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MY LORD SOMASKANDAR

Friday, February 1, 2013

"Tat tvam asi"

That thou art, or who we are, is possibly the most mysterious line ever. Our knowledge about the world, the universe, the people around definitely supersedes the knowledge we have about ourselves. Yes we know who we are on paper, our definition arises from how we have imagined ourselves to be, a part of a lineage, a caste/creed, a language/state, an occupation, by our achievements if any of credibility, or by a scandal. Today, this is how we define ourselves reducing the meaning of "Tat tvam asi" to just a profound noise which has no meaning in our lives, leave alone an impact. 

So who am I really? Does the phrase "Tat tvam asi" have more meaning than what I am as a definition? Can the thought of "Tat tvam asi" transform my existing character into something more tangible and capable if i attempt to contemplate on it long hours to really figure out? The closest proximity we can feel with aatman is when we are able to hear the primordial sound OM within ourselves. If we block our ears and close all the other orifices, we come in touch with a faint vibration within ourselves. In fact while swimming when the ears are below water, its the perfect way to sense it. It mutes out all the other sounds and what remains is just a resonating sound within us. Its similar to the sound we can hear in a shell picked up from the sea shore. It just drives home the point that we have a source of sound within us and its not our vocal cords. 

Here is the irony of the story. The scriptures, the sacred texts, the spiritual path, all of them indicate oneness with this sound. All indicate that we need to silence ourselves and try to listen to the powers within us and channelize them. In the earlier yugas, the external noise was far less, and communication was a profound levels. People didn’t need to talk much, the power of the word was so strong that once uttered it couldn't be taken back. Elitist languages like Sanskrit had multifold natures, its nature is not just to communicate but more to empower. They were single sentences but their value was tenfold purely for the limited usage. 

And since communication was so limited, the need to communicate [like we do today] was not over used, the power of the word grew. Sound has been given a lot of value in Hinduism, from the sweetness of words falling into reality and being heard and imbibed as an experience of Ma Saraswati being seated on one's tongue purifying words as they roll out of a devotee's mouth to the pain being felt when one is rolled over the double edged sword of an angry rishi's curse. There was so much meaning to praises and curses in the previous yugas. 

I just look at a day go by, with social media and television yelling out, there is enough noise to deafen our minds with the atrocities around us. The biggest difference between kali yuga and earlier yugas possibly was the lack of noise in earlier eras. Lack of noise directly translates to the power of sound. The unfortunate reality of these times is that there is so much noise that it has lost its value. But in our land of noise and din, where a moment's silence is hard to get, where a said word or promise doesn’t mean anything and can easily be broken, where responsible people take the path or lies and mislead people, where we have a crumbling society that stands on the grounds of deceit and indecency, where respect is defined by money power and not intellect... who am I now? 

How can we explain the profound meaning of Tat Tvam Asi to our children in this age of madness, in this living hell? 

The sure result of the damage excessive sound has made to the environment is in the reduced effect of it. Great mantras, once said delivered on the powers assigned to them, but in today's word, mere recital 108 times fetches no results. In the ancient times, bhava mattered, love and pure bhakti were easy to identify with and the resultant mantras bloomed within the person making them super human and God like, but today, with a lot of bhakti thrown in, and severe repetitions yields results, but it is slow, and leaves us wondering about the effects of its powers. People don’t have the patience to wait that long, and in an era of immediate results, we are destroying what was once a great faith that had the endurance to fight the effects of time. Today, that same belief is questioned and without a miracle, nothing will work anymore. 

athma....

Shiva is a state of mind, Shiva is Atman, Shiva is you, and Shiva is me.Shivaya nama Shivalingaaya nama om|
What happens when two drops of Atman meet in the realm of ether, in this world, in this Maya?
I am the mystic you look for; I am the mystic you discover within you. I am the rhythm of the Lord in my heart, the lotus blooms within my soul. I am the tune you wish to sing, I am the heart beat within you. I am Atman I am me I am you, I am where you too exist, in this divine ether between the earth and space, within this Maya we meet, an egoless existence, pure music, pure soul, the constant in my breath is the constant in yours, Atman in pure form is felt at last.
Atman is pure love, Atman is soul,Atman is the constant that makes me, make you.Atman is what gives a circle its form,Atman is what gives the flame its glowAtman is what makes the world arise.Atman is the sheen on your skin,Atman is the twinkle in my eye,Atman is the bliss that swells your heart,Atman is that of which you and me are a part.
Atman is what you admire in meAtman is what brings us closeAtman is what makes the nerves tingleAtman is that energy that flowsAtman is what brings life to our breathAtman is the darkness beyond the light of reasonAtman is that which stays constantAtman is that which i admire in you
Oh Lord Shiva, so divine is your loveYour presence felt when two Atmans meetIn your admiration we drown our selfIn your realm we cease to existIn your fire does our ego burnIn your beauty do we realize our ownIn your ocean does our goodness flowIn your blooming lotus do we feel your warmthIn your realm do we admireMy Atman as well as yours.
Atman is that word that truthAtman is what merges you and meAtman is not man nor womanAtman is our ocean of loveAtman is my beauty and yoursAtman is my mystic and yoursAtman is my character and yoursAtman is my mind and yoursAtman is what IS when we mergeAtman is what will be when we part.
In this drama of life, Atman is my ode to the Lord. In this breath i take in Atman is the soul within. In the sunlight of the day, Atman is what glows on my face, In this cruel world of egos, Atman is my saving grace. In this realm of murderous war, Atman is what binds my tears of love. In this jumble of words that unfold, Atman is the garland of letters untold.
Aatmaaya nama atmalingaaya nama om||

Atman is the zone of mutual admiration, it is the zone of no ego, it is the zone of no age or gender, it is the zone of single pointed concentration on the self, on other selves. It is the zone where "I" doesn't exist. It is the zone where only goodness is felt, a zone where human beauty in the self is appreciated. Atman is present in this moment, now, within us waiting to be realized.

This post has been inspired by Maanikkavaachakar's Thiruvaachakam. The author Maanikkavaachakar was a poet and a mystic of his time and his works date back to 3rd cen A.D.