Friday, 17 May 2019

Damien and Shibumi

During 1991 to 1995 I chanced upon reading the book 'Shibumi' by Trevanian.
Long before that I knew about "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse.
There was this attraction to the Spiritual that I sensed was the reason why I liked Herman Hesse.
Then Sometime from 1983 to 1990 I got to read 'Damien'.
The treatment of the subject in these three books is with a perspective to the occult, the spiritual and the esoteric with a dash of mystery upon it.
Shibumi and Hirobumi are Japanese words and have traveled from Indian Sanskrit and legendary words Shivabhumi and Shirobhumi.
The same is true for the name of the erstwhile Emperor of Japan "Hirohito" that must have been a cognate of Sanskrit "Shirohito".
My way of understanding the words of different languages is that I first try to find out the nearest approximate of a word in Sanskrit that also conveys the meaning of the word in that language and the same meaning in Sanskrit as well. I don't claim how far this is the correct approach, but for me it works.
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The book Damien attracted my attention because it started with the idea of 'meditation'.
This was not a bad start. For the introductory knowledge this is quite helpful.
There is a similar treatment of 'Tantra' in 'Shibumi', where a character says how anything and everything could be used as a weapon.
(This reminds me about a case when a Mossad-agent successfully killed some-one by putting poison into his tooth-paste! However, I didn't try to check if it is a true or a fake story)
Once I was talking to the friend who had given the book 'Shibumi'; and I narrated to him how in Tantra a straw too could be used as a very powerful weapon. I even told him how a mustered-seed or any other seed preferably like a gram or lentil too could be used in a way so as to destroy even a big fort. Obviously, this was what was possible theoretically. I had my understanding of it, may be just a whim.
A bit strange but true, a year ago when I found out by chance a description that affirmed that my understanding was not just a fanciful capricious whimsical thought but may be a reality too.
I was going through वाल्मीकि-रामायण / Valmiki-Ramayana (अरण्यकाण्ड सर्ग 12, and बालकाण्ड सर्ग 77) where Rishi Agastya and Rishi Vishvamitra give to Shri Rama the celestial weapons and powers, namely the आयुध / weapons that work through 'mantra' and as a fact the weapons / devata / mantra themselves live permanently in the storehouse of Cosmic Knowledge (The mind of Brahma) they could be invoked anywhere by one who has propitiated them at any time. Collectively and also as a single object, they are called 'Brahmastra' .
Next I came to see the incidence when Jayanta (the son of Indra) came in the guise of a crow to the hermitage where Sri Rama Sita and Lakshamana lived and tried to picking at Sita's breasts, taking the same as some kind of fruits.
Shri Rama was at that time reclining, sleepin on the lap of Sita.
When Sita could bear no more the attacks of Jayanta, she trembled, Shri Rama woke up and saw Jayanta.
Shri Rama then took a straw, invoked the devata (mantra) and threw the straw upon Jayanta.
The straw pursued Jayant following him everywhere where he wanted to escape.
Ultimately Jayanta had to come to Shri Rama, asked him for the pardon but then Shri Rama said :
"Well now the arrow (straw) once released could not return without fulfilling its purpose. Tell me where it should target?"
Then Jayanta agreed that his left eye may be the target.
So the straw hit the left eye of Jayanta.
Since then (as the story tells) crow are single-eyed. Crow use the same one eye which is not blind.
There is a reference in Upanishad.
This is a parallel to the above story.
Lord Shri-Rama is the Lord Supreme (Ishvara) while Sita is 'nature' / 'Prakriti',
Both are the Father Divine and Mother Divine.
Indra is Man.
Jayanta is the 'son' of the Man.
Jayanta means one who wants to win over the nature.
Thus Jayanta is verily the attempts of Man towards spoiling and destroying the purity and sanctity of nature.
Again, Upanishad say, The Lord / Self in Man dwells in the right eye of Man.
This is exactly the same thing when Sri Ramana Maharshi says 'Self' / Lord Supreme abides in the Heart (in the right side of the human chest.
This is the analogy and the algorithm of the secret.
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Damien and Shibumi though begin with striking a chord about the Spiritual, are soon lost in the labyrinth of thought and imagination.
A good pass-time, may be; - but nowhere a match with the wisdom of the Upanishad and the वाल्मीकि-रामायण / Valmiki-Ramayana.
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Not going to edit further.                               

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