The Ninth Mandala 61.7

Approach That, the ten fingers helping embellish union, the mother waters with the unknown Eternal and Infinite expanse.
This verse, as is the whole ninth mandala is about soma. My experience of soma is that it is the link or substance of expansion or union with the divine. Vitality is a by product of soma. There is nothing self animated without soma. However, there are few that are cognizant of its existence, awareness is mandatory. For illustration:Imagine a time you fell in love. It could be with a person, a moment, a place. Close your eyes and remember for a few minutes. Do you notice anything different within you? This is the activation of soma.Most people associate this activation of soma, or good feeling, with an object. Through this simple association fear creeps in and this erroneous thinking promotes a need for an object to experience soma. This is not true. The verse is saying “Approach That”, soma, not an object.The next part of the verse is dual. The implication is that there are two sets of ten fingers. To make this duality clear the word “embellish” can also mean destroy. Therefore, it is as if we have two distinct ways of moving throughout creation; embellishing the mother waters or destroying our experience of them. “The mother waters” is not only of the earth but also of the sky. With this being so we know that it is not literal in what we know water to be, more the essence and quality. What are the qualities of water? Water is flexible and versatile, changing its state from solid, liquid and gas within a comparatively small temperature range, remaining in integrity. The structure of water is that it fuses with other substances. It is reflective. What I have translated as “Eternal and Infinite Expanse” is huge in its meaning and implications. Adi means first, in the beginning, commencement. Aditi comes from Adi with its first meaning being free. This freedom is without an object, not free of something, rather the expression of freedom. If you sit with this a minute you begin to see how the brain cannot “grok” such a concept as it cannot be conceptualized; only experienced. Words that attempt to describe this are security, safety, boundlessness, immensity, inexhaustible, abundance, unimpaired condition, perfection, creative power. It later came to be objectified as an Indian goddess who was the mother of all the gods; which is an attempt to objectify the currents of creation. As reverence to the brain continued the original communication was further materialized into the word cow.The word translated at “mother” not only means mother but all female ancestors. Let your mind drift to the feeling of being in the presence of the grandchildren, daughters, mothers, aunties, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and you get a feel for this word. It is joyful, easy, active and full of potential.