Indian alchemy, Wisdom Ancient
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//-->Indian alchemy••••••••Alchemy and the Tamil Siddhars - Joseph CaezzaShaking the Tree: Kundalini Yoga, Spiritual Alchemy, & the Mysteries of the Breath in Bhogar's 7000 -Layne LittleAn Introduction to the Tamil Siddhas: Their Tantric Roots, Alchemy, Poetry, and the True Nature of theirHeresy - Layne LittleReflections on the Poetry of Ramalingar - Layne LittleAvaiyar's Vinayagar Agaval - Layne LittleNotes On Tantric Alchemy and the Purification of Mercury - Steven A. FeiteLate mediaeval Indian alchemical apparatus.Indian alchemical apparatus.AN INTERVIEW WITH A BOHEMIAN HERMETICISTby Joseph CaezzaLubos Antonin studied philosophy at Prague's prestigious Charles University and worked as a dissident in the Czechcultural underground during the'70's and 80's. He served for 5 years as vice president of the prominent CzechHermetic organization, UNIVERSALIA. This organization co-sponsored the Rosicrucian Enlightenment conferencein Southern Bohemia's Cesky Krumlov in 1995. (See THE STONE No. 14) He more recently played a major role inthe conference on "PRAGUE, ALCHEMY and the HERMETIC TRADITION" during 1997. A stellar cast ofscholars including Stanislas Klossowski de Rola, Adam McLean, Joscelyn Godwin, Cherry Gilchrist, ChrisMcIntosh, Chris Bamford, Rafal Prinke, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke and a host of Czech Hermeticists indulged infour days of discourse and dialogue. Following this event Lubos co-led an excursion to some of the more obscureregions of Bohemia to trace the footsteps of John Dee and Edward Kelley. Lubos played a key role in organizing the"OPUS MAGNUM" exhibit which accompanied this conference. This exhibit, located in the gothic "House of theStone Bell" in OLD TOWN SQUARE provided a multimedia alchemical initiation experience wherein participantsproceeded from the basement through four floors using a spiral staircase to encounter phases of the GREAT WORK.The exhibit displayed obscure historic books and artifacts. It was monumentalized in a large format quality bilingualvolume entitled:OPUS MAGNUM: The Book of Sacred Geometry, Alchemy, Magic, Astrology, The Kabbala andSecret Societies of Bohemia.Lubos contributed an outstanding article to this book on the subject of natural magic.Presently he works in Prague's National Museum as custodian of 300 castle libraries.This past summer Lubos gave me a personal tour of the National Museum's renowned mineral collection. He thenescorted me to Vysehrad, Prague's hilltop sanctuary for a moment of profound contemplative silence.Jan Vanis's contemporary book,A GUIDE TO MYSTERIOUS PRAGUE,describes Vysehrad as the ancient fortressof Prague's patroness, Libuse, the pagan prophetess princess. Jan Vanis cites contemporary folklore which tells howLibuse sleeps with her army of knights in catacombs beneath Vysehrad. Fables assert that in times of trouble theywill awaken to aid the Czech nation. This belief is only a modern metamorphosis of older Bohemian legendsconnected to St. Wenceslas, Mt. Blanik and Melnik. One meets here the myth of the hallowed hollow hill inhabitedby helpful higher beings. Other examples may be found at Mt. Girnar or Mt. Arunachala in India, the GlastonburyTor in England or Mt. Shasta in Northern California. These helpful higher beings serve as "watchers" standing guardover a collective consciousness. They fulfill the duty of an "egregore", a term derived from the Greek word for"watcher".This term usually refers to the autonomous psychic residue of a group mind. Such an egregore bespeaks ayet to be heard wisdom. It shines a yet to be seen illumination dormant in stone. Recovery of this wisdom and lightremains the labor of the alchemist...and men such as Lubos Antonin.****J.C.Lubos, how do you integrate your professional work with active practice of Hermetic Wisdom?L.A.I began my academic training in Philosophy late in life at the age of 27. While engaged in the study ofphilosophy from Heidegger to Post-Modernism I discovered Alchemy and Mysticism. I realized something wasmissing from our understanding of Renaissance philosophy. Bruno for example could not be understood as only aphilosopher but as a practicing Hermeticist. My interests followed his interests in Marsiglio Ficino. So I beganrelated studies of the Enlightenment. I discovered that scholars of the Enlightenment not just scholars of theRenaissance studied alchemy. I did not expect this! I prepared an exhibit for the National Museum in 1994documenting this. It was called "The Kingdom of Alchemy". Thus I integrate my job and personal work. My longterm professional work involves compiling an alchemical bibliography of Czech Hermetic Literature from 300castle libraries. I hope to show with concrete examples the history of Czech alchemy. The people here involved withnatural science were very interested in alchemy. Industrial science, for example processing coal and steel, is veryimportant in this country. There is an awesome relationship of alchemy to industrial science and anti-dogmatic post-modernist philosophy.J.C.What kind of activities preoccupy Czech Hermetic Philosophers? What is the role of organizations likeUNIVERSALIA?L.A.For me now it is simply a matter of collecting and studying alchemical texts. Thanks to this I have seen whatCzech alchemists actually do. I assist them in locating and interpreting classical texts. In the 20thcentury there is along tradition of practical alchemy here. It emerged as a belief system derived from Templar, Masonic andRosicrucian traditions in which actual practice is unconditionally necessary. Although it has presently ceased toexist, the pre-world war organization, UNIVERSALIA, was revived in 1990. Its former president, VladislavZadrobilek, with his publishing company, Trigon, functioned to republish many classic alchemical texts. They madepossible the recent OPUS MAGNUM exhibit and the catalogue that so well documents Czech alchemical history.J.C.Could you please tell us briefly the great alchemical myth of the founding of Prague by the pagan princessprophetess, Libuse and her ploughman husband, Premysl?L.A.This is very significant. Libuse is the Czech version of the Delphic Sibyl. She was a virgin ruler of the peoplehere perhaps more than twelve hundred years ago. They were not satisfied with a woman ruler and demanded a king.From her fortress presumed now to be at Vysehrad she went into a trance. She ordered her soldiers to follow herwhite horse through the forest to the future king. The horse led the soldiers to the ploughman, Premysl. Theypresented him with fine clothes and an invitation to become king. He set free his oxen who disappeared into theearth or according to other versions ascended into the sky. Then he placed his ploughman's staff into the ground andit immediately took root, blossomed and flowered. According to some versions at the time he was approached hewas using his iron plough blade as a table for his lunch. All of these items have Hermetic import. He went on tobecome a great ruler. The country blossomed and flowered.I personally went to the place where this happened. During a rain storm I used my screw driver to dig up somesacred mud. As I dug, my screw driver became mysteriously deformed. I got some mud and made a cup which forme embodies the sacredness of the Holy Grail.It is believed that Libuse still sleeps under the hilltop fortress of Vysehrad and will awaken when Bohemia is ingreatest danger. During the Velvet Revolution, on the 17thof November, 1989, thousands of students spontaneouslyassembled at Prague's south end, upon Vysehrad's temenos, the sacred precinct of Libuse. They lit candles and heldan all night vigil as if to invoke her help. Then followed the miraculous bloodless revolution. The communists quit.The Russians went home. Democracy was restored.J.C.Is this myth alive for the Czech youth today?L.A.Consciously no it is not. But unconsciously this myth is a vital part of contemporary Czech culture. Its originsmight only have emerged from the romanticism of the 19thcentury Czech National Revival. There are older versionsof this myth. According to some the knights of St.Wenceslas sleep inside the sacred hollow mountain of Blanik orbeneath the castle fortress of Melnik waiting to come to the aid of Bohemia in its hour of greatest need. Otherversions have nothing to do with St.Wenceslas. This collective memory although not clear is yet alive and sleeps inthe Czech landscape. The recent Czech Olympic Hockey victory is an aspect of this egregore of Wenceslas and hisknights coming to the aid of Bohemia. For a moment his sleeping soldiers awoke to become the victorious Hockeyplayers.J.C.Is Vysehrad a sacred location even in spite of its doubtful historic authenticity as Libuse's fortress?L.A.Yes it is. I believe the actual site of her central fortress was Sarka, where we visited earlier today, just west ofPrague. It is close to White Mountain and the Star Palace. Although barren the land here still resonates with a potentmystic charge.J.C.Bohemians are often pictured as people who glory in cheap beer, free love and bad poetry. What does it meanto be a Bohemian Hermeticist?L.A.There is a popular misconception of Bohemians as Gypsies. One frequently meets the image of the gypsyfortune tellers or occult magicians. Their life style is strange and very different from Czech Hermetic vision. Theroots of Czech Bohemian Hermeticism emerge from Jan Hus and Komenski. It finds expression as Rosicrucianphilosophy and general esoteric tradition for example the work of Jacob Boehme.J.C.What is the significance of the Black Virgin of Prague and what is her role in Hermetic practice?L.A.She may possibly be linked to the mining tradition and its guilds as its patron. She represents an intriguingsubculture with specific values expressed in the mythic language of minerals and metals. Just as the cathedralsrepresent textbooks of alchemy written in stone there has been speculation that the city of Prague is a book ofalchemy written in the streets and houses. The royal coronation procession path, the Royal Road, might refer to aprocess. Some see the Black Virgin as playing a role in this. But she is a relatively recent phenomenon compared toLibuse.J.C.Do young Czechs still appreciate the religious heritage of the Roman Catholic Church?L.A.This is possibly the most atheistic nation in the world. It is an issue of social conformity. Atheism is the mostpopular fashion. The few that still attend mass often do so without full understanding. No, young people here do notsee the Catholic tradition for what it is, the most perfect system in the world. The Roman Catholic Mass is a magicritualpar excellence.It can not be improved. Outside the esotericism of the Catholic Church there is nothing greater.Yet people feel a need to develop themselves as individuals. Thus they turn to spiritualist, occult and hermeticpractices. We have some Protestants here but their path is just faith, service and psychic hygiene. The ritual of theCatholic Mass captures the magical experience like no other tradition. "The Unspoken Word" is expressed in itshighest purest essence in the Catholic Church, The alchemical ideal is expressed in the sacrament oftransubstantiation. The mystery of the Trinity is expressed most wonderfully in Catholic Theology. I laugh when Isee people involved with ceremonial magic because they can never compare to the greatness of the Catholic Mass.What more could you want? What more is there?J.C.Are you familiar with the growing movement in the Catholic Church to revive the Latin Mass?L.A.Yes. Latin is a sacred language, as is Hebrew or Sanskrit. The mass has its fullest magic power in Latin. Whenthe Mass is celebrated in a national language it is only a lecture not a magic ritual.J.C.The National Museum displays a fabulous collection of artifacts from mineral, vegetable and animal evolution.It constitutes a superb place for meditation. Is alchemy correctly understood as accelerated metallic evolution or is itthe science of Genesis or is it natural magic?L.A.The National Museum was established by Masons. It is a synthesis of society and Nature. This was intentional.Alchemy emerges from the study of Nature. We easily see this at the National Museum. Yes, alchemy is mineralevolution. It is also the great science of Genesis. It is also natural science and natural magic. On the second floorfront lobby of the National Museum in the floor tiles there is a yantra-like mandala. This diagram is outstanding formeditation. During his wake the coffin of Tomas G Masaryk, the first president of this country after WWI and thefirst true democrat here, was placed overnight upon this mandala. An upcoming Internet site on the NationalMuseum will feature this mandala as its logo.J.C.Do you have any favorite alchemical authors? Are the books ends in themselves to the process of expandingconsciousness?L.A.Athanasius Kircher had a powerful imagination derived from Ignatius Loyola's Jesuit contemplative exercises.This was actual visualization practice. He was wrong about many things but his emphasis on the power of theimagination is invaluable. Johann Glauber and Johann Becher are authors which have long fascinated me but theirworks unfortunately are not illustrated. F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Faulkner were alchemists likeGlauber and Becher. Hemingway spent his life searching for the Stone. But I believe it is not sufficient to just readthe books.J.C.What are your plans for future work?L.A.Michal Pober and I are working on an upcoming tour: "Magical Journeys in Bohemia": "THE GOLDENSALAMANDER" to be led by Stanislas Klossowsi de Rola. More information is available on Michal Pober's website:http:www.terminal.cz/~michal/bohemia/index2.htmlJ.C.Lubos, I'd like to thank you not only for making time for me here today but also for your life's work of keepingthe dream alive. Thank you Lubos Antonin.This interview was conducted on April 18th, 1998 at ROMAN SKAMEN's PUB, a stone's throw from the NationalMuseum in Prague and later at the TERMINAL BAR, Prague's premiere Internet café. Special Acknowledgment toMichal Pober for arranging this interview and providing editorial assistance and to William Hollister for acting asinterpreter-translator. Lubos Antonin can be reached at Narodniho Muzea, Vaclavske Nam 68, 11579 Praha 1,Czech Republic. Telephone 011 420 2 24497308SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHYDemetz,Peter;PRAGUE IN BLACK AND GOLD,Allen Lane (1997)Dolezal, Ivan;PRAGUE: THE GOLDEN BOOK,Pragensia (1997)Dudak, Vladislav;PRAGUE PILGRIM,Baset (1995)Jirasek,Alois;OLD CZECH LEGENDS,Forest Books (oop)Petiska, Eduard;A TREASURY OF TALES FROM THE KINGDOM OF BOHEMIA,Martin (1996)Ripellino, Angelo,MAGIC PRAGUE,PicadorSpurek, Milan;PRAGA MYSTERIOSA,Eminent (1996) trilingual (Czech-English-German) -Spurek was acontributor to the book,OPUS MAGNUMStejskal, Martin;THE SECRETS OF MAGIC PRAGUE,Dauphin (1997) -translated by William Hollister, publishedto coincide with the exhibition"OPUS MAGNUM"(William Hollister, who served as interpreter-translator duringthis interview is an American Hermetic playwright living in Prague) Stejskal also contributed a piece on the StarPalace to theOPUS MAGNUMcatalogue.Tothova,E;PRAGUE: THE ROYAL MILE,Exprint (1997)Vanis, Jan;A GUIDE TO MYSTERIOUS PRAGUE,Martin (1995)Zadrobilek,Vladislav (editor);OPUS MAGNUM: THE BOOK OF SACRED GEOMETRY, ALCHEMY, MAGIC,ASTROLOGY, KABBALA AND SECRET SOCIETIES OF BOHEMIA, Trigon (1997) bilingual (Czech-English) (tobe reviewed in a future issue of theSTONE).SHAKINGTHETREE:Kundalini Yoga, Spiritual Alchemy,& the Mysteries of the Breathin Bhogar's 7000English Renderingby Layne Littleanjaneya@ix.netcom.comBack to Indian alchemy.Preface and IntroductionTranslation of versesCommentaryPreface"Our normal waking consciousness, rational consciousnessaswe call it, is but one special type of consciousness whilstall about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, therelie potential forms of consciousness entirely different."-William JamesThis work is a translation of the first eighty verses of the writings of the seventeenth century alchemist-poet Bhogar.Written in Tamil, an ancient language still spoken in the south of India, these eighty verses deal specifically with theYogic science of re-attuning the flow and distribution of subtle energy in the body.The flow and distribution of this energy is thought to directly affect consciousness in the most crucial of ways. It isthe balance and flow of breath in the two nostrils which guides the energy through the body. Breath and themovement of subtle energy is said to directly affect how we think and feel.Any objective observation of the breath as we go about our day reveals that the mind and it's functioning is mirroredin the quality of our breathing process. When we are relaxed and in a calm state of mind, our breathing is slow andeven. Breath flows gently into our body and, on a purely physiological level, muscular tension is released with eachexhalation. If we are nervous or experiencing stress, our breath is shallow and rapid, often disjointed, flowing in andout in a rather haphazard fashion.If our mental and emotional state so profoundly affects how we breath, one can in turn wonder if how we breathealso affects our state of mind and how we feel. Perhaps, it affects not only how we feel but also how we perceive theworld, both our outer and our inner life.The Yogic science, it's practices and philosophy, is centered largely upon altering consciousness and psychologicalfine-tuning through the conscious control of our breathing process. This was also Bhogar's intention when hecomposed the eighty-two verses presented in this work. He has distilled the essence of Kundalini Yoga into a kindof guided meditation that presents the tradition's set of symbols, sequentially structured for visualization, interwovenwith technical advice on regulating the breath.The key to applying the Siddhar teachings presented in this work begins with a process of objective and unwaveringobservation of the breath and it's direct relationship to the whole human organism. This practice of objectiveobservation is essential in cultivating the meditative awareness needed to discern the subtle movement of the breath.In order for meditation to truly take place, the subject must identify with the breathing process rather than the mind'serratic wanderings. This allows the practitioner to observe the mind and it's movements without being drawn backinto the compulsive identification with thought.At the initial outset of this practice one inevitably forgets the objective observation of thought, breath, and bodyagain and again, but tradition encourages the practitioner to simply take note of the momentary loss of mindfulnessand with persistence and patience return to being conscious of breath. Breath then becomes the anchor of mindfulawareness.Once mindful awareness is established, the meditator widens that sphere of awareness to include thought, emotion,bodily sensation and sound. Here again, the goal is to simply observe phenomena, our mind and bodies response tothat stimuli without identifying with that response.Although Bhogar's work deals specifically with using the breath and various meditation practices to initiate atransformation in consciousness, he seems to have made the assumption that his readers have achieved a certainlevel of proficiency in the more fundamental of yogic disciplines. This is perhaps a bit of an understatement, in thathe does have a tendency to present his system concealed within the language of an adept and, at times, he makes noaccommodations for even the practitioners from other schools of Yoga.Works such as this were encoded in the secret languages of the varying schools to preserve the tradition withoutrevealing the inner mysteries to the uninitiated. After researching other works from Bhogar's school of SiddhaSiddhanta as well as works from various Tantric Yoga schools, I have presented in the commentary some of themore common and recurring usages of Bhogar's obscure language and what is inferred by the same in the KundaliniYoga and meditation practices of the Siddha Siddhanta & Saiva Siddhanta schools.Bhogar, like other Yogis of the various Yoga schools that have grown from tantric roots, employed a language ofsymbol, myth, and allegory to speak of the transmutation of subtle energy which leads to the transformation ofconsciousness.The complex network of pathways (nadis) through which the subtle energy moves, is clearly defined. Thesepathways, 72,000 in number, are distributed throughout theetheric body double,running parallel to the CentralNervous System. Their location and function are usually presented in a fairly straight-forward way. Being closelyaligned to the physical body makes them not as abstract as the six nerve plexus' known aschakras.The termchakra(literally "wheel") refers to six centers of consciousness that run upwards along the spine atspecific points where thenadiscluster together. Thesenadi-clustersform jump-points where the frequency of thisenergy (called"Shakti")vibrates on new and higher levels.As the spine's vibratory frequency is quickened, neuron transmissions reach peak output and brain activity isheightened. The senses are also heightened, pushing thought through new neural pathways, opening up unexploredavenues of perception.It is in describing thesechakras,situated at the axis of the etheric body, that Yogis and Mystics have had difficultyin describing their subtle and enigmatic nature. Long ago they discovered symbolism as the most effective tool forconveying their insights and experiences as to how theKundalini Shaktiis awakened and caused to propel thehuman awareness up the spine and through the sixchakrahouses. This journey of consciousness culminates in theSahasrara,the thousand petalled lotus that crowns the top of the head.Sahasrarais the seventh and final step of thejourney, the fabled "un-chakra", where every possible level of consciousness is simultaneously perceived and one issaid to perceive the universe from all vantage points at once, fully identified with every aspect of creation.Contemplation of the symbol, applying the symbolic language to every aspect of life, opens up roads that penetrateinto the subtle inner realms. Breath then becomes the vehicle of the undefiled and crystalline awareness thattransverses the secret inner terrain, mounting upwards to the blossoming lotus of super-consciousness: Sahasrara.IntroductionIn all languages there have been poets and mystics who have practiced an alchemy of words. Poets who havetransformed the baseness of a functional system of communication into an expression infinitely more vast; one thatstrives to enrich humanity in some essential way, breathing new life into human existence.The Tamil poets have had the added advantage of using a language medium that is perhaps not as heavilyencumbered as the rest; where the quality of sound and the impact of meaning seem to share a common ground asfar as function is concerned.Aesthetics and application need not be relegated to opposing ends of the spectrum of necessity. Words are meant to
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