Eternal NOW

PURUSHA is that which is, has always been and always will be; an intangible essence from which all form emerges sometimes called the Absolute, Spirit, Krishna, Brahma or God. It is more than whatever name we give it. Earlier I quoted the opening of Genesis, leaving out... and the word was GOD. Thomas Aquinas tells us , "Nothing is more like the Word of God than the unvoiced word that is conceived within a person's heart...." Interesting that the mantra OM is said to reside within the heart center, Anahata which is also called the place of the silent unstruck sound while at the same time rising up from the root. Deep within our hearts lies the answer but we need to continue to grow and deepen our contact with the root to support. Love unifies but an open heart without a strong backbone is folly. Studying different aspects we dont want to be like the blind men studying the elephant who each was sure that his part was, THE elephant. Purusha is the context , the essence. Prakruti is the name given that which is born from Purusha, the constitution we are born with. It is also sometimes defined as the seed of desire to experience with the idea that consciousness requires a form, a body to savor its fruits. In Ayurveda this desire manifests as universal mind, Mahat, which then individualized as Ahamkara, ego. From there nature emerges in three basic principles represented by the three gunas or original energies fundamental to the existence of that which we call reality. Satva ... Rajas.... Tamas. When Christ declared himself to be the son of GOD he also said, He that sees me sees HE that sent me, I and my father are one and of course - be like me. We must look at the reflection because we are unable to see. to look directly at the source, it is always invisible. When we speak of process of conception at a cellular level the sperm, a cell, enters the egg, another cell, to fertilize or stimulate. Once stimulated a form grows within the and changes becoming a body. In Ayurveda, this is Parusha evolving as Prakruti, constituting the individual. In Parusha there is no separation, no division no growth. Still the individual exists prior to conception. It is everything and nothing at the same time . As usual we go in circles when we try and speak of such things but lets make a hypothesis that there is this infinite eternal being and an infinite number of variations. That this being is playful. That in order to play it needs a form and that that form is always unique. Christian mystic Thomas Aquinas

says that first, "We should take complete possession of our minds before anything else does, so that we can fill the whole house with contemplation of wisdom ... be fully present there. When our interior house is in order and we are fully present in our intention to know the truth and express it, what follows next is Be as a little child, full of curiosity to play there. Within each form, within each cell the whole universe exists in its potential state ready to participate, to play the game of life. It seems like even scientists, long considered the font of knowledge in modern times are coming to look at this model declaring that there is some force which just is, that is observable in its effect and that its forms are affected by being observed. When we touch this force, we feel light and joyful because that is its nature. Now, remember though perhaps you dont need to be reminded, I am no genius so try as I might I cannot seem to make this as simple as Id like it to be. There is othat while ever constant, it is ever changing. Okay, okay you say, Ive had enough of this but I hope that you will bear with me on the journey so that maybe we can discover something about ourselves. Thats my goal, to explore the question posed in yoga, "Who am I?" Since I exist within, through and as a part of this universe seems like I can't answer the question without at least some frame of reference. Being and becoming, Prakruti evolves from Purusha and with it a sense of self or separation. I mean anyone will tell you that one important part of sanity is knowing where you begin and I end, which of course makes Yoga pretty insane because it says that we are all one without beginning or ending. Lets face it, life as we know it began in that womb, took its first breath and someday will take its last at which point I guess we will cease to exist but every molecule which we are made up of will go on. Life on this planet is to be born, to grow and at some point to die. If you believe in reincarnation, then you have a spirit that recycles to be reborn. If you dont, you recycle anyway on a purely material level. Either way we're omnipresent. Ayurveda and Yoga go on to say that this omnipresence is omniscient and omnipotent but only when realized consciously does it have an effect in our lives. Returning to the sperm and the egg, for humans this generally requires a man and a woman at the very least a union of apparent opposites. Some will tell you that it is all biology a bunch of elements combined, species evolved and voila here we

are part of the animal kingdom. But what makes life conscious and is it true that only human beings are self-conscious when amoeba have been shown to find their way through a maze to reach nutrition. DNA Is a kind of reflection of Karma as it directs the shape the form takes and other attributes we identify as Person seem to be encoded in it. While on a western scientific level life begins with the formation of this body. Ayurveda says that life didn't begin with this tangible form it began as an idea.ne more attribute and thaTherefore, when we study anatomy we begin with Parusha, the state of non-manifestation. We can call this Purusha, Brahma, Infinite Intelligence or God. The silence. The deep, absolute silence is the only place where something can be born. At the moment of conception, the cells meet, unite and there is a union of three; information from the father, from the mother and something else that has chosen this moment, this coupling to create itself. This unique, ordinary being that is you, me, a flower, a rock, a stream, a mountain, a bird, a fish, a dinosaur, a serpent, an apple or a tree... to name but a few possibilities came forth from Parusha through contact, fusion and transformation. The living being exists before the moment of conception and is brought to life through this union of opposites. Without this union, it cannot be born. Therefore there is some invisible essence, which is part of creation, which through destiny or karma takes on or becomes you and me through attraction, stimulation, growth being born, living and dying. Evolving from, existing as and returning to its Self. The seed of Prakruti could be viewed as a kind of intention. Through Rajas, the active energy, it stimulates growth based on the Karma or DNA, which directs what form appears. Without the stimulation of the cell through the union of the female and male energies the cell remains inert. TAMAS. Once stimulated it awakens, grows and evolves, which is again Rajas , the dynamic force of creation. Satva, the desire to reunify or to experience the unified whole called pure energy, is breathed into within each and every individual. Therefore, while the three gunas create us they are created in the act of creation. Looking up the word conception the first definition is the formation of a viable zygote by the union of the male sperm and female ovum; fertilization. The root word is concept, something formed in the mind, an idea. Plato's philosophy defines it as an archetype of which a corresponding being in phenomenal reality is but an imperfect replica. Then there is another definition, ant is

image of something remembered and finally, an Idea. An idea is that which exists in the mind , a method for making doing or accomplishing something and the import, meaning or significance of that which has been made or accomplished. From here it is not a leap of faith to consider that we are both created and creator. It is this divine sense that we experience in moments of love and connection. Maestro Joytimayananda says it is evolving rather than creating. Susan Griffin wrote eloquently , There is no single designer and no simple goal except for the beauty of being, as a pattern that brings surprise and delight (along with loss and sorrow) as both relationship and singularity, as inexplicable and yet at the same time the source of all meaning, can act as antidote to both the coldly mechanical universe of modern times and the seemingly senseless ether into which too many religious views dissolve. Life is a mystery. Perhaps the key to this mystery is to Know Thyself and to know how to find our way home, back to the source of love which created us. Did the Rishis or Sages know long ago? Did they discover that place or space and leave us a treasure map? Lets follow their line and see. Mahat or mind is the name given cosmic intelligence and Budhi, individual intelligence. Mahat Budhi- we're back again to Uno in tutto, tutto in uno. The invisible becomes visible, tangible form that exists in the invisible space. Ahamkara, "I the creator" crosses the sea to become visible on the horizon. Anthropologist David Abrams Is fond of a lesson given by his teacher, a Native American Shaman. "What connects you to that bird soaring high above? Is that which connects you also in you?" We want to soar and yet we are earth bound . We share the air with all living things. It is invisible. Beyond that there is the space in which the air exists and beyond that? Breathing connects us: Paying attention to our breath we lose our sense of separation. When we pay attention to touching the earth and breathing we experience another of those Yogic dichotomies, as we feel our downward connection, gravity loses its force and we grow upward and outward. I like the idea that we grow up in that it means we become who we really are: we really are all expressions of the divine but sometimes the expression is distorted, blocked, full of darkness that seems evil. Is evil in the sense that it is l-i-v-e backwards, anti-life. Tamas is not bad or evil. It is heavy and obscures. Satva is light and reveals. Both are a part of us.

Nature (in the form of the psyche or mind) in its sattvic state acts like a mirror for the light of the self. It is not the form itself that is the problem but our attachment and identification of form as reality, which perpetuates the illusion keeping us in ignorance. Fortunately, spirit is persistent and demanding so sooner or later directs Rajas to bring us home.