Pathless pain11/25/2023 Even the Old Testament records an incident where David, the King of Israel, reverted to an older Pagan custom and danced naked before the shrine of the Lord in the temple. A vast number of religions have had forms of religious nudity. There may have been important factors well known in the past but lost to us today. While we are forced to accept that nudity was a regular part of sadhu practices, the true and fuller meanings might not be so obvious. Before the soul could be free, the mind must be made free before the mind could be free, the body must be made free. Physical patterns were considered vital and essential to help overcome the past conditioning of the mind. Academic and theoretic knowledge was helpful towards realization, but alone it could not reach the goal. Brahmavidya had no meaning if theory was not put into practice. The manner and way of life of these ancients was something beyond words and explanations yet sufficient in itself. Civilization and cities had already by this time appeared, but men knew that only artificial men could live and be produced in them. This was the world of Shiva-Shakti where the way of life of Nature was the highest ideal. The Sanskrit idiom used to describe this condition was digambara, having a literal meaning of “clothed in the sky” or “sky as garment,” but also an idiomatic meaning that the sadhu was one with his environment. This was a great spiritual era when all world renouncers were mostly naked or near naked. Typical of most dropouts of the ancient Pagan world, he lived completely naked. The Upanishads describe Dattatreya with glowing praise and enumerate his great qualities. The latter is a wonderful, complete compilation of the highest thought given to and recorded by two disciples, Swami and Kartika. The other important works are two Gitas-the Jivanmukta Gita and the Avadhut Gita. The last section, Charya Khanda or section on conduct, has been lost and some believe destroyed. They are found in several ancient Upanishads, a Tantric text known as Haritayana Samhita, a work of three sections. Another is the scripture or wisdom texts which record their teachings. If chance had not given him several disciples of an unusually higher level of understanding, there may not have been any other medium through which we could know him. The least obvious and most important was the way in which he lived. The gems which can be described as the higher teachings of Dattatreya (often used in a shorter form as Datta) come to us in many ways. Parashurama is a great story on its own and will be dealt with later. In time Parashurama developed to understand the higher teachings, where his opportunity for understanding might have been lost in confusion if it had not been done gradually. In accord with the guru’s correct assessment of his stage, he was first initiated into the rituals for the worship of the Mother Goddess (Shakti) in her form as Tripura (destroyer of the three cities or gunas). We have an example of this in the case of Parashurama, a Brahman who became a disciple of Dattatreya. The teachings of Dattatreya during his lifetime were most probably adjusted to meet the needs and understanding of the disciples. Hindus regard Shiva and Vishnu as the same or as manifestations of the Absolute taking form. Not such a sectarian claim as it appears. Dattatreya himself was regarded as an avatar of Maheshvara (Shiva) but later was claimed by Vaishnavas as the avatar of Vishnu. Three of his close disciples were kings, one an asuraand the other two both belonging to the warrior caste. It was men like Dattatreya who helped to make this possible. Shri Dattatreya was a dropout of an earlier age than the period when Vedic and Tantra merged to become one simple cult. These teachings preceded them all and later became embraced in Brahmavidya. In the basic essence which runs through the three patterns of thought which I have classified as the diamond dharmas, we find their earliest expression in the guru teachings of Dattatreya. More lamentable still is the fact that, although still worshiped by millions of Hindus, he is thought of more as a benevolent God rather than a teacher of the highest essence of Indian thought. The name Shri Bhagavan Dattatreya is still practically unknown outside of India. ~ Shri Gurudev Mahendranath The Wisdom of Bhagavan Dattatreya
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |