Oh, Come Now, Vishnu!
By Aisel Thakur
Yesterday, I was playing with my son. I brought out the stuffed toys, and out came a Krishna shaped one. Since we were playing “ice cream truck,” my son, Aarush said, “No, mama. Not god!”
I roared in laughter! How would a child even say something like that? We never even spoke about this! Oh, sure, there were prayers that it played, but we never said why the songs existed. The fact that he felt uneasy about using the Krishna doll to pretend to eat ice cream made me chuckle. Did he know the story of Krishna?! I’m sure Krishna wouldn’t mind pretending to eat some ice cream!
He is Vishnu, after all! And we all heard about Mohini (wink, wink).
Mohini. Colored pencils on paper. 16" x 20". Aisel Thakur fka Aisel Ifrailova. 2012
The point is the moment. The Maya (illusion) could be just as beautiful and grounding as the thought of enlightenment. And as we learned in the Bhagwad Gita, action is important without attachment. Yes, there’s a reason not to do something, there always will be. But, what is your duty right now? Be a mom. Be the fun mom. And break the barrier of “if it’s spiritual/related to god, it is taboo, too holy to be part of the play, too ‘other’ to be included in your home.”
But, how do we bring God into our home? I, personally, believe there’s one god masking as all of us. And I try to find it within everyone. I learned that when we greet others, the first thing before we smile, is that we soften our eyes. Compassion. Not pity. It’s very different. Do I always manage to do that? No. But I know it’s there.
It’s a mask. A mask that a person wears. And if god is masking as a person, and a person is masking as itself in countless ways, so god is masking as a person masking as itself in many ways. All emotions, feelings, intuitions, fears, struggles, plights, victories, losses, lives, deaths, all are god.
We are all god. A human body can become many things. It can heal many ways. Even through third party systems that it created for itself. As if there was something saying, “I have to keep preserving this! It’s a jolly good game!”
And during the most tumultuous times in cosmic history, there was a story about Shiva that turned and said, “Oh, come now, Vishnu, I know it’s you!” when he was confronted by a masquerade of Vishnu’s.
Shiva in In The Valley. Alcohol inks on paper. 11" x 14". Aisel Thakur fka Aisel Ifrailova. 2017
The story itself is not essential to your plot. It means, how long are you willing to think that you may not partake in this world? A world you fought to inhabit. Who is YOU?
Oh, come now, I know which mask you wear.
The question is: do you?
In a state of anxiety, we often refuse to “fix our face” because it won’t change things. No, you’re right, it won’t change things. What will happen is you will remember what soft eyes felt like gazing at you. What self compassion feels like. And what it feels like to admit, “well I’ve never experienced something like this, but I know that everyone is here with a purpose/strength. I can consult with them.”
Mahesh-Yah. Destroyer of cycles. Inks on paper. 12" x 16". Aisel Ifrailova. 2016.
Often what comes out of it is a completely new thing. Vishnu doesn’t approach Shiva. Vishnu knows that even a part of us must die so that a new part of us can exist. The frown is a great mask. It shows all the ways things will fail. And turning up the corner of your lip wont change things. It will change how you see yourself in that moment of ‘fake happiness,’ and maybe a part of you will turn on.
Your defender, your cheerleader, your little self, all shouting, “you’re doing great! Keep going!”
So Krishna doll ate a pistachio cherry ice cream cone, and had a great time with Elmo, Barney, Elephant, and mama!
The end.
