Svayambhu (Shiva) and the Three Friends

Svayambhu (Shiva) and the Three Friends

“My grandfather used to say that he didn’t know where he came from, from whom he was born, or how he stayed alive when he was a child.”
“My grandmother said, she once saw him being nursed by a big tigress near the woods that are under water now.”
“I saw him the other day. He was sitting by the river, looking at the rocks.”
“What do you mean he was looking at rocks? Was he trying to catch a fish?”
“No, he was just silently sitting there starring at the river rocks and watch the water go by. The next day my sister came to my house with her husband to pick up the yaks and they said, they also saw him sitting there. He must have been sitting there for almost 4 days.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Should we ask him?”
“Sure, if you can find him. He is like a ghost. He hardly interacts with anyone accept a few people who have looked after him long ago. He is very silent. If he walks by and stands next to you, you wouldn’t even know.”
“Yes, my father was telling his friends that they want to put a gourd filled with pine nuts and small rocks on his arms and ankles so that whenever he passes by or is near the village, everyone can hear him…ugly beast.”
“Hardly! Have you seen those young girls ogling after him? They find him irresistible. They have been saying that they gaze in his eyes and fall in love with him.”
“But he doesn’t even care! Imagine if I knew a girl wanted me.... what a waste!”

The boys were sharing the stories about Svayambhu to each other on a thunderous and rainy night by the fire in a cave next to their village. The fire crackled as wet twigs gave way to the cinders and meatless bones of wild boar that the boys had caught that afternoon. They had put the bones into the fire so they can make arrows out of them later.

“What does he eat? I have never seen him eat anything.”
“I don’t know. My mother gave him some food the other day. He bowed to her and ate the food. But he might as well not have eaten. He hardly eats. I don’t know how he survives without food.”
“Don’t forget the rain! And snow and heat. It’s almost as if he is not bothered by any weather at all.”
“I bet you he was a great hunter when he was young.”
“What do you mean, ‘young’. He is our age”, one of the boys said.
“Ha ha ha”. The rest of the group started laughing. Finally, they told him that he was hundreds of years old.
“yes, he is a legend. And yet no one knows anything about him.”
“Ok then. I will find out about him. Who wants to join me?” The one boy who thought Svaymbhu was his age said. Two other boys replied, they will join him.
For next few months and years, the three boys followed Svaymbhu whenever they could. They saw him rarely-only when he was passing by their village. They observed that yes, no amount of weather bothered him. He had no fear. His eyes sparkled as of a hunter but he rarely hunted. He roamed the Himalayan mountains and valleys. He had three homes-so to speak. One was on a tall peak which they couldn’t climb. Another one was by the river bank where he had made a little hut from animal hides, branches and leaves. Yet the third dwelling he often frequented was the meadow he was born in. The meadow and the surrounding trees were not underwater as one of their friends said earlier-rather they became an island in a thicket of woods, the melting waters from the glaciers, and rocks.
He spent most of his time gazing out in the distance. He hardly slept. His face and expressions seemed very content. His hair was matted thick. He was at ease with his surroundings. He seemed intimately connected with them. You would hardly notice him unless you really looked for him.
The more they followed him and observed him, they also realized that he was fearless. Animals were plenty back then-it was a boom time after the end of last ice age. Human beings had to constantly fend them off and lived together in small groups in villages and protect themselves with spears, arrows and torches. Svaymbhu seemed to be unaffected by the animals-big or small. This really impressed the three friends.
One day, the posse saw him sitting on a rock, with eyes half-closed. A big black snake hissed and crawled up on his arm. “Look out!” one of the friends couldn’t help it.
Svaymbhu didn’t reply. He didn’t blink an eye. The snake made a knot on his arm and rested on this shoulder next to his neck.

“Wow!” the bunch exclaimed. 

The three friends followed him for the next few days without returning home. They had decided to imitate their distant friend who seemed to be radiant with smile. That’s when they knew that he had known all along that he was being followed. But again, they could never tell. “what a mysterious and powerful being”, the leader of the group said. “let’s do what he does from now on.”

The three friends eventually returned to their old habit of following him after they had become old men-each a grandfather now. Their bodies wouldn’t keep up but they saw how Svaymbhu still looked the same. Rather he was more radiant than ever. His eyes were like diamonds. His skin looked as if the gold of morning Sun had blended with the mud of the virgin Earth and was dipped in the brightest and whitest cottony wool. He wore his signature tigress hide and another fur around his upper body. Over the course of their lifetime, people who had shunned him had created terrible stories about him-some true, some untrue, some conjured up simply because they hated him. Some people had great respect for him like the three old friends. The three friends never approached him directly, nor they talked to him. They simply observed him with great curiosity. They would gather and sit outside the village next to a tree during a certain time of the month knowing that Svayambhu will be passing by. They would bow and Svayambhu would return their bow with the most gracious bow and press on. The three friends learned to meditate and every time they meditated, they would see Svayambhu in their inner visions. This prompted them to respect him even more.

One day, Svaymbhu came through the village on his usual pilgrimage that spanned all of the known Himalaya. He stopped and waived at the three friends asking them to come closer. The three men smiled as if they had never smiled before and approached him with deep reverence. Svaymbhu stood almost 14-15 feet tall which was the average height of the human beings then. To the leader of the three friends, he seemed a lot taller, as tall as the mountain peak where he stayed during mid-winter in snow.

Svaymbhu flashed his infectious smile with pearly white teeth as if they were jewels beaming out his inner splendor. He opened his palm and gave each friend a Rudraksh seed. 

Svaymbhu said “my dear friends- thank you for looking after me all these years. It was because of you three that I could be worry free. You are my friends and protectors. Please ask me anything you want. I will give it to you if I can.” 

“What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Who are you? Who are we?”

Svaymbhu smiled, and replied, “We are our experiences. We exist. I am you. You are everything.” Then, he turned around and started walking on to his meadow island, next to the village.

The three had never let go of the seeds Svaymbhu had given them.

One friend planted the seed in his backyard and watered it every day.

Another friend make a necklace out of it and wore it till he passed away.

The third friend made a headband and put it on his granddaughter’s head.

A few months later, the three old men fell sick. As the three friends laid on their deathbeds, each had an identical vision of Svaymbhu. They saw the following:

They saw him holding a staff. The staff had two round gourds with tiny animal bones inside. The staff soon turned into a three-pointed trident (trishul) which emanated lightening. Then, they saw him thumping both of his feet on the ground he was standing on which was soon followed by a rhythmic dance. He shook his trident left and right in a precise and calculated motion. Soon with every alternating thump, a thunderous sound of thousand drums manifested, and each alternating shake of his trident turned into awesome white light while the other alternating shakes seemed to engulf the white light completely into a total vacuum and abysmal void. The white light seemed to be woven together by the alternating rhythm of creation and dissolution into planets, stars, and galaxies. The galaxies then paved way to superclusters, and on and on it went till the white light with void as its counterpart panned into hundreds of universes. While beholding this vision, and knowing that they had to return and reincarnate in due time to experience all of it as their life moments on Earth, the three men let out their last breaths and passed away peacefully. 

Svayambhu (Shiva) and the Enchanted Meadow

Svayambhu (Shiva)  and the Enchanted Meadow

Once upon a time there was a boy who was born rather appeared in a tribal village North-East of where Himalaya stands today. The Earth was different than. There was an ocean nearby. In modern terminology, the boy was self-born many thousands of years ago. A number associated with the boy’s birth year on Earth is inconsequential because we are talking about the Immortal Being. Only Goddess knows why she gave birth to the boy... Perhaps it is the Divine Mystery which only Goddess can fathom. In modern terminology, the boy’s name can be attributed as Svayambhu (or Shambu or Shiva). We will call him by that name.

When the boy was born, he simply appeared on a bed of grass, twigs and flowers in a meadow next to where once stood ‘the Sacred Tree of Truth’. This area was next a small mountain range which had been slowly rising every year. The residents who lived in the foothills of the small mountain range were descendants of ancient humans who lived in the region for more than 100,000 years and developed a very deep sense of belonging to the area. Here in blossomed the flower of spirituality for the first time on Earth. Here in flourished the spiritual birth of the new humanity directly evolving from the Adi Manav (Ancient Human) as initiated by the Goddess. ‘The Seekers of Truth’, as they called themselves, had plenty to eat and drink. They were a special group being given all of the riches of the land and the sea by the Goddess.

Their tribal leader, who lived a long life, was tall and thin, always carried a staff that he himself carved out of the Sacred Tree of Truth. The Sacred Tree of Truth was named as such because it was under that tree that the tribal leader had felt a deep sensation in the center of his chest when he was young. Over the years, the sensation grew into a feeling of well being, of security, of clarity and deep sense of reverence for everything and everyone. When he became a teenager he turned into a recluse and spent more time on his own away from his tribe. He wore the necklace made of the Tiger’s teeth that attacked him one day under that tree. He eventually killed the Tiger with a stone knife. That day he realized that he was beyond fear. Soon he became the center of attention by other groups who dwelt in that area when he cleared their habitat of the ferocious animals and taught them how to gather firewood, collect animal skin to wear and combat cold, and grow food by planting specific seeds that tasted like Earth. He taught them how to create channels of water from the flowing streams to irrigate the plants. He even taught them how to build a stone-wood-twig-leave greenhouse to grow food during harsh winter years, the winter years that sometimes lasted more than 10 years. After many years of wandering around the region and swimming with sea creatures far and wide, he was finally welcomed back by his own tribe who appointed him their leader. They had heard stories of one of their own tribal members as ‘The One Who Knows’ from the neighboring tribes. ‘The One Who Knows’ agreed to be their leader and part of the clan again only if the tribe stopped quarreling and fighting with other tribes in the region. He said that their tribe would be known the White Tribe of Peace and that the other tribes will likewise be named. Soon he initiated his tribal members and other tribes into secrets that he knew.  Most of the secrets had to do with survival in the harsh weather and how to defend one from the menacing predators and wild animals nearby. More importantly, he gave them a sense of purpose and made them realize that they belonged to the land and they were there for a reason.

One day, while looking at the blue-silvery moonlight, ‘The One Who Knows’ had a vision. He looked within while focusing on the glow in the center of his heart and saw the entire landscape slipping away and changing into a tall mountain range. He saw a small seed under a tree full of fire-like light changing into very tall, snow-clad peaks that almost touched the sky. He then saw how the ocean retreated and became the mountain. Then he saw how his tribe evolved into wandering ascetics who carried special knowledge about ‘the glow in the center of his heart’ and passed it on to their descendants. This vision filled him with ecstasy and delight. He decided to tell his wife and children about the vision and told them to prepare to move at moment’s notice. He could not tell how soon the vision will come true but he knew that the small mountain next to their dwellings had been growing every year and his youngest daughter had felt ground moving one day when she was playing in the valley nearby. These were signs that the vision was coming true and that they will have to find a safer ground once the ocean started to retreat. But soon after he forgot about the vision as the events did not happen as fast as his vision.

Years passed. The tribal leader became wiser and more compassionate. He could now talk to the animals, the birds, the plants and the small mountain. He felt his thoughts were echoed by the mountain. Then one day, his youngest daughter came running towards him and said, ‘come and take a look. There is a beautiful light on the ground in the meadow next to your tree’. Everyone gathered around to see the white light on the ground next to Sacred Tree of Truth. Word spread. A few members from the nearby tribe and other tribes came to witness the event. For many years, the light stayed and gave away effulgent light gleaming in the sunshine and moonlight, and burning bright during the dark/moonless nights. People of the Nine Tribes of the region gathered together and talked about the mysterious light and its origins. In the end they all turned to the “The One Who Knows’ for answer. ‘The One Who Knows’ nodded his head and said, “I am sorry, I do not know what this light is, where it came from and who created it.’ He told them that the light was special and it is best to send the young boys and girls of the tribes there to acquire ‘knowledge ’ of the meadow. He then formed the ‘School of Mysterious Light’ in the meadow. The school taught the teenage boys and girls how to meditate and look within. The tribal leader called himself ‘Som’ because that’s what he heard from the Mysterious Light one day when he was meditating and hanging out in the meadow turning up stones to see what was underneath the light. The light seemed to be in tact no matter what. Som became more peaceful and grew more loving towards all as he spent more time there teaching the young boys and girls how to be ‘in the flow of things’. He taught them how to see the same Mysterious Light in the center of their hearts and their mind while doing daily activities such as fishing, hunting, and preparing food. He told them that by focusing on this light brought him happiness. It made him rich with ecstasy and that he felt secure.

Som was finally able to unite the Nine Tribes. It took him many years to negotiate terms between the tribes, and to turn their unwillingness to cooperate with each other to a peace treaty. Som told them that they don’t need to fight because there was plenty for every one. Soon his methods of farming and hunting became known to all who adopted them. All Nine Tribes became prosperous. The clan members multiplied and became little towns with small settlements. 

Som was happy to see the unification. It brought him further peace and tranquility. His sons and daughters had now become grandfathers and grandmothers. He saw that they were wise and loving. They revered and respected the Nature around them. His wife had advanced and became more loving and compassionate as years passed by. He noticed that his wife had a special power to heal the wounds. She would simply place her hand over the injury and the person would be cured of the wound next day. When Som asked his wife, how she did that, she replied, ‘I am not sure. But the gift came to me after the appearance of the Mysterious Light in the meadow’. She said, that this is the gift from Earth and she felt happier when she healed people. In the years after the appearance of the Mysterious Light, she had healed and cured cuts, wounds of men and women. She had helped women of the neighboring tribe who used to have a very large number of miscarriages. She had traveled far to the sea-tribe and learned a few of their secrets which she brought to the land. Som felt happy. He became more fulfilled and spent more time in the meadow under the ‘Scared Tree of Truth’.

And so it happened. One day Som came to the meadow and gathered the fire-wood and found a Tiger cub next to the ‘Scared Tree of Truth’. He did not know there were any wild animals there as the area had been long been cleared of any animals. He played with the cub a bit and examined its teeth. Som realized that he had never seen such a beautiful animal before. He pulled the cub’s whiskers. The Cub snarled at him in its childish roar. Som was amused and chuckled. The chuckle soon grew into a full blown laughter as this was the first time he had experienced such a sensation. It was so delightful and free-flowing. Som laughed and laughed and laughed. He laughed at everything. He looked up at the sky peering through the meadow trees and laughed at it. He laughed at the ‘Scared Tree of Truth’. He pointed at his own necklace and self-stitched clothes made up of animal hide and laughed. He could not stop laughing. He felt light as feather and laughed. Seeing him laugh, the Cub set down on its back and paws facing front, started licking the crevice between its big toe and the paw, purring at the same time. Som laughed and danced and felt a renewed joy permeating through his body. He felt what his wife must have felt while healing the wounds. He felt what the fish must feel while swimming in the ocean. He felt what the Cub was feeling while licking his paws. He felt what the trees felt when the wind glided through their leaves. He felt was the stones felt while being protruded in the grounds for hundreds and thousands of years. He felt the gushing of the river through his village. He felt what the fire felt while leaping boundless and across the forests. He felt everything. He felt the whole life around him. He became one with all. He started whirling on this foot as he did when he was a child. After about an hour of whirling, he fell down on the ground next to the Cub and the Mysterious Light. He put his head on a stone and closed his eyes and died. Cub ran away into the woods and disappeared.

Upon hearing the news, a group of men and women who were known as the Nine Sages, each from one of the Nine Tribes, appeared in the meadow next to the body. They formed a circle around it. A few of his disciples and his family formed the second ring around the inner circle. It was dark, moonless night. They kept silent vigil through the night (as it was customary to do so when someone passed away). They remembered what Som had taught them about Mother Nature and about the glow in the center of the chest. The Nine Sages carried staffs and thumped the staffs on the ground while looking at the Mysterious Light. They hummed and chanted in a low rumble. Soon, a gush of wind came and the body simply floated in the air and was consumed in a fire born out of the Mysterious Light. The light became brighter and brighter. He enveloped the first ring of Nine Sages and became blinding to the rest. The Sages kept thumping their staffs and observing the light as if directed by an unknown force to do so. Then the light became dimmer until it disappeared. Morning sun filtered through the high canopy and it shone on the spot where the light once was. Most of the people who gathered had now dispersed to their home and villages. The Nine Sages and Som’s wife were around and kept the vigil. As the rays of Sun hit the stone and the grass where Som’s body was, the small patch of Earth began vibrating. Som’s wife thought it was the rumble that her daughter used to experience when she was young. The Sages stood motionless, looking within and quieting themselves. The sadness and grim of the scene gave way to an enchanted scenario. As Earth rumbled, the trees shook, and a loud thunder over the mountain next to the meadow was heard. It felt like the mountain splitting apart. Next, the rumble turned in to tremors and tremors turned into Earthquake. Surprisingly, the meadow and its trees trembled very little and eventually fell motionless while ground started shaking vigorously away from it where the village stood. Som’s wife felt an incredible joy and ecstasy. She thought is going to explode with  ecstasy.. An incredible sense of well-being came over her. The female sages began feeling the same sensation. Soon they got down on the ground, laid down with their head towards the spot where the Mysterious Light once appeared. Som’s wife did the same as if guided by an unknown force. The male sages through their staffs away and laid down in a similar fashion and thus they all created a wheel. Their bodies felt lighter as they felt a deep connection with the Earth which filled their hearts. The glow in the center of the heart that Som often talked about now became palpable and irresistible. They felt deep love towards all. Tears of joy started flowing down Som’s wife and she felt ecstatic. Soon they all became motionless and became one with Earth. The ground shook and rumbled and the Nine Sages along with Som’s wife simply were engulfed by the moving Earth as they all became part of it. A jagged peak full of stones and sea-bed appeared underneath the small mountain next to the meadow. The Earthquake became more prominent and the tectonic plates that moved underneath pushed the small mountain upward. The mountain started rising, and small flat mountain now developed sharp jagged peaks which upon millions of years to come be Himalaya. The villages nearby were severely damaged and took many years to rebuild.

The meadow returned to its normal state after a few years and out of nowhere, appeared a small boy. The boy was left on his own by the villagers and was aptly named, Svayambhu (Shambhu) in part because of the mysterious nature of the meadow and in part because the boy was looked after by a Tigress who roamed the surrounding woods. If anyone tried getting close to the meadow or the boy, the Tigress would appear and jump towards them. She never attacked anyone but made sure that no one would come close to the boy. Boy grew up in the meadow, learning from the Tigress and the jungle. He learned to hunt, build a shelter while observing the village building nearby. He made a weapon out of an old relic that found in the meadow. Soon the Tigress died and the boy took her skin and threw it on his body for protection against other animals and cold. He never departed from that skin. He played in the meadow, the slowly rising mountain range, and the river. He would capture and ride wild boars. 

Sometimes he would hike up the peaks of the mountain ranges by himself. He eventually visited the villages nearby where he was revered as the Svayambhu. He had no association with the villages nor did he care for a relatively comfortable life. He was full of compassion towards animals, birds, and the villagers. Svayambhu (Shambhu) roamed the local mountain peaks, the jungles, the rivers. The villagers were happy to see him and gave him food. The boy ate very little and gave the rest to the needy. He gave away the clothes to the poor tribal folk in the remote areas away from the mountain. Women felt very motherly towards him and made clothes for him out of wool and animal hide. People often found him on the peak next to their villages staring at the open sky and sitting still. The Shepherds brought their flock next to the boy knowing that the animals felt happier-the cows gave more milk, the sheep gave more wool, and chickens gave more eggs. And so Shambhu grew up being an orphan son of many fathers and mothers.

Here ends the story of the childhood and physical origin of the First Yogi of Earth, the MahaYogi, otherwise known as Shiva.

Vibhishan and Mahamoti (Great Pearl)

“Once the Asuras held a big party. Everyone was invited. Even the Devas. The Asuras were famous for their ardent fervor of Madhya (booze), Moh (desire) and Maas (meat/physical body).  Their energies represented their true selves but on the outside they appeared as extremely beautiful women and strong handsome men. 

                                 

They recruited men and women as their representatives just as the Devas alluded to men and women to their divinity.  In the times long ago when the spoken language was rare, the humans lived in perfect harmony. As the great grand cycle of precession, as inevitable as it can be, took its turn again, the humans fell asleep...yet again. And as ordained in the upturn grand cycle of precession of Earth, the humans started to remember again. During one of those descending cycles within great Yugas, my dear Champa, the Asuras decided to throw the infamous party knowing perfectly well that they are loosing and that they can entice humans by giving them taste of their maya which will help them prolong their maya. For you see, it is easier to dissuade humans from their long awaited Divinity by Madhya, Moh and Maas or any combination thereof. The dissuasion is most effective during the descending cycle and least effective during the ascending cycle. It only takes 13000 years or so before the humans wake up again...so the Asuras felt that the timing was just ripe in order to carry out their plan. 

   As Vibhishan fell asleep on a cool Autumn morning after attending his brother Ravan's birthday celebration, he fell into a deep trance.  He felt absolutely no connection to the grand display that Ravan threw every year. Needless to say, Vibhishan was no longer interested, even for the wonder of it all, in the grand extravagance of Madhya, Moh, and Maas. He had seen his brother die alone, with no one to visit his pyre or prey on his deathbed.  He had spoken many a times to the Great King about doing things the right way, to no avail.  Now that he had reached end of his dispassion towards the celebratory acts of vain ego that Ravan exuded, he withdrew within himself and went deeper in the early morning reverie.  He saw himself dancing as a Nritika (Dancer), first in Indra’s court and then in Cordoba, Ajmer, Gwalior, St. Petersburg and then Karnataka across many different lifetimes, past and future. It seemed like a perfect seamless transformation. He felt at home with the moves and dances that he clearly knew how to perform. Vibhishan started to remember. He started to remember that he was indeed an Apsara (the Divine Dancer), in Indra's court named as Urvashi. He remembered and saw himself as Urvashi dancing to the melodic tunes of the Gandharavas (the Divine Musicians), across the breath and depth of time and space. And he felt asleep.

    He woke up late at night, which was common in Lanka, as people often mixed their sleep cycles and indulged in misbalance. Vibhishan had a glass of wine which he often did after waking up. He had convinced his brother Ravana that it is ok to have wine right after waking up instead of the hard liquor. This way he made sure that Ravana saw him as one of them and not a pious and devout being. Soon the pretense turned into a habit that became a routine. Vibhishan saw the wine and the display of being Asuara as a necessity to fit in. On the other hand, he persisted and conveyed to Ravana that his incredible desire for kingdom,  money and women were going to drive him crazy and bereft of his kingdom. Both argued endlessly and Vibhishan finally gave up the fight. He stopped arguing against his brother's commands and never revolted against his brothers demands. In this way, he portrayed himself as an ideal brother. He fought battles on Ravan's behalf who commanded his five generals including Vibhishan to conquer three worlds, the Devlok (realm of Gods), Janlok (real of Humans) and Danavalok (realm of Demons). Surprisingly, Ravan had a good handle on the nature of maya and how it emanated from Shiv himself. He rigorously prayed to Shiv and held year long penances. Ravana’s penances brought him the boon of Shiv in form of his wrath, which he wielded seamlessly to take over the three worlds. Vibhishan was on the fore front of all the battles, and as advised by him, Ravana picked his opponents. In a flawless victorious moments one after another Ravan dwelt in his bloated ego and started devouring the energies on multiple layers. His ego became too big to bear by Vibhishan. All along, the good brother Vibhishan played his role as he deemed that there was no other way. And as a result, Vibhishan felt empty and sad. He felt he did not belong in Lanka.

   After sipping the wine, Vibhishan set on the porch overlooking the river, Manda and listened to the Gandharvas who were held captive by Ravana's soldiers. Gandharva's played melodious music but it was nowhere near the kind that he had experienced during his lifetime recall as Urvashi and in his meditation. The soldiers were mostly zombies and were half dead; they forced the captive Gandharvas to sing them another song. Vibhishan often thought how can this possibly be the aim of one’s existence. Vibhishan looked at his wine glass.  He threw it down on the smooth white marble floor.  The glass shattered in thousand pieces and the wine spilled like the blood that he had shed many a times. He decided to give up drinking and killing for Ravan even if it meant that he wouldn't be considered Asura and it brought Ravan's wrath. 

   Vibhishan got up and looked in the red liquid and saw a little boy with strange tattoo on his forehead. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The boy jumped out of the red wine on the floor and floated in front of him. By now Vibhishan was no stranger to such happenings and starred back. He looked at the boy trying to assess what was going on. The boy had three lobe tattoo in the center of his forehead, (instead of two yin yangs, there were three lobes) and had his eyes closed. The tattoo was glowing with white light and the boy spoke to Vibhishan without opening his eyes, ‘Padma, don’t you remember me?’ To this Vibhishan replied, to much of his surprise, ‘Triloki! But you had the moti..’, Before he could finish his sentence, the boy pulled out a very beautiful looking blue moti (pearl) and shot the moti into Vibhishan's third eye,  ‘here it is…follow me. I am here because of Kali’s command… come with me’. Vibhishan felt the urge to leave everything behind and follow the boy. He put his first step towards the boy and stepped into the red pool in front of him and he disappeared into the thin etheric realms…the realms that envelop the physical reality on Earth.

 In front of him was the boy gliding away, as Vibhishan took big steps behind him and then finally started running after him because it was difficult to catch up to him. All of a sudden the boy stopped gliding, turned around and called out loud, ‘See you in Kishkindha, dear friend!'  Next, a Monkey with pure white fur and an incredible smile appeared; the Monkey picked up Vibhishan without any effort and flung him on his shoulder. Off they went. Vibhishan saw realms that he never thought were possible. These realms all flew by at incredible speed as if he was traversing across the universe. Before he could register any of it, the Monkey stopped and pointed out a seashell, a clam resting in front of them. To be comfortable with the scenario, Vibhishan created a familiar beach of Lanka and a sea and housed himself on it. Next he put the clam on the shore, flipping and flooping in front of him.  It all happened with such an ease that Vibhishan did not have to make any effort other than a thought to make something happen. The old Monkey flashed his incredible smile (Vibhishan realized Ravan never smiled and that he himself had stopped smiling and that this was the most wonderful smile that he had ever seen) and pointed at the clam again. Vibhishan immediately knowing what to do, cut up his middle finger, and drew blood, and poured it on the clam. The clam opened, another moti (pearl) appeared and it floated towards him. Before he knew, Vibhishan was mesmerizingly starring at this moti (it was a beautiful red pearl). The red moti entered his hand and passed through his body. Vibhisahan felt sensations that he once knew, felt ecstatic and felt lighter as the moti traveled through his entire body, making him lighter still, and eventually settled in his manipura (third chakra-solar plexus). Vibhishan felt so light, lighter than feather.  The vibrations of the moti made him ooze out pleasure and he lolled in ecstasy. After some time which seemed like ages to Vibhishan, he felt the bliss that once was native to him. He remembered floating on air in his mother’s garden in Lanka, and remembered how blissful he felt while bending air and gloating while his mother laughed and sang. Both used to dance together in the air. This memory lead Vibhishan to create a beautiful white dove while being in the vast etheric realm which he compelled to follow immediately (rather someone or something was creating these symbols and all he did was to experience his interaction with them). The dove went straight up and so did Vibhishan. He felt lighter and lighter till he felt like wind. As he sat close to the dove,  he felt a velvety and smooth touch of the dove.

 'Who is there who is making this happen?' he thought. Before long, Vibhishan heard the beautiful song that he had heard his mother sing to him in that enchanted garden only to find himself now seated among stars, galaxies and gorgeous nebulas of bliss mixed mist. Vibhishan now traveled with the enchanted voice, and saw a beautiful woman coming towards him from within the bliss oozing clouds of galaxies. A mermaid appeared from the fathom-less ocean of bliss and light and danced in front of him (he knew this dance, the dance that he witnessed himself doing as Urvashi). The mermaid, wagged her tail, brought it close to her nose and sniffed it (Vibhishan thought that it was impossible to do). Then she flipped her body around like a dog shedding water from its skin, and winked at him. As Vibhishan looked in the eye of the mermaid, an incredibly beautiful white pearl appeared which the mermaid put in the center of his heart. At the very moment, all three pearls, the blue pearl that he had gotten from the boy, the red pearl that the Monkey gave him, and the white pearl that the mermaid materialized, merged and became one. An incredible glow appeared within his heart and his heart opened up as to house the Divine. As Vibhishan looked within, he heard all the galaxies of the known and unknown universe to him call out in an enchanted resonant voice, ‘The avatar is coming to destroy Lanka… Go join him’. Next a series of scenarios took place, Vibhishan saw his entire life playing out in a series of flawless slices of light, the past and the future. 

   Next morning Vibhishan woke up. He yawned and realized he has slept through the entire day and night."

  "Then what happened?’, asked Champa to her grandpa, Sundar-Mani. Mani got up from his charpai (a simple bed made up of natural fiber and wood), took a swig of cold water and continued. “Many years passed. Vibhishan never forgot that dream wondering what it meant and what he saw.”

  "Grandpa! I know what happened after that! Sri Ram came to Lanka and destroyed Lanka’. Champa got excited.

 ‘Champa, you are small and innocent and listen to those boys next door too much. How many times have I said this story? How many times do I have to correct you? No, Sri Ram came to Lanka looking for Sita. Lanka imploded on itself after the great battle and consumed itself.  Now listen carefully (Mani sighed). 

"After many many many years, one Autumn morning Vibhishan was sitting on the same porch. He was dressed in white clothes, did his morning puja and gave food to the Monkey who was jumping around incessantly on the tree next to the marble statue of the mermaid that Vibhishan had carved from a white marble monolith.  

After getting up from his meditation, he looked out in his garden over the river and saw the same monkey calmly smiling at him. Vibhishan remembered this smile, burried deep in his memory, he thought to himself, ‘Can it be? No. I am just getting old and senile.’ The monkey jumped on the porch, threw something in his lap, and jumped back on the branch. The monkey now started to fly away from the branch. All of this happened in a blink of an eye and Vibhishan thought he saw the monkey turn into a white furry monkey that he knew from his vision year ago. The monkey looked back and flashed his butt at him and exuded that familiar and incredible smile. Vibhishan rubbed his eyes and examined what the monkey threw in his lap.

    There it was…as Vibhishan held the Mahamoti (Great Pearl) in his fingers, it flashed three times,  a brilliant hue of blue, red and white ensued. And the moti disappeared. Vibhishan took a big sigh of relief, knowing intimately what it meant. His vision had come true. 

    A Royal guard appeared next to him. ‘Brother Saint (as Ravan told everyone to address Vibhishan), his majesty, the Great King of all realms Ravan asks for your attendance in the court this morning. There has been a rumor that an army of big monkeys is building a bridge between the physical realm of India and the semi-physical realm of Lanka. Our scouts in the physical realm have seen them with their own eyes. The king requires your counsel on the matter as he sees you as an expert of such matters’. Vibhishan shed a tear of delight and started walking toward the grand court."

   

Wall of Water

“And then what happened? Come on, tell me please, grandpa, what happened. What did he do next!!”, Eli asked his grandfather.

The grandfather shoved few more sticks into the fire that he kept burning, something he learned from his Master. He kindled the fire in the pit next to the house in a shallow crevice in the ground. He picked that spot because it was protected in all types of weather. He had kept the fire burning for over 26 years, as many years as he remembered his Master passing away to his ultimate Samadhi.

“Then nothing happened. He didn’t do anything else. He just walked back to town with me and we went to the next town where we can trade some Frankincense for food.”

 “Come in Eli and have your food”. Eli ran off to the kitchen to feast on the lovely baked fish that grandma prepared for him every Sunday. Matthew and his family celebrated Sunday in the memory of the Master.

Matthew kept staring into fire. The story he told Eli was true but he didn’t want to stir up old memory of still being with his Master, walking next to him, smelling his breath when he talked intermittently during their long journeys in the desert.

[36 years ago, on a cold morning in winter, location: somewhere around dead sea shore]

“But how do you know where you need to go? You have been traveling all your life, is that why?” Matthew asked his friend.

“Brother! I do not know where I am going! I go where my heart takes me, and where the trade takes me. I go where the Father tells me to go. I go where my Indian Master tells me to go”. Yeshua replied.

“Don’t you ever get lost?” Matthew wondered.

“Yes! All the time! But I don’t mind. I know that the Mother will take care of me! She always has…” Yeshua smiled back.

“You have said that before, but I still don’t understand it. How is that the experience of being alive that you call Mother, the one who puts you through the misery, is also taking care of you in the times of severe hardship?”

“One day you will understand when the moment comes. Just remember to surrender”. Yeshua patted Matthew on his shoulder.

“But Arkada! the Frankincense trade is seasonal. There is very little resin on the trees in this area. You travel hundreds of miles to collect few insects filled droplets, you sell it in the market the next day after careful preparation for hours. You don’t accept any thing from me or the other brothers. How do you make enough living?” Matthew asked.

“Brother! Never fear the unknown. Father created the world through the Mother. He maintains the world through the Mother and one day he will complete it through the Mother. Then why should you fear? I always get enough Frankincense to live happily for few months. And no, I accept gifts…when Father says so. I return the gifts. Remember I ate that fish your wife made for me last year. I even ate some of the bones! It was delicious.”

“Yes, Arkada! I am tired of hearing my wife tell that story to her friends in the town. We are now making fish for everyone now. It is all thanks to you and your blessings.”

“Thank the Lord within, Matthew. I am only an instrument; for his blessings are endless and unfathomable. Very mysterious is he! But his love is grand. More than you love your wife or you will love your children or your grandchildren.”

Matthew stood aghast knowing that Yeshua has just blessed his wife with a child perfectly knowing that they have tried for many years and had gotten nowhere. Matthew was about to cry and thank him; that’s when Yeshua stopped him and silently gestured him to be quiet and look within.

Look within. Look within. Look within, Matthew. Yeshua told Matthew many times. Matthew stood in complete awe.

Hours passed. They had now walked toward the body of water to soak their tired feat. For next hour or so, the two friends spent some time on their own. Matthew collected wood for the fire while Yeshua looked towards the water and calm waves in complete silence.

“Arkada! Arkada! Run! Run for your life! Look at that big wave approaching! Run! Let’s go before it drowns us!” Matthew threw away the precious dry wood that he had carefully collected and ran towards the last known location where he left Yeshua as he saw a massive rogue wave approaching them.

“Yeshu Arkada! Look! there is a wave coming our way. Follow me, I used to come to the town nearby when I was a kid…let’s run away, quickly!” Matthew yelled at top of his lungs. He knew that Yeshua was around there somewhere but could not find him while the rogue wave was quickly gaining on them.

“Brother! How long will you run away from your troubles? There is no way for us to go. You will drown if you go in any direction.” Matthew looked up and saw Yeshua standing tall on a stone looking calmly at the big Wall of Water coming towards them. Matthew trembled and shrieked with fear. He looked back at Yeshua and quickly jumped over onto the rock next to him.

              

Matthew quickly reviewed his life in those few moments while waiting for the water to approach. He thought about his wife and how the prophecy Yeshua made would never be fulfilled. He thought about how he had wasted his life worrying about everything and how to pay back his forefather's debt to the collectors who for generations have been asking for the debt to be settled. He thought about how happy he was when he first saw Yeshua and quickly became friends. He thought about how familiar Yeshua’s smile looked then. He looked back at Yeshua. Yeshua looked at him and smiled back. Matthew realized Yeshua’s smile was accompanied by complete and utter silence; he just realized this is the first time he listened to absolute silence…then he heard the water approaching. He closed his eyes…and fell unconscious.

Matthew opened his eyes while lying on Yeshua's side in drenched sand next to his dry clothes. He touched them to believe the unbelievable; his eyes searched for his friend. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a wall of water dispersing in smaller and smaller waves and a flash of bright white light walking towards his right. He looked again in the direction of the water till the water receded. The ball of white light approached him. He couldn’t focus his eyes for a moment; but when he did he couldn’t believe his eyes. His friend Yeshua, was dressed in the brightest white clothes with heavenly glow around him, and he was sliding towards him over the pool of water. He looked around him and saw a whirlpool as if he was a rock and the water simply carried around him. He got up on his elbow to fully grasp the vision he was having. He watched Yeshua finally touch his hand and pull him up next to him. Slowly, Matthew’s vision adjusted as he could feel his friend’s presence as he was used to. He realized he had been seeing double vision. He finally saw the reality behind the reality that he was used to. In that state of mind, he looked toward Yeshua and saw the etheric sheen that surrounded him, the silence that shrouded him, the rosy glow of the Mother that bestowed upon him, and the clean, in fact, the cleanest smell he had every smelled, emanating from Yeshua’s body.

Matthew fell down again, this time he became unconscious for days.

When he came back he realized he was in his home next to his wife who was worriedly making bread.

“Where is Yeshua? Am I dead?”

“Finally!” the woman ran outside to call on Yeshua.

Yeshua arrived in Matthew’s clothes that his wife had made for him; they were bit small for him. Matthew thought Yeshua looked like what his son would look like if his wife would indeed be able to give birth to their child.

Yeshua smiled and put his hand over Matthew’s hand.

“Brother! Just remember to surrender next time.” Yeshua  smiled and quietly walked out of the house.

 Matthew watched his friend leave. He noticed the little bag full of oily resin on his waist.

Matthew closed his eyes and he finally understood what Yeshua meant when he said, Look Within.

The Missing Notes: Part 2--Pure Anguish

So it happened that Vallabh was born into the family who had wealth and prosperity. The father had acquired considerable wealth and the mother was known for her beauty and charm. They named him Vallabh as he was the missing piece in the joyous gathering of the souls. Vallabh grew up fast.  And it so happened that he developed a hunch and poor eyesight.                                                      Soon he became a hunchback and was ridiculed by all the children in neighborhood.  The parents resented the boy, as he became the focal point of the town’s misbehavior. Over next few years their wealth dwindled due to father’s negligence in the business and increased preoccupation with his boy’s looks. He called upon doctors from far and wide to make him straight. The father lost his family business and so the collectors demanded all the jewelry and the house as ransom.On top of the piling debt, the boy ate a lot and he grew up to be really big, bigger than the other boys of his age. Vallabh’s parents became tired of his hunch, his strange looks, and his growing appetite. One day Vallabh knocked off a painting while reaching for water in a pot after a big meal. The father threw a fit, became agitated and knocked him over. He kicked him out saying that he should have been killed the moment he was born and that he had brought down the entire  family and the wealth they had built for generations.The mother poured hot water on him and said that he was the reason she was no longer admired as the beauty of the town and such an ugly being was not worthy of her love.
Vallabh was out of streets and he begged until he was taken to a shelter. He was passed on from one orphanage to another.  None could bear his presence and his appetite.His body emitted foul smell and his hunch was more prominent than ever.  To his demise, the little food he received was turned into a strong body, which made him fearful.                                Tired of the society in which he grew up, of the life he had lived, and of the hatred he had received – Vallabh finally took off in a random direction towards an unknown town. One day he accidentally touched the left hand of the daughter of town secretary and the secretary brought down hell on him and got him sentenced for six years of hard labor.After six years of being in prison, breaking stones and living filthy, the hunchback was released in a work-farm which employed young men. The farm owner was a simple woman who had lost her husband many years ago in an accident. She was known as the miracle mother who can cure any one of any illness. She looked after about fifty young men and helped them transition back into society while facilitating their growth and natural talents.And so it happened that the Miracle Mother took to young Vallabh and gave him the love and care he never received. As Vallabh changed he noticed how the Miracle Mother worked. He never ventured outside of the farm eventhough the Miracle Mother encouraged him to do so. One day out of curiosity, Vallabh discovered that besides the strangely smelling plants (Vallabh had an extraordinary sense of smell) that the Miracle Mother grew in her farm, there was a pleasant meadow full of fragrant flowers,  and juicy fruits right across from the irrigation canal that watered the farm.                                       Soon Vallabh grew fond of the orchard and the meadow and came to sit there after the day’s labor and spent most of his free time there. Three years passed and Vallabh now became intimately familiar with the potent herbs that grew in the farm and the sweet smelling orchard. Vallabh became Miracle Mother’s right hand as he is the one who grew and took care of the medicinal plants. Vallabh was sent out on errands to collect needed supplies for the medicines and deliver the medicines. He soon became familiar with every smell and odor of the town. Vallabh learned from the Miracle Mother and developed a knack for understanding how certain odors can cure certain diseases.Vallabh became more tuned and grew stronger and bigger. He mastered the arts of potions under Miracle Mother’s tutelage and healed many people including himself.
He combined his sadhna and potions and got rid of his hunch completely. He became un-deformed and cured of his illness.    One day he was told to deliver medicines to an old couple in a nearby town.  Unbeknownst to Vallabh, he entered his hometown completely oblivious to its smells as he never learned to use his gift while he grew up.
                            As he approached the varanda of the pale yellow house with the swing, he immediately recognized it as his childhood home where he was born. He was tuned to his parents smell and as they came out to get the medicines he stood in his track.
    The old frail woman gave him the money and thanked him as the geriatric and dilapidated old house stood still.  The old man sat on the swing blankly looking at him and not looking at him at the same time lost in his dementia.  The woman asked him "what’s the matter son, did you get the right change for the medicines?"
  ‘No mother. I was told not to charge you any money by the Miracle Mother.’
‘ Okay then, you must be hungry. Let me get you some food , then you can be on your way’.  The woman exclaimed.
   ‘ No mother, I do not want your food either’.
  ‘ What do you want then?’ the old man off-handedly asked and continued with this day dreams.
   ‘Your apologies’.
   Finally after a long hard look, both the old man and woman recognized their son.  They cried and embraced Vallabh and said they hardly recognized him, so young, and stout and handsome.
 The whole scene from years of isolation, insult and throw-up by the society played out in Vallabh’s mind, topped by the incident that started it all.
 Vallabh now took the anger he gathered in his entire life, and spat on his parents and threw them back at the swing and said, ‘ I curse you, both of you for abandoning me and throwing me out on the streets while I needed your love the most.  What good are you as parents when you could not love your son. I curse you both that you will suffer till you die in this life and the next till you shall learn to receive me as I am and as I choose to be’.                                  The old man and woman cried their hearts out while sitting on the swing. Their heart-felt apologies and the outpour of years of anguish were heard by no one but the Divine Mother as she is the one who orchestrated this show and others that we are part of.     We are only the writers of the script, the actors and the audience for she is the one who creates us, for she is the script, and for she is the theater seats and the stage upon which these dramas are being played out.