Saturday, July 2, 2011

The Cosmic Being

सहस्रशीर्षा  पुरुषः  सहस्राक्ष  सहस्रपाद 
सभूमिं  विश्वथो  वृत्त्वा  अत्यतिष्तधशान्गुलं  || (पुरुष  सूक्तं  १ )

“He, the Cosmic Lord, the Purusha with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand legs, pervading  the entire Universe, still extends ten inches beyond.” (Purusha sooktham 1)

The universe is one being.  It is the single body of the One Self. He alone expresses through all. Therefore all legs of all creatures are His, just as all eyes and all heads are His only. A similar description is found in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 13:13).

In our ignorance, prompted by our selfishness we disturb the harmonious movement of the Total and in this disharmony we find all sorrows of individuals, communities and nations. In our sense of separateness, as an individualized ego, we come to feel that the world is totally and intrinsically separate and different from us.

Once this Purusha-concept, the Cosmic Oneness is recognized even intellectually, our false sense of ego dissolves to some extent. A new vision begins to arise. A new peace discovered within. We walk out of our psychological confusions to a large extent. Students of “Purusha Sooktham” come to detect and intimately feel the divine aura surrounding everyone and everything around.

Everything and everyone is interconnected through an invisible web of stories. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all in a silent conversation.  Therefore, we must do no harm and practice compassion.  And must not gossip behind anyone's back! The words that come out of our mouths do not vanish but are perpetually stored in infinite space and will come back to us in due time.  One man's pain will hurt us all.  One man's joy will make everyone smile.

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