Coverings

Salt Lake City, Utah has been in an inversion for the past few days. Although instead of heart being below the hips in yoga posture inversions, this inversion is cold air under warmer air. This enables the air molecules to stay trapped and cannot more or transfer heat. This also causes the pollutants, dirt, dust particles to stay trapped in the salt lake city valley unable to travel upward and out of the city leaving us with still and murky smog. All week I have been reminding myself the sun is out and shining even though I cant see it because the covering of smog is preventing me from seeing it is there. My husband and I drove up little cottonwood canyon and sure enough the dark and coldness from the inversion turned to bright, blue and warm sky's after we past through the covering of smog.

Seeing this covering of smog reminds me of the kancukas which can be translated to mean coverings that conceal the fullness of divine reality.  In Tantrik tradition the story goes that Shiva (God) all expanded "contracted himself down to a single point of absolute limitation, shedding his omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence completely. Then in order to manifest as an embodied sentient being, he equips himself with five limited capacities"

Limited power of action (kala) this does not mean powerlessness but rather limited power. "Kala also means a sliver of the moon ex. the amount that the moon grows in a single day. On the spiritual path, we are waxing from a mere sliver of divine power toward the total fullness of our capacity to express our innate divinity" (Wallis).

Limited power of knowledge (vidya) this is not ignorance. It is not that we know nothing, it that we know a little and think that's all there is to know.

Desire (rage) since we are essentially expanded consciousness but are being expressed as an individual we experience our self as incomplete and we desire something to feel more complete.

Time (kala) we are often burdened by our awareness of time happening sequentially creating past, present and future. This can feel us with regrets, worry, expectations and anxiety.

Causality (niyati) this binds us to our karmas meaning it ensures that we reap what we sow through our actions.

I like to think of these veils and remember that I have so many coverings in my life that stop me from fulling knowing and experiencing the vastness of the divine. When I remember this I feel myself get smaller or as I like to call it "right sized". Because as much as I like to think (sometimes) I am not the biggest, most powerful, most bad ass thing in the world. I can not comprehend or describe in words what this bigger force is, but it brings me peace of mind to remember that even though there are veils blocking me from "her" that she is there.


References:
Tantra: Path of Ecstasy By Georg Feuerstein
Anusara Teacher Training Manual By John Friend
Tantra Illuminated By Christopher (Hareesh) Wallis