On the importance of the sun and sun gazing
om bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
tát savitúr váreṇ(i)yaṃ
bhárgo devásya dhīmahi
dhíyo yó naḥ prachodayāt
– Rigveda 3.62.10
"We
meditate on the adorable glory of the radiant sun;
may he inspire our
intelligence."
translation by Radakrishnan
This Sunday morning I got up after a
well-deserved twelve hours straight sleep, “whow I must have needed it!” was my
first thought. A short practice, long enough not to lose the habit and at the
same time to give some rest to the body, and then the best moment of the day:
coconut.
My plans where to be a good student,
get my daily two kilos of bananas and then get home to write the essay so to
submit it on-time; everything seemed perfect. Too perfect to be real—it was
after a gentle breeze that I came to be caressed by the gentle and warm touch
of Savitri[1].
The daily repetition from my side of the Gayatri—a mantra dedicated to the sun god—did not feel enough, it
felt disrespectful not spending time under the gracious rays of such a sunny
Sunday. That’s why I took a book and some bananas to go to enjoy the sun
surrounded by wonderful nature.
For four years I have been living in
Belgium, a small, cute country in between France, Germany and Netherlands.
Nothing goes really on in Belgium other than world wars and chocolate factories
and the country seems to work in an almost utopian good way. After some months,
I was feeling slightly depressed and started documenting on it: Belgium is one
of the leading countries for suicides and depression despite its good wealth,
excellent educational system and high life standards. Why that?
“Money can pay you everything but will
never get you sun and happiness,” was used to say my uncle farmer. He was damn
right. Countless articles online report the link in between depression and lack
or sun and even day-to-day experience seems to prove it right, see the smiles
on people on a sunny day and theirs Grinch like faces on a rainy day.
From the scientific standpoint, the importance
of the sun is proven to be beneficial to reduce skin disorders, strengthen the
bones and teeth, good for brain health, helps regulating glands functioning and
hormone levels in the body, it lowers blood sugar and cholesterol and more than
all, it strengthen immune system. These are only few of the many health
benefits that, put together can explain why people are happier when sun is
shining.
Since the dawn of men, the Sun has been worshipped
by most ancient cultures living in this planet. This is why the most revered
mantra in the Vedas is considered to be the Gayatri—the one dedicated to the
sun. “Without sun there is no light, no knowledge, no food, no you” kept on
saying my dear Advaita teacher.
Then I heard from a friend of a culture in
the Himalayas which explained to western scientist their longevity, 140
year-old in average, thanks to their daily tradition of sun gazing.
When the citta is busy doing its duty and thinking, the net-surfing
eventually goes on until you come across the story of Hira Ratan Manek which,
like the woman mentioned by Yogananda in his book, claims to be able to live
entirely on the prana gathered by the
sun. For a philosopher I find hard to believe on the veracity of his claims and
furthermore I do not see any use of living without food as I see eating not
only as a need but also as one of the greatest pleasure of this experience
called life. This to me is rather the simple demonstration of the wonderful
work of a mind capable of shradda—faith.
I do not wait for miracles to be thrown
down from the sky like candies but rather I see the miracle of life happening
at every single moment of life, and sun is one of the greatest miracles that
keep on happening in front of us on a daily base. Might you be rational or a
new-age believer, there is no way to disprove the importance of sun in our
daily routine so whenever you can, go out and enjoy more or it and spend more
time in touch with the marvels offered by mother nature and remember that
worshipping God is exactly to worship his continuous, immanent and graceful
manifestation of Nature—“Deus sive Natura,”
Baruch de Spinoza
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