibration. To see another as low in other words Rakshasa (of lower nature) is only possible, if we ourselves embrace that energy. Because, Our inner reality, reflects outside! Whatever we are within the mind, that reflects outside. So, to be a Brahmin it is not if we were born into one. Do we act, think and live like one? Otherwise, any family we are born into-we are a rakshasa- of the lower nature- animal nature! Always remember that. You are what you think, act and do! Remember the Buddhist phrase - Sathyam Vada, Dharmam Chara- Speak the tuth! Perform the duty!
Anyway coming back to Mahatma Gandhi, he was able to undertake this humongous task because he operated from his heart, the Soul space. His Soul led him, as Krishna led Arjuna. When we start to operate from this space, the person becomes the drop with the whole ocean enclosed inside. This takes the person to a stature of magnificence, where people are brought in, resources are found and circumstances align to the person's intentions. It is not the person driving the process, but the Soul and through that Brahman-the Universal intelligence. Remember the Viswaroopa, Soul self, much greater than the person, who can attract the energy, resources and the corresponding circumstances.
That is why such people have an aura of an other worldly charm-whether it was Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., or Nelson Mandela. Because they above their mind is operating from the space of the Soul intelligence or Universal wisdom. Loads of people used to crowd the grounds to see and hear Gandhiji's speech. Because they were not just attracted by the mere human, but a presence of greatness, through the person, the Universe itself. That was what was bringing people, resources and all the available circumstances so that, finally a human called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whom every one lovingly called as Mahatma (Maha- great, Atma- Soul) or Bapu- The father, led the country of India and it's people to the higher ideal called Freedom!
The magnificence of the Soul, Viswaroopa, of Mahatma Gandhi- his own way, his own style and his own mindset. The Viswaroopa- authentic, original, the higher reality of the heart!!
I wish you a good and safe weekend, and I'll see you next Friday!😉
Next week: Saturn- The servant leader!
Image Credits - Wikimedia Commons and Pixabay
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