Letter # 15: "The Shadow and the Light"

Recently, a friend told me of his fascination with TV shows on murder. After watching many of them, he realized that under certain circumstances that anyone is capable of murderous rage and of committing the atrocious crimes as shown on the TV shows. Indeed, civility is a veneer that we need to keep in constant repair for the Shadow (Carl Jung) that lurks in our minds. How to repair and maintain that veneer, and how to control the urges from the Id, (Sigmund Freud), the "seething cauldron of desire"?These questions are not new. They come up in all the religious texts. The lives of kings are often used as examples. I was shocked when I first read the book of Kings in the Bible. How could the Bible contain such disgusting reading matter? I thought naively. Now I know the Bible is a reflection of life and an answer to its problems.More ancient scriptures from other cultures give similar answers for the human condition is the same no matter where and when you are born. Maharaj Pariksit, who lived about 5,000 years ago, was a saintly saintly king of Bharat (ancient India). He received a warning that he would die within a week. Never mind a week, I'm thinking, I could die at any time, considering what happened on October 19, 2007 when an aeroplane crashed into the office building where I work. Anyway, Maharaj Pariksit being anxious about his impending death went to a great saint of the day and in the presence of a large assembly of saints (in modern terminology a "convention") said, "You are the spiritual master of great saints and devotees. I am therefore begging you to show the way of perfection for all persons, especially for one who is about to day. Please let me know what a man should hear, chant, remember and worship, and also what he should not do. Please explain all this to me." The great saint's answer to this question, and numerous other questions posed by the king, concerning everything from the nature of the self to the origin of the universe held the assembled sages in rapt attention continuously for seven days leading up to the king's death." [Srila Prabhupada's translation of Srimad Bhagavatum C1 Pxxv]]. The saint answered the king's questions to the king's satisfaction by reciting the entire Srimad Bhagavatum over seven days. What is the Srimad Bhagavatum? It's a spiritual scripture. It contains its own definition in Canto 1.3.43:"This Bhagavatum Purana (Srimad Bhagavatum) is as brilliant as the sun, and it has arisen just after the departure of Lord Krishna to His own abode, accompanied by religion, knowledge, etc. Persons who have lost their vision due to the dense darkness of ignorance in the age of Kali shall get light from this Purana." Srila Prabhupada's translation of Srimad Bhagavatum].Just as the king did, each of us has to search for the Light. Only such a Light can help us overcome the Shadow and the Id within.


God Bless; Allah Hu Akbar; May The Forces Of The Universe Bring You Harmony; Hare Krishna; Radha-Swami; and Nanak Naam Chardi Kala Tere Bhane Sarbat Dha Bhalla.

I wish to express my gratitude for your comments, which inspire me to carry on writing. Please forgive my fallibilities in presenting this material. Also, feel free to send this message on to someone that you might think would like to receive it. If you do send it on, my only request of you is that you send it as it is, in its entirety, and to not alter or modify any of the text, references or authorship information. Thus you will help to give credit or liability to where they are properly due.

Jas Bhopal
Copyright© 2007
“Practicing goodwill makes for a good life."
Tel: 604 273 6641 (also for fax on request)

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References: "The Holy Bible" Online version; "The Koran" as translated by SV Mir Ahmed Ali 2005 ISBN 0-9761870-0-0); "The Bhagavad Gita As it Is" as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN 0-89213-268-X; The Srimad Bhagavatum as translated by Srila Prabhupada ISBN0-89213-259-0; "I Am That. Talks With Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj” ISBN 0-89386-022-0; The Dhammapada ISBN-10:1-84483-344-5; The Sacred Sukhmani ISBN 81-7205-098-4; Wikipedia.