Symbiosis

Indian yogis claim that a latent force, spirit, being, etc. known as the Kundalini dwells within humans in a type of sleeping state.

Through yogic meditative practices, the Kundalini can be aroused causing the practitioner to enter a state of entasy or meditative absorption and unity with the divine. The Kundalini is often portrayed as a serpent or serpent-like creature that dwells in the sacral region until awakened in a fiery conflagration when it ascends upward toward the head.

In Christianity, the Holy Spirit is thought of as a spirit that descends from Heaven and dwells within believers causing a state of ecstasy. The Holy Spirit is also a type of spirit guide that leads people to speak in tongues, prophesy, etc. This spirit is portrayed generally as bird, specifically a dove. In the New Testament, when Jesus is baptized at the Jordan, he is also anointed by the Holy Spirit from above in the form of a dove.

In Christian art and literature, the Holy Spirit is usually depicted as a dove hovering above, flying toward or around, or actually standing on a person's head. The New Testament also depicts the Holy Spirit as flames on the heads of the disciples.



The symbolism of bird and serpent would of course be familiar to those who have followed this blog, which is partly named after these creatures. The cosmic tree has been discussed here that is commonly depicted with a serpent at its roots and a bird resting in the topmost branches. Interestingly, in the yoga of Kundalini, the spinal column is also viewed as a type of cosmic tree in microcosm.

When aroused, the Kundalini serpent ascends the spine toward the top of the head. Like the Holy Spirit, the Kundalini is seen also as a form of the Divine, in this case of the female principle or Goddess known as Sakti. About its fiery awakening, it ascends to unite with male divine principle located at the top of the head bringing the subject into a state of divine union or entasy.

The Holy Spirit, instead descends from Heaven in dove form, as a part of the Trinity it is also one with Divine and communes with the subject by entering or resting upon the head causing here a state of ecstasy and union.


The Kundalini took the form of a coiled serpent.






Devaraja

In medieval Southeast Asia, the Devaraja royal cult made the king into a form of the Divinity. Not so much as an avatar though, but as a host for the Deity.

For example, an avatar is usually seen as god that incarnates at birth as a human. But in the Devaraja system, it is only the installed King who is identified with the god. Thus, the Crown Prince is not also seen in the same divine light as the King.

In the scholarly literature, the spirit of the Deity is known as the "royal ego." In Java and Cambodia, the royal ego was permanently located in a linga, a phallic symbol, placed atop the king's royal ziggurat.

When the king was installed, the royal ego, or part of it, descends upon the king giving him divine status. When the king dies, the royal ego returns to the linga. When the crown prince succeeds his father in ritual ceremonies, the royal ego then descends once more from the linga to commune with the new kingly host.

Again, readers of this blog will recognize the pyramidical temple of the king as a form of the holy mountain or volcano. The linga itself can be seen as the cosmic tree that usually is depicted as resting atop the sacred mount, a form of the fiery pillar associated with a volcanic eruption. It doesn't take much to see the royal ego as a bird perched in the branches of the cosmic tree that descends to anoint the new king. In the same sense, the linga has serpent or dragon connotations in this belief system.

In relation to this, we can note also the widespread concept in Insular Southeast Asia of the bird-double or bird-spirit. This is apparently a symbiotic form of the self that can leave the body on flights of spiritual exploration. In the primal Austronesian sphere, especially in those areas characterized by hydraulic engineering, the domains were centered around mountains, and the domain leaders were invariably linked with these central mountains.

While the Kundalini, Holy Spirit and Royal Ego are forms of symbionts that dwell within the body of the host, there are other forms of symbiosis that involve spirits that dwell instead in objects like amulets, fetishes, talimans and icons. The stories of the Holy Grail serve as one example.


Holy Grail

Grail scholars have long argued as to whether the spirit associated with the Holy Grail was in fact the Holy Spirit.

Robert de Boron, in his early Grail romance, claimed that the voice of the Grail was that of the Holy Ghost. Wolfram von Eschenbach states that every Good Friday, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Grail to renew its powers. The main objection to this among Christian apologists is that the Grail was said to be sent away to some island or to Heaven in the romantic literature.

However, this problem did not dissuade all later authors. Certain literature like The Count and the Quest, Didot-Modena Perceval, Perlesvaus and Titurel indeed claim that the Holy Ghost was carried away to some distant place.

What the Grail authors agree upon is that the Grail acts as a guide to the Grail Knights, Maidens and King, all of whom it personally chooses.

Far away to the East, the concept of objects invested with guiding spirits is linked in the study of the Austronesian world with the related terms anitu, anito, nitu, etc. The anitu is the spirit or soul that can be associated with any type of object from a rice plant to a volcanic mountain. In this blog, the anitus of the sacred jars, the pusaka heirlooms, and the anting-anting amulets have been examined in particular.

In the case of the sacred jar or the lusung rice mortar, we have seen these objects as forms or symbols of the sacred volcano of the Nusantao. Anitu are often related with deified ancestral spirits and in the belief systems around Mt. Pinatubo and Mt. Arayat, the Earth together with the Sky or Sun are the ultimate ancestors. The "tibuan" is the earth that acts as mother to all things, being derived from the root "tubo" as in Pina-tubo, the sacred volcano.

Therefore, the sacred jar is in a sense a form of the cosmos, the cosmic mountain, in microcosm. The "voice" from the sacred jar is linked with anitu, which in this case can be associated with the Divine or with Nature as the ultimate principle. In a similar sense, the Grail becomes a type of vessel or home for the Holy Spirit according to one interpretation.

In the Philippine region, the ancient idea of communion with the divine was rooted in concepts related to time. The pantheistic or monistic Deity is often identified with Sacred Time. The related sets of words niu, nio, nu, nuan and nunu; and calma, karma, karkarma are connected to these concepts of universality. These word sets use the same root source to convey the meanings of ancestors, especially deified or beatified ancestors; the soul of the individual; and one's destiny or fortune.

From the view of cyclical time, the ancestors represent the past; the soul stands for the present; and one's destiny or fortune is the future.


Cyclic Symbiosis

Buddhist and Indian religious texts outline the belief of a cyclic ruler known as the Cakkavatti or Chakravartin, who like the Buddha, appears rarely at the downside end of cyclic periods.

When the dharma or law has decaded to its lowest state, the Cakkavatti is born and there eventually arise certain treasures that are said to aid this new king in washing out the old and bringing in a new golden age.

The most important treasure is the Cakkaratana, an animated discus or wheel-like "being," that descends out of its place in Heaven known as the Cakkadaha. It has the appearance of three concentric wheels moving at once. Like the Grail, the Cakkaratana seems to have a spirit of its own. It travels to the Cakkavatti King, who then anoints it with water and talks to the Cakkaratana asking it to help him conquer the world.

When the Cakkavatti is about to die, the Cakkaratana knows this and eventually disappears only returning after his successor has lived righteously for seven days.

I have discussed previously how the treasures of the Cakkavatti resemble those that arose during the Churning of the Milky Ocean episode found in Hindu texts. This geologic event I interpreted as alluding to a volcanic eruption.

Now, volcanic eruptions in this blog are explained as occurring during the meeting of Heaven and Earth, or specifically the Sun and the Sacred Volcano. The fiery conflagration during this encounter produces the "milk" i.e. the volcanic ash that creates the Ocean of Milk. And from this ocean, arise the treasures of the New Age.

Kundalini yoga also envisions the Kundalini as a serpent creature dwelling in the sacrum covered with sulfur, one of the substances closely linked with natural volcanoes. Indeed, the fiery awakening of the Kundalini has been likened with both a volcanic eruption and the mythic Churning of the Milky Ocean. The arousal is even specifically described as "churning" in certain traditional texts. Rising up the spinal column the female Kundalini unites with the male principle at the top of the head, the Crown Chakra.

Interestingly, the Holy Spirit also has fiery association and is depicted as flames rising from the heads of the Apostles.






In the cyclic interpretation of symbiosis, there arises periodically a new spirit or anitu, a product of Heaven and Earth that unites with the destiny of humanity acting as a guide in the process of renewal.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Malalasekera, G. P. Dictionary of Pali Proper Names: Pali-English, Asian Educational Services, 2003, 1343-4.

Sharan, Mahesh Kumar and Mahesh Kumar Sharan Abhinav. Studies in Sanskrit Inscriptions of Ancient Cambodia, Abhinav Publications, 2003, 259-9.

Waite, Arthur Edward. The Holy Grail: The Galahad Quest in Arthurian Literature, Kessinger Publishing, 1993.

Volcano Mythology in Asia Pacific Region (Glossary)

That the people living in the "Ring of Fire" in Asia and the Pacific region should hold volcanoes in awe should come as no surprise.

From Mt. Kilauea in the far eastern Pacific to Mt. Fuji in Japan and southwest to Mt. Agung in Bali, the volcano has been held in reverence since time immemorial.

Nicholas Tapp and Michel Strickmann have mentioned the prevalance in Southeast Asia and South China of beliefs in underground networks of "grotto-worlds." Each world was linked to a particular sacred mountain beneath which it resided, and each was connected to other grotto-worlds by a labyrinth of underworld tunnels.

Descriptions of the grotto-worlds conveyed visions of an otherworldly paradise, and it was thought that hidden passages often linked with caves and caverns allowed humans to travel to this underground network.

Such belief also existed in early northern China but faded during the Han period. The grotto-worlds were associated with sacred mountains like Mt. Tai and Mt. Fengdu, the sources of sacred rivers.

In such mythology, the underworld "city" resembles a large fortress or castle with all people living in a large connected structure.

Journeying to the grotto-worlds by the living was almost universally described as extremely challenging and dangerous requiring the crossing of many obstacles.

Sacred caves

In many areas of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, caves associated with sacred mountains had special significance. Burial in certain prominent caves was considered an honor and ships passing by such locations visible from the sea would stop in reverence of the sacred place.

When Mt. Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines, many of the local Ayta residents retreated into sacred caves on that mountain. They were buried alive by lahar, most reduced to ashes. Some believe that these people thought they would be protected in the caves by the presiding deity of Pinatubo, the Creator God of the Ayta. However, it is still a mystery as to what belief system compelled them to stay in the caves despite the danger. One could say that they did know what would eventually happen to them.

Numerous belief systems in this region describe sacred caves and the rivers said to flow within them as leading to the Underworld, the land of the dead.

Such caves are visited by shamans and other healers who hope to become empowered by the spirits that dwell in the caverns and in the mountain itself.

Dualism

Volcanic eruptions with their seeming convulsions of fire and water have naturally been interpreted in a dual way by peoples with a dual worldview.

One of the best examples of this in Austronesia comes in the legends of the goddess Pele in Hawai`i.

Hawaiians believed that humans had a kino ahi or fire body that would emerge if a dead person was thrown into a fire pit for burial. In such cases, the person would go on to join the Pele family in the afterlife.

Pele herself was said to change at will into a towering flame, and the fires near an erupting volcano's crater were often described as goddess herself dancing the hula.

In opposition to Pele was Kamapua`a, the pig-human demigod. While Pele represented fire and lava, Kamapua`a was associated with the sea and rain.

When the two met in battle/marriage, new land was formed as the waters of Kamapua`a cooled the glowing hot lava of Pele into new terra firma. The union of opposites thus resulting in new creation.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Pukui, Mary Kawena & Elbert, Samuel H. Hawaiian Dictionary : Hawaiian-English, English-Hawaiian, University of Hawai?i Press, 1986.

Strickmann, Michel. "The Tao among the Yao: Taoism and the Sinification of South China," in: Rekishi ni okeru minshu to bunka- Sakai Tadao sensei koki jukuga kiben ronshu, Tokyo: Kokusho kankokai, 1982, pp. 23-30.

Tapp, Nicholas. "Hmong Religion," Asian Folklore Studies 48, 1989, 59-94.

The Dueling Dual Volcanoes

The following translation of a Kapampangan legend by Michael Panglinan will help us unravel the socio-political situation of the Nusantao that developed. I have added a few translations of notes.


"The history of the Kapampangan opened with the great war in heaven. They were siblings (I don't know if they are brothers or brothers and sisters...but they were siblings) Aldau (the Sun) and Bulan (the Moon) were fighting for control of the earth.

From the heavens they descended on the banks of the great river, from which they pulled out two bamboo poles each. In the ensuing battle, Aldau, the sun had struck the light out of one of Bulan's eyes and its brightness dimmed. Aldau was victorious and Bulan surrendered. Magnanimous, Aldau lifted his capatad up and divided his rule between himself and Bulan. He even let Bulan sit on the throne first. Thus Bulan ruled by bengi (night) and Aldau ruled by aldau (day).

They settled on the two sacred mountains of the great river bank plains. On earth, Aldau chose as his abode Alaya, the center, the navel of the world. Thus the words 'paralaya' meaning going towards Alaya, the home, the base, the navel, and 'padauba' which means to go away from the center, or to go down to the flatlands. Paralaya also came to mean east since it is the abode of the sun.

On earth, Aldau came to be called by man as Apung Sukû meaning antiquity or even summit or zenith. Bulan, on the one hand settled on the source of eight rivers, Pinatubu, from which man derived its food and livelihood as the rivers became not only a source of fish, but was also the watering hole of game and fowl.

Man favoured Bulan with the name Apung Mallari, to whom all things were possible. He was said to be more approachable than the distant Apung Sukû.

Apung Sukû, the Sun, had for his children: Munag Sumalâ (Dawn) who was betrothed to Manalastas (the rooster), Abac, Ugtu (known also as Lakandanup who devoured shadows at noon), and Gatpanapun (the prince who knows only pleasure).

Apung Mallari had two daughters. The most beautiful was Sisilim (sunset) who was devoted to her uncle Apung Sukû by welcoming him in the western skies with songs of the cicadas at sunset. The other daughter was Kapitangan.

All things went well with their reign over man on earth till the rains came. The rains did not stop. The eight Rivers of Pinatubu overflowed. Man's possesssion were washed away and the fowls, game and fish went to seek calmer waters or went deep into the mountains. Man hungered. Man despaired. Finally man called upon Apung Sukû for help.

Apung Sukû then sent his grandson Tala (the planet Venus), son of the red serpent Munag Sumalâ and the bird Manalastas, to be born as a man.

Deep in the forest of Mount Alaya, an old manalaksan (wood cutter) went to the pool of Sapang Tacûi to quench his thirst. There in the middle of the pool, a tucal flower blossomed. in the midst of it was a healthy baby crying. The old manalaksan took pity and took the child to his old wife mangkukuran (potter). There the child began to speak and walk. The couple bowed low to the ground and paid homage to the god child.

Soon the child grew up to become a strong bayani. Riding on his friend Damulag, the guardian against the storm, Tala descended the mountain chewing on a sugarcane. On the slopes of the mountain he fell in love with a woman called Mingan. Together they made love. As they did so, Tala took some of his seeds and placed them in Mingan's hand. "Plant them on the flooded ground," he said. Mingan was doubtful at first since nothing grew on the flooded soil save for lumut or algae.

Immediately after Mingan planted the sacred seeds, a curious green looking plant sprouted from the ground. These were the first palai, rice plants. Tala showed her how to cook nasi, from the unhusked seeds of the palai plant. Soon Mingan's tribe was able to conquer all the flooded plains and convert them to fertile rice fields. Tala went back to the sky.

Soon, man forgot about the goodness of Apung Mallari before the floods. They endlessly praised Apung Sukû for sending them his grandson Tala. In anger and jealousy, Apung Mallari threw a huge boulder to the perfect summit of Apung Sukû's abode, Bunduc Alaya. The earth trembled. But worse was Apung Sukû's anger at the insult. From that day on, Apung Mallari was cursed. He was to be called as Punsalang (the source of enmity, the enemy).

Apung Sukû took all the huge boulders of the great river bank plains and threw them all at Bunduk Pinatubu. Apung Mallari, now Punsalang, saw his abode crumble. Seeing her father lose miserably, Sisilim decided to stop her uncle the sun but she too was struck and she fell dead. Seeing this, Punsalang shouted in anguish and surrendered to his brother Apung Sukû. From then on, Apung Sukû was Apung Sinukuan (to whom everyone surrendered)."

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento