Friday, 10 January 2020

The Little Monster Within.

A dialogue with a friend :
Last night, before falling asleep, I asked my conscience to get rid of the negative emotions that I feel in this period. When I fell asleep, I dreamed that in the closet of my house (that of the parents) there was  a big worm,then I brought the cat closer to the worm so that the cat could kill it.
The worm split in two, and the cat could only kill half of it.
From that moment, the worm has turned into a kind of small black demon, with a face, and he was tormenting me, he was angry and very spiteful, although it didn't do really dangerous things, but it was annoying. In the dream I realized that not even my Quartz crystal (to which in reality I give great meaning and power because it is a kind of “master”) was unable to stop it.
My interpretation is as follows:
The worm is also a sexual appeal, connected with emotions of anger and destructiveness.
In Dante Alighieri's "Divine comedy", Satan is called "the great worm", therefore that worm represents a dark part of me, a part without conscience (the worm was faceless and without eyes).
The moment my conscious part tries to destroy it through the cat (which represents my animal part, but allied with the conscious part),that "worm" becomes active and conscious: it has a face and moves with intentions, whereas before it was only a larva.
This worm-demon becomes stronger if attacked (evil is strengthened by evil) and not even the crystal (which represents a noble and spiritual part of me) can stop it.
What is your interpretation?
(And how can I free myself from this hideous little monster?)
--
Me :
Hello!
You have pointed out a big existential problem with the mankind as a whole.
[By the way, I often find insects and worms that keep me disturbing and only after waking up I know it was a dream.]
There is a most famous aphorism / dictum in The Manusmriti (मनुस्मृति) -- a Veda-text :
सत्यं ब्रूयात् प्रियं ब्रूयात् न ब्रूयात् सत्यमप्रियं।
प्रियं च नानृतं ब्रूयात् एष धर्म सनातनः।।
By the way, the same stanza is there in Dhammapada (Buddha -Text) while elucidating exactly :
"What is 'dharma' or 'Sanatana dharma'.
You must have known well about Patanjali (The Founder of Yoga-Philosophy)
He narrates the 8-fold path (limbs) of yoga.
This is also again somewhat similar to the way of Buddha.
The first is : यम / Yama, that could be rightly translated to :
"Ethics".
The यम / Yama,comprises of
अहिंसा सत्य अस्तेय ब्रह्मचर्य अपरिग्रह
 Of these :
अहिंसा is translated as non-violence but in fact it means lack of enmity with all and each being.
सत्य is again translated as Truth , but it means Reality immutable; and not only as is expressed in words spoken or written.
अस्तेय means not stealing or using a thing / object which belongs to some-one else without his permission, and especially when one has no authority over it.
ब्रह्मचर्य is translated as abstaining from sex / celibacy which means controlling the sex-urge; while the correct meaning is; - transcending the sex-impulse at the mental level because 'Brahman' is sex-less as well as neuter, male and female as well. Like a child Brahman is a natural celibate.
अपरिग्रह means not amassing wealth, collecting the things that you really don't need.
That means freedom from the greed.
The Second is : नियम / Niyama, that is equivalent to rules and regulations or 'Morality' / 'Mores'.
I wrote this lengthy introduction to suggest that अहिंसा is the very first step of the discipline of Yoga.
So when you have no enmity with anything living or not so alive, you can't 'kill'.
The next part नियम / Niyama, comprises of :
शौच संतोष तपः स्वाध्याय ईश्वर-प्रणिधान
शौच means purity of body, speech, mind, spirit and actions.
संतोष means contentedness; not longing after things of enjoyments, but be happy in whatever is needed for maintaining the body well and healthy.
तपः means austerity "come what may", -bearing the hardships because they make one more strong mature and clear the mind of its impurities and confusion.
स्वाध्याय means study of scriptures. or contemplation and pondering over 'the Self'.
Last is ईश्वर-प्रणिधान that means the realization that all existence is governed by a Supreme power that is not unintelligent like physical power, but essentially the Intelligence Supreme.
This could also mean the God / Lord Supreme, Who has many attributes (Gita Chapter 10). गीता अध्याय 10; - विभूति योग 
Summarily Veda and the Tradition of Sanatan dharma सनातन धर्म does not classify the World and the Lord into Good and bad. Instead it points out that All is One Unique Consciousness only.When one somehow is ripe enough one has no more struggle in life.
I wish to share this in my blog.
Hope you have no objection whatsoever.
Regards and Love !
Vinay.

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