there might be a god

.

or many or none

smArtha wrote:or many or none

atleast one, with many of its dunno-what's-the-word. it's either that, or I have strong powers of hallucination.

Beatrix Kiddo wrote:

smArtha wrote:or many or none

atleast one, with many of its dunno-what's-the-word. it's either that, or I have strong powers of hallucination.

According to the ancient Tantric master Abhinavagupta, imagination is not just powerful; it is power itself. The human capacity to imagine, according to Tantra, is simply an individualized form of the power of the infinite consciousness, the infinite mind from whose imagination the whole of Existence spring forth. That Great Mind imagines worlds within itself and brings them into existence, say the Tantric sages. Our own imaginations do the same thing on a smaller scale. Yoga Vasishtha, a key text of Vedanta, describes our so-called real world as a creation of imagination, made of solidified consciousness/subtle energy, which each of us holds in place by believing in it. The Shiva Sutra consistently maintains that a <i>yogi</i> who understands this principle and cultivates it can rearrange these particles of consciousness and manifest just about anything. Most of us aren’t operating at anywhere near that level, of course. More likely, our imagination operates unconsciously, as unexamined fantasies and stray thought constructs. By practicing dhAraNa & dhyAna and breathing in the power of imagination, we can learn how to use our divine gift for fantasy as a creative tool for transformation.

Sanskrit, the original language of <i>yogi</i>s, excels at finding precise words for the subtle nuances of consciousness. To understand the <i>yogi</i>c wisdom on the imagination, it helps to look at four Sanskrit words that distinguish between types of imaginative experience. Taken together, these ancient terms can be used as a map that shows how the imaginative faculty works and how we can engage it, train it, and help in self-transformation. The four Sanskrit words for imagination are <i>vikalpa</i>, a random image or fantasy; <i>samkalpa</i>, an intentional mental creation; <i>pratibha</i>, spontaneous visionary insight; and <i>bhavana</i>, <i>yogi</i>c contemplation and visioning. 

<i>Vikalpa</i>s, or basic mental fantasies, account for most of your imaginative experience. <i>Vikalpa</i>s are the images, thoughts, and mental static that play randomly in the mind. The sexual fantasy that shows up at the wrong time. The fear of burglars in the closet. The things you imagine your friends are saying behind your back. In fact, most of the contents of your mind belong in this category. Yogic texts warn against falling for these stories, and they all have the same advice: Let the <i>vikalpa</i>s go. Classical yoga practice aims to dissolve them. Some of the ways of doing this are through meditative focus, or through a practice like recognizing the <i>vikalpa</i>s as essentially empty.

With <i>samkalpa</i>s, we enter the realm of deliberate creation. A <i>samkalpa</i>, because it’s intentional, has far more purpose and power than an idle or uncontrolled <i>vikalpa</i>. <i>samkalpa</i>s are the foundation of human art and science, mythology, religious constructs, political and military strategies, and the fictions that sometimes seem to drive our culture. Since <i>samkalpa</i>s can take on a life of their own, we often find we have to untangle the threads of what seemed at first like an innocent mental creation. Hence the old saying “Be careful what you wish for” and it is better rephrased as “Be careful what you imagine!”. The Tantric traditions are especially skilled at this type of constructed imagination. They use visualization for opening your inner centers (“Imagine a full moon in the center of your head”), for removing psychological impurities (“Visualize anger leaving your body as a stream of black smoke”), for creating intimacy with higher energies (“Find yourself on an island where the trees have jeweled leaves; you see, sitting on a throne under a tree, a wise and beautiful guide”). Nowadays, of course, we have lots of exposure to such ideas of using mental imagination in this way to overcome psychological barriers or reinforce strengths.

At the third level, imagination frees itself from the personal mind and begins to open up to the higher realms. In Sanskrit, this level of imagination is called <i>pratibha</i>, which closely means “intuitive insight.” <i>Pratibha</i> is the intuitive insight inspired from realms that are beyond the conscious mind. <i>Pratibha</i> is the true creative imagination. This is the imagination that Keats experienced. Einstein, the great chemist Kekulé, and the mathematician Poincaré all received major insights in this manner. Mozart would famously hear music playing within and simply take dictation. Many of us would have experienced moments of such absolute clarity or flash of brilliance in one or other area of our lives. One way we know of <i>pratibha</i> at work is through the quality of the content. It is different from the regular fantasies we make up for ourselves. An image or vision may be infused with significantly brighter color and light. An insight may come with the force of authority. The poem or the story unfolds as if it were being dictated. Sometimes, when we have a vision in meditation, we wonder, “Was that real, or did I make it up?” When it comes from the <i>pratibha</i> level of imagination, the vision or insight seems to arise from a realm that you don’t ordinarily access.

Visionary imagination comes to us on its own but needs practice for steadiness and crystallization. <i>Yogi</i>s encourage it through visual <i>samkalpa</i> practice initially and later with <i>bhavana</i>, or creative contemplation. <i>Bhavana</i> is the most powerful tool we have for internal self-creation as it combines all of the rational, thinking, imaginative, contemplative and emotional faculties of the Mind. The term <i>bhavana</i> comes from bhava, a Sanskrit word meaning “feeling”, "fluidity" or “emotional flavor.” In Tantra, where the power of the mind is recognized as identical with the Universal Creative Power (<i>icchA shakti</i>), <i>bhavana</i> is used to create a sense of identity with the Divine. A true <i>bhavana</i> combines idea, vision, and feeling. It’s the emotional quality that gives <i>bhavana</i> its power. The <i>yogi</i>c sages take the idea of <i>bhavana</i> much deeper. <i>Yogi</i>s say that when you hold the <i>bhavana</i> that you are a limited person with limited options, you will continue to experience yourself as limited by your current body and mind with their own personal histories. When you replace your ordinary self-imagining with the highest and most sublime one you can find, you’ll begin to experience yourself slowly getting infused with such divine qualities. This is why, in the Tantric tradition, you always start your practice with a radical reimagining of the Self. You imagine your body as made of light or a divine form or infused with mantra or filled with infinite compassion and then from that place you begin your practice. The ultimate Tantric <i>bhavana</i> is to imagine yourself as the incarnation of grandeur, the very form of God who used Infinite Creative Imagination to Imagine Infinite Creation.

there might be a god, and sometimes it's there to serve you good when you try to avoid things you shouldn't be avoiding.

skipped a class coz that one is more strenuous, as she makes you do tough routines holding weights, and i didn't want to start with that one after a long break and be sore the next day. so went the next day for a lighter zumba class. Walked in and surprise surprise, the zumba trainer was off sick, and there was a substitute, and who be that? yep, the same one who i had avoided the day before.

*soreness*