"Dakini
Is da key you need
To see the truth
In ancient stories"


Kamadeva (God of Love and Desire) being burnt to ash by Lord Shiva (Lord of Yogis, and most powerful being in the universe) after breaking his meditation is a very common Hindu story.

As human beings, Love and Desire are discovered and (for most of us) wreak havoc on our hearts. We live with Desires and Erotic Love throughout all of our life and as we grow we learn to live with it, work with it, perhaps how to embrace it for the enrichment of our lives.

I believe that everyone meditates. All of us meditate differently; but to me, whatever we do to enrich our lives is meditation. In my life enrichment involves artistic expression, developing friendships, and following what brings me joy.

Those three meditations are a lifelong work, there is no ultimate achievement. There are certainly times when I'm not meditating, but I do know that I should always be striving towards enriching my life.

Consider the three meditations I've listed. At the surface level there does not seem to be any need of erotic love in order to enrich my life.

In the first avenue, artistic expression, a failure to find erotic love can be just as inspiring as a success.

Developing friendships very well may be better off without erotic love being involved entirely, though friendship can be deepest with a spouse surely.

Following joy, too has no need of erotic love. Finding the things in life which bring us joy all for ourselves, independent of other people is a key to Loving oneself. Following joy, too, can include Eros but if that were to be the only avenue available joy would depend upon something inconstant.

Shiva's joy is his meditation. As the first Yogi, following joy is sitting alone on a mountain. The most powerful being in the universe, Shiva does not wish to depend on anything but his own Self for his joy.

Kamadeva is as Cupid in this story, and during Shiva's meditation he is suddenly struck with the arrow of lust for a certain Parvati. Finding he has been tricked he incinerates the very God of Love in that moment. Kamadeva being reduced to ashes, the spirit of love is spread throughout the entire world while at the same time Shiva recognizes Parvati as his soul-mate. They marry and have a child, and it is this child Kartikeya (The God of War) who defeats the demon threatening the very existence of the heavens.

This story is exceedingly rich, there is a good reason it is such a common story that appears throughout many texts and traditions of ancient India.

Shiva did not know Parvati was his soul-mate, that his very existence was born with her and practically indivisible from her. His life at this point was purely about meditating in the cold mountains and existing in his Godhood.

So what happened to Kamadeva? He was utterly incinerated... but in the Hindu Puranas (ancient stories of India) he is reborn. Kamadeva reintegrates in to the world once again and is born as Pradyuma the son of Krishna.

Bear in mind, ancient stories are many and vary but those who write them do so with intention. There is no arguing over whether a mythology, hindu or otherwise, is true. It is more important to recognize that literate human beings from ancient times would not spend the effort scribing stories if there were no intentional teaching behind them. In the case of hinduism the teachings are intricate without parallel and the stories are often exceedingly clever.

So what is the purpose that some small piece of this grand story of the universe should link Kamadeva with Lord Krishna as Krishna's son Pradyuma? Among the many pearls of understanding available in this small sample of Hindu Mythology is that Kamadeva has a purpose in this universe. "He" is an integral part of existence, both in the Human and in the Heavens.

Yet how can we all find our soul-mate as Shiva did? We have to find and love ourselves first. There is no other way. Is there a soul-mate out there who can simply teach us how to love ourselves, how to enrich our lives? Can your soul-mate instruct your meditative life?

Yes. And this soul-mate is a Dakini. A concept common to both buddhists and tantrikas, the Dakini is the lover-as-teacher. Yet, we are not the most powerful beings in the universe. It may be that we are still learning to just Love in general, how can you find your soul-mate without knowing Love?

Dakini is a concept which empowers a woman to follow her own soul, heart and body first and relentlessly. As mothers, women are the source of Love in our world. But no woman is born a mother!

The Goddess Eve in the judeo-christian mythologies has given women a heavy cross to bear for thousands of years. For some reason the blame is placed upon woman for banishment from the Garden of Eden and the Origin of Sin. Indeed Christ is the redeemer of all sin, therefore are women not the mothers of Christ?

It is this fact of Woman's spontaneity, curiosity and fearlessness (would you defy a celestial being with a flaming sword?) which not only gives birth to the world as we know it but also to the most Holy Son of God.

Joy to the world.

It is the Dakini who inspires the Sahajiya Saraha to write

"Reaching the joy swollen land
Powers of seeing expand,
And there is joy and laughter;
Even chasing objects there is no separation.
From joy, buds of pure pleasure emerge,
Bursting into blooms of supreme pleasure,
And so long as outflow is contained
Unutterable bliss will surely mature.
What, where and by whom are nothing,
Yet the entire event is imperative.
Whether love and attachment or desirelessness
The form of the event is emptiness."

This is a man who knew how to Love.
Through his Dakini teachers he came to the realization that desire brings Joy, and yet the cessation of desire brings yet another, different Joy. His ultimate realization was that of a spontaneity, replete with the perfections of the Buddha.

Dāna pāramī : generosity, giving of oneself
Sīla pāramī : virtue, morality, proper conduct
Nekkhamma pāramī : renunciation
Paññā pāramī : transcendental wisdom, insight
Viriya pāramī : energy, diligence, vigour, effort
Khanti pāramī : patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance
Sacca pāramī : truthfulness, honesty
Adhiṭṭhāna pāramī : determination, resolution
Mettā pāramī : loving-kindness
Upekkhā pāramī : equanimity, serenity

His ultimate realization was that of inclusiveness.

By understanding thoroughly and giving full respect to the inherent nature of woman to provide wisdom he has known true love.

Indeed Kamadeva proved himself to be thoroughly reintegrated into the universe Shiva has shaped in such powerful ways in the case of Saraha.

Much love to you on this Valentine's Day.
May you learn to find yourself and your soul-mate.