Canto 28

Everything that we perceive through the senses, is symbolic. Our intelligence is the means to draw conclusions from these events.  The conclusions that we draw are about our “own” “success” and “failure” in relation to the rest of the world.  These conclusions should transform us and cause us to evolve to a higher and higher planes of existence,  bit by bit, as we research and conclude based on the events, people and objects that we encounter. 

As we know, the events of life are meant to severely test our commitment to the Dharmic path.  Every thought that arises in our mind must be used to constructively either reinforce or disband or modify our inner selves.  Our inner self is a complex bundle of dharmic convictions, including  compassion, selflessness, shravanam, mananam, tranquility and peace, etc.  The events of this world should never be allowed to disturb these elements within us. Our ability to maintain equanimity under the most testing conditions is the hallmark of our attainment. 

So we subject ourselves to the severe tests of life and yet retain equanimity and unchanging outlook that is firmly fixed in the guidance of the Paramathma. 

The churning of the ocean which symbolizes the mind and consciousness complex, by the elements of the earth such as asuras, devas, vasuki, mandara and the paramathma who pervades all, results in the production of many objects, characters,  beings,  gods and goddesses.  The first product is, not surprisingly,  poison, which is meant to destroy those that consume it.

When we plunge into the churning of the mind, only the unpleasant will emerge first,  because we do not how to turn the wheel of life.  These unpleasant events may actually destroy many of us, because of its severity.

We cannot allow the poison to overcome us. The only way we can avoid consuming this poison is to surrender to the Paramathma, to mitigate its impact on us.  We have to live  till we are able to partake the Amrutam.

The amrutam is the endowment within us that results from  the churning of life.

Symbolism,  reality,  illusion, delusion, truth, fiction, are intermingled in the experience of life.  Intelligence is the differentiator of the perception of the different components. The differentiating intelligence separates the amrutham of the ultimate truth from the straws of illusion and transient.  The amrutham of truth that is extracted from all other output of our lives,  is placed in our consciousness (jivatma) as the symbol of our progress towards permanence. 

Anything that resides in our minds is always subject to being swayed and jolted by the winds of change that blows through life.  Anything the resides in consciousness can never be disturbed, because it is completely isolated and protected from physical “reality”.

May we, by the process of churning our minds through active participation in life, identify and partake the amrutham from the eternal hands of the Paramathma.