the mythology behind 'churning' and what kabir says about it!

Life churns each one of us...do you realise that? Few would be spared that. When I look at everything around, can I forget even for a moment that every one suffers. So while one suffers in health, the other in finances, one in relationships, another in family affairs and yet another in the emptiness of his soul. We are all constantly churned by life. And funnily enough, each one of us believes that my suffering is the greatest and nothing can come close to it. Only the wise ones would be spared this ignorance. We all have our own axes to grind and most would do it with a scowl on their face. Yet, when you ask them how they are doing, the most oft heard sentence is,

"I am doing quite well!!!" or even the hyperbole, TOP OF THE WORLD!!!

Kabir says about this (which most who know a little about Kabir would know anyways)

chalti chakki dekh ke, diya kabira roye

do paatan ke beech mein, baaki bachaa na koye

I translate this in verse

watching the grindstone grind, kabir weeps in anguish

for in this world, nothing can bypass the process of being crushed.

my interpretation

Grindstone is a metaphor for two sides of life which are always together, inseparable and any who meets one Has To meet the other too- a symbol of the play of opposites in life: light and darkness, joy and sorrow, birth and death, failure and success, agony and ecstasy...you name it. The list can go on and on. So, when we see the face of one, the other is in-built! Isn't the sun accompanied by the darkness of the night, the head by the tail? But the ignorant one shall weep about this polarity. For, the mind only wants the easier option or the body only wants that situation where it is comfortable, happy and prospering! Purely my view.

Decoding the Myth of the Ocean Churning

http://www.messagefrommasters.com/Stories/Mythology/Churning_of_the_Ocean_in_Hindu_Mythology.htm

this is a link- please click and connect to see the beautiful interpretation this website gives

In Hindu mythology, we know the story of the churning of ocean, when the devas combat the asuras- the gods, the demons. Mythology is nothing but stories coded to show us our own hidden propensities. The godly qualities are within us, as well as the demonic. Each one of us will constantly be dangling between the two and there is an entire spectrum...from pure good to pure evil...When you become purely good, you become like god and the opposite makes you the devil.

In the story of the churning, the warring sides use the sheshnaag- the serpent as the rope with which they would go about the churning process. The serpent symbol is also another significant symbol here as the serpent is seen as a being who is strong enough to be pulled on opposite sides in this play of maya- the mind or the psyche. According to me, this serpent is the viveka- or the ability of discernment OR reason within each OR even the higher Self. In mythological traditions the serpent is seen as a symbol of healing (coiled serpent on logo-es of doctors and hospitals) wisdom and the fluidity of life.( today, 31st January 2011, I have understood the symbolism of the serpent a bit more deeply. but now I am not ready to revise this text about the reason why serpent appears so frequently in myths, dreams and stories)

Significantly enough, the myth of churning also gives the solution (which is why the myth is coded; so that it is not easily understood!) When such a one who is already established within himself, the one who is at peace with himself- a Shiva*, comes forth he can drink the poison the ocean churns out first of all- by transcending the dance of the opposites. Poison is the ugliness or the froth that comes out when the mind goes into the play of opposites- the doubts, the fears, the schisms, the hurt, the failures, the repressed memories, the abuses; not only for an individual but an entire species**...as they rise to the surface first. In this churning of the unconscious, the Shiva as one's own higher Self has to drink it first, so that the process of unearthing or enlightenment should go ahead to its logical culmination.

That is how it is in human life. To look at your own self is a most difficult task. Instead one preferes to chase this or that outside- a job, a partner, a prospect, a dream...anything to escape oneself. And every time you are inspired to look at yourself, the poison that rises to the surface scares the hell out of you!! You seek refuge in liquor, in the disco, in pubs and in parties, in shopping, in loud calling out to god in the temple or your home- to deafen yourself from all the noise the inner withdrawl will bring...for who can look at one's ugliness and accept that you can be ugly, weak or extinguishable too (Remember Oscar Wilde's The Story of Dorian Gray?) I hope that says it all about the churning.

Only the brave, the fearless, the one who is anchored within him/her-Self, the one who has bridged that duality and sees the Oneness in everything-the Shiva- shall taste the nectar which all desire- the elixir of immortality. For then, you realise you can never be born and never will you die, for though the body may perish, you are not just the body:) You will live on in trees and birds, in children and in insects and in smiles that you leave behind on the lips of another, in the hearts of all who you touch as your own Self.

Meanwhile, switching back to the mundane world and the foolishness that all is well. Masking the truth behind saying, I am well and wasn't better ever, to tell yourself and not the other that you are all broken up within and shattered really, Kabir says in one of his saakhis

कुसल कुसल ही पूछते, कुसल भाया न कोए
ज़रा मुई न जग मुआ, कुसल कहाँ से होए.

kusal kusal hi poochhte, jag mein raha na koye

jaraa mui na bhay mua, kusal kahaan se hoye

my poetic translation and interpretation

enquiring about the wellness of each, nobody remained well;

neither their delusion went, nor the multitude of fears-

(so how can they be well at all?! )

The commonest thing you ask on meeting another is, 'how are you?' or how do you do? In modern lingo, Howdee? And yet, nobody who is here in the world is going to last forever. So how can you be good all the time? For, all the time you are disintegrating and breaking down. It is another matter you cannot see this or admit it to yourself! Can a machine go out of use, if it is functioning perfectly well? Then who are you hoodwinking by saying you are perfectly well? Your delusion, that you are perfect remains, because you keep reminding yourself all the time that all is well, when nothing really is. Until you get over this duality and see the truth, overcome the fear of facing your Self. Everything is changing- but you wish to be permanent! So says me the 21st century Kabir!! :)

*Shiva- the legend of shiva- do read the last line of this piece to understand what i have to say http://www.holymtn.com/gods/shiva.htm

** This is the reason why we dislike, fear or hate what we do not comprehend and we wish to exterminate it, for it brings our fears out- whether it is the fear of another religion, region, language, caste, gender (gays etc) nationality or a racial stock of people.