Life Codecs Ruminations. Reflections. Refractions. Code.

October 23, 2010

Garudas, Phoeni[xes|ces], Eagles

Filed under: arts,general,philosophy — Tags: , , , — Kamal Advani @ 18:43

Disclaimer: Some of these views are my own, they may not be accurate, they may be downright wrong in fact – they are opinions. Please research accordingly. This article is not meant to be a historical thesis of any sort, just observations and personal inferences.

With the disclaimer out of the way, I can go crazy with fiction or non-fiction as I please, whee.

I got into a discussion about ancient history today with a senior teacher of mine. It reminded me of how much I used to like stories, myths, legends, and associated symbolism. Anyway one link led to another, and I began reading about Prambanan[1][2] – a temple in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia built around the 9th or 10th century. One of the depicted major gods in Prambanan is Vishnu, one of the 3 major Hindu Gods[3], whose consort/vehicle is the Garuda[4.1][5] – a mythical powerful bird.

In Indonesia, the Garuda is used as a national symbol, a symbol for the Pancasila[6] – the 5 unifying cross-cultural, cross-religious, tenets of Indonesia.

A part of article [2] and article [5] tell of Garuda as being the son of a mighty sage Kasyapa and his wife Vinata. Paraphrasing [5], in short, Garuda had a brother, Aruna, who was born misshapen. Aruna was forced out of an egg (like a real egg, think chickens, not wombs) by Vinata’s (his mother) impatience and overexcitement.

Aruna was angry that he suffered this and cursed his mother. The details of this curse are unclear – [5] says that the mother became a slave to Naga, I’ll let you read up on it. Essentially, the fix to this situation was for Garuda to steal some heavenly ambrosia – a non-trivial feat (we’ll need to trust the myths on this) – guarded by various beings. Garuda was able to do this and save his mother. This virtuous quality of being able to save one from a disaster underlies (among several other things I suspect) the choice of using Garuda as a national symbol.

Article [4.2] depicts various uses of Garuda as symbols in an organisational or governmental setting. Article [5] gives an overview of the use of Garuda in Thailand.

The Greeks (and Romans) revered the Phoenix[7.1] “as a symbol of rebirth, immortality, and renewal”[7.1]. USA uses the Bald Eagle[8.1] as their national symbol. According to [8.1], “The founders of the United States were fond of comparing their new republic with the Roman Republic, in which eagle imagery was prominent”. I suspect that the eagle in turn was inspired by the phoenix in those circles. A phoenix is also most closely associated as being the European mythological counterpart to the Eastern Garuda[7.2].

Furthermore, [8.2] speaks of the role of eagles in Native American culture, an ancient culture with their own series of mythology and belief systems. It is highly likely this also factored into the decision to use the Bald Eagle as a US national symbol.

It’s fascinating (to me anyway) that so many places come to similar symbolism, in spite of the vast diversity, and physical proximities between the lands.

Something to munch on on a Saturday. Speaking of munching, I am starved. Exeunt.


References
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prambanan
[2] http://my.opera.com/akbar_taksisman/blog/2009/03/30/candi-prambanan (in Bahasa Indonesia unfortunately)
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimurti – Vishnu the Preserver, Shiva the Destroyer, Brahma the Creator. Hinduism is considered to be a polytheistic religion, however, I believe this to be a superficial classification. In fact, many of the older Yoga-based philosophies are very monotheistic. The various divinities and deities being almost individual aspects of the One. In that, it is both monotheistic and polytheistic – the many from the One, and eventually back to the One. It is my personal view, that many of the “modern” groups have, perhaps accidentally, muddled the core essence.
[4.1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda
[4.2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda#As_a_cultural_and_national_symbol
[5] http://tudtu.tripod.com/garuda.htm – use of Garuda in Thailand.
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pancasila_(politics)
[7.1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)
[7.2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(mythology)#Specific_legends
[8.1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Eagle#The_national_bird_of_the_United_States
[8.2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald_Eagle#Role_in_Native_American_culture

December 22, 2008

Ordinary Miracles

Filed under: philosophy — Tags: , , , , , , — Kamal Advani @ 18:04

As a kid, and even now, I have often wondered how cool it would be to have various abilities (think the TV series Heroes) – to be able to fly, to move things with your mind, to possess telepathy, run like the flash, and so on. Having a martial arts background, I have constantly been fascinated at some of the amazing feats people have performed demonstrating speed, strength, and dedication. Mas Oyama, founder of Kyokushinkai Karate, was able to knock a bull dead with one punch if I recall correctly. A chief instructor in my organisation was able to thrust his fingers through the skull of a goat.

As time progresses, however, and life experiences accumulate, one begins to see the true value of different abilities. My grandmaster has often said if you had the power to knock someone dead with one blow, and that person died.. well so what? Big deal. Are you proud that you caused a death? Admittedly, many years back I thought such an ability was cool… of course I did not think very far on what it meant – a life taken, the guilt weighing on one’s conscience, etc. I am not downplaying the dedication needed to get that ability – all I am saying is that while within itself, it is amazing, in the long run, it does not matter. To further illustrate, there’s a story of Gautama Buddha meeting an ascetic who proudly proclaimed that after 6 or 7 years of asceticism he was able to walk on water and cross the river. The Buddha said that he wasted 6 to 7 years of his life when he could have paid the boatman a tiny amount to get him across whenever he fancied it. That 6 or 7 years had he strived for enlightenment, the ultimate goal, instead, he would’ve gained something far more valuable.

So, what is a truly valuable ability? The Javanese ask for something from the Divine, they often term it “Ilmu Slamet”, ilmu means knowledge, but also an ability, and slamet means safety. Safety here is all-encompassing: safety in all activities in life, to be spared dangerous situations, to be granted the wisdom to make the right choices, etc. In other words, they ask for a prosperous, blessed life. Another Indonesian term I love is “mulia”, which is also harder to define, it means various things such as glory, stateliness, divine, noble, etc. “Hidup yang mulia” – a divine/glorious/noble life (hidup == alive/life). Truly, that is an ability, a knowledge worth having, the wisdom and the capacity to ride life’s sometimes tumultous waves, to escape problems unscathed, or at least, to heal as soon as possible, to make wise decisions, to have a pure heart and mind, to be compassionate. Given all that, what need do we have for super powers… when ordinary miracles happen everyday once one follows principles that lead to such a life. Heck, the term ‘ordinary miracle’ sounds like an oxymoron once you consider it, for there’s nothing ordinary – natural perhaps – but certainly not ordinary.

Anyhow, I am far from perfect, nor do I think it is easy to achieve a noble life, but it is something that I have begun to understand, something I thought was worth sharing. I still think various powers are uber-cool however. I suspect also however, that certain cool powers will be a byproduct of a nobler life, much like how many saints and sages had various abilities that came post-enlightenment.

– Kamal

December 6, 2008

A Prayer

Filed under: personal,philosophy — Tags: , , , — Kamal Advani @ 00:38

There was this chain letter sent a few minutes ago to a mailing list I subscribe to (and after googling around, it seems to be an old one, no more originality on this Net of ours!), it contained a nice prayer apparently by St. Therese of Lisieux. As with most chain letters it asks you to make a wish and send it to N people (where N is 11 in this case, a number I find significant) in the next M minutes (where M is 5 here).

Normally I’d ignore this, however, I tend to tune in to signs around, for good or for bad. I had never heard of this Saint until I read the Witch of Portobello (as mentioned in yesterday’s post), and the prayer provides solace for my state (and I assume many others’ state). Since I am not a fan of forwarding stuff, I thought I’ll just reproduce the prayer here. So make a wish and read on:

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

I have not confirmed if the prayer is actually by St. Therese, so caveat emptor, but with that, another thing of interest: Today I was watching some videos on youtube of J. Krishnamurti where one essential thing he said was that the message is far more significant than the messenger. I believe in this fully, I have heard words of wisdom from people I would never have considered “spiritual” – it shows truly that the Creative Intelligence pervades everything and everyone, unconditionally.

My personal view is that the prayer, like many, was universal enough – I am neither Christian nor Catholic but still relate to it.

– Kamal

Errata:
Changed title from “A Prayer by St. Therese” to “A Prayer”, see Maureen’s (first) comment.

December 4, 2008

Unconditional-ism

Filed under: personal,philosophy — Tags: , , — Kamal Advani @ 23:41

I get these occasional epiphanies. Here’s one for today, that the world is relative, our laws, our customs, almost everything – is reflected even in the economy, our purchases and sales[1]. It is said in many teachings that the way of the world is relative, the way of the Divine is absolute, heck, ‘The Absolute’ is yet another way of describing the Divine. Of all the Divine’s qualities, perhaps the one that brings us closest to It[2], is the notion of unconditional love. I have to say, this is often the hardest to practice – unless I suppose when you’re a parent, then your love towards your children is generally unconditional, or the love in some rare friendships, or in some teacher-student relationships. The outward form does not matter.

Perhaps therein lies the need for most people to have a family, to experience such a relationship. Try that with an ordinary relationship[3] say between a male and a female – once things end, everything usually goes wrong, there’s nothing to preserve, even if you offer some form of friendship, it just doesn’t work out, for the terms and conditions change, the outward nature of things are no longer the same. It hurts when nothing you give is acceptable anymore – interestingly it leads me to another epiphany, that we truly receive in giving. So perhaps I am starting to understand this whole unconditional love business, it hurts a little still, but it hurts less than before, perhaps one day only the joy and love will be left.

In case you’re wondering how today’s epiphany came about, I was reading Paulo Coelho’s[4] The Witch of Portobello: A Novel. A very interesting read – it exemplifies that society still has some time to go before it can accept differences, that to many power and maintenance of the status quo is preferable to a disruptive change for the better; this is however changing I believe. But perhaps because what I am going through, the most striking thing about the book was its definition of love: “love simply is.” – no terms or conditions. I can understand today why there are people who leave the world to serve the world, for there’s an inherent conflict in the life of the world dweller – conditional vs. unconditional. A saint I read about said he did not have a family of his own, because he wished to belong to everyone. This is not to say I disagree with the idea of a family and children, etc. – I think in some ways it is a harder path, albeit a more suitable one for today – for in the noise you have to find the stillness.

On the topic of worldly activities, I read somewhere[5] as well that the heart of a good CEO can be very saintlike – he looks after his clan, his company, perhaps it is not the world he serves, but it is more significant than looking after one’s immediate family. The uber-kewl founder of my Karate organisation has said several times that in his prayers, he first asks for prosperity of the organisation and their members, then he requests the same for his family – significant order methinks.

Enough pondering for the day… finished a book, wonder what to pick up next. Breaks are fun once you see that inactivity is activity – interestingly, the last epiphany – the The Witch of Portobello: A Novel speaks of this, that the blank spaces like the pauses within a musical composition are just as significant as the musical notes. Reminds me of an ancient Hindu teaching, between the 2 OMs (sound of the Universe[6]), lies enlightenment. (/me looks at you mystically, almost contented).

References:
[1] Terms and Conditions Apply
[2] I could use Him/Her but that duality of the sexes really doesn’t apply to the Divine I think, for the Divine has qualities of both and beyond, and our personal sides may choose to use Him/Her depending on the kind of assurance and strength we’re looking for – when we look for strength we use Father, and when we want love and caring and accomodation, we use Mother. All aspects of the One. I know I use both when praying.
[3] Speaking superficially here, I know there’s nothing ordinary about it.
[4] Of “The Alchemist” fame, another classic, definitely a must-read.
[5] Truly I do not remember where, thankfully this is not an academic publication, so do forgive my tardiness.
[6] One Ubuntu repository is called the multiverse – I wonder, perhaps it is a better term to start using, since there are parallel worlds and universes manifested from the Divine. Perhaps the rationale behind the use of Universe as an all-encompassing term was to simplify the idea of all is one and one is all… perhaps I shall be quiet.

November 29, 2008

Malaysian Council Attempted Ban on Yoga

Filed under: gripe,politics — Tags: , , , — Kamal Advani @ 03:52

People may have heard about this, it caused a fair bit of controversy within Malaysia, and Indonesia (because the Indonesian Ulema Council decided to consider the notion too… speak about aping). Anyway, all looks well, reason has been victorious, and the ban has been lifted since there was no unanimous agreement. I actually first became interested in the matter reading this article in the Jakarta Post, an English-language Indonesian newspaper. Since the topic of spirituality is dear to my heart, I wrote a letter to the editor which unfortunately did not get published (though I can see why… but I rock regardless ;-) ). I thought I’d share the letter on my blog – ah the joys and power of self-publishing – sit back and enjoy the ride.. er read.

Dear Editor(s),

This is to comment on: November 23, p. 2, News Highlights: Malaysian Council bans yoga

Malaysian Council Ban on Yoga?

I read that article, and fell to my knees (metaphorically), thanking the Divine/Ishwar/Allah, that I live in Indonesia, where until great poverty struck, we had a very sensible, very moderate form of Islam (we still do for the most part). A place where people are united by intrinsic values such as respect and tolerance. The article reminded of the silly porn bill passed recently – amid the various things we have to deal with – what’s on our mind? Sex. Truly it is a strong primordial drive – mad as Freud was, he got stuff right – for or against, we can’t ignore it. But I digress. On this ban, a couple of points:

1. Hindu prayers: Actually they’re mostly mantras which have subtle effects on the body and psyche, much in the same way recitation of verses from the Quran do. By the way, the prayers develop love for God and the Divine’s various aspects, they’re not packages sent to the Great Jinn of Mount KinabaluTM. The prayers – like prayers from all religions – promote compassion, not division and hatred.

2. Blasphemous God Union: Gosh, that’s a mouthful. I am no expert on Islam, but I have spent time reading esoteric material, including Islamic texts (perhaps they were blasphemous?), at their very core religions do not disagree. Humans and their often half-baked (read: shallow) interpretations do. Discovery and realisation of the Self as being part of the Whole (== Yoga) is a theme and a goal common to all major religions. The relationship between a human – an emanation of the Divine – and the Divine, is a very personal one. So long as that emanation has not caused harm to others, what right does a council of just-as-fallible humans have to call that relationship blasphemous?

A plea perhaps to the hearts of those in the council who see the absurdity of this ban to lift it. In the long term it will do more harm than good for Malaysia as a member of a diverse World. Malaysia – Truly Asia. Last I checked India and it’s culture was very much a part of Asia. As was the notion of unity in diversity.

– Kamal

PS. Checked again, yep, still there folks.
PPS. Dear Editor(s), besides grammatical errors, or redundant sentences, if you intend to cut parts out, please either discuss it with me, or don’t bother printing it. I will understand – thanks to my oh-so-great degree of tolerance, even if our religions may differ :-) .
PPPS. “==” is a bit of a computer programming thing, let it be an obscure joke.

When I wrote that, I did not realise that the ban was only applicable to Muslims, so perhaps I kind of understand the problem with Hindu prayers – anyway, still pretty silly overall.

– Kamal

September 30, 2008

Vegetarianism

Filed under: personal,philosophy — Tags: , , , , — Kamal Advani @ 02:06

Way back (okay I ain’t that old) when I was a teenager, I became vegetarian for about 3 months, influenced by a friend who was involved in a spiritual movement that considered the practice crucial. I stopped mostly due to family pressure, and being too young to understand why I did that apart from influence or have any access to material supporting or disagreeing with the practice, I simply succumbed. I regretted it a little, but eventually it was no big deal. Ever since then however, I have read many spiritual references, and come across many movements that promote the practice. And in my mind a struggle began, constantly attempting to justify why I did not think vegetarianism was important for spiritual progress.

Yet, something still nudged me to at some point seriously consider it, I am not sure what it was, whether it was some form of subconscious guilt, an inner guidance, God knows. With the recent events, as my stomach finds it hard to eat anything, I have been eating mostly light green food, except today where I had a veggie pizza at my friend’s. And something has changed in me, it is as if my mind in its state of sadness (or clarity? Bah, the monkey that is the mind!) has explicitly rejected meat-eating, I am not quite able to explain it, nor will I try, but I have decided to be vegetarian once more. I pray that I am able to keep this practice consistently henceforth, I feel it is right for me.

On a more general note, I am not fanatical about it (in the sense that I do not care if others do eat meat, not that I will only adhere to it when I can – the latter would defeat the purpose :) !), never have been, and if those of you who know me find me acting fanatical or preaching – hit me with a rubber duck or something (you know, since I don’t eat meat and all, a peking roast duck would probably be too cruel for me :P ).

I have had conversations about vegetarianism with several people, and I have to say I find certain explanations from Caucasians to be the best. In general, vegetarian Indians and Asians tend to have been brought up in strictly vegetarian families, they tend to have a more hardline view on the matter. But people who practice of their own accord, they have a unique, often very personal view of things. An old Caucasian friend of mine, one of the gentlest souls I know (though I have not met him in ages), told me when the time is right, it will happen. An old lady, another gentle soul (whee, I know gentle souls!), who was very active in the Quakers movement said the same. A dear friend I hold in high-esteem, became vegetarian because she took care of different pets including chickens, and the thought of them being killed proved too much. At the time I did not believe I’d have actually voluntarily given up meat eating, and in a way they were right, and I am right – it is voluntary, and yet it is not, it just feels right, like for me personally, there’s no other way to go.

So, on the question of vegetarianism for spiritual progress – is it important? The answer is of course “it depends”, we live in the realm of relatives, nothing is absolute (and yet, there are absolutes that we often must hold on to so we don’t get shoved around… damn all this balancing!). At the end of the day, one has to do what one feels is right. I believe it is right for me, but I certainly do not feel it is absolutely the way to go for everyone. I do believe strongly in one thing though, humane killing (oxymoronic as that sounds) of the animals is vital. If they are to be used to sustain more life, at least they should be treated well while they live, and killed in a respectful way, involving little or no pain. In that sense, I believe the Muslim “Halal” concept to be a great way to go.

Oh well, time to attempt to sleep. Good night, blogosphere.

– Kamal

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