Symbolism 7 – The Eagle
The bird of Pulsation
When we observe the movement of our breath, we feel the air enter through the nose, touch the centre of the forehead, and then fill the lungs. Thereafter, as we exhale, the air flows back out and touches the forehead again. When we consciously follow the gentle movement of our respiration, it slowly leads us inward. In stillness, we feel a pulsation in the body like a pulsating light; it is the life principle. When we dive deeper into our respiration, we are drawn into our own being, and we experience the “I AM” - an eternally pulsating principle. The “I AM” always remains. When we leave the body at death, we leave it as a pulsating principle. Each of us is in essence this pulsating principle of light and it is symbolically called the bird. Its two wings represent the process of inhalation and exhalation.
This bird is sometimes called the swan or dove, and sometimes the eagle. The eagle is an important spiritual symbol that helps us to raise our consciousness. For example, we can look at the sky and visualize a white eagle flying aloft. We can also visualize the eagle within us. Its beak is our nose, its head is our head, its tail is in the Muladhara (base centre). Our lungs are compared to the eagle's wings with which it soars to the sky. The lungs are like wings, sheltered and protected by the rib cage in the chest, but through rhythmic respiration we can develop a power that makes us soar.
The flight of the eagle symbolizes rhythmic breathing exercises. In poetic terms, “Use the wings, reach the sky, and then relax.” This is the key to pranayama. Pranayama, rhythmic breathing, is not something that has to be done, but it happens when we begin to observe the intervals between each breath. When we observe our inhalation and exhalation for a long time, we experience the pulsation first in the heart centre. Then we are inspired to move with the ascending pulsation to the throat and then to the brow centre, later reaching the ajna centre. The ascending pulsation elevates us above the personality and frees us from its conditioning.
Udhana prana, the ascending pulsation, and vyana prana, the all-pervading pranic force, can elevate us to the highest planes of the body and even beyond. With these pulsations, initiates can move out of the body and return through the third eye with the help the etheric body.
In the eightfold yoga path, the stages of immersion with the breath, being drawn inward, and rising upward through deep alignment are called pranayama, pratyahara, and dharana. By observing these processes and visualizing them, we form the inner body, the antahkarana sarira. This enables us to live in accordance with the plan of the soul.
Serpent and Eagle
With the antahkarana, the bridge from the personality to the soul, we can enter the subjective world and ascend vertically. Figuratively speaking, we become an eagle. Mundane people who live only for earthly things move horizontally. They live primarily for their belly and work for their desire nature. They symbolically crawl on the earth and are therefore called serpents. In the scriptures there are many stories of the eternal battle between the serpent and the eagle. The serpent wants to capture and kill the eagle, and the eagle wants to kill the serpent. The serpent and the eagle are the great symbols of Scorpio and its opposite sign, Taurus. The serpent refers to the consciousness that goes into the abysses of the lower planes. The life impulse falls into the sex polarity of the lower pole. The sex instinct was given by nature to procreate, to prepare bodies and preserve the species. For this reason, the sex impulse should be active for a certain period of time. Then the life impulse should begin to move upward, toward the brow centre and the Ajna.
In the downward movement, we become the serpent; in the upward movement, the eagle picks up the serpent and leads it upward. We are transformed into a winged serpent and then into an eagle. When the personality is transformed, the energy of Kundalini rises up through the spine to the head as a winged serpent.
At the end of Scorpio and the beginning of Sagittarius, there is a constellation called Aquila, the Eagle, which is called Mula in Sanskrit. There the birth of the eagle takes place, which then rises and soars. Capricorn is seen as the beginning of the rise, the taking off of the eagle. Those who have a subtle vision see the beginning already in Sagittarius, for where the spirit touches the ground, there the ascent begins again. In the cycle of the day, Sagittarius corresponds to the two hours before sunrise; Capricorn is the dawn. The eagle is a symbol of the Sun on the northern, upward path. The eagle rises and stands high in the sky in Aries.
Another dimension of the eagle is its keen eye. It soars higher than other birds, but with its great eyesight, it can spot its prey far below. The eagle gives us the message that the higher we rise in consciousness, the sharper we can see and handle things better. Even when we develop great heights of spiritual achievement, we should not neglect worldly things. We need keen observation and discrimination to enter an ashram, a subtle spiritual centre. Only when we can perceive reality accurately, we develop the necessary understanding so that sublime wisdom can be given to us.
Garuda
In the East, the king of eagles is called Garuda or Suparna; Suparna means 'the ever unfolding one with the good wings'. Garuda is the mount of Lord Vishnu, the Lord of permeation. This is a symbolic representation of how the pulsating principle of breath is the carrier of the divine. Each initiate is considered an eagle, into which the Sun enters and makes its abode. The seed sound of the Great Eagle is KSHIM. This sound also brings the impact of the incoming seventh ray and helps to usher in the new era, the new world order. It is recommended to invoke the sound KSHIM every Friday to ward off the evils of the present pandemic.
There is a great seer named Kashyapa. He is the father of Garuda. Kashyapa means “the on-looking one”, “the all-seeing eye”. He is the cosmic principle who oversees the whole universe with his eye. His work is to oversee the creation and the activities of all beings. Kashyapa is also often described as the great Architect of the Universe. He is a form of the Creator and is considered the father of many beings, including serpents and eagles. In us, Kashyapa, the all-seeing eye, is localized in the sahasrara (crown chakra).
It is said that the eagle, the pulsation, can take us to the higher circles, even to the seventh heaven, which is the sahasrara. Contemplation on this ascension takes us from the muladhara to the sahasrara. When the consciousness rises to the ajna centre, we have reached the atmic plane where the personality is connected with the soul. Then the eagle raises us still further to the sahasrara. There we receive the energy of the universal soul, and our personality is now ready to fulfil the divine purpose.
Taking on Animal Forms
Our body is like a garment. Just as we have different garments for different purposes, there are Masters of Wisdom who take on different forms at different times. They can remain free in any form because the form does not limit them. Therefore, we should not limit initiates to a particular form of appearance. They can speak to us through any form. Such a master is called Nirmaṇakaya, which means he can materialize in a form and then go back to a causal form. In mythologies, we find heroes who can change their forms based on their will. Today this looks like a fiction, but in former ages it was quite normal. There are great beings who have completely freed themselves from the bonds of matter on every plane. They even dissolve the golden and diamond form and unite with Brahman; this is then called nirvana.
Often initiates take on animal forms in order to do their work unrecognized. There are many sages who are in the form of nagas, that is, cobras, and they live in the subterranean planes. Nagarjuna, a great Indian sage, was a naga who took a human form to perform a certain task and then took the form of a serpent again. Similarly, there are sages who appear in the form of eagles, swans, doves or white elephants. A pair of eagles circling clockwise in the sky is one of the clues to identify the location of an ashram. They look like eagles, but they are not eagles. The outer appearance does not have much meaning; the inner quality is what is most important.
The eagle is a symbol of the seventh ray of rhythmic order and of the cosmic intelligence that gives the right direction. This work is done on Earth through the dynasty of Maharshi Kratu, from which also came the great sage Vishvamitra, who gave us the Gayatri mantra, and also Saint Germain, the Master of the violet flame. Saint Germain likes to visit people in the form of an eagle or with an eagle's head to remind us that we must become like an eagle in our minds. The symbol or image of an eagle can give us the gentle touch of the Master.
Sources used: K.P. Kumar: Master CSG. Div. seminar notes / E. Krishnamacharya: Book of Rituals. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India (www.worldteachertrust.org)