The 22 December is the day, in the Southern Hemisphere when we celebrate the Sun’s intensest gaze on our part of the world. This means we’re bathed in light and warmth for the longest time of any day in the year.
On this day, we have the opportunity to most fully embrace what our Sun is really about: what is its purpose in our lives – other than the obvious physical ones of keeping us all alive? With a little insight we can see that there’s another, and equally important relationship we have with our Sun.
Since antiquity, we’ve known that our Sun represented the Purpose for our existence; that the Sun somehow harboured a secret about our ultimate raison d’etre. There’s a Hindu mantra called, ‘The Gayatri’, sometimes called the mother of the Vedas because it’s the foremost mantra in Hinduism. Its meaning can be interpreted as, “May the Almighty God illuminate our intellect to lead us along the righteous path”. The mantra is also a prayer to the “giver of light and life” – the Sun (savitur).(1)
O Thou Who givest sustenance to the universe,
From Whom all things proceed,
To Whom all things return,
Unveil to us the face of the true Spiritual Sun
Hidden by a disc of golden Light
That we may know the Truth And do our whole duty
As we journey to Thy sacred feet.(2)
Today, take a few minutes to re-connect with the source of our life; the giver of bonhomie, of meaning and ultimately, of direction. If we think about it, we’re all travelling onwards and upwards in one way or another. None of us stands still as it’s against the laws of nature – everything is constantly moving and changing.(3)
It’s the Sun that gives us this energy to keep going. Every atom of matter in our bodies, relies on the Sun’s blessing, its prana or solar fire; the energy we need to keep up this constant movement and vibration. In human terms it’s called our evolution, learning, changing, growing, maturing.
So today, let’s rejoice in our Sun’s will-to-live that brings to us so much joy, and of course also conflict, crisis and difficulty. The eternal duality of life on our little planet. It’s the journey we’ve all undertaken, whether we like it or not, by hell, fire or brimstone, by love or simply placing one foot after another. By whatever means, we’re all returning to the sacred feet of ‘Thou Who givest sustenance to the universe’.
Sources:
1. http://www.eaglespace.com/spirit/gayatri.php
2. http://www.lucistrust.org/en/service_activities/e_mantrams/the_gayatri
3. http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=120