The Kumbh Is Really A Churning Of The Mind
Pranav Khullar
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At the heart of the Kumbh tradition is a story from the Bhagavata Purana, of the tussle between the gods and asuras for the amrit-kalash, pot of nectar, which will bestow immortality on those who drink from it. Herein is a metaphor for the inner struggle between our nobler and baser instincts the higher mind which when invoked, will bestow the nectar of wisdom and immortality , the ability to discriminate between the real and the transient; and then you have the baser, lower mind, which when engaged with, will generate illusion and desire, creating its own web of illusory `immortality' where the temporary is taken to be the permanent.Which instinct we choose is a matter of free will, but the great Kumbh tradition seeks to continually remind us of the call of the higher mind, of how the human body itself is the kumbh, pot, and how the churning of desires within is required for the nectar of knowledge to be generated.
The ancients formulated a 12-yearcycle for a meeting ground of saints and seekers in an attempt to continually refocus and reorient the mind towards nobler instincts. This 12-year-cycle was set within certain planetary configurations, that the ancients felt were spiritually beneficial, which are supposed to create a highly charged matrix of energy , which naturally propels the mind towards the search for deeper meaning.
The Kumbh became an opportunity to pause and reflect, to reassess life's priorities. The ceremonial dip in the waters, especially on auspicious days like Vasant Panchami, is symbolic of cleansing the mind and beginning afresh with a `new' mind and clean attitude. The Kumbh was seen as an occasion for the common man to transform himself to this new attitude by mingling with renunciates and monks in an ambience of devotion and vairagya. It is no less an occasion for renunciates themselves to reaffirm and rededicate themselves in the search for the higher Self.
The 12-year cycles of the Kumbh happen at four different pilgrim centres, ensuring a huge religio-spiritual Kumbh congregation every three years the ancients' way of inspiring us periodically, to stay firm amid all vanities and temptations, to seek deeper, beyond the veil of illusion, through the discipline of pilgrimage and satsang (in the company of holy persons).
The intent of these large scale spiritual retreats has been to allow every individual to interact and learn from renunciates and learn to detach himself from everyday anxieties, however momentarily . Since every Kumbh congregation seeks to replicate the triumph of the gods, the higher mind, over the asuras, the lower mind in the quest for the nectar of immortality realisation of the Self through wisdom each dip in the waters and each bath seeks to mirror this yearning for the inner Self.
Yatris and sanyasis both seek to dive deep into themselves through this bath, to come up with a moment of experience beyond themselves, a moment only perhaps, but a deeply moving moment which will abide with them through the trials and tribulations of life. It is also the moment of transition from the individual, i-centric point to a feeling of a collective whole, where distinctions between you and i blur, and all are alike in their yearning to find their spiritual centre.
As Mark Twain said of the Kumbh congregation, “It is done in love or done in fear, I do not know ... no matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination.“
The ancients formulated a 12-yearcycle for a meeting ground of saints and seekers in an attempt to continually refocus and reorient the mind towards nobler instincts. This 12-year-cycle was set within certain planetary configurations, that the ancients felt were spiritually beneficial, which are supposed to create a highly charged matrix of energy , which naturally propels the mind towards the search for deeper meaning.
The Kumbh became an opportunity to pause and reflect, to reassess life's priorities. The ceremonial dip in the waters, especially on auspicious days like Vasant Panchami, is symbolic of cleansing the mind and beginning afresh with a `new' mind and clean attitude. The Kumbh was seen as an occasion for the common man to transform himself to this new attitude by mingling with renunciates and monks in an ambience of devotion and vairagya. It is no less an occasion for renunciates themselves to reaffirm and rededicate themselves in the search for the higher Self.
The 12-year cycles of the Kumbh happen at four different pilgrim centres, ensuring a huge religio-spiritual Kumbh congregation every three years the ancients' way of inspiring us periodically, to stay firm amid all vanities and temptations, to seek deeper, beyond the veil of illusion, through the discipline of pilgrimage and satsang (in the company of holy persons).
The intent of these large scale spiritual retreats has been to allow every individual to interact and learn from renunciates and learn to detach himself from everyday anxieties, however momentarily . Since every Kumbh congregation seeks to replicate the triumph of the gods, the higher mind, over the asuras, the lower mind in the quest for the nectar of immortality realisation of the Self through wisdom each dip in the waters and each bath seeks to mirror this yearning for the inner Self.
Yatris and sanyasis both seek to dive deep into themselves through this bath, to come up with a moment of experience beyond themselves, a moment only perhaps, but a deeply moving moment which will abide with them through the trials and tribulations of life. It is also the moment of transition from the individual, i-centric point to a feeling of a collective whole, where distinctions between you and i blur, and all are alike in their yearning to find their spiritual centre.
As Mark Twain said of the Kumbh congregation, “It is done in love or done in fear, I do not know ... no matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination.“
