Why Close The Eyes?
Hari Om
~~~~~
Namaste
Isn't interesting that we discuss Brahman being everywhere, It's omnipresent. Everyone agrees, there is no place IT is not.
It, this Brahman is in every fibre of creation, its ubiquitous. Yet for us to come to know this Being we shut our eyes! How could this be?
It is everywhere, yet we ( many ) close our eyes to discover this Reality.
It is due to diversity. Our senses are 'tuned' to picking up 'the many' vs. seeing 'the One'. So to even-up-the-odds we reduce the many to just the activity that is happening within us.
Many of us sit still and practice some technique a upāya that stills the mind and allows it to settle down. Yet the final 'posture' or āsana¹ is bhairavi mudrā. This is a level of consciousness that becomes one with anuttara or Supreme. For the experiencer, one may call this turiya.
This is done through ones daily practice or sādhanā. What is interesting is this practice is the same cycle we find in nature , in creation, hence in Śiva.
What is this simple cycle? That of rest and activity. A simple cycle, yet it is the same cycle we see all around us. Night and day, expanding and contracting, creation and dissolution. It is just like ones meditation - that of nimīlana and unmīlana - closing the eyes (nimīlana) to go inward and experiencing silence ( pure silence is turiya), the ultimate rest; then opening the eyes (unmīlana) and coming into activity , into diversity of life.
Śiva is characterized the same - unmeṣa opening the eyes, blossoming, and all of creation is set forth ( this is Śakti). With nimeṣa His eye close and rest , perfect silence is brought again to creation. The cycle, this throb ( some call spanda) happens inside of Śivabhaṭṭāraka¹.
Yet for the sādhu this rest and activity goes on as part of life, part of ones sādhanā. For the sādhu the intent is quite clear - to be about to have ones eyes wide open in activity, yet still be in the final 'posture' or āsana of bhairavi mudrā.
This some call pratimīlana¹. That is, inward facing ( possessed of the SELF) yet engaged in the world of objects and diversity. The sādhu is never shaken from the diversity of life, as s/he is firmly established in anuttara or Supreme.
This is the posture many of us pursue. My teacher called it simply, restful alertness. Completely established & resting in the SELF, yet alert, calm, eyes open and ability to engage in life; yet unshaken by act, thought or deed. As Kṛṣṇa calls out in the Bhāgavad gītā, the same in pleasure or pain.
pranams
words used
- Śivabhaṭṭāraka or Śiva-bhaṭṭāra: bhaṭṭāra - the great lord , venerable or worshipful; bhaṭ भट्- nourish, maintain
- Bhairavī भैरवी is śrī devī; It is said Śiva is known through śakti
- pratimīlana or prati+ mīlana - prati प्रति back , again , in return + mīlana मीलन- the act of closing the eyes
- nimīlana निमीलन - closing, nishutting the eyes
- unmīlana उन्मीलन - the act of opening the eyes , raising the eyelids
- upāya उपाय- that by which one reaches one's aim , a means or expedient
- āsana आसन - sitting in peculiar posture or pose, yet āsana is halting , stopping, abiding
- anuttara अनुत्तर- chief , principal, Ultimate; Abhinavagupta's words on this anuttara is na vidyate uttaram adhilam yataḥ, or that which there is nothing more or additional
- mudrā मुद्रा- positions or intertwinings of the fingers yet is also seal or any instrument used for sealing or stamping ; impression
Last edited by yajvan; 24 July 2008 at 10:25 PM.
यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
because you are identical with śiva
_
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