Consciousness and Self IX

 God, Demons, and Shadow Planets

Angkor Wat

Ask about the modern wonders of the world and you may hear of the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the mysterious ruins of Macchu Picchu in Peru, the Great Wall of China, the Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico. The Coliseum in Rome, the Taj Mahal at Agra, India or even the Winter Palace of the Tsars of Russia, now the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia may also be mentioned, along with the Louvre in Paris, or the Palace of Versailles, residence of the last kings of France.

None of these match the splendour and mystery of Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat, the “city which is a temple” is the most imposing of the mountain temples built during the height of the Khmer civilization to enshrine the worship of Vishnu and the king who built His monument, Suryavarman VII.

In the valleys of the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, hand-picked craftsmen and architects among the ancient Khmer worked nonstop to finish the great temple of Vishnu at Angkor during the lifetime of Suryavarman. The quality of its design and carved stone adornments, the symbolization of Mount Meru as the center of the Vedic universe, its sanctuarys and inner sanctum, and its surrounding reflecting pools make Angkor Wat a unique spiritual space unparalleled in its architecture.

Writing in 1585, the Portuguese explore Diego De Couto notes, “This temple is such a particular construction that one can hardly describe it with the pen, nor can one compare it to any other building in the world.” Hundreds of years later, his description still rings true.

In some sections of the building every square inch of the walls have been hand-carved with intricate designs. While temple complexes in Cambodia cover hundreds of square miles, Angkor Wat stands above these as the most important of all the Khmer temples. Here, the buildings are constructed with the idea of replicating the mythical Mount Meru, considered to be the center of the universe.

In a sense, Angkor Wat is a yantra, a kind of architectural machine meant to draw its visitors into elevated consciousness through a complex mandala of reflecting pools, shrines, bas reliefs, and inner sanctums. No visitor leaves here with their consciousness untouched by a profound meditative experience. It is the largest religious complex ever built by man.

If, as Le Corbusier said, “A house is a machine for living,” then Angkor is a machine for raising awareness and developing divine consciousness. Constructed in an age when few had access to books and fewer still were able to read and write, Angkor not only tells a story as one walks through its halls; it is a special mechanism for bringing one to a higher level of consciousness not only through the contemplation of its architectural wonders, but also through the manipulation of meditative space.

And as one wanders through this meditative space, after crossing the moat that separates the inner space of Angkor from the outer world of dusty Cambodian streets, one is struck by the power of the outer gates and towers. Gradually walking higher, one comes to a hall where massive bas reliefs where carved in the laterite walls some 800 years ago by the best sculptors of Suryavarman VII.

At Angkor Thom, 2015

Among the striking bas reliefs are the story of Ramāyana and Mahābharata, made visible to all who have heard these epics and know them by heart, but who were unable to read Sanskrit. In the West Gallery is a huge bas-relief covering the entirety of the wall: there is Rāma and Lakṣmana, and Hanumāna, the ten-headed Rāvana and his brother Vibhiṣana, Jambhavan the bear and his armies. On the other side is the Mahābharata with Bhima and Arjuna, Yudhisthira and his brothers, the thousands of soldiers at the Kurukshetra war headed by Bhishma. There are chariots at war and Bhishma impaled on arrows.

Given the limits of the wallspace, one wonders what stories from the ancient world might be given prominence here. Walking along, one reaches the east gallery. Here one is struck by another huge bas-relief. This is an immense stone carving of the story of the churning of the ocean of milk.

gods and demons churn ocean of milk, bas relief, Angkor Wat

This story is recounted in Mahābhārata and in the Pūranas, notably the Bhāgavata Pūrana. It is a kind of creation story. Long ago, before the world began, the gods or suryas were threatened by the danavas demonic anti-gods. When they asked Vishnu, the Lord of the Universe, for help, he explained that they would need amṛta, a kind of tonic for immortality. This amṛta could be found at the bottom of the milk ocean, but the gods would have to churn the ocean to achieve it. The gods used the mystic mountain Mandara as a churning rod and wrapped the serpent Vasuki around it as their rope. 

gods and demons churn the ocean of milk, book illustration, India

The demonic anti-gods joined in, spurred by the idea that they would take the nectar for themselves. The gods took the snake by the tail and the demons by the head and began to churn the mountain. When it began to sink Vishnu incarnated as a cosmic tortoise and held the churning rod of Mandara mountain on his back. And so the gods and demons began to move the milk ocean.

gods and demons churn the ocean of milk, poster, India

Gradually strange and wonderful beings emerged from the soup: the 7-headed white horse Uchaishravas, the goddess Lakshmi, as well as the celestial apsaras, divine heavenly nymphs. There appeared the Surabhi wish-fullfilling cow as well as the moon itself and the kaustabha jewel that adorns the chest of Lord Vishnu. Many valuable herbs, medicines and spices along with the Parijata tree appeared from the ocean of milk as it was churned and churned by the gods and demons.

At the same time as medicines were released by the churning, certain poisons also appeared. This miasma was dangerous and so was sipped up by Lord Shiva who held it in his throat, turning is throat blue. For this reason he is called, “Nila-kanta” or the blue-throated one.

When the amrita finally rose to the surface it was collected in a golden vessel by the physican among the gods, Dhanvantari, himself, another form of Vishnu. The demons rushed to collect the vessel of and steal the nectar of immortality from the gods.

But Vishnu incarnated again, this time as a beautiful girl with a charming smile and ruby red lips, Mohini. Disguised as this bewitching nymph God Himself Vishnu convinced the demons to wait their turn as the nectar was first distributed to the gods. Distracted by beauty, the demons sat and watched as every last drop was given to the thirst gods, who became immortal by drinking the nectar.

Rahu, Statue from the British Museum

All except Rahu. This clever anti-god sat between the sun and the moon and managed to get a taste of the nectar. But before he could swallow, he was detected by Vishnu Himself who immediately launched his sudarshana chakra and beheaded the demon. And yet, since the nectar had touched Rahu’s lips and throat, his head became immortal. To ensure he could do no harm he was cast into the heavens. There he sits today as a kind of shadow planet. According to Hindu tradition, the eclipse of the sun is caused when Rahu tries to eat the sun. Since he has no body, the sun soon passes out through his throat.

In Vedic Astrology Rahu’s influence is calculated in one’s horoscope. While Rahu is a “shadow planet” and does not physically exist, still its impact is considered important, full of strength and divine meaning. With its shadowy nature, Rahu acts on an emotional and internal level.

A superficial reading of this story gives only a kind of myth, a strange supernatural explanation of the universe that has little to do with our experience.

And yet, when I saw this Bas Relief in Angkor I could not but wonder why this particular story held pride of place for Suryavarman VII. Why would his expert sculptors go to such great lengths to inscribe this forever in stone on the temple walls. It must have a deep significance or meaning, beyond the mere superficiality of the creation story. In fact, it does, as we shall see. His explanation expands on the theme we have been exploring, that of the veracity of the Vedic version, as well as the self and consciousness, particularly the meaning of cidābhasa, or the “hazy consciousness through which mind must pass to access matter.”

Srīdhara Mahārāja comments on these topics and the meaning of Rahu in his book, “Subjective evolution of Consciousness.”

“Once, I considered from this point of view the question of the planets in Vedic cosmology. We see that by the movement of the different planets, a solar eclipse is caused by the moon’s shadow falling upon the Earth. And yet in the scriptures it has been described that during an eclipse, the planet Rāhu is devouring the sun or the moon. When Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākura was in Purī during his last days and an eclipse came, one devotee who was supposed to know siddhānta, the conclusions of scripture, was sitting next to Prabhupāda. He suddenly ridiculed the idea given in the Bhāgavatam that during a solar or lunar eclipse Rāhu devours the sun or moon.

I could not tolerate that such a remark should be passed in regard to the Bhāgavatam and argued that what Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam has stated is not to be taken lightly. I offered what seemed like some far-fetched support. I said that in his Jaiva Dharma, Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has created so many characters, but I think that they are not imaginary.

What he has written might have occurred during some other millennium (kalpa), or day of Brahmā, and that has now come lightly. Considering the importance of the literal meaning of scripture, Bhaktivedānta Swāmī Mahārāja presented Bhagavad-gītā As It Is.

“I thought, ‘How am I to prove what the Bhāgavatam says? I don’t know. But what is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam must be true. I have faith in that.

“There are so many statements on the cosmology of the universe in the scriptures. The Aryans, the spiritually developed men of former times, used to see everything as consciousness. They saw that the shadow is also conscious.

“The shadow, ābhāsa, is also considered to be a stage of consciousness. Only through that shadowy stage of consciousness can we come to the material conception of a thing. Before we reach the conception of a shadow, we must pass through some mental stage, and personification may be attached to that mental stage. The personification of the shadow may be referred to as “Rāhu.”

The soul approaches matter, the material world, but before that, he must pass through a shadowy stage of consciousness called chidābhāsa.

“Consciousness passes through the shadow level of consciousness into matter, non-consciousness. And that shadow stage of consciousness has its personality. It is also conscious, and may be known “see things as material. What is concrete matter is unknown. It is a mere effect of consciousness. As everything material must have some conscious origin, or origin in personal consciousness, there must be a personal conception of the sun, the moon, the Earth, and all the planets. Before we reach the conception of a shadow or any other object, the soul has to pass through a conscious stage. That stage has some spiritual existence as a person.

Therefore the Bhāgavatam refers to the sun, the moon, and the planet Rāhu, as persons. Everything – the Earth, the moon, the stars, the planets – has a personal conception. In the background of what we can perceive with our dull senses, everything that is said to be matter, there must be a personal conception. Without the influence of a personal conception, consciousness cannot reach the stage of gross matter.

Therefore, in the ancient scriptures we find that the great sages and ṛṣis are always addressing everything within this world as a person. Although to us it is dead matter, they have considered them as persons. Why? The matter is rather the shadow of the personal entity. The personal, conscious entity is more real.

“When we conceive of the personal representation of that shadow, it will be known as Rāhu. Everything is conscious. The shadow, its effect – everything. When the moon is between the sun and the Earth, the shadow of the moon is coming here, and what is coming is also conscious. Everything is conscious first – then there is matter. From the personal conception things evolve to gross consciousness. It is all personal. So the ṛṣis with such a vision of reality used to address everything as a person: the trees, the mountains, the sun, the moon, the ocean. When pure consciousness is coming to experience pure matter, then there must first be some mixed stage, and that is a person suffering in karma. Person means they are not a fully developed spiritual person at present, but in a mixed condition. So what the ṛṣis are saying – that everything is a person – is real; it is not a concoction.

Everything is conscious. As the present scientists say everything is matter, we have real cause to think that everything is conscious. Whatever you see does not matter; we can directly feel what is in our nature. That is conscious. Our consciousness may be “there must first be some mixed stage, and that is a person suffering in karma. Person means they are not a fully developed spiritual person at present, but in a mixed condition. So what the ṛṣis are saying – that everything is a person – is real; it is not a concoction.

Everything is conscious. As the present scientists say everything is matter, we have real cause to think that everything is conscious. Whatever you see does not matter; we can directly feel what is in our nature. That is conscious. Our consciousness may be in a developed or degraded position, but consciousness is nearer to us. We feel our mental energy only.”

“Everything has its representation in the original, personal, conscious, spiritual reality. Otherwise, there is no possibility of its being reflected into this plane as matter. First there is consciousness and then when it is in a more gross condition, it appears to be matter. In the study of ontology it is taught that when studying a particular thing, although we can know that it has certain attributes to the eye, and that it appears to the ear in a particular way, these are all appearances. Independent of appearances, the ontological aspect of a thing – what it is, the reality of a thing – is unknown and unknowable.

“My contention is that when consciousness is going to feel non-conscious matter it will have to pass through a conscious area to meet the material object. So the full perception of that material thing cannot but be conscious; and consciousness always indicates person. First there is conception and then the material idea.

The conscious world is very near and the material world is very far off. Therefore the great ṛṣis, whose thinking is highly developed, address whatever they find within the environment as if they are all persons. In the Vedas, the ancient scriptural literature of India, we find that the saints and sages are always in the midst of so many persons; in the background everything is a person.”

“Thinking, feeling, willing – a living entity has three phases. And it is also the same with God and his potency. There is a subject existing first, and then his experiences. And experiences of the subtlemost character come first and are given the most importance. And when the subject is coming to the more distant area to conceive of matter, that will be the farthest point from him. He will address everything by which he is surrounded with personal conceptions.

A personal conception cannot but assert that matter is far off. The direct connection of consciousness is with the shadow, the reflection of the material into the conscious world. The soul can understand that only. If matter can exist independently, then also matter has a shadow in the conscious world and the soul is concerned with that shadow.

In other words, there is the person and then the body. Just as the body is the after-effect of the conscious living agent, matter is the after-effect of spirit. Irrespective of all material consciousness, that which is in direct contact with soul is all personal. Chidābhāsa is something like the mental substance we have within.

There are two kinds of persons, kṣara and akṣara: the pure liberated soul and the soul who is struggling in matter. When liberated and non-liberated persons are mixed within the world of material transactions, whether as moving or non-moving entities, or whatever their position might be, still they should be considered persons. Since everything is a unit of consciousness, everything has personal existence. “Everything is a person. Before we go to the material conception, we must pass through the personal conception or aspect of that thing. In Vṛṇdāvana everything is conscious, but some things are posing in a passive way. But they are all conscious: the Yamunā river, the cows, the trees, the fruit – everything is conscious, spiritual, but they pose in different ways. Being able to

detect the conscious characteristic in everything, the Aryans saw all of nature as conscious and personal, and addressed everything as conscious.

Consciousness and personality are the universal basis of reality. Whatever we may experience is conscious. The reflection of a material object is within me, and the plane within me is conscious. The subject is consciousness, and whatever kind of thing the object may be, it casts its reflection into the plane of consciousness. The observer of any objective reality is involved only with consciousness from beginning to end, and can have no conception of matter apart from consciousness.”