Whispering Wednesday

Be still awhile and hear the whisper...

As I sat yesterday pondering what might be posted in these midweek posts, there was a word that kept repeating itself to me. Who knows why or from where it arose? It was like a whisper to the inner ear and would not be ignored.

स्नान(snaana) = bath. 

The cleansing of the body as a spiritual saadhana is not something that arises particularly strongly in western culture. Most people, though, have some familiarity with the concept of treating one's body as if it were a temple. Quite often it is used in a non-spiritual context - sportspeople, for example. Most often the understanding stops at the physical aspect of cleansing. From a social point of view, it is important, of course! Not just external cleansing, but inner - through eating 'correct foods'... which has sometimes led to some quite extraordinary fads.

In Hinduism, bathing is taken to an almost scientific level of analysis, with constant reference in various scriptures as to how and when to bathe. As a general rule, householders are expected at the very least to bathe in water in the early morning and before retiring to bed and always the feet and hands ought to be washed upon entering the house. Hygiene levels that recent global health matters have highlighted!

Apart from the practical, however, the rituals around bathing in the Sanskrit tradition are geared very much to mental cleanliness and the spiritual. Even as one bathes, there are mantras for 'bathing the mind' and directing spiritual focus. Much of this centres around the precious nature of water. 

This is also recognised in the Christian tradition, through baptism. A key difference is that in the church, the 'holy water' is seen as being for the priests to dispense. In Hinduism, each and every one of us can sanctify the water in which we bathe by chanting the invocation to the sacred rivers of India... 

In the Bible, we find in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 -

19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

The exhortation is not merely about the body, but the soul that is carried by it. This matter envelope is not the "I" which we tend to attach to it. Rather, it is the vehicle by which this "I" can gain experiences and further its journey towards reuniting with Brahman/The Holy Spirit.

Next time you bathe, let it not merely be a brushing of the limbs with water, but a recognition of the value of that liquid to life and also visualise the inner cleansing. Chant some prayers from whichever tradition you prefer, which seek forgiveness for transgressions you may have been unaware of - but also offer apology for those of which you are.  Know that for this purpose, one can also 'bathe' in mantras, or by stretching towards the sun - or, as has become fashionable of late, in the forest with nature. 

Then stand in silence and listen deeply... you may catch a whisper or three...