Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Panchamukha Anjani 5 faces of Hanuman + mantra

Vishnu takes form as Panchamukha Anjani (Anjaneya means “son of Anjana”), the 5 faced hanuman.

Let’s look at each face, together these faces make up the story of Panchmukha Anjani.

1. VARAHA: The boar, the wild pig. Varaha represents our primal organic veracity. He is the plower, digging away looking deeply into the lower parts of our being. He is looking for the delight that is buried in our gut (muladhara chakra). Varaha is the consciousness digging out itself. He is the organic earth element belonging to the muladhara chakra and deals with the role in evacuative, procreative, and digestive energy.
a. Bija: HRIM (the earth bija) means the entire manifest world, all the essential Goddess energy that moves.

2. GARUDA: The soaring vulture, the Himalayan griffin. He resides below the solar plexus and above the diaphragm. He belongs to the water of the belly (svadhistasna chakra). He lives on the naga (snakes) of the ponds, he soars above the lake effortlessly and he comes down pulling the naga out of the lake. (That is what Himalayan griffins do; they steal snakes out of the water). Garuda is the soaring consciousness that reaches into the water of the belly and pulls the naga (snake)/kundalini up. Just like the downward symbol in the Anusara logo, Garuda inverts, heading down into being and becomes the water of the belly. Garuda is the eternal energy of life that must be transmuted in the water of the belly. Whatever enters your belly (food, air…) eventually comes back up into our consciousness (just like the griffin soaring down to pull and bring it back up).
a. Bjia: HAIM (Mixes AIM (water) with HA (earth))

3. NARASIMHA: The man-lion. Residing in the fiery solar plexus (the manipura chakra). He is the fire in the center above the belly and below the heart. There is a myth about a demon that was granted the ability (by tapas) not to be killed by human or animal, in the day or in the night, in land or in the sky. Vishnu then takes the form as Narasimha a man and a lion (neither human nor animal), he destroys the demon at twilight (not day or night) and emerges out of a pillar (not from land or sky). Narasimha represents ambiguity. The power to transmute and address the necessary, and this strength comes from our core (the manipura).
a. Bija: KLIM

4. HANUMAN: The loyal monkey. Located in the heart (the anahata chakra) all the way to the pallet of the mouth (vishudu chakra). He is the upward moving, ascending energy the heart that powerfully brings the energy of the heart and expresses it through the mouth.
a. Bija: SAUHA (the heart Bija is the most complex bija. It opens the heart and lets in the recognition that the divine has always dwelt in your heart. The heart emerges out of the pallet in the form of mantra.)

5. HAYAGRIVA: The horse. The horse represents the power of consciousness to wonder. It is very similar to the ancient Vedic sacrifice called “The Horse Sacrifice”. In this sacrifice the king releases a horse and wherever the horse wonders over a course of one year becomes the domain of the king… Wherever consciousness wonders is our domain. “Not all who wonder are lost” wondering becomes your sovereign territory. Hayagriva represents the wholeness of being. Hayagriva resides in the head (angii chakra) and is the descending energy of the mind. The wondering of consciousness traverses down and comes out as words.
a. Bija: OM

Panchamuka’s full mantra: OM HAIM HRIM PANCHAMUKA ANJANI KLIM NAMAH

I think it is interesting that the bijas aren’t in order from ascending to descending. This is because in Anjani traditions don’t believe that kundalini is a dormant energy waiting to be awaken to move in a singular direction drawing up from the bottom to the top. Instead they believe that kundalini is already awake and is moving in an ever woven circuitry. These traditions believe that we are NOT in a process of waking up kundalini instead we ARE in a process of participating in kundalini’s dance. Like hanumans tail the kundalini twists and turns however it needs to offer its self in the most optimal experience of the Self.
Resources:
Douglas Brooks (especially hanuman lecture)
http://www.hindujagruti.org/

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Intention and Testimonials

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