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B R A H M A - T H E G O D O F C R E A T I O N This triad is made up of the creator (Brahma), the sustainer (Vishnu) and the destroyer or transcendent (Shiva). The correspondence of these three principles (creation, sustenance and destruction) in our daily existence is to be found in birth, life, and death. These correspondences occur not only at a physical level, but at psychic level as well. They represent the very basis of the universe, in its continuous becoming. In the Tantric cosmology, these three forces are regarded as three aspects on one and the same divine Unity. Each of these forces is inseparable from its feminine part, or of its Shakti. According to Tantric teachings, any superior principle can exist only as a combination of feminine and masculine. In the previous articles we presented to you the sustenance aspect of God as He appears in the Hindu tradition (Lord Vishnu). Now we will introduce to you the first of the divine aspects - the creator as it is depicted in the Hindu cosmology, as the god Brahma. BRAHMA GRANTS THE FORCE OF SPIRITUAL BECOMING The path of the human being to spiritual perfection has to be trod with a creative, positive inner attitude. This attitude, named "cosmic optimism", expresses the dynamism of life and derives from a sublime ideal. It means the recognition and identification of each of us with the fundamental divine energy that created everything. The creative inner attitude offers us the possibility of discovering our true, profound nature, accelerating our spiritual progress. This creative inner attitude is a part of the evolutionary process itself. It may be awakened and amplified through the process of resonance with Brahma's specific energy. HIS WORLD CONTAINS ALL SPLENDORS The Hindu tradition perceives the cosmic activity of the Supreme Being (God) as threefold: the creation, the sustenance and the destruction and associate these three activities with the main deities: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. As we already mentioned, Brahma represents the creator aspect of the divine. Vishnu sustains the creation and represents the eternal principle of preservation, and Shiva represents the principle of dissolution, of the destruction of evil, of transcendence. We have to understand that basically, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are not three distinct deities, independent from each other, but they represent in fact the same Supreme Force, in its three different aspects. Brahma is the creator of the universe and of all beings. His world is Brahmaloka, containing all the splendors of the earth and all other worlds. In the Hindu tradition, Brahma's most common representation is four-headed, four arms, and red skin. He holds a cup, a bow (or in other representations a book of prayers), a spoon and the Veda-s, created and spread by him. He sits in the lotus pose. When he moves around, he has as vehicle a white swan, endowed with magic powers: she may separate soma (divine nectar) and milk from water, as well as good from evil. Unlike all the other gods, Brahma carries no weapon. Although Brahma is the equal of Vishnu and Shiva, his popularity is no longer at its peak.
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