The topic of Hanuman, a deity representing prana, selfless service, and a broken ego, is addressed below in questions and answers with Babaji.
BABAJI: Deities are signboards. They remind us in our spiritual path. In Hindu religion, there are 350,000 deities. It is a symbolic way of saying that everything is a deity in this creation: sun, moon, wind, creative, and destructive energies. Hanuman is called the wind god. Symbolically, it is a pranic force, the most powerful deity in our lives.
Hanuman is represented as prana and his club is represented as mahat. Is there a symbolic description of Hanuman within the context of Samkhya philosophy?
BABAJI: Hanuman is symbolically one whose ego is destroyed. Man=ego. Hanana=destroyed. His club is a symbol of power.
It seems that one of the things that gets lost is that we worship the symbol and forget its meaning. It seems the understanding of the symbolism is the responsibility of practice.
BABAJI: A deity is sitting in a store. It is not yet a deity because behind it there is no bhavana or thought energy, feelings. When it is accepted as an indicator of God, the bhavan or feelings start developing. People can say that it’s due to our acceptance, yes. But it has a reality like a,b,c,d has a reality of certain sounds. That sound and the form “a” has a relationship.
Will the energy that flows from the Hanuman Temple be that of selfless service and devotion or something else?
BABAJI: The energy is one. The devotion, desire to achieve, makes it different. If someone prays to have a child, the same energy will take that created form. If someone prays for peace, then the mind will become sattvic or pure.
