51

Earth

(prithvi)

Earth is the great mother principle, the stage on which consciousness enacts its eternal play, Leela. Here the player understands earth as Mother Earth, not “the earth.” The player discovers new patterns and harmonies, new ways of play, totally obscured before in the mists created by lower-chakra involvement.

Both Indian tradition and modern science agree that earth had its genesis as a ball of fire. What remained after the flames finished their job became earth. Earth is not only a planet but a living organism, the great mother principle who has given birth to all that exist on her breast. And as a mother carries milk, so does the earth provide nourishment, vital life-force, food, and energy.

Earth is the symbol of the sixth-chakra player. She is the product of great austerity. Her awesome birth by fire enabled her to give birth in turn to the live show of energy that is her mantle. She is the essence of tolerance and forbearance. Though her children blast her body and ignite her soul, she gives them in return diamonds, gold, and platinum. She follows the law of dharma selflessly and does not distinguish between high and low. Thus she is rightly placed in the sixth chakra. We see her body, the physical plane of the first chakra. What we cannot see is her spirit, her intelligence, her benevolence, her significance. This is the understanding that comes to the sixth-chakra player. He sees in her game the continual interplay of sun, moon, and neutral energies that mirrors the process always going on within his own microcosmic self.

Seeing inner reality reflected in the great mother, the player attains insight into Leela and becomes the Player. He must still pass through the plane of violence to gain an understanding of how to be truly fluid. But once these tests have been passed he may get a direct link with Cosmic Consciousness by landing in spiritual devotion.

Thus earth has nurtured her child-player to the point where he now has the ability to create his own game, to move higher or lower according to his karmas. Sometimes in the course of the game players rise up several levels as they experience the attributes of mercy, wisdom, and right knowledge. These arrows lift them to the highest plane. But since they really do not belong there, they are not assured of attaining Cosmic Consciousness. They have to make the trip anyway, and the game provides them with the snake of tamoguna to bring them back to earth, to make the effort anew. Each time the player goes higher and fails to attain the plane of Cosmic Consciousness, he must return home, to his Mother Earth — the cosmic playground.

And the more the player experiences earth, the deeper he appreciates the delicate balances that maintain life on her surface. To first-chakra man she is but a coffer to pillage and loot as he chooses, without regard to consequences. Sixth-chakra man recognizes the peril of this attitude as he sees the planet he loves facing imminent danger and suffering possibly irremediable damage.