Hi everyone,
In Hindu mythology there is a famous story about the churning of the ocean (Amrit Manthan). This highlights what spirituality really means from a Hindu perspective ....and also brings out how such intricate things are explained through stories and allegories. I think I have written about this here earlier....but such matters need to be reiterated IMO.
I have written an article about it in my blog some years back. Request you to read it if you are interested.
https://tsriramrao.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/the-churning/Its too long for me to post the article here in its entirety. I'll therefore give a brief outline.
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Evil forces (demons) take over the heavenly realms from the gods and a battle ensues between the gods and the demons. The demons are very strong and therefore the gods begin to lose the battle. Lord Vishnu helps the gods and asks them to churn the cosmic ocean of milk and bring out the nectar (elixir) that exists at its depths. The churning however cannot be done by the gods alone as it requires great physical strength. The demons are also enlisted and the churning begins.
As they churn the oceans with the gods on one side and the demons on the other side....first deadly poison rises...after that many pleasant and wonderful things such as wealth, medicinal herbs, things of beauty and so on rise.
Finally, after much churning and many problems...the nectar rises and once the gods take the nectar...they become invincible and they reclaim the heavenly realms from the demons.
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This little story brings out all aspects of spirituality and Yoga. It brings out how each of us have good and evil forces within ourselves and often evil takes over our minds and destroys us. The eternal battle of good and evil is explained. Through a process of spiritual development, the good aspects of us should take over from the evil forces. Realization of the eternal Self (atman) is the nectar that sets us free from all evil forces.
For a full explanation please refer to the article.
For information of those who may be interested.
Cheers.
Sriram
