God Series:Episode 4-God as Wind!

Hanuman (the shadow of a hanging pendant) Meady's Musings Production 2010.

As we continue our look of the perception of God as 'the elements' on the God series today we look at the element of Wind! In Hinduism the God of Wind is called Pavan but he isn't as popular as his son...Hanuman who is often referred to as Pavan-Putra Hanuman i.e. the son of the Wind God, Hanuman. In keeping with the twists and turns that is Hinduism the God of Wind in Hinduism has other names than Pavan...here are just a few of them:

-Vayu
-Vata from the root of the Sanskrit word for atmosphere vatavaran

So technically Hanuman could have been called Vayu-Putra Hanuman or Vata-Putra even! :) However he is most often called Pavan-Putra Hanuman!

Then there is the all famous Prana or vital breath in Vedanta! The Prana makes up one of the five organs of vitality or sensation in Vedantic philosophy. The five organs are listed as follows:

prana "breath", vac "speech", caksus "sight", shrotra "hearing", and manas "thought"

So they altogether represent the physiological organs: nose, mouth, eyes, ears and mind respectively.

So it seems what Hinduism is saying is without the wind we could not be alive...makes sense after all as us humans are aerobic beings i.e. we need to breathe in the oxygen from air to survive and also to be able to expel carbon dioxide as if it is accumulated in our body it would kill us! So there! :)

However Hinduism is also mystifying the Wind...making an ode to him...glorifying him in poetry...deifying him even...so you have the Wind God...and he even had a son who is way more famous than him...and it seems Hinduism attributed strength to the wind cause all his sons were mighty strong guys! :) You see Bheem from the Mahabharat is also said to be a son of Vayu...so you have Hanuman and Bheem...the strong guys...sons of the Wind! So it must be they got their strength from good ole 'elemental' daddy! :)

So UCP salutes you oh wind! And to do so we hail your famous son in the form of the Hanuman Chalisa and then follow it with a celebration of you in what we here at UCP like to call John Denverism....but I guess can be seen to as a form of religion that worships nature itself...well and I think that religion is called...well...Nature worship! So John play on...and sing your windsong!:)

Advent Calendar:Sat 12 and Sun 13 Dec-Christmas Fun and Games with a bit of Housekeeping!

It's another weekend on the Advent calendar but yep the Purple Elephant and the little mouse are hard at work helping the carpenter get the roof ready and on the whole cleaning up after all the mice and elephants that visited the house for the gift of Friendship last Mon. They are determined to have the house ready for the bears on this coming Monday morning! They are even putting up a Nativity scene!

However in between they are still running off to have some Christmas fun and games and have also cued some tunes to keep them merry while they are at work!:) So here is the fun they have compiled with some help from the carpenter even! :)

Alvin and the Chipmunks


How to Make a Nativity Scene


Free online games with Christmas themes...the Purple elephant likes to play the Arctic Antics one where penguins help Santas into a pool of water by use of a trampoline but you might have your own favourite...check the site out here!

Christmas Like a Lullaby by John Denver

Advent Calendar: Tue 8 Dec-The Gift of Christmas Cheer!

I have to tell ya...Meady's Musings Production's House was a real riot after the Friendship blog yesterday...the mouse invited all his family...and they all wanted to see the cartoon kahani (story) about their ancestral mice and the elephants. So I had a whole room of mice watching Youtube on one end of the house. And on the other end...well the purple elephant kept apologising to me and trying to ward off elephants from north, east, west and south...just all about! You see they too came...running up to one another in delight but the vibration it caused almost cracked the foundation of the house! I know it was all meant with friendship and love though...but the Purple Elephant I've never seen him so filled with glee but yet apologetic you see! :)Eventually trumpets died down and they all got the message that yes indeed they were loved but they simply couldn't converge on one small human house! LOL!

So this author is all tired out...knackered if you like! And she was preparing the customary three part blog...a main blog with a bit of different perspectives for each of her three blogs...and it was to be to talk about the gift that are bears! BUT...BUT...

The thought of the likes of Goldilocks and the Three Bears rummaging through her house...and perhaps Pooh tinkering in her kitchen looking for honey and heavens forbid getting stuck in a window or door after stuffing himself with fluff! OR OR...a grizzly at her door!??? Or other real liFe bears on her already shaken roof...well...it was enough for one day...so...that story was shelved for another day...more than likely tomorrow if all my readers promise...promise...NOT TO FEED THE BEARS! :)

So to fill my calendar with cheer today as I refuse to leave it bear...oops I mean bare! :) I salute Sesame Street as this is the year of its 40th anniversary and I've always loved their muppet cousins as well...and indeed you readers might know that John Denver and the Muppets singing together is some of my favourite Christmas music each year! And well no news to the whole blogosphere but we also lost MJ this year...gone too soon some say...say say! :) So he also forms part of the gift of cheer!

Advent Calendar:Sat 5 and Sun 6 Dec 09-Trees and Elephants for Christmas!

This week on Meady's Musings Production's Advent Calendar we gave the gift of trees and elephants. So as we relax on the weekend let's have some music! Join us dancing and singing to some of our odes to trees and elephants for our Christmas fun! :)

Advent Calendar:The 1st of The Twelve Days of Christmas!

Today is not only the first of the twelve days of Christmas but it is also my Birthday and in some parts of the world Boxing Day...I've gone on about my birthday already on my Meady's Musings blog and you can check that blog on on this link.

However today on Universal Collective Prayer I want to talk about The Twelve Days of Christmas and what it means...

A couple years ago I like many people perhaps thought...The Twelve Days of Christmas was actually the twelve days before Christmas itself. I often tried to count back to see on what date then did it begin and often even wondered if anyone had really tried in reality to give all those gifts to their true love on each of the twelves days! This is a weird and wacky world and I'm sure someone for all you know must have really done it by now! :) Perhaps a rich Sheik trying to impress his fourth wife! :) No offense in Universal Collective Prayer intended...

But I now appreciate it is the twelve days after Christmas and so today is the First Day of Christmas! And although I so wish my 'True Love' would first indeed come to me and if not bring me a Partridge in a Pear Tree...simply bring his true love and with me be...goodness knows how he'd pull that off in the Tropics anyway and how does one bring a tree? I mean wouldn't it have to be uprooted well and how then do you keep the partridge in there? Well someone who would do that would perhaps be no true love to me! I mean who so cruel could be able to give true love? But seriously I know it is just a fun counting song and if you read my Meady's Musings installation for today you will see how obsessed I think we as a society are with the numbers!

So I'm now learning that this twelve days of Christmas business really starts off today and ends on the Epiphany, the day of the Kings which is especially celebrated in Spain and Spanish influenced cultures as El Día de los Reyes and commemorates the Magi's gift giving to the Christ Child...so you see I will get to see those good men three one last time before Christmas comes to an end! :) But really let's face it the first thing that comes to our minds is that song! Some people say it is just a random song...fun for kids... but some say in it is some religious significance in code or was necessary during war times to pass secrets too even! :) As I was saying on Meady's Musings ...Hum Na Jaane ...dunno...however here is what this UK carols site- says about the meaning of the Twelve Days in the song:

'Religious symbolism of The Twelve Days of Christmas (The 12 Days of Christmas)

1 True Love refers to God
2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.
6 Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
8 Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming refers to the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed'

Hmm...and it makes sense though...TRUE LOVE = GOD!:)

Anyway we all think of that song and since I've been playing with John Denver and the Mumpets and enjoying it all Season long here they are! :)

Advent Calendar:Mon 22 Dec- Continuing with the Gift of John...

I've gone deep on my Meady's Musings gift today so will keep the prayers on here light tonight and just ask you to Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas...Let your heart be light...

Advent Calendar:Sun 21 Dec-More John Denver!

On this day of Advent I share more of John Denver as he Christmases with the Mumpets. This song about peace again truly embraces what I envision 'Universal Collective Prayer' to be all about! :)

Advent Calendar:Sat 20 Dec-John Denver's Poem Alfie!

I think John Denver's poem Alfie really embraces what I conceive Universal Collective Prayer to be! For years I've heard this on my Mumpets Christmas cd with him and I'm always so caught up in every word of this poem! I mean he is embracing the wind, the trees, the birds, the animals and people from all over the world and from different traditions and religions! How lovely and truly Universal Collective Prayer!

Advent Calendar:Fri 19 Dec- Silent Night in Languages of the Universe!

Sharing Parang music yesterday which was in Spanish made me think about Christmas music in languages other than English...then it made me recall that, in my book, one of the most beautiful and heartfelt Christmas carols is Silent Night. One of my favourite things is to hear how John Denver on his Christmas Album with The Mumpets goes into the detail of the whole story about how the carol came to be in Austria where it was first written and performed in German! How lovely, beautiful, synchronous and meant to be that whole thing was I find from John's story just like how to me many great work's of Art and Inventions seem to come to be! :)I guess just prayers from the soul. So tonight my Advent gift to you is various versions of Silent Night...Stille Nacht....Noche de Paz...and I kick it off with John Denver's explanation version! :)