Symbolism 3 – Cosmic Symbols

Wisdom Teachings
Symbolism
Book: Symbolism of the Scriptures

Human intelligence has the tendency to go deep into details. In this process, the intelligence becomes more and more powerful and technical until it is individualised and self-centred. At the same time, intelligence loses understanding of wholeness and no longer has time to reflect on the creative abilities of its own being. For this reason, the ancient seers of all peoples placed a special emphasis on universal cosmic symbolism. They taught humanity to penetrate deeply into symbols and to reflect on the cosmos and the cosmic intelligences, which the seers called gods. Studying such knowledge is very important as it lifts us out of our limited identifications and daily life happenings. We then no longer focus primarily upon trivial trifles.

When we read the scriptures, ideas appear within our minds about the universal intelligences, we discover that we not only deepen spiritually, but we are able to expand into a multidimensional globe of human imagination. We realise that there is a consciousness that precedes our awareness. This fundamental consciousness serves as the matrix of our psychological development. The universal intelligences work through us even before we have recognised them.

Ancient wisdom speaks of cosmogenesis and anthropogenesis - how the cosmos and man came into existence. The cosmic symbols given for meditation help us experience the fact that there is a pure existence which expresses itself as four basic cosmic intelligences: as consciousness, as time, as pulsation and as cosmic nature. Being is the basis of consciousness and cosmic nature. Cosmic nature is also called Aditi, which means “the original light”. The light veils and obscures the One. Therefore, cosmic nature is also called illusion, symbolised as a female deity, Maya.

When the unfolding of creation happens, there is also pulsation. Pulsation is unfolding and contracting; hence it is described as a bird with its two wings. Time has a cyclic movement and is therefore symbolically characterised as a serpent. The working of these four basic cosmic intelligences is represented by an image where the Lord rests on a serpent. At his feet sits cosmic nature, and close by sits the great bird.

The Lord is called Vishnu in the East, the cosmic principle that fills and permeates everything. His mount or vehicle is Garuda, the great eagle, the principle of pulsating, dynamic life. His wife is the divine mother; she is called Lakshmi, meaning the universal symbol. Lakshmi sits on a large lotus, the principle of unfoldment. Lakshmi is the symbolic representation of the presence of the One. She is worshipped as the Light because the Light represents the Absolute. All creation is the work of light and sound, both emanating from the Mother. Every form we see is by its very nature light of consciousness and, as form, a representation of consciousness. We are instinctively attracted to forms in which consciousness is more abundant. So, some forms are more attractive than others, for example a white lotus, a white horse, a white dog or a white dove. It is the same with some people to whom we feel deeply attracted. The differences lie in the degree of vibration and radiance.

In India, the Lord is depicted in blue, while Lakshmi is worshipped as the Mother of Radiance. The symbols used to worship the Mother are richly decorated with gold ornaments and golden turmeric powder. Performing worship rituals helps keep our psyche in balance, regardless of favourable or unfavourable events in life.

The seers symbolically visualised Vishnu, the Lord of existence, as resting in the midst of the ocean of experience. From the ocean eternally emerge the waves of creation. In the centre of the ocean there is a whirlpool from which unfolds the serpent Ananta (Endlessness), the continuous chain action of change and becoming. This serpent with its uncoiling tail was considered by the yogis to be the cosmic Kundalini. Madame Blavatsky emphasises that the serpent is truly the symbol of spiritual wisdom. From Vishnu's navel emerges an ever-expanding lotus with four main petals, and from the lotus emerges Brahma, the four-faced Creator. This entire figure forms the basis of Puranic symbolism. It is one of the oldest symbols received and used by man to convey spiritual wisdom.

The basic symbol of creation is the Lingam, a figure in the form of an egg with the potential of the number 10. Ten is a perfect number and the egg is the perfect form for manifestation, the foundation of all other formations. The formation of the world, cosmogenesis, proceeded from the sphere to the egg, from the egg to the Cosmic Person, from the Cosmic Person to the fourfold creation. The Cosmic Egg contains all conceivable creative intelligences and it is the basis of all forms. For this reason, the Vedic tradition considers the worship of the Lingam to be the worship of the Cosmic Egg. It is called the Shiva Lingam; Shiva means auspicious and the lingam is a symbol of auspiciousness. In the understanding of later times, the lingam was considered the male aspect and the base of the lingam was considered the female aspect. However, according to the original understanding, the lingam represents all in one, including the female form. Lord Shiva was therefore also depicted as Ardhanari, a figure that is half male and half female lengthwise. The Shiva Lingam represents this dual entity. Westerners misunderstood it as an emblem of the male and female organs.

The lingam is the potential of all that IS and it manifests what the worshipper desires from it. Every cosmic, solar and planetary deity can be invoked in this symbol that contains everything. There are a variety of lingams - made of mud, sand, stone, of precious stone, precious metal or crystal. But lingam is a lingam, in whichever material it is. More important than the material is the shape. The depth of devotion enables the transmission of the blessing from the lingam. In India, the seers conceived twelve most auspicious lingams where the Lord Rudra can be experienced in an effulgent egg form of light. They are called Jyothir Lingams. In China and South America there are huge stone formations in a perfect form of lingams, which are amazingly beautiful and vibrant. Mountain peaks and also pyramids are seen as forms of Shiva Lingams. A double pyramid is a perfect Shiva Lingam with sharp angles. If the angles are rounded up, it is considered to be more beneficial. This is a symbol of transformation.

We can also consciously build a double pyramid around us or together around our group, for the nation or even for the planet and invoke the devas of the directions. It is the same as a Shiva Lingam and creates a protective armour to prevent unwanted events from occurring. This is an ancient practice of light work to ensure the protection of goodwill. In India, this lingam is also erected before performing a ritual to worship Shiva.

The symbols of the cosmic, solar and planetary principles are also profound keys to understanding their microcosmic and macrocosmic effect. This is not astrology, even though astrological symbols are used. The Sun is a symbol for the “I am” consciousness, the Moon symbolises our mind and the Earth is a symbol for the matter of our physical body. Every day, the matter of the Earth enters our body in the form of food and drink. Thus, it revolves around the “I am” in us. The rotation of the Earth around itself represents the birth of individual consciousness and the pilgrim path of the evolving soul. The rotation of the Moon around the Earth is the symbol of the reflected light of consciousness, which we call mind. The rotation of the Earth around the Sun shows how matter is permeated by consciousness to bring forth the cycles of time we call the Earth years. Through the Sun the seven fundamental principles express themselves as the seven major planets and in us through the seven centres. Through the Sun, the twelve qualities also manifest as the twelve sun signs. The zodiac is the seed of wisdom from which the planets germinate the annual fruits in all their detail. The planets begin to reveal to us as much as we are able to understand according to our level of development.

The Earth has symbolically emerged from Venus, therefore the symbol of Venus and that of the Earth are the same symbols, only exactly opposite. The symbol of Venus is a circle and underneath it is a cross, i.e. its energies are coming down, and in the symbol of the Earth the cross is on the circle, i.e. all of us who were born on Earth have to bear the cross of ignorance. When ignorance is removed, knowledge prevails and this knowledge purifies. Venus is the force of love in us; Mercury is the intellect, Mars is action, Jupiter the expansion of consciousness; Saturn consolidates and binds. All the planets we perceive in the solar system are symbols through which the hidden planetary principles reveal themselves as effects. These effects are only a symbol of the life hidden in them as principle, which reveals itself in life events.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: Mercury - The Alchemist. Div. seminar notes / E. Krishnamacharya: The Science of Symbolism. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India